Back to School

This past Thursday was the first day of school, and the first day of my second year teaching with 1:1 Chromebooks. I was excited to meet my new students and right away introduced myself as their "geeky, tech-obsessed" teacher and to show them around their new classroom because I have recently acquired a SMART Kapp board and brand new, top of the line SMART Board 6065 (interactive flat panel), so my classroom looks beautiful and super high-tech. I'm really proud of this - I've worked hard to get these things and couldn't be more excited to use these new tools in my classroom.

The first day of school was busy and filled with introductions and paperwork, so there wasn't really time to get out Chromebooks and play, but my students' eyes LIT UP when I told them that I had no problem with them using their cell phones and devices as tools to help their learning! They've never been told this before, but I wanted them to know right away that I'm pro-technology, as long as it's being used appropriately. I think it set a good tone.

The second day we started right off with Chromebooks and after configuring settings and bookmarking some pages, I gave them their first assignment: a fun geography/math/Google search challenge I created in Google Earth Tour Builder. Have you used Tour Builder? If not, it's a fantastic tool from Google Geo that allows you to create a tour made up of stop anywhere in the world. You can add text and photos to each stop for students. The applications for this are endless, but for this first introductory activity, I took students on a tour of world landmarks and asked a question they'd have to answer correctly before being able to go on to the next stop (answers were recorded in a linked Google Form with data validation). Check out my activity here - and even play it yourself! The teachers I shared it with had fun doing it, too! My students ended the day excited about sixth grade and using technology, and I consider that a successful first week of school.

The 7 Most Powerful Idea Shifts in Learning Today

From www.teachthought.com - May 22, 4:44 PM

I came across this infographic on Twitter and really liked its ideas. (The full article can be found here).  Sometimes, we get so focused on the day to day changes in education - integrating technology into our specific lessons, mastering the new Common Core Standards, getting students to understand a math concept, etc. - that we forget to step back and look at the big picture that drives the small changes in our daily instructional decisions.  I agree with all of these and think it's a good reminder of the exciting educational shifts we, as educators, are a part of.

Class Size

I recently attended a Global Educators Summit hosted by SMART Technologies in Calgary, Canada. There were 77 educators representing 22 countries in attendance, and we spent a week learning from and with each other.  One morning over breakfast, the group at my table (10 people - 4 from countries outside the USA, the others  were all from different states within the US) began discussing class sizes.  I was shocked to find that my class size was significantly higher than everyone else's at my table.  I teach sixth grade at an elementary school in California and have, on average, 32-34 students per year (plus those who mainstream in for half the day, so up to 40 bodies in my room).  I was so surprised at the low numbers not only in other countries, but in other states as well.  It made me sad because I really feel like this is a huge factor in the quality of education students receive.  The best teacher in the world can only do so much with 40 students!  I remember saying in full sincerity that morning, "Having only 25 students in a class would change my life!"

So out of curiousity, how many students, on average, do you have in your classroom?

How to Start a Movement

This is my current favorite TED talk.  It's a talk by Derek Sivers about starting a movement.  He uses a silly video as a perfect example to show how a movement is made - one person starts something and people look at him like he's crazy, but as soon as the first follower joins in, it becomes a movement and more and more people join.  I think the reason I love this video is that I often find myself in the "first follower" role regarding technology in my district. A movement is starting, but it's slow going; this video is encouraging!

Here are some of my favorite points he makes:

• The first follower is an underestimated form of leadership in itself. The first follower is what transforms a lone nut into a leader.
• Followers are often more important than the leader because new followers emulate the followers, not the leader.
• As more people join in,  it becomes less risky and there's no reason not to join in.
• We can't all be leaders, so have the courage to follow and show others how to follow.

Bringing History Alive

One of my most successful units last year was on the mystery of Amelia Earhart's disappearance.  This is always an engaging unit for students because  of its intrinsic mystery.  It's built in to part of my nonfiction/informational text unit and we focus on drawing information from a variety of sources and forming and defending opinions based on the evidence we collect.  This year, having Chromebooks during this unit added a whole other layer of depth I was thrilled about.  Students had much more access to information at their fingertips and were able to examine all sorts of theories about her disappearance.  There are countless videos available about her disappearance, but I also encourage students to examine her life before the infamous flight.  We take some time to listen to Earhart's famous "The Future of Women in Flying" speech.  Students love hearing her voice, and this speech always sparks interesting conversation. You can hear the speech for yourself here:

Google Cardboard

Today's post is about my new favorite tech "gadget," Google Cardboard.  I heard about Google Cardboard some time ago from Twitter and some online forums, but didn't fully get what it was.  This past June, I attended the Google Geo Teacher Institute at Google LA in Venice, CA, and got to experience Google Cardboard for myself.  WOW, I was instantly in love!

So, what is it, you ask?  Well, Cardboard is just that - a piece of cardboard folded into a viewfinder (remember the Viewmaster from when we were kids?) with a magnet and two lenses that make a Virtual Reality (VR) device.  You place your device (phone or ipod) into it, run an app (or use Google Maps if you have an Android device) and you're instantly immersed into a VR world where you can look around 360 degrees and even move forward and back, left and right through Google Map's street view of any place in the world, including underwater in places like the Great Barrier Reef!  You really have to experience it for yourself!

We were fortunate enough to be given on Cardboard from the GTI, and I won a second one in a game we played, so now I have two for my classroom.  I haven't figured out exactly how to incorporate them into my teaching just yet, but I'm excited to see what the students think!  Maybe virtual field trips to the Great Pyramid and Sphinx when we study ancient Egypt?  VR walks through the remains of Pompeii and Herculaneum during our volcano unit?  How might you use it?

The Middle

This saying has been around for a long time and applies directly to a debate about generational differences between today's youth and the adults who teach them.  Marc Prensky views today's "digital natives" (younger generation that has grown up with technology) as a completely different animal than "digital immigrants" (older people who have adopted the culture of technology) and goes so far as to say that their brain structure has changed which directly influences the way they think, process information, and learn.  He requires teachers to step up and rethink their teaching styles in ways that will resonate with this new generation of digital natives.  However, Prensky's arguments are met with strong disagreement by Jamie McKenzie who calls him out on the basis that his claims are completely unsubstantiated by research, going so far as to claim that Prensky even misused the anecdotal “evidence” that he presents to support his beliefs.

Given these two opposing views, I refer back to the quote above and say that the truth lies somewhere in the middle.  Extremes are rarely a good thing, and for Prensky to call for a complete overhaul in teaching to adapt to the culture of digital natives is excessive.  For McKenzie to discount all of Prensky's ideas in one fell swoop is equally excessive.  I agree with some of Prensky's ideas about the learners of today being drastically different from previous generations, however, I think he took an extremist and oversimplified point of view in his article.  He makes some valid points - it is our obligation as educators to constantly find creative ways to engage and teach our students, often having to move out of our personal comfort zones to meet them where they're at - but I strongly disagree that video games are the one size fits all solution to this challenge.
Prensky presents his ideas as an extremist, backed with little empirical evidence, but McKenzie, his antagonist, does the same.  In his vehement rebuttal to Prensky's claims, McKenzie comes across as hostile and angry, and while many of his points are valid, he doesn't offer any alternative solutions to the issues at hand; he's seeking only to attack Prenksy and that destructive (as opposed to constructive) approach doesn't make him any more attractive than the claims he seeks to dispel.

Overall, today's learner has changed - their expectations of what school should be and what it takes to engage them is different than in the past due to cultural shift.  Whether we call that a culture of digital natives or not is irrelevant.  Too much focus is wasted on labels and groupings - people are different, students are different, whether that be based on birth year, identified generation, gender, race, socioeconomic status, etc. We, as educators, need to work to meet students where they're at; we have an obligation to provide the best, most relevant education we can to prepare them for their futures.  

References: 
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants – Part II: Do they really think differently? On the Horizon, 9(6). Retrieved from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf

McKenzie, J. (2007). Digital nativism: Digital delusions and digital deprivation. From Now On, 17(2). Retrieved from http://fno.org/nov07/nativism.html

Reeves, T.C. (2008). Do generational differences matter in instructional design? Online discussion presentation to Instructional Technology Forum from January 22-25, 2008 at http://it.coe.uga.edu/itforum/Paper104/ReevesITForumJan08.pdf

Guest Blogger

Today's post is brought to you by a good friend and colleague, Danesa Menge. Danesa and I are the lead tech mentors in our school district and were the first two teachers to pilot 1:1 Chromebooks.  I asked Danesa to choose one of her favorite tech tools that she has had success with in her classroom and write a quick blog post to share it with me. So without further ado, here is Danesa's post about ClassDojo.


It's the time of year...

The Back-to-School commercials and sales are here. Parents are taking their children to the mall for new clothes and supplies, while teachers prepare their room, syllabi, and lessons.

What better time to rethink your classroom methods and tools? This goes for teachers and edusoftware companies, likeClassDojo.

I love ClassDojo! ClassDojo is a way to encourage students, engage parents, and save time! Students of all ages love it! Trust me, my seventh grade students love it! The love the "ping", the rewards, and the instant feedback they receive. Okay, and they can customize their monster avatars too! Parents love it for the same reasons!

But ClassDojo has something new on the horizon. New and AWESOME. They have new features coming out! First up.....




Groups!
Yes, you heard correctly, CLASSDOJO GROUPS!

Teachers have always built their classrooms around collaboration, so why not encourage and around our students in ClassDojo in the same way?


Now you can!


Today you can organize students into groups into tables or into project groups. You'll still be able to reward points, but not you can encourage the whole group for any skill and keep a running total for all points given. Plus, parents can see the group points too!


The ideas are FLOODING in! I have students arranged in groups in class. Now they can create their own group flag and identity that I can give points to throughout each quarter. Then I can give group points for #GeniusHour as they work toward their project goals.


How about using groups when working on global collaboration? Writing projects? Digital Storytelling? Endless possibilities!


Look for the new and improved ClassDojo TODAY!

Senate Passes Every Child Achieves Act, with Music and Arts as Core Subjects, Intact

I recently came across an article on Twitter celebrating the passage of the Every Child Achieves Act by a Senate vote of 81-17. This is important because "by naming music and arts as core subjects in the Every Child Achieves Act, the Senate has acknowledged and begun to address the national problem of the narrowing of the curriculum that has taken place under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) for more than a decade now."


I think that this is a really fantastic development in education. I actually wasn't aware that this was even in the works, but reading it really resonated with me and made me feel inspired because it's another step in a positive direction as we move away from NCLB's often narrow minded view of education. I've been a teacher for 16 years, and in that time I've personally seen an experienced the loss of PE, art, band, and music programs from schools. I think it's sad and an injustice to our students to eliminate these "enrichment" activities in favor of the core academic subjects. The passage of this act by the Senate is a victory and makes me optimistic that we can move back toward a view of education that values the arts as an integral part of human development. As the article states, "The Senate’s action today is an important step forward in ensuring that all students—regardless of their socioeconomic status—experience the demonstrable positive impact that music education has on learning and life."



The complete article can be found at: http://www.nafme.org/senate-passes-every-child-achieves-act-with-music-and-arts-as-core-subjects-in-tact/

Discussion Question

As classrooms move toward being more digital and less paper based, teachers will inevitably be faced with the issue of how to deal with the inequalities between the students who access to technology outside of the classroom and those who do not.  For me, I was excited to be able to assign digital homework and/or extend the digital learning and projects we'd been working on in class outside of the classroom.  However, I quickly realized that not all students had the ability to access digital content from home.  Because of this, I decided to limit the amount of digital homework I assigned to only once a week or so,  to allow students the option of doing the same assignment on paper (if possible), and having my classroom open both before and after school for students to come in and use Chromebooks to get the work done.  I am interested in hearing how others have addressed similar issues.  How are your (or your school/district) addressing the issue of digital inequality?

List

Here is a list of advice I have for the next group of teachers in my district who are starting with 1:1 Chromebooks this year.  These are things I learned from personal experience, or things that really helped me out this past year:

1. Get comfortable with failure and be prepared to do it in front of adults and students and to learn from it.
2. Let the students be in charge - give them a tool/resource and let them figure it out.  You don't have to have it mastered before presenting to students; they'll figure it out quickly!
3. Listen to the students and learn from them and with them.
4. Not everyone thinks and organizes information in the same way - provide a variety of options for students to choose from to demonstrate their understanding.  Don't try to make them work in your box.
5. Always have a Plan B.  You never know when the wifi will go out, etc.
6. You don't have to use every single tool you hear about.  If you start feeling overwhelmed, try choosing to implement one new software/tool/website a month.
7. Use Twitter.  It's an invlauable PLN and quick way to connect to customer service when you encouter issues with certain sites.
8. Go see other teachers teach.  Sometimes, the best ideas come from seeing other teachers use technology in their classrooms.
9. Let students BYOD (bring your own device).  They have their cell phones anyway, why not teach them how to use their powers for good?
10. Encourage others and share your frustrations; don't isolate yourself!

What would you add to this list?

My Favorite Web Tools

Last year was my first year teaching with Chromebooks in the classroom, and I tried out tons of web tools and software.  The following is a list of some of my (and my students') favorites.  Check them out:

• Kahoot! - an interactive, competitive game show type quiz game that allows you to check your students' understanding of a topic.  Students get immediate feedback including correct answers and teachers are provided with a spreadsheet to view students' progress.  Plus, it's super fun!  This is definitely a classroom favorite; students cheer every time they find out it's on the agenda. LESSON IDEA:  Create Kahoot quiz for chapter review before tests!
• SMART amp - cloud-based software that allows students to use their mobile devices to create and discover digital content, and collaborate and share ideas in an interactive workspace.  Teachers create learning spaces for students to inspire collaborative, cooperative learning. LESSON IDEA:  Create an amp space in which students watch an included video about Sparta/Athens, then work collaboratively in the space to sort the symbols based on which city-state they best represent.
• ThingLink - students choose an image and then create hotspot links for specific parts of it to share more information.  Links can include text, videos, more images, web pages, etc.  LESSON IDEA: Choose map of the USA (or a state/country/the world, etc) and include links on each state's capital with information about the state.  Much more interactive and engaging than simply coloring a map and identifying capitals!
• PowToon - software that easily allows students to create animated, cartoon-like presentations.  Students love being able to produce "professional" quality end products.  LESSON IDEA:  Students create and present an animated book report using PowToon rather than a traditional paper format.  
• Weebly - allows students to easily create their own websites and/or blogs.  LESSON IDEA: students can create websites to showcase their progress on a project like Genius Hour or other long-term assignment.
• Newsela - Engaging daily news and current events articles that can be customized by reading level for students.  Quizzes are included and teachers can track students' progress.  LESSON IDEA:  Incorporate into weekly/daily plans to reinforce informational text reading comprehension.
• EdPuzzle - software that allows you to upload a video and include various types of questions at stopping points throughout it to check for students' understanding. LESSON IDEA: Use a YouTube video of Life in Ancient Egypt and place basic comprehension as well as higher-order thinking questions strategically throughout.
• DigitalPassport - Common Sense Media's interactive, fun way to teach digital citizenship.  Lessons are designed for grades 3-5. LESSON IDEA:  Have students complete the lessons to earn their digital passport badge at the beginning of the year to show that they are ready to use technology responsibly in the classroom.

I'd love to hear what some of your favorite Web tools are!  Share links in the comments.

Using Blogs in the Classroom

I read an article in one of the courses I'm taking for my master's degree in EdTech  by Melanie Shoffner entitled Preservice English Teachers and Technology:A Consideration of Weblogs for the EnglishClassroom.  In terms of using blogs with students in the classroom, Shoffner cites the following list of practical questions to consider before using blogs with students in the classroom:

1. Why do I want to use weblogs?
   necessary experience with technology? To engage appropriate literacy or
   critical thinking skills?
   
2. How can weblogs enhance my ability to reach curricular goals and meet content
   standards?
   authentic writing space? By engaging students in collaborative work?
   
3. Are my students capable of handling weblogs? How much previous experience
   have they had with technology, in general, and weblogs, in particular?
   assess students’ past experiences with technology in my classroom?
   
4. How comfortable and knowledgeable am I with weblogs?
   o Have I used weblogs before? Can others guide me from their experiences? Have I considered the benefits and challenges of utilizing weblogs? How are other educators using weblogs in and out of the classroom?
   
5. What weblog technologies are available to me?
   weblog applications? Will school filters allow access to free weblog host
   sites?
   
6. What am I teaching my students with weblogs?
   Writing skills? Technology applications? Collaborative work? Knowledge construction? Critical thinking? Individual reflection?
   
7. How am I going to assess the weblogs?rubric? Holistically? 
8. How will the school environment affect my use of weblogs? 
   In a computer lab or in the classroom? Every day or once a week? During class or at home? 

I really liked this particular set of questions Shoffner cited in her article because they really make teachers think and encourage a clear plan development for using blogs in the classroom.  I've had some experience, both personal and what I've observed with others, where teachers have students start blogging but lose momentum and focus over time because it wasn't a well-developed plan with intentional outcomes and purpose from the get-go.  I think that using these questions prior to having students blog will create a much more meaningful learning experience for both teachers and students.

Shoffner, M. (2007). Preservice english teachers and technology: A consideration of weblogs for the English classroom. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 7(4), 245-255. 

One Year Down

Last year revolutionized my teaching when I received a Chromebook cart stocked with 36 shiny new machines ready for students to use.  While I've always been a lover of technology, I'd never really learned how to teach with it in this 1:1 manner.  I was thrilled to jump in and try everything.  It was an exciting year full of successes, failures, and learning experiences.  I hung this poster up in my classroom and it became an often-referred to acronym in my class of sixth graders:

Photo from www.edgalaxy.com

I've never been someone who is comfortable failing, especially in front of others, adults or students.  I decided to embrace this idea not only to push myself out of my comfort zone as I learned to teach in a whole new way, but also to model for my students that it's okay to fail. Both my students and I found that some of our greatest learning experiences were born out of failures.  Countless times in my classroom, I'd think I had a great tech-based plan/lesson/activity, and we would get all excited, only to have it not work.  But we would all roll with it, often to my class jubilantly shouting, "Fail!" (and I'd join in, of course). Then back to the proverbial drawing board I'd go, figuring out a new solution to the problem. It changed my attitude toward trying new things and I learned more than I ever expected to in one short school year.

So now that my first year of teaching with Chromebooks is behind me, I'm really looking forward to starting off the next school year with a more clear plan in terms of technology integration.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog!  This blog was created to chronicle the second year of my journey teaching with Chromebooks in my sixth grade classroom.  I teach at an elementary school in Oakdale, California and last year I lead the pilot program for 1:1 Chromebooks.  It was an exciting year full of challenges and lots of learning (often by trial and error), and now that the pilot year is under my belt, I'm hoping to blog about how I use Chromebooks and other technology to enhance my instruction.  Approximately 50 more classrooms in our district will be receiving their Chromebooks this upcoming school year and I hope that this blog can help provide some ideas for teachers just starting out like I was a year ago.

Seeming as how it's still summer break (though it seems like it is going by so fast), the blog posts over the next month may be a bit more varied in content.

Thanks for stopping by!