Speed Geeking by SWMO Tech Integration Specialists

PLN Tech Communities
Developing your Personal Learning Network is important! You'll soon depend on it.  Here's a compilation of sites that can make your PLN top notch.

SAMR Google Form Tool:
Janna showed how you can use Google Forms and SAMR to measure student engagement during walk-throughs to inform your instruction.  Email jelfrink@wolves.k12.mo.us for more resources.

Tackk:
Tackk is a site used for creating online posters. Teachers and students can quickly and easily share information or present in a new and creative way.

Newsela:
Newsela is a free Google app (and website) for students to explore a world of nonfiction. It is updated daily with real-world news stories that are printed at five different lexile levels for simple, easy, and necessary differentiation.

Symbaloo:
Symbaloo is a visual bookmarking tool that makes it simple and fun to organize the best of the web. You have all your favorite websites at your (and your students' ) fingertips.

Flippity.net:
With Flippity.net, you can easily create interactive 'flash cards' using a Google spreadsheet.

Kahoot:
Kahoot is a game-based classroom response system. The creator is able to create and share quizzes, discussions, surveys (which are called kahoots) using any device with a web browser. Highly engaging! Provides immediate results in a downloadable excel spreadsheet.

Zaption
Take a video from many different sources (YouTube, Vimeo, PBS, TED, etc.) and create a "tour," which is a video (or compilation of short videos). Add interactive features to the videos, like an image or document with further information, and Q/A.
It is extremely user friendly and lends itself to questions beyond your basic facts and what might fall at the lower level of Bloom's. If you're flipping your classroom, this is a great way to engage students. I can add students to my groups, and then check analytics to see how many of them watched it.

A Coloring Lesson for Mom

Today, my five year old was laying on the living room floor, vigorously coloring a group of Disney princesses in her new coloring and sticker book.

She's in kindergarten. It's been fun to listen to her this year as she begins to figure out how to spell words, perform basic math problems, and write sentences. She's a pretty typical kid, though. Ask her what the best part of her day is, and she'll reply "recess" without even thinking twice.

So here she is, laying on the floor,  coloring a picture of Snow White feeding a horse an apple. The apple, of course, was red. The horse, brown. Snow White's hair, black. Yet, all of these colors were running together because she was not coloring in the lines. My first thought when I saw this was to tell her that she knew how to color right and she should stay in the lines. But then I thought about what I was doing. I was telling her to stay within the limits on something that really didn't even matter. More than likely, the picture would go on the refrigerator for a few days before it was replaced with a new one she colored.

So instead, what I told her was this.

"You know, if you're going to be creative and color outside the lines, you might want to choose another color. Everyone's seen brown horses. No one's ever seen green ones."

She stopped. Then she looked up at me, grinned from ear to ear, and asked if it was OK to color however she wanted. So remember, this is just a page out of a coloring book. She's five. And she thinks she has to conform this coloring to the desires of the world instead of the ideas that come naturally to a child her age.

After being told that it was in fact OK, we ended with a picture of a camouflaged horse standing in a black forest, being fed an orange apple by a blonde Snow White.  While she colored, she made decisions about what colors she was choosing. "This color is crazy. No one's ever seen an orange apple before. I'm choosing this color because I like it."

She used her passions, coupled with what was fun for her, to make something entirely new. She didn't worry about the fact that she wasn't coloring in the lines, because she was creating a new picture. The way she was thinking was allowing her to think freely and experiment. She got to see what happened when colors mixed together, and also what happened when she used a color that was too dark on areas that were covered with fine details. She made this picture her own. Instead of squashing ideas, she got to create.

I am so proud of this picture that I think it's going to stay on the refrigerator for a little longer than just a few days.

What If... There was a MakerSpace in Every Classroom?

I have some great news for residents in the Springfield, MO area. Heath and Stacy Rust, a young couple I've had the pleasure of meeting and talking to over the last few months, are opening a MakerSpace in Springfield. They are currently in the development stage, but within a year, they will be open to the public. This means that anyone could pay a month by month membership to use a space designed for innovation, tinkering, creation, and problem solving, similar to how we pay for membership to a gym.

Of course, the first thing I asked when I learned about this was, "Have you been talking to the local schools so they could allow kids to use the space?" Heath and Stacy very quickly answered, "Yes!"

My excitement over this new venture is indescribable. I've been thinking about it for days. I'm excited about what it will mean for the community, for students, or for people who just have an idea and don't have the resources to see it through.

That led me to start thinking about this...

What if there was a MakerSpace in every classroom? Sure, logistics and space would be an issue. But what if it wasn't? What if my students, in any classroom they used, had access to equipment that would allow them to build and print prototypes of their ideas, test problems and solutions, break down items that were no longer used and repurpose them for something better? 

How much would a true MakerSpace enrich my classroom beyond the basic drinking straw, pipe cleaners, and rubber bands that are used for design solutions now? 

How would a MakerSpace change my instruction, and how might it change my "to do" list into a "stop doing" list? What would STEM in every subject look like?

To answer my own last question, I think that doing this would make learning real life. It would mimic the iteration that is used in many jobs today. It would prepare our kids for the new industrial revolution that they will see in their lives and careers. It would change what jobs are available, and would prepare today's students for anything, simply by emphasizing the skills of problem solving, determination, and ideation.

Although this isn't the case in classrooms (yet), we are on our way. We can still take advantage of the opportunity that exists right in front of us with a local MakerSpace. I think this will be an amazing opportunity not only for the community, but for the young students in the area. Keep an eye out for more information with the website above or on their Facebook page.

Connecting in the Classroom

As a classroom teacher, one of the best instructional strategies I ever implemented was true collaboration using technology. My students each created their own blog, and I formed a partnership with other teachers that were interested in doing the same thing. The teachers and I worked together to plan lessons and pair students using ability grouping.  Through this partnership, our students commented on each others' blogs, created video study guides for each other, and participated in virtual competitions using Skype. It was a great experience, and breaking down the classroom walls was hands down the best thing I ever did as a teacher.

But breaking down the classroom walls doesn't have to just be about connecting classrooms. It can be about connecting students with experts in a field of study, also. I know of great teachers who have found experts for students to interview using Skype, FaceTime, and Google Hangout. I've outlined those lessons below:

• A group of 6th graders studying water conservation interview a professional working from Cairo, Egypt to teach methods of conservation.
• Students in a social studies class hold discussions with their state's governor regarding topics relevant to their area. They use Today's Meet to further the conversation.
• An English teacher assigns a research paper on which college is best for each student. During research, former students use FaceTime to connect with the class and discuss their perspective of college life.

With a move towards project based learning,  which includes an authentic audience, teachers are looking for opportunities such as the ones described above to connect classrooms with experts. These experts serve to validate design and presentations that students develop, contribute to research, and serve as a partner in classrooms. 

Although guest speakers and community partners that provide resources to students and classrooms are still important, the methodologies used in classrooms today are and should be those that replicate the 21st century. Information is differentiated, personal for each team of students, and doesn't simply follow the experiences that we as adults had in the classroom, but rather, the experiences that we as adults have in the real world.

Everyone has something to offer the classroom. Everyone has a passion, and that is the part that makes a difference in education. My passion is assisting teachers in finding these experts, professionals, and partners in education. Most teachers will state that finding collaborators is their number one stumbling block. In response to this, I am developing a database of professionals willing and able to contribute in classrooms.

If you can contribute, please add to the database through this form. 

If you are a teacher that needs to find partners in education, please complete this form.

When my students used technology to collaborate with others, we found that our students were making greater strides in their learning goals, realized the importance of digital citizenship, and developed skills that are necessary for teamwork. Let's give all kids that chance. Help our database grow!