"Creativity is contagious, pass it on." ~Albert Einstein

Thursday, July 24, 2014

I always have teachers wanting to know how they can better utilize the iPad in their classrooms. I know that it's very easy when first receiving an iPad to take a worksheet that you have done for several years, and convert it to glass. But glass can be boring too, so I created this Breakfast Club session to give my teachers some ideas on ways to better utilize this powerful tool in their classrooms.
So the "activities" that I started coming up with started turning into all sorts of ideas and app suggestions.  I shared all of the ideas with the teachers that attended, but found myself particularly enjoying the conversations that we were having about some of the activities that are taking place in the classrooms at Aurora Public Schools.
Our teachers are doing great things with the iPads in their classrooms and it was great to have teachers share and learn from each other!  Here are some of the activities, ideas and apps that we talked about on how to better utilize the iPad in the classroom.

  • Create
  • Present
    • What if we allowed our students to demonstrate their understanding by NOT taking a written test? 
    • Haiku Deck, Prezi, ThingLink, PicCollage, Keynote, Presentain, Deck, Tellagami, Zoobe
    • Place word limits on slides
  • Collaborate
    • Get connected, it will revolutionize your classroom!
    • Teachers all over the world are wanting to participate in collaborative projects. 
    • Social MediaApp Suggestions-->Twitter, Hootsuite, Pinterest, Google +, Instagram
    • Monster Project, Mystery Skypes
    • Classroom Collaboration-->Google Drive, Padlet, Titan Pad
  • Code
  • Explain
    • Similar to presenting, but on a higher level
    • Download Explain Everything immediately.  This is one of the best (if not the best) app that you will have on your iPad. (All students 6-12 will have this year)
    • App Suggestions-->Educreations, ShowMe, Skitch, Adobe Voice, QR Codes (linked to Croak.it or 30 Hands product)
  • App Smash
    • Combining multiple apps to create one product.  (prior blog post)
    • App smashing comes naturally to students.  Quit giving recipes (this is what I want it to look like) in your classroom and encourage app smashing! 
  • Discover
    • As human beings we are naturally curious.  Do you allow time to discover in your classroom? 
    • Allow time for students to discover the "why" using the iPad, by searching for more information about something you are teaching/learning.
    • Teach students how to better search on the internet using Google Operators
  • Explore
    • Discover and Explore are tied together
    • Are you teaching your content in a manner so that it creates a curious environment? 
    • Allow your students to explore using Google Earth, Google Maps, Social Media
  • Assess
    • Quit making trips to the copy machine and use the iPad instead!
      • Socrative
      • eBackpack quiz feature
      • Edmodo quiz feature
      • Google Forms
      • Class Dojo
      • Kahoot
      • Zondle
  • Communicate
    • Create a Twitter hashtag for your classroom or school (#aurorahuskies, #ahsbio, #ahs109)
    • Create a class Facebook page
    • Create a class Instagram account (hashtag as well)
    • Start blogging and sharing the awesome events that are taking place in your classroom!
    • Create and share an Animoto  
    • Use Remind to inform and educate parents. 
2

Thursday, July 17, 2014

I was stumped in Kindergarten.  We were creating books using the My Story app and the teacher and I wanted all of the students to be able to use the same pictures for each page of our book.  All of the pictures we wanted them to use were on Mrs. Ostdiek's iPad.  How in the world were we going to get the pictures to each student iPad? Email? Dropbox? Google Drive?  All those options had too many taps and would take too much time.

Then I remembered the Chirp app!  I had dabbled with it a couple years ago, but never really saw a good use for it...until now!

What is Chirp?  Chirp is an app that you can use to share photos, webpages, notes or links to websites....using SOUND!

We downloaded the Chirp app on our class set of iPads.  Mrs. Ostdiek then walked around the classroom "chirping" the images that she wanted to share.  We showed the students how to save the chirped images to their camera roll and our problem was solved and our books were soon completed!

I think Chirp is a great app for any classroom.  I really like the "note" and "link" feature.  You could use this app to check for understanding, chirp a website to your students/staff for immediate access or even to have students share products with the class that they have created on their iPad.

Happy Chirping!


0

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

No, I'm not talking about that word.  I am talking about the word FEAR.  In my four years as a technology coach I have had several teachers use the 'f' word in conversations with me....

"I'm fearful that my students know more about this than I do..."

"I'm afraid to change things up in my classroom, what I'm doing now has always worked..."

"I'm afraid that I will fail in front of my students..."

"I fear that the technology will fail, then my lesson will tank..."

I will admit that after about my third year of teaching, I started getting pretty comfortable with the routine(s) in my classroom.  Then in year seven, every student in grades 9-12 received a MacBook 
Pro. 

Fear immediately set in...

I was afraid that the device was going to be more interesting than me...

I was afraid that I wasn't going to be able to engage my students...

I was afraid that I was going to have to change a lot of the things I was doing in my classroom...

I feared that the technology rich lesson I had planned would fail...


But you know what? Everything turned out alright.  I survived.  At first I allowed fear to hold me back, but slowly I started chipping away at those fears, taking chances and trying new things in my classroom. It truly was what was best for my students!

 I often think about how much better some of our classrooms could be if we could just get over the fear of changing, trying something new, teaching a different way than always have.  

I think the video below serves a powerful lesson for us as educators.  Think back to your childhood and a time that you were afraid to do something.  Now think of the moment you finally had the courage to conquer that fear.  It was exhilarating, wasn't it? It's exactly what you will see as you watch the video.

Now imagine some of the great things that would happen in your classroom if you would just quit letting FEAR hold you back.

Come on, change it up.  Get out of your comfort zones.  There are some pretty cool things waiting to happen in your classroom.



2

Author

authorHusband, Dad, Son, Brother, Teacher, Coach, Learner, Catalyst, Collaborator, Creator, Contributor, EdTecher, DIYer, Tinkerer, Golfer, Exerciser, Gardener.



Followers

Labels