Using Google Maps to Virtually Visit and Tour Colleges

Today is college/career t-shirt day in the district! We took advantage of this day to start discussing colleges and careers. We used Google Maps to virtually visit and tour colleges! I loved hearing conversations about which schools students were visiting and what careers they were thinking of. Some students had to utilize Google Search in order to find a college that fit the career they were thinking of. I even noticed one student writing a list of colleges where he could major in mechanical engineering! He wanted to take it home to do more research. Two students asked to come in at recess so they could further explore Berklee School of Music in Boston. A future firefighter spent time exploring the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy.

We just love Kahoot!

We love using Kahoot to review for tests and quizzes! Today we reviewed for our state and capital quiz this afternoon. The best part about this was I didn't have to make up the review! I found some great Kahoots in the public section of the website. With little to no prep I was able to find an engaging and interactive way to review states and capitals. My students can't get enough!

http://getkahoot.com - This is where you create or locate review games/exit tickets

http://kahoot.it - This is where students need to go to join a game

For older students (grades 6 -12) students could create a class review game based on content they are learning!

Waiting For the Next Question! 

Ready and Focused

View of Student Device

Question

Infographics To Support Our Persuasive Writing

I was so excited for a group of students to experiment with creating infographics. I began by showing the students an example of an infographic and explaining the purpose. Students wanted to collect some data from their peers at Kittredge. I showed students how to create a Google Form to survey their peers. I gave a quick lesson in Google Drawing and set students off to create their infographic. These were done with very little support from me! For a first attempt I'm very impressed.

I did spend some time talking with students about searching for images that were not copyrighted and free to use. We used Creative Commons as well as Google Images. When using Google Images, the students used the search tools to search for images that were labeled for reuse. These images are free to use without worrying about copyright and fair use.

Getting Started With Twitter

I just finished leading a quick overview of Twitter with the staff at Kittredge. We are headed off to NYC on Saturday for the 90th TCRWP reunion! I thought this would be a great time for staff to dive into using Twitter professionally. Twitter is a great resource for educators! Here is a copy of the guide I made for staff members. If you are new to Twitter this is a great resource to get you started!

Getting Started With Twitter 

Using QR codes to Improve Fluency and Support Struggling Readers

I love collaborating with other classrooms in our school. Being such a small school our classes don't have as many opportunities to collaborate with classmates their age so I love when they have the opportunity to buddy up with another class!

Our first grade teacher, Gisel, and I always talk about finding ways to have our classes work together so I was thrilled when she was so excited about my QR code idea. It was even more exciting when I found out this supports the last bend in her reading unit.

I started by identifying my readers who struggle with fluency. Next I grabbed some books from the 1st grade classroom that are around the levels of J, k, L, M. Using AudioBoom, my students will record themselves reading these books. We will then create a QR code using QR Code Reader. After I print the QR code, we will tape it to the inside cover of the book. Now the 1st graders can hear their "star" reader or "just right" book read to them! This is a great project to work on during those times when most of your class is in band or chorus!

After we have completed about 20 - 30 books, my class will buddy up with the 1st grade and help them record themselves reading their "just right" books. Their recording will be turned into a QR code and taped to the inside cover of the book. QR codes can also be sent home so parents can hear their child reading their "just right" book.

How great would it be if we could add audio to all the "star" readers in Kindergarten and 1st grade!!

Taking This Idea To The Next Level
Students could record a summary/recommendation of their chapter book, create a QR code and then tape it to the inside cover/back cover of books in the classroom library/school library. Students who may be interested in reading a certain book can listen to classmates' summaries or recommendations before choosing a book.

Students can create a book trailer in iMovie, create a QR code and tape it to the cover. We all watch a video trailers before seeing a movie, why not watch a book trailer before reading a book? Check back in June to see some examples of this!

I will post pictures and examples as we work through this project. Check back to find out if it went smoothly or if we had some hiccups!

Implementing Co-teaching Tools

Last Friday we had a chance to learn about co-teaching with our colleagues. As we learned of different tools to use during our lessons, I couldn't help but think of technology tools that would serve the same purpose. Here are my thoughts..

Blanket The Table/Pass The Plate - Padlet would be a perfect tool to use with these two activities. It would minimize the use of paper and allow students the chance to respond to a question/prompt digitally. Padlets can be saved, downloaded, uploaded and/or printed. If you have a classroom website, the padlet could be posted and students can use it as reference or study tool.

Jessica and Pattie also talked about Wordle. See my posted on Wordle here.

Speak/Add (Charting) - Have you considered taking a picture of the anchor charts you create and posting them on your website? Students would be able to access those charts in class and at home. I know we all save our "best charts" or "most useful" charts and hang them in our rooms. I don't know about you but I don't have nearly enough room! Adding them to your website creates an invaluable resource for your students. If you don't have a class website, I really encourage you to create one! It's a great way for students to connect to your class from home. Blogger is a really easy, user friendly Google App that I use for my websites.

What ideas do you have for making these co-teaching tools digital? Please share, I'd love to hear them!

Google Classroom

I am absolutely LOVING Google Classroom! I can't believe it took me so long to use it with my students. Google Classroom is a platform that allows you to create and distribute assignments. Its goal is to help schools become paperless. It really supports a blended learning/flipped classroom approach.  Google Classroom also allows you to grade assignments and then send those grades to a Google sheet. In Google Classroom you have the choice of posting an assignment where you can link to a Google Doc, Sheet, Slide or Form, a YouTube video or a website. You can upload PDFs or other resources you would like to share. Google Classroom allows you to upload a Google Doc and "make a copy for each student" so each students can complete their own document without ruining the original. You also have the choice to post a discussion question or class announcement. Honestly Google Classroom is SO easy to use! It has streamlined my instruction and allowed my students to take more control of their learning.

If you are on Twitter follow Alice Keeler (@alicekeeler).  She shares so many resources about Google Classroom and other Google Apps For Education (GAFE). She has also published a book, 50 Things You Can Do With Google Classroom. Here is a post from her blog about ways to use Google Classroom.

Here is a screen shot of my Google Classroom Stream.