Reflection:

April 24, 2014

Reflections:

Megan - Some 7th grade boys struggled with making an iPad movie/trailer.  The difficulty was incorporating the requirements of the project into the film.  The end products were very fun - the boys were very engaged while creating working with the technology.  Some felt limited by iMovie, wanting to use instead to use Educreations or ShowMe.
Julie - The 8th graders had to create a flyer that all students were excited about creating.  Next year there needs to be more help troubleshooting the printing issues.  Being an overachiever, Julie also did a project with the 7th graders using spreadsheets, which was "slick as snot" according to her.  She had to learn it herself first, which solidified her own understanding.
RoJean - Kidblogger was a fun project with the 5th graders.  They loved reading the senior blogs, which sparked their own interest in their own blogs.  Being able to use photos and respond to each other (and the seniors) helped keep them engaged.  There was some trouble with typing directly into Kidblogger - copy and pasting was a better option.
Scott - Creating the Prezis for SLCs was very successful, and the students are now successful at "App Smashing."  The presentations were much more vibrant than students have created before.  The major hang-up was having tech issues with linking to the appropriate apps.  6th grade was unable to use the iPad to create the Prezi.  It worked for the presenting, but not the creation.
Lori - Huge successes for Genius Hour!  The kids had freedom to use any platform, and that gave them incentive to learn something new.  Blogging was also effective as it shared their process and progress (which was the graded piece).  Most students had a combo presentation of board and digital.  Next year more time will be built in so there is opportunity for students to comment on their peers' blogs.

Overall:

Technology was able to bridge the gap between upper and middle school.  Kept students engaged, and excited about the learning and showing what they know.  Bettered their ability to troubleshoot on their devices.  Kids are more invested and on task once they are hooked.  Giving them the freedom to explore was not the classroom management issue we feared.  It did teach us how to manage the classroom differently and more effectively when they are on the devices.  Long range, getting computers in 7th grade is valuable as many editing options are being lost on the iPad.

First meeting Round 3 PLC's - 3/20/14

3/20/14

Scott, RoJean, Amanda, Julie, Megan, Lori


Scott -- document the electronic SLC's - demonstrate how the students used a variety of apps - Google Tools and Ipads to make the SLC prezi -- all 6th graders --

RoJean -- Puppet Pals as a review for social studies -- 13 colonies

Julie - Analysis of budget for Economics using spreadsheet - Julie needs to meet with Matt :) -

Megan - Have 7th graders make a ABC of geometry book to share with 4th graders --/

Lori - Move the 8th graders up a level on Turnitin.com by having them peer review and edit there instead of just submitting it for me to grade -- This will help them transition to 9th grade English where Turnitin.com is used frequently.

We will use our next two PLC meetings to work individually on our plans.

6 February 2014: Wrap up meeting

How can students demonstrate their knowledge in effective digital formats?

As demonstrated by us (students in faculty PLCs) we have been blogging our own conversations in addition to commenting on others.  Dr. Nygaard has also given us excellent example by having all the seniors blog and inviting the whole community to follow their blogs.

8th graders are blogging (kidblog) for their genius hour.  

In 7th grade, we have noticed that iPad minis are a distraction as well as a tool for classroom learning.  We are learning to watch iPad usage as a regular part of our class management plan.

Students make videos for the purpose of sharing/teaching/reinforcing concepts learned in class. 6th grade does a good job of helping students explore all the different options for showing and sharing work in all their classes (google tools, imovie videos and a variety of apps).

Socrative, Nearpod and Quizlet have been used for formative assessment.

4th graders loved creating online graphs!

Generally, students have been using online collaboration as a tool for group work.

In the middle school, we find that projects are generally a better assessment of student learning than end of the chapter "tests."
 

Meeting 4- 30 January 2014

Members present: Scott, Amanda, RoJean, Megan, Julie

We began our conversation with an read aloud from Scott from Bill Bryson's Thunderbolt Kid.  We learned how to make Lincoln Logs white.

One loop of conversation had to do with punctuation on blogs: does it matter or not?  Julie was adamant about correct punctuation, and Amanda chimed in with, "If the punctuation is off, I'm distracted by wanting to correct it."  Ultimately, should we be telling our students the importance of public presentation?  Should they be treating blogs as personal writing or public writing.

Professional blogs vs. personal blogs?  How closely does one follow these journals?

We wonder how Susan keeps up with all the blogs!  Scott suggested that it's not so much about "grading" what they're doing, it's about giving students the skill and opportunity to create.  Megan asked,  " Again, what knowledge are we measuring?"   Perhaps our role is to teach them appropriate public/private blogging.  RoJean talked about younger students taking things literally, and how carefully we need to craft our own language when introducing blogs.

Scott loves the opportunity that blogging gives the students for inspiration.  In some sense, it offers the old fashioned "free writing" type of writing where the point is finding the idea as you are writing. The modern twist is that other people can comment and bring new ideas to the original.  Cool.

Meeting 3 - Jan 23

Members present: Scott, RoJean, Megan, Julie, Lori, Amanda

Use of infographics can be challenge for younger students.  Scott would like to do one with the 6th graders, and Megan would like to use them with the 4th graders.  However, the sites that are out there can be cumbersome.

Having the technology allows the students to stay self contained with their off-taskness.  It also allows mixed-gender groups to collaborate without the stigma of going to one person's house.

Lots of discussion about gender as the 7th grade sections are separated by gender.  (The students are all in a tizzy about it.)  Given our common experience, boys are more prone to lose their iPad during class for inappropriate use.  Gamification is a key thing, especially for boys, to engage them in topics.  The physical care for an iPad is also a gender issue.  Amanda reported that every major break has been a girl iPad.

Meeting 2 - January 9

Julie would like 7th grade students to video the multi-cultural booth.  She is trying to figure out how to make this work using a certain piece of technology.  She's decided to use iMovie on the iPad and import the video into the 7th grade e-portfolio for student led conferences in March.

Are paper/pencil tests going out?  Our students prefer the paper/pencil tests for the higher level assessments but are diving into technology to show projects/presentations.  Megan found a great link to on-line portfolio assessment (it is geared to individual classroom portfolios).  http://faculty.pepperdine.edu/mriel/edc664/demo.html

How do we use technology to show what our students are learning?  Lots of ways.  We use videos, google options (sites, docs, presentations, spreadsheets), a variety of iPad apps, PowerPoint, Prezi, etc.

http://www.iste.org/docs/learning-and-leading-docs/nets-s-standards is another helpful resource that outlines the need for digital skills.

Meeting 1

12/12:  Scott, RoJean, Amanda, Megan, Lori

Student was responsible for creating a video that would be the instructional video for the entire class.  Students were required to watch the video in a method of flipping at home before taking the quiz.

Trying to utilize Smart Capture to make video of lessons/presentations.

How to make an event like MultiCulture Fest more techy, and get away from the just poster boards.  Could you incorporate a digital footprint - like a video of their board walk through, photos, documenting the procedure, etc.   Also, using video to demonstrate their understanding of Latin roots/quotes.

Using Infograhics with the 4th grade to show their understanding of collecting and displaying data.  Need to find a website that is 4th grade and iPad friendly.

Girls are better are putting iPads away when told to do so.  Boys tend to need more reminders and tend to stay on iPad after being told to put them away.  Is that really tech related or just a gender difference?  Discussion to be continued...

Next meeting: Come prepared to discuss gender differences in technology usage.