#CyberPD 2016 - Week 1

It's time for July CyberPD.  This year we are reading DIY LITERACY by Kate Roberts and Maggie Beattie Roberts.  You can follow and join the discussion on the Google CyberPD Community and follow the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #cyberPD.

This week's response is for Chapters 1, 2 and the Bonus Chapter.

How do we get our students to remember what we've taught them?  How do we get our students to work independently?  How do we meet the needs of a diverse group of learners? These are our goals as classroom teachers and these are questions all of ask each regularly!  In this book Kate and Maggie will be introducing tools that can help us meet these goals.

THE TOOLS

TEACHING CHART: I think many of us already use these - I certainly do! The authors refer to 2 types: repertoire - a list of skills or strategies and process: steps to using a skill or strategy.  I believe the key here is to make the chart with your students and make sure it hangs where students can see it.  In my experience students also need us to model how to refer to and use the chart.

DEMONSTRATION NOTEBOOK: This would be a working notebook that the teacher creates and keeps on the ready to use in small group or individual instruction. It is a collection of interactive lessons to help students practice a needed skill.  I am interested in learning more about this tool.  The first time I heard about this tool was on Kate and Maggie's blog DIY Literacy video series and it really captured my attention.  How many times have I gathered a few students together to try and reteach a skill, only to spend more time talking and not enough time practicing!  I really want to see and hear what other teachers are thinking about this idea! Am I organized enough to make and use one of these? Would I start making it as I need it and then have it for the following year?

MICRO-PROGRESSION CHART: This reminds me of a rubric.  Students are provided with examples of work that are leveled from lowest to highest quality.  Criteria or descriptions for each level are provided.  This way students can self assess and know specifically what they need to improve.  I don't think you would make this chart for everything you teach, but I could see creating one for areas that you feel the whole class is in need of work.  One particular area I think would work for me is in writing workshop.  Even after using checklists and rubrics my third graders will often think they have included particular revision strategies or skills.

BOOKMARKS: These are personalized for the specific student and students are involved in creating them.

In the Bonus Chapter Kate and Maggie discuss how to find the strategies you need.  And I think this CyberPdD is a perfect way to connect with other teachers to help locate great resources.  They also discuss how to write a strategy and what to write, in detail.  I admit this is where I will need to go back to when I'm ready to try it in the classroom.  It is summer after all!

FAVORITE SNIP-IT FROM BOOK: page 3, "we often get trapped in the hamster wheel of breadth-of being sure we have gotten to everything-rather than centering our work on depth." Yep, yep, yep! I agree and remind myself of this often...no hamster wheel for me!

I am very excited to read and learn from all the other cyberPD-ers this summer.

Technology and Digital Learning: Reflection, Update and Status of my Teaching #CyberPD

Around this time of year I always start reflecting on my current year of teaching.  Last summer I participated in #Cyber PD Google Community, which caused me to stop and reflect on my use of technology.  You can read my posts here, here, here and here.

I wanted to write an update on my current use of technology and my current mood/philosophy regarding technology in the classroom.  A couple of things have changed since last summer.  Our school got a cart of Chromebooks for the library and the district hired a full-time library media specialist for our building.  We still don't have wireless in my hallway, but I hear the district is working on that.  I also hear they are purchasing another cart of Chromebooks to be checked out for the classroom.  This, in addition to a computer lab is good news!

I still believe that technology should be used to help students create, collaborate and share their learning.  In general, I'm not interested in the next best app or gadget just because it's available and all shiny and new.  Whether it's an old fashion pencil, book, or electronic device I always ask myself one question.  How will this improve my teaching and students' learning?  If a notebook and pencil works best, than I'm still going to use it! Last summer, I have to admit, I felt envious of all the 1-to-1 i-pad and Chromebook classes.  It was frustrating to see the inequity across schools in regard to technology.  This fall and winter, as I dreamed of my own 1-to-1 classroom, I realized that I needed to decide what that exactly meant to me.  What would I do if I had access to devices all day long?  Would I use them for everything?  Since I don't have 1-to-1 devices yet, I can't tell you what exactly I would do, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't use them for everything.  Here's why;  First, I just don't think it's healthy for children to sit in front of a screen for long.  Elementary students need to touch and manipulate paper, pen and math manipulatives.  They need to use oral language.  They need to lay on a beanbag and read.  And, yes they need to do the physical act of writing.  And they need to do it a lot.  I also think it's important for students to have choices and know when to use technology.  So right now, for me, a 1-to-1 class means that my students would have access to the technology whenever they need it.  They don't have to sign up to go to the computer lab.

One thing that has come up quite often this past year, at least in my school district, is whether or not teaching third graders to use Google Drive is appropriate.  Many teachers argue that without keyboarding skills, students cannot successfully use Drive. It is my opinion that Google Drive is definitely appropriate for third graders!  Yes, they are very, very slow with the keyboarding skills, and it takes most students 1-2 sessions just to learn how to log onto their account.  But we must remember that learning is a process, it is not about a product.  I start with Google Draw and Slides which allows students to get familiar with the keyboard without having to type an entire document.  I also think it's important for teachers to understand that Drive is so much more than a word processing program!  Right now my students are creating their first Google Document.  They are pecking away much quicker and finding the right keys.  Using Draw and Slide, along with working collaboratively, allowed them time to learn the keyboard and how to format text so they were ready for independence.  My access to computers is very limited, so I didn't want to use that time with a formal typing program.

Other Changes
I started a class twitter account and still have a class blog.  One goal I had was to blog more regularly.  This didn't happen, so I need to re-evaluate my class blog and whether I will continue blogging.  I did revamp my class website and I think it is very useful.  I am particularly proud of my Symbaloo page.  It allows my students to easily access different Internet sites that we use. I continue to use Wonderopolis for shared reading, but also added DogoNews.  I tried out Bookopolis with my class, but students really don't use it due to our limited access to computers.  My class has visited the library often to use the Chromebooks for several inquiry projects.  You can read a post about it here. It has been wonderful to work alongside our new library media specialist.

NEXT YEAR
Next year some things will be changing.  I've decided to move to 5th grade.  I've been in grades 1-3 for the last ten years, so I am excited and nervous for the challenge of a new grade.  I have loved every grade I have taught.  There isn't a big reason for the change, it's just something I have been considering for awhile.  I started my career teaching 4th, which made me a better 1st grade teacher, which made me a better 2nd grade teacher, which made me a better 3rd grade teacher, and that will make me a better 5th grade teacher! I look forward to using Google Drive with my fifth graders and exploring other digital tools as well.

Google Drive in the Elementary Classroom - inspired by #cyberPD2015

This summer I participated in #cyberPD Google Community.  We read and discussed Digital Reading: What's Essential by Bill Bass and Franki Sibberson. The conversations have continued at the CyberPD blog. You can also find this post there!

Last year I began exploring Google Drive with my third graders after my district had recently began using Google Apps for Education.  I wrote about my first experiences here. For this post I thought I would share the different ways I have tried to use Google Drive in my Reading Workshop. I certainly am not an expert, but I hope by sharing my experiences it will inspire others to share how they use Google Drive in their classrooms.

I think many teachers probably have some experience using Google Drive, probably Docs, which is similar to Word, a word processing program. However Drive is much more powerful and versatile!   What makes it so powerful is the ability it gives teachers and students to collaborate and share what they create in an authentic manner.

Google Draw
The first tool that my students got familiar with was Google Draw.  I love this tool because it is so versatile.  Students can make posters, graphic organizers, thinking maps, diagrams and can even add clip art or images.  And since my third graders had basically no typing experience this was a great tool to start with to help them get familiar with the keyboard, and not get bogged down by typing. Just like you might partner or group your students to work on a project traditionally you can do the same thing in Google Drive.  Students and teachers can share documents digitally and work on them together.  For example, after participating in book clubs my students worked in partnerships to create Circle Thinking Maps about main characters.  One student creates the document in their drive and shares it with the second student.  Then they can work together to create the map and share it with me when they are done.  I have my third graders sit down next to each other in the computer lab so they can communicate with one another easily and I can help or chat with them together while they work.  However, students can work in separate places and even at home in a collaborative fashion using the Chat function to communicate with one another.  To get an idea of what is looks like on the screen when students are working on the same document you can view this quick video of Brian St. Pierre's 5th grade class working on on document together. Of course it is wonderful to see students creating digitally, but the exciting part is all the ways we can now share our creations.  With Google Drive you can embed documents in websites or blogs, or share them by using URL's.  And yes, you can still print them out traditionally.  All student work is saved electronically becoming sort of a digital portfolio.

We didn't create a lot since I was learning last year, but I wanted to show you a few student samples so that you could see all the possibilities this tool provides.




My colleague, Brian St. Pierre, has several tutorials on Youtube for using Google Drive that you might find helpful.  The first one is on sharing a document with another person.

Google Presentation
Google Presentation is like a slide show.  Once students were familiar with Draw it was very easy for them to learn how to make slides. At the end of the year each student created a slide and then I was able to put all the slides together to create a Google Presentation that I embedded on our Class Blog.

Google Forms
Another tool we tried was Google Forms.  Forms is a great way to collect information, whether you are surveying your students about their reading life or creating a quiz or test, you can do it with forms. After we had read an article in our Scholastic News about whether video games should be considered a sport we decided to create a survey using Google Forms and then embed it in our blog as a post called Is Video Gaming a Sport?.  When you are in Drive viewing your Form you can also click 'view responses' and you will see a spreadsheet of all you data.  You can also create a chart or graph of your data once in Google Sheets. I am still learning how to do this!

Organizing Google Drive
It doesn't take long to collect lots of student documents once they start sharing with you! I will admit I have not organized my student shared documents.  One of my colleagues creates a file for each student in her class and shares the file with that particular student.  She asks that all their finished work go into that file.  This is something I will probably do this year.  It will be a mini-digital portfolio.

Students also need a list of student usernames so that they can easily share documents.  I created a document that listed everyone's name, including mine, along with their usernames, and shared this document with my class.  That way they could copy and paste usernames when they needed to share documents.  Students have usernames that look similar to an email, but are not an email account.

Google Classroom
If you want to have a central place where you can digitally hand out assignments, provide links and collect student work then Google Classroom might be right for you.  Google Classroom is linked to your Google Drive.  Once you sign up and create a Classroom you can invite your students to join. It's definitely very middle school and high school friendly.  You can upload worksheets and hand them out electronically to your students.  Students complete the work and hand it back in electronically.  All student work is than located in your Classroom folder. Google Classroom keeps track of this and you can even grade assignments digitally.  Late in the spring I decided to experiment with Google Classroom to see if it might work for my third grade class.  I made a short video so that you can tour my Google Classroom to decide if it is right for you and your classroom.

As you can see Google Drive has much potential for helping students create and share in a meaningful and authentic manner.  I have just touched the surface of how we can use it in our classrooms.  I look forward to teaching my new batch of third graders and exploring more ways to use Google Drive in my digital reading classroom! I would love to hear how you use Google Drive in your elementary classroom.

#cyberPD - Week 3 - Ch. 6-7 - Digital Reading

This summer I am participating in #cyberPD Google Community.  We are reading and discussing Digital Reading: What's Essential by Bill Bass and Franki Sibberson.

This week's reading reminded me of previous experiences I've had with digital tools and trying to connect with parents.  As I read the chapters I was able to really reflect on what I've done in the past, the present, and how I want to expand or change what I do now.

About 6 years ago when I was teaching second grade in a different building I became very interested in using more technology in my classroom.  I had been lucky enough to be one of a few teachers to have a Smartboard installed the previous year and had begun to see the possibilities for connecting my students to the outside world beyond our classroom and school.  This realization came shortly after I started using Twitter.  I had 2 computers in my classroom and that was all that was available. (LOL At least I have a computer lab in my new building!) I had heard about a set of Netbooks that were available to borrow from a Teacher Center about 15 minutes away.  After harrassing contacting my superintendent regarding the need for wireless he was able to move a router from the office to my classroom so I could experiment with the Netbooks.  I should also mention that he kindly showed up in my room one day with a webcam so that I could use Voicethread and Skype.  I mention this story because I decided to have a Technology Day in my classroom and invite families to come in and experience the technology we were using.  Of course it was a wonderful day as parents used the Smartboard, recorded on VoiceThread, posted comments on Kidblog and our class blog, and used other websites that my students were familiar with.  However, as I now look back I realize my focus was on the technology instead of the learning.  I have definitely grown since that time.  Once I got over my, "OH, shiny new toy!" phase my need for authentic and meaningful use of these new digital tools began to kick in.

Love this quote from the book - great message - The Internet is a place where reading happens.

I will add to that:  The Internet is a place where reading, writing and learning happens.  It's a place to connect, create, collaborate and share.  That is the message I want both my students and parents to hear.

Connecting with parents is very important to me, but I often feel like only a handful of families really know what is going on in our classroom.  And so little student work actually goes home regularly because of the nature of a workshop classroom.  Everything is in a notebook and I don't give regular traditional tests. I have a website with details about our day-to-day running of the classroom and helpful websites for home.  We have a class blog where we write about our learning and share some of our class work.  Only a few parents ever, if rarely post a comment to our blog.  (Hmm...maybe they don't know how to do this?) This communication problem extends to our report cards which are only available online, unless parents request a printed version.  We are able to find out how many parents log on and how often, and let me say it is not a very good statistic!  Most of the elementary teachers report less that 10 families looking at the report card.  There have been many conversations in the faculty room as to why we have such a poor interest in the report card.  I think there are several reasons, but one that comes to mind after this weeks reading is understanding the digital tools.  Do my parents know how to access the report card?  Is the information meaningful to them?  I'm guessing it may not be.  I really need to find a better way to communicate with my parents about their student's learning.  One thing I want to try more is student made videos - either tutorials or general information about  our learning.

Franki suggests setting up communication goals for the year.  So that is what I'm going to do right now!

• I want my students to be able to connect with family, fellow classmates and more global audiences.
• I want to have a space to share our learning.
• I want to have a hub for general information and class activities.
• I want my students to learn how to use the Internet safely and with good etiquette.
• I would like to explore sharing individual work and information with parents digitally.

I have a class blog and I know I can use it better! My students enjoy commenting when in the computer lab, but few comment from home.  I also want to increase our global audience.  I think I will start a Class Twitter account!  Trying to get parents more involved is a challenge.  I though about having a Class Facebook page, because I know most of the parents have a Facebook page!  It's the one social media place I have not entered yet.  I use Instagram and Pinterest for personal use.  Our district recently discontinued the platform we used for our teacher websites and is now using Google, so I am currently building my class site.  All of the information I have learned from this #cyberPD will help me a lot.

It has been great reading this book with other educators!  I can't wait to read other posts and comments.  

#cyberPD 2015 - Week 2 - Chapters 3-5 - Digital Reading

This summer I am participating in #cyberPD Google Community.  We are reading and discussing Digital Reading: What's Essential by Bill Bass and Franki Sibberson.

Frankie's recalling of the 'rock girls' and how they easily transitioned from one tool to the next, whether it was digital or not was simply amazing...something I dream of.  Ahhhhh...

Frankie's discussion about the Book Trailer assignment was very interesting.  It was looking back and reflecting on her assignments that helped her to make necessary changes and have more successful Book Trailers.  I find sometimes that is the best way for me to learn as a teacher!  I dive in and try something out, then I can reflect and make changes. (When I say dive in, I do spend time planning first. LOL)

Thoughts on Authenticity
Questions about authenticity come up whether lessons are digital or more traditional.  As I teach my students the skills they need to use Google Drive Apps I  must balance the need for an authentic literacy experience with the need to teach my students HOW to use these tools.  When I introduced Google Draw I found it necessary to let my third graders just play with the app for a period, similar to letting students play with math manipulatives before using them as a math tool.

Creating authentic literacy lessons that really help my students grow as readers and writers is a challenge, no matter the tool, digital or otherwise.  (I had a moment, actually several, where I thought, "These people already have the traditional reading workshop down! What the heck!  Where have I been?") But seriously, I am a work in progress when it comes to finding ways for students to respond personally and thoughtfully to text.  I do think digital tools help make it more authentic.

We are picky about the books we bring into the classroom library so we must be picky about the digital text and tools we introduce too.  This is one of my favorite quotes from the book so far!
My district recently purchased a subscription to an online program that provides leveled texts for students to read online.  I think teachers can also print out some books too.  Students have their own accounts and can take reading quizzes as well.  I have to be honest and say that this program disturbs me just a bit. Is it the quizzes?  Probably?  Is it the leveled texts?  Maybe.  As I've said before I have limited access to computers so I haven't used the program yet. Is this really authentic reading?  How can I use this program in an authentic manner?  I would love to hear your opinion.

Thoughts on Digital Tools
Bev Gallagher's poetry experience reminded me that I have used Audioboom with my personal iPad even though I don't have wireless in my classroom....so I need to explore this tool more.

Cryslyn reminded me that I need to use digital tools more often to build background for my third graders.  I have begun, but there is so much more I can be doing.  I show videos to introduce lessons but I think it might be important to start modeling how to listen and take notes when using video.  This part is very exciting! We do not have a science or social studies text so this seems like a perfect place to add more digital text and video.

Judy Johnson's lesson on critical thinking and evaluating websites was fabulous and hilarious! Where was she when I needed her this last winter? My one foray into research using Google was unsuccessful to say the least.  I really didn't even know how to narrow down my lessons.  I wanted them to know that all websites were not created equal, but how to do that with third graders?  I finally gave up.  Judy has given me some new ideas to think about.

Franki talked about curating collections of digital media for students.  I have used Padlet to collect websites and videos for a unit on the Water Cycle.  I want to explore Symbaloo now!  I think this idea could be a great way to use my limited computer access.

I also loved how Scott Jones uses Padlet for Read Alouds.  I think Padlet could be a great tool for me to expand upon.  It's important to choose tools that have wide uses especially when technology is limited in the classroom.

SHARED READING:  I do it a lot.  In fact this is the main way my students see digital text.  This weeks reading reinforced how powerful shared reading can be for my students.  I got so many ideas for modeling how to read digital text.  I also realized that I needed to start modeling how to understand all types of digital media.

CONNECTEDNESS
Franki is amazing.  How she created her unit on communities was amazing... so much depth.

Connections - putting it all together and sharing it.  Isn't that the final part of reading?  But so many students don't understand that.  Most only learn that when you are done reading you take a test.  Just connecting a few times outside the classroom can open so many new doors for students.  I have begun making connections outside the classroom as a whole class community.  I would love to  find more ways to do this.

So much to think about with this week's reading!

#cyberPD 2015 - Week 1 - Chapters 1 & 2 - Digital Reading

This summer I am participating in #cyberPD Google Community.  We are reading and discussing Digital Reading: What's Essential by Bill Bass and Franki Sibberson.

Chapter 1 & 2

The authors pose several questions that definitely resonate with me.  How do we decide whether any new thing - especially technology related - has enough potential to try?  How do we determine the best ways to use technology in order to teach reading in the digital age?  It is easy to get lost in the newest, best technology because it may be flashy, or we are told it meets the common core standards.  But for me it remains important that I continue to make reading authentic and meaningful for my third graders.  I love how Franki uses the reading workshop as a framework.  With the introduction of technology we don't have to start over or throw out the workshop methods.

"Just because students are 'good' with technology does not mean they are literate in the digital age."  I definitely agree with this quote!  Yes, my students use their parent's Smart Phones to play games.  Many even have access to iPads, but very few of my students do anything but play games or take photos on these devices.  As a teacher I am interested in introducing digital tools to my students and showing them how they may be used in their daily life.  So I thought it might be helpful to list the different ways I am beginning to introduce these digital tools and as I continue with this cyberPD I can think about how I might continue or change the way I teach digital reading.

In my classroom I have one computer and a Smartboard that I use for my workshop mini-lessons.
- Youtube videos - I use videos for all sorts of comprehension and content lessons.
-Wonderopolis - great website for teaching non-fiction reading strategies
-Skype - I have connected with authors and other classrooms.
-Scholastic News - we can access our weekly magazine online with videos
-Class Blog - we share our learning and students learn to write comments.

Computer lab: We have access to the computer lab 2 - 3 periods per week.  This year I began teaching my students how to use Google Drive.

How else might I use my "technology time" to teach my students how to use digital tools in authentic ways?  I don't want my students to think going to the computer lab is a separate learning time - I want them to see how it is an extension to our literacy learning.  How can I help them connect with other readers digitally? What are the skills I need to teach my students to help them be successful digital readers and writers? What other digital tools might I introduce to my students?