Can Penguins Fly? Digital Story

Please see my digital story created on Animoto in the right side bar.

Field Service Interview

On January 8^th, 12^th and 13^th I had the wonderful opportunity to observe Mrs. F. integrate technology into her second grade class at Harold Martin School in Hopkinton.   Mrs. F. and I teach in the same building.  I was lucky enough that my prep period coincided with work periods that incorporated technology in Mrs. F.’s schedule.  Mrs. F. is the type of teacher that every student wants and every teacher wishes we had the energy to keep up with.   Our building looks to her often as she is seen as an amazing leader and resource. I am bias.  She is my friend, but she is not great because of the apps or websites she uses in her classroom, what makes her great is her approach to teaching.  When reading The Connected Educator, I think of Mrs. F. She is the very definition of how The Connected Educator defines a connected learner.  Mrs. F. is a co-learner, co- creator and co-leader.  She is self-directed and engages in inquiry constantly. Mrs. F. is a mindful teacher who shares, contributes and is always willing to experiment with new strategies.

The first day that I observed Mrs. F., she was introducing a new app to her class called Kid’s BookReport.  Mrs. F.’s class was in the middle of a Jan Brett author study.  The class was very familiar with a handful of Brett’s picture books: Gingerbread Friends, Trouble with Trolls, and The Three Snow Bears just to name a few.  Mrs. F. used Gingerbread Friends as an example and the class wrote a book report together as Mrs. F. led them through using the app for the first time.  Together, they came up with the title, the author, the setting, the main characters, the problem, the solution and their opinion of the book.  Once the class completed the book report, Mrs. F. broke students into groups of two.  Students got to work writing their own book report on one of the other Jan Brett books that they had studied.  When they were completed, students took screen shots of their book reports and printed them to be handed in. Mrs. F. plans on saving the screen shots and using them in the future with the class to make a presentation about their favorite books. 

On Monday, when I visited the class, Mrs. F. was delayed in a meeting and her instructional assistant was taking over for her while she was out of the classroom.  While not ideal, this is a reality in our building and I’m sure many other schools.  It was amazing to see that everyone was working and on task. You could tell that Mrs. F. has worked hard at getting her students to be so independent with technology.  Even the students who can be hard to keep on task, were on task.  As I looked around the room, groups of students were working on different assignments, needing very little direction from adults.   There was a group of students who were working on their spelling using SpellingCity at a table with the classroom Chromebooks.  Another group of students where using iPads to finish their creative stories using the app Write About This. Two students were using the desktops in the classroom to practice an assignment with virtual manipulatives on Think Central, a math website that supports our math curriculum, Math In Focus. The rest of the students had finished their morning work stations and were continuing on with an app called Tynker. These students were working on coding.  Their job was getting a monster looking creature named Cody to complete different tasks by programing codes. They were naturals...at age 8!  When Mrs. F. re-entered the room after her meeting it, the group didn’t miss a beat.  Mrs. F. feels as though technology is another way to reach her students and gives them an alternative outlet to paper and pencil.  Even reluctant learners were engaged and motivated.  Mrs. F.’s work assignments were differentiated so that all students were able to be successful participants.

                               Learn to Code using the Tynker iPad app.

Tuesday morning seemed to be getting off to a slow start but not in Mrs. F.’s classroom.  She was introducing new software called iStopMotion with Legos.  Last spring, Mrs. F. and I toured three different schools in the state along with other members of our technology team to see how similar schools were using technology. This was all part of an effort to gather more information on how to best spend our school’s allotted technology money.  We visited the Gilford Elementary School and were instantly inspired.  The way their students talked to us about how they used technology made us feel like we were teaching in a prehistoric era.  In Gilford, a fourth grader shared with us her work on Google Docs, kindergartners showed us how to use DreamBox and then we walked into the computer lab…wow!  A group of third graders were using iStopMotion animation to make Lego movies and it all tied into their writing curriculum.  There have not been too many moments that I have felt like a kid in a candy shop as a teacher, but this was one of them.  Students worked in groups of two in Gilford to position Lego people and then take a picture.  They decided how long each picture would be displayed in a series of pictures that they turned into a stop motion animation video.  These videos tied into the stories they were creating back in their classroom.

 Mrs. F. hadn’t stopped thinking about this lesson.  She wrote a grant and received funds to buy the equipment and software so that she would be able to teach this in her classroom.   Her classroom was filled with excitement.  Mrs. F. has lots of children who enjoy creating with Legos. Some love to write and many enjoy making videos, but this didn’t seem to be the reason they were so excited.  Mrs. F. and the children were learning side by side.  Mrs. F. isn’t afraid to fail and neither are her students.  If it happens, you learn from it and grow.  Together they worked to take the pictures, re-position the Lego pieces, and take another picture.  They experimented with how long each picture should be displayed before moving onto the next one.  The class and Mrs. F were learning together and it worked for the teacher and the students.

                                Check out this video about iStopMotion

Advice From A Connected Learner…

Mrs. F is a teacher who is always hearing about new things and trying them out before the rest of us have even heard of them.  I asked her where she gets all of her ideas.  She shared that she finds a lot of information on Facebook.  Whatever she is interested in she can post on her page and go back and read about it later. She also finds ideas on Corkboard Connections which is a blog by Laura Candler. Laura is a passionate teacher and creator of the Teaching Resources website. Mrs. F. finds Twitter to be a great source as well as Richard Byrne’s blog Free Technology for Teachers and Proteacher.net.

Her advice to anyone who is starting to integrate technology…just do it! She suggests playing with websites and software like you are one of the students. Log in as a student and see what they see.  That way you’ll know what to expect when you’re teaching it to your students. Mrs. F. tries to integrate technology in any way that she can. She has a station of iPads in her room for integrating activities during work jobs (guided reading), writing, and math. The classroom has Chromebooks that they use on a daily basis during writing, reading, and word work. Her class uses Tumblebooks, Kidblog, Think Central, Google Classroom, Storybird, Write About This, Spelling City and others as part of their daily routine. Mrs. F. also keeps her own plan book online this year to fulfill her goal of going as paperless as possible.

Just Do It…

This seems to be the advice of many who integrate technology regularly into their teaching.  Maybe the more you use it, the more comfortable you become. I’ve found myself jumping in and trying more with my students since the beginning of this class. Learning alongside your students is fun and it gives you great perspective of what it feels like to be them! Technology is ever-changing. Like technology, teachers need to be ever-changing too.

Resources

Nussbaum-Beach, Sheryl, and Lani Ritter. Hall. The Connected Educator: Learning and Leading in a Digital Age. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree, 2012. Print.

Penguin Pix Lesson Plan

Clara's Kid Pix drawing of a penguin with labeled body parts.

“Big Idea” this lesson plan supports: It’s important for students to be able to use a combination of drawing, dictating and writing to compose informative texts in which they write about and supply some information about the topic (Penguins).

Lesson Plan Component	Criteria
Title	Penguin Pix
GSE’s/GLE’s/Frameworks	NH Science Curriculum Frameworks S:SPS4:2:3.2 Use pictures or other means to organize ideas. S:SPS4:2:5.1 Use computer software and various technologies as appropriate to display and communicate information and ideas. ISTE Standards 2. Communication and collaboration a. Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media b. Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats
Objective(s)	Students will be able to: Create a drawing using Kid Pix computer software. Label penguin body parts building on existing vocabulary. Explain the importance of each of the penguin’s body part.
Materials	Penguin Pointer Penguin T-Chart (from previous lessons) Drawing Paper Pencils Computers Kid Pix Computer Program Printer
Anticipatory Set	As part of our ongoing penguin unit, the class will read over the chart of information (a T-Chart with the headings, Penguins have, Penguins are, Penguins can…) that students have been building using facts collected throughout the unit. Ask for volunteers to read a fact off of the chart using the class favorite "penguin pointer" or share an interesting fact that they remember. As facts are shared, focus the discussion on parts of a penguin.
Procedures	Explain to students that they will be drawing a penguin and labeling it’s body parts using Kid Pix. Tell students that before heading upstairs to the computer lab, they are going to practice drawing and labeling a penguin using pencil and paper. Remind students to “stretch” out each body part word as they are sounding out the labels. (In kindergarten, words are spelled as they sound, flippers=fliprs) Once each student has a rough draft of their labeled penguin, lead the class up to the computer lab. Remind students to open Kid Pix by clicking on the applications folder found on the dock,  then click on the Kid Pix icon. As students work on the project, circulate around the room answering questions. Instruct students to print their pictures when they have completed the assignment.         If early finishers need to be challenged:                                                                                        What is the job of each body part of the penguin? How does a penguin’s body help him to swim? Do you think it would be harder to be a male or female penguin? Explain your thinking. As early finishers wait for others to complete the assignment, they may watch this video of the Emperor Penguin and check out this Live Penguin Cam from Sea World. Students can locate these links on our classroom blog. 8. Once all students have finished their drawings, invite students to meet back on the rug in the classroom.
Closure	As students gather back on the rug in the classroom, invite students to share their pictures with the class. When students are sharing, ask students to point out at least three body parts of the penguins that they labeled in their picture. End the lesson by asking these questions:                                                                                 What is the job of each body part of the penguin? How does a penguin’s body help him to swim? Do you think it would be harder to be a male or female penguin? Explain your thinking. Compile all student pictures into a class book that can remain on display in the library area of the classroom.
Assessment	The students’ printed pictures of the penguins they created on Kid Pix will be used as the assessment for the lesson. As students share their drawings during the closure of the lesson, more information could be collected for assessment if needed.
Modifications/Accommodations	For Advanced Learners: Students who have an easy time drawing and labeling the parts of a penguin can explain (either verbally or written) how each body part helps them in their surroundings. These students could also add detail to the background of their Kid Pix drawing or dictate or write interesting penguin facts that they have learned.   For Struggling Learners:  Some students with poor fine motor control may need hand over hand help to control the mouse.  Students who are not yet able to identify all letter to sound correspondences may need help “stretching” out words to spell phonetically and writing letters.  These students may also need help locating the letters on the keyboard.

Clara creates her rough draft in the classroom before going to the computer.

Growing Up Online and Digital Nation Refection

Frontline: Growing Up Online  www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/view

Frontline: Digital Nation- Follow up  www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/view

Question 8: Share your overall reactions and thoughts about each documentary.  Please relate it to your views as a teacher/parent/coach/etc. What did you learn, find interesting, find disturbing, relate to, did not relate to, etc. that you would like to share with others?

There are so many great benefits that technology has to offer, but where do you draw the line?  How much connectedness is too much?  After watching the two Frontline videos, Growing Up Online and Digital Nation, I have mixed feelings.  Growing Up Online stated that ninety percent of teens are online and the number is growing.  I’m sure the number is even higher today.  The world we are preparing our students for is different than the world we grew up in.  Going on the net is no longer something that one does, it’s the way that one lives according to Digital Nation.  It seems that there are two schools of thoughts when it comes to technology in the classroom.  One is to bring technology into the classroom and meet students where they are living, online.  The other thought is that schools are one of the few places conversations can happen that aren’t being bombarded by machines.

I don’t see anything wrong with being connected and I believe that technology is a valuable teaching tool.  What I think is hard to hear is that teachers feel like they need to be entertainers. Students consume so much media, it’s the only way to cut through the cloud and get their attention. To a degree, good teachers probably are entertainers but to hear how today’s students are so used to instant gratification is worrisome. As a teacher, I often think about do we integrate technology to keep students engaged or are we just contributing to students being overexposed to an immediate response?  I’m not sure what the answer is other than to approach it with a balance in mind.  

I found the information about multi-tasking to be very interesting.  To hear students feel that they always need to be connected to their social situations during academic times was surprising to me.  Listening to some of the college students on the video speak about how they were constantly checking emails, texts and Facebook to stay connected did sound like an addiction to me.   All of these students who claimed to be “multi-tasking” seemed like they were doing many things, but none of them well.  When we were in high school, we weren’t even allowed to pass notes.  It seemed as though it was hard enough for teachers to break that habit.  I can’t imagine being a middle school or high school teacher and having to manage students and their electronic devices.  I would imagine that this is going to have to be a whole new chapter written into classroom management textbooks.  As stated in Digital Nation, “Technology is not good or bad, it’s powerful.  Finding the balance is important, but will take time.”

Digital Footprint

What's your digital footprint look like?