The Day the Internet Died

By Ashley McFadin – At 7:20am on Tuesday, the worst news came over the PA system, “Attention staff, the internet is down and will be all day.”

The collective groan was heard throughout the building.

With only 35 minutes until the starting bell, teachers of all grade levels scrambled to edit lesson plans, create hand-written note sheets and un-digitize their lessons.

And it was the one of the best teaching days we’ve had in a long time.

Without the Internet, students were more focused and not distracted by Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.  They were more engaged in the lesson (on paper) and asked great questions.  Without the Internet, I was more focused on the lesson and could be more engaged with my students, because even adults get distracted sometimes.

That’s not to say that using online simulations and notes aren’t beneficial, because they are.  And while I’m lamenting the fact that my lesson plans for Wednesday and Thursday needed major editing (due to a planned online molecule building simulation), I’m happy that the students and staff were able to “unplug”.

This led me to a reflection about my time outside of school.  How plugged in am I (and how plugged in are students) when not in the school building?  Even reflecting on this made my cheeks redden.  I spend a LOT of time on social media at home when I’m done lesson planning.  And, after spending a day unplugged at school, I’m thinking about being unplugged at home as well.  This would let me spend more time with my husband, friends, at yoga, reading a book.

Would you ever unplug at work or at home?

Using Pinterest in the Classroom

By Ashley McFadin – I have a confession to make – I am a Pinterest-addict.

While I love it for personal use, I had recently been thinking more on how to utilize it in my classroom. Then, one fateful day, a colleague of mine (she teaches German) came into my room and started talking about the same thing!

We collaborated on what we would put on our school Pinterest boards and the rest is history.

You see, the large majority of my female students use it and my male students know about Pinterest.

In addition, I’ve caught many students on Pinterest during class so why not have something educational on there?  I decided to take the plunge and create a new account (using my school email address) just for my classroom.

I decided to create separate “boards” for each unit. So, for our chemistry semester, there are four units so four boards. Within each board, I have “pinned” helpful sites for students to check out.  I also created a study skill board just in case.

Here is Beth’s, the German teacher, Pinterest page. You’ll see how she’s divided up her boards by concept rather than unit:

I feel as if this is extremely valuable for secondary teachers for classroom use. Many times, students will not check the class website, but if they follow your board, then helpful pins will pop up every now and then on their feed. In addition, they’re more likely to be on social media rather making an effort to check the class website.

How do you use social media in your classroom?

Beyond PowerPoint – Prezi and Glogster

By Ashley McFadin – Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.”

That is never more true than in education.  I am highly guilty of saying to myself, “I was never like this in 9^th grade.”

While that may be true, it’s humbling to remind myself that I was not part of this global generation of which my current students are a part.  The current 9^th graders and I do have something in common, however.  And that is the art of eyes glazing over during a PowerPoint presentation.

Students, especially adolescents, have to be engaged visually during a presentation in order to pay the remotest attention.

Glogster – Teachers love posters.  That’s a fact.  Glogster is a web-based program that let’s students design interactive posters.  We have had many teachers to digital gallery walks in computer labs so that students can learn from their peers.

Prezi – This web-based presentation maker is similar to PowerPoint.  You type in your information on slides with a header and bullet points.  But, that is where the similarities end.  Prezi is highly animated, making it difficult for students to predict where on the screen the presenter will is going next.  Not only is this tool visually engaging, but it can also stretch a student’s creativity in trying to engage their peers. For example, students can even design the shape of their presentation.  I once had a student give a presentation about an element on Prezi.  When he zoomed out at the end of his speech, the presentation was the shape of the atom’s nucleus, with each subatomic particle being a talking point of his presentation.  Needless to say, his peers were very impressed.

The best part about both of these programs?  They’re free and intuitive for students to figure out on their own.  So, not only are you having your students create an engaging presentation, they are also thinking critically in navigating new sites and troubleshooting issues.  And that is definitely a win-win for teachers and students alike.

What other types of presentation software do you use in your classroom?

Tech Tool – Remind 101

By Ashley McFadin – As a secondary teacher, one of the most frustrating things I’ve experienced are kids not doing their homework.

This happens most of the time because either students don’t write down their assignments or not knowing that they should look in their agenda to remind themselves if they have assignments.  While those are important skills to teach, I found the greatest tech tool of all time – Remind 101.

Do your students have a cell phone?  Do they have texting?  If you said “yes” to either of these questions, then you can also utilize this amazing service.

Remind 101 is a free, one-sided texting service.  Initially, teachers will sign up and receive a phone number and a code.  The number I was given is not my number.  Students (and/or parents) sign up using the given phone number and the code.  Teachers never see the phone numbers of parents or students.  Using a web-based platform, teachers can send out a text to all of their “subscribers”.

You can even schedule texts to send later in the day.  Usually, I schedule a homework reminder text in the morning before I forget in the rush of the day.

I’ve often had students complain that they were really excited to get a text and then were disappointed that it was for science homework.   Students cannot text the number back.

This tool isn’t just useful to secondary teachers!  Elementary teachers can utilize this to remind parents to hand in forms, that field trips are coming up, or even double check about conferences.

In terms of a success rate, a lot of students have taken advantage of the text system (approximately 90/115 students signed up) and there’s been a noticeable difference in the homework turn-in rate.

Entering the 21st Century with an Interactive Whiteboard

By Nick McDaniels – For years now, I have been asking for an interactive whiteboard.

I figured the use of a projector and a magical pen, with all the software that is available now would improve my ability to keep records, manage a classroom, and engage students. A few months ago I acquired a Promethean board (not a new model by any means), and just a few weeks ago, it was finally hung on my wall. I have taken to it like a hungry goat to anything, taking turns with my co-teacher so that we can both be interchangeable on our technology like we like to be with everything else we do.

We have bought in heavily to Class Dojo, a web-based classroom management platform that allows a teacher to have all students (along with their cute randomly assigned avatar) projected on the board and award them points for good behavior and deduct points for bad behavior. This program allows us to create our own categories for points to award and deduct and gives us running cumulative totals by students and by class.

Though the temptation to give out negative points every time a student does something bad is there (it also comes with a great “bummer” sound effect), I am proud to say that we are giving positive points about 80% of the time.

We have been able to show video clips, pause the video, write directly on the web page to annotate the clips. And, best of all, we have been able to step back and allow students to do the work for us. They love using the pen, and love using the Class Dojo on their classmates. In general, this has been great for us as teachers, though sometimes our learning curve on the board, delays the learning of our students. That, however, I think is made up for by the general excitement and engagement surrounding the board.

Now, to make sure that you take this celebratory post with its appropriate grain of salt, know that I have one major concern.

Does the board make the learning more teacher-centered?

I have worked hard, as someone who loves his content area, who loves to talk in front of a captive audience, to make sure that my classroom is as student-centered as I can make it. With the whiteboard however, I have noticed that the content of the lessons, possibly because of the vast amount of resources available at my beck and call, have become more at my discretion, thus less student-centered. There are trade-offs with everything, of course. One thing is clear. I love my whiteboard, and so do my students, but I need to continue to check myself to make sure my students are always loving it more than I am, because there, and only there, can the use of this technology be worthwhile.

Tech Tool – KidBlog

By Ashley McFadin – It wasn’t until my current position where I had even thought about using blogs for student learning.

And, it wasn’t until my students received a laptop where it became an easy way to obtain student reflections.

KidBlog, which uses a WordPress platform, is a safe, easy way for students to blog on specific topics.  Students can register for a username using their provided school email address then use the “class code” (provided to them by their teacher) to join just their section.  In other words, students in period 5 will only see other students’ responses from period 5.

My experience using KidBlogs are mostly reflective.  Students have used the blog in order to discuss how they’ve turned their weaknesses into strengths for each learning target.  Which, I’ll be the first to admit, is not that creative.  I’ve had colleagues use KidBlog to have students create five-photo stories and post them for other students to analyze and I’ve had others use it to discuss and comment on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Using this tool allows students not only to write their own thoughts, but also to digitally collaborate in a safe setting.  So, it teaches them content and it teaches them an important 21^st century skill.

Will you have your students use KidBlog?

Techy Teacher Resolutions

By Ashley McFadin – The first of the new year has come and gone (seriously, how is it already 2013?!). And I am ALL about making New Year’s resolutions and lists.

Lots and lots of lists.  We are halfway through the school year, which means that I’ve had a whole semester’s worth of experience as a 1-1 teacher.  Looking back, I didn’t use them as much as I could or should.  But I have the whole spring semester to make up for it.  So, without further ado, my techy-teacher resolutions…

• Have a specific goal in mind when using the computers for a simulation and be more explicit in telling the students what they should be looking for.  Not everything has to be complete and total inquiry.
• Use Google Docs more often.  Not only with this cut down on my copying, but the kids will be less likely to lose it!
• The computers should facilitate the learning of science content, not be new content in and of themselves.
• Let the students be creative so they can show you what they know in their own way.  Let them take pictures, make videos, record songs!
• Teach digital organization and study skills using programs like Evernote, Quizlet and Google Calendar.

In essence of SMART Goals, these are all specific, measureable and attainable.  You’ll hear teachers say that they “don’t have time” to do all of this, but it’s frankly a matter of making time so our students (and teachers) can be successful in the 21^st century world of education.  To technology and beyond!

The Value of Paper

By Ashley McFadin — “You know,” a student exclaimed in the middle of class, “you’re one of the only teachers that still use a pencil and paper.”

I blushed and replied, “And….so?” thinking that she would start the typical teenage complaint cycle.

What she said next was surprising.  “It’s a good thing!  I am getting really tired of using the computer for everything.  Sometimes using paper is easier.”

This exchange has been happening more regularly among my students as of late.

With the “new-ness” of the computers wearing off, students are becoming increasingly aware of their teacher’s expectations before, during and after class in terms of assignment completion, quality, and deadlines.   For example, we have students write papers on Google Docs.  This has some pros and cons.

Some of the major pros are that we can see when they started the paper, each time they revised the paper, what they revised, and if they shared their assignment with anyone they were not supposed to.

There are two very large down sides to using technology for everything.  One is that they frequently forget they have an assignment at all so it is not completed.   This results in an email to the student and their parent to gently remind them to complete the assignment.  The second con is that it is now far simpler to plagiarize each other’s work.  On the flip side, it’s also easier to catch plagiarism with revision histories.  In terms of deadlines, we expect students to complete them more on time than ever due to the increasing amount of work time we give them because some students do not have internet at home.

Students still use paper in all of their classes for the most part.  I can only speak for my own class when I say that I think there is still value in paper.  It’s a lot simpler to pass out a piece of paper and ask students to solve problems.  I also explicitly teach organization as a life skill using their science binders.  The computers are great as a teaching tool, but I firmly believe it cannot replace good teaching, highly skilled teachers, and student perseverance.

Tech Tools – Wall Wisher

By Ashley McFadin — As a teacher, I love post-it notes and I believe that all teachers should invest in 3M stock.

Post-it notes are great for everything, especially taking student responses and making them more mobile.  For example, at the beginning of this year, students needed to answer six questions and they used post-it notes to write anonymous answers.  After they had written their answer, they stuck their post-it on the board under the question.

Recently, I found the technology equivalent of this – Wall Wisher.

I recently used Wall Wisher as part of an introductory activity.  Students were asked to take part in a simulation about what their weights would be on other planets.  Then, they had to read a paragraph about the differences between mass and weight.  While they read, they jotted down two points each about mass and weight.  Then, they had to put their points on Wall Wisher in order to share their ideas.

This was so much more effective than calling on students individually or having them share out in small groups.  First, it was a whole class effort.  Second, they were able to see what their classmates had written and thus could write down things that they had not originally.  And lastly, I could see where any major patterns took place in real time.  We were able to have a discussion in each one of my classes about why they chose the points they did.

Happiness and 3 Indisputable Pieces of Evidence Thereof

By Claudia Felske – Ready for the understatement of understatement?  There’s a lot of cynicism in education these days. And since I’ve experienced a bout of optimism this week, I shall now wax poetic on three reasons for my current happiness:

1. A victorious moment for a student.
2. A vivacious Thank You from a co-worker.
3. Cake.

 1. A victorious moment for a student.

One the lingering “to do’s” the last couple weeks has been trying to help a student find a piece of software that might improve his learning experience at school. He has significant dexterity issues which prevent him from writing, and so his accommodation has been typing responses on his laptop. Sounds okay if you don’t consider that while everyone else is writing directly on a handout/worksheet/study guide, he faces a blank screen instead of a detailed work space. It’s hard for him to later make sense of his answers apart from the context of the original information, and the same goes for his teachers.

One of his teachers (an amazing human being btw who somehow finds time in her inconceivably busy day to care about and follow-up on each of her students) came to me for a solution. After exploring what’s currently available to him (a monster of a program which is anything but seamless and user-friendly) and searching for a viable alternative, I finally found, demoed, purchased, installed and taught PDF Annotator to this anxious student.

When we scanned a study guide and uploaded it into this program, he could easily type on it, highlight, and a host of other functions, followed by an effortless export to his document folder and his teacher’s email. He was in awe at how easy it was – and I found myself tearing up as I witnessed something I suspect this student had so rarely experienced: something actually helping him learn instead of one more thing getting in the way of his learning. Having a hand in enabling this young man’s body to keep pace with his mind, and improve his ability to learn…well, it doesn’t get much better than that. That was a privilege.

2. A vivacious Thank You from a co-worker.

So I received an email from a co-worker yesterday telling me that the parents at Parent Teacher conferences were thrilled to know their teacher had made collaborative websites for his class instead of the usual power points. He thanked me profusely for helping him with this unit and teaching web design to his classes and asked if there was an easy way groups could now comment on each others’ websites. I stopped down by his room, taught him how to make a list page on his website linking and labeling all the student sites. When I left, he had learned another tech application and I had that crazy fulfilling “I made a difference” feeling once again.

3. Cake.

One of my Geeks made me cake!  Seriously!  I believe it’s been about ten years since I’ve had carrot cake (no particular reason – I love carrot cake. I just never make it and for some reason, it rarely finds its way me-ward). So when Adam asked me what my favorite cake was, I found myself saying “carrot.” The next thing I realized, there was an “all Geeks text” inquiring whether we like raisins or not, and then: carrot cake appeared during Geek Squad on Thursday (I work with a “Geek Squad” of students to support teachers and students with technology).

It was deemed “Fel’s late Birthday Cake” (my birthday had been the previous Sunday, and while I didn’t announce that fact to the Geeks, it seems Google+ had - Geeks and their technology always get the inside scoops btw).

And so we ate cake. The Geek Squad continues to be a great source of growth for me, my Geeks and many East Troy Trojans – and so the carrot cake’s cream cheese frosting was, well, the icing on the cake. 

Three pieces of indisputable happiness in two days.

So much for the cynicism in education, at least for this educator, this week.