Audio Boom

Hello!

I've fallen behind.  And I know myself and I know that unless I have a purpose and keep this short and simple, if I put too big of an expectation on myself for this blog, I will continue to fall behind. That is not something that I want...obviously.

So I decided today that I would talk briefly about +audioBoom.  I used this website to host some audio clips and I'm so excited that I rediscovered it and decided to use it.  So happy in fact that my post for today is pretty much hosted there.



Essentially, if you would like to use/explore Audio Boom, I highly recommend it.  If you're on Twitter, you can create an account through them.
Super Easy!
Then you can either record on their website, which I admit, I have not mastered or you can upload audio files AND they have an app.  I found that I prefer using my Voice Memos and uploading right from my phone.

Here's the question...as teachers how can we use this for our students?  I shared an idea in my broadcast here.  But also...what can our students create with it?!  I know this is going to be a tool I take back when the break is over and try to see what we can do with it!  There are some middle schoolers that I think may have a great time with it.

Thanks!

Anne Frank

I teach at a K-8 Catholic school.

This post is about the 8th graders specifically.  They have been reading the Diary of Anne Frank.  I read that book when I was a child.  I picked it up when I was bored one day, not realizing the weight that book carried.

Unfortunately, there were so many visual descriptions that were critical to the story that I just couldn't image.  I couldn't see them in my mind.  I feel like it took away from the gravity of what I was reading.  I couldn't possibly image how a door was hidden!  I couldn't see how small the living quarters really were.  I read the words but the images were from my life, with a few tweaks.

Back to the 8th graders.  Maybe they have a better imagination than I did as a 4th/5th grader.  Or maybe because we have never been in that kind of situation (for which I am so thankful), it's not something we can fathom, imagination or not.

This week they are going to the local Catholic high school to see the play Anne Frank.  That will give them a better visual representation.  I want to support that in my class.  I want to show them something that will really make them see how hard it was and the struggles that these families faced. I want them to understand how brave Anne Frank was...this girl who is their age.  I want there to be an impact.

So this week and next week, we will be taking the time to explore the Anne Frank museum online. Specifically, we will be looking at some of the photos and pieces of history from her life.  And I think most importantly, we will be able to go on a virtual tour of Anne Frank's Secret Annex.

I hope it gives the 8th graders a really good concrete visual of what they are reading.

It's just...Padlet

I'm trying to write up a quick blog post this morning and while I know my topic...I don't have a fun, attention getting title.  Soooo...it's just about Padlet.

I've been a big fan of Padlet since it was Wall Wisher (or something like that)...it was a few years ago.  You seriously can't expect me to remember all the different names of various websites.  ;) So I was introduced to it as a part of my RPDP class with +Jerrad Barczyszyn.

*side note: I blame him for my love of ed tech...he showed me how interesting and exciting class could be with tech integration.  Thanks Jerrad.*

Right so...the point of this post:

Yesterday was day 1 of the second week of school...the first week was all half days...this week full days.  *I'm so tired!*

I teach technology to K-8 students.  Since last week was half days and I'm teaching a "special" I had no time to start with my typical Capturing Kids' Hearts Social Contract.  So that was the plan for this week.  However, I had to figure out how, exactly, to integrate technology into that.

Now, I realize and recognize and appreciate that technology doesn't always and shouldn't always be used...especially just for the sake of technology.  So if I was a homeroom teacher, I probably wouldn't have done this...but I'm the technology teacher.  I kind of think...I'm supposed to do it this way.

Typically, students will work in a small group, brainstorming words or phrases to the 4 questions that guide our social contract.  Instead of having us work in small groups, I had them work independently on Padlet.  The way I explained it was - instead of giving them all Post It Notes to stick on the wall with their words/phrases, they needed to post them on the Padlet.  Re: CKH...I explained that even if a word came up that they were going to use, they needed to write it too because I wanted them to be heard.  I wanted everyone to have a voice.

All in all, I'd say that it went pretty darn well!  6 classes...5 were scheduled to create the social contract...and only 1, due to poor choices, had to use the paper and pencil technique!  They seemed to enjoy it.

We will see how today goes!!  Have you used it?  What did you think?

 

Google "Keep"ing It Together

So life has been crazy to say the least this summer.

1) Wedding
2) House hunting
3) Cross country move
4) New job - new school
and all the unpacking and cleaning that comes with 3 and 4!!

So today I decided to stop for a minute and do a quick vlog on Google Keep.  It has literally helped me keep my brain from exploding.

Enjoy!

What can you use Google Keep for?

ISTE Resources - Social Media in EDU

I recently reposted a blog post that had access to the Haiku Deck I created for the ISTE 2016 poster session that a group of us presented at.

After a comment left by Alice, who was kind enough to visit our poster, she reminded me that we had some really awesome student created resources that I hadn't shared!

When we were planning for our poster session, we had a few brainstorming meetings and then started to divide up the jobs to complete the various tasks.  Keep in mind, that while our whole team was from Ohio, we were not from the same place.  So completing our tasks was a relatively independent project.

I created the presentation on +Haiku Deck that scrolled through on a screen that talked about ways you could use Social Media in education.  Then Marisa, who is an engineering teacher at Bio Med Science Academy, worked with her students to create the physical posters.  The students created the design, researched the statistics, and worked on the posters within Google.  I was thoroughly amazed at their work!

Please check out the posters from the students here:
Facebook
Flipboard
Instagram
Pinterest
Twitter
You Tube

Over all I think the poster went wonderfully and I can't say enough good things about the teachers that I was lucky enough to work with.  So to +Ben Clutter, +Salvatore Maiorana, +Marisa Manocchio, and +Brock Wysong...thanks for working so hard on this poster session.  You are amazing teachers and I am so lucky to have been able to work with you for +College Ready Ohio and for #ISTE2016!

Not Goodbye...

but rather, I'll see you later.

This week I am wrapping up my last week at Ohio State University.  It has been an incredible journey.  I was living in Las Vegas 2 years ago and I decided to pick up and make the move out to Ohio.  There were some personal reasons behind it, but professionally, to say that I worked at THE Ohio State...just WOW!  So when I was offered my job, I took it...no hesitation.

And WOW was right.  I met some AMAZING teachers that I will never forget.  I was fortunate enough to work with some of the TOP educational technology leaders.  Not to mention the inspirational and HILARIOUS College Ready Ohio team.

This week has been an emotional roller coaster.  I have laughed, cried, felt like nothing was changing and been blown away...literally in the matter of minutes.  IT'S ONLY TUESDAY!!  I'm going to be an emotional zombie by Saturday when I start the drive with my husband and father in law to head back to Las Vegas.

I wouldn't change it for the world.

Now, however, let me take a minute and look at this from a student perspective.  Our kids are not all stationary.  How many of us have kids that have left your class, you, their friends, and sometimes their family?  As an adult, if it's a struggle to make this kind of a change, when it was MY/YOUR/OUR own choice...imagine how hard it must be to have to deal with all of it and feel like you have NO choice.  

During my wrap up meeting with Ben, we talked about how it wasn't the LAST time we'd see each other...it would just be a very LONG time.  In order to keep from tears, I made a flip comment about us being Facebook friends.  Which, while it may seem insincere or vapid...it really does make me feel better.  I makes me feel as if the relationships that I have spent the last 2 years working on and building aren't gone forever.  I can reach out to anyone and see what's going on in their daily life.  As a military brat growing up, I was not able to do that and I lost many friends because we couldn't stay in communication about "nothing".  

Now I'm not necessarily suggesting that you become FB friends with your students.  I, personally, would recommend against that in fact.  However, what I am suggesting is use the social media platforms that are available to you to give your students a chance to stay in communication with you and their friends about the "nothings" that are happening.  Do you have a class FB page?  Do you have a class Instagram page?  What about a class Twitter account?  Even a class Snapchat might be worth looking into.  

The students will move and they will love their new teacher and they will make new friends.  But in this day and age of globally connected technology...goodbye doesn't have to be anything but I'll see you later.  

Pokemon Ideas

I have been playing Pokemon Go for the past 4-5 days.

I've seen the support from fellow educators and friends and I have seen the disapproval from fellow educators and friends as well.  I don't necessarily announce it to the world, but I'm kind of enjoying it. I'm also not going out walking trying to track them down.  I look when I'm sitting at my desk or walking to a meeting or walking my dog.  Right now, Pokemon hunting isn't my priority, but it is something fun to do for a brain break...along the lines of checking my Facebook or online shopping.*

*the kind where you put it in your shopping cart and then close the window...who's with me??


However, my brain has been endlessly (or at least it feels that way) processing and trying to figure out how to make use of this game that has so many people obsessed!

My non-educator friends will argue there is no educational purpose in the game.  I won't argue because, much like their profession - I don't understand their goals and focus, and they don't understand mine.  I'm not looking for a way to make throwing the pokeball (is that what it's called?) and catching the creator educational.  Yea...at it's base, this is not an educational game.  So, why not make it one?  Why not?

So I have done some reading and I have been (like I said) doing some thinking.  Here's my very rough list of ideas...no details yet.  It's all still very theoretical and not fleshed out.
*behavior management - think Class Dojo meets Pokemon
*mapping skills - plot of a Google map where and what you catch - collaborative
*animal research - research the animal different Pokemon are based on - where does it live, what does it eat, how has it evolved, etc.  Assign points based on different aspects of animal characteristics...similar to Pokemon.  Create a Global Pokemon map showing where different animals can be caught and how many points they can get by catching them.  Go even further and plan out adventures...think Oregon Trail...what supplies will you need based on the environment and distance you'll travel. (I'm thinking this one out as I'm typing and getting kind of excited!!)
*literature/SS Go style game - students create a game similar to Pokemon Go with different characters in a story/throughout history.  As characters are caught, the designer also provides some interesting facts that are meant to entice students to learn more.  They can learn more by following clues and "capturing" more information about story/history.

Again all of these ideas are super surface with nothing carved in stone but I would love to hear from you.  Can you elaborate on anything?  Do you want to collaborate on anything?