- Teachers can create resources sets by embedding hyperlinks in graphic organizers or images. Link to other Google docs and other website.
- Students can create interactive drawings to showcase their own learning.
- Interactive drawings can provide alternate navigation schemes in Google Sites.
Thursday, July 21, 2016
Interactive Drawings with Google Apps
The Google Drawings app does not get the attention it deserves! As far as Google Apps go, it has the most free form of any of them, allowing text, objects, images, graphics, hyperlinks, layering and more. By combining the flexible layout with hyperlinks, you can easily create interactive drawings. When shared as View Only, these can become powerful resources in the classroom.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Squishy Solving
I don't know how this has happened but Squishy Circuits have just come into my awareness! What a great tool for exploring circuit building -- and so many ties to middle school math! Thanks AnnMarie Thomas and Squishy Circuits for laying out the math so clearly in your videos.
I'm excited to order a starter kit and start playing with possibilities for my 7th graders. Just in this quick video it's easy to see the direct connections between circuit building and
- solving equations
- direct proportion
- inverse proportion
- understanding decimals
Lots of opportunities for students to design, test, improve! It seems like this tool offers a low/variable entry point -- which looks great for me as a teacher getting started with making things in the classroom, and is good for students who may not see themselves as makers. Plenty of room to play and create with ample opportunity to grow in complexity as their understanding of circuits increases.
A Dependency on Being Taught
Another strong quote from Stager and Martinez, articulated so simply, and so true:
"We seek to liberate learners from their dependency on being taught."
So often teachers (and when I say teachers I include myself) feel frustrated by students' lack of initiative, their desire to be told exactly what to do, their need for each step to take. By middle school, students often have deeply ingrained habits that are byproducts of the educational system that we live in. Attempting to adopt a project-based learning approach can bring frustrations and challenges not only for teachers but for students as well. It is possible that throughout students' educational careers they may have had little opportunity to choose their own path, to explore a new topic or tool, to make choices. To make choices -- it sounds like such a small thing, but all too often school is about being told what to do and doing it. Not about making choices. When confronted with the opportunity to make choices about their own learning, students may feel lost and ill equipped to proceed.
What can we do as teachers to "liberate learners from their dependency on being taught"? In truth, we teachers often find ourselves in the same rut, wanting to know exactly what is expected. And I suppose that's human. Maybe asking repeatedly about details of what's expected is simply our way, and students' ways, of testing the waters. Of making sure that we are really free to choose.
Teachers know the goal -- we want students to be able to think for themselves, to develop a plan, not simply follow a plan. To identify what's important in writing an essay or blog post, in creating a website, in creating a video. Not simply to check items off on a rubric. So where do we begin?
How do we provide that freedom for student voice and choice while at the same time making sure students learn what they will be tested on at year end? What prior experiences will students have with voice and choice in their learning? Knowing that we "have standards to teach," how much do we plan for them versus letting them plan? How much voice and choice is "good" at the start of the year? Too much could be overwhelming to all involved, too little could have long lasting effects.
In some ways, math and English are very versatile. Math as a tool for understanding the world around us can be applied widely. Writing and communication skills can be applied to anything as well. Maybe the task of the teacher is not so much in selecting a topic for study, but in crafting the broader question that engages students in applying particular skills to better understand the topic and share their learning.
"We seek to liberate learners from their dependency on being taught."
So often teachers (and when I say teachers I include myself) feel frustrated by students' lack of initiative, their desire to be told exactly what to do, their need for each step to take. By middle school, students often have deeply ingrained habits that are byproducts of the educational system that we live in. Attempting to adopt a project-based learning approach can bring frustrations and challenges not only for teachers but for students as well. It is possible that throughout students' educational careers they may have had little opportunity to choose their own path, to explore a new topic or tool, to make choices. To make choices -- it sounds like such a small thing, but all too often school is about being told what to do and doing it. Not about making choices. When confronted with the opportunity to make choices about their own learning, students may feel lost and ill equipped to proceed.
What can we do as teachers to "liberate learners from their dependency on being taught"? In truth, we teachers often find ourselves in the same rut, wanting to know exactly what is expected. And I suppose that's human. Maybe asking repeatedly about details of what's expected is simply our way, and students' ways, of testing the waters. Of making sure that we are really free to choose.
Teachers know the goal -- we want students to be able to think for themselves, to develop a plan, not simply follow a plan. To identify what's important in writing an essay or blog post, in creating a website, in creating a video. Not simply to check items off on a rubric. So where do we begin?
How do we provide that freedom for student voice and choice while at the same time making sure students learn what they will be tested on at year end? What prior experiences will students have with voice and choice in their learning? Knowing that we "have standards to teach," how much do we plan for them versus letting them plan? How much voice and choice is "good" at the start of the year? Too much could be overwhelming to all involved, too little could have long lasting effects.
In some ways, math and English are very versatile. Math as a tool for understanding the world around us can be applied widely. Writing and communication skills can be applied to anything as well. Maybe the task of the teacher is not so much in selecting a topic for study, but in crafting the broader question that engages students in applying particular skills to better understand the topic and share their learning.
Importance of Community
It's in teaching teachers that I am reminded of the strength and value of building community within a group of learners. Attempting to design learning experiences without time for individuals to talk, to create, to share and to solve problems together results in less learning... not only that, it's just not fun. I am finally reading Invent to Learn by Gary Stager and Sylvia Martinez -- an excellent read by the way -- and a statement they made about affective skills resonated strongly with me:
"...affective skills should be byproducts of meaningful learning experiences."
It resonated strongly because so many times we incorporate ice breakers and team-building exercises that are separate from what we are learning in class. This reinforces a separation between "school" learning and social experiences. By designing learning experiences that include opportunities for students to work together, to take risks together and to problem solve together, we allow our students to share moments of curiosity, moments of vulnerability and moments of accomplishment. When these feelings and experiences are connected with the content, we are developing their self-efficacy, their ability to persevere, their willingness to take risks in service of learning and their ability to support each other in that learning.
Food for thought as I begin work in a new school with new students.
"...affective skills should be byproducts of meaningful learning experiences."
It resonated strongly because so many times we incorporate ice breakers and team-building exercises that are separate from what we are learning in class. This reinforces a separation between "school" learning and social experiences. By designing learning experiences that include opportunities for students to work together, to take risks together and to problem solve together, we allow our students to share moments of curiosity, moments of vulnerability and moments of accomplishment. When these feelings and experiences are connected with the content, we are developing their self-efficacy, their ability to persevere, their willingness to take risks in service of learning and their ability to support each other in that learning.
Food for thought as I begin work in a new school with new students.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Day 3: Observation Area for Improvement
When someone comes to my room to observe, I want them to walk away knowing that my students were doing rigorous work, thinking deeply about material in such a way as to make it their own, and communicating ideas comfortably with their classmates. I am working this year to increase the frequency and depth of my student-centered activities -- trying to stay away from lecture/notes in exchange for exploration in small groups/partners and structured reflection/processing of these explorations.
As I write this, it occurs to me that an observer will really need to be up and moving around the room to appreciate a truly student-centered lesson. In addition to developing and implementing the exploration lesson, I will need to invite observers to move around the room and talk to students about their work. I have not typically done this. Usually I take the position that I should pretend that the observer is not there.
I have a lot of growing to do in this area. With certain topics in math it is certainly easier to give notes and work practice problems. I have always done student exploration lessons but they have been less frequent than the lectures. I would like to flip this -- to have exploration and student discussion be the norm and lectures/notes be rare. It takes a different kind of preparation, and a lot more anticipation of student response. Yet already, even in these barely three weeks of school, I can see that the exploratory work we are doing, the modeling, the partner work, is allowing me to move around the room even more, to offer more one-on-one help, and to develop a better understanding of where each of my students are. What I want to improve on is my ability to anticipate student road blocks or speed bumps in these types of lessons and to be more prepared at offering the different supports they may need to move through the exploration.
I think it will also be helpful to get students used to talking to others, from outside the classroom, about the work they are doing. I can provide opportunities for this by inviting various faculty/staff into my room to see what we are doing and asking them to walk around and ask questions. Providing additional structured opportunities for students to teach other students will be helpful for them as well. I love the idea that Alan November shared at ISTE about the math teacher (sorry I do not remember his name!) who has his students create instructional videos that are added to a digital/online library that is viewed by tens of thousands of people. This is definitely something that is in my plans for the year, especially once our chromebooks arrive!
As I write this, it occurs to me that an observer will really need to be up and moving around the room to appreciate a truly student-centered lesson. In addition to developing and implementing the exploration lesson, I will need to invite observers to move around the room and talk to students about their work. I have not typically done this. Usually I take the position that I should pretend that the observer is not there.
I have a lot of growing to do in this area. With certain topics in math it is certainly easier to give notes and work practice problems. I have always done student exploration lessons but they have been less frequent than the lectures. I would like to flip this -- to have exploration and student discussion be the norm and lectures/notes be rare. It takes a different kind of preparation, and a lot more anticipation of student response. Yet already, even in these barely three weeks of school, I can see that the exploratory work we are doing, the modeling, the partner work, is allowing me to move around the room even more, to offer more one-on-one help, and to develop a better understanding of where each of my students are. What I want to improve on is my ability to anticipate student road blocks or speed bumps in these types of lessons and to be more prepared at offering the different supports they may need to move through the exploration.
I think it will also be helpful to get students used to talking to others, from outside the classroom, about the work they are doing. I can provide opportunities for this by inviting various faculty/staff into my room to see what we are doing and asking them to walk around and ask questions. Providing additional structured opportunities for students to teach other students will be helpful for them as well. I love the idea that Alan November shared at ISTE about the math teacher (sorry I do not remember his name!) who has his students create instructional videos that are added to a digital/online library that is viewed by tens of thousands of people. This is definitely something that is in my plans for the year, especially once our chromebooks arrive!
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Day 2: Integrating New Technology
I am very excited - and very fortunate - that our school will soon be a 1-to-1 Chromebook school. The Chromebooks, combined with the district's adoption of Google Apps for Education, open up so many opportunities! After two years of using Google drive myself and wishing the students could access it, we will finally be able to have student accounts, collaborate on documents and use the many apps available in the chrome web store!
To date, my use of Google drive has been very one-sided. I've been able to make resources available to students, collaborate with my colleagues and share professional resources, but my students have not been able to take part in this. I am eager for students to be able to collaborate on writing, revising, helping each other, to work together to create instructional videos in WeVideo, and to save graphs and share graphs in desmos.com. There are so many creative tools that we will have access to once the student GAFE accounts are rolled out.
With Chromebooks, GAFE and Google Classroom, it seems like all of the digital pieces are finally coming together so that less time can be spent finding work-arounds to students not being old enough to create accounts, to sharing and collaborating on files, to revision. My hope is that with this technology and these digital tools combined, I can continue to build a stronger learning community in my classroom while at the same time building student ownership in their own learning and their proficiency with technology in a classroom environment.
A side note... I am trying not to be discouraged by today's notification that Chromebooks are being delayed due to parts availability. ETA is early November. Hope they don't delay any longer!
To date, my use of Google drive has been very one-sided. I've been able to make resources available to students, collaborate with my colleagues and share professional resources, but my students have not been able to take part in this. I am eager for students to be able to collaborate on writing, revising, helping each other, to work together to create instructional videos in WeVideo, and to save graphs and share graphs in desmos.com. There are so many creative tools that we will have access to once the student GAFE accounts are rolled out.
With Chromebooks, GAFE and Google Classroom, it seems like all of the digital pieces are finally coming together so that less time can be spent finding work-arounds to students not being old enough to create accounts, to sharing and collaborating on files, to revision. My hope is that with this technology and these digital tools combined, I can continue to build a stronger learning community in my classroom while at the same time building student ownership in their own learning and their proficiency with technology in a classroom environment.
A side note... I am trying not to be discouraged by today's notification that Chromebooks are being delayed due to parts availability. ETA is early November. Hope they don't delay any longer!
Monday, September 1, 2014
Day 1: Goals for the School Year
I have wanted to build a habit with blogging for a long time... hoping this blogging challenge will get me there.
Create a More Student-Centered Classroom
I started off the year by removing my teacher desk and creating an iteration station at the center of the room. The iteration station is a place for students to come if they need help from me or from other students. It is a place to try something new and see if it works, rather than feel "stuck." Beyond this physical redesign, I want my lesson plans to become more student centered as well, progressing through developing a need to know, exploring and experimenting, and finally students making their own math understandings.
Develop Students' Communication Skills
Last year I feel like I developed a greater awareness of what conversation and communication ought to look like in the classroom. This year, I want to bring these ideas into my classroom by including specific prompts and structures in my lesson plans as well as posting sentence prompts and question prompts around the room. I want to teach and allow time for practice for students to talk with each other about their ideas, whether they are about math or something else that is important to them.
Develop Students' Questioning
Over my door, I have a poster that says "Have you asked a good question today?" I wish I could remember where I found that... I would love to cite it. I suppose Dan Meyer (math rockstar!) and 101questions brought to my attention the need for students to be asking and answering their own questions. I would like to focus on this more this year, developing a need to know so that students are seeking rather than receiving information and understanding.
Focus More on the Mathematical Practice Standards (CCSS)
I tend to focus on the content standards more than the practice standards. This year, I want to develop students' ideas about what the habits of mathematicians are. I have a WWMD? poster on my wall above the child-friendly mathematical practice posters. Yes, it's short for "What would mathematicians do?" Maybe it's cheesy, but... it's middle school! In the nine days of school we've had, I've done a better job than last year -- just have to keep it up.
Provide More Differentiation in My Classroom!
Whether it is through technology or other meaningful assignments, I want to improve in this area.
Continue to Build My Professional Learning Network
I have to say this has grown quite a bit in the last year as I have had a more regular presence on twitter and have gotten more involved in ed tech training.
Lastly, I have a goal to practice patience and kindness every day. We are off and running already with this school year -- hoping for lots of learning!
Create a More Student-Centered Classroom
I started off the year by removing my teacher desk and creating an iteration station at the center of the room. The iteration station is a place for students to come if they need help from me or from other students. It is a place to try something new and see if it works, rather than feel "stuck." Beyond this physical redesign, I want my lesson plans to become more student centered as well, progressing through developing a need to know, exploring and experimenting, and finally students making their own math understandings.
Develop Students' Communication Skills
Last year I feel like I developed a greater awareness of what conversation and communication ought to look like in the classroom. This year, I want to bring these ideas into my classroom by including specific prompts and structures in my lesson plans as well as posting sentence prompts and question prompts around the room. I want to teach and allow time for practice for students to talk with each other about their ideas, whether they are about math or something else that is important to them.
Develop Students' Questioning
Over my door, I have a poster that says "Have you asked a good question today?" I wish I could remember where I found that... I would love to cite it. I suppose Dan Meyer (math rockstar!) and 101questions brought to my attention the need for students to be asking and answering their own questions. I would like to focus on this more this year, developing a need to know so that students are seeking rather than receiving information and understanding.
Focus More on the Mathematical Practice Standards (CCSS)
I tend to focus on the content standards more than the practice standards. This year, I want to develop students' ideas about what the habits of mathematicians are. I have a WWMD? poster on my wall above the child-friendly mathematical practice posters. Yes, it's short for "What would mathematicians do?" Maybe it's cheesy, but... it's middle school! In the nine days of school we've had, I've done a better job than last year -- just have to keep it up.
Provide More Differentiation in My Classroom!
Whether it is through technology or other meaningful assignments, I want to improve in this area.
Continue to Build My Professional Learning Network
I have to say this has grown quite a bit in the last year as I have had a more regular presence on twitter and have gotten more involved in ed tech training.
Lastly, I have a goal to practice patience and kindness every day. We are off and running already with this school year -- hoping for lots of learning!
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