Innovation@477 This Week 5/12: Appy Hour

Appy Hour is an idea many of the tech coaches have read about in our study of Carl Hooker's book: Mobile Learning Mindset: A Coach's Guide to Implementation. In Appy Hour, you get together and quickly share apps, extensions and websites that are making a difference in your classroom. Our first Appy Hour will be digital, we hope to take these "live" in your buildings this fall!

If you have any awesome app, extension or website to share please send it to your friendly tech integration specialist! 

The QR Code Generator & The QR Code Extension

QR codes are excellent way to get students to a website quickly. Using a QR code scanner on their iPad or Chromebook, students scan the code and are immediately directed to the website. This is a quite a time saver as students of all ages can fumble with entering log web site addresses. This website and extension are slick for creating and downloading codes. 

Once you install the extension, it will show up on the side of your Chrome web address bar. Anytime you are on a website that you would like to create a QR code for, simply click the extension icon and a code is automatically created that you can download.





Chatterpix or Chatterkid
Many teachers are doing end of the year research or genius hour projects. Chatterpix provides a quick, fun and creative way for students to share their learning. In this app students take a picture of an object (or upload a pic they saved) and add a "mouth" to the picture. Then they record their voice sharing facts about that object or person. This project can be finished in short amount of time and students can share the finished project easily in Seesaw or on Google Classroom. Chaterpix or Chatterkid is installed on Primary and Intermediate school iPads.

Example project from 2nd grader sharing what she learned about tornadoes!

Brittanica School

If you've ever told your students to just "google it" you have likely noticed that many students (across all grades) have no idea how to research with Google. Samantha Heitke and I found that to be true in talking about experiences with students. We did some research and discovered Brittanica school is an excellent resource for all students. When you first login you can choose elementary, middle or high school. From there students choose a topic of interest. 

Each topic is written at that specific level, however at the top of each article students can choose level 1, 2 or 3. The levels correspond to Elementary, Middle and High, yet when a student is on the high school page, and selects level 1, the screen doesn't change to the elementary looking page. It simply changes the content to a lower reading level. This will allow all your students to work on the same resource but get the information at their reading level!

Example of Galileo from each level:

Samantha and I have created a lesson that uses all of these sites/apps to create a quick mini-genius hour project for the end of the year. Let either of us know if you'd like it sent to you!

Innovation @ 477 This Week - 3/3/17

This week we focus on innovative ways teachers have students demonstrating their learning.

smore @ PHS

Tammie Walker found an innovative way to use Smore, a resource many use for creating fliers or parent communication.
Tammie's students created a Smore flier to demonstrate their understanding of literary devices as they summarized a story. The result is a beautiful, multi-media presentation that allows students to share their unique style while demonstrating their learning.

I can see this project easily being adapted across curriculum and grade levels to allow students a creative and different way to show understanding and knowledge.


Click the link below to see a full project:

https://www.smore.com/1ne9w

Mystery Locations @ IS

Brenda Baird had 5th grade students exploring locations around the world while learning how to navigate various features of Google Slides. Students in each class signed into a shared Google Slide presentation and were assigned a location. Together with a partner they had to research their location, and include information on their assigned slide. When completed, the students will go back into the presentation during tech class, and using the comments feature, try and guess the correct locations on each slide. Brenda was able to teach students how to use an important tech tool, including advanced features, while allowing students the opportunity to learn more about geography and research. 

Google has been a game changer in our ability to have students not only collaborate on assignments, but to also provide feedback! 

Math Books @ PS

Nicole Cook had students demonstrate their understanding of math concepts by creating their own math story problems. Students then turned these math problems into a story and put it all together as a book using the Book Creator app on the iPads. 

     

Personalized Learning 

Each of these examples allowed students to demonstrate their learning in a personalized manner while also gaining experience with new tech tools. Students in all these classes were also able to further develop their vital 21st Century Skills. I think these examples also show how we can take an assignment teachers have probably done for years into the world of technology. Students will be able to transfer the skills learned in these classes to all their classes and will become the experts in these technologies, able to teach their fellow students. 

Inspired? Check in with one of your building tech coaches to collaborate on how you can put a little innovation into your daily lessons.

Innovation @ 477 This Week! 2/24/17

HS Health Project
Erik Jacobs had each of his students do a quick recording of themselves using screencastify or a personal device stating why I choose not use. Students then posted their video onto a padlet that was created for each class hour. These short clips were then uploaded into a playlist on YouTube. Each hour had it's own playlist. With playlists you can select Play All so he was able to show the entire class hour's clips with just one click. The videos created were simple and incredibly powerful. Collaborating this way through padlet made it easy for Erik to collect all the videos, and easy for the students to share. Downloading and uploading the videos onto YouTube was also quick and easy.

This project is a perfect example of technology integration at work. This was a change in a project Erik has always done, using tech tools the project was more student driven than teacher driven, saved resources and made a more powerful statement!

Teachers Going Mobile
In the last few weeks Jodi, Ian and Luke have been setting up all classroom teachers at the Middle School with their new MacBook Air laptops. This is part of a district initiative to increase mobility when it comes to technology. Many teachers have been excited about the speed of their new device versus the desktop and the ability to bring it with them when working out of the classroom! Our Primary School teachers have had their devices for a year, next year our Intermediate School will be have their MacBook Air laptops issued as we work towards moving all teaching staff to the new laptops.

Swivl
We have a great new "robot" in the district! The Swivl is taking observations to a whole new level. It was used last week during observations at the Intermediate and Primary schools. The Swivl holds onto an iPad for filming, the subject being filmed wears a remote on a lanyard and the Swivl follows the subject as they move around the room. This allows for recording of observations without someone holding a camera and without the teacher having to stand in one place....because we all know that rarely happens! Swivl videos are automatically uploaded into a cloud based system and can be reviewed immediately and edited as needed.

How the Swivl can help innovate learning in Princeton:

• Teachers can choose to film their lesson to review independently for student engagement or to review teaching strategies. 
• Observational rounds can involve fewer people in the room. 
• Videos can be shared easily to show the many examples of exceptional teaching that happens in Princeton. Note - we will never share a video without your permission!
• PLCs can do lesson studies without having to arrange for substitutes. 

The possibilities are endless. 

If you are interested in using the Swivl in your classroom, contact Jodi or Eric. 

Innovation at 477 This Week 2/3/17

MakerSpace

MakerSpace is a huge trend in education across the country. This week Princeton joined the wave by adding MakerSpace carts at Princeton Primary and Princeton Intermediate. At Princeton Primary, a Lego Lab & Creator Space cart includes Lego Education tools including Learn to Learn and Story Starter. Both of these tools include standards aligned lessons for students in reading, math, engineering and science. Additionally this cart has Kinex Math and Geometry education kits, Art Tub and a Marble Maze.

At Princeton Intermediate a former laptop cart was repurposed into a mobile MakerSpace. This mobile cart includes a Lego Education Story Starter, many Lego pieces and a Lego table for building and creating, 5 Makey Makey sets, Little Bits STEAM kit, Art Tubs, Learning Games, Maze Challenges, a United States Map puzzle and more. Most of these items were purchased with funds from a EdCamp grant, applied for by the Tech Integration Specialist. 

Why MakerSpace?

MakerSpace (or Creator Space) allows students to develop their vital 21st Century Skills in a fun and engaging manner while still meeting state and national reading and math standards. Allowing students to create and demonstrate their learning in creative ways makes for better learning connections. Look for future Innovation at 477 This Week updates to see how these carts are being put to use!

Podcast

Principal Barb Muckenhirn at PHS, along with two students launched a new podcast this week. Recording of Episode 1 of Now We Go will be available next week. This podcast is a passion project for Principal Muckenhirn, the purpose of this podcast is to talk about some of the things that make our lives go better and keep us going!  Now We Go!  The show is being edited and produced by junior Josh Fuller and will features guest senior Damon Rademacher for the first 5 episodes. 

Innovation is happening every day in or schools. If you would like to learn more, subscribe to our blog for weekly Innovation Updates! Teachers, contact Jodi Burling if you would like help with collaboration on ideas or co-teaching any innovative teaching ideas!

Tenth grade social studies: Using Google docs to make integrated proposal

The assignment for Mr. Eversman's class was simple: make a case for why a certain place would make a good spot for an English settlement in the colonies, circa 1620 or so.

Student objectives were:

1. Apply knowledge of colonial settlements to the new project
2. Navigate a map to determine topographical advantages
3. Research native peoples and trade economies

The project is written up as a scenario. The king of a foreign land has gained permission from England to build a settlement in one of the 13 colonies.  They will pose as a research team, presenting a proposal to the king as to which location would be the best choice.

They are to consider:

• Climate of the area
• Local native tribes 
• Trade economy
• Agriculture, fishing, and hunting opportunities
• Access to both fresh water and an ocean passage
• Natural resources

Jamestown, circa 1609

To put this all together, they used Google Maps or Google Earth to find places they found suitable. There was a lot of discussion and debate in the teams as to which places would make great spots. Once they had an idea, one group member worked with the map, and the other(s) worked on researching the other considerations.

Everything is written up on a shared Google document. One person in each group opens one document, and then shares it with the others in the group as well as Mr. Eversman. From there, multiple editors are able to work on the different components.

For the map, students used the screenshot feature (command+shift+4) to get a snapshot of the area of their settlement from the Google Map, and then dragged that photo from the desktop straight on their document, all the while another partner was writing the descriptive paragraph to accompany it. Some students used the Insert->Draw feature of their docs to bring the picture in, and then add arrows and words to mark parts of the area they chose.

As the work progresses, they will be make a complete sketch of the town they are building. Some use different online tools to do this digitally. Others do a paper and colored pencil sketch. Either way, the image is also added to the document.

The resulting project will be a combination of artistic representation, maps, and several written segments, all written and created by multiple editors.

At grading time, Mr. Eversman is able to open each of the projects from his computer or iPad, and leave comments connected to the rubric criteria. Students may improve the project based on this feedback.  He can then, at his leisure, add them to a shared folder and allow each student to take a look at the work their peers have done, or they could be published on a blog to share with the world!

Marzano Lesson Segments

     Learning anything new has, to some degree, a learning curve. The same is true of the Marzano Framework that we are learning and utilizing in our school district. As administrators, teachers, and staff acquire more training on the concepts and framework of Marzano, there will be more aha! moments, where we just "get it" and understand what is being presented. Below is an excellent video put together by high school principals Barb Muckenhirn and Darin Laabs explaining one of their aha! moments; the structure of Lesson Segments. 

Marzano Definition: 
The Marzano Observation and Feedback Protocol identifies the 41 key strategies revealed by research for effective teaching presented in a robust, easy to understand model of instruction based on the Art and Science of Teaching. All 41 Key Strategies are organized into 9 Design Questions, which are further organized into 3 Lesson Segments.