I wanted to share something that we are piloting at grade 4 in our school: online math logs.

Four nights per week, students are expected to complete a two minute timed math fact practice sheet. These sheets must be returned to school. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect, and the school district is looking to keep students (and parents) accountable for learning basic facts.

However, this is a lot of paper, and how will teachers manage these accumulating piles? How will they collect the data from these sheets? And who has the time to analyze all of this?

The proposed solution: using Forms in Google Docs. Here is a sample of an online math log. Feel free to take it!

Below is a partial screen shot of what results would like from this log. It is housed in an online spreadsheet.

Pros:

• Students seem to be a lot more interested in doing the math sheet online versus the traditional paper method. There is something also very powerful and real world about a submit button!
• Parents like that students are using computer skills, and there is no paper being sent back and forth to school.
• Each student submission is time stamped in a spreadsheet for the classroom teacher documenting accountability.
• A simple sort in the spreadsheet allows a teacher to see the number of submissions and answers for any student over the course of the week. A teacher easily can see the progress a student is making with the number of facts completed.
• Also, the data at a glance can identify with which facts a student needs correction, and the teacher can on Day Two of the log week quickly meet with the student to give him/her a post-it of facts that the student should focus on in study.
• More math logs are created simply by making a copy of the Google Docs and then plugging in new math facts.
• The teacher takes the quiz first, typing in “” for the student’s first name and “Key” for the Last Initial fields. This Answer Key makes it easy for comparison to student results as they are filtered.
• A tool called Flubaroo may be used right in the Google Doc to grade the results to give the teacher more information about how the whole class and individuals are doing.
• Data is secure since only collaborators (teachers) have permission to view the results.
• Data can be downloaded to a teacher’s computer as an Excel spreadsheet for archiving purposes.
• Old data can be cleared from the online Google Doc, so it may be reused year to year.
• Google Docs is free.

Cons:

• There is no built-in timer. The student has to use the same timing method that s/he would have used for the paper sheet.
• Students need to remember not to use the Enter/Return key to go from problem to problem.
• All students may not have computer/Internet access at home, and a paper copy may need to go home instead.

More grade 4 classrooms will be using the online method this month. Every week a new online math log will be available for students from a teacher’s web page and/or a central math curriculum web page.

Your feedback is welcome!

Last winter, I wrote about the excitement of mounted projectors in our school (Classrooms with a View).

This month, more projectors were powered up and ready for business in classrooms. What follows is a little sample of how projectors are being used as well as how they could transform learning in the classroom. Get inspired. Please add your own ideas as well!

Ideas for using a Computer Projector

•    Daily Slideshow for Students – Eye-catching slideshow of regular routines and new information that is displayed each day as students are settling into the classroom.

•    Notes – Type notes using an application like Word or Excel for students to view and copy. Easy to store and print out for absent students.

•    Review Books – At the end of each lesson (science or studies) create a page/slide in PowerPoint that summarizes what has been learned. At the end of the unit, this book/slideshow can be made available for students to review.

•    BrainPOP or online videos – watch current, up-to-date, curriculum related videos as a whole class.

•    Maps – View maps from Google or take virtual tours through Google Earth.

•    Graphic Organizers – Use Inspiration or another application to create and fill out Graphic Organizers with your students. Online organizers also are available.

•    Skype – Connect with another classroom or expert in the field to share and exchange ideas on any topic. Find partners at Skype in the Classroom.

•    Graph – Survey your students in the moment and create a graph using Excel or an online tool.

•    Flashcards – Make your own or use an online tool, such as Flashcard Machine, to study as a class.

•    Photo Slideshows – Take pictures of events, experiments or any topic and then as a class watch as iPhoto slideshows. Students can discuss observations, connections and reflections, even record annotations.

•    Jeopardy – Review topics by playing as a class with a game board created in PowerPoint.

•    Your Own Classroom Computer Lab – Sign out the laptops and use your classroom computer and projector to guide students right from their seats through a technology infused project.

Ideas for using an IPEVO P2V USB Camera with a Computer Projector

•    Sharing – You no longer have to pass artifacts around which can become a management and focus nightmare! Students can see when it’s placed under the camera and the projector is on, letting everyone concentrate on the discussion.

•    Read-Aloud – Place a picture book under the camera, and everyone has a great view to enjoy the pictures as well as follow along with text. Don’t forget to flip the text!

•    Textbooks and Maps – Don’t have a digital copy or no time to make one? No worries- put your document under the camera to enhance your directions or lesson.

•    Math Manipulatives – Much easier to see than on an overhead.

•    More Demonstrations – Show students what buttons or apps to push on an iPod. Or maybe you need to show them how to do some intricate origami folds. No matter what the demonstration, the camera and projector make it easy for everyone to see clearly.

•    Microscope-like – Perform science experiments and analyze results right under the camera. No more crowding around a table! Snap pictures with the camera, too.

•    Need more ideas? Go to IPEVO’s website for Tips, Tricks and Ideas.

Google Earth has been around for a while, but how many teachers are using it with their classes? We have it on every machine at school; however, I don’t think people really know its power or even potential. It’s fun to fly to your house and possibly some popular tourist location in the world using this program, but I don’t think most people go much further. I am at the Google Geo Teachers Institute in Maine, and I must say, it’s been worth the drive to find out what’s under the hood of this free application.

What I want to focus on right now is what is already available to teachers in Google Earth. There are tons of tools, but no creation is necessary to access rich content compliments of Google and its content partners. You have to be willing to do a little exploring, but it’s like a candy store.

Here is what the Layers look like at first glance:

Let’s peel back the Layers  and see what awaits you and your students. In Google Earth, you simply click on the drop down arrows and see the goodies.

• Borders and Labels: standard map fare helping to define boundaries clearly. No need to use outdated classroom maps anymore!
• Places of Interest: a feature that shows places like businesses, transit stations, mountains, parks & golf- great for legend reading skills and commerce lessons.
• Photos: current and authentic pictures about a location submitted by users are available. No worries- the pictures are screened before being chosen. The pictures focus on the location (without people). There are two options: Panoramio and 360 Cities.
• Roads: traditional map info regarding highways, routes and streets for map reading skills.
• 3D Buildings: This is what sets Google Earth apart from traditional maps. Actually go and check out a city, and let your students get a feel for what it’s like there. Switch over to the Street Level view and take your own virtual tour strolling the streets. And don’t miss the Trees feature in this layer!

• Ocean: where to even begin… see National Geographic articles and quizzes tagged to locations; find shipwrecks; and track marine life to name a few.

• Weather: maybe charting temperatures for a location is old hat, but what about cloud watching?

• Gallery: You’ve got to see it to believe it! With partners like Discovery Networks, NASA, National Geographic and the New York Times supplying content in various multimedia as you visit a location, students are engaged in learning, not just being entertained.

• Global Awareness: See what organizations are present in an area, such as Greenpeace and WWF.

• More: This section has plenty to offer from National Parks to US Senators that can be integrated into social studies lessons.

So power up that classroom projector, and with a simple check mark in the Layers of Google Earth, vast content is within flight. You just have to choose the destination for your students’ learning.

Last post, I wrote about stop-action movies. This is a quick follow-up to share two movies that were completed with our May Challenge Crew.

The Snow Man

Chicken Little

These movies are very simple attempts at a “how-to” narrative and a retelling of a story. For both movies, we used IPEVO Point 2 View USB Document Cameras. With “The Snow Man”, we used a Logitech USB Headset for clear, sound quality. We were amazed at how easy and fun the movies were to make with the SAM Animation software. We are hoping to integrate this technology into fifth grade social studies, specifically European explorers, next year. Wish us luck!

It’s almost the end of the school year. Things are crazy, but at the same time, they can be a bit stale. Especially, after testing has come and gone, students often see that milestone as a sign to check out. Looking to continue to engage your students right down to the end? Give stop-action movies a try!

For the next few weeks, a handful of teachers and myself are exploring what SAM Animation has to offer. This software developed at Tufts University is very user-friendly. It comes as a demo or pay for a full download. The demo works well enough to capture images with your built-in or external cameras , and then add narration or audio. The movies can be exported as QuickTime or other file formats for various mobile devices and destinations. (Tip: in the demo version, to find these other options, use the File- Export Menu.)

Stop-action movies lend themselves beautifully to science topics due to the time lapse capabilities that allow a very slow process (such as plant growth) to be observed at a faster rate. However, science is not the only subject that can harness the power. Check out the many examples here. (And stay tuned for a future post that displays the teacher created examples that we are going to develop as a part of our May challenge.)

What I REALLY like:

SAM Animation was developed with the understanding that the technology should not get in the way of the content. The content should be front and center. (Read about how animation is good for the classroom in their white paper.)  It’s a true integration tool that is easy to use, and the concept of stop-action movies really makes students think. Students have to plan how they will break concepts and actions down in meaningful chunks to in turn build a coherent message that demonstrates understanding. Plus, it’s tactile, hands-on and fun!

Want to get started? Check out SAM Animation’s video tutorials here. Also, iCreate to Educate, a partner company, has great resources for teachers.

Your thoughts and experiences with animation and stop-action movies are welcome!

Many moons ago when I was a second grade teacher, I was involved in a grant that brought three computer projectors to my elementary school. Our focus was the traditional five paragraph essay and how projecting student work and our own mini-lessons was faster, more efficient and eye-catching to students. The tools, resources and technology have evolved so much in a decade; however, one thing has remained the same: having a clear view to learning opens up your world.

In my current district, stimulus funds allowed us to mount a dozen projectors this school year. Unfortunately, we have more than a dozen classrooms and specialist rooms. Therefore, we had to have a selection process. Over the years, I have seen many pieces of equipment collect dust because it was doled out to a targeted grade level or even building. Either support was not available to foster its integration into the teacher’s classroom curriculum, or there simply was no investment. (I recall many computers appearing in my second grade classroom, and no one ever showed me how to use them. That was a turning point for me. I wanted to learn and went down a new path with a Masters program. This is not the case for everyone.) Therefore, the principal and I decided to have teachers apply for projectors. We were looking for individuals who were going to figure out how to give their students that view on a daily basis.

Today, I met with the projector collaborative group. Installation took longer than the district anticipated, but many have had two months to “play”. Today we supported one another by sharing tips and tricks on screen resolution, brightness and signal loss as well as what unique ways the equipment is seamlessly helping students learn curriculum. I took this opportunity to introduce the teachers to Wallwisher as a way for us to share these fabulous integration ideas (and then in turn use this new tool with their students, hopefully). Please check them out here.

I’m hopeful that our enthusiasm will spread amongst teams and that a new application process will be funded and, most importantly, embraced.

On a side note: At the MassCUE 2010 Conference, Suzy Brooks shared this Wallwisher PDF from Passy World with her participants. Suzy’s presentation was a real inspiration on how to be “Technically Invisible”. This is what we aspire to with our new mounted projectors. Thanks, Suzy!

Normally, I like to highlight tech tools that are FREE. There are so many great services popping up on a daily basis during some weeks that we do not seem to have a shortage for integration into our studies. Honestly, it often is overwhelming… which one should we try now? The key is finding something that truly meets your need. With that in mind, this school year, we did something that we rarely do. We paid for a subscription to a tool: BrainPOP.

BrainPOP is a service that creates short, animated movies on, what seems like, every topic in science, social studies, English, math, technology, arts & music and health. An interactive quiz, suggested experiments/activities and a comic strip for each topic also is a part of the package.

What I like about BrainPOP: It has been created with kids in mind. The content is appropriate for upper elementary with just the right amount of silly humor to keep them engaged. Also, educators are a part of the creation process at BrainPOP, so a teacher can be reassured that the information is accurate. There is an academic standards search tool, too, making it easy to find what you need on a topic. Finally, knowing that the students are on a safe, academic website that they could navigate independently is a perk as well.

What is the appropriate setting for BrainPOP? That depends on the teacher, the students and your circumstances.

1. A teacher could introduce new units or concepts by showing the BrainPOP movies to a whole class using a classroom projector.
2. Students could use laptops to review concepts by watching the movies and taking quizzes.
3. Likewise, in a computer lab, students could access topics simultaneously and review at their own pace.
4. A one computer classroom could utilize BrainPOP as a center for students to rotate through to explore a topic.
5. Add a headphone splitter to desktops or laptops, and students could work as partners.

My school has opted for a school subscription, so we can access it anywhere in the building during the school day. This flexibility will allow teachers to be spontaneous and capitalize on those teachable moments, such as when a current event happens. Maybe, there’s a BrainPOP video topic that will help students understand?

One last thing that I’m impressed with are the teacher resources. BrainPOP Educators is a free membership with great ideas, tutorials and professional development opportunities. Even if you don’t have a subscription to BrainPOP, you can join. Of course, then you have to plan around finding free movies to try out all of the cool stuff.

I’m curious about how others are using BrainPOP, or if anyone has any suggestions or advice for us.

Thanks for reading!

We are six weeks into the 2010-11 school year, and now that the dust has settled, some inspiration has hit to get me blogging again.

Recently, a third grade teacher asked me if there were any podcasts “out there” that taught the parts of speech. She was looking for some reinforcement for the nouns work that they were doing in the classroom. This would be a good avenue to reach the different learning styles in her classroom. Excited to get iPods into the hands of third graders, I did a little searching and came across this tremendous resource that I would like to share: mrcoley.com .

This site has wonderful examples of podcasts by both students and teacher (and one fit the bill for the parts of speech topic); however, this site is has even more to offer beyond podcasts. It has gotten me and some of the teachers at my school thinking about how we can use our Nanos in a whole new way: for flash cards.

It’s a basic concept that Mr. Brent Coley, a 5th grade teacher, explains with step by step directions and tutorials (Thank you!). Using PowerPoint or Keynote, make simple slides that teach or review a concept. Then save them as pictures that can be loaded on an iPod.  By clicking “next” on the photo album’s contents on the iPod, a student can review at his/her own pace. By having the iPod “play” the slide show, it now is more advanced for such subjects as math facts, adding in the element of a timer. Now, third graders are trying to “beat the iPod” to the answer!

Sure, the students could do their fact practice with paper flash cards, but this “hook” of using the iPods makes the learning very exciting and motivating. One teacher reported to me that 19 sets of earbuds came in on one day’s notice. (Students have to supply their own earbuds to use our Nanos, and if you don’t have earbuds, you can’t use them.) She said that getting permission slips back in a timely fashion never happens, but using an iPod got their attention! Engagement is up! (Even in the bus line on the way home, students enthusiastically were telling me that their teacher was signing out the iPods again for another lesson.)

Wondering how slides will look on something as small as an iPod Nano? Here’s what an Explorer review that I created looks like:

Nothing fancy, but it is easy to read. Its linear fashion allows a student to review for the benchmark by reading a question on one slide and then following up with the answer on the next one.

Everything doesn’t have to be in a quiz format either. Perhaps, a teacher could take a PowerPoint that was used to teach a lesson and convert it to work on the iPods, too. Students could use the lesson for reference to do assignments or to study at school or at home on their own device. The implications for special education and ELL  students are vast. I’m even thinking that students could create their own “flash cards” or content slides to share their learning.

My brain is percolating! Where could this take us? I’d love to hear others’ thoughts.

** Don’t forget to check out the great examples on Mrs. Coley’s site as well.

I would like to share this wonderful resource that was passed along to me via Twitter a few months ago. Martin Jorgensen, a member of my PLN, created Building Community in Your Classroom as an extension of his web site, The Digital Narrative.

This resource is a great idea generator and quick start guide for teachers about what technologies are available. Blogs, podcasts, VoiceThread, Glogster and wikis are a few of the topics highlighted. This resource is written very simply and clearly with great tips and suggestions of how to use the tools effectively in the classroom.

I particularly like the rationale about why this site was created. I agree that these social web sites are tools for creating a global community of sharing of ideas. I don’t believe that this technology isolates us, but rather brings us together in a forum without walls or borders. The tools certainly can enhance your classroom and teach students to be responsible, contributing members. And as Silvia Tolisano says, ‘It’s Not About the Tools. It’s About the Skills.’

Please bookmark Building Community in Your Classroom!

This month, I’m very excited to start working with VoiceThread with students. VoiceThread (VT) is a medium that works like an interactive scrapbook. A creator uploads pictures and can add written, verbal or video comments. A VT can be shared with others who also may leave comments. Moreover, there is a doodle tool that lets a commenter draw directly on the image in the VT. This feature is superb for highlighting and accenting key points. You know how most sites have made instructional videos? The makers of VT do a wonderful job of using their own tool to explain and demonstrate how to do things in VT. Check out how to make one here… it’s very fast!

Previously, I have used it in a professional development course that I co-taught. Essentially, I snapped lots of candids of the class learning how to podcast using GarageBand. I then uploaded the pictures as a VoiceThread. Next, we asked the teachers to visit our VT and leave comments reflecting on their experience. It was a great summarizer of podcasting as well as an authentic use of VoiceThread.

Unfortunately, I haven’t had a classroom collaborator until now. A third grade teacher and I co-wrote a MassCUE Initiative 2010 Grant that will allow her social studies students to act as detectives. They will analyze primary source documents, specifically portraits, from the American Revolution. Students also will create their own document (using a drawing program, such as KidPix) to challenge others to analyze the picture clues. We have chosen to use VoiceThread as our tool because of its easy to use voice recording and doodle tool features. These components will allow students of all abilities in this inclusion classroom to share their knowledge. The grant has allotted us the opportunity of purchasing a one year subscription so that her students may have individual accounts in an educational setting of VoiceThread as well as give us additional storage space for all of our images.

However, this is not a tool that a teacher needs to spend money to use. A teacher can sign up for a free account and use the “identity” feature. The teacher can make enough identities for an entire class. This is ideal if the teacher logs into the account and wants to have students interact with a VT as a class, but wants each student’s contribution identifiable. The drawback is that the students are logged into the teacher’s account, making all work created by the teacher accessible with the potential of being deleted accidentally. Another option is for students to have their own accounts since an email only is required to sign up. This option probably is best for older, more independent students since the teacher will not be able to manage and monitor the student’s work. VT does a nice job of discussing pros and cons with its education manuals. (BTW- Just like Glogster, there is a non-educational setting as well.)

There are tons of resources at the site as well. There is a VoiceThread ning. Also, this slideshare presentation has some great examples. A member of my professional development course and math resource facilitator at my school has given me permission to share her Finding Equal Groups VT. (Thanks, Katie!)

What inspirational work have you done or would like to do with VoiceThread?