When Tech UN-Cooperates

Technology does not always cooperate.

After a championship season coaching high school boys' soccer, I used all my post-season free time to create a slideshow using photographs taken by a talented senior who made it out to many of our games. I inserted 250+ action shots into an Apple Keynote presentation that I would turn into a self-playing slideshow with transitions between slides set to the beat of my hand-picked audio. Aside from my incessant analytical tendencies regarding sequence and sizing of the photos and recording the audio and transitions, the process seemed to go smoothly. I finished the Friday before our Monday awards night...or so I thought. Sunday evening my wife asked to see the completed recording, and when I played it back in its entirety, the show didn't work past 29 seconds. The next 24 hours felt like a mad dash to solve the problem before I would show it to the guys and their families.

Over time I have learned a few lessons about the problems that are sure to arise when using tech, in education, or really anywhere.

Always Have a Plan B
With all the things that could go wrong (the downloading, the uploading, the app crashing, the bandwidth overload, etc.), something will probably go wrong. Trying out first what you want students to do is so important; however, I've fallen prey to "winging it" with something I think I understand. There may be an update that makes it confusing for you to demo in front of the students. Or there simply may be a missing piece that you, well, missed. Have a back up plan. In my classes, I like to have some longer term project running in the background. That way, you can just say, "Well, it looks like we're blogging today!" or, "We can work on our poster presentations instead." My Plan B for my slideshow was to show the video recording silently through the computer while listening to the playlist from my iPhone.

Search the Message Boards
I don't know about you, but I tend to randomly come up with what I think would be great inventions. Wouldn't you know it that when I look into if my great idea would be plausible, I see that somebody's already invented it! The same is often true of problems that arise. It will be rare that you are the very first person to have the problem with your tech. Get on the Google train and research it out. Begin generally with your search, and you'll see what other people have been posting. Look for a question similar to yours and read what answers were given. Interestingly, I found that people were talking about the Keynote presentations recordings losing audio at 29 seconds, the same exact timing issue I was dealing with. In the end, even though I had to dig through the Apple support pages with the proper key terms, this is what solved my audio issue.

Sleep On It
I racked my brains toward insanity to solve the problem with the tech. Somehow we think that we can do the same thing over and over and get a different result. Realize that the problem likely will not get solved when you're in a frustrated mindset and unable to think of a creative alternative. It is at that point that you should just go to bed and try again tomorrow. I'm not saying you won't dream about it, but at least your brain will be rested enough the next day to start fresh. When I could not solve the problem with my Keynote on Sunday night, I finally went to bed and had new energy and a fresh look in the morning.

Stick With It
I feel like there are many students these days who do not stay with a problematic situation long enough to make progress. Persistence must be modeled, a sort of "stick-to-it-iveness" that my college professors always talked about. I'm often tempted to give up, but understanding that a failed attempt can lead to greater success later is a great motivator. I didn't have a chance to give up on my slideshow since I had previously told everybody it would be ready for Monday night. Without knowing it, I had forced myself to stick with it by advertising it ahead of time.

Stay Calm
I will often say to my students, "Relax." Giving in to panic just unleashes a whole lot of chaos. Take a breath and think it through logically. It's another trick in allowing your mind to solve the problem effectively. With my slideshow, I have to admit there were a few "arrgghhs" and balled fists along the way. After crossing my fingers and then running into the same problem, I gave in to frustration. But I was able to turn around and try again.

Ask an Expert
Chances are you know somebody more tech savvy than yourself. The thing about technology, though, is that there are so many different spheres. Try to find somebody who has experience with the particular problem you are trying to solve. When you don't know somebody who can help, search online--there's likely a message board or help topic listed somewhere. I talked to somebody from church who has experience with Apple products. I texted him and he offered to help me out, though I solved the problem before I met with him about it.

The Problem is Part of the Process
Take solace in the reality that running into problems with technology is just how it works. There are times when you will need to use your plan B or plan C, or even scrap the whole project because of time constraints. But more often than not, there's a fix for the issue, and if you go in with a patient attitude, you will figure out a way to solve the problem. Patience and persistence pays off. With my slideshow, I figured my Plan B (silent video and separate audio) would work for that evening, but I knew I wanted to present a stand-alone presentation that included motivating audio that would create the right atmosphere for our end-of-season soccer shindig. I stuck with it and realized again that the process allowed me to find ways NOT to solve the problem, which in essence led me to the solution.

When my slideshow finally worked as planned, the feeling of satisfaction was immense. Listening the my soccer players' reactions to their action shots--along with the music I had worked so hard to include--brought me great joy. In the end I had learned to roll with the punches, and I think I'm a better person for it. Our students need to learn to stick with a problem until completion, within reason. For them to feel the satisfaction and joy when they conquer the uncooperative technology (or really any problematic situation) will mold them into our persistent problem solvers of the future.

Musings from Fall CUE-with presenter links!

Fall CUE 2014. It was my first CUE conference--what a whirlwind! 10 sessions and 2 keynotes in 2 days. And no raffles won...oh well. I want to share some of my thoughts on each activity I attended, some semi-deep, some not so much. Maybe it'll be helpful for you; just skip the sections you don't need. The links will take you to the presentations or resources each presenter created for you!

The Great iPad vs Chromebook Showdown - 2014 with Jon Corippo and Chris Scott
It really comes down to preference. If we are teaching the students the presentation and not simply the technology, it really doesn't matter which one you use. iPad has lots of stuff. Chromebook has a good amount, too. If your school is 1:1, check your budget, make a choice, and enjoy learning how to incorporate the tech to deepen your content.

The Hour of Awesome with Sergio Villegas
We crammed into a classroom and heard many tips and tricks for teacher efficiency. We were encouraged to take away a few things that we could incorporate into our normal routine right away. The link below is to Sergio's resources. One thing I noted and have used since the conference is to share a folder from my school Google Apps account to my personal account. I had been frustrated with being able to only log in to one Google account per browser, but with a shared folder I can access many of my school files right on my personal Google Drive. Simple yet amazing!
Bit.ly/hourofawesome

Why I Love My (Google) Classroom with Lisa Nowakowski
Being relatively new to Google Apps for Education, I wanted to see how this whole Google Classroom thing worked. I enjoyed Lisa's energy, and she was able to walk us through how to get set up with Classroom. I introduced this to my sixth grade Language Arts students a few weeks back, and we plan to use it for the rest of the year. It's super-slick and pretty easy to understand, as is most everything Google. My students will begin writing their documents after viewing the assignment instructions in Google Classroom. They "turn in" their assignment to me, which gives me ownership, I check it, comment, and "return" it to them, which gives them back ownership. They can make changes and begin the process over. Fun stuff!
http://classroom.nowatechie.com/

The Wonderful World of Student Blogging with Travis Phelps
I attended this session because of some contact I had with Travis on Twitter about blogging, and I really just wanted to see what somebody else was doing with student blogging. Travis was spot on with his philosophy and encouraged us to set up a philosophy of our own before we started having our students simply throw ideas out into cyberspace. I set my student blogging up very carefully, and it was nice to see that he was as careful about it as I was. Some ways to use blogging in your class that we discussed in this session include genius hour, role playing, plain old writing, book reviews, and reflections. I've written a lot about my own student blogging experiences in my other posts.
http://bit.ly/PhelpsBlogging

Make Every Minute Count - Quality Instruction Using the Flipped Model  with Lisa Highfill
This session was a great reminder for me to spend less time presenting in front of the class while allowing more time for students to create and explore. If I could curate video for the students to engage in at home, class time could be spent taking learning further with student activity, which is where the real learning occurs.
http://goo.gl/n1DdLp

Opening Keynote with Lucien Vattel
The founder of Game Desk offered us a huge free platform called Educade.org which includes free open source materials to use in our classes. Lucien Vattel stated that this was the "lowest hanging fruit" available to us as educators. I'm excited to explore what's available as we work with what already motivates students and add in these mechanics to our classrooms.

Stop Teaching and Start Learning with Diane Main and Karl Lindren-Streicher
If you've ever been involved in a Twitter Chat, this session was designed just like one of those, except we were all in the same room in a circular arrangement. The presenters had questions prepared for us to discuss, and the focus was on giving students ownership over their own education, encouraging them to do the work as we guide them along.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JRNAw4WPttmtTqkl9dJr6fNN_LuGlUmzbJamQfPJqp4/edit

YOU...Are the Infinite Thinking Machine with Mike Lawrence and Bill Selak
Another packed classroom found me in a corner, back against the wall. I wanted to experience the brains behind the show The Infinite Thinking Machine. The creators of the show shared some cool new tech with us in the form of the Pixton program, where teachers could have students create comics to tell a story or to report information. Again, I was reminded how important it is to get the students to create. Among other things, they showed us the latest unpublished episode on mystery skyping "hot off the press". It was a good time.

3D Printing in the Classroom with Christine Mytko
This session blew my mind! I have little to no experience with 3D printing, so what I saw in this session seemed way over my head. I felt like I stepped in to something beyond an intro college course on my first day as a freshman. As I tried to keep up with all the printing terminology, I realized that beginning 3D printing in the classroom wasn't that tough, especially with the price-drops in 3D printers these days. I also learned that a great group to be a part of was K12 FabLabs.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Ye4XmaQzzjL_1l09S1eG-cm5Y667jMpmqkjsjpZQvxM/edit#slide=id.p

Level Up! - Classroom Gamification for even the Non-Gamer with Megan Ellis
This was by far my favorite session. Megan Ellis had set up a gamified classroom and shared with us how she did it and what her students' reactions were. As you can probably guess, it works really well for middle school aged boys, which is a huge part of my own target audience. Megan shared terrific resources and ideas to use in any classroom, elementary to high school.
https://sites.google.com/site/meganroseellis/gamification

The (Google) Classroom of the Future with Will Kimbley
I hit my second Google Classroom session, thinking from the title that it would be how Google was structuring Classroom for the future. It ended up being another walk-through, but I enjoyed listening to another person's interpretation of how to use it. And it was a great motivator for me to incorporate it as soon as I could.
https://sites.google.com/site/willkimbley/google-apps

Closing Keynote with Diana Laufenberg
Ms. Laufenberg brought the audience to their feet at the end of her inspiring talk. Early on, she hit on the way information has changed, especially since the rise of the Internet. She shared that an "Information Deficit shifted to Information Surplus". She said that even though the whole reason for school changed, our classrooms did not. A few more slides in her presentation stated: "We need to shift our expectations for the work from 'what do you know' to 'what can you do with what you know?'" Diana Laufenberg spoke matter-of-factly about changing education and then posed some great ideas and instances of how this could be done. Again, the role of the teacher must change and students need to be given greater autonomy. Laufenberg said learning should be experiential and creative, and we need to allow our students to take charge of their own learning, with well-designed activities directed by teachers.
https://sites.google.com/site/fallcuelauf/creating-the-classrooms-keynote

That was Fall CUE for me. I grabbed a lot of information I haven't even attempted to incorporate into my teaching yet, but as the year goes on, I look forward to trying new things and allowing students to try new things as well.

5 Tips for Creating Podcasts on the iPad

7th graders make up the heart of our middle school. It's a huge class, and they're sandwiched between a small 8th grade class and an even smaller 6th grade class. These 7th graders are energetic and always looking for a good time. Let's just say that for many of them school is not a priority.

Sometimes I think that's the perfect group with whom to try something innovative.

In 7th grade Media class this year, we're working through some handy applications using the iPad cart we share with our middle school. After spending a few weeks at the beginning of the year working through some free and extremely helpful commonsense.org curriculum, some typing, and some Google related activities, we dove in to creating podcasts using GarageBand on the iPads. My inspiration came from Greg Kulowiec and Holly Clark with EdTechTeacher at the Boston ETTiPad workshop I attended in July.

After working through the process, here are my 5 tips for creating podcasts in the classroom:

1. Demo the tech.
I have found this to be a terrific way to build interest. Explain what each symbol or icon does, and just let the students' minds start working through how they want to use it. They may even have questions about the app you hadn't considered, which you can explore in real time to teach creative problem solving.

2. Create a clear-cut instruction sheet and grading rubric.
Decide what you want for your students. Start backwards: determine the outcome and then fill in the steps students need to take to get there. I separated our podcasting structure into pre-production, recording, post-production, and publishing. Check out my instructions and rubric on my Google Doc here. Feel free to use it!

3. Get your students in groups.
Even though iPads are personal devices, I find that any technology lesson lends itself to group work. One student is sure to either have experience with what you're discussing or has the pre-existing skills necessary to catch on quickly. This person can be the group tutor who troubleshoots any technical issues that arise, which is also super-handy when you have 5 hands in the air and can't get to all the questions in a reasonable amount of time.

4. Let students brainstorm topics that interest them.
You have to make sure they are engaged in what they're doing. What better way to engage students than to let them explore their own interests! This works well in a computer or technology class (technology for technology's sake), but in a self-contained or core classroom, you will need to narrow it down so the technology is simply a tool for a deeper understanding of your content. For example, in History class, have students interview an historical figure. In literature, have students discuss characterization with each other.

5. Give students at least 1 class period to explore GarageBand.
This is what I think is the most effective piece of the puzzle. It is the "dramatic pause" in your classroom that allows students to become comfortable with the app and then take risks. It also sets aside time for you to visit the students 1:1 and help, suggest, problem-solve, and teach as necessary.

Give it a try! I knew very little about how I would even publish the podcasts for others to hear, but I thought I could figure that out when the time came.

Sure enough, when the podcasts were in final form and we wanted to put the GarageBand podcasts from the iPad onto our Google Sites in the computer lab, it took a go-between service. After some of my own online research, a quick question on via Twitter to Greg Kulowiec confirmed that using SoundCloud would work well. The students created an account on SoundCloud using their Google Apps for Education credentials and then uploaded their podcasts to SoundCloud. From there, they were able to open up SoundCloud on the desktop in the computer lab and insert the embed code to their Google Site for all to listen to and enjoy! I've attached my favorite one below--if you're interested in learning about almond farming from some boys pretending to be their fathers...

Calling Middle School Student Bloggers!

I've been trying to get my 6th grade English Language Arts class at Ripon Christian interested in blogging. I started blogging with students a year ago for multiple reasons:

1. It's more motivating to write for and to classmates (and others) than the teacher.
2. It's an important skill to know in our modern world.
3. Learning to comment appropriately leads to positive interactions with many people you may not know well or at all.
4. It allows kids to feel pride in their hard work when they see their writing published online.
5. It's something new and different for them.
6. Kids have interesting and meaningful stories to share.
7. Students sometimes feel more free to share in writing than in person.
8. It's fun!

Last year we had an student from our buddy class in Australia come visit our small town and school. It was very rewarding for the students. Read my blog post about it here.

With that said, I'm having trouble finding middle school students from other schools to blog with, and a good chunk of that is my fault...my search parameters are very narrow. Let me explain.

I'm reaching out to Christian schools. 

I understand that we need to connect our faith to the larger world, but I decided to play it safe and only reach out to other Christian schools so that the parents of my students feel safe about their children's first interactions online.

I'm considering schools from other countries first. 

I want my students to learn about other cultures within a Christian setting. I want them to learn that they have brothers and sisters in Christ on a global scale. The common bond we have in Jesus is enough reason to begin a relationship. At this point, though, I wouldn't mind connecting with a class from the U.S.--I just want to get my kids blogging with somebody!

I need an English speaking school. 

While I search other countries for connections, my students do not have the skills to communicate with non-English speakers.

Reliable technology is key. 

The school we connect with must have the proper technology to communicate via blog on a regular basis. We have an iPad cart in our small middle school, and I can reserve regular access for us; I just need somebody who wants do and has access like we do!

Use Kidblog as a blogging platform. 

I like Kidblog because I can set the privacy settings and change them over time. I can also set it so that the teacher must "approve" the blog post or comment only after I have read it for appropriateness and/or correctness. I have begun my year with connecting my own 6th graders to each other. They are eager now, however, to connect with some buds across the globe.

Multiple schools would be ideal. 

I want options. We've connected with one class, and it worked well last year, but technical difficulties arise, and conflicting schedules get in the way. (Especially schedules from different hemispheres--while my class goes to Christmas vacation, an Australian class has finished their school year.) My students have not been able to connect with anybody yet this year, and I'm stuck!

If anybody who's reading this feels like they can connect with us, please do! Or tell your friends. And remember my criteria that helps me keep my students safe and parents happy: 

• Christian middle school class (we're 6th graders)
• From somewhere outside (or inside) the U.S.
• Reliable technology for easy access
• Currently using Kidblog, or a willingness to set Kidblog up

I created a website last year for a certification project. It's not completely up to date, but it would help anybody who is starting blogging for the first time. Check it out at blog2buds if interested.

Who Cares? Part 2-Words

We had a chapel talk at our school the other morning. Four people shared some stories of their elementary and middle school years, specifically the things that hurt them. Those sharing included a mom of elementary kids, a high school senior, a teacher, and our principal. They all told stories of being involved in either receiving, dishing out, or seeing forms of bullying.

As I thought back to my own history as a middle school kid, I remember the words that helped me, but I even more vividly remember the words that hurt me.

My English teacher told me I was good at using semicolons in my writing; I've remembered it to this day.

My History teacher teased me for missing my shots in my basketball game. I remember slinking down in my seat as he continued on for what seemed like forever. He turned out to be one of my favorite coaches of all time, so I forgave him quite quickly after that.

As far as classmates from the past go, I don't remember many of the positives they shared, but I do remember the negatives. Just like anybody, I have a tough time getting past the criticisms I hear, even to this day.

Before we relate this to the classroom, this is one of my favorite videos to show kids at the beginning of the year.

As shared in my first "Who Cares?" post, I mentioned physical touch as a love language of children but warned of the social constraints of using this in the classroom. A second love language of kids, according to the book The Five Love Languages of Children, is words of affirmation. Please just think back to your own life and the words you heard about you, spoken to you, the words you said about others, to others. What message are you sending to your students with your words, with your tone?

I am not a proponent of the self-esteem movement because I think it's important to be real with the students, but I do believe that everybody needs to hear something genuinely encouraging about themselves from time to time. In order to reach students on a deeper level, we as teachers need to get to know them. And when we truly know them, we can find a positive aspect of our shared experience to send from teacher to student. We can find words that will lift up rather than break down.

Here are some things I try to do in my classes.

• If a student has been struggling with turning in homework, I will simply say great job when they do get the work in. (High Fives also work.)
• I like to tell a student 5 minutes before the end of class to come see me after class. As they spend a bit of time worrying that they're in trouble, the compliment I give them when they approach after everyone has left makes their day 10 times brighter.
• Be accepting when a student catches your mistake and make sure you thank them publicly.
• Keep a tally of students (even 1 per day) that you compliment from time to time. Intentionally plan to focus on one student at a time and make sure you affirm that student. You will be surprised how positive your classes become. You'll likely need to affirm multiple students...because it's contagious.
• Blog with your students and require commenting. Encourage students to keep the comments positive and to focus on their classmates who don't have a lot of comments yet. On Kidblog you can set it so the teacher must approve the comments before they're published. This way you can monitor the conversations.
• When making groups, designate group leaders whose sole job it is to keep the conversation positive. Make sure all people in the group know that this role is of utmost importance.
• When correcting students' writing, begin your comment with a specific positive, then instruct on weaknesses, and end with another positive. This takes a lot of teacher time, especially with those who struggle, but it's worth it

What else can we do to make sure our words are uplifting rather than degrading? You tell me.

Stay Safe Ripon Christian!

I don't know about your school, but it seems that elementary students take a lot of risks on the playground. I know it's difficult for a student not to run through the hallway. There are students who get confused about their play areas, and arguments follow. And it's not super fun to use playground equipment exactly how it's designed. Shucks, when I was a kid, I sure caught a lot of air jumping off the swings when the teacher wasn't watching. The elementary teachers at our school decided enough was enough, and they tasked my middle school media students and me to put together a "safety video" for kindergarten through fifth grade.

Last spring, my sixth and eight grade media classes spent 4-5 class periods with iPads planning, directing, filming, and acting in safety topics ranging from keeping the game of tag OUT of the bathrooms to only going DOWN the slide to staying OFF your school desk. Some videos were great, and some videos were, well...good. I figured I, as the teacher, would have all summer to edit the 52 short videos down and create something awesome for teachers to show on the first day of school, which happens to be in less than a week.

I can tell you right away that I did NOT spend my summer creating a safety video. I was able, however, to complete it just today using iMovie on my Mac. Let me share, though, that I labored over it to get it just right. Anyway, I think it's a great idea for a school to do, and if you can get some of your junior high/middle school students to take some ownership over it by deciding on the scenes, and even the topics, true learning occurs. Take a look at mine...if you have time. At least watch the first minute and a half. Leave a comment if you can tell which movie opening I've borrowed inspiration from. Enjoy!

8 Techs to Organize the School Year

I taught strictly 6th grade for years. While I used to identify myself as a 6th grade teacher when asked what I do, these days I just say I teach in the middle school. However, I'm still holding onto 6th grade English Language Arts, and I'm working to organize the upcoming school year for student growth. To that end, I plan to establish 8 techs that will encompass my 6th grade ELA classroom.


Smore.com

Last year Shannon Miller inspired me (unintentionally on twitter, mind you) to try out this free flyer site. She called it a mini-website, and it has transformed the way I think about communicating with parents. It is organized from top to bottom, so scrolling down is a necessity, and it allows for a good array of design, background, font, and color options. I use it to link to anything I want, be it a Google Calendar, videos, forms, etc. Check out these options:

I've used smore.com to organize resources for presentations, to set up a thematic unit on coding with kids, and as a website for my soccer team. Now I plan to use it as a class website. It's quick, easy, informative, and pleasing to the eye. It replaces my Google Site, which I had previously made way too complicated.


Remind

I started using this last year with the high school soccer team I coach. Previously called Remind101, it is a "text out only" service--no return texts. I had my players sign up via text so that I could send out text reminders to them about upcoming practice or game times or other general announcements about the season. This year I plan to give my 6th ELA parents the option to sign up for my "class" via Remind. All you have to do is set up an account, create a class, and you receive a unique phone number and code. Parents (and/or students) can text that number with the class code and voila! they are linked to your Remind account. I plan to use this when I've updated grades on our school's grading system, added something new to my smore.com site, or for other general announcements for the whole group. I'm quite curious to see how many parents take this bait at our annual "Back to School Night".


Google Docs

I've you haven't had students use Google Docs, then you haven't lived. Once all the confusing tech requirements get cleared up, students thrive when accessing their document from anywhere they have an internet connection. Beginning with the power of Google Drive (not to mention Slides, Sheets, Forms, and Drawings), students have the power to turn in paperless assignments by sharing them with the teacher or fellow students for editing purposes. Unlocking the collaborative nature of Google Docs is where the real magic happens. All you need is a Google account to get started, but your students each need one, too, which is a great reason to have your school or district on Google Apps for Education. I don't mind having students work with pencil and paper, but drafting and publishing is taken to another level with Google Docs.


Kidblog

As I've blogged about before, Kidblog has opened up opportunities for my 6th grade ELA students. We were able to connect with some Australian buddies from Canberra, and a whole different level of motivation for student writing was unleashed. You, of course, can choose another blogging platform, but what I love about Kidblog is that the teacher chooses the privacy settings. It can be as private or as public as you decide is right for your class. For us, we shared our blogs with only one class abroad. This year I hope to expand and add in a few more classes around the country or globe. Much of what we will do is create drafts in Google Docs and import or copy our writing into Kidblog as our main publishing tool. I typically grade the students on their revised and edited Google Doc, provide feedback, and then have students post their writing on Kidblog to begin their conversations with each other.


Evernote

I have used Evernote personally as a note-taking tool off and on for the last year or two, but this school year I want to take another leap with my 6th grade ELA students (and likely my other middle school classes too) in creating ePortfolios with Evernote. While Google Drive would be an effective way to organize all the students' writing, I want to have a central location for anything they might do in class, even other than writing. I plan to set up students with their own Evernote accounts using their GAfE emails. I can then teach them how to document their own work throughout the year or the semester. In Evernote, students will set up their own "notebooks", calling one of them ELA6. From there, students will create a "new note" within the "notebook" for each project or assignment we decide is worth documenting. With a free account, students will have enough space to link to their Google Docs, write reflections, and take and store pictures of their work, even annotating on top of the image if they desire. Tagging their notes allows for easy organization and retrieval. Video and audio takes up a lot of storage, so there will be little room for that. By the end of the year, they will have their own record of how they progressed. They could even add on to this the following year if they so desire, or if other teachers decide it is worth it for them. It's my first year attempting this, so we'll see how it goes!


ThreeRing

While I could use Evernote to organize student work for myself, I am fascinated with the possibilities ThreeRing offers. I first heard about ThreeRing from Drew Minock and Brad Waid while watching The Two Guys Show. ThreeRing allows a teacher to set up multiple classes, create a class roster and proper tags, and then choose a student, group, or whole class to share posts with. The main idea here is to easily document student work using an iPad. With ThreeRing I can snap a picture, add a note, record audio or video and post it under a student's name. It stays private, and I now have a record of student progress for myself, the teacher. I can use it to assess, to lead a parent-teacher conference, or simply for future reference. I think the power of this platform, however, is in the possibility of parent communication. I can set it up so that every time I post something new for a particular student, that student's parent who has a ThreeRing account receives an email stating that their child's ThreeRing has been updated. Click on the link, and there's the instant feedback that a parent often desires. They can communicate back if they want. It's that easy. Read more about it here.


Planbookedu.com

While the above platforms are free to use, I have to share just one paid service. Last year I purchased planbookedu.com, and it worked like a dream. I typed out my plans for the week, specifying steps for the lessons, as you would do in any planbook, color coded them by class, and then I printed them out for the week. You could bump your plans forward a day if you fell behind, and you could even insert links as necessary, which I opened in a new tab and projected from my computer onto the screen. And for you Common Core enthusiasts, you can even turn on the standards to show what you're covering. I will pay for this year after year until I find something as good for cheaper or for free.


Blendspace

Finally, something I just heard about this week from Richard Byrne on his Free Technology for Teachers blog is Blendspace. Formerly known as EdCanvas, its premium features have now gone free. I am still unsure of how it all will work for me, but it is marketed for face to face, blended, or online models of teaching. It looks promising for those of you who would like to try flipping your classroom from time to time. It sets up in a box-like pattern on your computer screen, and you use the video or upload functions (along with many others like research or quiz) to drag material into each box. Using it as a lesson plan, the class period is sequenced out ahead of time. I would use my iPad linked to my class computer and projector to open up box 1 to share whatever video, link, presentation, or text I want to show the students first. When that's finished, I would click on box 2, then box 3, and so on, until the lesson is finished. It looks quite promising and is worth a peek.

So there you have it. These are some of the encompassing techs I needed to flesh out so that I could organize my life as I enter a new school year. Of course, I have plans for using many different apps and websites for day to day use throughout the year...QuickKey for assessment tracking, Padlet for class brainstorming, Kahoot for fun whole class voting, and many more. Prepping for this tech so that students can have a smooth transition into the year is important for me, and now I can feel equipped to make my long term plans that will then give birth to my day to day lessons. Happy planning!

Who Cares? Part 1

Above all else, a student needs to know you care.

In teaching, we have chosen to mingle our destinies with those of the students. We rejoice with those who rejoice, we mourn with those who mourn. My feelings are often affected by students' actions and reactions. After all, teachers call their students their "kids". Of course we care for our students.

But how can you show it? As a male teacher in the 6th grade, I've been told (understandably) to never touch the students. Leave the hugs to the female teachers, especially at the primary levels.

I choose to break that rule sometimes.

My wife has been reading a great book, and I plan to read it over the summer. It's titled The Five Love Languages of Children, and it lists the ways children show and prefer to receive love. As teachers, we know kids are complex creatures, so it stands to reason that a child will latch onto a couple different "love languages". The book lists the five love languages of children this way: 1) physical touch, 2) words of affirmation, 3) quality time, 4) gifts, and 5) acts of service. I plan to write about each one of these individually at some point, but right now I'd like to quickly share my thoughts on the first one listed...physical touch.

In addition to teaching 6th graders at Ripon Christian, I have coached the boys varsity soccer team at the high school for 13 years, and I run a soccer camp for grades 1-8 every summer. I also have two of my own boys, one in 3rd grade and one in 5th grade. I am not necessarily a "touchy-feely" kind of guy (not a "hugger"), but I've learned through many of my own experiences with my students, players, and children that boys feel valued when they have that physical touch.

Just look at what boys will do to each other if left unattended. In the middle school, we're constantly on the lookout for "tackle" football at recess and "dog-piling" on each other for whatever purpose. I often have to tell boys in class to keep their hands to themselves.

On the flip side, I choose to encourage the boys I encounter in class, on my team, and even my own boys at home with my physical touch of choice: a clap on the shoulder. From above or from the side, it can accompany a verbal "good job" or a "we'll get 'em next time". It could mean "it's okay" or "I'm proud of you". Even without words, it could stand for "that was awesome" or "I feel your pain". You could easily add to this list, I imagine. As a guy who teaches, coaches, and raises guys, it's in my nature (or my love language) to whack the kid's shoulder.

Disclaimer #1: not to injure or intimidate...but to encourage. To show you care.

Disclaimer #2: not every boy appreciates the physical touch, so be wise.

Form that teacher-student relationship, and then build it up. Make sure there are boundaries, of course, but above all else, find a way to show the students you care. If a student knows you care, the rest of the day, or the year, or even his entire school experience may become more positive.

How Many Swings Does It Take?

How many sentences does it take to form a paragraph?

I have a philosophical issue with the question, "How many sentences does my paragraph have to be?"

I have taught mainly 5th grade and 6th grade throughout my career so far, and I understand these are prime years for learning proper paragraphing. I used to answer the question this way: "You're in 5th grade, so your paragraph should be about 5 sentences." Or, "You're in 6th grade, so roughly 6 sentences."

My answer to the question these days is, "It depends."

As we should know, a paragraph begins with a topic sentence which shares the main idea (hopefully in an interesting way!). Then come the supporting details with any variation of subcategories. Finally, the end of the paragraph should close down the main idea and transition into the next paragraph. This is the structure I teach.

So when the question pops up, "How many sentences?" I have to respond with a nebulous answer. It depends on your main idea and how much support you need to put into the paragraph to make it whole.

It depends when you're ready to close down the paragraph.

I had an idea the other day. A 6th grade boy walked up to my desk and asked me this forbidden question. I looked at him as he smiled at me. I smiled back at him, and then I banged my forehead on my desk. (I've tried to answer this so clearly.) Why does this question keep coming up? I think it's because students are afraid to take risks, or they're afraid to get something wrong. Or they have not been taught to think for themselves and make their own decisions. Maybe they just don't know after all the years of paragraph instruction how to do it.

So this boy who asked the question is on my son's baseball team--they love their baseball. I answered the boy this way:

"When you step up to the on deck circle, how many swings do you take to get ready for your at bat?"

He answered me, "I don't know. I swing until I feel ready to bat."

That was, of course, the answer I wanted to hear. I love using analogies with the students. Connecting a concept to an existing experience is my bread and butter, and I think it's the best way to help students learn.

If we can connect the dots here, we swing until we're ready, and then we step into the batter's box. In determining proper paragraphing, we write as many sentences as it takes to feel like we've completed the main idea. Of course, the student's idea of complete is oftentimes quite different from my idea of complete, but that's a topic for a different time.

What was cool about talking to the boy at my desk was that I got to see the light bulb ding above his head. The explanation was tailored to his strength, and that made all the difference.

Hopefully now when students attempt to determine how many sentences it takes to form a paragraph, they can understand that it could be different every time. They've got to write until it's complete. They've got to swing until they're ready.

Make Your Writing Hospitable

We put our house on the market this last week. To prepare the house, my wife and I (and our kids) did a thorough deep clean both inside and out, not to mention the remodeling and love we put into our house over the last 11 years. We also decluttered and organized the house better than we ever have.

The response I think I enjoy most from people who have walked through is simply, "It's very clean." I take that to mean that our home is free of dirt and grime, but I also believe people are saying that it's well-organized. And I hope they've noticed that we've tried to make it hospitable.

As a sixth grade writing teacher, I want my students to make their writing hospitable. Let me explain.

If you've ever walked through a house or apartment to consider renting or buying it, first impressions matter. When things are in good condition or look new, when the place is neat and tidy, and when floors are vacuumed and dust is minimal, a person can stay positive and feel at home. On the other hand, if it's a mess, or if there's clutter all around, it's difficult to remain interested.

I tell the students something similar with their writing. It begins with the introduction of their paper, and sometimes the first line of their entire essay or story can make or break it. First impressions matter. If I see that the student has taken great care in constructing a thesis or an interesting lead, I am inclined to desire to read more, and I'll keep an open, positive mind as a teacher throughout the writing assignment. However, if I see multiple errors or a lack of following directions from the start, I will likely notice similar errors throughout the paper, and my attitude will deteriorate.

So students: welcome me into your paper. Make your writing hospitable. When you do this, I feel good. And when I feel good, I like to give you the benefit of the doubt. If the beginning of the paper is not done carefully, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to do that. So as you revise and edit your first draft, make sure to tidy it up and do a deep cleaning that's noticeable right from the start...or else it feels like this.

Testing for Leaks with Formative Assessment

Have you ever worked on the pipes under the sink? I think the plumbing process is very similar to a teacher's assessment practices.

I had a weekend project. Once our new counter tops and sink were in, I had the pleasure of installing new drains and a faucet. I figured I could then reattach the pipes underneath with minimal effort.

I don't know why I thought it was going to be easy...because it never has been before. In a word: frustration. Okay, a better word probably: anger. In fact, if nothing else will bring me to tears, plumbing will.

In teaching, we work to check the students' progress as we introduce and teach new concepts. Formative assessment is the way to go, in my opinion. Sure, I have summative assessment in my 6th grade ELA class, but whenever I get the chance, I like to check on the students in what I think is a more meaningful way. I have a ways to go in mastering how to assess students formatively, but just making an attempt at the process is of extreme importance.

Hence my reflections on plumbing this last weekend. To make a long story short, we were way overdue for new counter tops and a sink. The professionals installed everything by mid-Saturday afternoon, which left me with Saturday night to do the faucet, drains, and pipes. With a late night visit from my brother-in-law, who's a contractor, an early Sunday morning trip to the hardware store, a break for church in the morning, a skipped lunch, and another visit from my brother-in-law, I was able to (sort of) finish the job.

The much abbreviated steps I took looked like this:
1. Attach faucet and drains; restructure pipe fittings and attach.
*Now for the hard part
2. Turn on water and check for leaks.
3. Find a leak.
4. Twist the cap on the flange, check for leaks.
5. Find a leak.
6. Screw in the nut on the valve, check for leaks.
7. Find a leak.
8. Unscrew the pipe, apply pressure, twist back into place, check for leaks.
9. Repeat steps 3-8 as necessary.

This structure works when we introduce and teach new concepts to the students:
1. Introduce new concept or skill.
*And again, the hard part.
2. Answer students' questions, give practice.
3. Find a leak (in understanding).
4. Put it into different words, give practice.
5. Find a leak.
6. Complete the assignment, note the results.
7. Find a leak.
8. Give extra practice for those who need it...
9. Repeat steps 3-8 as necessary.

Educational technology has been growing, and teachers have seen the need for quick and easy ways to track student progress (or the lack of it). I'll name a few formative assessment tools that have popped up in the educational arena that seem to work wonders for many people, myself included.

Plickers
Plickers stands for "paper clickers". Students have their own printed barcodes on paper, no devices necessary. The teacher uses a webcam or smartphone after asking to record students who hold up the papers after asking questions. Students hold up their "plickers" to respond and their responses appear as a bar graph for the teacher to note the results. Quick, instant feedback--a great formative assessment tool.

Socrative
Socrative works in a very similar way to Plickers, but the students use a device to participate. The teacher logs in to the teacher side while the students join the teacher's "room" from the student side using the "room code". And it only works if the teacher is on Socrative at the time. Polls and other educational games and exercises can be performed, which give the teacher a great way to see where the students are at in their understandng.

QuickKey
QuickKey is an app for your smartphone that allows you to use the camera to quickly scan as if you had a full-on scantron device. Just print the bubbled template, set up your class, and each student will be assigned a unique number to bubble in for identification. Input your multiple choice answers, and shazam, you have a ready-made quiz that you use as either formative or summative assessment.

There are many more, but these have been my go-to tools to check student understanding.

I still had a slow drip from the drain in my kitchen sink, very slow, but I could see it if I took a minute to look. Sometimes we have to look very carefully to see what leaks might be popping up in the classroom. One final tightening and the pipes were good to go. I encourage you to look at the three services above to help you identify leaks so that you can stop them up as quickly as possible.                                                                                                            

Digital Storytelling and TypingClub

The title of this blog post is a little misleading. I'm not teaching students to tell stories digitally. This time I'm the storyteller.

I jumped into teaching the middle school computer classes this year. After some experience with a technology certification, I guess my school thought it would be appropriate to throw me into the deep end. I don't disagree. In fact, I really appreciate the rewards of teaching students how to solve problems using technology, especially with Google's services and other Web 2.0 tools. I'm having a great time in what I call my Media Class.

Typing has been an interesting process, though. I walked in to the position in the fall with a dated typing program. My first semester classes worked through an originally costly Type To Learn (the original), and when they finished with that they began (and some finished) All The Right Type. I had no rubric. I watched for proper technique, as much as I knew how, and I survived. But I found some things I needed to work on. For second semester, I got my act together and researched a new program. TypingClub is a web based service that is free to use and includes 100 introduction to typing lessons called "Typing Basics", and I came up with a strong rubric for technique, speed, and accuracy.

Used with permission: TypingClub

I love the format of TypingClub. Students have a visually satisfying screen to look at when they type. After each lesson, students see up to 5 stars appear and a point total, similar to the Angry Birds game. They can track their progress in friendly competition with classmates. Better yet, Typing Club is completely customizeable for lesson expectations. You can change the words per minute, percent accuracy settings, and more. Best, of course, the students learn to type in a fun atmosphere.

Used with permission: TypingClub

Even with all these wonderful features, I had a problem. Not to stereotype too much, but I have a female eighth grade piano player in my Media class. Her fine motor/typing skills are out of this world. She breezed through the Typing Basics lessons in a flash. What to do?

With the free version of Typing Club, there are limits. And I never figured out how to download other lessons, which I think is coming to the program soon. So, I took it upon myself to create a progressive short story that students who finished the basics could explore lesson by lesson. This is the digital storytelling I mention in the title of this post. The piano player was ready to begin.

Used with permission: TypingClub

With Typing Club, you have the capability of creating typing lessons from scratch. You create a title for a lesson, choose a lesson accuracy percentage, a words per minute goal, and possibly a time limit. I do not have experience with creating logical keyboard strategy, but I decided that if students could finish the basics with success, they were ready to begin typing "for real". Hence the creation of the story titled "The Cylinder".

Once students finished the 100 basic lessons, going back and achieving all 5 stars where necessary, they were allowed to start working on "The Cylinder". I started creating the story one short paragraph at a time, ending with some sort of cliffhanger after each one to keep students interested. Little did I know that students would enjoy typing the story so much. Little did I know that I would enjoy writing the story so much.

I had to really work to stay ahead of that first student. I would create a series of lessons/paragraphs about Oscar, the hero in my story, while students typed at their computers. After a day or two, she would catch up with me, so I'd have to write more of my story. Finally, I gave a time limit for each lesson, which was one of my better ideas. My student would almost get done, and the time would stop, causing her to start over. For somebody who is typing close to 80 words per minute in the 8th grade, it's causing her to fly over the keyboard even faster.

And I must say, the story is compelling for the 8th graders. I now have 3 girls working through the story at different levels. One of them walks in to the computer lab every day and says with a huge smile, "Are we typing today, Mr. T.?" Compared to some of the antiquated typing experiences these students have been exposed to, this is music to my ears. And it's a good reminder to keep the material fresh.

And for the girls that made it to the typing story "The Cylinder", I plan to surprise them by adding into the drama a character named after them. I can't wait to see how they react when they discover that they made it into the story.

Used with permission: TypingClub

Trust on a Tightrope

While on an accreditation team visiting a small Christian school in the South Bay of California, I was fortunate enough to meet a master storyteller. I would love to learn how to tell gripping stories and speak them for all to hear, but alas, it is not my gift. Therefore, I am content enough to listen and to reflect on the wonderful stories other people tell.

This master storyteller was the headmaster of the school I visited, and he led a chapel on Wednesday morning for the 4th-6th grade students. He told the story of a French acrobat from the 19th century named Jean-François Gravelet, better known as Charles Blondin...the Great Blondin! Blondin was the first man to walk a tightrope across Niagara Falls from the U.S. side to Canada and back. No safety devices, and no fear.

Thousands gathered to watch his many courageous feats across the 1,100 foot tightrope. Well, as I said, I'm not the storyteller. Here's a 2 minute video to give you the background of the Great Blondin.

A daredevil for sure, right? Let me tell you, the previously mentioned headmaster had those 4th-6th grade students eating out of the palm of his hand when he described the fantastic feats of Blondin. Their rapt attention was tangible. I had a good view.

May I focus in on a piece that the headmaster expanded upon? After all his spectacular accomplishments, and even with proof of pushing a wheelbarrow loaded with potatoes across Niagara Falls on a tightrope, when Blondin asked if they believed he could wheel a man across, the visiting dignitaries replied with a resounding, "Yes!" But when Blondin encouraged the dignitary to put his belief into action by "hopping in", the dignitary shamefully said, "No."

We, as fellow humans, can relate to the dignitaries, I'm sure. We believe with all our hearts that something is possible. We've seen it happen, and we celebrate successes. But when we are asked to step out in faith, we hesitate...or we procrastinate...or we respond with an outright "No." The book of James in the Bible is clear. At the end of James 2:26, it says, "faith without deeds is dead." Personally, I struggle with this. I would imagine you do as well.

After listening to the headmaster of the school I visited tell the story of Blondin, I realized in a new way that faith is not true unless there is also action. The dignitaries in Blondin's day were guilty of "believism", something I am guilty of, too. They believed in Blondin completely, but they would not act. However, faith contains works. And faith is what the old lady at the end of the story had. She had faith in her son, and her voluntary deed did not go unnoticed.

This is not only a Christian's struggle. It is a human struggle. We all have belief. But we don't all act. It is a businessperson's struggle, a student's struggle, a teacher's struggle. On some level, we all struggle to hold true faith.

Educationally, teachers know about what other teachers are doing and with what they are having success, but to pull the trigger on the idea that has been percolating in your mind is a completely different story. Specifically speaking of technology in the classroom, we can have tools (or toys) to our heart's content, but we have trouble redesigning our lessons, so we continue on as we always have. We have trouble finding time, so we continue on as we always have. We have trouble thinking outside the box, so we continue on as we always have.

We believe it can be done, but we never step out onto the tightrope, even under the guidance of a master tightrope walker. We don't have the faith.

Maybe you have this faith. I'm getting there. My "edtech" experiences have been good. I've failed with some but succeeded with many more.

In Blondin's story, I've been one of the spectators for way too long. I believed it could be done, and I've watched others walk the line. It's time to transform belief into faith and jump into the wheelbarrow, trusting that everything will turn out just fine.

Especially when that faith is grounded on the saving grace of Christ Jesus, who, by the way, is The. Master. Storyteller.

7 Ways to Erase the Chalk

I start every year going over boundaries and setting expectations with my sixth grade students. This last year, after taking some classes and adopting a new English Language Arts curriculum, I overhauled my ELA program, so after introductions I had a great opening for the students on the first day. It went something like this:

"I've taught for 15 years, and I think it's gone quite well. But this year I've planned to transform my teaching. If I can change after so much time, you can turn over a new leaf as well...if you really desire it. Some of you had a rough year last year. Well, this year can be whatever you decide to make of it. You get a fresh start."

We started the year with a lot of positive energy, but as always, that energy waned after just a few short weeks. Keeping the students involved and excited is a tough task. Also, students who have had struggles for many years don't just succeed at the drop of a hat. So just because I attempt to keep it positive and uplifting, it doesn't mean the students are going to meet my expectations all the time.

Do we give up on our students? Are there middle school (or elementary...or high school) kids whose school habits are irredeemable? When do we get to the point of no return? I hope we can answer, "Never."

If you know baseball, it's such a mental game, and attitude is everything. My son's coach loves to talk, and one of the things he loves to quote over and over is, "Erase the chalk." If my boy is pitching and walks one or two people, Coach will say, "Just erase the chalk. Get the next batter." If my son makes an error, same thing. If somebody strikes out, same thing. Erase the chalk. Start over. He says, "Don't hang your head like you're defeated. Get your chin up and keep working."

I try to have that attitude in the classroom. Creating an intentional work environment for students gives them a chance to start fresh, to erase the chalk, when necessary. Generally, creating this type of atmosphere allows room for risk-taking and paths toward success. Keeping students positive and motivated is key. You might want to try these 7 ways to keep things fresh in your classroom.

1. Think outside the box.
Any teacher can follow the set curriculum. Get creative with it, add to it, create breaks within it, play games, go hands on. I will throw in literature circles and allow a small group to work through a book for a couple of weeks. Comprehension...check. Written response...check. Vocabulary...check. Well, you get the picture.

2. Surprise the students.
If you're experiencing the doldrums in your own classroom, I can almost guarantee that your students are feeling the same thing. I love it when the students ask, "What are we doing today?" One, it shows that they are ready to learn. And two, it tells me they are okay with something new. And it keeps it interesting for me--I hate it when I bore myself. Sometimes I give an assignment, but I allow partners (and usually create the partner groups myself) to turn in one assignment with both names on it. Many variations can and do occur within this partner work.

3. Throw in technology.
We all know that students need a "hook". If using technology as a tool to do that works to engage students, then why not? If a child is not very into the normal routine, try some tech once in a while. I would say some of the easiest ideas come when you start a lesson using a YouTube clip. Just search for something on topic, and you're sure to find something worthwhile. If you're brave, set up a YouTube account for yourself (or use an existing one) and be the star of your own show. The students will love it.

4. Keep good humor.
Students love a teacher with a sense of humor. School is not business, though it is a student's job for the time being. That doesn't mean, however, that you can't have some fun within your job. I keep saying that the students keep me young. I couldn't imagine teaching in a classroom without a smile on my face, or without a smile on the students' faces. I take it as a challenge to get a student to grin. How can you teach middle school without humor? Tell a joke a day. Share a funny situation that happened to you. Keep them on their toes.

5. Show students you care.
It's amazing to think that each of those students in your classroom has a history, present, and future all their own. If you let them know that you care about each one of these periods in their lives, they will never forget you. One of the ways I do this for students is on their birthdays. Of course, the old tradition of spanking children for fun on their birthdays is no longer feasible (and legally irresponsible to say the least), so I've adjusted to shooting them with a foam disc shooter. My students in sixth grade turn 12 usually, so I keep it loaded with 12 discs, and students look forward to their turn all year. Summer birthdays don't get forgotten. That's what "half-birthdays" are for, right?

6. Encourage question asking, continually.
Make sure you remain approachable. Students come in all shapes and sizes, and they have their own ways of dealing with problems, or questions. I think teachers need to make themselves available for whatever the students bring to the table. I typically allow students work time at their desks as I wander or sit at my own desk doing some of my own work, but they can always approach me. Smiling works wonders, too. My opinion, though, is that students (especially at the higher grade levels) should know to ask higher level questions. For example, a reminder of instructions could be taken care of with a classmate, but specific questions regarding process could be teacher solved.

7. Meet with parents face to face.
I definitely could do this better. When issues arise, students need to know you're taking their situation seriously. If they struggle, talk to them first. If it's necessary, get the parents involved. As a teacher and a parent, I've learned that parents just want to know that the teacher cares and is making efforts toward success. In any situation, documenting student progress or lack of it is tantamount. Also, documenting a plan for improvement is necessary. Follow through with administration is always encouraged. In the parent meetings I have been involved with, it gives a fresh perspective on how much families really love each other. And that situation helps me love the students even more.

Go[ogle] Ahead - Blow My Mind

My Media Class this year in both 6th and 8th grades is working through many of the Google Apps available to our school this year because of our new Google Apps for Education (GAfE) account. I recently opened the students' eyes to Google Drawings. I had them use the functions along the toolbar to create mindmaps related to a topic they had worked through in another class this semester. Some focused on English, some on Math, some even created a mindmap on a P.E. topic.

I love the background and the colors on this mindmap.

With this mindmap, I was simply impressed with the detail.

Once students shared their mindmaps with me, I thought I'd take it up a notch: I gave them about a period and a half of class (2 days worth) to wow me with their Google Drawing skills that they had gained through exploration with the mindmaps. Of course they wanted more direction, so I told them that they had a rule...but only one rule:

They needed to blow my mind.

I told them it was merely for extra credit consideration, and I wasn't going to help them. They had to earn it on their own. I wouldn't walk over to their computer and give any toolbar tips because I didn't even want to see it until they were finished. I allowed them to collaborate as much as necessary and to give pointers to each other. Some students were quiet as they set to work; some were loud and had to be hushed. All were engaged.

I don't think I had ever let the students loose in this fashion before, and I've been teaching this age group for almost 16 years. I'm finding out more and more, though, that more freedom is exactly what students need for real creativity. Give them a bit of instruction, and then set them free to make something cool and useful.

Not all their Google Drawings were great. Some merely scribbled. But all were required (and they knew this from the beginning) that they would present their drawing to the class, making sure to answer three questions:  
     1) What is it?
     2) What's my favorite part?
     3) Why do I deserve extra credit for my creation?

Yes, one student presented his drawing exactly this way:
     1) This is a car.
     2) I like the car driving.
     3) I deserve extra credit because of the car driving.

...not much extra credit consideration there.

But most students were excited to get up in front of their peers (and their teacher) and show off the fun things they discovered in their explorations. They took risks. They really blew my mind.

And it's fitting to show you a few of their creations that surprised even them. My students would love to hear what you think of their creations in the comments. Enjoy!

Marika thought that the Google drawing wasn't so easy compared to other things she's tried,
but she could have fooled me!

It took a while for Bree to place all the windows in the cityscape.
but she did it, and I love the silhouette.

Andre blew my mind because of his originality...
and his message about how God can work through any situation.

You could tell Josh was having fun.
I especially like the attention to detail with the headset.

Sabrina was very humble about her drawing,
but I think this could show up on Google's search page someday.
I just love the color scheme!

Entr Flickr Refreshr

Have you ever had an obstacle placed in front of you that you wanted to conquer? The thrill of the climb? The joy of the hunt? The breaking of the iceberg? And then after diving in, you realized that your obstacle was much larger than you had anticipated? Maybe teaching has been like that for you. Perhaps your school year has been a never-ending uphill climb.

I took a class through CUE and FPU called Web 2.0 Tools for the Classroom. Honestly, that class was an uphill climb for me. So much information had been pushed through this brain and explored with these fingers on this computer that I was feeling exhausted. I had reached that point in Will Richardson’s book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms as well. I wanted to try all of his ideas, but I was overwhelmed by so much information...and his ideas were supposed to help me save time by using web 2.0 tools!

It’s similar to when my family was hiking up to Scott’s Lake just off the Tahoe Rim Trail outside of South Lake Tahoe. We decided we’d take the boys for their first “man-sized hike”. Shucks, my wife and I had hiked pretty hard core before we had kids. Now our kids, ages 10 and 8 at the time, were finally ready to go hard core with us. We took in God’s wonders, the rocks, the trees, the meadows, the mountains, and our destination was Scott’s Lake.

There was a point where we were kind of done with the whole taking in the scenery thing. Some mountain bikers pedaled past us, and we put on a smile, but I think we were all wishing for the lake, the destination. My limited map-reading skills didn’t help us either: “Oh, from the looks of it, we should get there in about 10 minutes.” Try closer to 45...

It wasn’t until those bikers started coming back down the hill and encouraging us--“You’re almost there!” “It’s just around the bend!”--that we started smiling again. We were tired, but we were making the most of it, working on having a good attitude as we awaited the sight of the lake. Needless to say our feet were sore and needed some massaging action.

And that’s where I was at with Will Richardson’s book. 

And that's about where we are right now in the school year. It's the beginning of April, and we all could use a good foot massage. Ah...enter spring break!

Enter Flickr.com

Flickr is just fun. I have no doubt that when I introduce photo sharing to my students, they will feel refreshed, as I was with Richardson’s chapter. His ideas were straight-forward and engaging. Perhaps it was my visual learning style that was sparked by the visual literacy possibilities within Flickr, or maybe it was the storytelling potential of each picture I saw. I was refreshed. And boy, were we refreshed when we halted our hike at Scott’s Lake! Our shoes flew off, and our sore feet got the foot refresher they needed.

It’s this storytelling that motivates me as a teacher. I want to tell stories to my students, and I want them to be able to share their stories with each other as well. On Flickr, I especially like the idea of using Flicktion, using photos on Flickr as story starters. If you look at a photo, it’s meant as a social tool; it’s meant to tell a story.

I plan to upload photographs to Flickr or Picasa and allow the students to choose one to base a story around. I have done something like this with a Chris Van Allsburg story.I do something like this with a Chris Van Allsburg story. We will work on story elements and writing process as we go.

After my family soaked our feet and put our shoes back on for the hike down the hill, we ended up singing some hiking songs, and we even tried some trail-running. We made predictions on arrival time and had a couple good conversations with fellow hikers. The obstacle had been overcome. Even though it was larger than we initially thought, we persevered and conquered.

The end of Will Richardson's book and the end of my Web 2.0 course was inspiring. I look forward to the end of the school year working out the same way. May the trip down the hill be quickr!