I love technology built by teachers—it’s just different. You can feel the truth and passion behind it. It has features that you know were intentionally considered by someone who has been in the classroom. Short Answer is a fantastic writing tool that was obviously built by teachers solving real problems for real students. The best! With so many tech companies racing to put AI into classrooms in ways that don’t center learners, it’s nice to see companies like Short Answer who are starting with students. (Big congratulations to the Short Answer team, who was just named as a YASS Prize semi-finalist!)
What it is:Short Answer is a k-12 formative assessment and writing instruction tool that capitalizes on the learning potential of adaptive comparative judgment. It makes writing feedback more social, engaging, and effective for students. Watch the video above to see exactly how it works! With Short Answer, teachers can monitor written student responses and lead discussions to create a shared understanding. The tool encourages students to be central to constructing and participating in the learning process through discussion and debate of peer-constructed responses. Every student gets immediate, actional feedback through comments and class discussion. Students become active participators and evaluators of learning by giving feedback to others. I love the way that reflection is built right into Short Classroom…I’m a big believer that the bulk of learning actually happens in the reflection.
How to Use Short Answer in the Classroom: Short Answer makes it easy to get started as a teacher. You can quickly sign up for their Basics package, which is free and includes unlimited question launches and the All-In, Pair-It, and Battle Royale activities. The Basics package has some limits on how many questions can be saved, how many feedback criteria can be added, and there is no open feedback option for students. However, the Basics is the perfect way to dip your toe in and start using Short Answer in your classroom. The other packages are SUPER reasonably priced for what this tool adds to your writing classroom.
Short Answer has done a phenomenal job of creating interactive product walk-throughs to help you start using it effectively with your class immediately (again, clearly designed by a teacher!). There are also phenomenal standards-aligned subject guides to think about how Short Answer might be used in your classroom or a specific area of study. They’ve thought about it’s use in algebra, biology, business, calculus, careers, chemistry, computer science, earth science, economics, English, ethics, FCS, foreign language, geometry, neuroscience, physics, pre-algebra, psychology, SEL, social studies, statistics, trigonometry, US history, world history, and, of course, writing. No matter what subject matter you are teaching, Short Answer can be used to enhance and involve students in more nuanced and impactful writing activities. My favorite use is for inquiry-based learning since that is how we approach all learning at Anastasis. To see Short Answer in an inquiry-based setting, see the video above.
I love how this tool truly puts the learner in the center of the writing classroom by giving them authentic writing tasks, authentic audience and feedback, and competency-based instruction. It is brilliant. I know that a lot of teachers are feeling concerned about the ways that AI is impacting the writing classroom specifically. Short Answer is a tool that encourages authentic writing and feedback, which is made better because of its social aspect.
Tips: Short Answer has an incredible resource library for teachers. Don’t miss the classroom posters, which help promote a healthy culture of feedback between students.
In the last eight years, my posting habits have become pretty sparse, to say the least. Starting and running a school…it’s a lot. It keeps me busy and thoroughly exhausted. I miss it. I miss the cadence of posting regularly and interacting with my education friends virtually. I miss swapping ideas and being thoroughly steeped in what is happening in ed tech.
Not being in the classroom impacts this as well. When I was in the classroom, my posts had an immediate purpose; they were things that I was doing or dreaming of doing, with my students the next day.
As I was considering the best way to jump back into blogging, I couldn’t see going back to the way I’ve posted in the past. It’s not that there was anything wrong with the way I posted, but it isn’t where I am today. It doesn’t feel as natural and genuine. I also am unwilling to retire iLearn Technology all together. For one, I still come back here regularly to find a resource that I used with students to make recommendations to teachers. Secondly, I still have so much to share! It just may look a little different than it has in the past.
For all of my education friends who have been with me since 2007, I can’t tell you how enormously grateful I am for all of you. You have shaped me as an educator and a human more than you could possibly know. For those who have joined somewhere along my journey, I’m grateful for you as well! I hope that you’ll continue to find reasons to come to iLearn Technology.
These days, rather than merely sharing a technology tool that I’ve found useful, I want to do so within a broader context. At Anastasis, we are a school powered by questions. We love the way that questions open opportunities for exploration, discovery, and new connections within learning. Within our inquiry blocks, we use technology as a tool that helps us dive deeper, capture our learning, think critically, and make connections. My intent is to share our learning through the inquiry, introduce you to new (and old) technology tools that have supported our inquiry, and hopefully inspire you to use technology in new ways.
This will likely lead to longer posts that are packed full of ideas and links, the posts won’t be daily as they were for so many years, but (hopefully) they will be rich. I’d love your thoughts and input as I try out this new format! Thank you for sticking with me even as my posts have come to a crawl. 🙂
How We Express Ourselves: Museum in a Box
At Anastasis, every 5-6 weeks, we begin our exploration into a new inquiry block. These blocks begin over the summer when I dream and put together a new lens to view the inquiry block through for our primary, intermediate, and jr. high classes. Not to get too in the weeds about that process, but essentially I’m looking at Next Generation Science standards, Colorado Social Studies Standards, and Common Core as I build each block.
Over the last five weeks, students have been working on a block called: “How We Express Ourselves.” Based on the IB’s PYP, this is “an inquiry into the ways in which we discover and express ideas, feelings, nature, culture, beliefs and values; the ways in which we reflect on, extend, and enjoy our creativity; our appreciation for the aesthetic.” Using this as my base, the lens for our primary students became: Art can help us understand other cultures, histories, celebrations, rituals, and spiritual beliefs.
Students would explore this inquiry prompt through the following questions: What are artifacts? How does art help express and reflect culture? How do cultures express themselves through story? How does art help communicate and reflect the history and technology of the time? How is art used in celebrations? How has this changed throughout history? How do fossils tell us a story of the past? How do artifacts tell an account of the past? How has art been used throughout history to help us understand the values, understanding of the world, and spiritual beliefs? How do archeologists work? How does a museum curator work?
The nature of the inquiry is that each one of these questions grows legs and pretty soon we are delving deep into rich learning and exploration!
We began our inquiry block with a provocation; in this case, we took our students to explore artifacts at the Denver Art Museum. Students also examined artifacts using Google Arts and Culture online. During these trips, the learner’s job was to notice and wonder. What did they notice about the artifacts they were exploring? What did it make them wonder? This led to wonderful classroom discussions and further investigation of archeology and curators.
The primary students continued their exploration with the following some videos about how archeologists work and how museums curate.
I had stumbled across this Museum in a Box site as I was pulling together some resources for teachers, and my first thought was: we should make our own Museum in a Box collections with a central “hub” where the students could share their learning! I immediately showed the teachers this site, convincing them that we could figure out how to re-create the central hub.
We went to the local cigar store to collect some suitable “museum boxes” for each student with an extra box that would become the hub. The students went to work researching artifacts that they would like to create. They used the METKids website as well as the DK find out! site to conduct their research. The METKids was a great place to begin because even our early-readers could conduct research independently with this well-designed site. They learned about basic notetaking and made decisions about which items they would like to include in their own collections. Next, they set to work creating their artifacts out of clay, paper, fabric, paint, and glue. They used their artifacts to measure and develop dividers for their boxes.
Each student made an audio recording with a free app called Voice Recorder (ios) saved as an MP3 file.
Raspberry Pi, RFID reader, Speaker
Museum Box “Hub”
While the students were busy at work, I was too. I wanted to help create a hub so that the students could place their artifact on our main box and have it trigger the kids sound file. To do this, I used a Raspberry Pi, a cheap Target dollar-spot speaker, an RFID reader, and RFID stickers. My Raspberry Pi coding skills are severely limited, but I knew that it was possible to connect an RFID reader to the Raspberry Pi and have it trigger a saved audio file. Internet to the rescue! After a quick search, I found an Instructables with pictures to help me out! Following the directions, I connected the pins from the Pi to the RFID reader and installed a power button and an LED light so that I could see when it was powered on. I deconstructed and connected the cheap speaker. My husband, eager for a reason to use his CNC machine, designed the top of the box so that the speaker could sit inside the box and allow for the sound to come out (the honeycomb design you see in the pictures). To make it extra fancy, he also carved our school logo out of the top of the cigar box.
Teachers sent me the kid’s audio files, and I uploaded the MP3 files as individual folders on the Pi and linked each file to an RFID sticker. When the RFID sticker gets passed over the RFID reader, it plays the associated audio file!
Sample of the audio file.
Now for the most fun: teaching the kids how all of the “guts” work and showing them how the stickers cause their audio files to play! They were suitably impressed by this feat! The kids placed the stickers on the bottom of the corresponding artifact, and we had our very own museums curated with their voice walking each visitor through the collection.
The kids learned so much in this block! The obvious: archeology, curation, artifacts, the technology behind our boxes. The less obvious: research and note-taking, reading with expression, measurement, making decisions about the resources needed to create their own artifacts, reasoning with evidence, building explanations, making interpretations, making connections, observing closely, considering different viewpoints, and a hundred other “soft skills” that occur naturally in the inquiry process.
What it is:GeoGuessr is a fun map-based game where students get virtually “dropped” somewhere in the world, and must explore the landscape around them through Google Street View to determine where in the world they are. When they’ve determined where in the world they are, they click on the world map to make a guess. Students will be shown the actual location they are, as well as how far off they were from the correct location.
How to integrate GeoGuessr into the classroom: GeoGuessr is a fun way to challenge your students to use context clues, think critically, ask questions, and learn geography. It’s also a great way to help them explore the world from your classroom! I think GeoGuessr is best as a small group or class activity where students can work collaboratively to solve the challenge together. Begin by exploring on a projector-connected computer or classroom devices. Ask students what they notice about where they’ve been dropped. What does the landscape look like? What natural features do they notice? What kind of climate would they guess they are in? What do the street signs look like? Do they see any clues that might help them? Next, invite students to ask questions (they don’t need any answers…sometimes the questioning process helps us ask better questions or notice new things!). Narrow down the part of the world students think they are in and make a guess. How close were they (this could lead to a mini-lesson on distance conversions)? GeoGuessr would make a great thinking prompt to start any class with. This exercise could take 10-15 minutes and jump-start your students in critical thinking and problem-solving. It’s a great way to model noticing, inquiry, using context clues, and thinking critically as they solve problems. All skills that are useful for any kind of learning!
GeoGuessr would also make a fun morning pages writing prompt. Students must write a story, poem, descriptive writing, etc. about where they’ve been dropped.
Tips: Want to create your own GeoGuessr challenges? You could create a challenge that reinforces any theme or topic. Sign up for a GeoGuessr Pro account.
What it is: Recently, the good people at SAM Labs sent me an Alpha Kit to play with and review. You guys, this is such a cool product! I love that as soon as students open it up, it puts them in charge of the learning. Best of all, it encourages the learning to happen through playful trial and error. Each SAM Labs Kit comes with clever little blocks that each does something specific (think switches, light sensors, temperature sensors, DC motors, etc.). These little blocks interact with the SAM Labs app and empower students to become the inventors of great ideas. Through these 17 blocks (the Alpha Kit comes with 4 of the 17 blocks), students get a front row learning experience to delve into programming, logic, and analytical skills while they express themselves creatively and become problem solvers. The uses of the blocks are seriously endless, paired with the app they can do anything from composing music, to creating a remote controlled car, to exploring temperature, to auto-tweeting or post to Facebook. You can play with these little blocks all day long and keep coming up with new combinations of things to do with them (in fact, I did!). I’m imagining all of the new directions SAM Labs could take our inquiry blocks this year!
How to integrate SAM Labs into the classroom:SAM Labs boasts itself as a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) tool. And it is. But SAM blocks are so flexible, that I think that they reach beyond these few subjects. When I look at the blocks, I see endless inquiry possibilities. Yes, students will learn programming basics, how motors and light sensors work, how to use logic to build if/then type scenarios. But students will see more possibilities with these open-ended blocks. SAM Labs has a great collection of lesson plans to get you and your students started if you like, but like Legos, I like to see what the students come up with BEFORE they get the prescriptive input from the adults. They will come up with things we wouldn’t have dreamed of and then we can let the iteration begin! Speaking of Legos, the SAM Labs components snap together seamlessly with Legos. I’m telling you, the sky is the limit with these! I adore tools that are flexible for any classroom, capitalize on student ingenuity and imagination, and give students the power to dream big. Using the SAM Labs blocks students can explore light and temperature, compose songs, experiment with resistance and friction, monitor plant life, create “smart” devices, test out properties of matter, begin to understand programming and patterns and learn about circuits.
I think Anastasis students are going to find some pretty unique ways to hack these little blocks into something that hasn’t yet been imagined for an inquiry project or experiment!
Tips: The Alpha Kit that SAM Labs sent me to play with is impressive even with a limited number of bricks. For a classroom setting, I’ll definitely be purchasing more. These will be a hot commodity for student creations…no need to cause unnecessary arguments over whose turn it is to use them! (Top tip: we solve those kinds of arguments with dance-offs!)
Have you played with the SAM Labs blocks? What have your students dreamed up with them?
What it is:Flipgrid is a video discussion platform for your classroom that lets you engage and capture learning in new and awesome ways. It’s simple (and free) to get started, just create a grid and add a topic to spark some discussion. Students can respond with short video responses using any browser, Chromebook, iPad, tablet, or mobile device. All the students can view the videos and engage. You can moderate videos, provide custom feedback, and set the privacy rules. The free version of Flipgrid lets you create one grid (this is your classroom or community), unlimited student videos (up to 90seconds), simple individual student feedback, and private video sharing with families.
You are the Flipgrid Topic Designer (your students could be as well!). Embed YouTube or Vimeo videos, upload images for your students to discuss, feature a file or a weblink.
How to integrate Flipgrid into your classroom:Flipgrid is a great way to get your students reflecting on learning, collaborating, and providing peer feedback. Students can create and share a book talk or chapter reflection, discuss current events, delve into a topic, engage in an online Socratic seminar around a given topic, collaborate, verbalize their learning process, etc. Flipgrid works in any classroom, with any age student, and within any subject. The sky (and your collective imaginations) are really the limit!
Flipgrid is a fantastic add to the language arts classroom where students can: share a word of the week, complete a video chapter summary, create a character monologue, explore themes and ideas in a text, complete a book review/book talk, ask questions of the author, come up with alternative endings, make text predictions, dramatic readings, practice reading fluency/voice/tone/inflection, reflect or wonder during reading, make connections to other learning, explore metaphor, practice and reflect on presentation skills, collaborative Flipgridding with another classroom, explore perspective, or conduct interviews.
In the math classroom students can: talk through their process or problem solving approach, share examples of found math in context, number talks, weekly math challenges, find the mistake responses, student created math tutorials of new concepts they are learning, stump the class challenges, demonstrations with manipulatives, solving or creating their own “what doesn’t belong” challenges, or solutions to math challenges with multiple outcomes.
In the science classroom, students can: share each step of an experiment through the scientific method with each step being a new video, document dissection, reflect on failures, show the process of building or designing, make predictions, document process, demonstrate, post wonderings, or class challenges.
In the history/social studies classroom students can: do living history exercises where they take on the persona of a historical character, reflect on an era or connective topic like: “what are contributing factors to revolutions,” conduct interviews, explore perspectives, reflect on and discuss current events, create a video timeline of events, connect past events to current events, explore historical trends, connect with other classrooms from around the world, explore place and environment, teach classmates about a historical theme that they geek out on, explore social justice issues, or give a voice to those who historically haven’t had one.
Flipgrid makes for an excellent addition to the portfolio. I love the way it encourages collective intelligence and highlights the social nature of learning. Flipgrid is also a great way to build a growth mindset and self-assessment. As students complete any project or assignment, they could add their reflection on the learning as well as where they think they are currently in their learning journey (we use the progression of Novice, Apprentice, Practitioner, Scholar, Change Maker).
At the end of every year at Anastasis, we host an event we call “Storyline.” Flipgrid would be an excellent addition to that end of year celebration and review of the year. Students could use Flipgrid to document learning progress throughout the year and use it as a way to review their growth.
Tips: Flipgrid integrates seamlessly with other education products you are already using including WordPress, Canvas, Teams, Google Classroom, One Note, Edmodo, Schoolology, Blackboard, Sway, Brightspace, and Power school. The paid versions include tons of added features and are worth exploring more if you find yourself using Flipgrid regularly.
What it is:Magik Play sent me a Starter Kit to review, and boy am I glad they did! The Magik Play is a beautiful blend of digital and physical. Students download an app on their iPad and use wooden blocks that interact with the iPad screen to build structures that interact with the illustrations on the app. Students get different puzzle challenges on the screen. They build with the “magic” blocks to match the puzzle and help the characters on screen with their buildings. The puzzles get increasingly difficult to complete throughout the game. Magik Play is recommended for 2-6years old, but I think it is more appropriate for 3-7 years old. I had my nephew (2yrs) try out Magik Play and while he enjoyed it, some of the puzzle challenges required two hands to build the structure. He also struggled to keep the blocks far enough away when he wasn’t building so that they didn’t interact with the iPad and mess up the “magic.” I think in another year, this wouldn’t be a problem for him.
I have seen a lot of companies try to mix physical and digital play, but had yet to see anyone do it really well. Magik Play has definitely found the sweet spot! It is seriously so cool. I opened this set up and immediately started playing myself. I couldn’t stop, I played EVERY level on every app! I love the way that the app involves students in a story where they are helping the main character do things by building structures. When the structure is successfully built, the character interacts with the structure to complete a task. Magik Play is like the most fun kind of puzzle! There are three apps that come with the Magik Play blocks: Hidden Shape, Dino Blocks, and Runaway. Hidden Shape is a great introduction for kids to use the Magik Play Blocks, Dino Blocks and Runaway get increasingly complex puzzles and building.
How to integrate Magik Play into the classroom:Magik Play is a great addition to the primary aged classroom. Not only does it promote problem solving, pattern recognition, and some engineering thinking, it also develops fine motor skills. In the classroom Magik Play would make a great math center. Regular play would increase pattern recognition, problem solving, and fine motor skills. Students could also work in small groups of 3-4 and take turns completing every other puzzle challenge. For very young students partners would be great so they can help balance the blocks of some of the more complex puzzles.
As an extension activity, students could write a story about the characters in the Magik Play apps. Who are they? Why are they trying to escape? What happens next? This could be a fun journaling or free write activity to think through character development, setting, and conflict/resolution.
Tips: The Magik Play starter set would make an excellent gift ($57.99) to your classroom, or gift to the 3-7 year olds in your life. My nephew loves his set!
What it is:Check 123 is a new video encyclopedia site for kids. All videos are validated and ranked by Check123 professionals, are 1-3 minutes in length, and a curated on just about any subject you can think of. Broad topics covered on Check123 include: history, sports, politics, food, performing arts, economics, earth, nature, tech, philosophy, music, cars, pets, human body, arts, geography, religion, psychology, TV, gaming, science, literature, fashion, media, and space.
How to integrate Check 123 into your classroom: Check123 is a great place for students to begin their research. These videos are between 1 and 3 minutes each, keeping students engaged in a topic and giving them bite-size information. I like that the videos are so well curated, it keeps search results on topic rather than the endless dig for quality content that can happen in a YouTube search. Check123 videos are also wonderful as provocations for further inquiry. The short format gives students just enough information to whet their appetites and encourage additional questioning. Check123 is a great one to keep bookmarked on classroom and library computers for quick reference.
Video is the preferred learning method of 90% of our students at Anastasis, when they do a search, they usually begin on a video site. With Check123, they are sure to get some quality results back to kick start their learning and research.
What it is:Get Qurious is a company who’s goal is to keep kids curious, creative, and expressive by combining technology and play. The Get Qurious Maker Box is packed full of interactive play opportunities. In this box, the story of the Three Little Pigs comes to life in ways like never before with interactive games, puzzles, and activities that encourage creativity and discovery. Students can scan physical play pieces with the Get Qurious app and the play pieces come magically to life. In the box students will find story cards, masks, a puzzle, and a sticker book. Each piece comes to life when scanned in the app. The story cards help students sequence the story, and bring the story of the 3 Little Pigs into animated life. When students put on the masks, they become part of the story through augmented reality, students can tap the microphone button to record themselves as they re-inact the story. The puzzle building activity lets students build their own house. The pieces of the puzzle can be scanned to bring the house to life in 3D. The reusable stickers in the sticker book let kids create their own version of the Three Little Pigs.
How to integrate Get Qurious Maker Box into the classroom: The Get Qurious set brings the story of the Three Little Pigs alive in new and fun ways. I particularly like the way students are encouraged to think about story sequence, how they can remix the story to highlight a different point of view and characters, and the way they can become part of the story. This set is a wonderful way to bring the joy of reading to life. Students can interact with the familiar story as a center activity, or as a take-home kit. If you teach in the primary classroom, Get Qurious could be a great kit to send home with students throughout the year. A lot of times, parents may not have time to, or simply don’t, read with their children at home. The Get Qurious kit is engaging enough that you won’t have to “convince” your students to go home and read. The kit encourages exploration and discovery and combined with the app, leads students through the familiar story in new ways. For your struggling or reluctant readers, the Get Qurious app really shines because it offers immediate reading support as they scan story cards in the app. Students can record their reaction to the story, or expand on the story to tell it from a different point of view. They can also practice re-mixing the story using the re-usable sticker book and app.
Tips:
While I love the intent behind Get Qurious, a few cautions: 1) It is called the Get Qurious Maker Box. The name is a bit of a misnomer, it definitely isn’t what you think of when you think of the Maker Movement. While it does blend technology and play, I wouldn’t call it a Maker Box. If you are looking for resources for your Maker Space, this isn’t it. This kit is better billed as a blended learning play kit. 2) The recommended ages are 4-9 years old. I think it appeals more to the 3-7 age range. This is best for prek through second grade classes.
Get 20% off your purchase by signing up for the Get Qurious newsletter!
Get Qurious was generous enough to send me a kit to explore for this blog post. Thanks Get Qurious!
What it is:Grmr.me is a great site for middle school and high school English teachers (and anyone else who edits student writing). This site was built by, and for, English teachers to help students learn how to fix the most common grammar and punctuation errors found in writing. Topics include: Pronoun disagreement, subject verb agreement, pronouns with compound word groups, commas and clauses, comma splices, direct address, usage of words, passive voice, literary present tense, iambic pentameter, and dramatic irony. It’s like having @michellek107 in your pocket! 🙂 For each topic, there is a short video explanation of the problem and how to fix it.
How to use Grmr.me in your classroom: I would have so appreciated this site when I was a student! (Let’s be honest, I still appreciate this help.) I’ve always loved writing, but would often get feedback about comma splices or run on sentences. This feedback was less than helpful because while it identified a problem with my writing, it didn’t help me understand how to fix it. With Grmr.me, you can not only help your students see the problem in their writing, you can offer a quick link of immediate support. Grmr.me empowers students to take your edit notes and understand where the problem is and how to fix it. Rather than just writing “comma splice” on student writing, add grmr.me/csp/ in the margin. Now those edit notes make sense, and give students the instruction to re-write with confidence that they understand where and what the error is.
Tips: Points to anyone who comments with links to the videos I should have consulted when writing this post!
What it is:Literature Map is a literature recommendation system. It is really easy to discover a new author. Start by searching for an author you enjoy, and magically a map of names will appear based on what other readers of that author have read. The closer that two writers are on the map, the more likely it is that you will like both of them. Click on any name on the map to travel further and find more recommendations.
How to integrate Literature Map into the classroom: It’s a common problem, a student falls in LOVE with an author and devours everything the author has ever written. Then they come to the end of their journey and a sort of sadness hangs over them, there is nothing more. Enter Literature Map. Students can easily enter the name of the beloved author and discover others they are sure to love, leading them down a rabbit trail of reading utopia! Students can discover new voices, genres, and keep the love of reading alive. Literature Map is a great site to bookmark on classroom computers, in the library, or on student devices.
If your students do an author study, this site could be useful for helping them find related authors and then using Wolfram Alpha to compare the authors they find side by side.
Tips: Hat tip to @michellek107 for sharing this with Anastasis staff this week!
