Tech Lessons for the week May 14-18

It...is...almost...here!!!! Field days, the last assessments, book and Chromebook collections, and any other last items of importance are going on right now as I type this blog. How did this year fly by so quickly?

Last week, was a busy week...hence the late blog post (my apologies by the way😁) We had PearDeck, Google Slides, Screencastify, Screenshots, Prezi, and Google Forms to name a few.

Mr. Sizemore had his students use Google Slides to create a small presentation of their "favorite" math skill. As a part of that presentation, students used self-created videos (Screencastify!!) or a YouTube video and used Screencastify to annotate what is happening in the video. Students collaborated and figured out how they were going to "wow" their peers as a presented their final product.

 
 


Mrs. Klenke wanted her students to learn more about PearDeck and the add-on within Google Slides. We walked through the different templates by PearDeck, and learned how to change them for their specific presentation. PearDeck is an interactive presentation that keeps the audience engaged and gives them the ability to voice their thoughts. After reviewing the add-on, we created a presentation and had a student present theirs to the class. By doing this, students got to see what it looked like from the interactive side and the presenter side. We had a TON of fun with this presentation tool!

 



I went into Mrs. Meyer and Mrs. Lecher's classes to discuss Screencastify with their students. They all learned the new look of Screencastify and we created some videos of our own! You can never go wrong with this extension as you have read in previous blog posts, it has been a fan favorite!

 
 


Mrs. Mersmann's classes used Google Slides to create individual presentations on an herb that they chose for this assignment. Their peers used Google Forms to evaluate each other on their presentation.

 


Mr. Jackson's math classes used Google Forms, Slides, and screenshots to create a display of statistics within different categories. Students created a form for others to complete (on a topic(s) of their choice), and took screenshots of the many graphs in the "response" tab within Google Forms to insert into their Google Slide presentation. There were several graphs displayed as well as the students putting their own spin on their presentation. Their collaboration and creativity with this assignment was well-represented!

                                         

                              


To end this school year's blog, we have to conclude with the Middle School Chromebook Collection. The preparation and 3 and a half day collection process was assisted by great people! To all of the personnel that helped make this a successful collection, THANK YOU!!! Just like anything else, we made it fun and the students did really well with the whole process.

 

 

I really hope that this blog has been beneficial for all of you to see at least these few things: how we are incorporating technology into our lessons, the collaboration piece to make tech lessons successful, the ability of our students and how they can create for themselves, and how we can share our classroom with the whole school district.

Have a great summer break! I may even see some of you during the summer at some PD opportunities! Thanks for all that you do!!!!

Follow on Twitter @sdmsdropzone!
jhbenjamin@sunmandearborn.k12.in.us.

Tech Lessons for the week of May 7 - 11

Hey everyone! I know that no one is counting down the days that we have left (after today, 9 plus a teacher day😁) for this school year, but we have 2 weekly blogs remaining for the 2017-18 school year!!! I hope that these have been a quick way to see what all of us are doing in the classroom with technology integration. It also gives us the ability to continue to collaborate without really collaborating, if that makes sense. If you see something that you want to do and you would like to have more information about that technology tool, then please contact me. I'll put my email at the bottom of this blog.

*Do NOT forget if you have a lesson involving technology, please send me a short description of how you used the tech tool and a few pictures! This puts your classroom on display to share with others within the district!!!!

Last week, I was luckily walking by some classrooms that were using technology within their lessons/projects, and I was able to take a few photos and get a description of what was going on in their classroom. I will be showing you some pictures of some students using the following technology tools: Screencastify, Google Sheets, and Kahoot.


Mr. Black had his Spanish students use Screencastify to create different skits while speaking Spanish. Once the students were finished with their skits, their peers had to provide feedback and discuss the conversations within the skit.

 


Mrs. Huber and Mrs. Meyer had their students create a Kahoot. A Kahoot is typically a "quiz" that looks like a game and can be made very quickly. Mrs. Huber's students created a Kahoot for their classmates to play! Students included images, "trick" questions, and they were competitive while they were playing each Kahoot! If you give some "power" to the students, they can really take that freedom and make something creative, productive, and successful. Also, when they get to show their work to the class, two things happen (and probably more): they will give a better effort because their peers will see their final product and students will be more engaged that way. If you want to check it out, here is the link, Kahoot.

 

Mr. Johnson's class had me come back after last week's Google Forms session to talk about the "Response" tab in Google Forms and Google Sheets. We looked at their data from their surveys and created formulas that told us the mean, median, and the mode. Students also saw that it was imperative to be organized within their sheet so they learned how to apply color to cells.

 

He made this bat for himself. There is no chance that he got this from another human. 😂

Last week seemed to be about student choice with some guidance. That can be very important so students feel empowered and to be accountable for their finished product, whatever that might be. Students begin to feel a part of the process instead of being THE process. If a student's idea is used, it will make it more meaningful, enjoyable, and everlasting to them. Nice job teachers!!!


Follow on Twitter @sdmsdropzone!
jhbenjamin@sunmandearborn.k12.in.us.
Have a blessed week everyone!!!!

Tech Lessons for the week of April 30 - May 4

Hey everyone! I hope your week has started off well. In this past week of technology integration, we had some different ways to utilize tech within the classroom, and there were some visits to other schools to see how project-based learning works. The pieces of technology used within the classrooms were: Screencastify, Typito, Google Slides, Pear Deck, and Google Forms!

*Do NOT forget if you have a lesson involving technology, please send me a short description of how you used the tech tool and a few pictures! This puts your classroom on display to share with others within the district!!!!

This message is from Mrs. Shattuck:
“My 5th grade class recently read, Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson. We created a collaborative slideshow of alternate endings to the book. They still need some TLC with editing, but I thought they were really engaged and enjoyed the activity! Some rewrote the ending, while others added on or began to create a sequel to the book.” Great Job, Mrs. Shattuck!

Mrs. Swales had students create advertisements using persuasive techniques with Screencastify and students edited their videos using Typito! Below are some pictures with the Google Doc that explained the idea of the advertisements. Students also were excited to use their phones to record their video and put it on their Google Drive to edit through Typito as well. Nicely done!

 

Mrs. Walsh used PearDeck to have an interactive presentation on Mythology! Students were able to contribute to the presentation and critically think about the material within the lesson. PearDeck is a very simplistic way to have students interact with your presentation. A perk for using PearDeck is that you can control their Chromebooks throughout the presentation! PearDeck also has an add-on for Google Slides that goes great with slides as well! Either way, seeing these students interact with the topic was amazing because of their insight, focus, and their ability to give their thoughts all at once. When every student is able to contribute at the same time = WIN!!!!

 


Mr. McCann had me come in last week to show Screencastify and its NEW look after their update! There are some new features that students could utilize when they are creating their videos for his class!

 





Mr. Riehle, Mr. Disbro, & Ms. Schomber had me come into all of their "classrooms" and show how technology can be integrated into their Physical Education classes. Each class got into smaller groups and students used Screencastify & Typito to create and edit their workout videos. Students used different movements that they have already learned and discussed those movements while one was performing the movement. Students collaborated and scripted their video on Google Docs to show how prepared they were to deliver this video to their peers. It was really neat to see how students "showed off" their abilities in their classes! Here is a piece of some of the action! Workout Video

 



Mrs. Brooks and I got this next idea from Ms. Schomber (thanks for that!) for the Choir classes.  Mrs. Brooks had her students create a Google Slide with a song (of their choice, school appropriate of course!) that included a themed image (of the chosen song) that would be repeated throughout the slide using animations with appearance and a background that followed the same theme of that song. Students had to intricately align the images to appear with the many pitches of that melody. Students then put those slides into a classroom slide to share with the class to vote on the "best" slide! Seeing students work on how the animations correlate with the appearance and melody pitch, was great to witness their effort to be "perfect"! Here are some of the student's work being shown to the whole class! Class Video 1   Class Video 2

Mr. Johnson had each of his students create a Google Form survey to collect data for mean, median, mode, and other statistical categories. Once these surveys are completed, they will use another GSuite app that will help them find the stats...I wonder what that app that will be...😁 

 


This last section involves technology, but more of a way bringing content to the real world. At the middle school, there were six teachers (Mrs. Lecher, Mrs. Herbert, Mrs. Mersmann, Mr. Sizemore, Mrs Knueven, and Mrs. Bertke) that went on a visit to Winton Woods High School to witness and experience Project-Based Learning in the classroom. Teachers came back eager and excited to plan for the next year with others to make the learning experience for the students even better. Below are some pictures from their visit along with some quotes about their experience.  

"PBL makes students responsible for their own learning and allows them to learn at their own pace. PBL is “real world” learning, it inspires passion, creativity, and global thinking."

"Experience with Project Based Learning is a graduation requirement starting with the class of 2023, so it is necessary that teachers begin to incorporate this style of teaching for the benefit of students. The visit to Winton Woods was insightful, and I will be implementing many new ideas next year.

 

 




Last week had a TON of technology in many classrooms! Several tools were used and some of the same tools were used differently! With the PBL visit, teachers were learning and implementing ways to integrate technology into their classrooms! When teachers reach out to get better for their students, you know you have great people surrounding our students!


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Have a blessed week everyone!!!!