Collaborative Project

For our collaborative project, Sara Tracy, Charissa Widman, and I worked together.  Our classes created projects using Storyjumper, and students posted comments on projects from other classrooms.  My students were instructed to choose at least three projects from each classroom and comment using the 1 star, 1 wish feedback.  The star is one thing that they really enjoyed seeing in the project, and the wish is a suggestion.  This provides a great opportunity for students to give feedback on others outside of our classroom.  My students also enjoyed viewing other Storyjumper books because it gave them more ideas of what to include in their own books!

Lessons Taught & Lessons Learned

As I reflect over the course of the semester, I realized I have integrated more technology into my teaching than I ever have before.  I now feel more comfortable trying out new technology resources with my students.  Previously, I was too scared that the lesson would be a total flop or that my students would know more about computers than I do.  As it turns out, I am knowledgeable, capable, and confident in teaching my students skills with the use of technology.  Listed below are the TOP 5 lessons I have learned from taking this technology class:

1.  Story Jumper

The biggest thing I have taken away from this class is to have students create, not just consume, technology as it helps prepare them for their future using 21^st century skills.  I encouraged my students to write a book using www.storyjumper.com.  Not only did they learn keyboarding skills by typing out their personal narratives, they also learned how to create a picture book.  All of my students were so engaged while using Storyjumper- I just wish they would be as enthusiastic to work diligently when we have out our notebook paper and pencils!

2.  Kahoot

Talk about a great review!  My first Kahoot was a weekly vocabulary review on kahoot.it.   I loved how it shows the student responses immediately.  If many students got the answer incorrect, we were able to stop and have a discussion about it.  I plan to use Kahoot for more weekly or unit reviews next school year! 

3.  Educreations/Screencasts

I had the perfect opportunity to send a screencast to one of my student’s parent.  I received an e-mail from a parent on how to find fractional parts of a group because her daughter did not remember and needed to know for her homework.  I quickly (and easily!) made a screencast on Educreations to show the steps to finding fractional parts of a group.  My student came back the next day knowing how to solve these kinds of problems and kept reminding me about how I sent her a video of myself talking!  I am so thankful I learned about Educreations because it made my response to this parent's question WAY more understandable!  My screencast is below.

https://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/fractional-parts-of-a-group/30982367/?s=b7RCyo

4.  Twitter

I joined in on my first Twitter chat one bright and early Saturday morning.  The #nt2t chat focused on global connections.  I loved the topic and discussion... when I could keep up.  The chat went way too fast for me, and I struggled to keep up with everyone.   Using Twitter was a new experience for me.  In order to continue using Twitter, I need to work on figuring out all the buttons/features first.  Then I think I’ll be able to concentrate more on the conversation (and hopefully contribute more to it, too!)

             

5.  Haiku Deck/Digital Citizenship

Haiku Deck was quite interesting for us.  Students created slides to represent eight vocabulary words from the week.  They were to display the word, a meaningful sentence, and a picture.  One of my students quickly found out that there are inappropriate pictures to choose from on this site.  This brought up a good opportunity to review digital citizenship.  Even though Haiku Deck is simple to use, I don’t recommend it for all students because of the ease of finding inappropriate pictures that do not really even relate to the word being searched.

 

Haiku Deck

A recent project my third grade students worked on was a vocabulary slideshow using Haiku Deck.  Students created slides for all 8 vocabulary words of the week.  They wrote a meaningful sentence and chose a picture from the website to represent each word.  Although Haiku Deck is easy for young children to use, this is a resource that I don’t plan on using with students again because of inappropriate images.  We found out that there are some pictures within the photo search on the website that are not school-appropriate.  One student added it to her slideshow to be funny.  It provided a good opportunity for a teaching moment about digital citizenship.  Because of this experience, I plan to look for alternate resources to use for reviewing vocabulary. 

Cookie Dough Ball recipe

Thanks for letting me try out a new Pinterest recipe for class snacks today!  If you are interested, here is the website for the cookie dough ball recipe.

http://www.iheartnaptime.net/chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-truffles/

Enjoy!

Creativity

After reviewing the ISTE standards for students on its website, creativity is defined by having “students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.”  Some ways to include creativity in the classroom are by

·       Producing new ideas, products, or processes by applying already existing knowledge

·       Expressing oneself by creating an original piece of work

·       Using simulations or models to investigate complex ideas

·       Making predictions and pinpointing trends

I plan to do a project with my students using Story Jumper.  My third graders are in the process of writing personal narratives this quarter.  To publish their piece of writing, students will create a 5-page book on Story Jumper.  They will include their introduction on the first page, their beginning on the second page, their middle on the third page, and their end on the fourth page.  The fifth and last page of their book will be their conclusion.  Students will be able to add photos from home or images (props) already on Story Jumper. This project fits into the following ISTE standards

1. Creativity and Innovation- helps students express themselves by creating an original personal narrative using technology

2. Communication and Collaboration- communicate ideas effectively to multiple audiences using different kinds of media

3. Research and Information Fluency- n/a for this project

4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making- plan and manage activities to complete this project

5. Digital Citizenship- students practice safe, legal, and responsible use of technology

6. Technology Operations and Concepts- uses technology effectively and productively

Popplet personal narrative graphic organizer

I used Popplet to create a graphic organizer for a personal narrative. 
Ease of creation: Very easy!  My third graders will have no trouble creating this organizer.  It is simple to use, yet gives students a few choices in color, font, and organization.  I like how you can place each popplet anywhere on the screen that you prefer.  I chose to do a "mountain" where the pinnacle moment is on top.
Clarity: Popplet is very clear on how to get started in creating a Popplet, and you choose the organization of ideas.
Ability to Insert pictures: Pictures are super easy to insert.  A photo icon appears on the bottom right of each popplet where you can easily access pictures from vimeo, YouTube, or your computer.  You may also draw your own picture (I prefer to insert one already created!)
Suggested age level: This can be used for any grade level- You can make it as simple or as detailed as you want.

Of course, the traditional strategies of teaching writing will always be there, but technology can play a huge role in teaching writing.  Instead of having students plan their writing on paper, they and quickly and easily make a Popplet!  The article by Bogard and McMakin (2012) share other ideas about ways to teach writing using new literacies.  Two that stuck out to me were having students engage in recorded oral rehearsal with technology and to share these with a partner by listening to each others recordings and giving feedback to one another.

Flipping the Classroom screencast

I am interested in learning more about flipping the classroom!  First, I would love to observe it in action in order to wrap my head around the idea.  I like how I could serve as a coach rather than a lecturer.  I feel, though, that it would take a lot of communication with students and parents to implement such a task and to have them on board, but I think it could be really cool! 

This screencast addresses possessive pronouns.  My third graders will be learning about possessive pronouns in grammar next week.  Here is the link for my lesson:
https://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/possessive-prounouns/30095788/?s=WFbqfJ

Because not all of my students have access to the Internet at home, I plan to show this screencast at the end of a grammar lesson the day before our lesson on possessive pronouns.  It will set them up for the lesson the next day. 

I can see how beneficial it would be for students to watch these lessons at home so they come ready to practice the skill at school.  But I have more questions on how to flip a classroom when not every child has the opportunity to view it at home.  Any suggestions?

Digital Citizenship

I find the Common Sense Media Curriculum to be helpful in teaching my students about digital citizenship.  Here are a few examples I plan to use in my classroom…

1.  Video showing how to search for information online-

There are short 2-3 minute video clips featuring kids using technology.  Topics range from searching online to cyberbullying.  I plan to use the video about a boy who is interested in searching for baseball pitchers online and the process he goes through to find relevant details.  This would be especially helpful during our research unit in writing.

2.  Preventing identity thief online-

One lesson discusses how to stay safe on the Internet by identifying personal information vs. private information.  Students learn that private information should not be shared to protect from online identity theft.  Students can complete a chart in which they have to decide which examples are personal information, such as the name of a pet, and which information is private, such as a home address. 

3. Post the technology care poster-

This poster shows 5 ways to be responsible when using technology (don’t get it wet, share with others, be gentle, turn it off when not in use, and carry it with two hands).  It serves a great visual to remind students how to care for technology.  I am getting this printed pronto!

First Twitter chat

I just finished my first Twitter chat on #nt2t!  The topic was on global connections.  Here are a few new bits of information that I gathered from this chat...

1. Many people are very welcoming of new users.  Their encouraging words and welcoming vibes helped me to feel more comfortable about using Twitter (because I had no idea what I was doing!)
2. The chats go way too fast for me.  It was difficult to keep up with the conversations because I'm still figuring out all the options on Twitter.  I'd be reading the conversation, forming my thoughts, and then realize I have 30-40 new results to read!  It was somewhat overwhelming, but I can see myself getting used to it with more frequent use.
3. I took me a moment to figure out the lingo.  FYI, Ss means students and Ts means teachers.
4. There is analytical information available that you can check out about your Twitter use.  Within the conversation, we were asked to find how many global followers we have.  I was able to get on the analytical page but could not find my percentage.  If you have any suggestions on how to do this, please let me know!
5. I would love to set up a virtual field trip/pen pal with a school from another country!  Many of my students don't have the opportunity to travel out of NE, so it would be quite eye-opening if they could view and visit with a school in another country.  How do I go about getting this set up?   

Preparing Students for 21st Century Skills

Preparing Students for 21^st Century Skills

Over many years, schools have been teaching students how to read, write, and communicate.  However, recent technology advances have caused us to evolve our teaching methods.  In the 21^st century, we have learned to expand these reading, writing, and communication skills while utilizing the Internet.  It truly is important that we are teaching these “new literacies” in our classrooms today.  In Donald Leu’s article Preparing Students for the 21^st Century, he mentions five skill sets that are important for today’s school-age children to learn.

1. Identifying Important Questions

2. Locating Important Information

3. Critically Evaluating Information

4. Synthesizing Information

5. Communication Information

My third grade students worked on research reports last quarter.  They used both books and online resources to locate accurate information about a country of their choosing.  In order to do this research report, my students used all of these skill sets when using the Internet to find information for their report.  Two sites they used at school were Culture Grams and Kids InfoBits.  Both of these sites were accessible on our school’s media center website.  Although students were offered the opportunity to access information on their country at home using the Internet, only about 20% did.  One reason for this is due to the socioeconomic disadvantages affecting some of our students.  Not all of my students have access to Internet at home.  After reading the article How Teachers are Using Technology at Home and in Their Classrooms, I can relate to the comment about greater disparities between affluent and low-income schools when thinking about how I can best support 21^st century skills that these students will need for future jobs.

Culture Grams       Kids InfoBits

 

Creation, not Consumption

            The Free Tech for Teachers blog has so many inspiring new technologies that I can incorporate in my classroom!  I am most excited about a new technology idea found on readwritethink.org.  Students have the ability to create a Venn Diagram using an iPad, laptop, or desktop.  After reading the article on Creation Versus Consumption, I realized that all of the technology we use in my classroom is for consuming information (or assessing).  While watching the YouTube video “Learning and Creating with iPads in Kindergarten,” I was impressed that five-year-olds can properly take pictures and make a movie to align with their butterfly unit.  That’s quite impressive! 

            There was a statement in the TPACK article that stood out to me, “Teachers need to reject functional fixedness (Duncker, 1945) and develop skills to look beyond most common uses for technologies…”  This spoke to me because in the elementary setting, I am fixed on the idea of having students “get” information from technology.  Where is the time for creative technology projects?  I feel, though, that it is an important skill to be able to “create” work using technology.  It will also be a skill that sticks with a student because they are active members in constructing their learning.

            A couple weeks ago, our 3^rd grade comprehension skill was identifying and using Compare & Contrast.  Students made Venn Diagrams on posters to find similarities and differences of animals in the Mojave Desert…how boring, especially since they could have used technology to complete this assignment!  I plan to use the readwritethink.org Student Interactive Venn Diagram when we study Causes & Effects again!

thinkwriteread.org- Student Interactive Venn Diagram

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/venn-diagram-30973.html