Life in 1st Grade - iPods - Making Use of What You Have

The months of December and January were spent in a 1st grade and 3rd grade classroom. I was in 1st grade in the morning and 3rd grade in the afternoon. The 1st grade classroom is a co-taught class with 2 young teachers who are very willing to be reflective and improve their teaching practice. They were ready for new ideas.

After meeting with the team we decided that they needed help with math centers, and they wanted to use their iPods more. They had approx 13 iPods sitting in a cart that they were not using. The iPods were 4th gen. iPod Touches, and could only be updated to iOS 6.1.5. I started by updating the iOS and investigating what apps would be compatible. I used APPitic. There are quite a few app review sites, but this has become my favorite. The site was especially useful because it tells you what device(s) will support the particular app. Next I double checked the iTunes description just to make sure. I picked a mix of free and paid apps. I loaded approx 8 apps onto the iPod Touches.
Next I suggested using QR codes because they wanted something that their students could do independently during math centers. I loaded a free QR code reader app. I grabbed a free QR code addition packet from Teacher Pay Teachers. It was created by one of my co-workers, Amanda Zanchelli (Learning to the Core blog). I was able to show the 1st grade team how easy it was, and how much the kiddos liked doing it. QR codes are great because you can give kids the ability to move around the room if you like. Next, I made a scavenger hunt of my own, and showed them how to do it. They picked it up right away, and the next time I came to the room the kids were working on a QR code math scavenger hunt made by their teachers.  I provided the teachers with some resources and off they went. I was so happy to see that. They have really expanded on the idea by making QR code Valentine's movies . They posted these on their class webpage and the kids are able to listen to them during center time using QR codes. The students really like listening to each other on the iPods! These teachers also shared their new found expertise with the rest of the members of the 1st grade team.
This link will provide you with more info on how to use QR codes in the classroom, this blog post will walk you through how to set up a QR code lesson for book trailers.

Using QR codes in math centers

QR Valentine messages from all 1st graders

The next thing they wanted to accomplish was something to improve their reading centers, and another way to utilize the iPod Touches. I suggested that we do a project that would be Above the Line. Thanks to Shannon Soger (iTeach Above the Line Blog) for the inspiration on this project. In the end students read books at their reading level, and shared them with their classmates on the iPod Touches. First, the teachers allowed the children to pick books on their level. We call those "just right books". They practiced reading their books at home and to a partner, so that they would know them well. Next each child used Photobooth to take a picture of their cover and all the pages. I taught them to go to Edit - Auto Flip New Items when taking pictures of the illustrations in the books. This way the pictures won't be backwards. Then they read their book into iMovie. They did not have to look at the camera because we dropped the pictures over the words in the form of a cutaway, in iMovie. Each student got to design their own introduction by choosing a background, writing their book title and their name and finally adding music. I exported to movies to the desktop, and then saved them on my flash drive. Next I put the movies into iTunes on my computer. Finally, I sync'ed the iTunes with the iPod Touches. Now the students can click on video on the iPod touches and listen to each other read their books. Click on this link to watch a screencast of the process. 

Taking pictures of our books

Recording our words in iMovie

My 10 Best Skills

I have been asked by my supervisor to list my 10 best work related skills. I've thought about this for a couple of weeks now. This is a very hard exercise for me because I just do what I do and I don't really reflect on my strengths very often. But I'm very hard on myself when it comes to my weaknesses.
I am not going to number these because they are in no particular order.

*Teaching myself new initiatives and applications

*Producing (school district accts & personal accts) and consuming (personal accts) information for/from social media and my PLN

*I am able to tell the Kind Truth (Lencioni)

*Configuring iPads from box to classroom on our local network, including buying apps and using a 3rd party management tool for distributing apps.

*Working with reluctant adopters and those stuck on one of the lower levels of the SAMR model in order to move them Above the Line.

*Presenting professional development sessions for my district

*Troubleshooting computer and network issues

*I'm the fun one!

*Most things Google and being the Google admin for the district

*I'm flexible and tolerant of all viewpoints

*Creating tip sheets and screencast tutorials to support students, teachers and staff

I know, that's 11! I guess I have more skills than I thought! Who knew?!

This exercise was inspired by Kevin Honeycutt and his video Launch Me Tips From The Road.

Working with Reluctant Adopters

It has been two months since I have written a post. I have been busy, with all the different hats that I wear in my district that, I kept putting off blogging. Today while I was cleaning out my inbox I came across this blog post by Richard M. Byrne @ Free Technology for Teachers , Three Responses to "But I Don't Have Time to Blog". The post is from July, by the way. Which is also a reminder that I need to get more organized.

Anyway, much has gone on since the beginning of November. For the month of November I worked in a middle school science room.  At first this was a challenge for me as a coach, because I don't consider myself a middle school person. I prefer upper elementary. The teacher that I am working with has been reluctant to adopt the technology provided by our district. She was doing the bare minimum as far as technology is concerned. She uses the dropbox that comes along with the LMS that our district uses. I was asked by the principal to coach her and support her in adopting more technology in her classroom. She has the qualities that are needed by a good science teacher. She has the passion, knowledge, and skill to teach it.

I started the month by just observing the class. One of the goals of the Instructional Coaches in our district is to get teachers teaching Above the Line. When I observe teachers I have a copy of Puentedura's SAMR model open on my computer. In one column I note the lesson that the teacher is teaching, and in the other column I make suggestions as to how the teacher can move up the ladder of the SAMR model. For some it is starting with substitution for others it is moving above the line to modification or redefinition. I love this tweet from my favorite Apple Education Trainer Dan Schmit @dschmit - "SAMR describes an evolution. Subst. is a massive first step for most. Don't denigrate it. Honor the effort and build on it." It reminds me that everyone has to start somewhere.
I like to ask all the teachers that I work with questions when we first get started. I ask, What are your professional goals?, What would you like to get out of this? and What do you expect from me? In this case one of the answers that I was able to focus on immediately was, "I would like to use Google Drive more." My mind immediately went to using Doctopus the Google Apps document sharing script. The teacher was doing very little even in the way of substitution so suggesting Doctopus was a bit of a stretch. I would consider Doctopus augmentation on the SAMR scale, meaning that it gives improvement to the task process that could not be accomplished with older technology at a fundamental level. After we discussed what Doctopus is and how it could be used in her classroom I asked her to just think about it overnight. When we met again I asked her if she was reflective in her teaching and open to taking some risks. She said yes. I feel that this is very important when I am working with teachers. My job is to support them as they move outside their comfort zone. This is one of the ways we grow as teachers. I also want them to be reflective about what they did so that they can identify where they have been and where they are going. I suggest that they keep a journal.

As we moved forward with the lesson I did a lot of modeling and team teaching. I introduced the lab to the students. I explained how it worked and how it would benefit them and their teacher. One huge benefit was that in the month of November we saved approximately 900 sheets of paper using Doctopus.  Another benefit was that the class was less teacher centered. It was difficult for me to not do a lot of the work for her. I just wanted to set up the spreadsheets in Google Drive, so that they would be done, but I knew that I could not do that because she would have to do it solo when I left.
At one point we noticed that some students were not filling in the answers on one of the shared documents. She and I discussed the possible reasons which included: kids not understanding the way the sharing script works, the fact that they needed to be more independent in finishing their work, or they did not understand the assignment. She came to the conclusion that it was because they were having a hard time being more independent, and remarked that she needed to be less of a control freak and let them make mistakes. I thought this was a very revealing and reflective statement on her part.
The first lab we did with the Doctopus script went well. There were a few hiccups because we both missed mistakes in the email addresses on the master roster. Correct email address are crucial to the process (I will give more information on the Doctopus process below). The first lab lasted about two weeks. We began a second lab. Because I had other district duties that I had to take care of I was not able to be around for two days during the second lab. She was forced to work with the children on her own. I was able to go to her classroom before school to make sure she had set up everything correctly and I answered all of her questions about troubleshooting problems that might arise. The lesson was a success. There were two children who could not access their documents, but that was because they forgot their log in information, not because of something she did. I was very excited that it went so well. I'm hopeful that in my absence she will continue to use Doctopus. I checked in with her via email just before Winter Break and she said things were going well in her classroom. I need to be more specific in my questioning in order to get the answers that I want.

As I look back on the experience I realized two things. While I was there I saw so many ways to integrate technology. I thought to myself, If this were my classroom I would change the entire routine. I knew I had to take baby steps. If I did not I would lose her trust and confidence. Also using Doctopus is augmentation and we totally skipped the substitution phase of the SAMR model. I did not read Dan Schmidt's tweet until the middle of November. I have to remember not to skip steps on the ladder. It is a sure way to set my mentees up for a fall. In this case it went ok, but I'm not sure that she is continuing to use what she learned now that I'm gone. Lesson learned - honor each phase in SAMR.

If you want to know more about Doctopus please visit the Google Site that I created for in-house professional development that I teach.
It covers Doctopus and Flubaroo, my two favorite Google apps scripts.

https://sites.google.com/a/bsd100.org/flubaroo-doctopus

Assistive Technology on iOS devices and Macbooks

On Monday I went to an assistive technology conference at the Apple Office in downtown Chicago. It was great to be back there. We started the conference by learning about good apps for iPad. The first speaker was Bill Ziegler (bziegler@mac.com & billziegler.com). He shared quite a few iOS apps with us. These are the few that stood out for me.

Clicker Sentence $26.99
Clicker Docs $30.99
Abilipad $19.99
These 3 were suggested as alternatives to Proloquo2go which is $219.99. I have not tried any of them but I think they each have their strengths. They are not just for those with disabilities but for any beginning or struggling writer.
PaperPort Notes  Free
This one has speech to text and annotation features and it is FREE.
If you are into Pinterest a great person to follow for assistive tech is Lauren Enders. She pins new items almost daily.
Dexteria $3.99 and Dexteria Jr. $2.99
Develop fine motor and handwriting readiness skills
MeMoves $9.99
An app for calm and focus
Here is a great app that everyone can use. I had actually installed it months ago but never had the time to test it or use it. It must have been free when I downloaded it because I rarely pay for apps. It connects your iPhone or iPad with your desktop screen. It is a remote desktop app.
Splashtop for computer Free
iOS app  $4.99

We heard from 2 other speakers. The only other nugget that I gleaned from them was this
App Wheel for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Mark Coppin the creator was one of our speakers. This wheel is very well done. He said he created it because he saw an app list for kids with ASD and it had Angry Birds on it.

This document contains all the accessibility features that can be found on the Macbook and iOS device. It is quite extensive at 6 pages long. It is a great reference guide to keep around. There are so many options you could never remember them all. I'm sure there are some great You Tube videos out there too to support you if you need a visual.
Universal Access Features of Mac OS X & iOS

I hope you are able to find at least one thing to use with your students from this list.  

Augmented Reality

It was another great week in the same 4th grade classroom. I have to admit that 4th grade is my favorite grade. I was a 4th grade teacher for 7 years before becoming the computer teacher. This week we used augmented reality to create videos that went along with biographical 5 paragraph essays that the children had already created. We covered quite a few CCSS ELA standards with this project.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.7
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.2a-e
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.5
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.4.5

Before I came the children read biographies about famous Americans. The classroom teacher had them write 5 paragraph essays, and find a picture of the person they read about. The pictures and essays were hung up in the classroom and out in the hallway.
Next we had to create the video or the overlay. The picture above shows me recording a student who is speaking in 1st person as the person he read about. A few of the students chose to dress up like the person they read about, but it was not required. Some of the students got into it by being really expressive, some even changed their voice. It was great to see them act.
Once everyone was recorded we used the Aurasma app for iPad (there is also an app available for Android devices) to create our auras.  I have an iPad 4, but the classroom iPads are iPad 2s. Originally, I was thinking that I could Airdrop (a new feature in iOS 7) the videos to the student iPads from my iPad. I quickly realized that Airdrop is only available for iPad 4s that have iOS 7. Earlier versions of the iPad do not support Airdrop even if they have iOS 7. Each student used my iPad to create their project. Work flow continues to be an issue on iPads. I think that iOS 7 and Airdrop are a huge improvement, but not all schools are always going to have the latest and greatest.
Next as a whole group we created accounts using student email address. I read the privacy policy and the terms of use policy. This site has no age restrictions. Our student email address reveal no private information about students.
The app is very intuitive. The first thing to do is to find an overlay. An overlay can be a 3-D object or video. In our case it was the videos that the students created. We uploaded the video from the camera roll. Then you take a picture of your trigger. Our trigger is the picture that students printed out and hung up with their essay. There are some size restrictions on the trigger. Next you join them together. Finally, you create a channel, so that other people can search for and like your channel. There is an option to make the auras public or private. I had the children create a channel and make their auras public. We are going to share these with parents on the night of open house, so I want the content to be available to everyone. You can search for someones channel and like it. Once you like it then the trigger image will bring up the aura or overlay video on your device. If you mark the video private then only the creator will be able to view it on the device used to create the project. Below is a screen shot of the essay, the trigger, and the overlay video or aura. Aurasma has a You Tube channel and one video in particular that tells about the app upgrades made recently.
The students liked creating the auras and watching themselves star in the video. The students don't seem as impressed as the adults by this new technology.
The classroom has 3 iPad 2s. Next time I would rotate the iPads that I used for recording, so I that I could have the students make their auras in groups of 3 instead of one at at time.