Recently we started discussing the topic of Manifest Destiny, the Oregon Trail, and the Santa Fe Trail. There's a video game that if you were raised in the 80's and 90's you might have played to see if you survived or not. Originally I was going to do the game on the iPads with my students, but they were having technical issues at the time. So here's what I did in its place.
1) GOOGLE IT/Find It - There's lots of things available online, however some of which you have to pay for. So be careful. I found a great sheet a teacher made of a general store and the costs. I also found the blog for how they were doing it. I took the budgets they created to go with their general store list. Students then were randomly assigned a profession and had to budget their income with supplies for the trip to try and make sure they used most of their budget on supplies, but then also have a little extra in case of a "rainy day" (budgeting = life skill).
2) Adapt It - I also created Fate Cards in tables in word Fate Cards for things that could happen to along the trail (tornado, snake bites, river crossings, etc.) and costs to them (having a Native American cure the rattle snake bite was $5.00 or they could roll the dice to see if their child survived the bite).
3) Adjust - we then began our adventure. My first class of the day I just had them adding to their totals; My second class of the day we had a list of the number of fates and they wrote down what they were going to do and then added the costs as well. I found that adjusting it to include the list made them a little more accountable in their final numbers.
They then did their math (cross-curricular development?) and then we talked about minimum totals that meant their either survived or died along the journey.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Two Unsung Heroes of Smart Notebook
Two Reasons to Love Smart Notebook: Hyperlinks and Screen Capture!!!
Here are reasons to love the two...
Hyperlinks - Allows you to create more interactive games. Hyperlinks basketballs to questions, having a hoop that is linked to a sound so if they hit it, it makes noise, hyperlink to videos online. I even have an archery one that links to other slides so that whatever the students hit first is the amount of points they scored for their team for answering a question correctly. Hyperlinks allow you to link between slides, websites, etc. so that you can create whatever kind of experience you want for your students without going far.
Screen Capture - ever need something off a pdf that you can't access, but you only want one little part? SCREEN CAPTURE! Using the camera option of smart notebook allows you to take a photo of what you want and use it. Now there are some down sides - 1) If you want to make it bigger the quality goes away as you enlarge. If you want to make it smaller, it looks great!!! An example: reallygoodstuff.com has this great underground railroad quilt, but to save on paper I used to make it a group project and with certain students working really hard and others not exerting as much effort the quilts can always be hit or miss in their final results. By using the screen capture I can capture the individual quilt squares, shrink them onto one quilt and then have each student responsible for their own quilt and it only takes a piece of paper. We then practice summarizing skills on the back of the quilt by taking the little paragraphs listed for each square and then shortening it to hit the key points in five words or less.
Here are reasons to love the two...
Hyperlinks - Allows you to create more interactive games. Hyperlinks basketballs to questions, having a hoop that is linked to a sound so if they hit it, it makes noise, hyperlink to videos online. I even have an archery one that links to other slides so that whatever the students hit first is the amount of points they scored for their team for answering a question correctly. Hyperlinks allow you to link between slides, websites, etc. so that you can create whatever kind of experience you want for your students without going far.
Screen Capture - ever need something off a pdf that you can't access, but you only want one little part? SCREEN CAPTURE! Using the camera option of smart notebook allows you to take a photo of what you want and use it. Now there are some down sides - 1) If you want to make it bigger the quality goes away as you enlarge. If you want to make it smaller, it looks great!!! An example: reallygoodstuff.com has this great underground railroad quilt, but to save on paper I used to make it a group project and with certain students working really hard and others not exerting as much effort the quilts can always be hit or miss in their final results. By using the screen capture I can capture the individual quilt squares, shrink them onto one quilt and then have each student responsible for their own quilt and it only takes a piece of paper. We then practice summarizing skills on the back of the quilt by taking the little paragraphs listed for each square and then shortening it to hit the key points in five words or less.
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Creating a Web Quest
I recently polled the faculty at my school to see what type of Professional Development involving technology they'd like and one of the respondents asked about creating a web quest. I then added that as an option to those who had yet to take the survey, but it had minimal interest so I thought I'd blog about it. Hope this helps...
In Social Studies it is important (at least in my opinion) that students begin to research independently and learn about gathering information. Yet today online, there's so many different websites that I don't want them going just anywhere to gain their information. A web quest allows ME to choose the sites that I want them to go to, the topics, and I know what information they are going to gather when going. When we are doing the web quest I usually also point out what aspects of a site makes that a good and relevant site versus a not so great option.
Did you look online for one already done? I rarely keep someone else's web quest, but I might see something I like and simply take that or if I like the majority I might take the whole thing and then make changes to one already done so it meets my goals for the classroom. Don't reinvent the wheel if it is an already popular topic.
1) Start with the CONTENT! What topic do you want them to learn about? What standards do you want to address? Always start with the curriculum and not the technology!!! It's more important about the information than an option in technology and utilizing it.
2)Research - Google, Bing, Yahoo, whatever engine you want type in your topic and see what comes up. You can do an "Advanced Search" if you are looking for specific things. I do this to look for .edu, .gov, .org, etc. for websites. I also have some "Go To's" for Social Studies. I always check out PBS sites, the History Channel sites, etc. because I'm very rarely disappointed with what I find at those.
3) Add "Interactive" to my search. I don't just want my students doing standard research (I mean I do, but they can get bored) so I also want something that can engage them. Obviously not every website is going to do that, but sometimes I can strike gold just by adding Interactive to my search. I've had students lay seige to castles, explore Khufu's tomb, attempt to complete the mummification process, and work their way through being an accused witch at the Salem Witch Trials - some lived, some died. I add an interactive site if I can find it usually half way through or towards the end of my web quest.
4) Set Up. I decide which sites I'm going to use, what information I want them to get out of it (what questions am I going to ask or what task do I want them to complete) and then set up the hyperlink followed by the questions/task for that website and then so on and so forth.
5) Post Online - Save Some Trees. I post mine on Edmodo so my students know what it is and when it is due and my classroom Website after the assignment is past due (sometimes edmodo doesn't want to show it after it's past due without an error or two). There's more than just an environmental reason for posting it online. If you do a web quest on paper you are giving the extra step of having to type every slash, underscore, cap, lower, etc. If it's not perfect, it doesn't come up and you will hear about it from the students that something doesn't work. By posting it online you can hyperlink in the word file so they can go to that website without any typing of the URL. Explore and get back to you and the questions without issues.
You can have them type their answers and respond in like a Google Doc or you can go old school and have them write their answers on paper. I typically have them do this because I want it to go into their binder so I can test them on it.
Why I Use Webquests?
In Social Studies it is important (at least in my opinion) that students begin to research independently and learn about gathering information. Yet today online, there's so many different websites that I don't want them going just anywhere to gain their information. A web quest allows ME to choose the sites that I want them to go to, the topics, and I know what information they are going to gather when going. When we are doing the web quest I usually also point out what aspects of a site makes that a good and relevant site versus a not so great option.
Before you Begin....
Did you look online for one already done? I rarely keep someone else's web quest, but I might see something I like and simply take that or if I like the majority I might take the whole thing and then make changes to one already done so it meets my goals for the classroom. Don't reinvent the wheel if it is an already popular topic.
Let's say you've done that and didn't find anything you are in love with... Here's the steps I do to make my webquests...
1) Start with the CONTENT! What topic do you want them to learn about? What standards do you want to address? Always start with the curriculum and not the technology!!! It's more important about the information than an option in technology and utilizing it.
2)Research - Google, Bing, Yahoo, whatever engine you want type in your topic and see what comes up. You can do an "Advanced Search" if you are looking for specific things. I do this to look for .edu, .gov, .org, etc. for websites. I also have some "Go To's" for Social Studies. I always check out PBS sites, the History Channel sites, etc. because I'm very rarely disappointed with what I find at those.
3) Add "Interactive" to my search. I don't just want my students doing standard research (I mean I do, but they can get bored) so I also want something that can engage them. Obviously not every website is going to do that, but sometimes I can strike gold just by adding Interactive to my search. I've had students lay seige to castles, explore Khufu's tomb, attempt to complete the mummification process, and work their way through being an accused witch at the Salem Witch Trials - some lived, some died. I add an interactive site if I can find it usually half way through or towards the end of my web quest.
4) Set Up. I decide which sites I'm going to use, what information I want them to get out of it (what questions am I going to ask or what task do I want them to complete) and then set up the hyperlink followed by the questions/task for that website and then so on and so forth.
5) Post Online - Save Some Trees. I post mine on Edmodo so my students know what it is and when it is due and my classroom Website after the assignment is past due (sometimes edmodo doesn't want to show it after it's past due without an error or two). There's more than just an environmental reason for posting it online. If you do a web quest on paper you are giving the extra step of having to type every slash, underscore, cap, lower, etc. If it's not perfect, it doesn't come up and you will hear about it from the students that something doesn't work. By posting it online you can hyperlink in the word file so they can go to that website without any typing of the URL. Explore and get back to you and the questions without issues.
You can have them type their answers and respond in like a Google Doc or you can go old school and have them write their answers on paper. I typically have them do this because I want it to go into their binder so I can test them on it.
Explore. Create. Investigate. Have fun!
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
App-Tivity - 13 Original Colonies
Come and Visit the Colony of ___________. Let me explain why we are the colony for YOU!
Above is an example of an opening line for students advertisements for the thirteen original colonies. There were three components for the activity.
1) Research Sheet - each group of students was assigned an iPad to use and needed to use Safari or Google Apps to search out information of their colony. They looked up: Basic information (who founded, when, type of colony, etc.), Religion, Economics, Political, Examples of Laws, Relationships with Native Americans, and Interesting Facts.
2) Story Board - Plot and Plan the order they wanted to talk about things in their presentation and what the general concept that they wanted to say was.
3) The Presentation - Students could use iMovie (if it was on their iPad) or Voicethread to make their advertisement. It needed to include at least six visuals, plus at least 3-5 facts from each of the categories on their information sheet.
Rubric:
35 points Information - 7 topics (up to 5 points each)
10 points Articulation
10 points Creativity - (Would people want to come to your colony after seeing your advertisement?)
10 points Visuals
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
TPACK and Apptivities
If you have been a teacher for more than a couple years teaching the same material, by now, you have mastered your content... Now remember back to your education classes, think back to the methods your teachers taught you on how to be an effective teacher (you probably use these without thinking about them anymore)... And last but not necessarily least (but definitely NOT what you should start with) think about modern times and the technology you use in your day to day life and then think about ways in which your students use technology. Now if you can wrap them all together and tie them in the same package under a pretty bow that's TPACK. It's considering your technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge and uniting them all into effective, interactive lessons.
One way to accomplish this is to do an Apptivity. It is a break down of a large task into smaller steps that have students doing brainstorming, conducting research, collaborating with each other, and creating a final product.
This can teach students long term life skills that they'll need in their future careers. Teachers, it provides more real life application of your subject. You can also benefit in it being broken up into smaller sections that you can spread out the project so that it is not taking over your whole class period multiple days in a row, but even thirty minutes a day. The final product will come out later in the process, but think of how good it will be, with guidance happening before each step of the process. Also, there's more websites and postings about various activities, so you can take and change to suit your classroom without having to reinvent the wheel. It also gets the students actively engaged in a way that sometimes they will completely forget that they're learning things in the first place. How marvy is that???
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
End of Year Plotting
At the end of each year I sit and ponder what I would do differently next year if I am teaching the same classes (you never know for sure until the first day of school). So here's somethings I'm going to be doing with my summer months:
1) Webquests - revamping ones I already have and making some more for topics I didn't make them on yet. Some of the websites I chose while working at home didn't work or used flash which does not work on the iPads so I need to revamp so that isn't an issue next year
2) African American Studies Overhaul - Next year African American Studies becomes an MSL course so I need to add to my vocabulary lists, and start generating constructed response questions for my tests and adding/subtracting based on the new standards. Plus I filled out a proposal to try and get it to be an honors class. If that happens I need to start getting some books together to put together excerpts that I want students to read (i.e. Uncle Tom's Cabin, Soujourner Truth's Arn't I a Woman Speech, Things Fall Apart, etc.)
3) Projects - I loved some of my projects this semester, but some of them left something to be desired with the end product so I'm going to keep some, change some, and hopefully find some new projects to add.
I also have another round of Pinnacle training this summer, a Tech Day at Lake Norman Charter for iTeach, and a Teacher Institute on Islam. I'm very excited and looking forward to another round of melding minds.
1) Webquests - revamping ones I already have and making some more for topics I didn't make them on yet. Some of the websites I chose while working at home didn't work or used flash which does not work on the iPads so I need to revamp so that isn't an issue next year
2) African American Studies Overhaul - Next year African American Studies becomes an MSL course so I need to add to my vocabulary lists, and start generating constructed response questions for my tests and adding/subtracting based on the new standards. Plus I filled out a proposal to try and get it to be an honors class. If that happens I need to start getting some books together to put together excerpts that I want students to read (i.e. Uncle Tom's Cabin, Soujourner Truth's Arn't I a Woman Speech, Things Fall Apart, etc.)
3) Projects - I loved some of my projects this semester, but some of them left something to be desired with the end product so I'm going to keep some, change some, and hopefully find some new projects to add.
I also have another round of Pinnacle training this summer, a Tech Day at Lake Norman Charter for iTeach, and a Teacher Institute on Islam. I'm very excited and looking forward to another round of melding minds.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Evaluation for the Year
I feel like I've been at the amusement park and riding rides and it's only 3:00. So while I'm excited I have more time for more rides, I'm starting to get a wee bit tired from all the ones I've been on thus far. So let's clarify I would not change the fact that I have iPads or that I've had to create a blended room to get five iPads to work with my class size. But with all the whirlwind I feel like there's been lots of hills and valleys that I've gone through this year and that there's more to go. Here's the basics of things...
Step One: Groups
First things first, you gotta plan. I created an excel chart that I just mark up with pencil, for who my students have grouped with and who they haven't (X - they have; blank box - they haven't). I could probably keep this in excel, but I like my paper copy of this for some reason. Their first group they got to choose (speed grouping), but after that they've been paired by me. I'm currently on track so that every student in my room will have worked with every other student by the end of the semester.
Step Two: Planning What They Are Doing
The second step of my planning I analyze what I'd like them to learn about from the unit that I don't have time to go in depth about and what they are potentially going to need in future classes and create a web quest that allows them to go in depth about the material, and then specify how many days for each of the mini assignments. Who ever decided that one semester for 5,900+ years of history obviously didn't like history or want to spend time on it (Shame on them).
Step Three: Implementation
I have students come in to a bell ringer. The bell ringer takes five minutes of the period (which is how many minutes students had to answer each constructed response question on the World History MSL in the fall so we're practicing). During that five minutes I take attendance, hand out iPads, and hand out any fill-ins to the opposite side of the room. Then it begins, before class I've posted the daily assignment on Edmodo so the iPad people sign in, read the directions, and begin - messaging me with any questions. The other side of the room we are doing general notes about the units various topics. They answer their closings and then we switch and repeat the process.
Step Four: Paperless
I'm not paperless in regards to my traditional notes (although I am revamping those so that they are LESS papers), but first semester my technology even had papers. As we went on and I got better at using Edmodo, I no longer give them a copy of a web quest or vocabulary lists. They are online and I attach a file (web quests) or a link (vocabulary), even directions for a project get posted. The benefit of that is there's nothing for them to lose (other than their answer sheet), so even if they are at home they can access the information. My iPad groups rarely ever have papers anymore (unless they're using the internet to do a map). I would love to be a room that is 100% paperless (especially since copies never increased, but printer ink is gone after this year (I'm rationing what I have)), but since I don't have a 1:1 ratio I don't see that part (100% paperless) ever happening, but I'm working on minimizing it. Until that day I have quarter sheets in the back of my room from torn up papers that I'll utilize (reduce, REUSE, recycle).
Things I've Learned:
- Screen Checks are Necessary - I had a student who just came back from being suspended today who decided he'd rather go on facebook, than do his work on the iPad (he's lost the iPad for the next Unit). They need reminders of what they're supposed to be doing and that they need to be doing it. I also have applications that I have them go on when they're done with the unit (Pocket Law Firm is "Do I have a Right" from iCivics - reviews amendments; Mahjong, Map Quizzes, Letris, etc. it is interactive and works on their analysis skills).
- Establish Punishments BEFORE They Do Something - we didn't have to talk about what or why he was losing the iPad for the next Unit. We had it already stated, it's posted on the wall. If there's a next time, he knows that he's off the iPads period.
- Evaluations - I don't just have students tell me about the project and whether or not they liked it; I have them tell me about each other in regards to who did what for the project in the first place. In the future, I'm planning on making google doc forms for this so it will be even faster than the verbal interviews or where they physically put it on paper (I have yet to decide if I'm going to make one general form or separate forms for each unit).
The Great Moments:
- Students Tying it Things from the Web Quests - Sometimes the web quest isn't on something that we are starting the unit with, but something we are talking about in a few days. When someone brings up something from the web quest during the notes/class discussion part of the classroom it makes my day!
- Quizlet - You can tell who has been using Quizlet and who hasn't, it's not difficult. The students who use quizlet typically have a 100% on every quiz. The one's who don't use quizlet or only use it when I've told them they're grade is attached to use it typically get somewhere in the 80's or lower.
- Gestalt Moments - Gestalt is probably one of those guys who you learned about while acquiring your teaching degree while thinking why do I need to know him, but he's correct with his concept of "Aha" moments and those are the main reason I teach; I love being witness to them. Technology is just making more creative presentations of when they're learning them.
Things for Next Year:
- African American Studies - I need to work on more lessons for my African American Studies class. Last semester I tried to have at least one per unit and was doing relatively well. This semester I had planned to do more, but then my class size doubled and suddenly even a blended room would not be enough iPads and computers unless I had groups of 4 or more (which does NOT work with the iPad - three is already pushing it when students have desks and not tables to sit at)
- Tweaking What I've Done - I have some projects I'm going to do slightly differently. Presentations are going to have more things that get graded (body positions, eye contact, etc.). Some web quests are going to stay the same, some are going to change, etc. And then depending on whether I earned a grant or not will decide what further changes their are.
- Adding to It - I'm attending a Teacher Institute as soon as the school year is over. I also have more Pinnacle Training, but I also plan in participating in Twitter Conversations over the summer, checking in with flipbook, etc. for what's going on in the realm of education.
Outside of the Classroom:
I even have a personal blog now for my sewing projects that I'm going to try to keep up with; not because I plan on posting it and getting lots of hits, but just so I can document and see the changes as I move from one project to another (and in regards to redoing certain projects I can re-read and make changes based on what I wrote).
Step One: Groups
First things first, you gotta plan. I created an excel chart that I just mark up with pencil, for who my students have grouped with and who they haven't (X - they have; blank box - they haven't). I could probably keep this in excel, but I like my paper copy of this for some reason. Their first group they got to choose (speed grouping), but after that they've been paired by me. I'm currently on track so that every student in my room will have worked with every other student by the end of the semester.
Step Two: Planning What They Are Doing
The second step of my planning I analyze what I'd like them to learn about from the unit that I don't have time to go in depth about and what they are potentially going to need in future classes and create a web quest that allows them to go in depth about the material, and then specify how many days for each of the mini assignments. Who ever decided that one semester for 5,900+ years of history obviously didn't like history or want to spend time on it (Shame on them).
Step Three: Implementation
I have students come in to a bell ringer. The bell ringer takes five minutes of the period (which is how many minutes students had to answer each constructed response question on the World History MSL in the fall so we're practicing). During that five minutes I take attendance, hand out iPads, and hand out any fill-ins to the opposite side of the room. Then it begins, before class I've posted the daily assignment on Edmodo so the iPad people sign in, read the directions, and begin - messaging me with any questions. The other side of the room we are doing general notes about the units various topics. They answer their closings and then we switch and repeat the process.
Step Four: Paperless
I'm not paperless in regards to my traditional notes (although I am revamping those so that they are LESS papers), but first semester my technology even had papers. As we went on and I got better at using Edmodo, I no longer give them a copy of a web quest or vocabulary lists. They are online and I attach a file (web quests) or a link (vocabulary), even directions for a project get posted. The benefit of that is there's nothing for them to lose (other than their answer sheet), so even if they are at home they can access the information. My iPad groups rarely ever have papers anymore (unless they're using the internet to do a map). I would love to be a room that is 100% paperless (especially since copies never increased, but printer ink is gone after this year (I'm rationing what I have)), but since I don't have a 1:1 ratio I don't see that part (100% paperless) ever happening, but I'm working on minimizing it. Until that day I have quarter sheets in the back of my room from torn up papers that I'll utilize (reduce, REUSE, recycle).
Things I've Learned:
- Screen Checks are Necessary - I had a student who just came back from being suspended today who decided he'd rather go on facebook, than do his work on the iPad (he's lost the iPad for the next Unit). They need reminders of what they're supposed to be doing and that they need to be doing it. I also have applications that I have them go on when they're done with the unit (Pocket Law Firm is "Do I have a Right" from iCivics - reviews amendments; Mahjong, Map Quizzes, Letris, etc. it is interactive and works on their analysis skills).
- Establish Punishments BEFORE They Do Something - we didn't have to talk about what or why he was losing the iPad for the next Unit. We had it already stated, it's posted on the wall. If there's a next time, he knows that he's off the iPads period.
- Evaluations - I don't just have students tell me about the project and whether or not they liked it; I have them tell me about each other in regards to who did what for the project in the first place. In the future, I'm planning on making google doc forms for this so it will be even faster than the verbal interviews or where they physically put it on paper (I have yet to decide if I'm going to make one general form or separate forms for each unit).
The Great Moments:
- Students Tying it Things from the Web Quests - Sometimes the web quest isn't on something that we are starting the unit with, but something we are talking about in a few days. When someone brings up something from the web quest during the notes/class discussion part of the classroom it makes my day!
- Quizlet - You can tell who has been using Quizlet and who hasn't, it's not difficult. The students who use quizlet typically have a 100% on every quiz. The one's who don't use quizlet or only use it when I've told them they're grade is attached to use it typically get somewhere in the 80's or lower.
- Gestalt Moments - Gestalt is probably one of those guys who you learned about while acquiring your teaching degree while thinking why do I need to know him, but he's correct with his concept of "Aha" moments and those are the main reason I teach; I love being witness to them. Technology is just making more creative presentations of when they're learning them.
Things for Next Year:
- African American Studies - I need to work on more lessons for my African American Studies class. Last semester I tried to have at least one per unit and was doing relatively well. This semester I had planned to do more, but then my class size doubled and suddenly even a blended room would not be enough iPads and computers unless I had groups of 4 or more (which does NOT work with the iPad - three is already pushing it when students have desks and not tables to sit at)
- Tweaking What I've Done - I have some projects I'm going to do slightly differently. Presentations are going to have more things that get graded (body positions, eye contact, etc.). Some web quests are going to stay the same, some are going to change, etc. And then depending on whether I earned a grant or not will decide what further changes their are.
- Adding to It - I'm attending a Teacher Institute as soon as the school year is over. I also have more Pinnacle Training, but I also plan in participating in Twitter Conversations over the summer, checking in with flipbook, etc. for what's going on in the realm of education.
Outside of the Classroom:
I even have a personal blog now for my sewing projects that I'm going to try to keep up with; not because I plan on posting it and getting lots of hits, but just so I can document and see the changes as I move from one project to another (and in regards to redoing certain projects I can re-read and make changes based on what I wrote).
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Canterbury Tales and Toontastic/Puppet Pals
More and More I'm adding in Common Core Standards for English in the class (which is not completely easy seeing that I have 5, 190 years to cover in one semester in the first place). But I'm currently taking a literacy workshop that discusses techniques to help students and items that need to be worked on to develop their reading and comprehension capabilities further. At the last meeting, the discussion was on summarization skills and that students can't always put stories into their own words, etc. At the same time in my lessons we are covering the Middle Ages with Geoffrey Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales. I borrowed a short abridged version of the Canterbury Tales from a fellow teacher (used in the E.C. English class).
Round One of my classroom heard the abridged version of the "Knight's Tale" about the two knights who fall in love with the same lady (I'll not tell you more, in case you want to read it or reread it). Round Two of my classroom heard the abridged version of the "Nun's Priest tale" about the rooster and the fox. Students then went into Toontastic for the Knights Tale or most used Puppet Pals for the Nun's Priest Tale. They recreated what they remembered from the story. They were allowed to jot down notes while hearing the story, but were not physically given a copy of the story to make sure they couldn't copy it. I had a couple good versions, but I also had some that weren't so great (there seems to be a correlation between the Lexile Scores of the group members and what they recalled). But it allowed students to make a fun and creative viewing while also covering basic skills for English and content for World History. Most did not miss the Canterbury Tales question on their test because they remembered that it was what their tales were from.
In the future: a) I think I'm going to have a recording of the story so that they can re-listen to it if they'd like to, but still not have a printed version so they can't directly take from the story, b) I'm going to have more time for them to work on it, it was the first time we were using Toontastic and Puppet Pals, c) I need to make sheets for the Apps for step by step how to do it. Some did the whole story in the first scene box of Toontastic, but Toontastic breaks a story down into components, just like an English class would with items like problem, climax, and resolution. So while I'm going to keep the activity I'm going to be doing some tweaking to make it better.
Round One of my classroom heard the abridged version of the "Knight's Tale" about the two knights who fall in love with the same lady (I'll not tell you more, in case you want to read it or reread it). Round Two of my classroom heard the abridged version of the "Nun's Priest tale" about the rooster and the fox. Students then went into Toontastic for the Knights Tale or most used Puppet Pals for the Nun's Priest Tale. They recreated what they remembered from the story. They were allowed to jot down notes while hearing the story, but were not physically given a copy of the story to make sure they couldn't copy it. I had a couple good versions, but I also had some that weren't so great (there seems to be a correlation between the Lexile Scores of the group members and what they recalled). But it allowed students to make a fun and creative viewing while also covering basic skills for English and content for World History. Most did not miss the Canterbury Tales question on their test because they remembered that it was what their tales were from.
In the future: a) I think I'm going to have a recording of the story so that they can re-listen to it if they'd like to, but still not have a printed version so they can't directly take from the story, b) I'm going to have more time for them to work on it, it was the first time we were using Toontastic and Puppet Pals, c) I need to make sheets for the Apps for step by step how to do it. Some did the whole story in the first scene box of Toontastic, but Toontastic breaks a story down into components, just like an English class would with items like problem, climax, and resolution. So while I'm going to keep the activity I'm going to be doing some tweaking to make it better.
Friday, February 22, 2013
Quest to Balance my Blended Room
World History in North Carolina is a demanding course. It asks students to learn information from 3200 B.C.E. to the 1990's C.E. in ONE semester. Every other state I've worked in has had World History broken up into at least two classes (in the one state it was only mandatory that you take one of the two and you could decide if you wanted to focus on Ancient or Modern). While I would LOVE to spend days going into aspects of culture, have more hands on projects, and go in depth with the topics we teach, there just isn't time or resources. So thus far this is my quest for a blended classroom.
We have traditional notes for half the period (my class is broken into Round One and Round Two so you either start on the iPads or start on the notes side - I have five iPads, thus the need for rounds). We have graphic organizers, fill-ins (clozes), Q and A's, or mini projects to work on on the traditional side. The other side of the room, the students have a list of items posted on Edmodo to accomplish as well as the deadlines for them. By having the assignments posted on Edmodo it allows me to include the information for the assignment, the document (so they can use hyperlinks if applicable), AND they can write me with questions without disrupting the other side of the room (except for the pinging of the iPad to tell me that there's a question). This semester I have three things automatically going on for every unit thus far; next Unit is so short we will only be doing one and two.
1) Quizlet - write down their vocabulary and review their vocabulary; I also have Types of Government and Gods and Goddesses on their quizlet for this unit so they can study at home. (They can also put this on their smart phones and study on the bus, etc.)
2) Project - We've done posters and basic things using the technology for research, but traditional supplies for the end product. Last unit we did Voicethread, this unit we are using iMovie, next unit we're going to be using Key Note.
3) Webquests - This is how I'm getting my in-depth information to them. They are given a specific set of websites to go to that has information based on the N.C. Essential Standards and interesting facts that might gain their interest further. They can work as individuals or as a group (individuals come before school or after school or they can work on it from home if they have computer access). Some of the questions from the test are sometimes taken from them or open ended questions during the traditional side of the room are based on what they're covering in the webquest.
By posting items on Edmodo and having the independent side of the room students are not just working on school work for class, but collaboration for the projects, time management skills for making sure they have everything done, etc.
Learning Teams:
My students are also broken up into learning teams that change every unit to every other unit. So by the end of the semester, they will have worked with almost everyone in the class (if not everyone). This semester they put preferences for the first grouping, but have been changed multiple times since then based on my assignments.
Issues Arising from Groupings:
I take their complaints about not wanting to work with someone by letting them know that those types of arguments would not be acceptable in the real world job scenario (you can't go to your boss and say you don't like someone so you don't want to work with them and expect it to happen), so they aren't applicable in my classroom either since I'm trying to prepare them for the 21st century.
So while there are various challenges emerging with a blended classroom I'm still on a quest to make sure it's balanced. Suggestions?
We have traditional notes for half the period (my class is broken into Round One and Round Two so you either start on the iPads or start on the notes side - I have five iPads, thus the need for rounds). We have graphic organizers, fill-ins (clozes), Q and A's, or mini projects to work on on the traditional side. The other side of the room, the students have a list of items posted on Edmodo to accomplish as well as the deadlines for them. By having the assignments posted on Edmodo it allows me to include the information for the assignment, the document (so they can use hyperlinks if applicable), AND they can write me with questions without disrupting the other side of the room (except for the pinging of the iPad to tell me that there's a question). This semester I have three things automatically going on for every unit thus far; next Unit is so short we will only be doing one and two.
1) Quizlet - write down their vocabulary and review their vocabulary; I also have Types of Government and Gods and Goddesses on their quizlet for this unit so they can study at home. (They can also put this on their smart phones and study on the bus, etc.)
2) Project - We've done posters and basic things using the technology for research, but traditional supplies for the end product. Last unit we did Voicethread, this unit we are using iMovie, next unit we're going to be using Key Note.
3) Webquests - This is how I'm getting my in-depth information to them. They are given a specific set of websites to go to that has information based on the N.C. Essential Standards and interesting facts that might gain their interest further. They can work as individuals or as a group (individuals come before school or after school or they can work on it from home if they have computer access). Some of the questions from the test are sometimes taken from them or open ended questions during the traditional side of the room are based on what they're covering in the webquest.
By posting items on Edmodo and having the independent side of the room students are not just working on school work for class, but collaboration for the projects, time management skills for making sure they have everything done, etc.
Learning Teams:
My students are also broken up into learning teams that change every unit to every other unit. So by the end of the semester, they will have worked with almost everyone in the class (if not everyone). This semester they put preferences for the first grouping, but have been changed multiple times since then based on my assignments.
Issues Arising from Groupings:
I take their complaints about not wanting to work with someone by letting them know that those types of arguments would not be acceptable in the real world job scenario (you can't go to your boss and say you don't like someone so you don't want to work with them and expect it to happen), so they aren't applicable in my classroom either since I'm trying to prepare them for the 21st century.
So while there are various challenges emerging with a blended classroom I'm still on a quest to make sure it's balanced. Suggestions?
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Anti-Smoking Ad
A person's choice whether to smoke or not at this point is considered to be a personal choice as long as they're old enough to decide how to spend their money. The problem is that more students are experimenting with things like cigarettes at a very young age. The issue is not whether or not they should have freedom of choice, or whether or not smoking is cool, but the long term impact smoking is going to have on a developing body. I saw this ad while perusing FlipBoard this weekend and I gotta say, I agreed with the blog posting it was posted on. It is potentially the BEST Anti-Smoking Ad of all time. My only question would be is if this was done in the United States,
would there be adults who provide the light???
would there be adults who provide the light???
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
iCivics.org
Four years ago I happened upon a website called iCivics.org and I have been using it ever since. Even though I'm not currently teaching Civics and Economics, I still find uses for the website. When we are discussing the Enlightenment and Revolutions in World History and comparing the English Bill of Rights with the American Bill of Rights "Do I Have a Right?" makes for a great interactive review of the rights afforded to citizens of this country. I was disappointed this year when I received my iPads because they do not work with flash and thus do not work with iCivics.org. HOWEVER, recently I was perusing the iCivics site when I found they had developed an App for the iPad. "Pocket Law Firm" is the iPad version of "Do I Have a Right?"
"Do I Have a Right?" or "Pocket Law Firm" has students put in their name, they get to choose who they want to be their partner in the law firm (choice between two different people representing two different amendments), and then the clients start filing in. Each new client comes with an issue - students have to decide whether the person's rights are being violated or not, and if they are being violated they need to match them with the correct lawyer for that issue or ask them to come back and try to acquire the right lawyer before the next round. They also win money for winning court cases. With the money they need to budget to get more lawyers, fix up the waiting room, spend it on things for the lawyers to make them smarter and faster, etc.
"Do I Have a Right?" or "Pocket Law Firm" has students put in their name, they get to choose who they want to be their partner in the law firm (choice between two different people representing two different amendments), and then the clients start filing in. Each new client comes with an issue - students have to decide whether the person's rights are being violated or not, and if they are being violated they need to match them with the correct lawyer for that issue or ask them to come back and try to acquire the right lawyer before the next round. They also win money for winning court cases. With the money they need to budget to get more lawyers, fix up the waiting room, spend it on things for the lawyers to make them smarter and faster, etc.
I'd recommend this site and app for Social Studies Teachers everywhere
for Middle School - High School Students!
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