Creation Day! On Tuesday we started in Book Creator – this has been my favorite app for the past few months. There is SO much that can be done with it. I’ve used it to have students create short stories that were emailed to me and combined into a class book. We made end-of-the-year class books in second grade with students reflecting on their favorite activities throughout the year; third graders wrote and illustrated a favorite piece of writing. The possibilities are endless!
But on this day, we had to each create our own book. Why do I always have ideas in my head till someone says, “Let’s try to finish a book and be ready to share in about 40 minutes.” So, like some students, I just sat there for quite awhile trying to figure out what to do! Eventually I decided to write a book about using the Kidblog App on the iPad for the teachers at our school. I took screenshots and used Skitch to annotate. Here’s the “almost” finished product (I need to add more to discuss approving posts and comments).
The next project was iMovie. For some reason, the trailers have always been a source of frustration to me so I was determined to create one. Although we had plenty of time, I returned to the hotel and finally finished at 10:30. It may not be terrific to others but I’m proud of it!
My favorite part was sharing time. I love seeing other people’s creativity and the projects shared were fantastic. It’s such a wonderful way to get ideas. Some of the Book Creator projects included:
Introducing members of a department
Clemson – South Carolina rivalry which included YouTube videos
Why I Love Athens, GA (What a fun way to share information about a city with another class across the country!)
Our third day was spent working with GarageBand and discussing workflow. Great ideas using Google Drive (wish I could use this with at least 4th graders but not sure if our tech staff would approve that!).
Shawn challenged us with several statements and questions:
Does your class reward innovation?
Make learning meaningful for everyone!
Where do you want to be in the next 5 days? (Revisit the basic skills; continue to practice what we did during the conference)
Where do you want to be in 5 weeks? (Think about a unit, a presentation, etc for this time period. Find something to wow the students or teachers; to get them on board.)
Where do you want to be in 5 months? (Where are you going? What do you want your students to be able to do at this point? Think big!)
My goals for the summer:
Get familiar with Evernote in order to organize materials.
Create “training” ePub books for teachers in the Book Creator app.
Practice making iMovie trailers so I can get faster at putting one together.
The conference was excellent. Wish we’d had more time for some of the other apps that we were asked to install (Penultimate, TouchApp Creator). I should add those to my goals as well! I’m hoping for a long summer . . .
My colleague, Diane (4th grade teacher), and I were in Shawn’s room. We started with an assessment quiz to determine our tech levels using the Socrative app. We ended with Infuse Learning which isn’t an app but a good way for students to illustrate learning. Both response systems are excellent.
We also explored some apps to look at consumption and creation: (I’ve played with all of these but hadn’t gone beyond that stage so this was helpful and helped me see how to use each in better ways.)
Shawn has put together a fabulous The iPad Classroom LiveBinder of resources. What I appreciated were all the examples of student work. That helps me tremendously to see what’s possible!
But, it’s more than the apps! Shawn said there’s a myth that using iPads will make you a better teacher – the focus has to be on pedagogy, NOT the device! Tom Daccord states, “A goal without a plan is just a wish. Often we get technology without a goal.”
Shawn talked about thinking of the iPad as a vehicle – it’s a way to get somewhere. But it’s not the only way and it can’t get there on its own. I loved his statement that the devices themselves won’t create passion in students but if we let those devices lead them to explore their passions, students will love us (and they’ll be better learners)! Remember, it’s not what the iPad can do, it’s what students can do (create, collaborate, and more).
Day 1 was exciting, overwhelming, frustrating at times, and fun. I was stretched and loved it! My head is exploding with ideas – can’t wait till tomorrow!
Thursday’s keynote address from Tom Daccord offered a practical look at how to create the classroom that nurtures innovators.
Tom started his talk by showing pictures of learning spaces – the traditional rows of desks vs those that allow for collaboration (i.e. small study areas, places to connect laptops for projection). We have to redefine learning spaces if we want to encourage students to work and plan together. How often do you still see classrooms with rows of desks? Do we, as teachers, keep them that way because it’s the way we were taught? Do we prefer the more structured way of teaching because we’re afraid of the increased noise level that occurs when collaboration happens? Yet, I believe redefined learning spaces is a critical change that needs to be considered so that our students are able to work together.
an active contributor who is able to work effectively in teams, exercises initiative, takes calculated risks, is innovative and strives for excellence
a self-directed learner who takes responsibility for his own learning, who questions, reflects and perseveres in the pursuit of learning
Isn’t this what we all want for our students? Isn’t this what companies look for in new hires?
Tom asks the question, When someone visits an iPad classroom, would they be able to define the objectives of learning? He says in order to move from pockets of excellence to systemic educational change, we need a well-defined plan.
What is the mission of iPads in the school?
Does everyone know what that is?
How does that align with the school’s overall mission?
Tom shared this quote from Professor Ben Shneiderman: Learning seems useless unless it prepares us to be creative. The question is then:
How can I put my students in creative learning environments?
Tom shared practical examples of what that looks like. He tells teachers to use what you know in an authentic, effective way. How true is his comment that “when technology is introduced in a classroom, it is typically an extension of the classroom.” For example, interactive white boards involve teacher control; they aren’t student centered learning. Tom says to think of a situation where the teacher is front and center. Is there a way to use iPads so students become in charge of the learning?
Writer’s Workshop Poetry Lessons with iPads This is a wonderful lesson with first graders from Chicago’s Burley Elementary School. Students illustrated mental images of a poem read by the teacher. The students shared their drawings and then published them in a variety of ways. Seeing this example prompted a flurry of whispers from our second grade teacher – “I want to do this. When can I get the iPads?” After frantically sending off emails to our tech director, we are set up with a class set of iPads for her students. I told her I want to be there when she does the lesson!
Kathy Cassidy’s Class Kathy is a teacher of 6 and 7 year olds in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. She does amazing things with these young children! Her blog’s byline states “6 and 7 Year Olds Inviting the World into Their Classroom.” Each child has his/her own blog where work is posted. There are illustrations, photos, videos, audio – all showing learning and understanding. Kathy puts her young students in the position of instructing others.
Creating with GarageBand Students and members of a band get together to create an original song using iPads plus a few instruments.
A serious issue is that iPads are being used ineffectively. We focus too much on content-specific apps rather than the open-ended apps that allow for creativity. We must move away from just using technology as a substitution or extension. It’s imperative that what we ask students to do truly redefines their learning!
