Engagement - Garage Band playing rhythmic composition

I was impressed with my Grade 2s and 3s success with composing rhythmic patterns.  They really enjoyed playing their compositions on Garage Band's drums.  We learned to turn off the metronome (we were not playing on the metronome's beat) and to convert the saved file, as prompted by Google Drive.

student engagement with Explain Everything

My class has had mixed success with Explain Everything.  Sometimes it has impeded student engagement.  My wondering is why.  Unsuccessful uses have usually been in math to explain their thinking.  Maybe the technology competed with their thinking; having to think about how to use the technology AND the math?  Maybe their accountability decreased their risk-taking?  Maybe they simply were not able to articulate their thinking?  Maybe accountable talk just looks more productive from a distance and without evidence?
However, our newest success involved using Explain Everything to tell a narrative.  What do I attribute to this success?  We have been explicitly working with narratives in reading and writing all year.  We were inspired by storyteller Dan Yavinsky who visited our school and asked the students to tell a story from their personal life.  We immediately returned to class and used our familiar narrative planner; using pictures and/or words to plan.  Knowing that completion of their planner allowed them to record on the ipad definitely sped up the planning stage.  All students proudly completed their organizer and recorded their personal (or fictitious) story using Explain Everything within 110 minutes.  The voice clarity was excellent:)
Next, we are going to create narratives using Sock Puppets or Toontastic.  Any suggestions or tips?

Student Engagement with ipads

For the request of video evidence of students' feedback on technology, my students had two ideas.  First, they love using technology in the classroom because it is like home.  Second, they like video recording their ideas rather than having to write them.  Not a surprising finding but authentically out of the mouth of babes.

Using Explain Everything to Accommodate for Assessment

The facts:
7/8 Science class
34 students
13 with IEPs requiring accommodations and/or modifications
current unit - heavy on language

The assessment:
A quick multiple choice, true false, matching, short answer quiz

The dilema:
How am I going to read to and scribe for 13 students? (Any attempts to clone myself have been unsuccessful.)

The answer:
Explain Everything!!!!!!
I inserted pictures of each of the questions from the assessment onto an Explain Everything slide and recorded as I read and paraphrased questions.

What I learned/realized:
I thought I was brilliant to have students record their answer on the .xpl  but found that unless it was a multiple choice question the spacing was too small to write; a particular problem for students with fine motor skills issues.  Next time I will provide students with a hard copy to record answers on or, given the style of this quiz, I would set up the clickers to input the answers.
For assessment requiring written responses students can dictate their answers.  I use this feature a lot when giving feedback on .xpl

Student Feedback:
100% positive!  They L-O-V-E-D it!  (Although most requested a stylus for next time.)

What is half?

A THREE PART MATH LESSON

Cross Strand Learning:

Number Sense & Numeration:

• investigating fraction of a whole 

Geometric Relationships:

• Compose and decompose two-dimensional shapes
• Locate line of symmetry in a two-dimensional shape

Focus: What is half?

Minds On:

Identifier les formes géométriques, en faisant glisser le nom sur l'image correcte.

Activity # 1

The Minds On, was a whole group activity. The purpose of the activity was to refresh the students geometric math vocabulary from grade one.  Students had to identify the 2D shapes and drag the vocabulary over the matching image. This activity was done in Notebook on the Smartboard.  Together we practiced reading the vocabulary aloud.

Action:

Comment est-ce que tu peux couvrire une moitié de l'hexagone? Explique en utilisant Explain Everything.

In our class the students share 10 iPads, thus our Action activity was in groups of two or three.  To complete the task, students had to explore, using 2-D geometric shapes to cover half of a hexagon.  The next step was to take photos of their findings and record their thinking with the Explain Everything.

Consolidation:

Regarde les vidéos créer par les élèves et discute.

This part of the lesson is where lots of cool learning takes place.  The students are so proud to share their work and also excited to see what their peers have created.  

In the consolidation, as a group, we watched all the presentations  on the Smartboard.  (There was another step in there, I uploaded the presentations from Explain Everything to a shared folder in Google Drive).  The students immediately offered peer feedback and shared their thoughts with the class.  Students were able to pick up on criteria that was left out or  able to give an opinion is a positive way.  These videos are also great because students are able to see that there is more than one possible answer to the task.

Storage Locker

With the arrival of the Griffon cases for my minis, my set-up is now complete.  In previous posts I have been sharing how I set the minis up for “acceptable” use.  Now I want to share my storage solution. 

I found a smaller kid size vertical locker that stands 54” tall and is 15” by 15”.  These dimensions make it considerably more stable than a regular locker and the storage more vertical (no more dirty knees).  Inside there are two shelves (One 12” from the top and another 14” further down).  I had to order the 2nd shelf as extra.  A third one could be added but holes would need to be drilled.

Cost (including exchange, import costs and shipping) is about $230.  Contact: Chris Sayles ChrisS@jorgensoncompanies.com  webpage: schoollockers.com  (I bought mine off ebay and he threw in the extra shelf)

On each self I attached metal sorters that could support 7 minis per shelf. 

Below each shelf I attached 2 surge protected power bars.

I used industrial strength Velcro to attach the sorters and power bars…this stuff is incredibly strong.

The total cost of this secure metal storage unit with a footprint smaller than a foot and a half square is... just over $300 dollars!!!

(Please note: assembly was required for the locker.)

Engagement Success (Students' and Parents')

Video Clips to Google Drive (Nov. 25)

Learning Goal:  We are learning to add details to our writing (recount).
Strategies:  We use the 5Ws to include Who, What, Where, When, Why and How.
                 We visualize and describe with words what we see in our head.

Background Info:  The students used the 5Ws planner to determine details to include in their writing.  The students also listed their main events, in time order.  My discovery was that the students did not include the information in their planners in their recount.  Sometimes students claimed they did not need to because it said it "right there" (on their planner).

Mini Inquiry:  What will the impact of viewing a video clip of themselves reading their own recount be on their understanding the reader's perspective (not knowing the information in the planner), as measured by the accuracy and reflection in their self-assessment?

Student Engagement (Block 2 & 3):

Taking videos is inherently engaging, we had 100% eager participation.  Uploading to Google Drive was a new experience for the students.  They persevered and we had 100% engagement and success.  The third and final step was to share their clip in Google Drive with me.  By now it was third  block and the same student who in block 1 (before iPads) claimed he was not doing any work today, said he was not going to share.  Explaining that the only way I knew how to share his video clip on the Smartboard (partial truth) was for him to share with me on Google Drive, quickly brought him around.  All students proudly completed the third step :)

Coincidentally, almost half of the class was absent this day.  So the next day, we shared our video clips with the whole class and awarded each Google Drive Sharer with a Google Drive Expert Crown.  

It was incredible how proud and engaged my "Experts" were in teaching the previously absent children! All students successfully uploaded and shared their video clip.

As far as the mini inquiry question, the process took a life of its own.  They were so proud of their technology accomplishment that reflecting upon their writing was overshadowed.  

The AMAZING part is that I had 3 parents visit me on different days after school to see their child's video.  The students' excitement and crowns were the best "What I did at school" conversation starter. The next week I had a note in the agenda from one of these parents who explained how proud her son was to be able to share his school work with his father at home!  That is the BEST parent involvement our class has had (so far) this year!!!

Here is one clip.  Please remember that the video clips were never intended to be polished products but for the purpose of self-assessment.

https://docs.google.com/a/tldsb.net/file/d/0B4GUaYmPr4wXNXBkZHlTUnZNU2M/edit

Math Survey on Google Forms

With many unforeseen delays, such as not being able to connect to the tldsb wifi... I began my inquiry with Google Drive.  My staff and I had a brief introduction on our last PD day, and I haven't looked back since.  See ya Microsoft! I can't begin to tell you how much more efficient planning, creating, teaching, and sharing  has become. Anyway, back on track... Though I have been working with my grade 2 FI students, and have an idea about their capabilities in math, I wanted to see how well they knew themselves, when it came to their mathematical minds.  I created a survey in Google Drive, more specifically a Google Form.  With simple steps along the way, I was able to create a variety of questions within one Form.  For example, in the first question "What tools do you use in Math to explain your thinking"?, the students were able to select more than one box  for their answer.  Whereas, in question 3, the type of question is multiple choice with only one possible answer.  And yet another type of response could be a written answer to a question.

Once the survey was created, I copied the link into a shared folder for all the students to access and complete.

Math Survey

Math Survey Summary

Now this is the cool part! Once the surveys were completed, we were able to view the collected data.  Look how nice and pretty these charts are, and I didn't even have to crunch the numbers.  Immediately we turned to the smartboard and were able to discuss our findings about their mathematical minds.  But wait, if you are not convinced, there is more.  What's this? A student has returned from the washroom and hasn't completed her survey.  YIKES!  No worries, with a click of a button she has answered the last question and submitted her form.  "Hey Madame Lawrence, did you see that yellow bar grow"?  That's right my friends, real time data collection.  As students submit their forms, you can see how the data changes.

Think of the cross-curricular possibilities you and your students can create, share and discuss with this tool.

Interpreting this data has been useful already.  NOT one student chose technology as a possible answer, as a tool in math to help explain their thinking.  This is where the iPads come in to play. Our next mission, Operation Explain Everything!  

Stay tuned...

Engagement (Student) through iPads; Explain Everything

iPad Launch (Nov. 13)

It was like Christmas opening up the iPads!  The students were so pumped:)

Thank goodness for Jeremy's patience and assistance with downloading Explain Everything.  I am so grateful for the support from the IIT team.  The basics are new learning from me.  I had never used iTunes cards or gone to the App Store before.  Challenging for me..but now I can:)

Jeremy is so skilled at engaging students.  His idea of "driver" and "navigator" for sharing the iPads and frequently switching roles is genius.  I have 4 students in particular who are challenging to engage.  With the novelty of launching the iPads and with 5 adults in the classroom for the first 30 minutes of exploring Explain Everything features, all the students were actively involved.  The process unveiled the need for further explicit teaching around turn-taking and teamwork.  Ultimately, 11 out of 15 students completed the exploration session.  Today confirmed that the technology is an engaging hook for all the students.  I also learned that students with special needs continue to need accommodations when completing tasks with technology.  Next time, I will ensure that my 4 target students do not need to share iPads as this was overwhelming for their self-regulation.  Our goal will be to gradually work with others with the iPads.  I look forward to further exploring Explain Everything.  This app has huge potential for the monitoring and tracking of student learning.