Why All the Questions?

It's not hard to find the acronym STEM included in educational endeavors both in and out of school. I would dare to say that it has evolved into a term that is as broad as the word love because everyone has their own interpretation and uses it to describe a wide variety of classes, workshops and experiences. If this is the case, STEM is not really new, it's just been called something different up until now.

The STEM movement challenges leaders in educational thought to look deeper into what STEM really is and how it should look in the classroom. According to Live Science, STEM is a way to engages and involves students in the learning journey while meeting curriculum standards . The integrative approach promotes connectivity among the four disciplines and brings meaningful experiences to the classroom. This applied approach engages students with phenomena that associates to real world scenarios and challenges. As STEM practices are applied, students use the lens of scientist, technologist, engineer and mathematician to apply understanding and ultimately problem solve throughout the lesson to generate ideas, prototypes or experiments that could bring possible solutions.

During the learning process, students are using productive talk to discuss their ideas and findings. Through their collaboration, they are combining ideas, evaluating materials, and recording their evidence and data in a notebook, just like a real scientist or engineer would do. Students are using vocabulary in context, generating hypotheses and testing them out. A noisy classroom can be a healthy learning environment.

What the teacher is doing is just as valuable as what the students are doing. The teacher facilitates learning with questions that spur deeper thought and critical thinking about what is happening in the lesson. Without these questions, some students miss valuable and crucial information that helps them fully process the intent of the lesson and demonstrate mastery of curriculum standards.

If you are wondering where to start, no worries! Take a look at the following links for resources to help you implement the art of questioning in your classroom. Check out the NSTA blog to connect and network with other educators on this topic.

Talk Activities Flow Chart

Talk Resource Tools Doc

 STEM Teaching Tools PDF Collection

Valuing our students as thinkers is an important way to invest in our leaders of tomorrow. Involving students in their learning, building skill sets and critical thinkers is crucial to their individual success and collectively as a nation. Incorporating and cultivating the STEM mindset is a shift in education that benefits teachers and students.

Increasing Student Ownership in Your Classroom

Looking for ways to give students more ownership of their learning? Technology tools can support you and your students! Check out these tools to transfer and increase student ownership of procedures, routines and efficiency.

Have you tried Classroomscreen? This tool gives teachers and students access to all kinds of widgets to assist with time management, messages and visual reminders. For grades 2-5, students can also use this tool to help them learn how to manage their time on task, monitor their noise level (if using a Chromebook), sketch out answers on a whiteboard and more. I encourage teachers to make the link available through Google Classroom or simply bookmark it for quick access.

Have you checked out the dynamics of Google Keep? If you love sticky notes, this is the tool for you! It is available to you and your students in Google Apps. While in Slides or Docs, look for the icon on the right side of the screen to create a note right there with your document. Set up a reminder about the document or share the note with specific teachers or students to provide daily reminders or individual reminders. Organize notes with folders. It syncs with Google apps to help you and your students keep up with tasks, checklists or any type of note needed!

Increasing student ownership of the learning journey can be quite a feat! Classroomscreen and Google Keep are two must-have tools that allow teachers to transfer more responsibility to students by offering ease, convenience and visual stimulation to meet daily goals. It's a win-win for the classroom!

Developing The 4 C's in Students

       Today's students need regular opportunities to practice using the 4 C's. You might be wondering, what are the 4 C's and why bother? The 4 C's are communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity, key skills to build proficiency and provide meaningful learning experiences in the classroom. It also prompts students to use their imagination and let's them have FUN while they are thinking and learning! Incorporating the 4 C's skills sets are one way to help prepare students for the future that awaits them.

Wondering how to get started? Here are some great picture books that can spark discussions, identify problems and begin implementing structures for the 4 C's to become a regular practice in the learning environment.

         

One of my new favorite discoveries is found at novelengineering.com. This site has ready-made resources that correspond with books. Students are encouraged to look at problems in the story through the lens of an engineer or scientist while practicing and strengthening literacy skills. This is a fantastic way to start using the 4 C's framework in your classroom! This resource supports critical thinking, communication and collaboration.

Ready to connect to outside professionals to help students think about processes, help them find solutions or simply ask more questions, but having a hard time finding someone? Bringing in a scientist has never been easier! Sign up to Skype A Scientist! This activity supports communication in the 4 C's framework. Depending on the depth of the discussion, could also lend to critical thinking.

You might be wondering how to bring in creativity. When students participate regularly in activities that have already been mentioned, ideas begin to generate. When students have opportunities to make, design or create a prototype to solve a problem, innovation comes into play. This is one additional opportunity for students to use vocabulary words, explain their thinking, justify their design based on specific criteria and experience their learning! This type of activity fully supports the 4 C's framework.

If you are still hesitant about incorporating the 4 C's, I have one more just-released resource that will provide detailed lessons on topics in your curriculum. Have you ever heard of Picture Perfect Science? These lessons follow the 5 E model, and reading comprehension strategies to prompt engagement and thinking. You will also find a materials list, suggested amount of days for the lesson and ways to extend. Over the summer, Picture Perfect STEM Lessons were released to help teachers incorporate STEM and the design process in their classrooms. This resource is a must-see!

              

These resources have made folding the 4 C's in your classroom easier than ever! I hope you will find one or more of them that will help you along the way! The 4 C's is a classroom practice and framework that will help students connect their learning to real-life experiences while learning necessary skill sets that lead to success.

Chrome-smashing Lessons

     The Chromebook has drastically changed the way we learn! There are over four million Chromebooks in classrooms across our nation! In fact, Chromebooks have been in our district for a few years. Once students think they have mastered the basics of Google Apps, provide them with different formats, layouts and interactivity to increase student engagement, choice and voice. Why not level up the learning with a chrome-smashing lesson or let them create a chrome-smashing product of learning? 

Google Docs

HyperDocs are the newest way to create an interactive way for students and teachers to engage and transform learning. Teachers provide feedback, reminders and  personalize the process while students are experiencing the learning through links, videos, and text! Check out this HyperDoc that gets students thinking before and after a read aloud. Students may use a similar format to show what they know on a given topic by linking their own evidences of learning. 

Google Slides

Can your students create a magazine on their topic of learning? What a neat way to create a class booklet, small group or individual assignment! Another way to challenge students is to have them create interactive slides. Students load images in slides and link to other pages within the presentation so that viewers may review content in an alternative order. 

Google Slides & Google Drawing

Create digital posters that can be used to accompany persuasive writing topics, create infographics or advertisements! Students will notice that the toolbars are similar between the apps and can choose the one that fits their individual and visual preferences. Click here for a Google Drawing persuasive poster template.

How can students pull it all together or chrome-smash their learning? Students may use any of the Google Apps to showcase their learning. Simply link docs, slides or drawings in the app that is being used as the presentation tool. Use the toolbars to add text, highlights, shapes and images for visual stimulation. In addition, skills in critical thinking, design, and audience are being developed as students create their chrome-smashing products of learning.

So, which one of these will you try with your students? If these examples are new to you, try it as a way to organize a lesson. Review the essential elements of the app and layout. Then challenge your students to create their own using their content! I guarantee you will level up the learning in your classrooms!

Encouraging Creativity, Choice and Voice

     Looking for tools to create logs, collect evidences or document learning for students? Google apps is a great place to start. Create an assignment or lesson in Google Docs, Slides or Drawing. For those first digital assignments, provide students with lots of direction and structure for success. As the task or similar tasks are repeated, you may provide more choices for students to display their learning. Click on the following links to see examples of ways you can build in structure and independence.

My Animal Poster         All About Sound     Planet Newsletter Template                      

Collaborative Notes     Fractions                Collaborative STEM Glossary  
       

      For a more dynamic option, you might want to consider Padlet! The web-based tool and iOS app was made with young users in mind. Teachers might use this tool for lesson activities or plans, fast facts about topics of learning, or morning meetings. Students may use Padlet for collaborative assignments, digital project boards or reading and learning logs. Users are able to add text, links, images, or videos. It works well for most any lesson you can imagine! What an exciting way to stir creativity, encourage choice and provide opportunities for learners to develop their voice!

     

     Check out these two links to gather ideas about different ways to use this tool! Padlet Hacks offers helpful hints about sharing, permissions, and more! Summer Vacation shows how Padlet can be used as a place to record memories. How can this format be utilized during the school year? Students may record details and information about field trips, special moments and science experiments while also adding their favorite resources to further document or show evidences of their learning.

     Padlet and Google Apps are tools that can be used to engage, motivate and energize students. Moreover, learning opportunities can be designed in a way as to embrace learning styles, enhance media literacy and strengthen higher order thinking skills. So what are you waiting for? Give it a try!

Make Learning "Suite" In Your Classroom!

The Google Suite is a powerful set of tools that are available to our students. It's a simple option for our classrooms since the deployment of Chromebooks and implementation of BYOD across our district. However, the potential and possibilities of the Google Suite are often under utilized in many elementary classrooms.

One way to reverse this trend is to make sure students know how to tap into the power of the Suite. Modeling and training students how to use Google Docs, Slides and Drawing provides opportunities for them to show what they know on any topic. Investigating the menus takes some time and lots of patience; however, it has been so exciting to demonstrate these skills! Once students understand how to use these apps, teachers can begin offering choices.

With every use, students become more comfortable with using mobile devices, choosing an app and creating a meaningful product of learning. Here are some things that have been created with students based on classroom needs:

• Word clouds in Google Docs
• Research reports in Google Docs
• Presentations using Google Slides
• eBooks using Google Slides
• Venn Diagrams using Google Draw
• Mini Posters using Google Draw

How will you tap into the power of the Suite? If you are still wondering how to get started, check out these links!

• 10 Things Every Teacher Should Know How To Do With Google Docs

• 3 Quick and Easy Google Docs Ideas For Your Classroom

• 5 Ways to Use Google Slides In The Classroom

• How To Use Google Draw In Your Classroom

Appmazing Thinking

     Our district just completed their first week of school! I have seen some wonderful things going on in some of our elementary buildings and classrooms! Administrators, teachers and students are interacting more than ever because of mobile apps! Not only can teachers visibly see how students come up with their answers, but they are also able to structure their activities in such a way that collaboration, communication, higher order thinking and authentic learning are all addressed.  Some of the apps I observed being used were Goose Chase and Padlet. With Goose Chase, teachers can create a task list for their students, and have the option to start and stop the game so students have a visual reminder of their time constraints. Padlet is a wonderful tool that can be used to showcase student thinking, and activities at a glance. Teachers can quickly see what is or is not occurring during collaboration among their students. Moreover its services have recently expanded beyond its web-based application by adding the mobile app for Apple devices. If you want to get your students moving, thinking and showing what they know, these apps can help you in that endeavor!

Crazy for Chatterpix!

     I had the fantastic opportunity to witness Chatterpix being used in first through fourth grades throughout the month of April! Many of these classrooms were in the same school. What made this even more exciting was to have conversations with teachers about using it beyond the initial activity. There were two ways that it evolved into a tool that had significant impact among students. Some teachers allowed students to create Wevideos using Chatterpix as a springboard into the topic area. Wevideo provided the opportunity for students to learn how to create their own content and upload their media, add content slides and search for other media to support their topic. 

Another way teachers used this app was as a teaching aid from one classmate to another. In this particular case, third-grade students were paired with first-grade students. Both grade levels studied the same topic, discussed vocabulary terms, and the overall process as specified by their curriculum guides. Teachers ensured that students were assigned partners and had a picture to use for the apptivity. When students began, they discussed what each one of them knew about the topic, planned a 30-second script and then recorded their learning.  Once the project was saved to the camera roll, students were able to upload them into their Google accounts and share with their teachers.

     What I noticed was that it allowed teachers to visualize the possibilities of using technology in their classrooms. For the teachers that were already comfortable using apps, it was one more way to allow students to showcase their learning. For the teachers that had reservations, they responded with excitement and enthusiasm about future possibilities. Students seemed to enjoy the the learning task. Every student was engaged and excited about what they had accomplished. Chatterpix simply provided a way for students to take ownership of their learning and display it in a meaningful way while building skill sets in collaboration, digital skills and communication.

     Never heard of Chatterpix? Chatterpix is an app that can be used on iPads or iPhones. Simply take a picture, draw a mouth, record your voice, add a filter or text and save to the camera roll. Your picture will look as if it is chattering. This tool is a quick, easy and effective way to interest, motivate and engage students!

More about Chatterpix

Free Technology for Teachers

We Are Teachers

Offering a Commingled Learning Environment

As I learn more about blended learning, it seems to make sense to offer this type of learning environment to students. With the options of blended or commingled learning, students have the opportunity to take ownership of their learning. Commingled learning allows teachers to take advantage of learning styles and offer differentiated learning through the development of various elements of online and traditional instruction.  An additional facet for consideration is the amount of assistance the teacher provides. Webster defines commingle as blending thoroughly into a harmonious whole. Shouldn't learning be harmonious for teachers and students? I look forward to learning more about Blended Learning throughout the BlendKit2015 course.

iPads, iPhones and Androids, Oh My!

    

     I am super excited about sharing two technology tools that can help teachers accomplish so much with so little! Hard to believe, right? Both of these tools can be used on iPhones, Androids, iPads, Chromebooks or desktops. These tools offer multiple platforms so teachers can focus on the most important things... teaching and learning!  

Plickers

This free app allows teachers to use one device to gather real-time data about all of their students with a scan of the room. Students use a plicker otherwise known as a paper barcode to choose their answer. Teachers can choose how they want to view the responses- by student or by answer selection. The possibilities are endless!

Click here to learn more!  

Seesaw: The Learning Journal

This free app provides students with access to an online portfolio. They can show what they know through photos, text, drawing, video and voice. Teachers can add comments and share with parents in a few clicks. It can be used on one device or on multiple devices. It's a simple and an effective way to to showcase student work!

Click here to learn more! Click here to get ideas about using Seesaw in your classroom.

Teaching and Learning with QR Codes

Technology integration in the classroom continues to change the way teaching and learning takes place on a daily basis. One way teachers transform, motivate, and differentiate their instruction is by using QR codes. A QR code is a scannable image that looks similar to a barcode. Once scanned, it can link you to any content with an URL.  The following links provide some ideas for teachers on how to get started and general classroom use.

Five Reasons I Love Using QR Codes in My Classroom

25 Fun Ways to Use QR Codes for Teaching and Learning

Some other great uses for QR codes:

Literacy

• Book commercials, and reviews
• Read-along audio version of the text
• Author information
• Short videos paired with non-fiction selections
• Student recordings to accompany their work
• Interactive Bulletin Boards
• Virtual tours

Math

• How-to videos
• Self-checking answers
• Interactive quizzes

I encourage you to try using QR codes in your classroom. Not only will this type of technology integration spark interest and motivation but also can create effective and purposeful instructional opportunities.

Students are Producers!

     Discovery Education's Board Builder provides a fantastic opportunity for students to become skilled producers. No longer do students passively consume content, but now, they create, design and order content on a given topic. Students use Discovery Education services to search for videos, images or web links. Then they add appropriate content to their digital board. What makes Board Builder a dynamic resource and tool is the possibility for students to create their own content and add to their board. Essentially anything students can store in their Google Drive accounts can be added to Board Builder. Wow! How exciting for teachers and students! Teachers provide the requirements and structure of the assignment as students determine how to best display their knowledge using these tools. Meanwhile, students are developing critical thinking skills as they consider audience, content and display of each item they add. Still have doubts? Take a look at this link to gather some ideas of how you might use this compelling resource.

50 Ways to Use Board Builder

App smashing

     Have you ever thought about allowing your students to combine multiple apps together to create a presentation? If you have access to iPads, it's easier than ever before with the synthesis of Google Drive and numerous other ways to share through social networks. Anything that can be created and saved to the camera roll can be pulled into iMovie. This provides the opportunity to smash the apps together into a single project or presentation. If you are new to app smashing, then take a look at this video to get an idea of what it's all about.

Introduction to App-smashing

     Need some ideas to get started? Take a look at the link below to see how others are combining apps to create creative and critical thinking opportunities for their students.

Five App Smashing Ideas for Your Classroom

     If you still aren't to sure about app smashing, then I encourage you to combine some apps to create a flipped lesson for your students. I think you will find that app-smashing engages your learners and fosters collaboration, and communication while providing opportunities to develop digital skills! So, what are you waiting for? Consider how app smashing can be used in your teaching and learning today!

Using iPads in the Classroom

     No matter what type of learners you have in your classroom, there is an app for that! These devices can be powerful learning tools to meet learning styles, and instructional differentiation. If you have one iPad, think about how it can be used to make the greatest impact in student learning individually or in pairs. If you have a few iPads, again, thinking about the greatest impact. What types of apptivities can extend your teaching and learning in a small group setting?  

I am regularly asked about finding apps to meet specific purposes. Here are some resources for you your review. I will continue updating these boards as I come across tools that can help you accomplish daily tasks with your students.  

Check out this board, iPads in the Classroom if you are looking for procedures and ways to manage your devices. Click on Teaching with iPads if you are searching for specific apps. Still haven't found the app your looking for? Read Making Art? Getting Healthy? There Are Kids' Apps for That -- and More to see more apps with suggested age range.

While iPads and other devices may have not reached your classroom yet or if you already have a class set, one thing is for sure, they can be effectively used to motivate, engage and enhance your classroom endeavors!

The One iPad Classroom

     What can be accomplished with just one iPad in your classroom?  Lots! Take a look at a few of these apps and decide how you want to begin maximizing the use of your iPad. Here are a few ideas for you to consider!

1. Manage your classroom behavior using Class Dojo, Too Noisy or Stick Pick.

2. Take class pictures of your lessons, activities and assignments. Allow students to use the pictures to create an Animoto Video. Use the Explain Everything app to provide a how-to for students needing extra support.

3. Use it as a document camera or interactive whiteboard to take a virtual field trip using Google Maps or Globe for iPad. 

Your iPad can become one amazing classroom tool for you and your students! Check out these apps! After you begin using one or more of them, your students will be pleading for more!

Top Tech Tools

     Besides Google Apps, what other technology tools might you be using to engage and interact with your students? After reading several articles, I repeatedly came across blogging and Voicethread. 

     For blogging, I suggest Kidblog.org. This site provides a safe and secure way to digitally connect with your students. Do students get excited about blogging...YES! Will they try to use it like a social media...YES! One cool advantage of using Kidblog is that the teacher can approve all comments before they appear on the blog whether the student responds from school or home. When the teacher models how to use the blog, the appropriate use of the tool can be discussed at this time. If a student submits an inappropriate response, the teacher can unapprove or delete the comment so that other students never see it. Pretty awesome, right? So, why go to all the trouble? I have never seen students get so excited about plate tectonic movements, as I did today when they were asked to blog about it. Using this digital format, the teacher was able to get 100% participation. The students were excited, and engaged. Moreover, they were begging to know if their answers were correct! Wow, every teacher's dream! 

     Voicethread is a technology tool that students can use to provide information about a specified topic. This digital tool uses images to guide the conversation. The neat aspect of Voicethread is that students can record or type their responses with each image. As they add responses, icons gather around the image. When a student clicks on play, all the responses associated with the image can be heard. In my opinion, this is one of the easiest tech tools to integrate in your classroom. Again, the student response to this tech tool is phenomenal! Using Voicethread, I am seeing students get excited about literature circles! 

     If you are already using these tech tools, way to go! If not, which one might you consider implementing in your daily teaching and learning? Notice where these two tools are found in the pyramid.

Using Google Apps

     You may be thinking, Okay, I've gone Google, now what? I wanted to share some links with you that may help you decide how Google can be best utilized in your daily learning initiatives. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Powtoon and Simplebooklet are free apps that can be added in Google Drive so your students are safely inside of their own account when accessing these tools. Whether you are using a computer lab or just one computer, Google has features that can foster an optimal learning environment for the teacher and student alike! Take a peek at the first link to find out one way that Google can assist you in scheduling conference times, grading or creating a curriculum standards map.  Then the other links are provided to give you more information about Powtoon and Simplebooklet. 

40 Ways to Start Using Google Apps in Schools

How to create animated presentations. Powtoon-The PowerPoint Alternative

Simple Booklet

    The keys to using technology tools is planning and simplicity! Choose your tool, choose the topic, share the task with your students and give them time to write down their responses so that their time at the computer is efficient. I know that using less paper is one of our goals in the classroom; however, from my own experience, most elementary students submit higher quality work when they arrive at the computer with a written response. Simplicity will ensure that you keep using Google as a regular part of your classroom learning!

Have You Gone Google?

    Have you ever noticed that many classrooms have a hum or some type of noise? You might be wondering what that is all about if you aren't normally in the classroom. However, it's a healthy part of classroom learning and engagement, particularly in small group centers or learning activities. Now I am wondering as I hear their buzz, if they have gone Google! No, this isn't a new phrase for losing your sanity, but an effective way to integrate technology in the classroom using the Drive feature of Google. In Drive, teachers and students can access a variety of tools. Now that apps can also be added, teachers can also have Powtoon and Simplebooklet right at students fingertips! Wow, what a great way to engage students and promote critical thinking skills in daily learning! 

My Summer Goals include Learning

     As I am enjoying summer break, it is providing a great time of reflection and rejuvenation. I am reflecting on how I have taught particular lessons or themes this past year, and of course, and considering how it looked with Common Core as the guiding light, and how I can make it better next year! I am also reading blogs and articles to see what's new. Let's be honest, it's changing so fast that it takes a lot of energy just to try to be in the know, let alone actually implement in the classroom. Any implementation makes a teacher rethink teaching and learning and devise a plan for the journey from start to finish! I have ran across two tools that I would like to actually implement in some way- PowToon and simplebooklet. I will determine which one works best with my teaching style, curriculum and learning goals. I look forward to the discovery of something new to use in the classroom!

Student Technology Showcase

     May 6th is an exciting day for Pinnacle leaders and their students! GCS Board Members and Administrators will have the opportunity to see the direct impact that Pinnacle participation and training has on students. I am so proud to be part of the Pinnacle XVI team! Using technology in the classroom is vital to student success! Take a look at our trifold and you will see why!!