TechKNOWLEDGEy Tips: Flippity

Click on the picture to find more information on Flippity. Comment on ways you have or might use this tool in your classroom.

Getting I.T. Right @ CeVMS: Onboarding Party

Ms. Kincaid and Ms. DiPronio hosted an OnBoarding Party for all students who needed assistance with connecting their personal devices to the RRISD wireless network (the process is known as OnBoarding). During Advisory classes, students had the opportunity to go to the Library for a quick how-to and troubleshooting session. The picture below is from Advisory 1 of 6. Look at the number of students that were anxious to get their BYOD devices to connect:

TechKNOWLEDGEy Tips: MoveNote

Click on the picture for ideas on using MoveNote in a classroom. Comment on how you have used or may use this resource in your classroom.

Getting IT Right @ CeVMS: Choir BYOD

Ms. Burwinkel, the CeVMS choir director, sent out this awesome picture of one of her practice sessions! Check out the ways BYOD has infiltrated Fine Arts at Cedar Valley:

"Technology in choir...pretty funny when they all stick their devices in the same place to record."
--W. Burwinkel, Director

Feature Me: Getting IT Right @ CeVMS

At Cedar Valley, there are so many innovative lessons that incorporate technology in some form that it really is difficult for me to keep up and keep it all posted to the blog. Not trying to make excuses...but this campus really is pretty awesome about letting students use the available technology that we have here.

So, I was looking back over my blog entries when I turned in my evidence for my evaluation and realized that I had a lonely draft blog post that was hanging out waiting patiently to be published....oops. So, here's a recap of a lot of great things that have happened at CeVMS this school year that have been awaiting their blog debut...

Sra. Blanton's Phone Booth - December 2012

During Fall Semester Final exams, Sra. Blanton tried out a new technology in her classroom: Google Voice. The gist of this activity was that students could call into a phone number from any phone (including one they brought to class that day) and answer various questions in Spanish as part of the oral section of their final exam. The students loved having the ability to answer the questions "privately" instead of in front of the entire class. Sra. Blanton loved the fact that she could direct all of these calls to her email--the voicemails come to her as an email--and not have to stay at school to grade all of the oral submissions. While it was happening in class, Sra. Blanton could literally be in two activities at once! Isn't that what every teacher needs?

Here are some of the pictures from the activity:

A student calling from the "Phone Booth"

Sra. Blanton helping students with the Google Voice assignment

Student calling from the privacy of the phone booth to answer final exam questions.

Ms. Burwinkel's Choir classes focus on Technology in Music - January 2013

In preparation for their performance and sight-reading contest, Ms. Burwinkel's classes took advantage of a program called SmartMusic. Here's her take on what SmartMusic is and the advantages that the program offers:

Smart Music is a program than records and analyzes live student performances. Students are then able to listen to themselves and are also able to see on the screen in color a grade for accurate their technical performance was. Red notes were incorrect, green is good!

This is great for helping students not only learn to read music, but, to learn to gauge how accurate they are as individuals and as a group. It is extremely difficult to get a 100% if all students are not doing the same thing.

This program is a big hit with 6th graders who are singing and sight reading mostly unison music. Not as helpful for more advanced students who are singing and sight reading in 2 or 3 parts, as the program is not designed to filter that much data.

Another activity that Ms. Burwinkel did with her classes was to take the time to use the library databases to research different careers and college pathways that students can choose to pursue that incorporate music. The students were surprised at the possibilities that music and choir can open up for them. Thank you, Ms. Burwinkel!

7th grade poetry bracket - March 2013

How do you get 7th grade boys (and girls...) to beg to read poetry as they enter a Language Arts class? Make it a competition, tie it to March Madness, and tell them they can use their phone during class. What's not to love? The 7th Grade ELA team of Ms. Humphries, Ms. Dugan, and Ms. Costas presented poetry this year in the form of a bracket. Students would come into class each day and be presented with two competing poets. They would read and dissect a poem from each of the competing poets and then use their phones (or a computer) to vote with PollEverywhere.com on who they liked the best. The overall winner from all of the 7th grade classes during the day would move forward in the bracket. Each time a poet advanced, a new poem was presented to the class--the students never saw the same poem twice.

The Poetry Bracket. The ultimate winner was Billy Collins!

Here's what Ms. Humphries had to say about this project:

"I just hyperlinked names within the document to slides [from Poll Everywhere] and when voting time came, I just opened my other powerpoint with the voting slides. Super easy. The time-consuming portion was setting up the bracket at first, determining the poets and poems and keeping up with it day by day. We wanted new poems each time so we had to keep up with that as well. Worth the effort."

The kids loved this! They were talking about it for months after they finished. Perhaps next year, the students can do the hard part and find all the competing poems for you. :)

Animated .gif - March 2013

During a small break between yearbook and newspaper deadlines, Ms. Dowd's journalism classes show off some of their digital media skills by creating animated .gifs. Check out some of the files. What if you asked one of these talented students to create a file like this for you that showed the water cycle, the life cycle of a butterfly, or something similar? The possibilities are endless, and you could definitely keep the attention of all the onlookers in your classes. 

ifaketext - March 2013

Do you ever feel like your students are more interested in their text messages than they are in your class? Harness that love of txt spk and grab their attention using http://ifaketext.com/. In March, Ms. Midkiff did just that--Check out what she used as a warm up:

Remember, students can access this resource and turn in fake text messages to you as well. This is a great way to summarize a reading selection or concept, a good way to present vocabulary words for the first time, a good way to extend a conversation between two characters that may or may not have happened in a book. Ask about creating a digital dropbox if you use an assignment like this--it will cut down drastically on the amount of time you spend organizing all the great products your students create with an online means.

A Video - May 2013

Earlier this month I was working on a project for a conference that RRISD Instructional Technology is presenting at this summer and captured these great sentiments regarding technology use at CeVMS. I just had to share. Teachers, what you are doing makes an impact--even if the students don't tell you all the time.  

Some of the activities that were mentioned: IXL, Fakebook, Google Earth, Edmodo, the Poetry Bracket, BYOD, research....just to name a few. 

The sentiments of the 7th grade boys really stuck with me in regard to technology usage in the classroom. (I promise that we didn't even coach them on their responses to the second question!!!) Use of technology in an assignment simply to check off a box on the evaluation isn't true integration--these kids hit the nail right on the head. Listen to what they have to say; their points are genuine and valid. 

Finishing the Year Strong

I know that currently all of the carts/labs are checked out and being used during these last two weeks before finals. I look forward to all of the great products that your students are able to produce with the assistance of technology. If you have time, forward some of the great products to me. I promise to get the up on the blog before school starts next year.... 

TechKNOWLEDGEy Tip: Socrative

This is a great BYO resource:

There is a student app as well as the teacher app.

TechKNOWLEDGEy Tips: Quizlet

I know that we talked about this resource a lot during the ELA Technology Training Session last week, but perhaps the rest of you can find a use for it as well. It's a great, FREE, resource that makes a game out of studying. You can share lists as well--and search for ones that are already made--so the work can be distributed.

This is a great way to get some of your technology components integrated into your lessons.

Click on the link to go to more description, ideas, and tips on using this resource.

Enjoy!

TechKNOWLEDGEy Tips: Youblisher

Click on the picture to learn about a great resource for publishing student work. This would also be a great way to publish assignments to deliver to students/student devices. Click and read for more examples.

TechKNOWLEDGEy Tips: Museum Box (and Bonus: Lit2Go)

Click on the picture above to see a great tool summary for Museum Box complete with marvelous examples to get your mind racing on all the possibilities for thinking (outside.....inside.......) with a Box!


And as a Bonus: (This would be a great thing to incorporate into BYOD day!)

Click on the logo to go to the online tool.

Thanks to Library Services for bringing our attention to this great resource! Check out these other resources provided to you as well.

From the Lit2Go website:
"Lit2Go is a free online collection of stories and poems in Mp3 (audiobook) format. An abstract, citation, playing time, and word count are given for each of the passages. Many of the passages also have a related reading strategy identified. Each reading passage can also be downloaded as a PDF and printed for use as a read-along or as supplemental reading material for your classroom."

Feature Me! -- Getting I.T. Right @ CeVMS

Fuel Up to Play 60

According to their website, "Fuel Up to Play 60 is an in-school nutrition and physical activity program launched by National Dairy Council (NDC) and NFL, in collaboration with the USDA, to help encourage today’s youth to lead healthier lives." Students and staff at Cedar Valley are joining the Fuel Up to Play 60 movement. In the past few weeks, almost every student and staff member has signed up to be a part of the effort put forth by the Athletics, Wellness, Health and Physical Education team at Cedar Valley. Students have pledged to be active at least 60 minutes a day.

CeVMS PE and Athletic students in the lab signing up for Fuel Up to Play 60.

Why is this making the Getting I.T. Right! Blog? Because the tracking portion of this program is online! You can sign up to be part of Cedar Valley's effort as a supporter. You can help your students track their progress. You can use this site as a resource to become a healthier you.

Eat healthy. Get Active. Make a difference.

Moore than Just Social Media

Ms. Moore's 8th Grade History class was caught "Fakebooking" in class! Thanks to Ms. Dowd and the yearbook editors for finding this great project. Here's what they had to say about Ms. Moore's project: "She is having her kids create a [Fakebook] page for a famous person from the Revolutionary War using a classroom learning tool that looks like Facebook...the project is a huge hit!" 

Take a look at some of the awesome projects that were turned in by Ms. Moore's class:

http://www.classtools.net/fb/1/QDSkdm

http://www.classtools.net/fb/51/NjRB4c

http://www.classtools.net/fb/82/YeL9AD

http://www.classtools.net/fb/82/34N2TX

Taking Polling to the People

Ms. Dowd's yearbook and journalism classes want your opinion. At least, that is what they told 6th grade dance attendees. In an effort to get more information straight from the horse's mouth, the yearbook and journalism classes are taking the polls directly to the Cedar Valley Student body. The 6th grade dance poll was the first of many that will pop up this year as the journalism students prepare for their submission dates to the yearbook. This week, 8th grade students cast their votes in a mock presidential election with a BYO Device in their US History Classes.

Poll Results from Google Form submissions to questions asked at the 6th grade dance.

Do you want to know the full results? You'll have to purchase a yearbook!

On the Prowl for Energy

Ms. Thomas's 6th grade science classes are on the prowl for examples of potential or kinetic energy. They captured their examples with Flip Cams and presented their findings to the whole class. Using technology allowed them to get out of the classroom and experience the types of energy in real world settings.

Ms. Thomas caught some of her class in action as they rolled down the ramp.

Remind101 in Action

Ms. Deitch is harnessing the power of a text message with her 8th grade math classes. Ms. Deitch used the information provided to teachers from this Tech Tip over Remind101 to get her classes signed up.

Check out some of the messages that help her class (or friendly neighborhood ITSs) come prepared:

Messages sent by Ms. Deitch to people subscribed to her class.

A digital portfolio in your pocket: BYOD in action

Ms. Ehman's project was turned in to Feature Me! by a fellow art teacher, Ms. O'Leary, who in turn stole the idea for her own class. 6th Grade art students were told that they could bring their electronic devices into class to take pictures of their artwork to create a digital portfolio to take home and show off. This is a great way to expose parents to what is happening in the class and allow the artwork to stay on display at school. Both groups benefit from allowing the students to bring in their own devices to capture the pictures digitally.

Taking Advantage of Testing

The 6th graders at CeVMS were not tested during this round of STAAR testing, however they took advantage of the time they were given in their advisory classes. The core area teachers planned an array of activities to keep the students learning while their older peers were being tested--keeping in mind that, during the next go-round of STAAR testing, the sixth graders will be part of the testing frenzy.

Snagging all the mobile computer labs for the day, the 6th grade teams experienced two days of technology enhanced learning. During one session, students were asked to visit Khan Academy and create personalized math goals. Upon reaching their goals, they are given virtual awards--the math teachers on campus have created a playfully competitive environment between each class. During another session the students used the information they gained by doing this webquest in their World Cultures class to apply the knowledge to a case study over The Color of Friendship. Students also spent time inquiring about science concepts with StemScopes--another game-based learning environment where students play games to learn scientific concepts. They rounded out their core subjects tour with a flashback to this webquest as they completed a case study over Inkheart. I even caught a glimpse of some of them using their electronic readers as part of a BYOD option during D.E.A.R (Drop Everything and Read) Time.

(Unfortunately, I was unable to catch them in the act with photo evidence because my electronic devices had been confiscated due to popping in and out of the testing areas) I was totally amazed at the intensity with which most of the students worked for the extended amount of time. I shouldn't have been because the research states that gaming is becoming an integral part of our learning environment...