Africam

I love the way technology can get my students engaged and excited about learning. Sometimes I'm even able to trick them so that they don't even know they are learning. This is exactly what happened last week! I came across a website that provides FREE live footage of an African waterhole. I began showing it for 5 or 10 minutes throughout the day. The waterhole is very active first thing in our morning (there is a 7 hour time difference) and so I always have it on as they come in on the morning. It's really neat, but of course I found myself wondering how I could catch their excitment and connect it to the curriculum. We began researching the animals and trying to find the names of some of the unfamiliar animals. This week, the kids are choosing an African animal to write about. We are also studying seasons and weather so we began looking into the weather and seasons in Africa. In addition, it has created some interest in maps and using map skills. Many of the kids are even watching the waterhole at home and bringing in information about the animals. I love the way technology can get my class excited and help us travel to other places. Check out the waterhole at africam.com. I am watching the Tembe waterhole. I hope your students enjoy it as much as mine are!

Devices From Home and Innovation?

A year ago during our planning phases of 1:1 we had predicted students would eventually come to school with shinny new devices they had received from under the Christmas Tree.  Therefore, I shouldn't have been surprised when I returned to school after break to smiling faces telling me "guess what Mr. Braymer, I got an ipod touch for Christmas!"  I just hadn't thought it would happen so soon.  I currently have nine desktop computers in my classroom, so as far as the normal fourth grade room goes I have more than most.  But, with 25 students using them it can be difficult to manage.  With several students bringing their ipod touches, and nooks to school it noticeably frees up computers for other students.  Thanks parents!

This lead me to another thought.  We have been learning about the lumber era and how technology advancements lead to deforestation, and ultimately the end of unsustainable logging practices as they were known.  In short, technology lead to a complete overhaul in the way the lumber business was operated.  Why? because it didn't make sense to continue doing the job the way it was currently being done.

So, here we stand on the threshold of a massive change in the way educational practices have always been performed.  For so long the teacher has been the giver of information; the lead person with all the knowledge.  Now, it is obvious that technology has changed that matrix.  Zeeland has begun this journey as a leading player by putting such powerful devices in the hands of students.  These portable devices are forcing the education world into an overhaul of they way educators deliver content.  With these machines in the hands of our students, only time will tell how quickly we can innovate our practices to look more like the future that our students will be living in.  One thing is for sure; the information is at every one's finger tips all the time. 

1st Semester Reflections

Here at the high school, it is hard to believe that our first semester of students and teachers with iPads is about to come to an end.  This semester has proven to be one of the most challenging, yet rewarding ones I have encountered in my teaching career.  With each year that has gone bye, I have considered myself to be a little bit better teacher than the year prior. I have been teaching in Zeeland for nearly twenty years and in that time, I have built up many resources to draw upon in instructing students.  Knowing that we would have iPads this year forced me (and many other teachers too I suspect) to re-examine how I go about doing some parts of my job.  It has been quite refreshing to go through filing cabinets, binders, folders, etc. of resources and decide what still is relevant and what is no longer useful material.  Thanks to bond issue money, I now have greater ease and ability to scan articles from magazines, newspapers, and supplemental text materials and create .PDF files that I can not only save, but share with students and other teachers has been positively impacted my teaching.  Students, with their iPads, are able to access this information daily and use it to help learn, collaborate, and reinforce concepts essential to becoming a capable 21st global citizens.  Certainly, the work is not done and another semester will soon begin.  Like Mike and Frank on American Pickers, I have more treasures to uncover and give new life to so that others may benefit.  Yes, if you didn't already know, I do teach social studies and like most social studies teacher, I am a pack rat.

iPad Workshops for Parents - Teachers - Administrators

The Ottawa Area Intermediate School District (13565 Port Sheldon Street, Holland, MI 49424) is hosting iPad workshops.

Workshops by OAISD Staff:
iPads for Parents

February 21, 2012 - 4:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Cost: @15.00 a workshop (dinner included)

iPads for Educators

February 2, 2012 - 4:30 PM - 8:00 PM

OR

March 1, 2012 - 4:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Workshops by Scott Meech

Guest presenter Scott Meech is the  Director of Technology in Downers  Grove, Illinois, District #58.  Scott is a champion for the transformative nature  of technology, changing teaching and learning from a teacher-centered paradigm into a constructivist student centered approach.  He loves helping teachers learn to use iPad applications to improve student learning.  He’s an advocate for helping administrators  become more productive with iPad tools.  Scott was co-creator and a regularly contributor to http://iear.org, an educational site for evaluating and promoting the use of iPad and iOS devices to improve teaching and learning.  Audiences across the country enjoy Scott’s upbeat personality and practical approach to technology integration

iPads for All Learners

Monday, March 19, 2012 - 8:00 AM - 3:30 PM

$50.00 - Lunch provided. Eligible for .6 SB-CEUs

iPads for Administrators

Tuesday, March 20, 2012 - 8:-00 AM - 11:30 AM

$25.00 - Eligible for .3 SB-CEUs

Integrating the iPad in Special Education Environments

Tuesday, March 20, 2012 - 12:00 PM - 3:30 PM

@25.00 - Eligible for .3 SC-CEUs

Teachers Create

What happens when you give teachers a day and a half to create with no boundaries?

LOTS OF THINGS HAPPEN AND THE THINGS THEY CREATE ARE AMAZING!

I had the privilege of assisting and learning from many Creekside teachers two weeks ago during our professional development days. We were given four different areas of teaching to create something in using a different part of technology. This form of professional development was very different than what our teachers are used to receiving. Usually we are told exactly what to do and how to do it, but this time, we were given only areas to look at and possible ideas. It was up to the individual teacher to create material for instruction, student projects, specific lessons, study tools, etc. Here are just a few things that were created.

*A set of geometry flash cards using www.quizlet.com for a sixth grade geometry unit. (This teacher had never heard of quizlet prior to these days. Ms. Kruse, you rock!)

*A prezi was created using www.prezi.com to introduce sixth grade social studies students to developed and developing countries. (This teacher had never created a prezi before. Ms. Maat, way to go!)

*Teachers created classroom accounts using www.edmodo.com to collaborate with students. One 7th grade social studies teacher saved an article as a pdf file and then uploaded it for students that had been absent for the lesson. (This teacher had never saved a document as a pdf and then uploaded to edmodo. Mrs. Dana, terrific work!)

*Teachers created imovies and keynote presentations using their iPads so they have had the experience before assigning these items to students once middle school students receive their ipads. (Teachers had never tried to create items with these iPad apps before. Exploratory staff, way to be ahead of the game!)

*A 7th grade math teacher signed up for an account on www.thatquiz.org so she can assess her students' assessments quickly and gather results immediately on a variety of different math topics. This will change her teaching as she will have immediate feedback as to what her students know and don't know after a lesson or before they start a new topic. (This teacher had never created an account so she could see students' results instantly. Ms. Carpenter, I'm very proud of you!)

When teachers are given time and the opportunity to create, amazing things happen. It doesn't matter that they have never heard of the tool before, it matters that they have time to explore, develop their ideas and create.

Whatexcites me the most is that this same thing will and does happen with students. Given time and the opportunity to create, students can and will do amazing things!

Students using Showme to show the world.

My friend Kip introduced me to the Showme App this summer and right away I feel in love with the ability to capture screen annotations and voice narrations as the user is demonstrating something on their iPad.
Now in class I can demonstrate solving and graphing an inequality using Showme, and instead of not being able to hear or see that explanation again, the captured vodcast can easily be linked or embedded in a classroom website for later viewing and reviewing.
As my familiarity with the app grew I thought "wouldn't it be great for students to use this to help their classmates with difficult problems and demonstrate to me what they truly know." We distributed the free app to students and literally watched and listened as they showed me and their classmates what they knew.
However, an interesting thing happened the other day. Being curious about how I could use the showme website to support student learning I started clicking through some topics. After selecting Learn by Topic > Geometry I was blown away by what I saw. Here it is:


You see up until now students have solved problems for basically two people: themselves and their teacher. But now students are solving problems for an audience of millions. When I projected the website for them the other day and showed them how their works was showing up in just two clicks of the mouse their mouths dropped. They were blown away by the fact that their work was published and freely available for anyone to view and use. I wish I could have take a picture of their faces you could see the sense of ownership and pride in their work take on new meaning.

Feedback from Parent-Teacher Conferences

Recently parents and teachers congregated in the Zeeland East gymnasium and cafeteria for the time honored tradition of conferences.  Like most teachers, it is a time great excitement and a little bit of apprehension.  The vast majority of conferences go very well and are positive and productive exchanges about the learning that is taking place under the teacher's direction. 

Why would should this year be any different?  At the high school level, each student has used the Ipad as a new tool for learning.  In some classes, this has greatly transformed the way information is delivered and how learning is assessed.  But a time honored question was certain to be raised by some parents in conference with teachers; is new necessarily better for learning?

I had several parents ask questions about the Ipad and how it has been used in class.  This is a question that is fair to ask and one that I was prepared to answer.  Parents were directed to class web pages that I have set up for students to access materials that we use in class on a daily basis.  While I have been doing this for several years, parents now took a more keen interest in seeing how materials could be accessed and then manipulated by their student on the Ipad.  Many parents were amazed at how easily students could download files, open them in different applications, and produce work that could be submitted electronically. 

Beyond this use of the Ipad in my class, each Civics students in my class has created a blog using Blogger or Wordpress.  Student Blogs are being utilized for students to share opinions on a variety of topics ranging from the death of Mommar Qaddafi to their stance on gun laws.  Both parents and students welled up with pride when I pulled these up in conferences.  A lasting comment from conferences that stuck with me was when a parent turned to their child after reading their blog and said: "I didn't know you thought about these types of things.  That is so cool."  The parent then proceeded to write down the blog URL so that they could read it regularly.  What a neat way for parents, students, and teachers to connect with the Ipad and share thoughts on topics that may not have come out in a traditional class discussion.


On a side note: this practice has been a wonderful time and money saver for me personally.  I have saved countless hours not running off as many papers for students.