For approximately the past five months, my fourth graders and I have been pre-piloting BYOD for our district. While our findings are detailed in an earlier post, here is a list of what I consider to be the must-have apps for BYOD (as opposed to apps that I might consider to be “the best” in general).
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Common Core Approved Cafeteria Milk
With the Common Core State Standards staring everyone in the face, many districts are left scrambling to either (1) purchase “Common Core certified” materials or (2) adapt their old materials for the Common Core. In general, I prefer the latter. Simply purchasing a new series could most likely lead to teachers “doing the same thing” but with new materials, treating the series as if it is the curriculum when it is just a tool or resource. Furthermore, it is obvious that publishers have rushed their products to market in an effort to cash in on the new standards. (I’m surprised that our cafeteria milk has yet to be Common Core approved.)
When rolling out Common Core professional development in a subject such as Language Arts, it could be advantageous to focus on the current series, as this is where most teachers are comfortable. Then, discuss how to reinvent the series in order to meet the needs of the Common Core and higher-order thinking.
At a recent building-based professional development session, we took the following steps:
BYOD: “With great power comes great responsibility.”
Any conversation involving technology and education must involve Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) in one way or another. BYOD is becoming increasingly popular as it allows for school districts to “meet students where they are” in a way that is financially advantageous. In short, students are allowed to bring their devices (iPads, iPods, Android tablets, etc.) to school, connect them to a safe and secure network, and leverage their technology for educational purposes.
This year, my district has begun the process of implementing BYOD in what is being called a pre-pilot, and my students and I were delighted when we got the call to be the first classroom in the entire district to have the honor. While working with my students remains my main priority, it is also my duty to set the stage for teachers and students who will be a part of BYOD classrooms in the future. (Next year, the “real” pilot will begin with volunteer teachers from grades 5 and up.)
As a result, here is a quick snapshot of what I have learned (and some of my ideas that have been reinforced) throughout or BYOD pre-pilot:
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colAR Mix App and Visualizing
When I first started teaching about six years ago, one of the biggest mistakes I made was believing that reading comprehension did not consist of much more than reading texts and then answering follow-up questions. Then, everything changed when I read Mosaic of Thought by Ellin Oliver Keene and Susan Zimmermann, followed by Strategies That Work by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis. Now, all of my reading comprehension instruction is encompassed by the essential question, “How can I understand while I am reading?” In other words, it is what great readers do while they are reading that makes them great. This teaching relies heavily on student metacognition and the explicit strategies of monitoring comprehension, activating and connecting to background knowledge, questioning, visualizing, inferring, determining importance in text, and summarizing and synthesizing information. (It is also my firm belief that students should be consistently using these strategies from first grade through high school.)
I am always looking for unique ways to leverage different technologies in order to teach these explicit strategies, and to help in deepening student understanding of what they read. A few weeks ago, I decided to use the augmented reality iOS app, colAR Mix, to teach the strategy of visualizing through a writing workshop. ColAR Mix is an app that literally brings drawings to life! Through the app’s official website, the user can print out coloring pages. Then, when the app’s camera is focused on the printed page, the drawing pops out of the page and animates. It is really one of those things that has to be seen to be believed.
Classroom Technology Integration: 5 Easy Steps
1. Approach Technology with a Backwards Design
When creating an instructional unit, start with the technology. There will be points in time during your teaching career when you will think that you have found the next great program, website, or app that you just have to use with your students. You can encounter these resources by collaborating with other teachers, by browsing the Internet, or when checking your RSS or Twitter feed. Instead of starting backwards from what you want the students to know, start with the technology and make everything else “fit.” However, if you cannot find a valuable use for the technology in your classroom, do not try to cram a square peg into a round hole.
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1 Edcamp and 3 Pizzerias!
1 Edcamp
This past weekend I attended EdcampNYC, at The School at Columbia University in New York City. After hearing promotion for the event at last month’s Edscape Conference, I decided to make the trip. This journey meant heading into Brooklyn straight from my Pennsylvania elementary school on Friday, and then getting up early Saturday morning to take car service up to Columbia.
This was my third Edcamp, but the first one at which I led a discussion. (An Edcamp consists of discussions or conversations, and not presentations. In other words, it is the facilitator’s job to get everyone talking around a topic, rather than standing up in the front of the room as the expert.) In the past, I simply wanted to experience what the Edcamp model had to offer. However, now that I have led my first Edcamp discussion, I will feel more comfortable in doing the same throughout the future, including at Edcamp New Jersey on November 23rd.
Another Edscape Reflection
Last week, despite coming down with a sore throat and a possible fever, I managed to role out of bed early Saturday morning and travel with one of my colleagues to the Edscape conference at Eric Sheninger’s New New Milford High School in New Milford, New Jersey. Last year, after attending the same conference, this was one that I did not want to skip. Although, I was disappointed as I missed out on conducting a presentation as I procrastinated on my proposal and ended up overlooking the deadline. Next year, this will not happen!
Meet the Teacher Night and The Wizard of Oz
As has become the norm, this year my school began Back to School Night with each teacher showing the same informational school video in their classrooms. Using a video avoids everyone having to gather in the multi-purpose room for a “boring” session, and it ensures that everyone hears identical information. Also, videos are entertaining, and they are posted to the school website for possible viewing at later points in time. My principal and I came up with this idea about six years ago, and for five out of the last six years, this is how our school has run Back to School Night. (A few years back we were working at a brand new school, and it was decided that face-to-face would be more appropriate when meeting many of the parents for the very first time.)
Above is this year’s video, which was created in Final Cut Pro X, along with some assistance from Photoshop, Illustrator (Adobe’s graphic design software), GarageBand (Apple’s music recording program), and HandBrake (which allows users to transform DVDs into digital files that can then be edited).
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How We Start the School Year!
About two weeks prior to the start of the school I mail my new students and parents a welcome letter and a supply list. This year, I decided to throw in a bit of flare by enclosing the content in a “candy bar wrapper,” which I modeled after the Wonka Bar from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. My wrapper was created in Adobe Illustrator with the help of the Willy Wonka font, which I was able to find and download for free after a quick Google Search. For the sake of authenticity, I tried to make my chocolate bar look as close to the Wonka Bar as possible. Also, the back (not pictured) contains a QR code that connects to my classroom website.
Along with the two papers, the wrapper also included a golden ticket, which invited new students to a classroom technology day, approximately ten days prior to the start of the school year. (Once again, the golden ticket mimics the “real” golden ticket as closely as possible.) Due to the heavy emphasis that is placed on technology in my classroom, I like to get students started with certain tools as soon as possible. Also, I can take this time to proactively establish rapport with my students, which pays off later on when certain learning obstacles may occur.
So, towards the middle of this past August, 20 out of my 28 new students entered into my classroom for the very first time. More or less, the day was split into four parts:
Edcamp Willow Lane
Since arriving home from Edcamp New Jersey, I have been contemplating the ways in which its structure could be used as part of the professional development model at Willow Lane Elementary School. Soon after the Edcamp, I met with my building principal and Instructional Support Teacher (IST) in order to discuss the possibilities.