classroom management – iLearn Technology

First Day of School: Anastasis Academy #standagain

August 22, 2011Kelly Tenkely14 Comments3604 views

Today was one for the books. We did it! We opened a school with a radical new vision for what a school should look like in light of learning. It was a truly great day!

Of course there were some bumps (that is to be expected with ANY first day of school) but I have to say, when you surround yourself with incredible people it is hard to go wrong. When I say that we built a dream team it is not an exaggeration. These are true teachers, masters at what they do because each of them is a linchpin. They don’t wait around for someone to tell them what to do, they exude greatness and encourage the same in their students.

We started our day the way we will start every day at Anastasis Academy, with a community mile walk. We call this a community walk because families are invited to do it with us. Every family joined us today. I know that won’t be the case every day but it was an incredible start to the year to see a whole community walk together.

After the walk, the community gathered for a blessing for the year from our Board Members. These are people who have poured into us and mentored us in so many ways. We couldn’t be where we are without our board and the people it represents.

Today there were discussions about community, what it means to properly manage freedom and how to be a friend. The children are incredibly perceptive and these discussions led to some pretty profound insights from the students. One fourth grader noted “Freedom requires a lot of responsibility.” Students seemed to grasp that freedom doesn’t mean that we get to do whatever we want when we want to. It requires something of us. There were discussions about what this freedom looks like within our school community, what this freedom looks like in learning and what this freedom looks like in our technology use with the iPads.

The iPads are still a novelty for many of the students. They wanted to do EVERYTHING on the iPads all at once because they could. “Let’s play a game, listen to music, and have a video going all at once!!” I suspect that the novelty will wear off as students come to realize that the iPad isn’t just a once-in-a-while privileged but something that they can learn with all the time. One of my favorite moments of the day was when some eighth grade boys came up from lunch having an argument about which was bigger: a liter or a gallon. Their first instinct wasn’t to use their iPads and Google the answer, but to ask an adult. They are still in the mindset that adults hold all of the knowledge of the world. It was a great time for us to shrug our shoulders and remind them that they had the whole world at their fingertips and could discover the answer themselves.

We had some fun whole-school activities built into the day. Before school each teacher wrote 10 things about themselves. Each item was printed out on a separate piece of paper. These were spread out on the floor and students were to choose an item and match it to the teacher they thought it belonged to. Each teacher stood in a different corner and the students set off trying to match talents, passions and fears to the correct teacher. After they had correctly placed all of the items, each teacher took a moment to go through their stack, introducing themselves to the students. The kids asked great follow-up questions and were excited that many of their own passions, interests and fears were reflected in those leading them in learning this year. It was so much fun to see students faces light up when teachers said things like “I love Star Wars” or “I love to play basketball”. They begged for proof when we shared secret talents “touching our tongue to our nose”. They shared a special bond when they found out that even adults have fears. (Mine is taxidermy-true story.)

Because we are in a brand new building, we had to come up with a way of helping kids find things like bathrooms, drinking fountains, classrooms, playgrounds, lunchroom, etc. I thought a scavenger hunt would be a fun way to do this. Since I am a HUGE geek, I decided to do this techy style with QR codes. Each team (classroom) got 10 QR codes that led them to clues with each student in charge of one clue. Students downloaded the free Scan app and scanned the QR codes to receive a clue. As a team, they worked together to solve the clue to find different areas in the building. When they solved the clue they took a picture of the answer using the camera app. At the end of the hunt, students added up their points. All ages had fun with the hunt!

I deemed the day a success when, at the end of the day, I overheard siblings use their iPad to FaceTime with their dad. He asked how the first day was and both answered, “great! We had fun!”. The first grader went on to enthusiastically tell her dad about the scavenger hunt that she went on and the pictures that she took. The seventh grader added some additional details about how the QR codes worked. Both talked about relationships with teachers and students. To have that on the first day of a new school is telling. We have a great team.

Passwords may have been missing, permissions needed to be configured but all in all it was a fantastic success! I can’t wait to see what the year brings.

Onward.

PlanbookEdu: Lesson Plans in the Cloud

July 6, 2011Kelly Tenkely8 Comments4733 views

What it is: Planbook EDU is a great cloud-based (a.k.a online) lesson plan book. Because Planbook EDU is hosted in the cloud, all you need is an Internet connection, your plans travel with you. Planbook EDU is listed in the Google Apps Marketplace and is a natural fit for schools already using Google apps for education (email, calendar, documents, etc.). The free version of Planbook EDU has nothing to install, let’s teachers access their planbook from any internet connection, is easy to use with word processor like editing, is fully customizable, works in all major web browser and is iPad/iPhone supported (word processor editing doesn’t work on these devices).

How to integrate Planbook EDU into the classroom: I am a big fan of organizational tools, they let me organize my thoughts so that in the fire hose of ideas what is important (the learning goal) doesn’t get lost. Planbook EDU is a simple way to organize and plan units and your school year. I love that it is cloud-based so that I can access my plans from anywhere and any time. The basic features are robust enough to get your planning in place and the extras that can be added on make it VERY useful.

The premium version allows you to embed your planbook directly in your classroom website…very handy for keeping students and parents up to date with what is coming!

Tips: For $25/year, you get all of the free features plus- attach files to lesson plans, assign Common Core Standards, embed your planbook on any website, share lesson plans with anyone, print from your browser, export to Microsoft Word or PDF, built-in spell check and enjoy access to unlimited planbooks each school year. EVERY user gets a free 14 day trial of all the premium options from Planbook EDU.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using PlanbookEDU in your classroom!

19 Pencils

June 3, 2011Kelly Tenkely6 Comments4322 views

What it is: 19 Pencils is a beta site that provides teachers with a place to share websites, quizzes and video from one central, customizable location. From 19 Pencils you can discover, organize, manage and share content with your students for learning. 19 Pencils is very easy to use and makes it fast to share collections of online material with students. Collect and share websites, create and use ready-made quizzes and track student progress on that online content. Teachers can share one link and students can access all online content for the classroom from one location.

How to integrate 19 Pencils into the classroom:19 Pencils makes it easy for teachers to collect and share resources with their students online. Clear out all of those sticky notes and the bookmark bar crammed full of web addresses (or am I the only one that does that?) and compile them all in one place that is easy for everyone to access. Add websites (complete with preview picture), teacher-created quizzes and video to your 19 Pencils classroom space. Students can easily access all classroom materials from one URL on classroom computers, in the computer lab or at home. This is a fantastically easy site to use! Even the technology novice can put together a collection for students quickly. Create 19 Pencils collections for units of learning, subjects or just as a collection of learning site recommendations for students.

I am a big fan of the site visual previews, this is SO helpful for young students who are just emerging as readers. No matter what age group you are working with, more learning is possible when students aren’t spending times typing in long urls. 19 Pencils also makes it easy to share with your colleagues!

Tips: Want to create a comprehensive website for your classroom? Check out Weebly, Wix or Bloust!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using 19 Pencils in your classroom!

Class Blogs: Blogging, virtual classroom, LMS, and more!

March 28, 2011Kelly Tenkely6 Comments3704 views

What it is: Class Blogs is a fabulous new way for you to easily create and manage FREE classroom blogs! What makes Class Blogs so wonderful are all the extras that are built in. For example, with Class Blogs you can create a virtual classroom space. With just a few simple steps, you can create an online meeting space for your students to learn and discuss in. Blogs can be used to post assignments; when you post an assignment to your teacher blog, students can submit the assignment and a pingback will be sent to your blog. Class Blogs even has features that utilize SMS so that you can send a text message to students and the ability to host lesson plans complete with supporting resources! Class blogs really offers more than just a blogging platform, it offers many Learning Management System (LMS) solutions making it a great all-in-one tool! Here are just a few of the ways you can use Class Blogs:

Class Blogs – Teachers and students can create blogs to help facilitate classroom learning or the blog can be an extension of the classroom conversation.

Learning Logs – Learning logs are sites created by teachers for the purpose of creating online assignments for students. Students can then answer the questions and submit the assignments once they are completed.

Learning Management System (LMS) – Teachers can create a blog and use it as a learning management system. Teachers can post online courses and students can submit their assignments (through blog posts) for the course online as well. These assignments can be viewed by the instructor, the instructor can submit feedback, and the instructor can grade the student’s assignment online. Both the teacher and his/her students must have blogs in order to create a successful LMS.

Electronic Portfolio (E-Portfolio) – An e-portfolio is a valuable learning and assessment tool which includes but is not limited to a collection of resources and accomplishments that represent the individual. Moreover, it is the author’s personal reflection on the work included in the e-portfolio that creates a meaningful learning experience.

Web Conferencing/Virtual Classroom – Teachers/professors have the ability to create meeting rooms or virtual classrooms from the backend of their site. You can upload your presentations, chat with students, public/private chat, webcam, and even share your desktop.

How to integrate Class Blogs into the classroom: Class Blogs has features that make it wonderfully useful for any classroom. Blogging gives your students a place to write where they have an authentic audience. An audience of one (the teacher) is SO 1995. To limit your students to that audience is a disservice. I find that when my students write in blog form, the enthusiasm to write increases, the richness of language increases, and the ideas are communicated clearly. Obviously that is a bit of a generalization, I have also had students who don’t want to post for an audience, it makes them nervous to reveal themselves to their classmates in that way. I let those students blog about topics they are “experts” on as they are building confidence in their learning process. Students can blog to reflect on learning; write creatively; write as if they were a historical character, famous inventor, or a favorite literary figure; to chronicle learning (e-portfolio style); or to invite others on a journey of inquiry with them.

Using this type of social media in the classroom is important. It helps students learn digital citizenship, Internet safety, and netiquette in an authentic environment that goes beyond the rules and actually lets them practice it.

The additional features of Class Blog make it the perfect place to organize your classroom. Post assignments in Class Blogs as a learning log, as students respond, your original post will get a pingback making it easy to track students progress. Class Blog also makes it easy to extend learning beyond the four walls of your classroom using the virtual classroom features. Create meeting rooms to extend classroom discussions, offer additional learning support, or as a place to prepare students for learning. Class Blogs makes it easy to include podcasts, videos, webcams, private chat areas, desktop sharing in your virtual classroom.

Tips: Class Blogs does not have an age requirement, this means that it is available to k-12 (and beyond) education. Registration does require an email address. If your students do not have email addresses, you can create accounts on their behalf. With Class Blogs you can create unlimited class and student blogs, unlimited free classes/courses, and unlimited free virtual classrooms. Be sure to check out the feature page for a comprehensive list of the awesome features on Class Blogs, you won’t believe what all is included!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using the Class Blogs in your classroom!

How to make a 2 computer classroom work for you: tech integration and classroom management

January 24, 2011February 10, 2012Kelly Tenkely12 Comments16787 views

I often get asked how I managed to integrate technology into my classroom before I was a technology teacher teaching computer classes in a lab (with every child on a computer). I must preface this post with: I am not an expert. I taught second grade for one year and had two computers in my classroom and no computer lab for the school. I used what I had and found a system that worked for me. With that in mind here is how I made my 2 computer classroom work:

My goal as a teacher is to individualize instruction whenever possible. I am very aware that each of my students comes with different strengths and weaknesses, learns differently, at different rates, and with different interests. I remember looking at the curriculum I was provided with by the school and feeling a distinct disappointment in it. I knew as I read through the lessons each week that some of my students just weren’t going to get it. I knew that some of them would love the subject if it was approached in a different way. I knew that some would just need it at a different pace. With this in mind, a few weeks into my first year, I decided to structure my class around centers.

My problem: space was an issue. With 26 seven and eight year olds, supplies, and 26 desks, there was little room left for individual center areas. Since I couldn’t have my students physically moving around from center to center, I decided that I would create a system where the centers came to them. With 26 students and five days in a week, I split my students into five groups for each subject. These groups were created by grouping students by similar ability levels. Throughout the day the groupings would change (I used colors because it made sense to me). For example: one student might be in the blue group for language arts/reading, red group for math, and green group for science. I saw every single one of my students in their small group of 5 in what I would call my “conference” center for every subject, every week.

At the beginning of every week I would introduce the whole class to the concepts we would be learning over the course of the week. I introduced students to their “tubs” (colored plastic tubs that were full of necessary supplies for each center) and we discussed the “big ideas” of the week. I had 4 tubs (and my conference center) so that each day my student groups were working on a different task but by the end of the week all of my students had completed the learning for the week. My desks were grouped into 5 clumps in the room. Because the groupings changed, a group of desks didn’t necessarily equate to all of the group member sitting at the work space. For each subject we usually started class as a whole group, we would play a game as a class, watch a video clip, do an experiment, or learning something new together. After the initial introduction, I had a leader from each table pick up that table’s tub for the day. I met with the fifth group in my conference center where I could work with students in a 5 to 1 grouping. If you aren’t doing something like this, I HIGHLY recommend it. Meeting with my students in smaller groups several times throughout the week gave me huge insights into my students and made me a better teacher.

Tubs had a variety of activities and prompts in them. All activities were designed for self-guided learning and flexibility. I had a rule that unless someone was barfing or bleeding (the 2 b’s…if you’re in elementary you know what I am talking about) they were not allowed to disturb my conference group. This cut down on the distractions and let students know it was okay to make mistakes in their learning. One of my “tubs” always held instructions for a computer center. With two computers and 5 students, this meant I could find activities that were short enough for each student to successfully complete them in the time they had, or I could find activities that they could complete together. For skill building games and activities, students usually held a mini relay race. The first student would complete a level or set number of problems and pass play to the next student. This worked really well and kept students from getting too out of control because the wait time was minimal and they were “silent cheering” the other students on. (I had “Go Team” signs that they could hold up next to each computer so they could cheer without disturbing anyone else). For activities that needed to be completed by each individual student, I added a secondary game or activity to the tub that could be completed while students waited. For example, if it was a skill building game or activity, I had students who weren’t at the computer play a file folder game together while they waited for their turn within their small group.

For writing activities or activities where students were going to use the computer to create something, I made another tub activity that would prepare them for their computer time. For example, if they were going to create an animation on something like The Zimmer Twins, I would use another tub for them where they would prepare by writing a script and planning the storyboard. Because of the way the tubs rotate, it was easy to ensure that every student had done the prep activity before the computer center.

My other tubs had a variety of activities in them, each one of them was flexible in the way it worked. Students might perform an experiment and write/draw/discuss as a group, practice their spelling words in a way that made sense to them, play a math game, write, etc. For each subject I had a standard tub where the activity didn’t really change from week to week. For example, language arts had a spelling practice tub every single week. Math had a fact practice tub every week. In the standard tubs I included a Tic-Tac-Toe activity board where students could choose which activity they would complete to practice. This let students practice basic skills in a way that was fun and made sense to them.

At the end of every day, I would re-fill each tub with the necessary resources and supplies so that it was ready for the next day. On Friday afternoon I would fill all of the tubs up for the following week. At the beginning of the year the tubs were extremely time-consuming to keep up with. I got smart second semester and enlisted my students in helping me create the tubs for the following week on Friday afternoons. (duh!) By the end of the year it was part of our routine and didn’t require so much prep on my part.

Because I was working with second graders, I knew that not all of my students would be able to read directions for the tub or remember the directions from the beginning of the week. For detailed tubs, I included a tape recorder (iPod, what was that?) with recorded audio instructions for the tub. This helped tremendously when their were multiple steps involved. Students knew where they could help themselves to extra supplies like paper, crayons, books, scissors, dictionaries, etc.

On Friday I spent some time at the end of the day to meet with each group so they could show me their mini portfolio of learning for the week. This gave me a chance to do some formative assessment and plan any adjustments that were needed for the following week.

I didn’t have the luxury of a projector that first year of teaching. If I had a projector, it would have opened up the learning opportunities greatly! I am a big believer in playing to learn and technology lends itself so nicely to both. When I help teachers integrate technology into their lessons I often recommend creating a game where a game wasn’t meant to be played. For example, when we were studying paleontology and dinosaurs, my students and I went on a virtual dinosaur dig. I found a great virtual dig that we could do as a class. We pretended to get in our jeeps and travel to the dig site. Each student received a “special” paleontologist journal where they could record observations. Students took turns coming to the board during the dig and helping unearth the dinosaur. The other students sketched what they saw and took careful notes so the dinosaur could be reassembled later. This was a grand adventure for my students that made for a fun day (digging M&M’s out of cookies didn’t hurt either.) I look for opportunities to play with my students whenever possible. Even older students love this (anyone want to solve a forensic case as a class?). Play and learning are closely connected. I am always looking for ways to make learning fun and engaging whether we are limited to a class of 26 and one projector, or 26 students and 2 computers. You can do it!

Using the tub system meant that I got to spend a lot of time with my students. That conference time was so valuable. It let me meet all of my students exactly where they were at and provided the opportunity to work with them on a more individual basis. As I said before, if you don’t have something like this in place, I highly recommend it!

After I developed my Bloom’s re-imagines, I started including them in the tubs. As part of the tub work, students could talk about the learning they were doing and what categories it fell into in Bloom’s Taxonomy. Back then my Bloom’s wasn’t as fancy as it is today, it was hand drawn and copied 🙂 My how times have changed! I find that students learning is even richer when they are thinking about their learning. Bloom’s Taxonomy gives students a nice framework to do this in.

How about you all? What technology resources do you have available to you and how do you utilize them?

Can Do Street: Hector’s Being Selfish

July 22, 2010Kelly Tenkely2 Comments3293 views

What it is: Can Do Street is a website that has games, lessons, and videos focused on character development for young students. The site is membership based but does have some free content. Hector’s Being Selfish is a free video on the site that teaches students what it means to be selfish. The cartoon is easy to understand and helps kids recognize selfishness and what it means to be a good friend. Throughout the video, students are given the chance to interact by answering questions.

How to integrate Hector’s Being Selfish into the classroom: Selfishness is one of those characteristics that young kids find difficult to understand. It is hard to separate wants from being a good friend and expressing empathy! This videos helps children recognize selfishness and offers ways that they can be a good friend. Character education needs to be taught, we can’t expect that all children will naturally pick it up. Kids come from different backgrounds and differing expectations at home. Hector’s Being Selfish is a good video to begin the school year with, and would be a great reminder mid-year. Watch the video as a whole class and invite students to vote on their answers throughout the video.

Tips: Each section of the Can Do Street website has a preview so you can get a feel for the types of activities they offer. If you decide on a membership, plans are very affordable from $4.95/month to $24.95 for the year.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Hector’s Being Selfish in your classroom.

Whiz Kids

July 8, 2010Kelly Tenkely5 Comments3979 views

What it is: Whiz Kids is a new site developed for autistic children. It was designed to give these kids a fun place to develop life skills. All of the games and videos have high production values, making them engaging and impressive, they feel as though you have stepped into a Pixar movie. Through this one portal, you get 16 interactive and therapeutic games. The games help kids develop essential life skills like empathy, recognizing emotion, making decisions, coping with change, transactions, non-verbal gestures, grouping, schedules, finding a route, and making eye contact. Although these games were specifically developed for children with autism, they are wonderful for primary elementary students and ELL students as well.

How to integrate Whiz Kids into the classroom: Whiz Kids has an incredible back story, the site was created by more 80 students 8 lecturers and 10 autism specialists, the project represents more than 16,000 hours of research and development. The games are tailored to fit the needs of autistic children. If you teach autistic children, these games will help them develop important life skills that will aid them when interacting with classmates. The games would be great for classroom computers as a center activity. Help other students in your classroom understand how they can help the autistic children in the classroom by having them play the Whiz Kids games as well. This will give your students a shared vocabulary and experience to draw on when they are working and playing together in the classroom. Because the games focus so much on character development, they are appropriate for any primary classroom. Help your students learn about complex human interactions like empathy, non-verbal communication, and coping with change through game play. The games can be played and discussed as a whole class using an interactive whiteboard or projector connected computer, or they can be played independently at a computer center, or a computer lab. After playing the game, practice the skill taught as a class. For example, if students play Robbie the Robot and are practicing recognizing emotion and facial expressions, follow up by asking students to work with a partner making faces and naming the emotion. ELL students can use Whiz Kids to develop character related vocabulary and understanding.

Tips: On the Whiz Kids sister site, Autism Games, teachers can get more information about individual games and how to use them with students. Each game is categorized based on the life skill that it teaches. The game descriptions and suggestions are fantastic.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Whiz Kids in your classroom.

Stixy

February 8, 2010Kelly Tenkely13 Comments4284 views

What it is: Stixy is a fun and easy way for students and educators to collaborate online. Stixy reminds me of Wallwisher, but has many more options for sharing. Start out with a blank virtual bulletin board. Use the Stixy widgets to add content or functionality to your board, positioning them anywhere. Users can add notes, photos, documents, or to-do items. After content has been added to a board, it can be shared with others of your choosing. Those that have been invited to the Stixy board can be given permission to add content, upload, or edit.

How to integrate Stixy into the classroom: Stixy is an excellent tool for the classroom. Use it as a communication tool for your students. Create a classroom board where you post homework, resources, to-do items, etc. for your students. Students can, in turn, submit assignments via the document upload, add notes asking questions of the class, and participate in online discussions. When working on group projects, students can create a Stixy board where they can collaborate virtually. Here they can post ideas, research findings, and deadlines for the group.

Stixy can also be used as a virtual portfolio for students. Ask each student to create a Stixy board for the year (or per semester, trimester, or quarter). Throughout the year, students can add their content and learning to the board. Teachers, other students, parents, and family members can be invited to view the board throughout the year. Students can view their learning and progress in one place and parents, teachers, and other students can leave feedback and encouragement on the Stixy board. This virtual portfolio can “travel” with students as a body of evidence. I would prefer getting a virtual portfolio of learning over a report card of grades any day!

Tips: Stixy does require that users have email addresses. If you are working with students that have not been assigned a school email account, you can use a service like tempinbox.com or mailinator.com to set up an account. Stixy does not specify a minimum age requirement for use and does not require any personal information for use.

Leave a comment and share how you are using Stixy in your classroom.

One Minute Countdown

November 11, 2009Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment1467 views

What it is: Another great tool from Triptico, One Minute Countdown is a simple web tool that acts as a countdown timer for the classroom. The countdown is perfect for using at a center on classroom computers or on an interactive whiteboard/projector.

How to integrate One Minute Countdown into the classroom: I find it difficult to give students adequate thinking time after asking a question. Usually as teachers, we call on the first hand that shoots up. This can be a hindrance for students who require a little longer to process and think about the question asked. Use the One Minute Countdown to pace yourself and give students built in time to think. The One Minute Countdown Timer can also be used for classroom games, or as motivation to move quickly during transitions (see if your students can beat the clock).

Tips: You can choose whether or not you want a sound to play when the countdown has finished.

Leave a comment and share how you are using One Minute Countdown in your classroom.

Word Magnets

October 29, 2009October 29, 2009Kelly Tenkely6 Comments15099 views

What it is: Word Magnets is a fantastic little website that lets you type or copy and paste words into a field and create virtual word magnets out of them (think of the popular word magnets sold for refrigerators). After you have typed in the words to transform into magnets, you can choose a “magnetic” background for your words. There are several backgrounds to choose from including grids, venn diagrams, time lines, arrows, stair steps, targets, boxes, numbers, alphabet, circles, webs, flow sequences, tables, present/absent, and many more. After you choose your background, students can create sentences, sort, and interact with the virtual magnetic words. Words can be added to the board at any time and the color of the background and size of the magnets can be adjusted.

How to integrate Word Magnets into the classroom: The background options for your word magnets are really the highlight of this website. You can do everything from word sorts, to venn diagrams, to practicing alphabetic order. Create tables; sort words by their root, prefix, or suffix; link ideas; practice building sentences; create a time line of events, take attendance…the possibilities with this site are endless! If you are going to use this site for taking attendance, I would suggest creating a master list in a saved word document that you can copy and paste from (this will save you from re-typing names every morning). This is an excellent site for an interactive whiteboard or to use as a center activity. This is an easy way to create customized interactive lessons for your classroom. Because you enter the content, this site is appropriate for any grade level.

Tips: One thing I wish this site had: the ability to save. If you want to save words to interact with over and over, create a document that you can copy and paste from. If you want to save a copy of the word magnets after students have interacted with them, take a screen shot of it.

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Word Magnets in your classroom.