Tech Tips
October 2014: Volume 2 Number 6
Hope you're having a Boootiful October!
Pixel Press Floors
"Have you always wanted to create your own video game but never knew where to start?
Pixel Press Floors offers a revolutionary and simple way to create & play games - create on paper with "Draw-on-Paper" and take a picture of it, create directly on the screen just like you would on paper with "Draw-in-App", and then share & play games created by you and the entire community in the "Arcade".
ARE YOU A TEACHER? FREE lesson plans now available at projectpixelpress.com/education"
Kodable
Kodable teaches kids the basics of any programming language in a fun game! Completely self-guided and designed for kids 5 and up.
Hopscotch
"Hopscotch is an iPad app that lets kids drag and drop blocks of code to create their own programs!
Make Games, stories, animations, interactive art, apps...if you can imagine it, you can make it with Hopscotch!
You'll learn problem solving, critical thinking, and the fundamentals of computer programming."
The Maker Movement: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants to Own the Future
"Many teachers know that children learn best by doing. Champions of project-based learning have decades of research to support this, includingEdutopia’s own compendium. In recent years, the Maker movement has generated a new following in education with many teachers adding interesting new tools and materials like robots, 3D printing, e-textiles, and more. The idea that interesting materials and opportunities for students to work independently on in-depth projects dovetails nicely into what we know about creating optimal learning environments for children.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Four Tips to Manage Mobile Classrooms
"As classrooms change with the evolution of mobile technology, classroom management strategies must adjust to walk the line between keeping students on task and giving students freedom to use their mobile devices for learning."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 Powerful Things You Didn't Know Chromebooks Could Do
"The now-familiar knock seemingly started when the very first Googley laptop rolled off the line. “Sure, Chromebooks are nice, but they can’t run Photoshop.”
Well, that just isn’t true anymore. Nor are many other Chromebook myths.
From Photoshop to Office and beyond, here are five powerful things you might be surprised to learn you can do with a Chromebook."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Beyond Twitter and Google + : Staying Focused on Real Connection
"The more I connect with new teachers, the more I encourage them to first find a digital space where they can bridge the classroom to the greater community. This is where you develop a healthy, consistent web presence, and provide a transparent experience for parents and students seeking to learn more about your class."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Biggest Hurdle in Educational Technology and How to Clear It
excerpt:
1. Get crystal clear about your goals.
What do you want your students to learn? What do you want them to be able to do? Try not to think of the tasks you want them to do; focus on the end goal.
2. Review your previous activities (if you had them) and identify what you liked about them.
What made the most difference for students? What really got them thinking? Again, try not to think about “this worksheet was good” or “this chapter covered it well” … focus on the experiences of the students and the gains they got from them.
3. Take your goals and your favorite parts of previous activities and match them to tools with those same strengths.
Scan through lists of apps and websites with a discerning eye. (They’re all over the place. A few quick Internet searches will uncover several!) Which one (or ones) can combine your essentials — even if you don’t yet know how you’re going to use it?
4. Keep an open mind.
They say that there are no bad questions during brainstorming. There are no bad ideas or bad digital tools at this point as long as they have the potential to help your students reach their goals. You don’t immediately have to have the right answers. Embrace the process — even if there’s some uncertainty in it. (That’s part of the adventure.)
5. Generate several ideas for potential activities.
Make a list of things your students could do with the technology that would reach their goals. Identify what you like and what you don’t and then do some tweaking to get it right. Eventually, some of those ideas will fall to the back of the pack and you’ll have some favorites.
6. Gather opinions.
Provide your students the goals and some ideas for activities and tools to reach them. Then see what they think — if they have any new ideas, different ways to follow through on your previous ideas, new tools to suggest. Ask some colleagues or post your thoughts on social media to gather feedback. We don’t have to be lone wolves — there’s a big pack of people to help us out!
7. Finalize your ideas and put them into action!
Action is important — even if you aren’t an expert in new tools yet. Students are pretty sharp and can help you work through the technical parts of your new plan (and if they do help, that doesn’t mean you’re less of a teacher!). Jump in with both feet, and even if it doesn’t work out perfectly (even if it blows up in your face), your students will probably appreciate your willingness to try new things.
8. Be flexible and be ready to change.
Reflect on your new activities afterward. Ask your students what they liked about the activity and how good it was for teaching them. If something flops early on in the new activity, be ready to revise it or even try it again completely the next day. We don’t have to be perfect. The acronym FAIL (First Attempt In Learning) applies to teachers too!
Follow those steps and you’ll be well on your way to modifying your classes and redefining learning with your students!
Note that this process doesn’t have to be followed formally every time (especially if you’re thinking, “Wow, all of those steps sound like a lot of work!”) Eventually you can do it quickly in your mind as you process new ideas.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brain-Scan Research Delivers Lesson on How Kids Learn
"They are at the forefront of brain research that’s illuminating what happens inside the brain as young children learn to speak, listen, read and write–and how to help those who struggle with those skills, like Shelter.
That’s because our brains aren’t naturally wired for reading and writing (or multiplying and dividing). Infants aren’t born with the neural pathways needed for those skills."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Mindset of the Maker Educator
Excellent graphics and presentation on the Maker Movement.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Veteran Teacher Shadows 2 Students for 2 Days: A Sobering Lesson Learned
"Key Takeaway #1
Students sit all day, and sitting is exhausting.
I could not believe how tired I was after the first day. I literally sat down the entire day, except for walking to and from classes. We forget as teachers, because we are on our feet a lot – in front of the board, pacing as we speak, circling around the room to check on student work, sitting, standing, kneeling down to chat with a student as she works through a difficult problem…we move a lot."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Want to Promote Creativity: Battle Self-Consciousness
"We have to shut off the prefrontal cortex if we’re going to be our best creative selves, he said, so that we’re not inhibited and we’re not constantly shutting down all of these new generative impulses. (You can see Limb’s TED Talk about the study here.)"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 Ways Technology Buoys At-Risk Students
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Technology is Hope
"What I try to share is that these tools are about possibilities and mindsets. They offer hope that you can do things differently, that students can learn in new ways, that you can learn in new ways. When you have hope you are less likely to settle, your eyes and ears remain open to new ideas and your curiosity is piqued."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Student Video Mash Up with Youtube
"In a previous post I wrote about how students can upload directly to the teachers YouTube account. Once the student videos are in the class YouTube channel the teacher (or a student) can use the YouTube video editor to create a video mash up of the students videos. This video can be shown to the class to make all students a star when there is not time to show all of the student videos."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What Works Clearinghouse: Student Behavior
Reviews conducted of student behavior interventions examine the evidence of effectiveness of programs, curricula, and practices whose purpose is to foster positive behavioral outcomes.
Specifically, the WWC reviews studies that examine the impact of interventions on the following outcomes:
• Behavior • Cognition
• Emotional/Internal behavior • External behavior
• Functional abilities • General academic achievement
• Knowledge, attitudes, & values • Mathematics achievement
• Reading achievement • Social outcomes
• Social-emotional development
Grade/Age Range: PreK through High School
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Technology in the Classroom
"Using a structured, shared Google Doc, students work in small groups during class to answer reading-based questions. This classroom-based learning activity replaces lecture-time with writing and collaborating in a group.
“I’m convinced that the less I talk, and the more my students talk, the more they're going to learn,” Walpole added. “With the group, they can actually figure out any nuanced misunderstandings they might have had, and since they’ve talked to one another before listening to me, we have much better conversations in class.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WeVideo: Quick Tutorial
WeVideo has been featured before, but after working with sixth graders and watching them learn it in minutes, I thought I'd share again!
Better Ways to Learn
“The brain wants variation,” Mr. Carey says. “It wants to move, it wants to take periodic breaks.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Strongsville City Schools Instructional Technology Information
Contact me if you have any questions or would like help using these tools.
Email: turner@strongnet.org
Website: http://www.strongnet.org/InstructionalTechnology
Phone: 440-572-7067