Last Thoughts

This class truly surprised me! If I am honest, I will admit that I was not looking forward to this class at all. I thought I would not be able to use much of the material in my teaching and remained skeptical for a few weeks. Now that the class is almost over, I have to admit that I truly enjoyed it. I learned many new tools such as Animoto, Voki, VoiceThread, blogger, Kidblog, and Wordle. I enjoyed blogging every week and would like to keep it up going forward. I think it would be a great way for collaboration and research among teachers. I would also like to set up Kidblog in my classroom next year to get my students blogging. I think they would benefit from this context of writing. I would also like to use more Animoto with the students. When we finish a text set or unit, I believe the students would enjoy and benefit from being involved in the planning and producing of more videos.
Here is a Wordle I created with some words that reflect what I took away from Technology and Literacy.

 

3-D Coloring Pages

I recently discovered an app called ColAR. It is an app that brings 2-D coloring pages to life through the iPad. You go to their website, print the coloring pages, have studens color, and then use the app to bring the image "to life". I did not realize some coloring pages cost money and was limited to the free sets. Here are a few pictures and videos of my students enjoying the apps. They absolutely loved it!

 

I would recommend reading the blog Tiny Toes for a more comprehensive look at ColAR. Enjoy!

A Few of Your Favorite Things

Tonight in class I learned how to create a survey using Google Forms. Surveys can be used to ask students questions to get to know them at the beginning of the year, learn more about colleagues, or survey parents about classroom environment or homework... to name a few! Here is the form I created as an experiment tonight.

The Wonderful World of Plants

The last unit I completed this school year with one of my small groups was all about plants. I included a variety of lessons, strategies, resources, and tasks in the unit and decided to document it all using Animoto. Animoto is a new tool I learned about in my grad class that is wonderful for creating short videos. I used my iPhone to record students and take pictures, then uploaded the images to Animoto, and created a short film. Before I show you the video, I will quickly explain the outline of the unit.

I began the unit with a text set of Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert, The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle, and How a Seed Grows by Helene J. Jordan. We used Planting a Rainbow to learn about the life cycle of a plant and complete life cycle graphic organizers.

We used The Tiny Seed to learn about what a plant needs to grow and thrive and what causes a plant to die. We completed the cause and effect graphic organizers.

Lastly in the text set, we used How a Seed Grows to learn how to plant a plant. The students participated in discussion and used that information to write their own how-to books. You will hear the students reading their how-to books to you in the video.

After writing their own how-to books, the students were required to plant a bean plant by following another student's how-to book. In an attempt to have students participate in discussion and give constructive feedback, I encouraged the students to give one strength/compliment and one area that needed improvement to the author of the how-to book. This was a great way for the students to think about what worked well in their writing and what they need to improve.

As a final activity with the unit, the students completed observation journals. Every time the small group came to my classroom, the three students would write a sentence or two documenting what they saw in their bean plants (dirt, stem, leaves, etc.) and draw a picture to match their sentence(s). The observation journals gave the students the opportunity to make predictions about their plants, give thoughtful reasons as to why their plants may not be growing, and participate in science.

Overall I my students LOVED using the iPhone to take pictures and videos. They loved being recorded and then commenting about their readings for the video. It was a great activity to introduce students to movie making and all the steps that are involved. I plan to have students use more technology to make videos and document their learning next year.

I thoroughly enjoyed this unit and I know the students did as well. Hope you enjoy the video!  

Classroom Rules and Expectations Digital Story

I started creating a digital story about my classroom rules and expectations to fulfill a requirement for my grad class, but quickly realized it was a great way to connect with parents, intrigue students, show student work, and use as a tool for instruction. I decided it would be really neat to use current students to make a video for my incoming students in the fall. I had students assist me in brainstorming different rules and/or expectations in my class to begin. I then took their list and used the students to model different positive actions in my classroom. I complied all the pictures and videos and added commentary to finish it off. Here's what I created.



I used a new tool called VoiceThread to compile all my pictures and instructions.I found VoiceThread to be straightforward and easy to use. Below I've listed a few of the ways I think VoiceThread could be used.

- Student documentation of his/her own story
- Read aloud of a book for a listening station
- Lesson introductions with pictures of a concept (i.e. intro to shapes create a short digital story displaying different shapes you see around the house and school)
- Practicing math facts, sight words, letters, numbers, etc.
- Introduction of classmates and/or teacher
- Classroom rules and expectations

Let me know if you use VoiceThread and how you use it in your classroom!

Hip Hop is Powerful

A few days ago I was telling a friend about the Talent Show we had at school and described the dance moves, songs, and true talent students at my school have. I love the talent show every year because it is a window into students true interests and talents that are not always seen in the classroom. My friend asked if I had ever heard of Chris Emdim. I stared at her and said "No, the name doesn't sound familiar." She went on to tell me how this man has started what's called Science Genius and #hiphopEd to use hip hop as a means of teaching science. He is an advocate for engaging students in a real way to encourage learning. Check out this short video to get an idea of what I'm talking about.

 Now, I know a lot of people reading this probably work with elementary age students and as you can see this video focused on high school students. I still think there's something to be said about using hip hop to engage students of all ages. I would love to do more research this summer to learn how the brain is activated when rapping and find more raps to use in my classroom. I know it would engage many of my students and encourage them to use some of their talents more frequently in the classroom. I sometimes encourage my students to write a rap with their sight words or beat box to a math problem, but most students look at me, turn red, and say "No, I can't do that." If I began lessons with a rap to introduce a concept or showed a rap for more practice with a math equation, students may be more apt to create their own rap. Using hip hop is something I would like to try going forward as I feel it could truly make a difference for my students.

Goals of Student Blogging

This summer I plan to level my classroom library (I know! It's really sad it's not leveled, but cut me some slack. I'm a newer teacher without a full classroom of students), plan unit themes, and compile specific activities for each concept I teach. I feel like these are the typical items on every teacher's summer "To-Do List", but now I have a new item to add to my summer to-do list. It is to research and become extraordinarily familiar with student blogging. Through my grad course I have become aware of the incredible opportunities available to teachers and students to expand student learning. Here are just a few classroom blogs I've explored recently.

This is a classroom blog with first graders. 

This is a classroom blog with second graders.

As you can see, it's amazing what students decide to write about! Some students write about very influential and passionate topics, others write to persuade, and some write to express emotion. Blog writing also challenges students to write for a different audience. Students become accustomed to writing for their teacher and no one else. The blogging world allows students to consider people around the world that might be their readers.

Writing is often a difficult task for my students, but if I introduced blogging into writing I think students would be incredibly motivated. My hope is to research student blogging this summer and begin implementing student blogging in the fall. I would like to get my older students started at the start of the year. Two things I want to keep in mind as I begin student blogging is 1) Set a specific time each week to allow students to write on their blogs and 2) Keep blogging student centered. 

Here we go!