10 More Activities to Do on an iPad Instead of a Worksheet

It still happens.  I see countless opportunities to create on the iPad wasted.  Instead, a worksheet (that has been used for several years) is scanned, turned into a PDF then uploaded to a platform that allows a student to annotate the PDF on the iPad.  

It's not good practice.  Period.  

A worksheet on an iPad is still a worksheet.  It's boring.  We are paid professionals, we can provide better opportunities for our students.  

In a previous blog post I listed some activities that could be done on an iPad instead of a worksheet.  That was two years ago.  As professional educators, we should continually strive to hone our craft, so I've decided to offer some more activities that can be done on those iPads in your classroom instead of a worksheet.  

Get Googley with G Suite
Thank you, Google!  What a great selection of tools to choose from.  If your school is fortunate enough to be a "Google" school you will know what I mean.  Google Docs, Forms, Slides, Sites, Sheets, Drive offer your students a variety of tools to do some pretty amazing things in your classroom.  Be sure to check out the #gsuiteedu, #gafe and #gafe4littles hashtags for all sorts of ideas on how to effectively use these tools in your classroom. 

Create with Adobe Apps
I absolutely love the creation possibilities with Adobe's Spark Post, Spark Page and Spark Video.  Adobe has made it so easy to create with these apps.  With these apps, you and your students will be creating professional looking products in no time. 

Connect using Social Media
Social media is not going away.  We, as educators need to be using it in our classrooms.  You need to find ways to make Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and other forms of social media an integral part of your classroom.  For some great ideas on how to utilize social media in your classroom, I would suggest that you follow Kayla Delzer, Brandon Timm, Rebecca Huls and Kara McNeese. Each of them do a tremendous job of harnessing the power of social media in their respective classrooms.  

Create a Scavenger Hunt using the GooseChase app
Trust me, your students will love this app!  You create "missions" that your student will complete. You can have your students complete missions that are photo/video, text-based or GPS check-ins.  I used this app with our teachers at the start of the school year for a school wide scavenger hunt.  Each building in our district (elementary, middle school, high school) competed against each other to complete the challenges that I had set forth.  The winner from each building received free jeans days for the entire first quarter. Talk about competitive.  Very engaging and fun too! 

Engage with Hyperdocs
Hyperdocs are awesome!  What are they?  They are digital lessons that you can assign to your students for engaging, inquiry-based learning.  It's blended learning at its finest. Think 21st-century worksheet."  Your students learn by exploring, explaining and applying as they progress through the hyperdoc.  Be sure to give the creators of the Hyperdoc idea Lisa Highfill, Kelly Hilton and Sarah Landis a follow on Twitter.  For resources be sure to check out this Padlet full of Hyperdoc examples and head over to Teachers Give Teachers to search for Hyperdocs!  Make a copy of one that works for your classroom, modify if needed and assign to your students!

Use Seesaw!  
I truly believe that Seesaw is the best educational technology app that has been released in the last two years.  What a way for students to document their learning!  Seesaw is a digital portfolio for your students.  My favorite features are the fact that your students can submit work that they have created, use the whiteboard tool to draw and record their voice (on a whiteboard or something they uploaded), and use the video camera for self-reflections.  Parents can see this all of this if they have downloaded the parent companion app to Seesaw.  Create your account, set up a class and start using Seesaw.  Your classroom parents will thank you! 

Create a Paper Slides Project
Very low tech, but so fun for your students!  I always had a tub of "creation tools" (markers, colored pencils, glue sticks, scissors on the tables in my classroom.  Nothing beats creating something from scratch to assist in the learning process!  Students love to draw, doodle and color.  Don't forget about these "old school" tools when you get the tech in your classroom.  Harness the power of both tools with a paper slides project. Let your students create paper slides projects instead of standing in front of the classroom going through a Powerpoint or Google Slides presentation.  Here is a great wiki with all sorts of information about paper slides. 


Compliment Digital Storytelling projects with animation apps. 
Those of us that have access to iPads know that the best app for digital storytelling would probably be iMovie. Honestly, I've seen this app wear out its welcome with a lot of our students (and teachers).  Making iMovie after iMovie becomes tedious and boring.  Tap into the creativity of animations apps.  Combine these with iMovie and you can create some pretty amazing stories!  Here is a recent blog post I composed about FOUR free animation apps that you can begin using today! 

Create with Canva
I love Canva!  If you haven't created an account for Canva, do so now!  Canva has an app and is web based so you are not limited to the app.  There are so many ways to use Canva in the classroom. You could have your students use it for vocabulary, motivational posters, movie posters for a particular book you are reading.  You could have your students create album covers for a book you are reading, create six word stories with a powerful image in the background.  The opportunities are endless.  


I'm not going to give you a specific tool for my tenth option.  I just want you to think about one word.  Create.  Think of the iPad as a creation device.  It's very easy to consume information on the iPad, but it's just as easy to create.  What can you create on the iPad to reinforce or amplify your lesson?

Happy Creating!  

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I’m not a settler. Well, I’m not anymore. I used to be a settler.

I’m not a settler.  Well, I’m not anymore.  I used to be a settler.  

You’ve seen the Direct TV commercial in which a modern family has “settled” for basic cable instead of upgrading to the supreme services of Direct TV. 

The first time I saw it I flashed back to my third year of teaching in 2002 and thought of how I was a “settler” in the field of education.  I had settled into a comfortable routine in my classroom.  I was comfortable doing the same thing for each unit. The routine was simple. Notes, worksheets, review, then test.  Repeat. It felt good. I was a settler.  

I had settled into doing what made me comfortable in my classroom.  Luckily, I changed my way of thinking in regards to pedagogy and tried to make the learning experience in my classroom an event instead of a class. I had to do it.  I realized I wasn’t doing what was best for my students, I was doing what was best for me.  

We all have “settlers” in the buildings that we teach in.  No, I’m not saying that the settlers are bad teachers.  They’re just comfortable. Too comfortable.  How do we transform those settlers into "pioneer" teachers?  Pioneer teachers being the ones that are on the bleeding edge when it comes to making sure each and every student is engaged in their classrooms?  The pioneer teachers are using various forms of educational technology, creative engagement strategies and are always looking for a way to make learning sticky in their classrooms.

So how do we help our settlers? Below are some strategies that I have used in my role as an Integration Specialist to try and help some of the teachers that I work with in and out of my building.

Be Honest

Some settler teachers don't even know that their style of teaching isn't working.  Once you are stuck in that rut, it's hard to get out! You need to let them know, and that’s a hard thing to do!  Yes, the conversation of maybe changing things up a big should come from your building Principal, but they may have a better relationship with you so the discussion of needing to change things up a bit coming from you will be more meaningful.

Support Them

Get in their classroom. Give them feedback and LOTS of suggestions and ideas on how to change or improve their lessons.  Get you settlers in your classroom or the classrooms of your pioneer teachers.  Let them develop a trust in what you are sharing with them is effective in the classroom.  Share what works for you, don't be an idea hoarder!

Get them Connected

Show your settlers how to harness the power of social media to transform the teaching and learning in their classrooms.  Let's face it, isolation is a choice that we now make as teachers.  Choosing not to use social media for educational purposes when the students sitting in our classrooms are all connected is no longer acceptable. Connected teachers that utilize Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram,  Facebook, etc., have a plethora of ideas and other teachers that are willing to help at any given time.  Helping your settler develop and create a robust professional learning network will pay huge dividends.

I'm sure you have an idea or two that has worked with settler teachers you have encountered.  I'd love for you to share in the comments below.  Until then, get out and continue to blaze that trail of being the awesome teacher that you are!

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Pushing the Reset Button

I recently had the opportunity to catch up with an old colleague.  We began our careers teaching and coaching together and had some really great years teaching in the same pod of our building.  

I don't get to see that colleague much anymore due to the distance between us.  When we do get the opportunity to see each other, we make the most of it with some great conversation.   During our last chat, we had an interesting conversation.  It was all about the new high school that his school district is constructing.  The current high school that he teaches in is old, dingy and ready to be replaced.  Luckily, their school bond passed approving construction of a brand new multi-million dollar facility. 

I asked my old friend if he was looking forward to the move.  He has taught in the same classroom for the last 10+ years and I was curious as to how much of a hassle it was going to be to pack and move all of the materials that he had accumulated.  His answer really made me think.   A lot. 

He told me that he was looking forward to getting into his new classroom this summer to get it ready for the new school year next August.  I get that.  What teacher doesn't get a little excited to set up their room for the upcoming school year?

  But what he said next, was the kicker.  He told me that he was getting rid of everything in his classroom.  EVERYTHING.  Everything from what he had in his filing cabinets to what he placed on the walls. 

Wow!  

He told me that he was excited to start fresh.  He told me that it is invigorating to think that seventeen years into his career he is starting over.  Starting fresh.  He relishes the opportunity to create new units and lessons for the classes he has taught for several years.   He said he felt like he did that first summer right out of college when he was prepping for his first ever teaching position. 

While driving home after our conversation, my mind began to comprehend this whole situation. Here is a veteran teacher that was excited, if not ecstatic, about starting fresh for his eighteenth year in education.  I likened it to pushing the reset button on a video game.  

Would you be willing to "push the reset button" in your classroom for next year? 

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Drowning in Mediocrity

As I mentioned in my last post, my #oneword for 2016 is "Reflect."  Here is the first of a series of blog posts I am composing as I reflect upon my 16 years in education.

I realized it during the 2001-2002 school year.  The day is burned into my memory.  It was my Freshmen World History class, 6th period to be exact.  We were right in the middle of our unit on the Renaissance.  I had a Powerpoint projected onto the screen in my dimly lit room and my students were taking turns reading out of the book as I walked around the room making sure students were on task.

Then it hit me.

My class was boring.  

Some days we would read out of the textbook, other days I would make my students take the notes that I was writing on the overhead. Yes, that type of overhead.  I eventually upgraded to Powerpoint and had my students take notes from the bulleted slides that I had created.  Towards the end of each class, I'd give my students some kind of worksheet or crossword puzzle to reinforce what they had learned.  

At the conclusion of the unit, students would take a 35-50 question test that consisted of several multiple choice questions (it was easy for me to grade), matching questions and one essay.

I was in my third year of teaching and I was teaching each class, World History and Nebraska History, the exact same way I had since I began teaching in 1999. 

I was drowning in mediocrity.

Looking back now, I realize that I didn't know any better.   Sure my Principal had issued a challenge to me after my first year of teaching, but I was teaching Social Studies the way it had been taught to me.  It was comfortable.  It was easy. 

My teaching had become routine. The filing cabinet in the corner was my best friend.  All of my units were pre-packaged and ready to go each year.   My Powerpoints were saved on the local server, easy to pull up for presenting.  A quick trip to the copy machine at the start of each unit to print my worksheets, quizzes and tests and I was good to go for a couple of weeks. 

Repeat each year with minimal changes or reflection and another year was in the books.  Easy peasy.  

I didn't like how I felt after teaching the lesson that I mentioned above. I didn't feel like I was making a difference.  I was just another class on my students' schedules. 

I was bound and determined to do something about it. 

I remembered my social studies classes in high school and college. I didn't enjoy them. Actually, I hated them.  Yet here I was teaching a subject that I loved.  I thought to myself, "You can't say that you hated social studies classes....you just hated how the information was taught to you."   

I came up with a new motto for the 2002-2003 school year.  I printed my new motto and placed it on the wall so I could be reminded of it daily.  I talked to my students about what those three words meant to me as a teacher.

COLLABORATE, DESIGN, CREATE

Fast forward 6 years. Take a look at the images below.   It's my classroom after "the change."  It took time and effort, and most importantly, the willingness to change. 



I tried to create a learning environment that I would have wanted to be in if I was a student.  

What happened during the change? 

 I started utilizing the technology in my classroom to have students create.  I got rid of all of my desks and replaced them with tables.  I placed two couches in my room that students could sit in whenever they wanted.  I had tubs of markers, colored pencils, scissors, paper clips, glue sticks and scratch paper.  I started playing music a lot, not just as students entered the room.   

My classroom became a noisy environment (sorry, Mrs. Coover), but the students loved it.  

And I loved teaching.  I looked forward to coming up with different, creative ways to teach.  Yes, it took some time out of school to do some extra planning, but it was well worth it. 

I loved my new classroom.  I was no longer drowning, I was now doing the breaststroke! 

Reflecting on this moment in my teaching career makes me proud that I made this decision. 

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Web Literacy Lesson for the Primary Grades

It's amazing to think of the wealth of information that we have available to us now because of the internet.  I often how wonder we managed to find the information we needed before Google (BG).   It's fun to have conversations with students about at a time when we couldn't just, "Google it." Students have a hard time imagining a world without the plethora of information that we have available to us at our fingertips.

As educators, I believe it is important for us to engage in conversations with students about the information we find online and web literacy. Too often I see students (and adults) taking some of this information they find online, whether it be Facebook, Twitter, Google or another social media site as gospel.

I composed a lesson a couple of years ago to address this issue with my students.   It's one of my favorite lessons to teach.  I have taught his lesson, with various modifications to grades K-12.  Feel free to change it to meet the needs of your students!  Let me know how it goes if you do use it with your students.

Part I

When prepping this lesson for my primary students, I like to walk around their classrooms ahead of time snapping photos of items they have created.  This year there were lots of art projects from Thanksgiving.  I snap several photos of their creations and then email them to myself so I can dump them into the Google Slides that I show them when teaching.  This is the slide that students see when we get to the web literacy part of our lesson:

I follow this slide with several slides of pictures being sure to tell students that I so busy creating all these crafts while on my Thanksgiving break!  Eventually, one or two students will pipe up, "hey, that's mine!" I then admit that I passed off their work as my own.  Then, it's time to have a short conversation about not taking other people's work and sharing it as our own.    When teaching this lesson with older students we talk a lot about images we find online, and how to properly attribute these images if we use them in a project at school.

Part II

The next part of our lesson deals with websites.  I try to share a"green" (good/safe for surfing) website each week when I meet with our Kindergarteners.  The fact that we talk about a new website each week allows me to "set up" the Octopus website with my students.  I play it up when exploring the website.  I show them the images of the Octopus, talk about where it lives, etc.  I tell students that it's amazing what you can find on the internet!

 You might have to get creative with your older students (and adults) when setting this up. I introduce the students to the following sites and a YouTube video about Google Nose for my older students. 

The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus (Grades K-12)

All About Explorers (Grades 3-12)

Google Nose (Grades 3-Adult)

With primary grades, I just show the Octopus website, then proceed to the next part of the lesson.  When teaching the lesson to older students we take our time to peruse all three websites before proceeding.  

Part III

The next part of the lesson deals with social media and images.  We have a conversation about how easy it is to share and view images that are shared on various forms of social media.  To introduce this part of the lesson, I ask students if they remember when Hurricane Sandy devastated the east coast.  I tell the students that there were thousands of images shared on social media showcasing the devastation it caused and I am going to show them the top photos shared on social media during Hurrican Sandy.

 I like to create a slideshow in my presentation with the images contained in this  blog post from Mashable to reinforce this part of the lesson.  I go through each image with the students.  We talk about what we see and how powerful the images are.  Then, I tell the students that I have something to tell them.  I tell them that "everything that I taught you today is completely fake."  Some students will blurt out, "Mr. Badura, you shouldn't lie!" While others will say, "I knew it all along!"  It's fun to listen to some of their responses.

We end the lesson with a whole group discussion.   We talk about ways to recognize innacurate information online.  We discuss the fact that we need to realize that not all the information we find online is factual.

It's one of my favorite lessons, and I feel that it has a lasting impact.  Let me know how it goes with your students.

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Growing Up Digital

Being a parent has been the most rewarding event that has happened to me in my forty three years.  There have been some good times and then there have been times that I wish my Mom and Dad would have told me about some of the issues/choices/decisions that I would have to make as a parent.  I think it is their way of getting back at me for all the times that I caused them anguish.  And believe me, there are more than you can count on two hands!

As my kids get older, I find that their world is a whole lot different than the world that you and  I grew up in.   Growing up in the digital age is so…”distracting” to me.  To my children, that is all they know.  Sometimes I find myself wanting to take them back to 1985 to show them how simple life really was!  Life seemed so much easier without all the technology.  The only technology I needed was my boombox and my hip and trendy cassette collection consisting of Men at Work, Prince, The Cars, etc.

As the Integration Specialist for Aurora Public Schools I have focused over the last four years on having conversations with our students about Digital Citizenship. I believe that schools have to make a concentrated effort to educate our youth on the proper way to use the internet and how to behave online. As parents, navigating and keeping up with technology is tough business.  Too many parents don’t know what to do or where to start, so they do nothing.  

I would highly encourage you to sit down with your child and have “the talk.”   No, not the talk that you are thinking about, but one that pertains to them as a digital citizen and how important it is that they make good decisions while they are connected. Have you talked to your children lately about how they are using the Internet? Have you checked their devices to see what they are publishing or texting?  What about apps they are using?  If you are unfamiliar with an app they are using, sit down with them and have them teach you how to use the app.  Remaining immobilized around your child’s technology use isn’t effective for you as a parent and it doesn’t help your child.  The most important thing you can do is open up regular dialogue about your child’s online activities.  Ask questions, set boundaries, download the apps yourself, follow your children on social media, and model appropriate technology use.

I know that my kids get tired of me preaching about their digital footprint.  I don't care. It is just another one of my responsibilities as a parent, and I encourage you to do the same as well.   When you and I were younger, first impressions started with a handshake.  Now they start with a Google search.  What your child is doing online now and in the future can have a tremendous impact on their digital footprint.

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Top 36 Educators To Follow That Have Less Than 1000 Followers

***This blog post is co-written by Craig Badura & Brent Catlett***

As connected educators Brent and I strongly believe in ALL educators being connected.  We believe that building and developing a PLN (Personal/Professional Learning Network) is an important task for ALL educators to be doing, not just a few.  We also believe that ALL educators bring great value to the table as someone who can SHARE the great things happening in their classrooms, schools, and districts via Social Media like Twitter!  

As educators we sometimes become idea hoarders and are afraid to share some of the successes in our classrooms because we feel like we are bragging.  I am convinced that there is a plethora of great educators out there who  have started a Twitter account, used it consistently, but haven’t gained a large number followers, for some reason or other.

Perhaps our list of 36 educators are typically not listed in articles talking about the "Top 25 Educators to Follow" on Twitter by popular educational companies like Edutopia or Education Week, or another person on Twitter with a massive amount of followers, but it doesn’t mean they are any less of a potential contributor to one’s PLN.  They are simply great teachers.

To Brent and me, the number of followers we have on Twitter doesn’t matter!  Yes, it’s easy to get caught up in that when you first get started on Twitter. Heck, I even wrote this blog post back in 2012 about my Twitter numbers.  What was I thinking?!

In one of our many discussions about Twitter we discussed how awesome it is to FOLLOW educators back that follow us!  Not ever limiting ourselves to certain numbers or acting as if we are too good for them because they may only have 24 followers.   Every member of your PLN is important. Follow them. Never limit your numbers. We also discussed the fact that we try to respond to ANYONE who tweets us with a question or thought.  I know I was frustrated several times when I started on Twitter because someone wouldn't respond to a tweet I had directed at them.

We feel like anyone who wants to join our PLN is more than welcome!  You follow either of us, and you are an educator, we are probably going to follow you back!  Just make sure you have a great bio explaining who you are and what you do in education!  And be sure to add a profile picture of yourself!

This amazing group of 36 educators that have less than 1000 followers are a group that anyone could easily learn from, collaborate with, and break down classroom walls!

So, GO FOLLOW THEM because they are fabulous educators!  

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Quit Being an Idea Hoarder!

The following quote by George Couros really made me think...

"What if every teacher tweeted one thing a day that they did in their classroom to a school hashtag, and they took five minutes out of their day to read each other's tweets?  What impact would that have on leaning and school culture? 

I am lucky and blessed to work with some amazing educators.  The ideas for activities and lessons that they come up with is inspiring.  Parents in our school district should rest well knowing that their children are being taught by some very passionate, enthusiastic educators.  

But....

I often compliment a teacher for an activity or lesson that they taught while I was in their classroom. I encourage them to blog about it or tweet about it. Just share it!  Too many times, I hear the response, "Oh, who would care about that anyway?" or "It's nothing fancy" maybe even a "It's really not that great of a lesson."  

My response?  "That was amazing!  Imagine if another teacher saw your tweet or blog post about that lesson or activity and did that same lesson with the children in their classroom!"

I think that we can sometimes look at the lessons/activities/ideas that we are using in our classrooms as just your average, run of the mill lesson.  Yet in the eyes of another teacher they are MAGNIFICENT!

Quit being an idea hoarder! 

Some of you are doing great things in your classrooms! We need to hear or read about it!  Get your blog set up if you haven't done so.  Don't know how to use Twitter?  Find someone to teach you how to harness the power of this amazing tool!

The world of Education needs your contribution!

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Let's Talk with Students, Not at Them When It Comes to Digital Citizenship

One of my favorite duties as the Integration Specialist for Aurora Public Schools is getting the opportunity to talk about Digital Citizenship with our K-12 students.  It's a task I enjoy doing and I thought I was teaching it the right way...

Boy, was I wrong!

I have organized various presentations to use during our digital citizenship time that are full of great information and resources from websites like Common Sense Media, CEOP and Netsmartz. I showed up in the classroom or auditorium and shared what I had created with our students.  The students listened and watched to what I thought was some pretty interesting material that I had pieced together for my presentations.

Then I started evaluating how I was going about this process and how I was addressing this very important issue with our students.  I realized that I shouldn't have been talking AT our students.  I should have been talking WITH them about digital citizenship. Wouldn't it be more effective if the students had a voice in the matter? After all, they are the ones using the devices, websites and tools we are talking about.

This major change in my mindset of how I talk to students about digital citizenship can be directly attributed to Danah Boyd's book "It's Complicated."  I'm not going to go into details about the book. Download it and read it. You will see how it's totally changed my perspective of how we should be addressing digital citizenship with our students.

After reading this book, I realized that I need to listen more and engage in conversations with our students.  So I changed the way I was teaching and talking about digital citizenship with our students.

I created a "Things That Rock" slide presentation based on some topics that students could relate to when it comes to digital citizenship.  It's based on the "Things that Suck" EdCamp session made famous by Dan Callahan.  I borrowed the title "Things That Rock" from Dean Shareski because the "S" word is pretty powerful and I didn't want to use it around students.

Below are the  presentations that I created for grades 3-5 and 6-12 respectively. Feel free to steal the idea and add some of your own topics.  As of this blog post, I have completed this session with all of or students in grades 3-12 and I can honestly tell you that we have had some fascinating conversations during our time together. Our students have so many great perspectives.  We really need to listen to their voice more in our schools!

This whole process has reaffirmed my belief that we need to engage in conversations with our students when it comes to the topic of digital citizenship instead of talking at them about it.

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