MES App Challenge

As an eight-year veteran of instructional technology, I've seen many changes over the years. Technological advances have swept the educational realm with warp speed; the traditional tools of the trade have rusted in their metal toolboxes. VCR tapes flattened into DVDs, now we stream from YouTube. Chalkboards became whiteboards then SMART Boards. Overhead projectors were cast aside for handheld document cameras. Floppy disks became USBs and now we store our files in the Cloud. Seven years ago the iPad didn't exist.

All these changes in the tools we use, the manner in which we conduct business, and yet... some things haven't changed. We still work a 10-month contract, still spend countless hours (and money!) outfitting our classrooms, and still do PD the same way as decades before. 

I wanted this year to be different.

I started in September with an interest survey, asking teachers what they wanted to learn about. There was an overwhelming interest in learning more about iPad apps, which was great, but an area I didn't have much expertise. Sure, I knew how to use my favorite apps like Edmodo and PicCollage, but how could I meet the needs of all the different grades? Where would I start? Which apps were the best of the best? How could I transition my teachers from handing students an iPad to "play" and instead make that instructional time meaningful and productive?

I spent a few weeks connecting with my PLN on Twitter, asking for ideas and suggestions. I started making Twitter lists, sorting my followers by grade level and subject area. I read app reviews on Common Sense Media and asked teachers "What do you want to do?" instead of "What do you want to use?"

This was the year to change me.

I wanted PD to be fun. Engaging. Inspiring. What could I do differently to share what I had learned with my teachers?

What evolved from my quandary was the MES App Challenge. I planned 10 PD sessions for 30 minutes each, highlighting a specific app and its use. The goal was a quick "in and out" intro with time for independent exploration. I also implemented a badging system where teachers could add app icons to a laminated iPad, earning perks in the process.

All sessions were optional, held during the last 30 minutes of the day after students had left the building. I created a Remind account to keep teachers connected with upcoming PD sessions and to send out shout-outs for awesome achievements. I also posted monthly visual reminders around my building about sessions: on lab doors, in the teacher's lounge, and at the sign-in desk.

Best of all, I provided personalized PD on topics of interest. This provided the opportunity to really get to know my teachers and the types of goals they had for their students' learning. I was able to follow-up and provide support throughout the year for classroom implementation and several teachers invited me in their classrooms to showcase what their students could do!

As I reflect on this year, and my first attempt at providing personalized PD, I'm excited! I want to continue to support my teachers' use of iPads in the classroom, but I also want to extend this PD format to other topics as well. My brain is already swirling with ideas to make PD more relevant and engaging next year.

How are you providing personalized PD? Are you using badges as incentives for teacher PD? Do you have any "must have" free apps for the elementary classroom? Comment below and share your expertise! I would love to learn and grow with you!

A Week's Worth of Fun

This week was our first full week of classes following our unexpected snowstorm that resulted in more than a foot of snow in our district - a rare sight to see! We missed four and a half days of school, returning for a day and a half then back home again for the weekend. On Monday I braced myself for lesson cancellations, expecting emails from stressed teachers feeling the pressure to prepare for testing instead of providing opportunities for tech.

I was delightfully surprised - No cancellations!

In Ms. Candler's fifth grade art class, students used the Doodle Buddy app to create product logos. It was inspiring to see how the students layered the different colors and shapes to achieve their final products. 

Several fourth grade classes began researching the Coastal Plain region for a presentation project using Google Slides. Students were placed in collaborative groups of four to create ten slides filled with informational tidbits, vivid images, and fun facts galore. They started this week's session by collaboratively choosing a themed template. It was inspiring to listen to all the different ways they shared their opinions and compromised on one choice. When the projects are completed (in about two weeks), the students will exchange their presentations with students in Staunton City Schools, providing an authentic audience for writing and composing. They will also have an opportunity to leave comments on individual slides to enhance their learning and communication skills.

Ms. Heizer and Ms. Joyner's third graders created stories using Google Docs in writing rotations, while I completed brief writing conferences, capturing my notes through a Google Form. (If you want to see a copy of my Form, click here!) One gal composed three complete pages about her best friend while another student described her recent gymnastics meet. I love learning more about our students and helping them learn and grow as writers! 

Ms. Joyner's students also practiced mathematical problem solving skills using the EdPuzzle website. This site is awesome! You select instructional videos for students to watch, but overlay your own questions and answers for checkpoints (a great tool for flipped classrooms and any content area that can benefit from a spiral-back review!) I accessed student answers on my phone while they were completing the questions, which allowed me to reteach content right in the moment. Students already knew if they mastered the content by the green/red color coding and self-correcting answers. (If you want to use my videos, just create an Edpuzzle account for free and search "Tamara Letter" in the search bar to add my screencasts to your account!)

Mrs. Brockel's class continued working on their collaborative presentations for Pi Day in March. They made so much progress that we moved our group meetings up a week so they could have a quick face-to-face check-in to identify incomplete tasks and create an action plan for completion.

Ms. Miller's students began finalizing their cross-discipline art/social studies project this week as well. Students used construction paper and symmetry to simulate a food chain of one animal being eaten by another, then wrote haikus to describe their artwork. We took digital photos of their food chains, imported them into the ChatterPix Kids app, then students recorded themselves reading their haikus. Click here to see a sample finished project!

Teachers were also busy this week, recording chapters for our One School One Book program that will begin next week. Students will be able to listen to chapters at school and at home thanks to the sharing power of Google Drive!

In addition to a week filled with lessons, tech trainings, and collaboration, our team welcomed a new ITRT, Mrs. Elizabeth Verlander, and successfully completed all tasks on our weekly agenda - the third week in a row! This was a definite #flyhighfri for our team - ending the week with JOY!

Needless to say, it was a fun-filled, jam-packed week. I wouldn't have it any other way!

Looking forward to an awesome week ahead with new opportunities to inspire students and teachers alike. Make sure to check back soon to find out more about our Tech Take-Out PD sessions at our district's school board office on Monday!

Seesaw Success

"Are we going to save our voice when we read today?"

"Do we get to draw again?"

"How many pictures can I take with my iPad this week?"

These are just a few questions I hear when I walk into Ms. Feighner's kindergarten class with a wagon filled with iPads. The past few weeks we've been using the Seesaw app (iOS/Google Play) to enhance work done in reading rotations. Last week students used the iPad to photograph their book covers then record themselves reading the story for a fluency record. For many, this was the first time they had ever heard their voice played back on a digital device! 

This week students explored the drawing section of Seesaw. We talked about characters and setting, distinguishing between the two, then students drew pictures on the iPad of a setting that might be found in a story. Several students included characters in their drawings, too! After creating their artwork, students recorded a description of the picture they drew.

The best part of Seesaw is that students can share their work with their teacher and classmates by adding their name and uploading to their Seesaw class. Now everyone can learn from each other!

Students can "like" and leave comments for each other, too! We are excited to use this tool in our learning and are excited to explore the digital writing options next week!

Shape Hunt

This week Ms. Houston's first grade class has been learning about shapes in the world around them. On Monday, the students learned how to take photos on an iPad, then went around the room capturing the flat shapes hidden in everyday objects. They recorded their insights on paper, analyzing each shape for the number of sides and vertices.

"See? There's a triangle right there!"

Recording Sheet

Identifying Sides and Vertices from Photographs

On Tuesday, students imported their photos into the Pic Collage app, adding labels and personalizing fonts. They even added a smiley-face sticker for a job well done! When finished, students exported a screenshot of their collage to the iPad's Camera Roll which was later transferred through the Dropbox app into a Google Slides presentation. We kept the background color simple and light, choosing to focus on the content of our collage, not the extra special effects.

Resizing Photos

Adding Text

Almost done!

We had such a fun time identifying shapes and their attributes - who knew we could find so many shapes in one classroom? To see all the student collages, click here!