Expanding teaching, exploring technology

In our class we created many projects that reflect students’ feelings about the special people in their lives. My kindergarten students selected a special someone and then drew a few things on a planning page. They used the app Explain Everything and drew a picture of their mom (special someone) while they were talking about the special things about the person.

There were two challenges. One, it was hard to find a quiet space for students to record their ideas. Two, some students struggled to talk and draw at the same time. It was actually funny to watch. I had a parent volunteer or a student helper or sometimes myself sit with the child while they recorded the movie. I have permission from this family to post this very personal and special keepsake.

Special Someone

Steps:
1. Planning page of sketches

2. Use the app Explain Everything.

3. The student draws and talks while recording.

4. Save.

5. Export to Dropbox.

6. Email a link from Dropbox to the family.

What digital keepsakes do your students create?

I feel very fortunate to have the equipment and the network to be able to connect with educators and students around the world. One of our Kindergarten curriculum big idea states, ” Children are connected to others and contribute to their world.” I use my own Professional Learning Network (PLN) on Twitter to connect with educators and classrooms. I also blog to share our classroom questions and ideas. I have a class blog https://mrsharrisonk.wordpress.com/ and I am part of a collaborative blog http://wecanseeprojectsharingspace.blogspot.ca/ Through the use of Skype we can connect and interact with others and learn more about our world.

Sometimes I take what I do for granted, it’s just what I do and what many members of my PLN on Twitter are doing in their classrooms. Sometimes I forget that it’s not the norm. I was asked to share my class story with CTV News.  I tweeted out and ask for help. Karen Lirenman @klirenman in Surrey, British Columbia agreed to participate in the taping.

Here is the link to the short clip http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/video?playlistId=1.1268051

I wanted to post the link because I’ve found the comments and discussions following the airing very interesting. Each person views a clip from their own lens. Some teachers contacted me and asked how I found people to Skype with, the clip had them thinking about what they could do in their schools. The clip was a springboard for dialogue about future interactions. I also had others who tweeted and volunteered to Skype with our class. Now we have now more connections.  Many parents of the students in the clip commented too. Certainly they were thrilled to see their child on TV. A few mentioned how it was interesting to see a Skype call in action. Some parents commented that the Skype calls generate lots of conversations at the dinner table. The clip was posted on our parent council Facebook page and one family commented on how proud she was to have our school highlighted in the news.  I always share our Skype interactions in our classroom newsletters but I realized I don’t always share with the greater school community. I also had colleagues that I worked with many years ago email me. They shared their point of view on the episode.

I  was contacted by several tweeps who want to share the clip with their board personnel. They are hoping that the clip will help the ‘unblocking’ process of Skype on their district’s networks. I am glad they were able to gain something productive from the brief clip. Here is another clip on Skype that the Ministry of Education filmed in my grade three room last year. http://www.curriculum.org/content/30/reading-the-world-in-a-grade-3-classroom

Last week while I was grocery shopping a gentleman approached me and said, “You are a teacher right?” I smiled and said, yes and replied that I had taught his daughter many years ago. He went on to say he saw me on the news and I had put our town on our news. He didn’t speak at all about the Skype call, just that he was happy to hear our town’s name on the news. This made me reflect on how many people look at the same thing with a different lens and set of experiences. I need to remember that sharing in different venues is extremely important in building capacity.

How do you spread the word about what you do and why?

In our province I  feel the definition of reading fits the current world. Our Language Curriculum document grades 1-8 has a foot note that states “The word text is used in this document in its broadest sense, as a means of communication that uses words, graphics, sounds, and/or images, in print, oral, visual, or electronic form, to present information and ideas to an audience.” page 4. I feel educators in our school in particular have expanded their understanding of ways to use a variety of text for reading. Our bookroom is filled with non fiction texts, posters, procedures, narratives, pattern books, word less books, magazines, advertisements, cereal boxes, song lyrics and poems. We also use online texts, CDs of texts, Shared Reading binders filled with overheads and CDs with a variety of texts. We also have some online magazine subscriptions for the older grades. As teachers we use multiple types of text and I believe our students understand that reading is making meaning from the many images and sounds that they encounter.

I also feel in our building the transfer has occurred in the area of writing. Students  in our school write procedures, poems, narratives, persuasive texts, letters, emails, blog posts, announcements, tweets, texts and songs. I believe that students need to see writing as a way to communicate a message regardless of its form. Some students use their own devices to write, some use their SEA computers, some use the tech in the school, some use markers, pencils and paint. Some students also use their own voices to record their messages.Writing is conveying a message or demonstrating understanding.

I recently attended a Kindergarten professional development session on Interactive Writing. I am a strong advocate for Interactive Writing and have been for a long time. I have read many resources and have led a book study on Interactive Writing. ” Interactive writing has been described by Swartz (2001) as “a teaching method in which children and teacher negotiate what they are going to write and then share the pen to construct the message.” Interactive writing is a cooperative event in which text is jointly composed and written. ” as posted on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_writing    An interactive writing lesson can be done in a large group, small group or in a one to one session. During an interactive writing lesson the teacher works with the child  or group to determine the purpose of the message and what the message will say. Together we negotiate the content. They count out the words and repeat the message several times. Then they write the message together. The sharing of the pen occurs when the child comes up and takes the pen and records the message. The teacher might write the tricky words or fill in words depending on the time and the attention of the group. During the interactive experience, the teacher addresses letter formation, print conventions such as capitals, spaces and periods. The group will stretch out the words and discuss the sounds they hear in a word and the teacher will fill in any missing sounds. For example, “Yes, you heard the sounds m and t in the word meet. That’s the first and last sound in the word. Lets write that down. Who hears the middle sound? Oh, you hear e. Hmm, we hear its letter sound instead of its short e sound. In this word we have two ee.” The teacher guides the students through the writing of the text. Interactive Writing is an extremely powerful experience. It’s a strategy I use throughout the day in various situations.

Now, back to the earlier paragraphs on the expanded definition of text. The workshop focused on the physical writing of a marker to paper. This is the definition seen in many resources. I feel that definition is a little dated. In my classroom, I sit with students and we do interactive writing in various ways. I will take a digital photo of a student and then sit with the child and together come up with a message to send their parents at work. On the iPad I will click the email button and together we will talk through the message. “How do emails start? Do you want to use Dear or Hi? You know how to spell Mom. You type it now. What do you want to say about your photo?” Together we go through the process of deconstructing the sentence, counting out of the words and talking about the sounds in the words. We then co type the message. I will type some and the child will type some. I believe this is an interactive experience. The purpose is showing students that they can write using various tools. Writing is not simply just putting a marker to paper. Writing is also typing, I also believe it’s recording a voice and having a tool such as Dragon Dictate translate the voice to text. How many adults use Suri on their iPhones? Are they writing texts and messages? Do we ‘count’ this as writing? Why or why not?

In class we have students respond to blog posts. On our collaborative blog http://wecanseeprojectsharingspace.blogspot.ca/ We read the comments and messages and together we respond. Sometimes it’s done in a shared experience when I do the physical typing, sometimes the posts are done as a modelled writing lesson, and sometimes it’s an interactive writing experience where we share the keyboard.

So, I ask that if you are in my classroom and you are ‘reading the walls’, you understand that interactive writing is also occurring on the SMARTboard and on the iPads. Interactive writing is not only the marker to the paper pieces that are posted. Our definition of text has widened. Now our definition of the instructional approaches to writing needs to be expanded.

I feel as an education system, we need to move beyond the definition of interactive writing as ‘sharing the pen’ and redefine it as ‘sharing the tools’.

What are your thoughts?

Resource:

How Language & Literacy Come Together, K-2

Andrea McCarrier, Ohio State University, Irene Fountas, Lesley University, Gay Su Pinnell, The Ohio State University

http://www.heinemann.com/products/E00209.aspx

This year I opened the FDK (Full Day Learning Kindergarten) program in our school. I felt I had a great rhythm last year in my grade three class and I’m happy to say the Ministry of Education filmed my literacy block five years ago and again last spring. There is a DVD in all public schools in Ontario titled “Reading The World in A Grade 3 Classroom” which documents the entire literacy block.

I have recently discovered the clips are now posted altogether on this website http://www.curriculum.org/content/30/reading-the-world-in-a-grade-3-classroom  If you ever wondered how I used iPads in my literacy block or wondered how I structured my block, then I invite you to take a look at the clips.

Angie

“1. The word text is used in this document in its broadest sense, as a means of communication that uses words, graphics, sounds, and/or images, in print, oral, visual, or electronic form, to present information and ideas to an audience.” page 4 of our Language Curriculum document.

This statement has been a guiding principle for me in the way I instruct literacy. I believe students of all ages need to be taught using a rich variety of texts. During planning times with colleagues I seek out multiple types of texts and combine them to make a rich learning experience for our students. I use www.discoveryeducation.ca/ as a site to download short clips that support our shared reading lessons and our read alouds. I also work with my colleagues to show them how to embed and work with multiple types of texts.

I have the belief that like students, adults work best while supported through modelled, shared and guided experiences. One shot professional development sessions can launch ideas but sometimes mentoring is the best way to sustain change. During the past two years I worked with a team of teachers from grade 2 to grade 4. Together we planned each week and created lessons that would be suitable for our learners. I used Discovery Streaming and found clips that would support the printed texts we were using. Students were highly engaged but we discovered that students’ understanding of the topic greatly increased when we used sound clips or short video clips.   For example, we used a narrative text about Maple Syrup and them embedded a short clip on the process of maple syrup. The clips on Discovery Education include some Reading Rainbow shows, but what is awesome about Discovery is the clips are broken into short portions to use as needed in the class. Twenty years ago I would have shown a full episode and now I can gather just the “A Trip to Vermont” Section. I showed the four minute clip several times over the course of the week to help develop an understanding of the process of maple syrup making. This informational text supports the students’ understanding so when they reread the narrative text about Maple Syrup then they can visualize the process explained in the story. I helped members of our team connect with our board of education’s contact and secure licensing for teachers and for their students.

This year, I’m on a new team teaching Kindergarten. I modelled the use of embedding streamed video to support our shared reading texts. I demonstrated and shared files via DropBox. I created a team DropBox folder and each week I place texts that could be used. I believe that people need to see the purpose of a resource prior to jumping in and using a resource. I also sent all the contact information for securing licensing for the K team. All members of our team now have access and licensing for downloading their own clips to use in class. Each week, I co plan with one of my colleagues. We look at our assessment data, our long range plans and then create new shared reading texts that link with our read alouds and class focus. I worked with my colleague this term and created the SMARTNotebook files that contained our texts and showed her how to download video clips and embed them into the Notebook file. I am now in the point of guiding her and together we are downloading clips and working with the files to support our learners.

This is the poem my colleague wrote to support a Duct Tape Challenge that we were conducting in our classroom. Here is a clip about Gorilla Tape that supports the text.

Here is a shared reading pattern text written about celebrations.

The brief video clip explains different traditions but it also provided a context for the new vocabulary our students were learning.

I also use Discovery clips to support inquiry in our Full Day Kindergarten program. I have another teacher who supports our classroom for Science once a week. I have modelled how I use the video clips to support learning in the inquiry model in our classroom. I’ve sent her links and she is now exploring the Discovery Education streaming on her own working to support inquiry learning with our students, not only in our classroom but within classrooms throughout the school.

Discovery Education has a vast amount of clips for use in all grade levels. I’m curious, do you use this resource? If so how do you use it within the context of your educational setting?

Here is an update on the Duct Tape Challenge that has occurred in our Kindergarten classroom.

One discovery I had was the students struggled to go from their plans to their actual 3 D creations. Many students

created 2D objects that reflected their plans. I redid the activity without the planning page and added some instruction

on how to make a few objects and their creations changed to 3D. Here are some collages that outline our Duct Tape Challenge days.

I wish I could show you the pride in these students’ faces as they marched around the room with their

duct tape barrette.

It was a learning opportunity for both myself and the students. I was able to learn more about them as problem solvers and planners. I understand my next steps are to work more with three dimensional materials and to demonstrate and provide more opportunities for planning and creating in the classroom. This project also reconfirmed my beliefs that we do not have to have students follow someone else’s  procedure to create art work. Students need the opportunities for trial and error. We don’t need 30 items that all look the same. Teachers need to provide open ended activities and materials that enable children to plan and problem solve.

I’ve also outlined this project for parents at my class blog mrsharrisonK.wordpress.com

What do you do to help students with three dimensional creations?

It all started with a series of Tweets. Yes, many great ideas percolate on Twitter. Last Friday night a conversation began by Aviva, @avivaloca asking for ideas for inexpensive iPad covers. Well, sometimes late on a Friday evening, educators are very tired and get a little punchy. My husband, @bharrisonp sugggested Duct Tape. Well apparently there really is a way to create iPad covers using Duct Tape. See this site for instructions http://www.craftbits.com/project/duct-tape-ipad-cover The viewing of the link led to a discussion on ways students could use Duct Tape in the classroom. The following people were involved in the chat, @haledog, @cherraolthof, @klirenman, @wrightsroom . @kathycassidy @corisaas and others jumped into the conversation a little later in the night. Soon we had developed a Duct Tape Challenge. Yes, we would bring in duct tape for our students and present them with a challenge to create something by Friday January 25th. It was decided we would document the process or the final products and do some sharing at the end of the month. This might lead to Skype calls, blog entries or voice threads.

This challenge is an inquiry for students to explore and discover the properties of duct tape but it also is a way to bring some excitement into the classrooms during a long wintery month in Canada. Yes, as an educator in Ontario, I needed a little pick me up and that’s why I jumped in for this crazy challenge.

How to start?
I teach in a full day Kindergarten program with a designated Early Childhood Educator. Together we looked at the Kindergarten documents and looked at the science curriculum and the arts. We found many links and thought about how we could make this as open ended as possible.

Some of the curriculum expectations we will address are:

-Conducting simple investigations through free exploration, focused exploration, and guided activity, using inquiry skills (questioning, planning, predicting, observing, communicating);

-State problems and pose questions as part of the design process;

-Make predictions and observations throughout the design process;

-Communicate and record results and findings after constructing things either individually or in groups;

-Use problem-solving strategies when experimenting with the skills, materials, processes, and techniques used in visual arts both individually and with others;

Steps I’ve outlined for the investigations:

1. Explore, investigate, compare  and discuss different tapes and fasteners.

Students were put in groups and together explored four pieces of tape and recorded their observations. Together we gathered and created an anchor chart on our learning as a class. It was fascinating what they discovered and the language they used.

Here is a Pic Collage of Day One

2. Explore, investigate and discuss what duct tape can do.

We will work in partners and use one long strip of duct tape. They will cut, fold, roll, crunchy and explore ways to manipulate the tape. They will record their findings and share with the class.

3. View and discuss what Duct tape how could be used.

I’m still debating how much to show and how much to leave open. I want to show a few photos of projects that have been created with duct tape, but my fear is children sometimes think they must do what is shown. I’d like to leave it open and see what they can create. I’m still working through this stage.

4. Planning -Offer the opportunity to work in groups, partners or individually.

Students will create a plan by drawing what they would like to attempt to make from duct tape.

5. Creation

Students will be given big blocks of time to create, problem solve and try again.

6. Recording findings

Students will record what they discovered, what worked and didn’t work. We might create a ‘tips’ page of sorts.

7. Display and self reflect.

We will display and reflect on the creations and find ways to share them with others.

I am also planning on doing a follow up activity at the end of week. They will be able to make items in art in 3D sculpture format, or in a jewelery making format. I haven’t consolidated that task yet. It will all depend on what they do this week in their creation time.

I would also like to put duct tape at the building center and art centers this week and observe what happens.

This is a fun task for me as a teacher as I watch students create. I am hoping through all of these steps, I will make the task manageable and successful for the students. I worry that some readers might think I’m simply dropping Duct Tape in the classroom and saying go for it, without any thought as how to scaffold to create a positive experience.

If you want to join in, please do so. On Twitter we are using the hashtag #ducttapechallenge and #ducttapechat for discussions. You can also leave a comment if you would like to be a part of this process. I would love to hear how you will present this task to your learners.

Bring on the duct tape!
Angie

I initially set up this blog to document my learning in the iPad Proof of Concept project. I usually post information on my work with Apple products and technology integration. I have had many class blogs on the side for my parent community. I’ve begun another class blog this January. Here is the link if you are interested. http://mrsharrisonk.wordpress.com

I would like to direct your attention to the blog post of our plant inquiry. I’ve embedded photos from the app Pic Collage

http://pic-collage.com/ It’s an app that helps me document student learning. The post explains our entire inquiry process. Here is one shot from Pic Collage to demonstrate the power of the app.

I’ve shared this app on Twitter and I’m amazed at the number of educators who are also using this app effectively in their classrooms. Grade six students use the app and many Kindergarten teachers are finding ways to use the app to demonstrate learning that occurs in their rooms. I think the best thing about Pic Collage is how it has so many ways to export the collages. They can be saved to the Photo Roll, emailed, Tweeted, printed and embedded into blog posts. This enables me to share it with families regardless of the platform they use at home or work.

I would love to hear your ideas on how Pic Collage could be used in the classroom.

I am so happy with the response to the project titled “What Can You See?” I am hoping this project will extend throughout the year and more educators from around the world will jump in and participate. As Doug Peteterson, @Dougpete said on his blog “The project is simple in its premise but is only limited by the number of participants and the enthusiasm.”  I completely agree and I feel that people are agreeing to participate because it is a simple concept that can yield a lot of learning.

Some of the colleagues who have offered to participate in this project did so because they know me and they all feel they can make a book. What I have discovered is once teachers begin they have many questions for me regarding the creating, the format and the sharing of the  project. This “What Can You See?” project has turned into a learning process for teachers too. I’ve been tweeting and emailing with Ann-Marie @hulseannmarie and Karen @KLirenman discussing options for creating a digital book, compressing movies and sharing links. This is how learning occurs. These educators are conducting their own inquiries. They have a focus of creating a book and sharing it with others. Then they investigated, played and asked for guidance. This is the way we want our students to learn and it is incredible watching teachers engage in the same process.

Jocelyn Schmidt @MsSchmidt was the first teacher to engage in this project with our class. She sent a link to her class book/video. Please have a look at their class book. Our class was able to read it because it had a simple pattern. We also made many connections because it is a school in our region. Our play yard looks similar, we have a similar format with a parking lot on the side of the yard, soccer fields in the back and basketball nets on our pavement area. The students were fascinated that they had a ‘box’ in their kindergarten play area. The box was actually a concrete shed that houses outdoor play items. They were fascinated with the box because we do not have a box in our yard. One is ordered and will arrive soon.

Jocelyn and I extended this project by conducting a SKYPE call between our classes. This led to some new learning for Jocelyn, as she worked with her administrator Greg Collins @gregcollins2010 They connected and ensured SKYPE was up and running for our classes to connect.

Our SKYPE call went as well as can be expected. Jocelyn has documented the entire process of the SKYPE call on her blog The questions are very simple, yet they come from the children. We did not lead them, the simple format came from their inquiry minds. My administrator Mary Cousens also sat in on the SKYPE call and listened and watched our students as they participated in the call. We laughed too as we remembered that these are young learners who are very focused on their own thoughts. One of my junior kindergarten students stood up to respond to a question and she stated, “I have a new tiara.” She was wearing it during the call and I think she wanted the class to be aware of it. What a thrill for her to share her new item with another class of Kindergarten students.

Following our SKYPE call one of my students asked, “Do they have an alphabet like ours?” I replied, “I didn’t see one during our call but I’m certain they have one posted somewhere in their room.” The child responded, “I think we need to make a book and share What do you see in your classroom?” Well, it looks like we might have launched another inquiry. They want to compare the inside our classrooms too. Hmmm….

Angie

Links to other What Can You see Books

@team_jellybean blog

@klirenman blog

Ever wonder what other teachers or children see when they look out their windows?

Last year our grade three class SKYPED with a class in Alaska. The teacher held up the camera so we could see their backyard. Imagine our surprise when the students saw real volcanoes in the back of their schoolyard. This led to our class questioning all of our SKYPE callers the question, “What do you see when you look outside?”

This year I am teaching Kindergarten. I would like to broaden their world and show them what other teachers and children see in their backyard. My friend Colin Harris @digital_native has agreed to read our booklet and he will work with his grade 6 students to create a booklet about their schoolyard. It is my  hope that as we share these stories, students will gain a wider perspective about the world and a greater understanding about similarities and differences of children attending school around the world.

Will you join in? Please share our book with other students. We also welcome your books. Contact me on Twitter and we can connect and find a way to share your stories.

Here is our school. I’ve uploaded it in a small QuickTime file. My PDF is too large to upload. Sorry!

Our Schoolyard ….We Can See Book-Mobile

Thanks,
Angie

@Techieang

Wow, the response is incredible. @MsSchmidt_YR , @KLireman , @team_jellybean , @HulseAnnMarie are all committed to completing stories. I’ve received one from Jocelyn Schmidt already. I shared a Texas story by @Matt_Gomez with my students on Friday. I would really like to see more teachers from other countries join in and show us what they see in their schoolyards.  If you know of anyone who would like to participate, please pass along this info.