Weaving the golden thread of fun...

This post doesn't exactly focus on Whole Brain Teaching techniques, but this is one way that I enjoy "weaving the golden thread of fun" throughout my teaching (as Biff would say).

I love taking photos and making videos of what we are doing in class.  I share them with parents through a Shutterfly site.  I am really surprised at how many positive comments I have received from parents!  Some even share the site with family members in other states and even countries.  Granted, half of my class does not have internet access at home.  But it is exciting to see the students watch and re-watch the videos when they have their turn on the computer.  This really reinforces vocabulary and concepts even after we have moved on to new content.

Lately we have been studying life cycles and we have had the opportunity to watch a couple of monarch caterpillars grow and change.  The class missed the first caterpillar change into a chrysalis.  When I saw it happening, I grabbed my phone to record the action for them and made this video:

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When we got to watch the second caterpillar turn into a chrysalis during school, one of my students pulled out her own camera.  The amazing thing is that as she was recording, this 2nd grader started narrating her own video to describe the process we were watching!  That is almost like the teach-ok, but on a whole new level!


Late last night, the butterfly emerged from the chrysalis!  It is so amazing and beautiful to watch the process.  I just finished my 2nd video to continue the Life Cycle of a Monarch Butterfly:

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