Make Room For Learning

Have you considered the layout of the space your students are learning in can impact how the layout can impact how they learn?  In all the years I have been teaching I felt there weren't many options for changing the learning space other than moving the desks.  I would move the desks around depending upon what activity we were doing. They were moved away for students to sit on the floor for certain activities.  I even would take the lower legs off the desks so the students could have a work space while sitting on the floor.  I've gone from using individual desks to swapping out tables with teachers (or retrieving from storage) to try out a group approach.  Once I made a change, I wouldn't move them again until I got bored of the layout, or the activity demanded it.

The book, Make Space, shares ideas and options for designing spaces to foster thinking, creativity, collaboration and productivity (Doorley and Witthoft 2012). Much of the ideas can be translated for the classroom. First of all, Doorley and Witthoft encourage you to start with what you have. Think of the space in terms of what you want to accomplish and how often you perform certain activities. The use of low lighting, for instance, reduces the amount of exposure to the surrounding environment allowing the person to think reflectively. Additionally, think of other spaces that would foster the type of learning activity you want to accomplish. George Kembel states in the preface, "We want our students and teams to be mindful of space and to take responsibility for setting up the environments that will amplify their work." (Doorley and Witthoft 7)

Not only are teachers designers of learning, but they are also architects of the learning landscape. A couple of teachers in our district have emulated this fact by creating sections within their classrooms to provide a different sanctuary for learning. Below are the examples taken from Mrs. Tracy Xavier's 3rd grade classroom.  She is a part of our district iPad pilot program. There are different sections of her classroom as well as the materials available in various learning spaces. As Doorley and Witthoft suggest, "Storage is about accessibility of both artifacts and information." (46)  Mrs. Xavier provides resources within the learning space for her students to make sure all are used with intention. This goes for the use of iPads as well.

I now find myself walking within and through various spaces and thinking about how they could be better utilized. Try it out. How do you feel within certain spaces? How do you feel when you walk in your classroom? Could you make a few changes to amplify the learning of your students?

Midlothian aCODEmy

While attending TCEA 2014, I fell into a coding presentation by Kim Garcia from Georgetown ISD and I was hooked.  Not because I think knowing how to code is going to change everyone's life.  I believe teachers and everyone involved in a student's academic career need to be a platform for many creative and innovative learning opportunities in order to prepare students for a competitive global economy.  The article, "Schools Aren't Teaching Kids to Code; Here's Who is Filling the Gap", written by Selena Larson, (October, 2013) explains this very point.

Each year, U.S. companies need to fill almost 150,000 jobs related to computer science and mathematics, but colleges and universities only graduate about 100,000 students with degrees in those fields.

So, my mission is to initiate code.org, other coding apps and coding web tools within the classrooms of our district.  In working with a couple of classes I asked students what they felt they were learning. One mentioned she is learning to think ahead.  Another said, she kept on trying even though she wanted to give up.  If we want our student to build grit, I believe learning coding basics is one more way we can get our students there.

This Thinglink provides resources for TCEA 2014 Google Academy.  Tap on the touch point on one of the blue blocks to find Google's coding website called, Blockly.

Tech Slam at TCEA iPad Academy 2014

I spend all year getting excited to attend TCEA and I can't believe its over.  This year, my instructional technology team and I attended the iPad academy.  We curated the tweets using Storify from the academy presentations we attended and built the Thinglink below.  It is filled with apps, websites, tips and tricks for using ipads.

One of my favorite features of the iPad academy this year is the tech slam.  A bunch of attendees file in a room and are encouraged to jump up on stage and connect their iPad to the projector to share their favorite app or web tool on the mammoth projector.  It always begins with many of the audience members staring at each other hoping someone will share an idea.  But, it ALWAYS ends up with a line of people vying for the spotlight to share.  It usually takes a few brave souls and then there's no stopping a room full of teachers, instructional techs, librarians and principals.  The result is an ever growing list of new apps that encourage creativity and collaboration.  Just when I think, "been there, done that", I am surprised at the ingenuity of  many app creators.  As an instructional technologist, my team and I have loved the idea of the tech slam so much, we've integrated it in some of our educational technology professional days.  I just know this would be a great learning experience to use with your students in the classroom.

Digital Flashcards on Steriods

I'm loving Flippity.net, a digital flashcard web tool created by Steve Fortna.  Teacher's can create flashcards without having to pay to load pictures on the back.  The sky is the limit to how these cards can be used in the classroom.  You can add simple text, pictures, animated gifs, audio and video.  This Thinglink provides examples of how to add each using embed codes.  Students can also use these cards to create their own cards.  Flippity generates a link to the cards that can be easily accessed.  We could have a lot of fun with this site! 

How many apps can be used for just one activity?

1 video + Many apps= creativity, engagement and authentic learning. 

This Thinglink provides several activity ideas you can use in your classroom with just one video. These ideas center around a wonderful video, "A pep talk from Kid President to you!"

I was brainstorming with Amy Clark, at Miller elementary, to think of different ways her students can create a product using this video. As we discussed the different varieties of tools she can offer her students, it dawned on me this should be shared with others. Often times, we might think of using just one app in the classroom. The allows us, as teachers, to help and monitor teaching the students how to use the app and to offer support throughout the activity. I encourage you to introduce a few or several apps. Maybe provide an hour for exploration of apps on student iPads and have the students decide what apps they would like to use when creating a product for an assignment. I would love to hear your thoughts on your experience.
 

New Year's Classroom Activities

It's never too early to start thinking about classroom activities after the Christmas Break. I try to focus on activities that will allow the student to come up with their own authentic conclusions or ideas. Allow students opportunities to share their work with others. I love Padlet.com because students can upload their work so the teacher can display all their creations. I also love to have students share a link to their work on Edmodo. This opens up an opportunity for them to comment on each other's creations. A discussion about etiquette when commenting is a must so students understand the proper way to offer constructive criticism and feedback.

5 Reasons Why Teacher's Should Use Google Apps

I recently presented an overview of Google Drive and thought it helpful to post reasons why I believe teachers and student would benefit from using Google Apps for Edu.  

REASON #1:  Communication and Collaboration

I can't express this point enough.  Our traditional email and office productivity software aren't cutting it.  Google Apps email and office productivity apps are the solution to breaking down the boundaries of software limitations.  These apps open up an avenue to communicate with individuals or in groups which is especially advantageous to teachers who actively work with teams to provide feedback of a shared activity, project or even student information.

REASON #2:  Portfolio
Rather than creating content within different software suites and accessing them separately, Google provides an assortment of apps that provide access to all productivity options to make running your classroom much easier.  In essence, you are creating a teaching portfolio of resources.

REASON #3:  Accessibility
When you create a file within your Google Drive, you can access it anytime from any device.  

REASON #4:  Integration
Again, your Google Drive is your one stop shop to implementing the new technology TEKS in your classroom. Today's teacher can find themselves overwhelmed when faced with so many learning expectations.  The technology TEKS do not have to be secondary to your content TEKS since Google suffices many seamlessly.    

REASON #5:  Simplicity
Google Drive can help level the playing field.  These apps are simplistic in design providing a stress-free environment to create and share.  For heaven's sake, Google places the share option in more than one place within each created file in case you forget.