Edmodo, Tagxedo, Audio Drop Box, Google Docs, online Flash cards, Symbaloo, Powerpoint, Twitter, Blogger, .. just some of the applications we've used in my classrooms the first two weeks. By far Edmodo has been the most useful and used, but I think I'm OVERusing it. The assignments are too involved, copying pasting cognates from an article to the TURN IN note section, opening flashcards then writing down vocabulary they don't know yet. I think I'm stuck in mile-wide, inch-thick assignments. The students are spending so much time completing the assignments, I don't get to the meat of the lesson.
My students have a bellringer each day when they come into class. This week, I feel like the bellringer has been taking up to 20 minutes! - between not having forms signed, forgetting log-ins, locking themselves out (how are teachers doing it if they don't have the ability to unlock users on the network?!?!?), not understanding the assignment, not knowing how to perform the task, (copy/paste), there's the not knowing the material we're covering!!!
Today, during sixth grade encore, my students copied simple vocabulary words in French in Edmodo - they were cognates, and began with alphabet letters. We pronounced them, and compared them. Then I pulled out my ABC song cd, my 8 1/2 x 11 laminated paper flashcards with those same words on them in photos and their beginning alpha characters and taught.
I moved around the room, I sang and hummed, I called on students. They sang, and repeated and looked up from their laptops for the first time in weeks!! For the past two weeks, I've been so geared towards getting technology integrated, I didn't realize it had BECOME the lesson. I have not been teaching. I'd been pinned to the front of my classroom operating the projector with the powerpoint visually explaining the steps to be taken. I know my students are learning about technology, but I've got to INTEGRATE it, not let it take over my classroom.
There are lots and lots of shiny apps my students can use to learn/learn to use, but less is more I'm coming to believe. To use technology just to use it is not the best use of technology in the classroom. I'm looking forward to our 1:1 Device Pilot group meeting tomorrow evening. I hope I'm not the only one who's looking for a way to strike a balance.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Edmodo... I think I love you.
Sunday evening and I'm looking over my "papers" to grade. My A Day students accessed Edmodo on Friday, completed a Bellringer, and looked for cognates (words that look/sound like words from your own language) on Spanish/French store sights, (Furniture, Grocery, Electronics & Department stores) - definitely authentic learning! One of my students was seen copying my Symbaloo URL so he could revisit the Hot Tub deal he found! (Wonder what shipping will be from France!!??). I like being able to leave personalized comments on my students work.
A few of my very social students used Edmodo to "backchat". I'll need to share with them about the purpose of Edmodo as a classroom tool.
Most of my students found the "TURN IN" box tocomplete their work, but some will have to re-do their assignments because they "posted" their answers instead of "turning in" their assignments. I did find out that if you group the same work for several classes, the answers come back together too. Edmodo will take some time to figure out, but so far, I see it being the vehicle for a lot of our classwork.
I ran into a parent Sat. a.m., running errands and she said her daughter introduced her to her classroom "Facebook". It reminded me I need to gather my parents' emails (from the Laptop Rules form they filled out) and send out offerings to use the Parent code feature in Edmodo.
Looking to this next week, all of my classes will be using Edmodo. My "most looking forward to" this week is that my World Language classes, after learning about Communication, (speech, writing, gestures, sounds, symbols) will be working on my first generated PBL. They are to decide on a message and a mode of communication to introduce us to the Martians.
A few of my very social students used Edmodo to "backchat". I'll need to share with them about the purpose of Edmodo as a classroom tool.
Most of my students found the "TURN IN" box tocomplete their work, but some will have to re-do their assignments because they "posted" their answers instead of "turning in" their assignments. I did find out that if you group the same work for several classes, the answers come back together too. Edmodo will take some time to figure out, but so far, I see it being the vehicle for a lot of our classwork.
I ran into a parent Sat. a.m., running errands and she said her daughter introduced her to her classroom "Facebook". It reminded me I need to gather my parents' emails (from the Laptop Rules form they filled out) and send out offerings to use the Parent code feature in Edmodo.
Looking to this next week, all of my classes will be using Edmodo. My "most looking forward to" this week is that my World Language classes, after learning about Communication, (speech, writing, gestures, sounds, symbols) will be working on my first generated PBL. They are to decide on a message and a mode of communication to introduce us to the Martians.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Another Week in the Books
This was a short week (Labor Day holiday) and the three day weekend was a much needed break as it gave me a little time to plan this week's adventures using the tablets in the classroom. In science I found three astronomy webquests that I plan to use for moons, seasons, and tides/eclipses. I tried webquests for the first time last year, and I found them to be a break from the norm. My kids from last year enjoyed them and I knew that this would be an easy way for me to implement something new with this year's group. Two of the webquests are introductory activities and one is a higher level PBL project.
Over the span of four days I was able to get most of the students through the webquest on the phases of the moon. We experienced a little trouble with some of the links opening, so we pulled them up on the Smartboard for teams to preview together. I had to omit one of the tasks (simulation) because it was impossible to get 14 groups on one classroom CPU. I did preview the webquest ahead of time at home on my desktop, to be sure that it ran smoothly for the kids in class. Lesson learned...but it wasn't a big deal.
Note to self:
1) Try activities out on a tablet instead of the desktop.
2) Continue to roll with the punches.
I posted my first "quiz" on Edmodo today. It was actually a five question assessment on factors/prime and composite numbers/rules of divisibility that I will count as a daily grade. Overall, this is a great way to assess student understanding. The assignment is instantly graded for you, students get immediate feedback, and it's paperless. As a bonus....the teacher is provided with an item analysis which informs you on which topics need to be retaught. Loving it!
Notes to self:
1) Be mindful of the timer feature if you think that time might be an issue. I set it for 30 minutes and we had to go to lunch. I had to ask a few kids to stay back so they wouldn't time out of the quiz.
2) Be sure that your answers are correct. Mistakes can be corrected by cloning the original quiz and making changes, but it's always better to get it right the first time.
3) In the future, I will create the Edmodo accounts. My kids input their user ID and password and I gave them a record sheet for this data. They still can't seem to login, which means creating new accounts. Real headache!
My Kidblog account is finally up and running. The program is easy to use and I went ahead and input their UID and passwords to save a little time. We hope to use this as a platform to openly reflect on our experiences with math, science, and technology. Hopefully this will also serve as evidence for a successful 1:1 classroom pilot.
Note to self:
1) Remind students that they are writing for all to read. Proper writing mechanics need to be a focus, as others will read their writing.
Over the span of four days I was able to get most of the students through the webquest on the phases of the moon. We experienced a little trouble with some of the links opening, so we pulled them up on the Smartboard for teams to preview together. I had to omit one of the tasks (simulation) because it was impossible to get 14 groups on one classroom CPU. I did preview the webquest ahead of time at home on my desktop, to be sure that it ran smoothly for the kids in class. Lesson learned...but it wasn't a big deal.
Note to self:
1) Try activities out on a tablet instead of the desktop.
2) Continue to roll with the punches.
I posted my first "quiz" on Edmodo today. It was actually a five question assessment on factors/prime and composite numbers/rules of divisibility that I will count as a daily grade. Overall, this is a great way to assess student understanding. The assignment is instantly graded for you, students get immediate feedback, and it's paperless. As a bonus....the teacher is provided with an item analysis which informs you on which topics need to be retaught. Loving it!
Notes to self:
1) Be mindful of the timer feature if you think that time might be an issue. I set it for 30 minutes and we had to go to lunch. I had to ask a few kids to stay back so they wouldn't time out of the quiz.
2) Be sure that your answers are correct. Mistakes can be corrected by cloning the original quiz and making changes, but it's always better to get it right the first time.
3) In the future, I will create the Edmodo accounts. My kids input their user ID and password and I gave them a record sheet for this data. They still can't seem to login, which means creating new accounts. Real headache!
My Kidblog account is finally up and running. The program is easy to use and I went ahead and input their UID and passwords to save a little time. We hope to use this as a platform to openly reflect on our experiences with math, science, and technology. Hopefully this will also serve as evidence for a successful 1:1 classroom pilot.
Note to self:
1) Remind students that they are writing for all to read. Proper writing mechanics need to be a focus, as others will read their writing.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Deployment and post-Deployment issues
So I have to start off by saying how incredibly grateful I am that not only was Marty in my classroom but so was Sandy and Doreen first thing in the morning. I had distinct plans in my head about introducing my kids to edmodo and guiding them in creating a tagxedo of themselves (which is such a fun cool site! I wish I knew about it earlier!). Everybody was excited about getting the computers up and running on the newly created wireless network created just for my kids! Surprise! It didn't work :( So then we moved on to plan B. We had to log each computer onto the guest network as the students were coming in to the classroom. So I tried to manage them and instructed them to write in their journals quietly. By this time I had about five people trying to log onto the computers, Matt was trying to fix my board (yeah my board wasn't working on the deployment day either), two other people observing the project, and I am really expecting my students to keep quiet?! But they did! They were amazing! One by one, we called them to get their computer by their number, which they had already memorized.
Logging on to edmodo was a success! They were excited about it looking like facebook. They answered the questions I had posted and answered the poll question as well. The next step, the project I was most excited about, was not so successful. I instructed my students to go to my website and click on the symbaloo link. They started getting very chatty when they saw all the cool sites they would experience. I told them to click on the Tagxedo and....IT DIDN'T WORK!!! So quick thinking, I told them to go to wordle instead. They loved it and they loved changing the colors, fonts, etc..
Of course, a wordle is not as easy to save as a tagxedo. We had to go through multiple steps to use the snipping tool, save it as a jpeg, then turn in the assignment to edmodo.
I felt like a broken record constantly repeating the steps. My kids did so well following instructions, but it really helped having so many hands in the classroom.
The next time we got out the laptops was the fun part...I was determined to teach my students to go through the five step process it takes to log onto the network. This is a time when my patience was tested. I did not even finish talking before I had ten hands in the air and kids trying to follow me around the room. I knew I couldn't do this every time we had to use the laptops. I used flags to help with this issue. I had a stack of three colored cups, one per student. I told them the green cup on top meant you were good, the yellow one meant you were struggling but trying to solve the problem, and red meant major problems.
The next time I tried to use these flags, I told the kids that if they knew how to sign on to the network, they could go ahead while I gave instructions to the rest of the class. Most of them were able to sign on, but I still had those few who just gave up and raised their hands the second they had a problem.
I was a little frustrated still because I couldn't get everything done that I wanted to accomplish because I had so many students who were relying on me to do everything for them. I went to my principal for advice. He said to let them struggle through it. They will work it out eventually. I tried just that and it was actually much better! Most of the students really tried to figure out and solve the problem. We were on the internet and getting our work done much quicker!
Now that the internet issue is sorted out, I am really looking forward to using these laptops more and more throughout the year!
Logging on to edmodo was a success! They were excited about it looking like facebook. They answered the questions I had posted and answered the poll question as well. The next step, the project I was most excited about, was not so successful. I instructed my students to go to my website and click on the symbaloo link. They started getting very chatty when they saw all the cool sites they would experience. I told them to click on the Tagxedo and....IT DIDN'T WORK!!! So quick thinking, I told them to go to wordle instead. They loved it and they loved changing the colors, fonts, etc..
Of course, a wordle is not as easy to save as a tagxedo. We had to go through multiple steps to use the snipping tool, save it as a jpeg, then turn in the assignment to edmodo.
I felt like a broken record constantly repeating the steps. My kids did so well following instructions, but it really helped having so many hands in the classroom.
The next time we got out the laptops was the fun part...I was determined to teach my students to go through the five step process it takes to log onto the network. This is a time when my patience was tested. I did not even finish talking before I had ten hands in the air and kids trying to follow me around the room. I knew I couldn't do this every time we had to use the laptops. I used flags to help with this issue. I had a stack of three colored cups, one per student. I told them the green cup on top meant you were good, the yellow one meant you were struggling but trying to solve the problem, and red meant major problems.
The next time I tried to use these flags, I told the kids that if they knew how to sign on to the network, they could go ahead while I gave instructions to the rest of the class. Most of them were able to sign on, but I still had those few who just gave up and raised their hands the second they had a problem.
I was a little frustrated still because I couldn't get everything done that I wanted to accomplish because I had so many students who were relying on me to do everything for them. I went to my principal for advice. He said to let them struggle through it. They will work it out eventually. I tried just that and it was actually much better! Most of the students really tried to figure out and solve the problem. We were on the internet and getting our work done much quicker!
Now that the internet issue is sorted out, I am really looking forward to using these laptops more and more throughout the year!
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
DEPLOYMENT - It wasn't pretty.. but it was cute :)
I guess I with thinking/hoping all would go smoothly today when my students finally got to log on to their laptops. I was wakeful all night long last night watching the clock in anticipation of the big event. I arrived at school about 45 minutes early, to get the laptops out on the table tops, (the signal that they're available for use and should be logged onto) and to grab a Mountain Dew, (power up!!).
Help arrived from Central Office, (Yeah Colleen!! - Couldn't have managed without you - Great, great patience!) in time for our first class: 8th grade World Languages. Only the students who had returned their signed forms were able to use the laptops, so ~8 students were out of luck. Those students got 2 readings on "Why learn a Foreign Language" to read and write commentary. (I know - no competition against the glitz of technology).
After a myriad of small issues, (mostly forgotten passwords or being locked out from trying their forgotten passwords..) all were able to access the network. Their first job was to log into Edmodo, create an account, if they didn't already have one from another teacher and answer a question, then, look at the articles assigned to the non-laptop users and take a poll. Edmodo threw the first curve.. Students trying to create an account received an unknown error which resulted in immediate failure to launch. We adjusted the line up for 2nd period, and they went to my Tech Survey first, followed by Tagxedo leaving out Edmodo until we could come up with a fix. I even remembered second period to go through the routine we'd created; (When I greet the class, that's the signal to drop the screens to 45 degrees to get the class intro info).
My biggest hurdle today came from students who didn't have their forms turned in. The seatwork was just so unappealing in comparison to the laptops that in one class, they just couldn't stay on task. I called their homes this evening to request parents help get the forms in so their students would have the privilege of using the laptops on Friday when I see them again.
With Tagxedo, I challenged the students to "figure it out" on their own. I didn't tell them which icons to click to create a new design, nor did I tell them to click on "form" to add words. I encouraged the students to share with their tables as they figured out something, and in one class in particular, joy burst out in cheers when they put it all together.
Tomorrow is another "Day 1" with my "B" day classes. I'm looking at alternate assignments for my "no forms" students - to help alleviate the off task behavior. I've dropped Edmodo for now, and after Tagxedo, I've set up a Bridge URL of videos for each subject areas, (to show off the screen and sound quality of our new tools).
Wish us luck!
Help arrived from Central Office, (Yeah Colleen!! - Couldn't have managed without you - Great, great patience!) in time for our first class: 8th grade World Languages. Only the students who had returned their signed forms were able to use the laptops, so ~8 students were out of luck. Those students got 2 readings on "Why learn a Foreign Language" to read and write commentary. (I know - no competition against the glitz of technology).
After a myriad of small issues, (mostly forgotten passwords or being locked out from trying their forgotten passwords..) all were able to access the network. Their first job was to log into Edmodo, create an account, if they didn't already have one from another teacher and answer a question, then, look at the articles assigned to the non-laptop users and take a poll. Edmodo threw the first curve.. Students trying to create an account received an unknown error which resulted in immediate failure to launch. We adjusted the line up for 2nd period, and they went to my Tech Survey first, followed by Tagxedo leaving out Edmodo until we could come up with a fix. I even remembered second period to go through the routine we'd created; (When I greet the class, that's the signal to drop the screens to 45 degrees to get the class intro info).
My biggest hurdle today came from students who didn't have their forms turned in. The seatwork was just so unappealing in comparison to the laptops that in one class, they just couldn't stay on task. I called their homes this evening to request parents help get the forms in so their students would have the privilege of using the laptops on Friday when I see them again.
With Tagxedo, I challenged the students to "figure it out" on their own. I didn't tell them which icons to click to create a new design, nor did I tell them to click on "form" to add words. I encouraged the students to share with their tables as they figured out something, and in one class in particular, joy burst out in cheers when they put it all together.
Tomorrow is another "Day 1" with my "B" day classes. I'm looking at alternate assignments for my "no forms" students - to help alleviate the off task behavior. I've dropped Edmodo for now, and after Tagxedo, I've set up a Bridge URL of videos for each subject areas, (to show off the screen and sound quality of our new tools).
Wish us luck!
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Lessons Learned
5 days of school makes 1 weak.. I mean week. With a student count of ~240, names are going to be something to work on, is there an App for that?? Hmmm.. Face recognition with an uploaded student roster and photo db!!
I have an Aday/Bday schedule, so I only saw my students at most three times. On Friday, my Aday students finally got to touch, (yes, only touch - not turn on) their devices. I passed out 1:1 Pilot Device Addendums, and Laptop Rules/AUP forms to my students on the first day. By the 2nd day, I realized I'd goofed. I hadn't put MY name on the form, (homebase teachers were getting them, office staff, counseling, computer tech. teachers, ..). I also forgot.. how forgetful our students are.. I planned to USE the laptops Friday. Students were told, "without signed forms, you'll sit and watch longingly as other use their devices. Friday would have left almost half of my population in that sad position.
Good fortune shone on me because Friday turned out to be an excellent OVERVIEW day. The devices were in the middle of their table groups, (the signal that they will be used that day). After completing unfinished business, we reviewed the three signed forms (had they read the forms before signing? (answer: no)).
Then, each retrieved their assigned device, and by way of a powerpoint, we examined them, and their ports and dedicated keys. We talked about their handling and care and procedures (like a new pet); "45", (closing screens to give their attention to me), "90", (re-opening), closing the screens for off-task behavior, and "Ask 3 Before Me", (thanks peers in our Device Pilot group! - great advice.)
Not turning on the devices was the best way to deliver the lesson. By telling them upfront that we wouldn't turn on their devices, (collective "awwww"), we focused on laying the groundrules and learning about their devices instead "can we turn them on now? .. now? .. now?!"
It is really difficult not just putting the devices into my students' hands and beginning our first learning unit. I'm struggling juggling content with laying a strong classroom management foundation. I know from experience we've got to do that first, but my goodness, I'm itching to get INTO using the devices.
This weekend, I will put the finishing touches on my first unit lessons plans, (6 preps - whew!!) Following our Essential Standards and FL Pacing Guide, (thanks, Ms Baldwin/FL Peers), I've been investigating which technology will best lend itself to learning the required objectives. I'll create Symbaloos for links. I'll also review a new link offered by one of my Twitter peeps, www.edutoia.org/stw-project-based-learning-best-practices. ut, mostly, I'll enjoy Labor Day weekend; the time dedicated to honor the contributions all of us have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our great country. Go USA!
I have an Aday/Bday schedule, so I only saw my students at most three times. On Friday, my Aday students finally got to touch, (yes, only touch - not turn on) their devices. I passed out 1:1 Pilot Device Addendums, and Laptop Rules/AUP forms to my students on the first day. By the 2nd day, I realized I'd goofed. I hadn't put MY name on the form, (homebase teachers were getting them, office staff, counseling, computer tech. teachers, ..). I also forgot.. how forgetful our students are.. I planned to USE the laptops Friday. Students were told, "without signed forms, you'll sit and watch longingly as other use their devices. Friday would have left almost half of my population in that sad position.
Good fortune shone on me because Friday turned out to be an excellent OVERVIEW day. The devices were in the middle of their table groups, (the signal that they will be used that day). After completing unfinished business, we reviewed the three signed forms (had they read the forms before signing? (answer: no)).
Then, each retrieved their assigned device, and by way of a powerpoint, we examined them, and their ports and dedicated keys. We talked about their handling and care and procedures (like a new pet); "45", (closing screens to give their attention to me), "90", (re-opening), closing the screens for off-task behavior, and "Ask 3 Before Me", (thanks peers in our Device Pilot group! - great advice.)
Not turning on the devices was the best way to deliver the lesson. By telling them upfront that we wouldn't turn on their devices, (collective "awwww"), we focused on laying the groundrules and learning about their devices instead "can we turn them on now? .. now? .. now?!"
It is really difficult not just putting the devices into my students' hands and beginning our first learning unit. I'm struggling juggling content with laying a strong classroom management foundation. I know from experience we've got to do that first, but my goodness, I'm itching to get INTO using the devices.
This weekend, I will put the finishing touches on my first unit lessons plans, (6 preps - whew!!) Following our Essential Standards and FL Pacing Guide, (thanks, Ms Baldwin/FL Peers), I've been investigating which technology will best lend itself to learning the required objectives. I'll create Symbaloos for links. I'll also review a new link offered by one of my Twitter peeps, www.edutoia.org/stw-project-based-learning-best-practices. ut, mostly, I'll enjoy Labor Day weekend; the time dedicated to honor the contributions all of us have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our great country. Go USA!
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