Snow Days are sNOw Problem

When you live in Southern Indiana, you never know what kind of winter you are going to get.  Some years we may scrape by with a few school delays, and then there are years such as last where we get absolutely pummeled with constant snow and ice.  In total, we lost 17 days of instruction through the 2013-2014 winter.  We made up all of these snow days by extending our days by one hour for weeks on end.  

As much fun as THAT was, this year we were very excited with the prospect of Virtual Days when snow came a calling.  Except, well, the snow has decided to snub its nose at us and instead bury our northern neighbors this winter.  We’ve had a whopping ONE snow day, and that was way back in November.  

Quite honestly it’s been a blessing for many reasons. Not only has our instruction been consistent this winter, but we’ve been able to truly prepare for Virtual Days the way we need to.  There were many questions to consider for our school system concerning Virtual Learning Days.  Everything from student connectivity to providing on-call services has been questioned and subsequently answered.  For our 3rd-12th graders, this was to be a bit easier as they take their devices home daily.  The biggest questions remained for our littlest students.  How would they fare taking their devices home? What would their instruction look like?  

When asked to share with our school board an example lesson plan for primary students for Virtual Learning Days, our wheels started spinning.  Since technology is infused into our curriculum daily, it wasn’t hard to think of lessons the kids could complete using their iPads.  We also had to consider the fact that a good portion of our students don’t have internet access at home.  While this doesn’t pose a problem, it does show the importance of making sure kids are CREATING, not just engaged in a program.  (Amen!)

After presenting at the school board meeting, along with some wonderful intermediate grade counterparts, the board approved our Virtual Learning Day trial for February 16.  We are excited that this possibility is now a reality.  We are confident that this option for our wack Southern Indiana weather will help save summer.  

First and foremost, the app that will be the thread that holds these assignments together is the Book Creator app.  Whatever you do, get this app.  It is versatile, engaging, and so incredibly useful.  My students use it daily for our reading response notebooks (formerly done in spiral bound notebooks) and our math journals (formerly a cut-and-paste mess in a composition notebook).  For our VLD, we created a book that is the one-stop-shop for our student assignments.  A fantastic feature of this app is that you can record sound to each page.  The issue of parents not being off work on Monday, with students left to complete assignments at daycare?  No problem!  Just record yourself saying the directions, and students can complete this independently!

To create a book such as this one in Book Creator, simply create slides in Keynote (or PowerPoint, if that's how you roll), and save them as images. Then, I loaded the images into Google Drive, and inserted them into the Book Creator app as a new book. To push the book out to students, I loaded the completed book into eBackpack (Showbie would be a great alternative to this task as well.) and pushed it out to my students. Before leaving school on Friday, students downloaded the books to their devices. They were ready to roll!

Here is a peek into what Brittany's kiddos will be engaged in from home on that day.

Brittany's Lesson Plans

Tiffany's Lesson Plans (original plans)  I need to give credit to my teaching partner, Kala Cudjoe for the Book Creator work.  It was her fantastic idea to put everything into one space.  Since I am out on maternity leave, she really took the lead on creating our Book Creator eLearning Day book! 

Sample Page from our Book Creator eLearning Day book.

Students will add photos to the above mat.

Here are the original plans we created for this day.  They were later modified.

Later we added thumbnail photos of the apps and tweaked a few activities 

to work for our entire first grade team.  

This first grader is learning from the comfort of her own couch! Priceless!

Hour of Code Unlocked

I'm sure by now you've heard of coding in the classroom, or maybe even heard of dedicating to an "Hour of Code."  For those of you who haven't, in a nutshell coding is the language that computers and the like speak.

Why is it so important for kids to learn this skill?  For one, in an increasingly digital age it will be important for students to not only understand technology, but control it as well.  Students also gain valuable logic and reasoning skills as they work to overcome obstacles or create tasks for the computer/machine to do.

Deeper than that, providing students with the experience of learning a computer's language will perhaps plant a seed that will someday blossom into a career.  For many students who have deficits in literacy, coding may provide them a level of confidence that they lack in that area of their academic life.

I've shared before that I am the sponsor of my school's tech club for 4th and 5th grade students...Go Tech Ninjas!  I was very excited to bring the world of coding to their fingertips in our most recent meetings.

Here is how we unlocked the world of coding in the classroom.

1. Provide a Purpose

My husband is a tech guru.  He's an Apple certified, degree-holding computer engineer.  He understands things in ways that I simply do not, but I like to think that is vice-versa!  Let's just say we make a great team.  So since he's had plenty of experience in the real-life coding world, I asked him to come and speak with my Ninjas.  Why?  To show them that there is an actual, real-world purpose for what we were about to do.  He shared with them some of the programming that we use in the district to track student information.  I wanted to show kids that this is something that someday, they could make a career of.

2. Give them a Starting Point

Coding can seem daunting at first.  At a glance, at best it looks like a bunch of random letters, numbers, and symbols.  However, once you are able to "crack the code" it's actually fairly simple.  We used Crunczilla's Code Monster to get a taste for coding language. (Link in photo.)

The great thing about this website, is that it's suitable for a wide range of users.  Code Monster is geared toward pre-teens or younger with help.  In our case, it was younger.  In this free program, students are given tasks to complete.  As they are prompted to change various pieces of code, they are able to see an instant visual of what their code is doing.  For example, if they change a certain number, it will increase or decrease the size of a box.  As they work through the tasks, it gets gradually harder.

This was a great way to start because it allowed students to a) see actual coding language and b) see instant visuals of their work.

3. Bump It Up via Gaming

After I felt students had a sense of what coding is and what it is capable of, we moved to another great website, Tynker.  What I love about Tynker, is that it presents the world of coding in gaming format.  This is INSTANT engagement.  While my students enjoyed Code Monster, they LOVED the games they found on Tynker.

Another great thing about this site, is that it provides teachers with a section just for Hour of Code initiatives providing a free place to check it out.  They have varying levels of software for purchase if you so desire to further explore.  The photo below will link you to the Hour of Code section for teachers.

Each game provides the student with a task.  They may have to make a monster go so many steps to eat a jellybean.  The code is provided in the form of "building blocks" that they must string together to make their character move, jump, etc.  As each game progresses, the tasks become more and more difficult.

The gaming is extremely audio-visual with its bright colors and sound effects.  Students are also able to build their own avatars (and you know they love that).  The format Tynker provides gives even the most weary teacher and student the feeling that they CAN do it.

4. Make it Tangible

I come from a land of plenty when it comes to technology.  Our science department is fortunate to have a robotics program.  What's REALLY fortunate for me...I graduated with the teacher of this robotics program, and she was willing to share.  My Tech Ninjas had the incredible opportunity to take what they learned in Hour of Code and translate it into something tangible in their hands.

Follow the photo link to our Tech Ninja Facebook page to watch a video created by one of my students.  He does a great job of explaining! Go ahead and "like" our page while you're there!

So here's the thing.  You don't have to make it all the way to Step 4.  I know how lucky we are to have such resources at our hands.  If you are interested, check into other programs such as Lego Mindstorm. At the very least, take an hour out of your day to inspire your students with the world of code.

Enjoy!

-Tiffany

The Power of Podcasting with Kids

Kids are amazing.  Powerful.

That's exactly why we love technology so much.  When you put two great powers together, the results are often beyond what we as teachers can dream up.

This past fall I finally put a dream into action and started a tech club at my elementary school.  They are deemed the Tech Ninjas.  Why Ninjas?  Think about it.  Ninjas are highly skilled and pretty, um, awesome.  Our most recent project has me really excited.

Except the thought of this project wouldn't have excited me much a few years ago.  Podcasting always seemed like something boring people did while they drove long commutes (sorry, honey).  This past summer; however, my eyes were opened to the new possibilities podcasting could bring to the classroom.

So this past week, we began our adventures in podcasting.

Like all good projects should, it started with a driving question.

How can we share timely, relevant, and interesting information with our peers and school community?  

Not only does this question beg students to think about the how, but it forces students to think about what is "interesting" and "relevant."  THIS is the definition of kid-empowerment.  We just used the podcasting format (technology) to FUEL their creativity.  It also brought great discussion about the best ways to share with our peers.  Thankfully, our principal has agreed to include the link in our weekly newsletter.  

So after a great brainstorming session (we used GoogleDrive to share our thoughts and notes), students broke into teams to write their scripts.  Students chose which group based upon what they felt most passionate about.  We also talked bout how this project would be fluid.  That it should evolve over time as our knowledge base and expertise grows.

This is the "weather" group working on their script. 

Now for this "pilot" edition of our podcast, I knew it wasn't going to be perfect.  THAT'S O....K...!  When you step back and allow kids to learn on their own, you have to have realistic expectations.  As time goes on, I will expect that scripts are fully researched and edited.  This first session was more about "getting pen to paper" and building excitement.  (By pen to paper, I really mean they used a note-taking app of choice!)

What I did want to do for them was model good voice.  So we sat in a circle on the floor together.  I modeled for them what a good "radio" voice might sound like.  I also modeled what a terrible voice sounds like.  This is extremely important with podcasting.  It's also a good opportunity to make kids laugh (robot voice, squeaky voice...you get it).  

Then it was time to record.  I'd like to say that we did it so right on the first time, that we ended the club session early that day.  Nope.  Not even close.  In fact, the one who messed up the most?  Me.  Yes, I admit it.  

I am still playing with different audio apps.  For this session we used Voice Record Pro.  I have access to GarageBand on my Mac, and I plan to try it out next time.  Not only will this be an evolving process for the kids, but for me as well.  I have no gripes with VRP.  I'll let you listen and see what you think! 

So I encourage you to think about podcasting in the classroom.  

Here are a few ways you might incorporate them.

• Pretend to podcast live from a specific time period or event in history.
• "How To" do almost anything (would tie great with "how to" writing).
• Reviews of movies, games, toys, etc.  
• Biographies of famous characters or Autobiographies
• Travel casts that provide information and persuade viewers to visit

Get recording!

-Tiffany

It's Not About Us

I'm what you might call a "change junkie."

This past Sunday, the sermon coming from the pulpit was all about change.  Now I know the preacher was talking about change within the church, but this week it's really got me to thinking.

The fear of tech integration isn't really about the technology.  It's about the fear of change.

It's been said time and again throughout my ten years of teaching, that all things go in cycles.  For example, when I was a first grader back in the late 80's, teachers were gung-ho about the concept of "whole reading."  When I got to college, I had no clue what a phoneme was let alone a diphthong.  That word just sounded...well...wrong!  Even I in my shortish teaching career have seen theories and methods come and go.

But the one thing that has stayed constant- the thing that has kept education moving forward- is change.

Now I don't expect everyone to get the same thrill I do about new concepts or techniques.  Like the preacher said, if everyone was an ignitor of change, then all we'd be doing is sitting around THINKING up great ideas.  What we truly need, is a collective agreement to work together to try new things.  Explore new concepts.  Tackle what seems impossible.

Because here's the thing.  It's not about us.

I was sitting here today watching my two year old on my iPad which is something I've done every single day of this maternity leave.  However, what I stumbled upon today while watching was the incredible ease with which she was problem solving.  Sure, she can manipulate apps, swipe to turn it on, etc.  For a moment, a small glitch occurred.  Something that must happen a dozen times a day in the classroom full of iPads.  What did she do?  I watched as she tried multiple ways to get the device to cooperate.

Will hitting the home button work? No... What if I double click then swipe the app closed?  Ahh...yes!

She's two.  And a half.  (I'll give you that.)

She didn't panic.  She didn't scream for mommy to come help.  She just worked with it until it did what she wanted it to do.  Simple as that.

Ahhh...it's not about us. It's about them.

Them.  The ones who are sitting in our classrooms every single day who go home and spend an hour or so on a device.

Them.  The ones such as my daughter who have never known anything other than a touch screen.

Them.  The ones who will someday fear the newness of what technology will bring in their lifetime.

So we need to set ourselves aside.  Look at change from a new perspective.  How would I want my students to see something new I present them?  Would I want them to protest or refuse to learn?  Would I want them to quit? Give in? Cross their arms and throw in the towel?

Of course not.  I want them to be challenged.  To embrace learning.  They don't always have to love it, but neither do we.

What we do have to do, is try.  Have an open mind.  Who knows?

We may just end up loving it...even if we won't admit it.

-Tiffany

Snow Much Fun with ChatterPix

Hi there!  Notice anything new?  Our new blog design is up and running, thanks to the amazing Megan from A Bird In Hand Designs.  We love our new look, and we hope you do, too.

My kindergarten class has been studying states of matter this week.  We've been working hard to learn about solids, liquids, and gases.  We've utilized BrainPop Jr. for some fantastic resources on the topic.  Today, we used PicCollage to show the states of matter in our environments.  We were even so lucky to have a heat wave (if you would call 40 degrees a heat wave) to go outside and find some objects that fit the bill.

Here are some examples of student work.

In reading this week, we read one of my favorites, Sneezy the Snowman.  Each week, we use our interactive reading notebooks to document our comprehension.  To create these, we use the app Book Creator to compile our work.  Side note--If you don't have the Book Creator app, get it.  It's worth every penny.

Earlier in the week, one of our district's tech people introduced me to the app ChatterPix Kids (free in the iTunes store).  From what she described, I knew I would love the app.  My wheels started spinning, and I thought we could easily integrate it into our reading notebooks, especially with a book as relevant to this time of year as Sneezy.

After revisiting the story, I instructed the students to open the DoodleBuddy app and draw a picture of a Sneezy.  Cuteness ensued as they drew incredibly cute pictures...  Since DoodleBuddy doesn't have an export option, I had the students take a screenshot of their picture.  

Then the fun began.  We opened ChatterPix Kids for the first time.  I gave them an example using a selfie (which they ALWAYS think is hilarious...).  Then, I walked them through the process of creating their video. 

After creating our ChatterPix Kids and enjoying watching our creations, we uploaded our videos to our reading notebooks.  

For your enjoyment, here is an adorable example of one student's work.

The Connected Maternity Leave

You might say I am a maternity leave pro.  After all, I'm on my fourth leave in ten years of teaching.

When I began my first leave eight years ago with my son (wow- is he REALLY already 8?), I was admittedly more focused on the task of becoming a mommy than being a connected educator.   Sure, I popped in now and again to the classroom to check in and say hello.  That was the extent of it.  When I returned, I remember feeling extremely disconnected from my students.

Fast forward to baby #4.  My how things have changed!  While I still get to snuggle at home with my sweet new baby boy, I also get to stay uber-connected with my kiddos at school.  In fact, I've received a bit of criticism about my desire to check in frequently with "work."  I get a lot of, "Just relax and enjoy that baby" or "Work will be there when you go back."  Sure.  I get that.  As a mom of four kids, I know as much as anyone that babies certainly don't keep, and that time flies by all too quickly.

That being said, I also know that what I do isn't a "job."  It's certainly not something I do for the abundant paycheck or sweet 8:00-3:00 hours (HA!) 10 months a year (HA HA HA!).  My kids at school have a time-share in my heart, and I think about them around the clock.  I am responsible for their well-being as much as their academic growth.  How could I check out of that responsibility for three months?

Admittedly, I am also a Type A control freak with a dash of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder on the side.  So there's that.  My poor sub!

So how does a teacher in the year 2015 stay connected from the comfort of her own couch (PJ clad and covered in baby puke)?

iHeart Apple.  No, truly I do!  From iMessages to FaceTime, I can talk nearly all day with my substitute.  It's a free flowing conversation ranging from, "Where's the spelling template?" to funny kid stories.  I can help guide behavior management decisions and receive important information about changes in after school transportation.  Eight years ago when I was on my first maternity leave, it was still a cardinal sin to text in class.  Now, the teacher's phone has become as integral a tool in the classroom as chalkboards were in their hey-day.  Tomorrow I will be FaceTiming with my class to give a pep talk concerning grading period reading and math goals.  How awesome is that?

Speaking of math and reading goals, I can see real-time academic progress using any device in my home.  Just last evening, I loaded my students with new online assignments and objectives.  It's amazing how much you can tell by looking at a computer screen.  Little "Johnny" has obviously decided to take a vacation while Mrs. Copple is away.  That's an easy fix!  I can also check progress in our online grade books, assign new levels in our many programs (i.e. ReadingEggs), and share or grade work via eBackpack.

That's all well and good, but what about the human side of teaching?  Thankfully my little bloggers (we use KidBlog) keep me informed of their weekend adventures, new pets, and who their BFF is at the moment. These little treasures warm my heart each time I check in on their posts.  When I make a physical drop-in, it's easy for me to pick up a conversation with a kiddo. I can also comment on their posts much to their delight.

Technology has also blown the doors off of parent communication.  I still receive text or Facebook messages from parents every day. I also frequently use Remind to keep parents in the know about classroom or school news.  I think this helps parents, especially parents of little ones, feel confident that I am still invested in their child's growth and well-being.

The greatest part of all of this, is that I can do it while holding my little one.  I am quite the one-handed typist.  In fact, I'm blogging one little letter peck at a time!

Perhaps staying this connected isn't for everyone, but how wonderful is it that the opportunities are there?  I know that when I step back into my classroom in March, the transition will be much smoother than ever before.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a sweet baby to snuggle!

Photo courtesy Capture Photography by Christy Semmont. 

-Tiffany

A Digital Zoo Gone Wild!

Primary is a zoo sometimes, and it should be.

We recently completed our Living Zoo Project in the classroom, and there were many moments that I felt we were one monkey sound away from going quite literally bananas.  In those moments, it's good to have a primary friend or two who understands the crazy reasons why we do what we do...because it's just that worth it.

I've done an animal project for years in both primary and intermediate grade levels.  It's interesting to see the evolution of this project over the last 10 years as our technology has improved.  Back in the day, the extent of this project was a poster board with photos!

Though many of our daily activities revolved solely around animals (everything from literacy centers to math had an animal theme), I'm going to stick with the project applications only.

Come and take a walk on the wild side with me and see what we've been up to!

Step 1:  The Entry Event

We are fortunate to live about 40 minutes from the Louisville Zoo.  Students had a scavenger hunt of animals to check off as they toured the zoo.  It was a perfectly overcast day, and the students had much fun.  Many of them had never even been to a zoo.  If you aren't as fortunate, be sure to check out webcams from our National Zoo.  They have many to choose from!

Click to check out some great webcams at our National Zoo in Washington DC!

Step 2:  Digging into the Standards

First grade standards in Indiana revolve around an animal's habitat and how that habitat provides the animal with it's basic needs.  Technology makes learning so easy.  

Here are just a few ways we explored animal habitats.

1. BrainPop Jr.  If you don't have this resource, beg.  The kids LOVE it for it's animation, but I love it for it's meaningful information and comprehension quizzes.  

2. AfriCam  Explore the African Savannah, Watering Holes, and More in real-time.  I kept this running all day, and we would check in on various cams to see what animals were around.  We took notes of what features we saw in each habitat that would draw the animals in (i.e. water to cool off or drink).

3. MyOn Reader  This is our district's eReader program that gives us access to 1000s of books- most of which are informational/nonfiction.  I have the ability to set up "Booksets" and assign them to students for reading.  A great feature is that these texts have an audio component for your nonreaders.   Students used MyOn texts in addition to paper book resources to narrow their selections and learn about various habitats.   

Step 3:  Research, Research, Research

In primary grades, it's extremely important to have adequate support in the classroom for research.  I am lucky enough to have "big kid helpers" who strategically come in throughout the day to work for me.  Isn't that awesome?  I put these kiddos to work during this project, and I think it was a great, mutual learning experience for both littles and bigs.

Our go-to research module is KidRex.  It's a kid-safe search engine powered by Google that helps narrow and eliminate things we don't need.  

Students were required to complete their research graphic organizer (we did paper/pencil to balance the tech and fine motor skills).  From there, they completed a Research Notebook (again, paper/pencil, but if we weren't tackling a much bigger digital component...we would've done Book Creator).  My friend across the hall went with a Book Creator Research Notebook and did a more hands-on project with dioramas.  

"Bigs" helping "Littles" research their animals using KidRex.

Step 4:  iMovie Presentations

iMovie can be more intimidating for the teacher than the student.  Don't let that stop you!  The key to working with this massive program is to take it slowly and model, model, model.  We use the Reflector App to walk through new applications/programs.  I choose a trustworthy and tech-savvy student to be the "presenter."  This is a GREAT HONOR.  I could write an entire blog post on iMovie creation in the primary classroom, but that's for another day.  

First, students had to select and save photos to their camera roll.  We again revisited KidRex.  I taught the students how to save photos (easy, peasy...hold your finger on the photo and choose the SAVE PHOTO option from the pop-up box).  

Saving photos is as easy as the touch of a button...literally!

Then, students chose a theme of choice from the basic iMovie options.  Since this was our first movie project of the year, I encouraged them to choose a pre-made theme for ease.  

From there, students learned how to drop their photos into their movie reels.  This is where the kids blew me away.  I thought we would drop their photos, add a title, voice over the research information, and call it a day.  No way!  These kids were adding text to their photos like pros in no time.  The rule in our classroom is that once you become an expert on something, you become the teacher.  There is nothing that makes this teacher's heart happier than to see the excitement when they learn something new...and teach it to their friends!

Students learned how to drop photos into their reels.  

Students brilliantly added their own text to their photos.
Another option is to add voice-overs for younger learners. 

The power of student-driven learning.
Students shared tips and tricks with each other throughout the iMovie process.

Student Example

Step 5:  Building a Zoo and Setting the Scene

Digital projects completed (after edits with me), it was time to build our zoo.  This is where a little old-fashioned, roll-up your sleeves and get dirty type of work comes in.  Students had to decide which habitat environment they would belong it.  Animal groups worked in teams to decorate their habitats.

In addition to drawing their scenes, we brought in fake plants, played zoo sounds on the classroom speakers, and created habitat signs for each group.  I can't stress the use of the ever-versatile plastic tablecloth.  These $1.00 purchases can be everything from a waterfall to a desert floor!

Students really put their learning into action as they designed their habitats.  The classroom really looked unique and very much like a zoo!

Step 6:  Presentation Day

We sent out an invite to parents, friends, classmates, and administrators to come and see our Living Zoo.  We were very pleased with the enthusiastic support and love from our families, friends, and peers.  Our superintendent even took time out of his very busy day to come and check out what we had been up to!

Visitors to our zoo walked around and viewed our iMovie presentations, asked us questions, and complimented our efforts.  The students were very professional and did a great job!  Many students went out of their way to dress the part of their animal which added to the event.  I am very proud of what we accomplished together.  It certainly took a team and support system, and I am thankful to work with such amazing co-workers.  

Enjoy these photos from our Living Zoo Experience!

-Tiffany 

Our Superintendent interacted with our animals!

Gator alert!

Scary snakes!

Monkeying Around

Brrr....the Arctic Exhibit!

Forest Animals

The Grasslands Exhibit 

Playful Penguins

What a sweet, pink flamingo!