Three Strategies to Try Rather than Taking Away the Tech

September 23, 2019September 19, 2019Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Guest Post by Kim Weber, LINC Transformation Agent,@mskimbaweb

Throughout my work in schools as a LINC Coach, there is a concern consistently expressed by teachers; one that results in the biggest deterrent for those who are beginning to transform their teaching practice by leveraging technology: What do I do when students misuse or break the rules for technology?

Just about any teacher who is using technology has encountered this in one form or another. For those of us at the early stages of implementing blended learning, this can be the roadblock that stops us in our tracks. We spend hours (at home) finding and figuring out the perfect digital tool that will enhance students’ learning. We introduce it with so much gusto, it sounds like we’re about to announce the winner of the lottery. We are well-prepared: all devices are charged, apps loaded, logins created, and we even have an offline back-up plan. We get the kids up and running, and are all set to work with a small group on targeted instruction, and you hear it…the giggling. You see it…the repeated covert glances at you. And you immediately know, they’ve broken the trust and digital contract that you and the students thoughtfully created to be the foundation of this type of learning. Most likely they’ve gone to an inappropriate website, broken a cell phone rule, vandalized classmates’ work on a shared document, or any other creative, disruptive shenanigans they’ve concocted. (Student innovation in this department is legendary.)

What comes next varies, but it often goes like this:

Stop the entire class.
Lecture everyone about the rules that were broken.
Close and collect all devices.
Switch to that offline (probably traditional) activity you had planned but didn’t really want to use.
Divvy out appropriate punishment to those who committed the transgression.

It is no surprise that many teachers feel uncertain about how to address these types of issues. According to a recent ISTE article,New OECD Report Shows Major Gap in Preparing Teachers to Use Technology Effectively, “In the U.S., only 45% of teachers stated that they were ‘well prepared’ or ‘very well prepared’ for the use of information and communication technology for teaching, the lowest rating of all dimensions ranked.”

I’ve developed some alternative approaches for addressing these difficult technology-related issues in our classrooms to help teachers feel more prepared:

First – View this as a teachable moment for the student(s) involved and the entire class. These are often the same kids who would find some other way to disrupt the learning in a traditional lesson. I once heard an educator explain it this way:

In the past, when a student would throw a pencil, a teacher would take the child aside and sternly explain that he/she could have poked someone’s eye out. Then, with the rise of a cautionary eyebrow, the teacher hands back the pencil back with a directive to get back to work. Conversely, our common reaction when students make poor choices with technology is to immediately confiscate the device and have the student “do something else.” Chances are that “something else” does not afford this student access to the same rich, personalized, engaging work you had planned.

I suggest you consider alternatives to removing technology as it may not be the most effective response. These transgressions are moments that lend themselves to restorative practices and require patience, flexibility, and thoughtful actions on our part. At the heart of a restorative practice approach, the person who makes the mistake has the opportunity to be held accountable for their actions and repair the harm. By using restorative practices, you create a safe space for students to develop critical life skills and learn from their mistakes. This is often more productive than a response that is punitive in nature and stops the student from having access to learning.

Second – It’s never too late to revisit the contract and shared visioning work you did before you introduced technology into your lessons. If you didn’t start your digital instruction with these student onboarding lessons, then now is the perfect time to hit the stop button and do this essential mindset work with students. The key is to first help them understand “the why” of blended learning and second to co-create rules and expectations that help them view technology as a tool and not a toy. LINCspring, our online professional development platform for educators, provides ideas, resources and lesson plan templates that will help you structure this important work. This might also be a good time to show students the technology features that allow you, the teacher, to monitor behaviors such as revision history in Google Docs or how an LMS identifies user names on posts.

Third – In these moments of frustration, I suggest you remember our commitment to preparing students for the world they are entering. Why did we begin blended learning in the first place? Is it something that we can stop doing and still meet our students’ needs? From my observations and personal experiences as a teacher, I have seen blended learning work in ALL learning environments for ALL students. I’ve seen students who were grade levels behind catch up and students who were completely disengaged, engage. Changing the way we teach is challenging work, and the stakes feel higher with technology. It is easy to revert back to methods we are more comfortable with due to fear and loss of control. For inspiration through the rough spots, look to places like Twitter or follow podcasts such as “Cult of Pedagogy.” Better yet, find someone in your school who can collaborate with you in this work. You can begin by creating PLCs to support one another. Just today, I was observing a blended learning classroom and another teacher walked in and proclaimed, “I want to do this too!”

If you have other strategies for addressing student mistakes with technology, please send me a note at kimweber@linc.education.

Kim Weber is a Transformation Agent for LINC, the Learning Innovation Catalyst. Before joining LINC, Kim worked for 20 years as a public and private school teacher in California and New York City. She is a presenter and coach for schools across the country who are embarking on school transformation projects that focus on creating classrooms that put students at the center of learning and help teachers become pedagogical problem solvers.

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Time for new ideas

June 6, 2019June 5, 2019Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

The end of the school year is the perfect time to try the tools or explore new ideas that perhaps you did not get to throughout the year. We can also use this as a time to prep for the next school year. By trying different tools and platforms during the last few weeks, we can then take the summer break to reflect on their impact on student learning. During the spring, I notice a drop in student engagement and an increase in the number of students missing classes due to testing, sporting events, or regular absences. Finding a way to keep students connected and engaged in the lesson is critical.

To resolve these challenges, I try to find something that will benefit students, resolve any disconnect or gaps in learning that might be happening and increase engagement. A new tool that caught my attention recently is NoteAffect. It is a platform focused on enhancing and understanding student engagement and empowering teachers with a powerful tool to better understand student learning.

Why NoteAffect?

NoteAffect provides a unique platform for personalizing the learning experience for students. Using NoteAffect, teachers can deliver lessons in a more interactive way that empowers students to be more involved in the lesson and have access to all of the course materials within one platform. Whether or not students are present in class, they can log in to their account at any time and either view the lesson they missed, or review a lesson in preparation for an exam or for continued review.

NoteAffect offers the right resources and methods to better engage students in learning and helps teachers to track student progress, better understand the questions that students might have and use it as a way to reflect on their own teaching practice. Worried about having devices that are compatible with? No worries as NoteAffect can be used on a PC, Mac, Chromebooks, Android, and iOS devices, so students can interact in class or on their own schedule.

Getting started with NoteAffect is easy!

Finding time is always a challenge with so much to do in our school days and prepping throughout the week. However, with NoteAffect, teachers can quickly set up an account, invite students to join classes and begin sharing a lecture. The dashboard is easy to navigate and it provides access to the materials that empower teachers to better understand student needs and learning trends.

Once you have created your courses in NoteAffect, it is easy to have students join in the course and participate in minutes.

To invite students, simply follow these steps:

Go to your Dashboard and select “Instructor Tools” and then “Course Management.”
Select the appropriate course from the menu on the left.
Select “Participants” and then select “Add participant” from the top right corner.
Enter the student’s email address and click “Add.”
Students will receive an email with a prompt to join the course.

Once students are participants in your course, they will be able to see any prior lectures and participate in the current lecture being delivered.

To start a lecture:

Click “Start new lecture” and you will be prompted to open the Broadcaster.
Once the Broadcaster window opens, use the drop-down menu to determine which application to display or if you have other files that you want to use for your lecture.
Once you select the app, it starts to share your screen with your students and it will record the audio as well.
When finished, simply End Lecture and it will be available to students.

Features of NoteAffect

Students can take notes, highlight important points, make annotations on the lecture notes and even submit an anonymous question during class. Classmates can see the questions and upvote a classmate’s question, making it more interactive.
It’s a great way to have everything accessible in one place as opposed to writing on pieces of paper or having to pull from different presentations. By using notes, students have access to everything within one platform, making it even easier for students to manage.
Teachers can deliver their lessons and add in or embed live polling, and further engage students in the lesson.

Using the analytics, teachers can see the level of participation and engagement with the material.
Analytics provide information including the views, notes taken, words per note and annotations made by students, providing a clearer picture of the level of understanding and engagement of students.

It will be easy to get started with NoteAffect in your classroom or to recommend to colleagues and administrators for use in their classrooms and schools. To learn more, check into NoteAffect here and get started with a demo today! Be sure to follow them on Twitter

For my prior post on NoteAffect, click here

Socrates: Engaging Students and Empowering Teachers

May 12, 2019May 12, 2019Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Learning at the Speed of You

In the spring, I like to explore new tools and ideas for use in my own classroom and for colleagues who want to try something new before the school year ends. Spring is the perfect time to try out teaching methods or tools that you perhaps did not have time for yet, or to find something that will keep students engaged through the end of the school year and maybe even to use to avoid the “summer slide.”

A few weeks ago, I came across Socrates, a learning platform also referred to as a “learning engine.” Socrates offers many valuable features for students and teachers, that make it a standout and I am looking forward to sharing its features, ideas to get started and tips over the next few weeks.

The story behind Socrates

I’m always interested in the people behind the product and learning about their motivation for designing something for educators and students. To learn more, I contacted Brian Rosenberg, the Co-Founder, and Chief Executive Officer, to gather some background information on the platform, to find out how it uses Artificial Intelligence, which is a key area of interest for me, and the types of resources available for students, teachers, parents and for homeschooling. The platform, created by Education Revolution, LLC has already received recognition several times this year. Socrates offers such distinct features, which makes it clear why it was endorsed by and received a grant from the National Science Foundation. Less than 5% of the companies are chosen, and Socrates, selected for its unique innovation and having a clear benefit to society was the first winner in Nevada in six years. More recently at the Magnet Schools Conference in Baltimore, Brian had a chance to share the vision of Socrates. He shared that the platform “was created to help provide equal access to students regardless of their socio-economic background.”

Impressive features

I scheduled a demo with Brian and was able to “experience” the platform from the perspective of a teacher and student. As Brian showed me the different components in the Teacher Dashboard, the analytics, and a variety of information available for teachers to use to guide instruction was impressive. One of the first things I consider is ease of navigating through the platform and whether the layout is visually engaging and rich in terms of content.

One aspect of Socrates that makes it unique is that it functions through the use of Artificial Intelligence and cloud computing, there is no IT setup and it can be used on any device. Socrates is fully automated and using the AI, it can quickly assess individual student or whole class needs, and then make adjustments in the learning path. While it the artificial intelligence allows it to automatically adjust for each student, it provides extensive tool for teachers to take over the learning experience and is designed to be a teacher assistant, not a teacher replacement According to Brian, there are 1300 categories of information with millions of questions, and it can adjust to particular topics as students progress, and goes question by question to make changes and create a unique learning path for each student.

Currently available content is Math and ELA (K-5) with Science about to release. During our recent conversation, Brian highlighted a “roadmap” for some updates and new features coming up in the platform over the next few months and at the beginning of 2020. There are plans to roll out activities for K-8 Science, grades 6-8 Math and Language Arts throughout the summer and early fall. Later this year and into early 2020, plans are in the works for Social Studies, ESL, high school Math, and even Test Prep. The number of resources currently available within Socrates is impressive, but with the additional features being added, it will provide an even more robust learning platform.

Socrates recently launched in Mexico, and therefore the teacher and student application is available in English or Spanish.

I will have the opportunity to explore the Socrates platform on my own and will take a closer look at each of the features, comparing it to other tools that have the same end goal as Socrates: providing students with a unique, individualized, learning path.

Experiencing the Power of Socrates

A few of the features that I will be looking at:

Dynamic Assessment: How the platform assesses students to find out the specific student needs.
Teacher Dashboard: Explore how to move students between classes, look at options available for each student, sorting of data
Weekly Reports: Look at the information available, ease of obtaining a snapshot of student progress
Command Center: Closer look at features and tools available.
Navigation of platform: Evaluate the learning curve for teachers and students, watch tutorial videos
Categories of Games: Explore the different categories, rewards, and badges available for students
Shop: Look at “cards” available to students, some examples are Greek Mythology, Presidents and more.

If you have been using Socrates, I would love to hear from you. If you have not yet tried it, I recommend getting started here. Socrates offers a 30-day free trial, and Brian encouraged teachers to try it out for the rest of the school year and said that their students can use it over the summer at no charge if they sign up before the end of the school year.

The classroom version: http://withsocrates.com/classroom/

***Coupon code is THRIVEinEDU2019. It can be used for the classroom edition or for the summer edition ($39.99 for the summer for teachers with summer school classes)

Connect with them on Social Media to keep informed of the great new features coming. Twitter is learnwithsocra1. Facebook is learnwithsocrates

In Other Words, my new book is now available! Click here for more information on how to get a signed copy.

Class Updates: Communication and Collaboration made easy!

March 18, 2019March 18, 2019Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Why having a way to connect is important

One of the most important tasks for educators today is to find ways to be accessible to students. We want to build and foster a community of support, share information, and be available to our students. Developing a reliable way to communicate is critical for student success. While there are many traditional options available, ranging from posts on a class website, an email or even making a phone call home, educators need to be more accessible and have a way to exchange information in a timely manner.

With so many digital options available to choose from, those traditional methods of communicating have been converted into a much faster means of sharing information. Depending on the type of communication that you want to have for your classroom and parents, there are many possibilities to choose from. It simply takes figuring out what you hope to accomplish and to do better through this new method of communicating.

Why use Class Updates?

A few years ago, I started noticing what I refer to as a “disconnect.” When students were absent from class, had forgotten assignments at school, or did not understand the homework, it negatively impacted their opportunities for learning. I did not want the opportunity for learning to be lost due to a lack of communication and availability. I held myself responsible for finding a way to remedy the disconnect and find a way to be more available for students and for students to access class resources when they needed.

Class Updates, a student and teacher communication tool, offers a lot of ways to create more of a connection between students and teachers. When I first started using a messaging app, I only used it to send reminders to students and for students to be able to ask me a question. However, with Class Updates, there are some great features that enhance the learning experience and facilitate a better connection and method of communicating.

Some of the unique features of Class Updates include:

User Profiles — include a profile pic, bio, and social media links
Class/Teaching Schedule — set up your daily schedule, including start and end times
Class/Group Calendar for important reminders/events/meetings — easy to set up a calendar to share with students
Group Chat/Communication — message the entire class and facilitate conversations beyond the class period,
In-app Messaging/Chat (individual to individual),
Access to help when students need it — Teachers can be emailed directly from the app.

Sign up for free here for iOS and here for Android.

Students have shared how beneficial having tools like Class Updates is for asking questions, receiving reminders, and knowing when tests, homework and other events are coming up in class. You know something is working when the students tell you how helpful something is, especially by having the ability to ask questions and receive help when they need, which is often beyond the class period.

Some ideas for using Class Updates

-Field Trips are easier with a messaging tool

– Send reminders of assignments and upcoming tests and quizzes

– Announce a change in schedule

– Engage students in a group conversation after class ends

Questions?

Feel free to contact me at rdene915@gmail.com or connect with me on Twitter @rdene915. Remember to sign up and try it, Class Updates is free for everyone. Sign up for free here for iOS and here for Android.

Metaverse: Scavenger Hunts, Interactive Stories, Immersive Learning and now Collections

February 19, 2019February 18, 2019Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Sponsored Content, All opinions are my own

February 18, 2019

Learning and sharing through the world of AR

When I started creating with Metaverse, an augmented reality tool, a few years ago, I was immediately impressed with the potential for learning and the many possibilities for engaging students more in authentic learning “experiences.” More ways to move students from consumers to being the creators which is what we should strive to do in our classrooms. The first “experience” that I created took a bit longer than most because I chose to not explore any of the tutorials or the helpful resources available and instead opted to dive right in. Why? I thought it was better to experience possible struggles with figuring out how to create with Metaverse, similar to what students might face when they got started. As a teacher, I wanted to prepare myself to help them if and when they needed. What I noticed is that students were more than ready to create!

Over the past two years, students in my 8th grade STEAM classes have enjoyed creating with Metaverse and definitely figured it out much faster than I did. Being able to see their work, their creativity and then to enjoy testing their “experiences” has been very rewarding for several reasons. I have learned so much from them, it led to conversations about the importance of sharing struggles that we experience and to not be afraid to ask others (especially students) to help you. It even led to the addition of student tech assistants in my classes. There is so much to learn from students, and in addition to building technology skills and providing more immersive and engaging learning experiences for them, we empower students to become the leaders in our classroom. Developing their skills of problem solving, collaboration, critical thinking and pushing their curiosity will benefit them as they move through school and head into the future!

How does Metaverse promote student driven learning and choice?

It is important to offer students choices in learning and to step aside and encourage them to pursue knowledge on their own. With Metaverse, students can create fun experiences to share with their peers and have so many choices available to really make it an engaging way to learn. Regardless of content area or grade level, or even one’s role in education (why not create for teacher PD), there are thousands of new items to choose from and new features being added frequently. Students can spend a long time creating their storyboard or they can design an experience quickly, as Metaverse is user friendly, especially with the recent updates and addition of new features!

So many possibilities!

Students can find exactly what they need, create something meaningful and share their work with students in their class and even connect globally with other peers. Testing their experiences in class by scanning a QR code is quick, but what about if you want to keep all of the student projects in one space? Or even collaborate with other classrooms, either as part of project based learning or to connect globally? Students need to create for a purpose and sharing their work with others is very important. Sharing experiences can be overwhelming if you have the number of experiences being created like I do.(Students were so excited that they created extras on the weekends and sent them to me, to keep me from being bored while away from school! This is when you know that the tool is making a difference).

An important of student work is the ability to share it with others, to learn about one’s peers and enjoy learning together. Access to student work can be an issue, which is where Padlet helped initially, as a way to have students post their projects. But even this took time. I wanted to keep track of their work and have it accessible by students and teachers, as we collaborate by using Metaverse to engage all students in learning. Creating experiences with videos, 360 images and even portals, to immerse students in a world of learning right in their hands.

Explore the new Collections, now in beta release!

Wanting to be able to share and display the experiences created by students was very important and now, it is easier than ever for teachers to do. With the new “Collections,” now released in beta, teachers can manage student experiences, edit student work and easily share all of the experiences created in class! Why? Because it is easier to manage student work and save the experiences to use with other classes and even collaborate beyond your school.

To get started, simply create a “Collection” for your class and you can share the join code with students, or quickly add them from the experiences you have in your account.

Metaverse has so much potential as an instructional tool for teachers.

Why use Augmented Reality?

A popular topic at both FETC and TCEA was Augmented and Virtual Reality. Tools like Metaverse have tremendous potential to immerse students in a more authentic and purposeful learning adventure, by giving them more control in how they show learning and a hands-on experience. It is a fun platform to use in the classroom and benefits students by promoting student agency and increasing engagement in learning.

Collections create more opportunities for Interactive Learning Adventures

As educators, we want our students to have a learning “experience,” more than what the traditional methods of classroom instruction might offer. Finding time to create and explore can be a factor in deciding where to begin, but with Metaverse, it is easy to get started, especially when we let students take more control. We need to help students to embrace an opportunity to drive their learning. In doing this, we guide them toward a learning journey that will attach more meaning to the content, in a personalized and exciting way to learn, and above all, a more authentic experience. Teachers have access to collections where they can see, edit and share student work, track progress and help students as they create. Creating a collection is easy. Check it out here!

Many students learn more by doing, and when they have opportunities to engage in hands-on activities, it leads to more personalized experiences and student-driven learning. A world of learning that they create is right in their hands.

Some ideas to create with Metaverse

A tour and a survey: Have students create an experience to introduce visitors to a town, retell a part of history, ask for input and preferences for travel. With all of the choices in items to add into Metaverse, thousands of unique possibilities exist.
Just for fun: Sometimes the best way to get students involved is by only offering a few guidelines. Provide a number of scenes, type of questions to include, different features including GIFS, Google vision, polls and more. Each student can create something unique and meaningful to them, and then using collections, share it with the class. If access to devices is an issue, set up learning stations in the room.
Book review and tales: Why not have students explain key parts of a book, or make up a story, and include images, videos, portals and more as part of the experience. Share it with other students, maybe even add in a poll, and then use the results to brainstorm new ideas and keep the discussion going. I

Technology tools for education provide enhanced ways to learn, to engage students and to empower them in learning. As teachers, we always want to focus on the “why” when making our decisions, and with Metaverse, the “why” is clear: student driven learning and the power of creating. Start your collections today and share student work!

3 Quick Ways to Implement Blended Learning In The Classroom

February 1, 2019February 1, 2019Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Posted originally on Getting Smart,

Best practices for blending or flipping your classroom continue to be topics of discussion in education today. Much of the discussion focuses on finding clear definitions of what these terms mean and the benefit to classrooms.

There are many resources and ways to educate yourself on this topic available including a diverse selection of books and blogs (such as the book Blended by Michael B. Horn and Heather Staker, and of course the Getting Smart blog) related to the topic, reaching out to colleagues or members of your PLN or attending conferences such as FETC, ISTE, state edtech conferences, edcamps and other professional development experiences.

All of these are great for finding examples, vignettes, templates, suggested tools and ideas. But even with all of these options, sometimes it is more valuable to take a risk and try something out on your own. The outcomes will not always be the same for each teacher, classroom or student, but it’s at least worth a try.

There are different models for implementing blended learning, and the method used will vary depending on your classroom. I recommend starting with one method–if you see positive effects, that you have more time to collaborate in class and your students are more engaged then continue. If not, then use this opportunity as a way to learn more about your students and their needs. As teachers, we need to constantly reflect on our methods and encourage self-assessment with our students, all part of learning and growing together. Getting started can take some risk and exploration, and definitely time.

Here are some different ways to use technology to “blend” or “flip” learning that in my experience have worked well. These tools can offer innovative or creative learning methods in your classroom, opening up the time and space for where and when the learning occurs.

1. Flipping and Blending with Videos

In the past when I heard “flipped classroom” I thought that meant simply assigning a video for students to watch. It can be, as it was originally considered the traditional way of flipping the classroom, but there has to be follow-up, accountability and more than just simply assigning a video. How will we know what the students gained from the experience?

The benefit of having students watch a video outside of class is that it reserves the class time for discussion and peer collaboration, and moves the teacher to more of a facilitator in the classroom. There are video tools such as EDpuzzle and PlayPosit, through which students interact with the video.

By responding to questions throughout, they are held accountable for the material and can show what they are learning. The teacher has instant feedback and can better understand how the students are learning and provide more personalized instruction. Either of these tools are great for the teacher to create lessons, but also provide the opportunity for students to create lessons that can be shared with other students.

In my experience, these tools have both provided a lot of authentic learning, problem-solving, critical thinking and collaboration. More importantly, they create an opportunity for students to move from learners to leaders, and from consumers to creators in the classroom. This is one of our main goals as teachers–to provide opportunities which empower students to take more control and drive their own learning. These leadership opportunities also help the students to feel valued because of the work that they are doing. There are sample lessons or “bulbs” available, so try one of from the library, and see how it works in your classroom.

2. Game Based Learning and “Practice” as Homework Alternatives

Perhaps you want students to simply play a game or have some practice beyond the school day. There are lots of options available, some of which enable students to create and share their games as well.

A few of these that you are probably familiar with are Kahoot, Quizizz and Quizlet. Creating a game with any of these three apps is simple. There are many public games and Quizlet flashcards available to choose from, and it is simple to create your own or for students to create something to share with the class. You can use these to differentiate homework and have students create something more personalized and beneficial for their own learning, and then share these new resources with other students and classes.

It’s another great opportunity to understand student needs because of the types of questions they design and the vocabulary they choose to include. Another bonus is that using something like Quizizz means students can complete it anywhere. Have you tried these three? Give Gimkit a go. Created by a high school student, this is a game that students enjoy, especially because they can level up, use multipliers and really practice the content with the repetitive questions that help them to build their skills.

3. Discussion Beyond the School Day and Space

There are tools available for having students brainstorm, discuss topics or write reflections which can be accessed at any time and from any place. For example, Padlet is a “virtual wall” where teachers can post discussion questions, ask students to brainstorm, post project links and more. It is a quick and easy way to connect students and expand where and when learning occurs. Take the posts and use them as discussion starters in the next class.

Synth is great for having students create or respond to a podcast. The idea is that students can do some of these activities outside of the classroom period, and teachers can create prompts which provide opportunities to engage students with their peers in a more comfortable way.

Even though all of these involve technology at some level, they are interactive tools to engage students, to expand and “flatten the walls” of the classroom and offer students an opportunity to do more than just sit and learn; to become more actively involved, giving them a voice and choice, through more authentic learning.

By giving the students a chance to do more than absorb information, but instead to create, design and think critically, we not only give them the knowledge to be successful, we encourage them to create their own path to success. And hopefully, in the process, they learn to better self-assess and reflect, both of which are critical skills they’ll need for success in school and in their careers.

12 Tools to Try…before summer break!

May 3, 2018May 2, 2018Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Updated from the Original Post on Getting Smart, January 19, 2018

Looking for new ideas to try before the end of the school year? If you have not tried some of this, now is the time!

There are so many digital tools available today that offer opportunities for promoting student creativity, student voice, and expanding where and how students learn. I had my own list of the tools that I found made a big difference in my classroom, but decided to ask students for their input.

Here is a list of tools to try in 2018, (or to try before the end of the year, let’s keep learning!)

Each of these offer multiple ways for students to create, connect and engage in more authentic learning experiences.

Promoting Connected Learners

We were able to take our learning to a whole new level this year through Project Based Learning (PBL). Using these tools enabled us to connect with students from several Spanish speaking countries, which created tremendous possibilities for more authentic learning and broadening our cultural understanding.

1) Edmodo: Virtual learning space, where teachers can set up a digital classroom to connect students with the resources they need, in a safe learning environment. Edmodo can be used for assessments and integrates with Microsoft Office and Google, making it easy to share files with students. Students relied on Edmodo to connect with students in Argentina, Mexico and Spain for their PBL. One student said “these connections enabled me to sculpt my PBL, and learn in ways that books, videos and regular classroom lessons cannot provide.”

2) Flipgrid: Video response tool, which became one of the most talked about tools this past year after launching new features, making it even easier and more fun for students to share their ideas. Students can record up to a five minute response, add emojis to their photos and access the “grid” quickly through a grid code. It is a great tool for helping students to become more comfortable and confident in sharing their ideas and sparking curiosity with their peers.

3) Padlet: Padlet, a virtual wall, is a favorite in our classroom. Students can create a digital portfolio by uploading files and links to projects, curate resources for PBL, or have discussions with classrooms around the world. Other popular ways to use Padlet are to ask questions, post homework, or as a classroom website. Newer features include being able to “like”, “grade” or “upvote” a post and directly transfer posts to another Padlet wall.

4) Recap: Recap 2.0 is a free video response tool, which integrates with Edmodo, Canvas, Schoology, Google Classroom and Blackboard, making it easy to implement right away. It provides a comfortable way for teachers and students to ask questions by setting them up in a “Queue”. Students can submit questions and receive direct feedback, in a safe moderated environment.

Tools to Engage Students in Learning

5) Quizlet Live: Quizlet Live is a fun way to encourage student collaboration by playing a team game using a set of Quizlet study cards. Teachers select a set of study cards, launch a Live game by providing students with a join code, and students are divided into teams. To play, you need at least four players and a study set with at least 12 unique terms. Only one member of the team has the correct answer and answering incorrectly bounces the team score back to zero.

6) Quizizz: Quizizz has launched some new features, including integrating with Edmodo and Google Classroom, which makes sharing or assigning games and reviewing results much easier. When playing live, students can see the class accuracy reflected as it updates the leaderboard live with each response. There are thousands of games available in the library, making it easy to get started or create your own.

7) Kahoot!: Some big changes to the layout and options of the platform make it easier to navigate and review questions in class. Teachers can now assign “challenges” to students as a fun way to practice by sharing a code. The new “Nickname Generator” creates fun and unique usernames such as “Mystery Panda” or “Fantastic Bat” to students. It definitely saves time rather than waiting for students try to come up with their own “creative” names.

8) Kidblog: Blogging has many benefits for helping students to express themselves and begin to develop their online presence. Teachers can provide students with a variety of writing prompts to not only assess student learning, but promote creativity, communication, collaboration and digital citizenship skills. With Kidblog, teachers can even AppSmash (use two or more apps or tools together to complete a task) by embedding other tech tools into the platform, such as Buncee, Flipgrid or by uploading images and documents directly from Google Drive.

Creativity, Assessments, Interactive Lessons and More

9) Buncee: Buncee, a versatile presentation and assessment tool, is great for creating multimedia projects full of animations, graphics, audio, and videos. Choose from thousands of templates, backgrounds, animations and other graphics to create invitations, classroom signs, and unique “Buncees” for any purpose. Buncee enables every student to find exactly what they need to add into their project and to bring out their creativity.

10) Formative: An interactive tool for creating formative assessments, for use in class or as student-paced practice. Students enjoy using Formative because they receive feedback quickly, they are able to “show” their work and when done as practice, move at their own pace. Teachers can create Formatives with different question types, content and even the ability to upload and transform files. Try having students create their own Formatives as a way to have more personalized and authentic practice.

Immersive Learning, Coding and Problem Solving

11) Nearpod: Nearpod continues to be a game changer in our classroom. It provides so many options for presenting material as well as assessing students through diverse activities. The chance to be immersed in the virtual field trips and explore places around the world is of tremendous value for students. Educators can quickly create interactive lessons which include multiple question formats, the ability to upload content, BBC lessons, PhET simulations, and even add in GIFS! Nearpod integrates with Google Classroom and Canvas, and most recently with Remind, making it even easier to share lessons. Nearpod also added 27 “College Tours”, available in VR, a great way to have students experience different schools by immersing in the campus, without having to travel the distance.

12) CoSpacesEDU: CoSpacesEDU provides students with a way to not only create their own “spaces”, but to be able to walk in the spaces created by their peers. To explore in VR (Virtual Reality) and problem solve by figuring out how to code using Blockly, offers students a truly authentic way to learn, create and problem solve. The Gallery is full of examples to get you started with ideas for your classroom. Use CoSpaces to have students represent a scientific concept, a book report, or create a scene representing something studied in any content area. Talk about creativity, imagination, innovation and critical thinking, and more all in one tool.

In the End

These are just 12 of the many tools out there for education. The most important thing to remember is the “Why”? behind using these in the classroom. While these 12 tools made a difference in my classroom, they may not have the same impact in yours, but I do recommend giving them a try. Think about the tools you are currently using to amplify or facilitate student learning. What is making a difference in how, what and where students learn? Could one of these be used in place of another, as a way to engage students more in learning, or even better, provide opportunities for students to move from consumers to creators?

My advice is to simply choose one of these 12 tools and give it a try. See how it goes, ask your students for some feedback, and then plan your next steps.

Rubicon Summit: Classroom’s Journey To Student-Led, Interactive Lessons

April 20, 2018April 16, 2018Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

A Classroom’s Journey To Student-Led, Interactive Lessons

Written for the RUBICON SUMMIT

About two years ago, I found myself struggling to find ways to keep my students engaged in the lesson. I tried to get them involved more in class activities by offering more choices and providing opportunities for them to be part of the decisions made about what we were doing in the classroom. Why did I do this? Partially because I saw – and could feel – a decrease in student motivation and engagement. It was approaching the end of the school year, and the focus had shifted more to “when does summer begin?”

So I tried to do things a bit differently, think creatively, and take some risks. I wanted to keep us all moving, to finish strong at the end of the school year and begin summer vacation with a sense of accomplishment, to celebrate all that we had learned throughout the year and also what we had gained from these new experiences.

Educational Technology and Digital Tools with Purpose
Educational Technology provides so many resources that enable students to learn anywhere and at any time, and at a pace that is comfortable for each student. We can instruct from inside the traditional classroom, ”the brick-and-mortar” as it is called, or from anywhere around the world. Using digital tools provides more differentiation and personalized learning, and provides opportunities for the students to move from consumers to creators. When students have choices in how to show what they have learned, they are more likely to be engaged and excited for learning. They will feel valued, and the lesson and learning will be more meaningful because it has been made personal to them.

Creating Interactive Lessons
What did I change? I started by having my students create some interactive lessons using educational technology tools like Formative, Nearpod, and EDPuzzle, or even games with Kahoot! and Quizizz. It proved to be a very beneficial learning experience for all of us. By doing this, we had extra resources available that could be shared with students who might need some extra practice. I thought it went so well that I decided to take it a step further and start a “teacher for a day” activity during which the students create a lesson based on a grammar topic or vocabulary.

I stepped back and had the students lead our classroom. It was a really good way to learn a lot more about the students, to better understand what their needs were in terms of the content material, and for the students to learn about each other. Giving students the control and the opportunity to become the creators and leaders in the class has tremendous benefits and it has been something that we have enjoyed.

Giving Students the Control
At first when students created interactive lessons, I would launch the lesson and control it on the SmartBoard, but find ways to involve the student who created it during the presentation. I eventually decided to move aside, and took a seat in the back of the room, having the student lead the lesson, give explanations, answer questions, call upon students for answers, and provide feedback. Having the opportunity to sit back and experience this was tremendous. The students enjoyed the activity, supported each other, collaborated, and provided some positive feedback to each of their classmates. I was very impressed with how well they taught, led, and learned during each of the “teacher for a day” lessons.

Empowering Students in Learning
The use of these digital tools means that the “time and place for learning” is no longer confined to the traditional time and setting of the physical classroom. It opens up the learning environment to anywhere, at any time and at a pace that is comfortable for the students as well. Learning and having timely, purposeful and authentic feedback is critical for growth to happen. When we shift our focus to creating opportunities, giving students the control, leaving the decision making to students to choose how to show what they have learned, or letting them design their own assessments, they are more empowered in their learning.

What are the Next Steps?
Have a conversation with your students and ask for their honest feedback. What did they like? What did they not like? Which lesson or format seemed to help the most? What did it feel like to be in control, decide how to deliver the lesson, and experience being the teacher? You can have this as a face to face conversation, students can respond on paper, or use one of the many digital tools available for communication. No matter which way you choose, look to your students for the valuable feedback to decide your next steps. Be sure to ask yourself these same questions and continue to reflect on steps taken and progress made!

For more strategies about integrating technology into instruction, read Overcome

EdTech’s Problems With Blended Learning!

Why Students should learn to code and how to get started

February 7, 2018January 29, 2018Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Published originally on Getting Smart December 15, 2017

Coding is one of the topics that has received greater attention in education over the past couple of years. With a greater emphasis on computer science and coding and the demand for knowledge in these areas, there has been an increase in the variety of resources available to encourage schools to provide opportunities for students to learn about coding. The “Hour of Code” takes place annually during “Computer Science Education Week”. The week is in recognition of the birthday of Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, a computing pioneer. To see some of the events and activities from this year’s “Hour of Code” week, go to the Code.org site or check out the hashtags on Twitter for #HourofCode and #CSweek.

The goal of participating in an “Hour of Code”, is to show that anyone can code and to highlight how vital computer science knowledge is for today’s students, as it helps them to develop the skills they need to be prepared for their future. Data provided on Code.Org provide statistics which support the growing need for students to have opportunities to learn about and develop skills in coding and computer science. According to the site, the majority of schools do not teach computer science, with only 40% reported as having courses available for students. For careers in STEM, 71% of the jobs available are in computing, however, only 8% of STEM graduates are in Computer Science. As for future employment, computing jobs are the #1 source of new wages in the United States, a number that is expected to increase. In addition to the future benefits for employment, what are the other benefits of coding for students?

Why should students learn to code?

Coding is something that each student can do and is a more engaging way for students to work on their collaboration, critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Coding can help to promote SEL (Social and Emotional Learning) skills as well. For example, in working through the various modules available on Code.org or through other coding programs, students develop their self-awareness as they work through the challenges of coding and they develop a greater understanding of their strengths and being able to set goals for oneself based on this self-awareness. Students will become more confident as they problem solve and experience success along the way and by helping peers as well. Students build relationship skills through the collaboration during activities, seeking and offering help when needed and learning to cooperate with one another to solve a coding challenge.

Students can also experience more inquiry-based learning, where they are exploring on their own, problem solving and discovering how to make a program work, where the steps fit in and then being able to share the experience with one another. Personally, I enjoy trying to work through the activities on my own, to experience the challenges and be better equipped to anticipate student questions, but also to be more familiar with areas of struggle.

Getting Started

The idea of coding can be a bit overwhelming, at least that is how I felt when I first started a few years ago with the game Hopscotch. It was challenging to create a game and it took a lot of patience to push through. However, back in the early 1980s, as a 7th-grade student, I had my first experience in writing lines of code with the Apple computers. Once you learn the basic structure and the commands, it is a gradual process that does not seem to take too long to master. Even nearly 35 years later, the concept of coding really is quite the same, except that we can create more visually engaging games and programs. There are so many resources and websites available to help educators and students get started, making it less intimidating than it may initially seem.

When trying some of the resources below, be sure to engage students in discussions about their experience with coding. Encourage students to share with their peers and talk about professions which require coding skills or to brainstorm areas where knowledge of coding will prove to be beneficial. Providing this time for students to interact will help them to develop their SEL skills, by building peer relationships and supporting the classroom culture.

Working with students

Be ready for students to express some frustrations when trying to work through the activities. Even if you don’t have experience coding, it’s a great opportunity to learn right along with the students and in many cases to learn from them. How do you prepare? I recommend trying each of the activities on your own, so you are familiar with the set-up and the types of tasks that the students will be completing. As a Star Wars fan, I started with the basics and did encounter some difficulty mid-way. As it turns out, a few of my students had the exact same problem with it and asked for help. Although I did figure out how to work through it, I wanted them to work through it on their own as well. We need to give students time and space to problem solve, to ask for peer support and to experience the frustration that comes with solving problems and the joy that replaces it when the solution is reached.

Seeing the students begin to collaborate and step in to help their peers, demonstrated the benefits beyond just learning to code, it promotes their SEL skills. A lot of what is involved in coding is critical thinking, problem-solving and definitely collaboration and with all this comes an amount of frustration perhaps when the code does not work as one expects. This is when we see the students start to connect and help one another and I have also seen students become very frustrated, understandably but it is what we do with that frustration, pushing through even in the face of challenges, knowing that there is support available amongst peers and the “teacher” in the room. There is always an identifiable teacher, but as we have learned in our classes, we all have something to learn and something to teach.

Ten resources to try

Code Studio: A part of the Code.org, there are full courses available for learning different types of code, for different grade levels, as well as one-hour tutorials on themes such as Minecraft and Star Wars. Teachers can also use the “App Lab” and “Game Lab” to help students learn how to create using Javascript. Also available are more than 20 million projects created by students.
Scratch: Created by MIT, Scratch is a website for more than just programming. Scratch provides an online community for sharing projects and for learning from the library of resources available on the site.
Code Academy: Through Code Academy, you can enroll in courses to learn how to program, or search the catalog to find a specific language to learn, such as Java, Javascript, HTML and CSS, for example.
BrainPOP: Teachers can engage students in the “Creative Coding” module, in which students create stop-motion animation movies, memes and newscasts. Students follow the instructions to write their own lines of code and see how each line changes the program. Working through the module leads students to create their own codes and publish a movie or create a meme. The Creative Coding module is free for Teachers through the end of the year. There are also lessons available which focus on Computer Science and Coding and offer a variety of activities for students to develop their skills.
Hopscotch: an iPad app in which students can learn to make their own games and apps, available for students ages 8 and older. There are tutorials which include videos and lessons plans, making it easy to get started with this in class.
Swift Playground: An iPad app that enables students to get started with coding quickly, without any coding knowledge. Students can start by solving puzzles in order to learn the basics, and then continue through challenges to do more advanced coding.
Pencil Code: A collaborative programming site which provides resources for teachers, student project samples, and choices of creating games, playing music, drawing art, and working with mathematical equations and graphing.
TeachersFirst: There is a rather extensive list of different types of websites for coding based on theme and grade level for getting students involved.
Girls Who Code: A non-profit organization which focuses on closing the gender gap in technology. Girls Who Code offers information for creating after-school clubs for girls in grades six through 12 to learn about coding, as well as two-week-long summer courses and a seven-week-long specialized summer program for 10th and 11th grade girls to learn about coding and job opportunities.
Khan Academy: A non-profit organization which offers free educational resources including practice activities and videos, which enable you to learn at your own pace. Khan Academy provides lessons on Computing, with options including computer animation, hour of code, computer programming and computer science. It is easy to get started by either choosing the basics and working through a whole lesson, or selecting a specific concept.

Coding is not just about learning to write a program, it’s about connecting with the learning and building relationships in the process. Learning to problem solve, collaborate and work together to build skills for the future. Developing our interpersonal skills and fostering the development of meaningful and supportive relationships in the classroom will empower students in learning.

Quizlet Live: A student perspective

September 28, 2017September 25, 2017Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Teacher to Teacher: Does technology in the classroom help? Ask the students.

Quizlet HQ · Posted by Amalia January 23, 2017

This post was written by Rachelle Dene Poth and Sean, a student in one of her Spanish classes. Rachelle teaches French, Spanish, and STEAM at Riverview Junior-Senior High School in Pennsylvania.

Quizlet Live: An instant hit in my classroom

The availability of technology, and especially of digital tools like Quizlet, have opened up tremendous possibilities for classrooms today. Because of the diverse tools available, teachers now have new ways to deliver content both in and out of the classroom, and students have more engaging and personalized ways to learn.

Quizlet is something I have used in my classroom for the past few years in many different ways. I have used it in class to play Quizlet Live, to give students time to use the activities to review while I work with them individually, and to play games like Gravity on the Smartboard. Toward the end of last school year, I was able to beta test Quizlet Live, their newest collaborative in-class game, with my Spanish II class. It was an instant hit. Once we figured out how to play the game (which was easy), it became a great way to practice the vocabulary and verbs. It also created more opportunities for students to work with and learn from their peers, and build those vital classroom relationships that form a positive classroom culture. (To learn more about how to play Quizlet Live, check out my previous post on this topic.)

How to know when the technology has a purpose: Ask the students

Sean, an 11th grader in my Spanish courses, has been an advocate for the use of technology at school. He recently led a presentation for an edtech conference, TRETC (Three Rivers Education and Technology Conference) and chose to present on Quizlet Live. He explained the purpose of the game, highlighted how to play, and led a game with those present — many of whom were playing for the first time. Sean had great, first-hand information to share and, coming from a student, the benefit of using Quizlet Live in the classroom was clear to everyone.

In Sean’s own words

Quizlet has a purpose when it comes to studying or just having fun. For example, in my Spanish II class, we used Quizlet for studying outside of class or to create cards for homework, and then when we met again as a class, we would play Quizlet Live and it would be fun for everyone. It is a tool that can be used multiple ways for school and work. An example of using it outside of school is when we were coming home from the PAECT student technology showcase. We were bored during the bus ride, so Mrs. Poth asked us if we wanted to play and we said sure.

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At the time we didn’t know any topics that could be played on Quizlet Live except for school topics, but we were introduced to some of the other topics that could played. We struggled with some of the TV trivia, which dated back to the 1950s, but we worked as a team and won the game. This activity showed our group that there were a variety of things that could be done using Quizlet Live.

This school year, I have already created a Quizlet Live that my class has played and everyone loved it. I will continue to create more Quizlets to use and help out the class, and to also have a fun time at home. We will be presenting a session during our state technology conference, PETE&C, and in addition to the student showcase, we will take over a full session and teach teachers about these tools. The students will once again be the leaders and engage the attendees with Quizlet Live.