Thank You from Jenny

Today is my (Jenny's) last day as a technology intern here at Roland Story Elementary. After winter break, I will be back, but as a student teacher. I am excited for the next chapter, but also sad to see this one end. As I reflect back on the last year and a half of working at Roland Story elementary, a few words come to mine:

[created using wordle.net]

I want to thank all the teachers, staff, and students for all the support you've given me. It has been a learning experience and I appreciate all the patience and kindness everyone always gave me. 

Coding

You might have seen articles about "How all students need to learn how to code" or "Hour of Code" or "Why are we teaching our students how to code?"  Watch the TED Talk and Check out Hour of Code for more information on why students should learn how to code.

If you are like me and enjoy TED Talks, then you should check out this TED Talk all about teaching kids how to code Mitch Resnick: Let's teach kids to code.

If you don't have time to watch the video, here is a quote from it that I think is really good:

"...a lot of times people feel that young people today can do all sorts of things with technology. I mean, all of us have heard young people referred to as "digital natives." But actually I'm sort of skeptical about this term. I'm not so sure we should be thinking of young people as digital natives. When you really look at it, how is it that young people spend most of their time using new technologies? ...there's no doubt that young people are very comfortable and familiar browsing and chatting and texting and gaming. But that doesn't really make you fluent.  So young people today have lots of experience and lots of familiarity with interacting with new technologies, but a lot less so of creating with new technologies and expressing themselves with new technologies. It's almost as if they can read but not write with new technologies.  And I'm really interested in seeing, how can we help young people become fluent so they can write with new technologies? And that really means that they need to be able to write their own computer programs, or code.  So, increasingly, people are starting to recognize the importance of learning to code."

I've read some of the articles about coding, and I agree that not every student NEEDS to learn how to code -- especially at a young age.  I took a class a few semesters ago called Toying with Technology and we learned how to code Lego Robots.  After we learned how to code them to do various things, we taught students at United how to code the robots and students from all over the state came to ISU to learn how to code the robots.  My mind was BLOWN at how fast these students picked up on how to code.  It was amazing!  They were doing things in an hour that had taken us weeks to learn.

December 8-14 is Computer Science Education Week.  To celebrate that, a campaign was started to get tens of millions of students across the world to participate in the Hour of Code.  The Hour of Code is a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify code and show that anybody can learn the basics.  I actually participated in this last year and was surprised how easy it is.  There are so many options including Code with Anna and Elsa and Write Your First Computer Program.  Check out http://hourofcode.com/us or http://code.org/learn and encourage your students to participate in the Hour of Code this week!  Coding can be used with people ages 4-104 so don't think you are too young or too old to learn!  There is also an iPad app that can be used: Codecademy: Code Hour.

If you would like to learn more about coding, want to add the Code Hour app to some iPads, or have any other questions about it, feel free to ask me!

Thank You from Jill

The end of the semester is near, which means my time as a technology intern is almost done.  I will be student teaching next semester in Storm Lake, which is about 15 minutes away from my hometown.  I am sad to leave this great school district with awesome teachers, but I am also excited to move on to the next step in my journey. 

 I just wanted to take the time to thank each and everyone of you for helping me grow and learn so much more about technology.  I am extremely grateful for this opportunity, and I will never forget the things I learned.  Not only did I improve my skills in working with technology, but I was able to teach lessons in the classroom using technology.  I was not able to receive that opportunity in any of my practicum experiences, so it was so great to be able to do that here.  Hopefully I was of some assistance to you, and thank you again!  - Jill

Last Call for Badges!

As I'm sure you are all aware, the end of the semester is in sight!  This also means that the B.I.G. is coming to an end also on Thursday, December 18.  We will have a prize for the teacher with the most points so hurry up and make some comments, share ideas with the interns, or invite an intern into your classroom!  Here is our schedule for the next 2 weeks so feel free to email us if you want us to teach a lesson in your classroom!

12/8 - Jill 8 am - 12 pm

12/9 - Jenny 8 am - 12 pm

12/10 - Jill 10 am - 2 pm

12/11 - Jenny 8 am - 12 pm

12/12 - Courtney 12:45 pm - 4:45 pm

12/15 - Jill 8 am - 12 pm

12/16 - Courtney 8 am - 12 pm

12/17 - Courtney 12 - 4 pm

12/18 - Jenny 8 am - 12 pm

Interactive Educational Games

Hello! My name is Katherine Carpenter and I am one of the technology interns at the middle school! I found a fun educational site that I thought would be great to share with the elementary teachers and students. The website is called ABCya.com, and it is “the leader in free educational kids computer games and activities for elementary students to learn on the web.” I saw this site being used in a third grade classroom, and it was a hit with the students! To use this site…

Type in http://www.abcya.com into your browser, or click on it as a link! A site that looks like the image below will pop up. These games were all created or approved by certified teachers, but feel free to test them out before having your students complete them! Each game is connected to a range of grade levels that they suggest, as well as a list of Common Core State Standards that it addresses!

The site gives suggestions on many of the featured games and apps that have been especially successful, so check those out as well! A picture of what this looks like is below:

Next, chose a grade level. For example purposes, I chose first grade and there were tons of options to choose from! The games were organized into groups that were labeled: letters, numbers, more (shapes, geometry, patterns, mouse manipulation and art), holiday and just for fun! I highly encourage you check these out, the games are easy to navigate and connect math or literacy concepts to more interactive work. Students will love it! Below is a picture of what the first grade page looks like. Enjoy, and let us know how you like it!

iPad App Organization 101

There are some apps that get used everyday by students. For some of the younger students especially, it can take a long time to find these apps. Rearranging the order of the apps on the iPad or even putting apps in certain folders can help students find the apps more quickly and helps keep the iPad organized.

Rearranging the Apps

To rearrange the apps, touch and hold any app icon until all of the apps start to jiggle. Then hold down on the app you want to move until the icon enlarges slightly. It will then allow you to move the app as you please on that same screen. 

Adding or Removing Apps from the Dock

Putting frequently used apps on the dock helps eliminate wasted time searching for the apps and helps students use the iPad more efficiently. The dock allows apps on the dock to be accessed on any screen and prevents the need to search through multiple screens to find an app. 

To add an app to the dock: Touch and hold any app icon until all of the apps start to jiggle exactly how you did when you rearranged the order of the apps. After holding down on the app you want to move until it enlarges, simply drag the app from the screen to the dock. Six icons are allowed on the dock at once. Technically, folders are also allowed on the dock. Most students keep 4 apps on the dock at once, and they are not in folders.

To remove an app from the dock: Follow the same procedures as adding an app to the dock, except instead of dragging the apps on, you will drag the unwanted apps off. Technically, no apps are required to be kept on the dock. 

Creating a Folder

To help students find all apps more efficiently, it can be helpful to put apps into folders by categories. Folders can also promote classroom management within the younger grades. Once the apps are in the correct folders, there is also the option to rename the folder. The kindergarten iPads are set up with numbered folders. Teachers tell the students they can use any app in the certain numbered folder, and it helps eliminate confusion on which app the students should be using. The first grade iPads are set up by categories. For example, there is a different folder for each Daily 5 activity. When students are able to Listen to Reading on their iPads, they know to only use apps within that folder.  

Putting apps into folders: To put an app in a folder, first make the apps jiggle like previously described. From there, touch and hold your finger on the app you want to add to a folder and drag it onto the app you would like it to be in a folder with.

When your iPad looks like this, you know you are about ready to create a folder.

Once you have successfully created the folder, you have the option to rename it if you don't like the name the folder was automatically given. The icons should all still be jiggling, which allows you to rename the folder. This is what the screen will look like to do this.

 After the folder is created, you are able to add any other apps to that same folder using the same method as previously described. 

Removing apps from folders: To remove an app from a folder, make the apps jiggle as described previously. From there, drag the unwanted app to the side so it is no longer in the folder. This will return the app to a free spot on the home screen. 

Here you can see the App Store app is about ready to be removed from the current folder. 

It is important to note that at Roland-Story, whenever we add new apps, the folders are deleted unless we create a backup! Be sure to speak with the tech interns if you are seriously considering organizing student iPads this way. Typically the younger grades provide the organization for the students to help scaffold them to do their own organizing once they are in the upper elementary.    

Moving Apps to Different Screens

Moving one app: To move an app to a different screen one at a time, make sure all apps are jiggling. Hold down the app you want moved and drag it to the side of the screen. From there, the screens with shuffle, allowing you to choose which screen you would like the app to be on. You can also use this same procedure to move apps to different screens within folders.   

Moving multiple apps at once: Moving one app at a time can prove to be a little tricky as well as time consuming. To move multiple apps at once, move all of the apps you would like moved into a folder like described previously. From there, drag the folder to the dock using the same steps as you learned earlier. Then you will be able to swipe to the screen you would like the apps to be on and remove the folder from the dock to the appropriate screen. You can then remove the apps from the folder or keep them there, whichever organizational method you prefer! 

Note: Pressing the home button gets the apps to stop jiggling. 

Please share some ways you prefer to organize the apps on your students' or even your personal iPad to maximize productivity! 

Socrative

(www.socrative.com)

Have you ever thought it would be nice to visualize student understanding? Socrative is an app that allows you to do just that by easily giving formative assessments to your students in a fun and effective way! Socrative allows you to make quizzes, polls, space races, and exit tickets for your students. (Space race has you choose a quiz you've already made and assign teams. These teams compete to finish the quiz the fastest.) The app then collects and digitalizes all student answers in "real time," and then creates the data report for you afterward. 

Watch this YouTube video to get 90 second run-down of the app!

To begin, you need to first create a classroom. You can create an account directly in the app or on the Socrative website. To do this on the iPad, you will need to download the Socrative Teacher App from the App Store. It's free!

(www.socrative.com)

After you register, you will receive a unique code for your classroom. Your students will log in using this code, so only they have access to the content you create. They will download the Socrative Student App. 

(www.socrative.com)

Now that you've logged in and created a classroom, you can create content! Socrative has created a very impressive and complete user guide to explain how to create everything in the app. It has step-by-step picture directions on how to create each form of assessment. I would highly suggest checking out the user guide!

Access Socrative User Guide

Below are a few screenshots from the Socrative User Guide, to help you get a better idea of how to use the app. 

The dashboard is where you decide what type of assessment you are going to create.

The "Quiz" feature can be used to create multiple choice, short answer, or true/false quizzes. Essentially students sign into your classroom, select the quiz you created, and take the quiz. You will create the quizzes to be used for Exit Tickets and Space Race as well. 

Once everyone is finished, Socrative will then collect the data for you. It will automatically set up a spread sheet to show which student answered what for each question, even graphing individually by student if you wish!

"Exit Tickets" can be used as a quick, easy, and paperless informal assessments to see if students are understanding what you taught them. This will let you know what you need to reteach. This also allows for complete honesty when you ask if students understood the material versus a thumbs up or thumbs down assessment.

Last but not least, "Space Race" allows students to race against each other while they complete the quiz. As a teacher, you can even display the "real time" rockets racing each other using the projector to give students even more motivation. This would be a useful tool for math facts or vocabulary words, anything where speed and accuracy are important. This seems very fun and engaging and definitely a predicted student favorite! Who would of thought students could be seen laughing and smiling while taking an assessment!

Give Socrative a try in your classroom! Their website has incredible resources, support materials, and classroom ideas to use this app! Explore it and give it a try! Contact a tech intern if you would like to us to help you set up the app with the students in your classroom. 

What are ways you use assessment in your classroom and how can Socrative help make it more engaging for your students? Take a risk, and let's find out! 

B.I.G. Update!

With only 5 weeks left of this semester, we thought we should update you guys on the leaders for the B.I.G. (Blog Incentive Game)!

The person with the most amount of points at the end of this semester will receive the grand prize!  We encourage all of you to get at least 1 more badge this year - especially a learning badge.  Not only does it put you in the running to receive a prize, but you will continue to learn more about technology in the classroom!

Badge Reminder:

Comment Badge (1 point): Comment on any posts and receive this badge!  Share your thoughts, give us ideas, or just write to say you've read the post.  Anything works!

Learning Badge (3 points): Invite an intern into your classroom to teach a lesson using technology or help you learn more about an app!  If you use Handouts or Homeroom, you can earn this badge also!

Initiative Badge (5 points): Research a new app or technology tool and share it with us and/or your colleagues! 

The leaders are:

*drum roll please ;)*

Mrs. Olson - 14 points

Mrs. S. Johnson - 9 points

Mrs. Hull - 9 points

Mr. Gilroy - 8 points

Ms. Hyatt - 7 points

Mrs. K. Johnson - 6 points

Mrs. Phelan - 6 points

Mrs. Hauer - 3 points

Mrs. Nelson - 3 points

Mrs. Sanderson - 3 points

Mrs. Thein - 3 points

Mrs. Rule - 3 points

Mrs. Bauman - 1 point

Mrs. Greenfield - 1 point

Handouts

Are you tired of making copies or taking stacks of papers home with you to grade?  Do you want to go paperless in your classroom?  If you said yes to one of these questions, then the Handouts app is for you!  Handouts is a paperless student/teacher platform for tablet-centered classrooms.  It addresses the creation, distribution, collection, and grading of worksheets, printables, homework, quizzes and assignments.

Here's how to use this (FREE!) app:

CREATE


Take a picture of a worksheet or import one from a digital file (like Dropbox). You can use all of your existing worksheets!













DISTRIBUTE


Select which handouts you would like to distribute, then send to your class with one tap.















WORK ON TABLET



Student can complete handouts with a stylus or their finger.













GRADE & FEEDBACK

After students complete their handout, they send it back to the teacher with one tap. The teacher can then grade and add feedback and send it back to the student.















STUDENT PORTFOLIOS


Teachers can favorite student assignments to create portfolios of significant work and keep track of uncollected handouts.

Let one of the tech interns know if you would like to try this out in your classroom!

For more detailed instructions, feel free to check this YouTube video out!

Handouts - Simple Classroom Workflow

Add a Printer

We have installed a new printer in the elementary computer lab. You will have to add this new printer in order to print things to the lab in the future. Adding a new printer to your computer is very simple! Follow the steps below to add it:

1. Open system preferences. In the second row, select "printers and scanners"

2. On the left side, there should be a list of printers you already have added to your computer. Click the + sign on the bottom left side of that box.

3. A new window will appear with a list of options. 

Find the name that says "ES Lab M602".

4. Select the drop down menu for "use" and change from 

Secure AirPrint to HP LaserJet 600 M602. 

Click add in the bottom right corner to add the printer!

5. This screen will appear once you click add. Give it time to set up. 

Be sure to select this printer when you print in the future.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us! Happy printing! 

MackinVia is Working!

I know a lot of you have been missing MackinVia since it hasn't been working very well this year, but it is up and running again!

You'll start by logging in just like before -- Roland-Story Elementary School and the AEA username and password.

Once you're in, you don't have to log in each student individually!  Students can start reading once they log in that first time.  As you can see, the green backpack in the corner is gone!

For some reason, we had to get another app called SWKids Reader for the students to read the ebooks. This app is free and we will be adding it to all of the iPads.  It may ask for students to create an account, but it will work if they don't so you don't need to have them create one.

If you would like us to help your students log in to MackinVia or want to use it right away so you need that new SWKids Reader app, let us know so we can get you started!  Feel free to ask us any questions about the changes.

Private Classroom Albums to Share with Parents

Do you want to share pictures and notes with your students' parents, but don't really want to start a blog?  A great alternative to this is gethomeroom.com.  You can upload albums and pictures of what you are doing in your class such as presentations, field trips, or anything else you'd like parents to see.  Parents can like and comment on pictures, just like Facebook.  The great thing about this site is that it is completely private because you choose who gets to join your classroom.  Your pictures can be viewed on Android or Apple devices with the FREE app or it can be viewed on the website.



Check out this easy to use program!  If you have questions or need help setting up an account, feel free to ask on of the interns!  We'll give you a learning badge if you set up this up for your classroom!

Voice Thread

I created a blog last spring and have continued to use it to share my thoughts on technology and teaching. Check out this post about Voice Thread to find out how to use it and why it could be useful in your classroom!

Enabling the Microphone

As most of you know, many of the apps on the iPad allow you to record your voice. This can be beneficial for you as a teacher to record directions in Showbie, for students to create projects in Toontastic, or even as a progress monitoring tool in VoiceThread. In order for these apps to reach their full potential, the microphone needs to be enabled. This simply means the iPad needs permission to access the microphone. This can be done in a few simple steps:

First, go to Settings.

On the left-hand side of the screen, tap Privacy.

Then, a menu will show up on the right-hand side. Select Microphone.

After you select Microphone, the applications that have requested access to the microphone will appear here. It will be gray if it has not been given permission to be accessed.

Slide the toggle to the right with your finger, so it turns green. This will grant the microphone access to the app you are trying to use to record your voice. 

After this has been done once for an application, the iPad should not require the microphone to be enabled again when trying to use that same app. If it does, now you know what to do!

What are some apps that you use the microphone for in your classroom? 

Reflector

"Reflector is an AirPlay receiver that allows you to wirelessly display your iPad or iPhone on a number of devices." 

(http://www.airsquirrels.com/reflector/)

By visiting THIS website, you can download Reflector onto your computer. This is the screen you will see when you click the link:

On the left side, there is a 'for mac' section. Click the download button under For Mac. 

Reflector will start to download. Depending on the settings on your computer, it may appear at the bottom of your browser, or you may need to open finder and go to downloads. 

Once it is finished downloading, open the file "Reflector.dmg". This screen will appear:

Drag the reflector icon to the applications folder icon. Next, open finder, go to applications, and open reflector. It will ask you this:

Click 'open'.

Then this screen will appear:

Click, 'I have a license key' in the bottom right corner.

Then, this screen will appear:

If you are a teacher at our school, we have a code for you. Please email one of the interns and we can provide this code for you! You will copy and paste the code into the box and then click 'activate reflector'. 

Once you've completed these steps, you are ready to use reflector! 

Setting Up Email

Here at Roland Story Elementary, the 3rd and 4th graders have the opportunity to have an email address. They use this privilege to turn in assignments, participate in google forms to document their work, and learn to communicate digitally. I have had some great conversations with 3rd graders about digital citizenship and how to appropriately use this privilege. 

For our teachers, we have broken down the steps to setting up students' emails on the iPads. 

Step 1: In settings, find 'mail, contacts, calendars on the left side'. Click on this and the options will appear on the right side. Click 'add account'.

Step 2: Select 'exchange'.

Step 3: For students, email section = firstname_lastname / password = their student ID #. For teachers, email section = your full email / password = your email password. The description can be left blank. Click next when this section is finished.

Step 4: Type "m.google.com" into the server. Leave domain blank. In the username section, the students need to type their full email = firstname_lastname@roland-story.k12.ia.us. For teachers, type your full email as well. Click 'next' when all the information is entered. 

Step 5: Click 'save' and you now have an email account set up on your iPad!

Step 6: To be sure the set up worked, open up your mail app and see if you can send/receive emails. 

Learning is Happening!

Check out all the badges we've awarded!

We have been in many classrooms helping teachers log their students into email, log into Tales2Go, teach lessons, and show the students how to use the iPads. 

I had some great conversations with 3rd graders about digital citizenship and the appropriate use for their emails. They are excited to have this privilege and get started using it!

Mr. Gilroy (4th grade) and Mrs. Phelan (3rd grade) are using Google forms to communicate with their students. 

Congrats to these teachers for pushing themselves to learn:

Mrs. Hauer

Mrs. Nelson

Mrs. Sanderson

Mrs. Thein

Mrs. Hull

Mrs. Olson

Mrs. Rule

Ms. Hyatt

Mrs. Phelan

Mrs. Bauman

Mr. Gilroy

Mrs. Greenfield

We look forward to continue to learn as the year goes on!

Turning on Mirroring (Connecting laptop to projector)

Sometimes when you plug your laptop into your projector, nothing shows up.  The reason for this is your mirroring is turned off.  To turn on your mirroring, here are some simple steps to follow:

Once the Mac and projector are connected, click on the Apple Menu in the top left corner of your screen.

Select System Preferences from the drop-down menu.

Select the Displays icon.

When the Displays window appears, click the Detect Displays button.

At this point your Mac and projector should be synchronized. If not, try following the steps below:

• Click on the Apple Menu in the top left corner of your screen. 
• Select System Preferences from the drop-down menu. 
• Select the Displays icon. 
• When the Displays window appears, select the Arrangement tab within the menu bar.
• Check the Mirror Displays box in the lower left-hand corner of the window. (Note: After checking this box, please wait several seconds. Once the displays are mirrored, you should see the same image on both your projector and computer.)

See one of the tech interns if you still need assistance!

Source: http://www.meetingtomorrow.com/cms-category/how-to-connect-a-mac-to-a-projector

Learning is a Lifetime Process

Our teachers are open to learning! 

Today three of our teachers earned LEARNING BADGES for inviting a technology intern into their classroom. 

Mrs. Thein and Mrs. J. Nelson asked myself, Jenny, to come into their classroom and help their students login to Tales2Go. It can be a process with a classroom of students but with extra hands we got it done in no time! Check out this blog post for more information on Tales2Go.

Mrs. Hull invited myself, Jenny, into her classroom to teach a lesson using Toontastic. The students were engaged, great listeners, and very excited about the process. I appreciate the opportunity to teach and Mrs. Hull was able to learn about the app. We wrote about Toontastic last spring so be sure to check out the post! It's a great app to use with a variety of grade levels. It is helpful for students to create a draft of their story before they use the app. I have posted the draft template that we have used with students on Teachers Pay Teachers. It is a free download so check it out!