CMS Take Apart Day 2015

On Friday, December 4th, students in the PRISM Program had a 'Take Apart Day'.  They brought in items to explore by deconstructing them to see what makes them tick, so to say.  As they take the items apart, not through destructive means (even though that was tempting), they arranged all the pieces for a photo.  That photo became the background of a ThingLink image which then included text, images, videos, &/or websites.  Below are a couple photos from the event as well as one team's ThingLink.  If you would like to view more, check out their blog post: Room 814. Makers. Movers. Shakers.

Students taking apart a camera

Students taking apart a digital watch

Students' ThingLink for taken apart motorized truck: https://www.thinglink.com/scene/731869658864418817

Storyboarding in Seventh Grade Language Arts: A Google Drawing Exploration!

This week we have a guest post from Brittany Rivera, 7th Grade IRLA at CMS. 

To be frank, the 1-to-1 initiative intimidated me. Even as a third-year teacher, I couldn’t stop thinking about how I could possibly change from the way I was “used” to teaching. How could I consistently incorporate this much amazing technology in the classroom? How would I get there? How could I use these devices in the best way possible?

I started thinking about my visual learners and the goals I wanted my kids to reach. I wanted them to feel like close reading was a natural practice as opposed to something they “had” to do. It wasn’t enough to model and practice close reading on paper. I needed to do something else.

The New York Times Ed Blog opened a lot of doors for me and inspired me to try Storyboarding as a way to practice Close Reading. Students were placed into three groups with a different short story per group. The focus of the lesson was using a Storyboard to gather relevant evidence as well as choose visuals to increase their understanding of each piece of evidence. In the day’s experience, I found that my students felt more empowered in terms of understanding their stories, and their inferences and claims were so much stronger.

Using Google Drawing, students were able to develop their Storyboards. They could share their work with partners within the classroom and participate in a gallery walk where they had the opportunity to see other students work and how they incorporated visuals into their analytical reading work.  It was truly an awesome experience and gave kids the opportunity to interact with texts in a more creative way!

My Model

Students participating in our Gallery Walk

Students were given the option of using paper storyboards over the Chromebook; Chromebooks were used most often!

A student’s work on the short story “The Stolen Party”

A student’s work on the short story “Thirteen and a Half”

GoogleEdu On-Demand

This past weekend, GoogleEdu hosted two days of panels and live workshop videos for teachers. There were many offerings, and since all of the events were recorded, they are now available for anyone to watch, at any time. Before you click on the link in the photo to the right however, there are a few things to know:

• When you reach the website and scroll down, there will be two sections
• Day 1: Panels and Keynotes
• Day 2: Various workshop sessions
• When you click on the session that interests you, you will find:
• Access to session materials (don't miss out on these!)
• A link to watch the video

You can look at the materials without watching the video.  I did this for a few of the webinars that I was not able to watch live and got some fantastic resources!  The sessions that I was able to watch were both interesting and informative.  Don't miss out on the Google Classroom workshops!

This is a great opportunity to grab some personal PD time for yourself!  

Click here or click the photo to take you to the GoogleEduonAir page.

A Teacher's Thoughts

Mrs.O and Google Classroom

I love technology. I love it mainly because I can collect information and store it silently.  I am not surrounded by cluttered bookcases full of binders and I don’t need to spend large amounts of money on professional books. So, when I heard about Google Classroom, I decided to give it a try.  What I found was a very user friendly site -- my basic instruction included a very brief (about 10 minutes) introduction and I was good to go.

Google Classroom is AWESOME!  I loved Hapara but I have decided that Classroom/Google works better for me and it is FREE!  First, I just love how it looks when I open the app.  I can customize the backgrounds for each folder and the backgrounds are bright and colorful. The folders - one per subject - include a myriad of choices for teachers. My favorite part is the “assignment” feature. I can assign work that includes a specific due date, set of instructions, comments, and a return button that helps me keep track of finished work. I can also grade the work, make comments,  and then return the results to my students. With a click of a button the grades are instantly transferred to a spreadsheet -- no more writing grades in my gradebook. However, the best part is that I can attach videos, documents, links or attachments to all assignments.  For example, I can send a video to my students, the kids can view the video, and then open a document and write about the video. Because documents created within each assignment are automatically shared with me, I can easily find the completed assignment. There is also a blog option which can be used for interactive comments.  This feature can be turned on or off.  Fifth graders love talking to each other online!!

https://drive.google.com/a/wwprsd.org/file/d/0B5HcrttR8yIOQklmNGJLRjJISGc/view?usp=sharing

I also love the “announcement” button.  This feature gives me the option to post any information or tutorials that I want to share with my students and I can do it within the subject folder. No more paper handouts stored in binders, folders, or just jammed into the black hole. All assignments and announcements are easy to find because an icon and explanation appears with each addition.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5HcrttR8yIOQmdpRUlqUWdhejA/view?usp=sharing

Finally, the “News and Announcement” page gives me a place to post more links, attachments, videos and documents -- another place to store or share.  I could also turn this page into a classroom blog or interactive board.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5HcrttR8yIOdGc0aFFOZENRZHc/view?usp=sharing

So, my suggestion is to give this awesome “Google Great” a try.  Have fun exploring the possibilities.

Written by Barbara Osburn
5th Grade
MRS

Using Google Hangouts to Connect to Classrooms Around the World

I first read about the idea of the "Mystery Skype" or "Mystery Hangout" on Twitter when a fellow educator posted a Tweet about a global collaboration project.  After further reading, I realized that there are a ton of teachers participating these mystery location calls all over the world.  What a great way to connect classrooms and learn about different places!

After finding interested teachers at both Millstone and Village, Our experiment in global collaboration began by testing Google Hangouts out across schools. This first Hangout is what sold one 5th grade teacher on the idea and she started looking on Twitter for possible connections. So far, her class has connected with Iowa and Alabama and the class is loving it!  With each new Skype/Hangout, the class learns more about different places in the country/world and then reflects on the hangout itself so they can make the next one better.  Each student has a role and they use Google Maps and Google Forms/Docs to collect their data.  The students are also building on curriculum and competencies by:

• Using and reinforcing map and geography skills
• Practicing being effective communicators as they work together and share information
• Problem-solving as they analyze clues and create questions to figure out where the Mystery Skype/Hangout class is located
• Comparing and contrasting as they look at the differences and similarities between locations

Take a look at some of the pictures from the first few connections. Who knows where the next mystery location will be!

Here are some resources if you are interested in learning more.  Let us know if you would like to try a mystery location call in your class!

Mystery Hangout
Mystery Skype
Sample Notes Page
Student Doc