Learning about senses!

Today we have music at the end of the day. On Friday we don't have school. -Peyton
Today I brought my huge amethyst in and I showed it to the class with my friend Tristan. It has lots of crystals on it and it has a fossil on it too. -Tyson
Today we did some senses stuff. My sense was touch. You can feel things and touch them. -Kaspir
Texture can be rough or smooth or like sandpaper which is both. You can feel almost all textures. -Jonathon
Today we did senses. My sense was taste. I learned that when you eat salty stuff you get thirsty. -Jolene
We were reading books about eyes. Your eyes see pictures. Inside your eye when you see things they are upside down. -Sam
Today we were learning about senses. We got to go in groups of 4 or 5 and we had to read a book about our sense that we were doing. The sense that I was doing was sight. We had to write down what we learned about it and then we could tell the class. There were 4 people in my group. We read a book called "What is Sight?" Mrs. Malkoske gave us a diagram. When you see stuff, at the back of your eye it's upside down and then your brain flips it over and tells you what it is. For hearing there were little bones and one looked like a horseshoe. The sound goes in your ear and if a person is talking to you, the brain helps you understand what the person is trying to say to you. -Madeline
We had to go to a table or the floor and get a book. One or two people had to read it. Then you had to write something about what you learned. You had to come back to the carpet when all the groups were done and you had to tell everybody what yours was. Mine was smell. I learned that some smells smell weird and you might not know what they are and they might be danger. -Rhianna
In the afternoon, Madeline read us a story called "Little Bunny Foo Foo". The bunny was running through the forest and picking up the mice and bopping them on the head. Then a fairy came and told the bunny not to do that and she gave him two more chances to behave, or she would turn him into a monster. When she turned him into a monster, he ate the fairy. -Sydney R
My favourite part was the name. Foo foo is kind of funny. -Rylee
Today me, Olivia, Sydney and Taylor had a meeting and we were supposed to read a book and Mrs. Malkoske records us. Then we're going to put them on the CD player for listen to reading. -Lindsay
My book was Fancy Nancy. I was recording it for listen to reading. We got to choose our books. -Olivia
Today we were doing a project where we record the person that's reading the book. I'm reading Chester. Lindsay is reading No David. -Sydney H

The OK Day

Yesterday we read The OK Book. -Sam
Today we did a very fun art project. It was the OK picture. -Rylee
We did these pictures and it was an O and then a K and it made a stick person. -Kaspir
(*When you turn your head, the O makes a head and the K makes arms and legs.)
We had to think about what we're OK at. Then we had to draw it. Then you had to go over it with pastel and then you had to paint it. -Cole

We used a pencil, paint brush, some paint and black pastels. We did some rough copies yesterday and then on the back we drew it really big. Then we got another piece of paper and then we drew an OK with pencil and then we drew over it with black pastel. Then we had to show it to Mrs. Malkoske to see if we needed to go over it again. Then we painted with water paint. I was OK at blogging. -Madeline

We had to make our pictures simple because if we didn't then it would be too much on the paper and you wouldn't be able to see what was actually happening in the picture. Another reason is because if you put your hand on the pastels, the pastels will smear and it will look like the people are blowing away. My picture was I'm an OK at working and cutting and stuff. -Tristan

More New Books!

This morning Mrs. Malkoske got a whole bunch of books from Scholastic. This afternoon we got even more books from Scholastic. Mrs. Malkoske let us pick some books to read. Some series are The Babysitters Club, Rainbow Magic, Geronimo Stilton, Nancy Drew, Ready Freddy, A to Z Mysteries, Ramona and Beezus, 39 Clues, Chester, Junie B Jones, Splat the Cat, Judy Moody, Little House on the Prairie, Slap Shot, Wimpy Kid, Flat Stanley, Star Wars, Most Dangerous, Titanic, and some others. We're getting even more tomorrow.
-Room9

The Greatest Day... Testing Boats!

Today we were testing boats in the morning. Some people had plastic tubs, Kleenex boxes, lace, balloons, tin foil, popsicle sticks, saran wrap, plasticine, and toilet paper rolls. When we put weights in them some of them tipped, some of them sunk a little, and some floated and held all of them. When we lifted the boats out of the tub, the floor was like a swimming pool because it was all wet.
-The Kids of Room 9

Boat Building!

Today we made boats and we had to decorate with clay. We're trying to make the water not go in the boat. Tomorrow we are going to put them in the water and see if they don't get water in them or tip. -Sam

Today we were building boats. My partner is Tyson. We built our boat with a Kleenex box, plasticine and tin foil. Tomorrow we are going to test them at the water table and put stuff in them to see which one holds the longest. -Peyton

We were building boats today. I worked by myself. I used clay, tin foil and a balloon and tape. -Sydney H

All of us were building boats. Yesterday we made some ideas and then Mrs. Malkoske got some stuff for us to build our boats. I worked all by myself. The stuff that I used was two silver cardboard boxes, two cardboard tubes, and one Kleenex box. Then tomorrow we're going to put our boats in the water table to see if they float. Mrs. Malkoske's going to put little weights in them to see how many they hold. -Madeline

Yesterday we were writing on a piece of paper what we were going to plan out to build our boats. The next day we were building our boats. My partner was Cole. Our boat was made out of tin foil, a plastic tub, saran wrap, cardboard and some popsicle sticks, clay and tape. Then we are going to put little weights in the tub. We have to make it strong enough so it won't tip over or sink. Me and Cole put something good on so it will balance. With clay we put bumpers on the side so if it hits a wall it will bounce back. On the bottom we put clay so it would balance more. Our boat is awesome! -Tristan

Today Mrs. Malkoske took us to the library and we made boats. I did it with a teacher. I put tin foil around the box, then I put clay on the inside. -Kaspir

When we went to the library we were building boats and I put lots of stuff on mine. I took forever. -Sydney R

Today we went to the library and we got to build our boats. I took a really long time because I put details on it. Tomorrow we're going to put it in the water table to see if it sinks or floats. -Ashley

Today in the afternoon we went to the library and we got to work on our boats and we choosed our materials and we started to build our boats but me and Jolene took a long time and we were kind of the last ones because we tried to make it look like a real pirate ship. We covered it with lots of tin foil and we scratched the clay. -Taylor

All About Today

Today a group of kids started a PIP. PIP stands for Personal Inquiry Project. I'm researching horses. I'm wondering how horses see on the sides of their head. -Jadyn
Today was our second day doing our PIP. Mrs. Malkoske got us notebooks, coloured pens, dividers, and binders. We got to choose the colour of our pens. My colour was pink. We got to pick our colour of our notebooks. The colour of my notebook is green. I'm learning about butterflies. After I'm done learning about butterflies, I'm going to be learning about flowers and other plants. We got to write in our notebooks with our pens. -Madeline
At Daily 5 we did Listen to Reading and we got to choose our books. -Sam
Today some of the grade 2s were working with Mrs. Malkoske. We were doing PIP. We picked things that we could write about. I picked fossils. -Jonathon
Today I did Daily 5 and I did work on writing on the computer. I'm star of the week this week. In the start of the week bag there's a book called All About Me. That gave me an idea that I should write about me. I"m not finished it but I"m going to finish it next time I do work on writing. I am also very excited to finish my book because my Mommy is going to look at it and she might say it's very good. -Rhianna
Today we did PIP. I started doing some writing in my notebook that Mrs. Malkoske bought. I am doing research on crystals. I am wondering if when they get over a hundred years old they start to change colours. Tyson is also doing research on crystals. We are going to have fun doing it. -Tristan
Today after lunch we were doing a plan for a boat. I finished doing all the steps. One of my things on my boat is a balloon. -Sydney R
Today we did some planning for our boats. We got to pick if we got a partner or work by ourselves. My partner was Jolene. We designed a boat. I think tomorrow we get to build them. Mrs. Malkoske will get our materials. We got a little booklet that had some stuff we had to work on. -Taylor

Today we got to get our folders for PIP. I'm focussing on planets and I'm going to learn so much about them. I already know lots of things. -Ashley

Today we did another PIP. I picked to research on crystals and rocks. I like rocks because sometimes they have crystals in them and sometimes they are flat and sometimes they are bumpy. Something I learned today is that sometimes rocks have crystals in them. -Tyson

Today during Daily 5 I did a PIP. I am researching about earth and space. -Cole

Today Mrs. Malkoske gave us boat planning books and I made a boat and Andy said it was a nice boat. -Kaspir

Today Mrs. Malkoske gave us a booklet and we had to write down the materials we were going to use to make it. I"m using clay, a glue gun and tin foil. -Sydney H

Today was an exciting day for the children who are beginning their first P.I.P., or Personal Inquiry Project, (and for me too!). On Friday I spoke with a group of my grade 2s about "learning to read" versus "reading to learn". They all agreed that they have definitely learned to read :) They also agreed that they can't read every book that they see, but that they can read and understand most of the books in our classroom. They use strategies to decode text, they can retell the books they read, and they self-monitor for understanding. They are ready for a new challenge. During Daily 5 time, these children will continue to develop their independence as readers and writers as they conduct their own inquiry into a topoic of their choice. In other words, they will read to learn. Each child has selected a topic (a few have their next topic chosen as well), and started today by looking for some books, writing down what they know already, using our computer to find more information and images, and of course, they set up their new binders! It was very exciting for me to see them so engaged in their learning. Quite a few of them chose to take their notebooks home so that they could work on their PIP tonight... they've actually given themselves some homework. :)

As you know, I believe in the "fun theory". For this project the 'fun' is in the stuff... the kids were buzzing about their new binders, notebooks, pens, and dividers (which they were kind of confused but excited about at first). They couldn't wait to put pen to paper and get started. I think the new supplies also make them feel important and in turn, make them see that the work they are doing is important too. I think (hope) it also sends a message about how I value all of their efforts, big and small. A couple of the kids (who had obviously seen my weekend blog post) came in to the classroom in the morning and said "I saw all the stuff you got us for PIP! Thanks! When can we have it?" There were lots of thank you's during our meeting too.

A few small things had them so excited and eager to get started.

I think the choice the kids have for this project is a big part of why they are so excited about it. So much of their time in school is spent learning about the content in our curriculum for each grade level. The truth is that not all kids in grade 2 will be interested in learning about lifecycles, but during our Science time, that's what I need to teach. PIP allows these kids some time for their own learning. During this time they will be learning other life long learning skills that will (hopefully) be valuable to them no matter what they are trying to learn. Skills like finding information, asking good questions, using different types of resources, and organizing and  presenting information... Life long learning skills. I can't wait to see what they find out!

-Mrs. Malkoske

A Little Weekend Shopping

Today I went out shopping to pick up a few things for school and ended up finding a whole bunch of great books at Costco. Each classroom at Dr. Hamilton has been given some money to buy new books for their classroom library. I've ordered a bunch of books from Scholastic and plan to visit McNally Robinson this weekend too. Here's a preview of our new books!

On Friday I talked with a group of our grade 2s about a new project that they will be starting on Monday during Daily 5. Each of the children in the group will begin a PIP (Personal Inquiry Project)... and they are excited! As I explained to them that a PIP is a project where they get to choose what they learn, they very quickly made some decisions about what their topics will be, how they will share their learning with others, and what they will need. There was lots of discussion, and LOTS of questions. One of which was "Will we get new notebooks or something for this?" After a bit of discussion it was decided that they would need notebooks for writing down information, a binder so they can collect printed information, and dividers to stay organized. :) So back to Costco I went... I can hardly wait to see their projects unfold.

The Shadow Movie

Since it's I Love to Read Month, we've been learning a song called "I Love a B-O-O-K!". Mrs. Malkoske's friend, Miss Krochak, wrote the song and the music. We had a Skype call to learn the song. We had to make shadow puppets out of black pieces of paper. We had the projector on and we used it to make the shadows. Mrs. Malkoske used the iPad and iPhone to make the video and put it all together. When we used the iPad, the background looked rainbow. Enjoy our show!
-The Kids of Room 9

The 100th Day & a Day Away

Today the kids of Room 9 celebrated their 100th Day of School with Ms. Koehn. At the end of the day Madeling and Jonathon created a KidBlog post about the day. Here it is:

Today is the 100th day of school. Madeline read a book called Fancy Nancy The 100th Day of School and she brought cookies. We all got four. Madeline  Today we had fun. We flipped a coin 100 times. I got mostly heads. Rhianna  Today we did 100 day activities.  We read 100 books. We counted the tally marks. Ashley and Jolene   I had fun on the 100th day of school. Kaspir  We flipped a penny. I got mostly tails. Nicholas  We played Snakes and Ladders. I played with  Aliegha. She won.  Rylee We had a guest teacher her name is Ms. Koehn. Sydney H  100 times 1 is 100   50 times 2 is 100 Peyton. 20 plus 80 is 100 Cameron. 50 plus 50 is 100 Sydney R. 97 plus 3 is 100 Ashley. 4 quarters is 1 dollar Jonathon. 100 pennies is a dollar Cole.  100 dollar bill is 100 we have a new one Sydney H.

I was very happy to see that the kids of Room 9 were able to blog independently with a substitute. I'm sure they taught Ms. Koehn a little bit about blogging too! 

Today I was away at a conference hosted by Manitoba ASCD. The guest speaker was Heidi Hayes Jacobs, an internationally renowned author and education leader specializing in developing 21st century approaches to teaching and learning. The topic today was 'Curriculum 21: Upgrading Curriculum and Assessment'. She asked many great questions about education, technology and children. The day was full of great examples of classroom and teachers and tools to engage students and make learning more meaningful to them.
At the end of the day she showed the video embedded below... and I loved it! I am a big believer in "The Fun Theory" as some of you may have noticed :) As an early years teacher I believe that if I can keep things fun and interesting for kids, they will be more likely to want to try new things. Enjoy!
-Mrs. Malkoske

The 99th Day of School!

Today we had family groups and we had to colour a box and cut it out. Then we had to colour some food and cut it out. Then we put the food in. Now every night after supper you have to take out one piece of food and put some money in its place. We are doing this for the people that don't have homes or clean water or food or mom and dads. -Ashley
Today we had hot lunch and it was Subway. Some kids had Subway and some didn't. When we were eating we put on Tumblebooks to keep us quiet. My mom forgot it was hot lunch today. -Taylor
Today we had snacks from our party after first recess. -Nick
After recess we had leftovers from the party. The popcorn twists were gone really fast just like yesterday. -Sydney R
Today we had early dismissal. I got Subway today. -Sydney H

Today was the 99th day of school. Tomorrow the children of Room 9 will celebrate 100 days. Unfortunately I will be away at a professional development session all day and will miss the celebration. However, they will spend the 100th day with a 100th Day expert.... Ms. Koehn!
-Mrs. Malkoske

Valentine's Day!

When we came in in the morning, it smelled good in the classroom! Mrs. Malkoske's Mom was making pancakes and they were yummy! -Sydney R

When we came in there was Mrs. Malkoske's Mom and she was making pancakes. We could cut them into heart shapes. Mine turned out really good. -Rylee

When we came in our tables had plates and cups on them because Mrs. Malkoske's Mom was making pancakes. They were very yummy! There were placemats that we made on Monday. There were flowers on the tables too and apples too. The water colour for the flowers was red. At the end of the day the flowers turned a little bit pinkish because of the red water. -Madeline

On the table, when we got the pancakes, there were pancake cutters that we used to make our pancakes heart shaped. -Jolene

We put syrup on our pancakes and it was a yummy pancake. I had four pancakes. -Cameron

Mrs. Malkoske read a book about Splat the Cat. It was about Valentine's Day. After we made Splat the Cat or Kitten. -Kaspir

During the book Splat, when he was walking to school, he would always see Kitten and Kitten would poke his belly, tie his tail and call him smelly. After that we made black Splats or grey Kittens. -Sydney H

We made Splat the Cat or Kitten. Mrs. Malkoske dropped a blob of paint on our paper and you had to spread it around to make a cat or kitten. -Peyton

We used our fingers to spread out the paint for the arms, legs, ears and tail. You could make your tail curly, squiggly or zigzag. I made mine a zigzag. The hardest part was when you had to cut out his eyes, nose, mouth and tongue. You couldn't really get the shape of the eyes. -Tristan

We had a party and Mrs. Malkoske picked 5 kids to hand out their Valentine's, then she picked a table to get their food and then another table, and then another table. After 5 kids were done handing out Valentines they got their treats and then Mrs. Malkoske picked 5 other kids to give out thier Valentines. I gave out Fun Dips with stickers on them. -Taylor

Today we were handing out Valentines. I was handing out suckers. -Nick

Today was Valentine's Day! We gave cards to each other. -Sam

At the end of the day we had a party and people were giving out their Valentine's Day cards. It was too much to put in the bag so they had to put some out and into their bags and not in the folder. They were over flowing with cards. -Ashley

Today we had a Skype call with Mrs. Malkoske's sister. They sang Valentine's songs to us. -Cole

(Note: My sister sings with a quartet called "The Pinetones" in Bemiji, Minnesota. Every Valentine's Day they deliver "singing Valentine's" all around Bemiji. All of the money they collect for their services is donated to the Bemiji Food Shelf. This year they did their very first Skype singing Valentine for our class <3 )

Solids, Liquids and Gases Reflection on our KidBlogs!

Today the children of Room 9 went to the computer lab to write a reflection about some of the learning they've been doing about solids, liquids and gases. Here are two samples:

The Cat Came Back!

Today we went on a bus to MTYP to watch "The Cat Came Back". It was a play. -Nick

On the bus I sat on seat 8 at the back. I was sitting with Ashley and Olivia and Taylor was beside us. -Jolene

Before the play started Cameron lost his mitt under the seat and at the end of the show Sam couldn't find his mitt. -Jadyn

There was a cat in the play. The play had Mr. Johnson and Fred Penner and 3 other people. The play was really funny. -Rhianna

I sat beside Aliegha and the cat was scratching his head and he got really angry and shooed it off. Then he was chasing the cat and the cat ran away from him and Fred Penner played his guitar and sang songs. -Madeline

Mr. Johnson was trying to find kitty and he tried to smack him with his book. -Lindsay

Fred Penner tried to teach Mr. Johnson a lesson that he should treat his family the way he wants to be treated. At the end when he learned his manners, the cat had two kittens. -Ashley

There was a song that went "home is a place where you learn to love." -Kendall

The cat was always behind Mr. Johnson and he trying to find it but he couldn't. -Sydney H

The cat was tearing Mr. Johnson's sweater off. It was so funny. The cat was scratching and biting. -Cameron

At the end of the play the cat got little babies and they were really cute. -Rylee

The cat had kittens. The cat was hiding from Mr. Johnson. -Sydney R

At the end the cat was not coming when they sang the cat song. Then they saw his tail and then he was

playing hide and seek. -Sam

After the play was over, a guy had the cat and he put it on my head. -Aliegha

We had lots of fun and at the end me and Tristan laughed a lot. It was so fun. -Tyson

The cat kissed me on the way out. -Ms. Anderlic

This field trip was awesome! I grew up watching Fred Penner's Place on CBC (like many other Canadian kids in the 80's). It was on every morning, around 11 o'clock and I would watch while my mom made lunch. I remember watching him crawl through the hollow log at the beginning and end of the show, and listening to him sing and talk with Word Bird. Needless to say, was very excited to find out that Fred was actually in this show. As we were leaving the theatre, the actors were in the lobby with the cat puppets talking to kids as they left. I couldn't resist the opportunity for a quick photo with Fred. :) What a great way to end the week!

-Mrs. Malkoske

We're back!

Today we did a project with salt and water colour paint and coffee filters and a piece of paper and ice cubes. We put the salt on the ice cubes and then after a while we put some water paint color and we put it on the ice cubes. After the ice cubes were all colourful and it looked so cool because the salt soaked in and the water went corner to corner like connect the dots. -Ashley
Today I did water color paint and we put it on ice cubes. -Nick
Today closer to the end of the day. We were watching some videos about science! One of the experiments was with dry ice. -Kendall
Today we had gym and in gym we had jungle gym. I had fun. -Kaspir
At the end of the day we went to library and we read some books and it was fun. We read 4 books. After that a visitor is going to come. It is Olivia's mom. It is going to be awesome! -Cameron

Where is everybody?

Hello Room 9 followers! You might have noticed our lack of posts this week... our computers are down at school because they are being refreshed by our school division. Hopefully we'll be back to blogging by the end of the week! Many of the students of Room 9 have been posting on their KidBlogs from home. Here's the link again... Our KidBlogs
-Mrs. Malkoske

A Skype Call To Singapore

On Thursday we had a Skype call to Singapore. With Ms. Krochak. The time is different there. So it was night. All of us enjoyed Skyping with Ms.Krochalk. Here is a video of our call:

Digital Learning Day and KidBlogs!

This morning while I was having my breakfast I was checking my Twitter feed and noticed a few tweets about Digital Learning Day (which is today). Many of the teachers I follow were encouraging each other to try something new with their students using Web 2.0 tools. I thought that this was a great challenge and started thinking about what new technology tool I might share with the kids of Room 9 during our computer lab time at the end of the day today. I thought about putting together a quick FLIP video, or trying out a new tool like Voki or Voicethread, or maybe just taking some time to try out some of the new sites on our wiki. However, during Daily 5 this morning, my plans changed. Here's what happened...

Tristan was working on a piece of writing on one of our laptops and wanted to show me. I sat down with him and read his writing, a detailed piece about himself full of great descriptions and interesting facts. It sounded like the kind of description bloggers post to their blogs to introduce themselve to readers. During our writing conference I shared my reaction with him and asked if having a blog would be something he'd be interested in. He had lots of questions and was pretty excited about the possibility however, he wanted more information before committing to the idea (and I wasn't totally sure I was ready to "let go" of one of my classroom bloggers :) I gave him the option to check out some other student blogs during the next round of Daily 5 so that he could see what other kids in other schools are doing. After a few minutes, he was sold. I set up a KidBlogs account for him within my teacher account and together we posted his first piece.

Little did we know, there were many eyes watching and wondering what we were up to as we moved from laptop to classroom computer. A few students figured out what Tristan and I were doing and word spread through the room like wildfire. For the next few minutes all I heard was:

Can I go next?   I wanna do that!    Is that his own blog?!?    Can I go next?!   Can I go next?!!

As the kids went out for recess, I thought to myself - What have you gotten yourself into now? Setting up individual blogs takes a bit of work, as does moderating all of the posts and comments. But, if a little bit of work on my part will give my students new motivation to write, edit, revise, talk about words and spelling, and to reply to comments and questions about their writing, then I'm sold too. To see an 8 year old boy get excited about writing (of course while playing it very cool) and ask if he can do it at home on the weekend is pretty awesome.

As an educator, I believe that using technology in teaching is no longer an option, it is a necessity. The children in my classroom are "digital natives", meaning they have grown up surrounded by technology and will continue to be no matter what path their lives take. They are "programmed" differently than the adults around them and learn to use technology quickly and efficiently. However, I discovered this morning that using old technology is a different story....

This morning I found some books with cassette tapes in the library and brought them into the classroom for the kids to use during Daily 5. As the first group pulled out their books and the cassette tapes, a discussion ensued (which I assumed was about the book that was chosen) and then one of the members came to me (cassette in hand) and said, "We don't know what to do with this". I showed them how to put the tape in the stereo, and walked away. After about 5 seconds I heard one of them say, "It's not working. It didn't start. It just sounds like shhhhhhh" As I started to walk back toward the group (assuming that there was something wrong with the stereo) one of the kids said "Wait! Now it's going". They of course didn't realize that when you start a tape from the very beginning there is a slight delay as the tape spins to the right place. It doesn't start instantly like a CD or an iPod. That short pause threw them for a bit of a loop. Afterwards when I explained that you could flip the tape over and hear something different, I was met with blank stares. I was not speaking their language. I'm considering bringing in my old record player tomorrow :)

So, I needed to make a decision about who, and how, and when other children would be able to start their blogs. I decided that the best time would be today, while the idea is fresh and their excitement is high. Over the lunch hour I set up KidBlog accounts for all of the kids in our class and decided that we'd try it out in the lab at the end of the day. It went very well with one student, so why not try 25 all at once! As always I was surprised and impressed by my 25. Before I was logged in and had the Smartboard running, most of them had made their way to their blog and had begun posting. They took their job seriously and many decided not to post their piece today as they wanted more time to add to, revise and read over their writing before other people would be able to see it. I think that this makes it all worth the effort. They took their writing seriously and wanted it to be their best work. When the kids write in their notebooks their audience is me and maybe a couple of classmates. Blogging broadens their audience and has motivated many of the children think about the quality of their writing, spelling and word choice, and interest level in just one day... I think that's pretty awesome too.

So here it is... the link to our KidBlogs. Please read them, write a comment for someone, and keep checking back for more! If you leave a comment, here is our criteria :)

A note about KidBlogs...

KidBlogs is a blogging platform that allows teachers to set up accounts for their students under the umbrella of a classroom account. This means that I have complete control over what is posted to each blog. Before any post or comment appears online, I receive an email and then have the option to approve, deny, or edit the post or comment. If the post or comment meets our criteria, I approve it and then it can been seen by others. I moderate everything and choose what goes live.