Vocabulary Instruction, Visual Literacy, and Google Slides

My class will soon compete in the first meet in the 2014-2015 WordMasters Challenge, a nationwide vocabulary competition in which students complete word analogies.  They are given 25 words to study in depth prior to each phase of the competition.  This is my first year using WordMasters and I am trying a variety of strategies to help my fifth graders learn the vocabulary words, many of which are new to them and have multiple meanings. In the evening after the day that we went over the meaning of the word aerie, I was browsing Facebook and a friend posted a blog link with a beautiful photograph of a castle from a blog post titled 20 Enchanting Places in Italy That Belong in Fairy Tales.  I knew immediately that I wanted to share this picture with my students.  If they saw this, as well as a picture of an eagle's nest, they would definitely remember both definitions.

In addition to being defined as the nest for a bird of prey, an aerie is also defined by Merriam-Webster as an elevated, often secluded dwelling.  Thinking about the importance of visual literacy (see Common Core in Action:  10 Visual Literacy Strategies) this castle image inspired me to think outside the "write the definition and use the word in a sentence" task box.  Students need to see something tangible to make connections between the words, their meanings, and images.  With this beautiful photograph as my inspiration, I created the Vocabulary Slideshow Team Project.  You can see a sample of one of my group creations here:
  https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1eOnif75IRyx1cgr_7lEHJh8nhCkpMw2YYZex0QNjnJQ/edit?usp=sharing

To make it easy for my fifth graders to get started, I created the template for them.  Using Google Slides, I created the cover slide with the title and the names of the students who would work on the project together.  I didn't think it was necessary for each student to create their own slideshow of 25 words, so I assigned each slideshow to a group of four or five already established teams. I numbered the slides and added the vocabulary word to each slide.  I then used the Google "Sharing" feature to share the document by email notification to each of the students on the team.  If you are using PowerPoint, the difference is all in the real-time sharing.  Google Slides offers collaboration in real time.  

I am in the exciting position of having students who each have access to a school email account.  We have a computer lab, a laptop cart, and an iPad cart readily available, so I used a computer lab time to launch this project.  Accessing the document was as easy as opening their email and clicking on the link to their shared document.  For anyone reading this not familiar with Google Docs, all students on the team have access to the same document at the same time.  As one student types on slide one, the others are scrolling through searching for other slides to work on.  I love that Google Docs saves every change, and we never have to stop to save our work!  The students enjoy seeing that they can edit the theme of the slideshow with one click, then look over to their teammates' computers to see the changes occur within seconds!  

The beauty of collaboration in Google Docs was very quickly evident during the launching of this lesson.  One of my students was home sick.  His mother is a teacher in the same school so she was home with him and they just  happened to be checking his email for class assignments during the time our class was in the computer lab.  He saw the email, clicked the link to the shared document, and was able to collaborate with his partners in real time, from his computer at home!  The students on his team noticed his name and picture icon in the corner of the screen, typed a quick note to him within the document to tell him which three or four words he would be responsible for completing, and they all got to work right away.  This was the first time we've seen spontaneous, unplanned school/home collaboration, and it was pretty cool.

Since my students have already looked up the definitions, common uses, synonyms, and antonyms of each of the 25 vocabulary words, they needed just a quick introduction to the Insert Image feature in Google Slide.  I found this feature to be safer for searching images than simply opening a second tab and searching for images.  Digital Citizenship lessons are embedded in all the online activities we participate in, so my students understood that some words could possibly lead them to images they were not intending to see.  Our way of handling this was to have students get my attention right away, so I could help them specify their image search using more specific terminology.  For example, one of our words in this round of WordMasters is grope, which we have already discussed as having a slightly adult, "inappropriate" connotation, so I went ahead and found a picture to insert along with the definition.  Students were told NOT to search for any other images for this word, and they all respected that instruction as good digital citizens.  Teachers using this project should think ahead and do a quick search of each of the words to be assigned, just to see what the typical search results will include.  

Project Tasks:

1.  Divide the words among team members.

2.  Each team member types in the definition, synonyms, and antonyms of each word in the text box. 

3.  Each team member then searches for images to insert which reflect the meaning(s) of the word.  

4.  Students use the word in a sentence related to each of the images.  

Students found some words more difficult to find image depictions of than others.  When they came to the words chortle, and snicker, some groups decided to use the Insert Snapshot feature, and took pictures of themselves chortling and snickering.  

Both of my fifth grade classes greatly enjoyed this project.  It took two forty-five minute class sessions to complete.  All students were fully engaged in the process and all took their tasks seriously.  They enjoyed finding and creating images, especially the ones that were a little more challenging to find or stage.  After our Thanksgiving break, I will give each group time to present their slide shows to the class so we can compare and contrast the work of each team. Students regularly make a point of showing me when they find our vocabulary words in their independent reading texts, and they try to use the words in their conversations.  I am excited to see the results of their first WordMasters Challenge in December after completing this Google Slide project.

Back to School 2014 - Pictures of my new space!

As I write this, I am one week away from the teachers' back to school week and two weeks away from the first day of school.  I spent the better part of today in my classroom removing a gazillion staples from the walls and putting up a few decorations.  Now that the room is pretty much under control, I can get my head wrapped around the unit/project/lesson planning!

I LOVE this "wordle."  I found this on Pinterest and added my own spin to it by printing the words out onto American Girl scrapbooking papers (11x11", cut down to 8 1/2x11" to fit in my printer).  I then cut them out, and mounted them on various colors of construction paper borders.  The original idea/blog post was found here.  There is a link included to a Google Docs page with the words ready to print!  

Since this is a new classroom and a new grade level for me, I need to go through the bookshelves to see what I have in my classroom library.  I set up a Goodreads account with my school email address (so it's a separate database from my personal reading list).  Tomorrow I will spend some time scanning each of the titles in my library to Goodreads and placing them on a new virtual shelf titled, "5th Grade Classroom Library."  This way, I will have a place to go to see the full database of books already belonging to my classroom!  Too bad Goodreads doesn't have a way for me to use their site to check books out to students.  Maybe someday?!

Genius Hour?

This summer while learning how to use Twitter for professional development, I happened upon the term genius hour.  I found it when following links related to project based learning and design thinking.  

Even if you teach in a traditional setting, it only takes one teacher with one innovative idea to make a tremendous difference in the lives of your students.  By reading this today and following these links, YOU could be the one to start something wonderful in your classroom or school this year.

The more I read about genius hour, the more interested I become.  

I'm not sure how this looks in practice, but I'm sure the links below can shed more light on the subject.  

What if, for one period per week, your students were allowed to create a project based on their individual passions?  

I posed the question to my son, who will be starting middle school this year.  I asked him what he would want to learn more about.  Connor replied as I predicted with "pugs."  For quite some time now, Connor has been in love with pug dogs.  Well, what about them?  "Everything!" he replied. He wants to pull together his favorite pug photos, resources about their care and training, and where to find one locally.  This led to a conversation about the varied projects he could create around his topic.  Academic skills could include reading, research, critical thinking, validity and credibility of sources, writing (grammar and usage), presentation skills, tech skills related to the format of the presentation or project method he chooses to share his learning, and so much more. 

My son immediately began creating a PowerPoint presentation featuring his favorite pictures of pugs.  His audience is himself.  It's July, he's not in school yet, and he took it upon himself to do this. Just the mention of creating something based on his passion inspired him to get started right away.  

If this is presented in the classroom, think of how students will react to being encouraged to pursue their passions within the school day.  

Follow some of these links below to learn so much more from educators who have already implemented this plan in their schools.  

http://www.geniushour.com/

http://cybraryman.com/geniushour.html

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=829279

http://ajjuliani.com/the-research-behind-20-time/

Genius Hour Newsletter Link:

  https://stemgeniushour.bloomfire.com/posts/832288-genius-hour-newsletter/public

Compassion Based Learning: 

 http://compassionbasedlearning.blogspot.com/2014/06/are-you-part-of-this-if-so-help.html

Mr. Solarz Genius Site:

  http://psolarz.weebly.com/2013-2014-passion-projects.html

More Solarz Passion:

  http://psolarz.weebly.com/passion-time.html

More Solarz Passion - Getting Started:

  http://psolarz.weebly.com/mr-solarz-eportfolio/creating-passion-projects-genius-hour

Wonder Wall: 

 http://www.geniushour.com/2013/10/06/a-constructivist-take-on-genius-hour-using-wonder-wall/

I Love Edmodo!

I don't remember when or how I first discovered www.edmodo.com, but I love it and want every teacher to know about it. 

In the past, I found it to be most beneficial for collaboration with faculty and staff at the school level.  I don't know about you, but when people send me emails during the school day, I don't typically have time to give them my full attention, and they get buried.  I probably need to spend time figuring out how to flag them or color code them for better efficiency.  So, instead of sharing great ideas, blogs, websites, and projects with my co-workers via email, I started up a group for my faculty and staff.  I posted the links in our group, lobbied with administration to use the group more often, and I organized the shared links in the library in categorized file folders to make the group user-friendly.

This system made me feel so much more organized.  Our staff now has the ability to document the completion of certain school-wide requirements in the files, in addition to collaborating within the group setting.

Being a teacher in a private school, collaboration opportunities with other teachers in my grade level were extremely limited.  Our Diocese did catch on to the Edmodo opportunity for collaboration, yet participation was limited.  Hopefully over time, more teachers will see the positive benefits of group collaboration.  

This summer I am learning more about the apps offered within Edmodo.  I stumbled upon them just by clicking various buttons on the tool bars within my groups.  I started using Twitter for professional development, and stumbled upon a tweet inviting users to apply to become an Edmodo Ambassador. https://blog.edmodo.com/2014/06/30/calling-all-aspiring-edmodo-ambassadors/comment-page-1/#comment-184972 Because I wanted to learn as much as possible about how I can best use all the features, I signed up right away.  I was put into an 8-module webinar series, and I HIGHLY recommend every teacher who wants to be more aware of the options to follow the link and get started!

The look and feel of the group section of Edmodo is very similar to Facebook.  When using the groups with students, however, there are some key differences:
*Parents can see all direct one-on-one communications between teacher and student.  Parents can also see grades and assignments, plus the status of assignments that are turned in or still outstanding.
*Students cannot send direct private messages to each other.
*Groups are closed, which means they are not open to the public.  The audience is limited to the teacher, classmates, and administration.  I personally like this for my fifth graders, as they are learning how to positively interact in digital situations.

These are great safety features, and any teacher using the groups for classroom assignments and collaboration will certainly want to add digital citizenship lessons at the start of using Edmodo or any other blog space, and ongoing as needed.  There are moderation features available.  This means that new students or students who might have made unfortunate choices in their collaboration can be moderated, and posts will not be published until the teacher approves them.  

I am looking forward to creating quizzes and assignments within my student groups. I can create small groups within my classes for language arts and social studies projects and discussions.  

If you are a veteran Edmodo user, I would love to hear from you with project ideas!

Coding Classes - A Couple of Free Options

My boys, like many teens and pre-teens, are interested in video games, computer games, and robotics.  Summer camps that address these interests tend to be more expensive than my budget allows, so this summer I have discovered several options for learning coding at home.  None of my friends have ever mentioned the word "coding" in "What to do with the kids this summer" conversations, yet I know they are always looking for new ideas.

The easiest place to start is www.code.org.  

Create a free account and take classes on a variety of topics:

Tutorials for Beginners
-Write Your First Computer Program
-Create a Holiday Card with "Scratch"
-Build Your Own Game (Tynker)
-Lightbot
-AppInventor Hour of Code

Tutorials That Teach JavaScript
-An Introduction to JavaScript (KhanAcademy)
-Codecademy
-Learn to Code with Karel the Dog
-Build a Game with JavaScript (Code Avengers)
-Code Combat

"Unplugged" Computer Science for people who don't have a device handy.  


I found a great option for teachers through www.Edmodo.com.  As a teacher, I was able to download the free "Coding Made Easy" app from LearnStreet. 

 I assigned the apps (which include Python, Ruby, and JavaScript) to the class or "group" I set up.  For summer "at home camp" purposes, I invited some of my friends to create student accounts for their children.  I invited those children along with my own to join our class so they could access the courses.  After the students complete the courses, there are dozens of projects they can create from Minesweeper to Sudoku games!

Check out these links for more options, and please add any you know about in the comments section below!  
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/coding-apps-and-websites

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/7-apps-teaching-children-coding-anna-adam

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hopscotch-programming-designed/id617098629?mt=8

http://readwrite.com/2013/04/19/how-to-raise-the-next-zuck-6-coding-apps-for-kids#awesm=~oILDugO83dFmHK

http://www.graphite.org/blog/12-best-apps-and-websites-for-learning-programming-and-coding

Evernote

If you are not already using Evernote, I have a few personal and educational uses that work for me, and may be beneficial to you as well!

Step 1:  Go to www.evernote.com and create a free account.  On my personal laptop, I downloaded the "webclipper" tool that puts a little elephant icon in my tool bar, so I can click it to capture screenshots and save to my Evernote "Notebooks."

Step 2:  Decide what kind of "Notebooks" you want to create.  I just created a new account that will apply directly to my new grade level, so all of the notebooks I create will relate to the units I want to create for my new fifth grade class.

Do you ever see recipes on Facebook that look amazing, but you just don't want to "share" them in order to save to your wall?  I created a Notebook in Evernote and named it "Recipes Captured Online."  It's not unlike pinning to your recipe page on Pinterest.  I open the Recipes Captured Online notebook and click the + New Note button.  I title the note the title of the recipe, then copy and paste from Facebook.  Voila!  Captured for my future browsing or cooking attempts.  

EVERNOTE - FOR UNIT PLANNING

Teachers, I'm not sure why this didn't occur to me before, but Evernote is making it SO much easier for me to wrap my mind around unit planning.  The first unit I am working on for the beginning of the school year is a 5th grade literature unit based on the novel Out of My Mind, by Sharon Draper.  As part of this unit, I will be doing an assistive technology project.  As I browse the web finding resources, one way I'm finding to organize my data is by copying and pasting into my applicable Evernote files.  If you are anything like me, when you start to Google your topic, you will most likely come across topics and great blogs and sites that will help you in other areas.  To avoid losing those great resources, simply create more Notebooks and save everything that looks like it truly will be helpful in the future.  Just take the time to organize them as you go.  

Once I have a nice assortment of resources in my various notebooks, I'm ready to refer to them easily to help me as I write my unit plans.  This will help me to avoid the distraction of browsing online at the time I need to just focus on the writing, with the resources close at hand.

TAGGING

If you know you are going to be adding a lot of notes, it will be helpful to find just the right post later on by tagging your notes as you go.  I put any and all keywords I might later think of to describe the material in each note.  

This is what my Evernote page looked like after just thirty minutes of browsing and saving to my notebooks:

OTHER USES

• Save a copy of all your receipts.  Add the Evernote app to your Smartphone, take a photo of your receipts, store them in a Notebook and tag as personal, school-related, or other.  
• Create a Notebook for each student in your class.  Save work samples, audio files, and conference notes.  There is a feature to email directly from Evernote, so you can share work with parents quickly and easily while you are conferring with students.
• 10 Tips for Teachers Using Evernote
• Prezi to illustrate features of Evernote

Keeping Track of Links & Blogs

One of the great websites I found this week to help me keep track of the amazing websites, articles, and blogs I'm finding while I have some free time this summer is Symbaloo.  

The picture above shows you how you can arrange each link on a "tile."  You can find it by icon and you can also have the title of the page printed in text along the front of the tile.  


This is the "mix" page where I am currently adding my links as I find them (through my Twitter activities).  As I add tiles, I am thinking about color coding.  I will go back and color code by subject, maybe.  The Symbaloo mix page shared by SimpleK12, where I first heard about Symbaloo is here.  VERY much worth adding to your own account for future reference.

I know I have several teacher-friends who will want to take a look at these at their convenience, rather than have me send them a hundred random links to their email or Facebook accounts.   

I love that it has tabs across the top so I can organize by subject area.  That might be easier than color coding.  One tab or "mix" for blogs, one tab for tech tools, another for family and personal sites.  I love the idea of being this organized!

Do you have a great Symbaloo Mix you'd like to share here?  If so, please post your link in the comments below!

Scratching the Surface of Google

This is just the best way to learn during summer vacation.  Many thanks to SimpleK12 for the day of Google learning!  I have had a gmail account for years and I used it a little through my masters work at USF, but I didn't know all the features that would make life a little easier and more organized until today.  

Disclaimer:  None of this is likely to be helpful to anyone, other than the links.  I like to post my notes here so there will be a good chance of finding them again!  Information overload, anyone??

Session 1:  Productivity and Collaboration in the Cloud With Google Drive
More learning to follow with the resources provided by the presenter, Kyle Pace:  Google Drive Resources

I learned a new trick to keep my school and my personal Google accounts easily accessible.  While in one Google account, do the following:
1.  Click on your picture.
2.  Click on "Add Account."  
After adding the details of the second account (email address and password), both are easy to view in the top of each Google App you might be using.

Sharing documents from Google Docs with a link seems like fewer steps to take than adding as attachments to emails and within websites like TeacherWeb.  

I found last year that I filled my Dropbox account very quickly with videos and pictures.  I learned that Google Docs has a 30 gig max capacity.  However, what does NOT count toward the 30 gigs would be any docs created in Google Docs, any docs or files uploaded and converted into Google Docs.  This is good news for me, since I neared my max capacity with Dropbox last year.

Session 2:  Simplify Data Collection and Documentation with Google Forms
Monica Burns' Blog
classtechtips.com/2014/01/23/25-more-ways-to-become-a-tech-savvy-teacher/
I am looking forward to creating forms to use in a variety of subject areas.  Creating docs for those observations we need to make regularly throughout the year will be so convenient when, at the push of a button, the data can be sent directly to a spreadsheet.  

This past school year I kept daily anecdotal records about the behaviors of a couple of students.  This would have been great for me to use collaboratively with the parents.  Type up the text within the form, save, and share with parents, with each days' data saved in a spreadsheet.  

I can envision a few ideas right off the top of my head related to tracking student needs and progress within the writing workshop.  If I were teaching Everyday Math again this year (which I am not), I would make a checklist of skills each child mastered at the end of each unit.  There are papers in the assessment binder, but this would be a better snapshot, I think.

Session3:  Going Google:  the Quick Start Guide to Getting Started with Google Tools
Kimber Thompson
This is kind of cool.  When searching with kids, you can click Search Tools then narrow the search results by readability level.  

Safe Search - Turn off/on as needed to keep explicit video and images OUT of the search results.

Virtual Field Trips:   Cultural Institute/Virtual Field Trip

Professional Development

After spending the day watching educational webinars, I feel the need to gather all my notes and links together in one place.  This will help me refer back easily in order to better utilize the links I learned about.  Keeping it closed up in my scribbled handwriting in the composition book will probably not be terribly effective!

First, I started following the webinar presenters on Twitter.  I know, who has the time for Twitter?  I am slowly starting to see the benefits of connecting to educators on Twitter as a new (to me) place to collaborate and find new ideas.  If you want to connect with me, I am @twimom23.  (" Twi-tter" mom?  No, it's from my Twi-light phase, of course!)

Digital Storytelling:  tinyurl.com/dsthilt  Excellent assortment of digital storytelling tools.

Facilitate a Writing Workshop Using Google Docs:  I loved this session, since I am still learning all that Google Docs has to offer.  Susan Oxnevad's blog is full of great ideas:   http://d97cooltools.blogspot.com.
Notes:  The writing workshop can include lessons on sharing and commenting, peer editing, and the use of the amazing research tools available via Google Docs.  Hello?? Citations inserts?  Where was this class when I was writing those college research papers???

A tip for helping students create projects in Slides is to have them begin their writing in Docs, then copy and paste into the Slides program.

Students within the workshop should have lots and lots of opportunities to write, write, write!  Meanwhile, students are peer editing, and completing specific jobs related to peer editing.  (See Peer Editing Job Descriptions here:   http://d97cooltools.blogspot.com/2011/09/google-docs-to-facilitate-writing.html#.U6HyFfldWa8)

I am very excited about the Assignment Tracker - a simple form created in Google Docs.  http://d97cooltools.blogspot.com/2011/10/create-assignment-tracker-to-manage.html#.U6Hyy_ldWa8

Love this idea for language arts and social studies:  Go to www.Fakebook.com and create "fakebook" pages based on a character in a story or in history.  

Teaching about dialogue?  www.toondoo.com
Need a comic strip format?  www.makebeliefscomix.com
Creative uses of timelines: Timelines

The final link to share is a wonderful visual "favorites" page where we can store our links. Symbaloo!  I am working on creating my own pages, but this is too good not to share!  http://www.symbaloo.com/home/mix/freewebtoolwebmix