Recently, CISD
teachers (PK-12th grade), administrators and students (3rd – 12th grade)
participated in the beginning of the year Clarity – BrightBytes technology
survey. This data collection was the first time CISD (district-wide) utilized Clarity-Bright Bytes to survey and measure how our technology program(s) are impacting student
learning.With the first set of data collected, the district technology plan
will be reviewed and modified to better support the development of 21st Century
Learners; and hopefully, measure progress overtime.
Clarity reports collected survey data by distributing data across four domains:
Classroom, Access, Skills, and Environment or CASE. The district along with each
campus then receives scores in each of the four domains (see below for the CISD Fall 2015 domain or CASE data summary).
As
I explore the data for each elementary campus, I have identified that all three
campuses scored proficient in the area of Skills: Student Multimedia Skill Frequency.
There are many possible factors that could lend itself to this scoring:
- Are
teachers using technology vocabulary in context? As teachers we tend to
focus on the core curriculum content versus the technology content. Do our students know
the definition of multimedia? Can students identify, name, and implement
various forms of media?
- Have
we as teachers acknowledged how multimedia has evolved? I know personally,
four years ago when students created multimedia products it usually was
contained in a PowerPoint. But now with video creation, editing, and
sharing at our student’s finger tips, are we taking the time to identify
its many facets?
- Are
we building opportunities within our lessons for students to reflect? When
students create a product that incorporates multiple forms of media, it is
likely to include the application of new learning through an ongoing task
or project. The product that is created should naturally lend itself to
reflection by encompassing summarization, producing opportunities for
feedback, and providing platform to share newfound knowledge.
There
is a plethora of web tools, programs, software and apps that allow for students to easily and quickly communicate knowledge through multimedia (Educreations, Showme, ScreenChomp, Skitch..). I would like to
share three with you from FlyLabs (all are located in the Elementary Student,
Teacher and Librarian AirWatch App Catalog).
Great
news, FlyLabs has just been acquired by Google, so this means that both will
only enhance each other. Bad news, FlyLab video editing
apps are only available in the app store for three more months and
there will not be any more updates to their apps.
4th Grade – Teacher
Literally
the easiest video editor that I have come in contact with.
4th
Grade – Teacher
Does
everything Clips can do but involves using mutli-touch gestures to edit video,
gets easier with practice.
Pros
of Clips and Fly:
- There is no login required,
- Features include (from the Apple app store description) import of photos and video, adding music, text slides, voice over, trim clips and play with fast and slow motion.
- Saves to Photos (camera roll), can be shared over AirDrop, posted to multiple social media sites, emailed or saved to your Google Drive.
- Saves your work and can be edited even after sharing/publishing
Cons
of Clips and Fly:
- Difficult to use on iPhone or iPod screen
- No login, work can’t be accessed form multiple devices
- Upload time – I would recommend keeping videos under 5 minutes
PK
– Teacher
Take
or import video and speed it up or slow it down, that is it. Has the same
saving and sharing features as Clips and Fly and music can be added. Yes, it is
that basic and simple.
What multimedia programs and apps are your
students proficient with?
Do you have any lesson ideas for using
multimedia to enhance student learning and/or deepen student knowledge?
What is your brand?
No, I don’t mean are you a Coke or Pepsi person (even we all
know Coke is the better choice). What I am asking is, when a student found out that they were going to be in your classroom for this school year, what do you
think their reaction was? Was it, “Yes! I’m in Mrs. Batchko’s class she’s the funny,
loud science teacher!”, “Awman! I’m in Mrs.Batchko’s class she’s always yelling
and all I see kids do in her class is sit with papers infront of them!” How do you think the parents of your students reacted? “I’m glad they are in Batchko’s room I hear she’s
strict but is a great teacher.” “I wonder if my child can switch rooms, I hear
not much happens in Mrs. Batchko’s class and last year at field day I sure did
see her on her phone a lot.” and lastly, What you think your peers thought about having you on their team? “I’m
excited to have Batchko on our team she is a hard worker but seems to be pretty
easy going and funny” or is it “Welp sounds like I am going to have to do a lot
this year, Batchko is full of complaints, has a negative attitude and never wants
to share her work.”
What do you want your brand to be? How do you want others to
describe your style of teaching?
In my role as the Elementary Technology Coach I want
teachers to know that I am approachable, that I am here to help them and their students
succeed, that I am easy going but also extremely organized, that I talk fast
but have no problem repeating myself or being told to slow down, that I am
funny because education should be fun, that I am professional, that I am a
mentor and a great listener but also know that I am a problem solver. I want
teacher’s to be excited to plan with me and feed off my passion for education.
How do/will you communicate your brand?
- Do you smile in the hallway?
- Do you greet your students at the door with a smile each morning?
- Do you send personal notes home to parents and students?
- Do you have an updated classroom website?
- Do send a newsletter home?
- Do you write personal thank you notes to parents, students and peers?
- What does your email signature look like?
- Do you have an updated photo outside of your classroom, on newsletters or posted on your webpage?
Now is the time to start building your brand, wouldn’t you rather be the one that starts it?
How-To Update your SharpSchool Teacher Webpage
Do you need help building your brand?
Go here to book an appointment with me.
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I absolutely love Popplet! My students and I will be using
it on a weekly basis to create anchor charts, organize thoughts, assess
understanding or help students create connections of concepts.
What is Popplet? (directly from their website) "In the
classroom and at home, students use Popplet for learning. Used as a mind-map,
Popplet helps students think and learn visually. Students can capture facts,
thoughts, and images and learn to create relationships between them."
What I did for a Tech Infused Lesson:
While discussing force with my 5th graders I wanted to them
to organize their thoughts during the week, in order to Tech Up my lesson
decided that my students were going to use Popplet to be the medium through
which students would organize and developed their thoughts.
Since it was my first time using Popplet as a class I didn't
want to purchase the Group Subscription because I wasn't sure how it was all
going to work out. What I ended up doing was creating 11 (you read correctly...
11!!) different Gmail school accounts and Popplet accounts so that each student
could save their work. If you remember from above... I would highly
recommending looking into Popplet Groups.
I checked out the netbook cart from our Media Center for the
week since this was going to be an ongoing lesson. I walked students through
signing on (after the first 2 days they got the hang of it!). On Monday I
started my lesson by explaining what force is and the students independently
watched a Brain Pop Jr. video about force. Then we went through together and
listed the 5 kinds of force that we were going to discuss for the week
(magnetism, push, pull, gravity, friction). Each day we focused on a specific
kind of force and added definitions, examples and pictures (from Flickr) to our
Popplets. On Friday I took the students to the computer lab and we printed our
Popplets and they glued them in their science journals.
Student Samples:
Lesson Reflection:
I thought the lesson went pretty smoothly and students
really enjoyed creating their Popplets. I wish I would have had students
collaborate on Popplets so that they didn't take as much time to create and
then they could have taught each other from their one Popplet. Many students
gave examples that truly showed that they applied their academic vocabulary and
understood the content. I did not think ahead of time about modifying the
assignment for specific students but on the spot I was able to tell them my expectations
(Ex: I had a special education student that provided only pictures for
examples). In the future I would also like to provide students with a rubric
and have them proof read each others work.
A few random notes:
1. For the iPads/iPods: Popplet Lite App is what you have to
use due to flash... it works well but I personally prefer the website
2. I would highly recommend looking into Popplet Groups
3. Sometimes the pictures from Flickr can be inappropriate,
ahead of time be sure you have discussed digital citizenship and what to do if
you happen to be presented with inappropriate content
Do you know of any other mind map apps that are K-5th grade
friendly?
