Reaching for Redefinition

     Although I may not be there now, or even in the very near future, I have my eyes set on redefinition.  Realistically, redefinition will not occur daily or even across all content areas.  I know this, but I am confident that I can make it happen in various opportunities throughout lessons and assessments.  I have chosen a few apps that I hope to focus on over the next few years.  Read on, to discover ways you, too, may be able to use these apps to redefine your classroom!

iMovie
     Lights! Camera  Action!  iMovie is one of those applications that probably has a greater learning curve for adults than children. Children have grown up with iPhones in their faces. I mean, "Welcome to the world!" *Snap* I'm pretty sure my 3 year old can record and send a video to my contacts, and I KNOW his 6 year old sister can perform basic edits in iMovie.  I would imagine that for most second graders, the instructional 'how to' of creating the movies would be minimal while the fiddling and exploration part would take precedence.  
     Students could use iMovie to create and present learned information, to publish work, and to share globally.  Additionally, iMovie is a staple app that will and can be used at various ages and stages for a variety of purposes!

Educreations


  Educreations is another medium to use for students to create 'movies' or tutorials to display their knowledge and acquisition of skills.  It has less features and an easy to use interface.  Students can upload or draw images and add voice to enhance their presentations.  It is a great way for students to explain their work or to create presentations of their understanding.  Recently, my students used Educreations to make brief videos showing how they solve double digit addition problems. I was able to watch the videos at a later time and could follow the train of thought of all students to see where mistakes were made or where misconceptions came from. I am a superfan of Educreations because of the limited (but relatively adequate) features it includes. (Educreations totes this as a highlight of the app.) My one big wish would be the ability to edit a completed movie. This may or may not ever be available, but a girl can dream...

Nearpod

Take me away!  You can't tell me that every once in a while, while at work, your brain doesn't slip away from school and to a far off tropical island…or to a hot shower uninterrupted by little voices asking for help adding double digit numbers, milk, or for you to replay the Christmas episode of Peppa Pig.  We KNOW our students brains slip! Sometimes I watch them and wonder where exactly their big, creative minds have taken them.  If the winter doldrums have you itching for change, then I've got just he app for you! Nearpod can redefine a class trip!  For instance, our ELA unit is on the Sports Fiction genre.  This week we are reading The Magic Tree House: Hour of the Olympics.  The class is so interested in Greece!  Why not take them there? Nearpod is just the Virtual Reality (VR) tool for this. 

     There are SO many other uses for Nearpod in the classroom: assessments, differentiation, presentations and more. A simple Pinterest search will bring up TONS of resources and suggestions.  The only setback is that there is a cost associated with some of the features of the app. This is a comprehensive app with a lot to offer. I am setting a short term goal to explore what the nearpod VR has to offer as well as the Draw It feature.

Aurasma 

Aurasma is probably the redefinition tool that I am most excited to use in my class.  Aurasma is an augmented reality tool that students use to link an image with a video. For instance, if students engage in the engineer design process, they may take a picture of their finished project.  Along the way, they may make videos of their process: asking questions,   researching, brainstorming and planning, creating and testing, and evaluating and improving their work. These videos can be compiled into one or as several separate videos.  Each video has a set trigger picture (typically an image connected to the video) that is linked to their video.  When the Aurasma app is opened, users can scan these images and watch as they come to life while videos play! This exact scenario is one that I will be working on this year in my class.  More than for the actual learning piece, I am excited for students to use it to help publish and share work with their peers, schoolmates, and families.  This form of redefinition would NEVER happen without technology!

Watch below to see what the big deal is and how to get started with Aurasma!

Well, I've now put my goals out there on the internet, and everything you read on the internet is true, right? I should probably get to work! Wish me luck!

It Starts

The Prologue 

     After it was announced at the end of the year staff meeting that I would be moving to second grade, our technology support staff for the building bounded over to me eager to talk about the coming year.  "I'm so glad it's you in that room! It's where all of the grade level technology is housed! I know you will use it!" However, my brain was not on iPads and MacBooks. It was on the beach and late cups of coffee after a morning of trying to get in some yoga with my kids crawling all over me.  

    So on the first inservice day of the summer, I happened upon my new home in the second grade basement wing of our historic school building. To say I was overwhelmed is an understatement. To say I was underprepared is accurate.  The first month and a half was a time of treading water...well more like bobbing and coming up for air every once in a while. As I tried to sort through my new habitat, standards and curriculum, and to strike a balance between that and grad work and my personal life, the technology sat tight, neatly charging in their little carts with baskets of pre-decodable readers and other inappropriate-for-second grade materials.  I mean, I clearly did not have time to mess with logging kids into sites and dealing with locked out technology.

     And so was the birth of my first mistake misconception.  

The Story

     Eventually, with the new technologies being introduced to me through my EDT courses, I couldn't put it off any longer. I unlocked the cart, swiffered the Apple products, and got to work.

     My first task was to update all technology and acquire the apps I needed.  I started with SeeSaw. From my research, it seemed appropriate, user friendly, and fun.  I submitted my request with our district technology department and they ran with it. It was approved and made available on all elementary school devices in our district. WIN!  To my surprise, the kids were like old pros handling the equipment (well most of them). WIN again!

     The first week was solely for my use. I took pictures of student work and students at work. I practiced posting and loading into appropriate folders.  The next week, I introduced it to the class. I taught them how to login with the QR code posted in our room, how to take a photo in the app,  and how to find their own folders to load them into.

    

    Since then, parents have been invited to share in the experience of their online portfolios.  We have taken videos of students explaining concepts and work they are doing in class, and have even uploaded help videos for parents.  There is so much more to learn with this app, and I am confident this next year will bring more use for this app in the classroom.

     Next, I tried Kahoot.  This was a hit!  Students love this game as a way to compete with each other while also practicing their skills and showing what they know.  Unfortunately, the connection in my room kept dropping iPads while using devices with the entire class.  This problem was very recently addressed and I hope to pick up this 'abandoned' tool again in the near future.

     Plickers was the next venture.  Since it only requires the use of one device, and collects a lot of evidence at once, I thought this would be a fun and engaging tool to use in the classroom.  However, as with most technology, there is a learning curve.  It has taken a while for students to get used to holding their cards correctly, but they are improving. As long as the site is functioning properly, it is a fun way to assess students on lower tiered skills and information. 

     Students have loved using Educreations in the classroom. It has been most helpful in explaining math work so far.  Recently, I was able to show a student who was struggling with getting his ideas to paper how to use it to dictate his thoughts using the app and then play them over and over again as he recorded them on paper.  Students are enjoying making videos and uploading them to SeeSaw for their parents to see!

     The discovery of Get Epic! has been a very valuable tool in our classroom. I have been able to bring in text that is relevant to our themes in ELA, and students enjoy the game-like component of racing to read books towards our class total. 

     Finally, we have been using a lot of games and apps in our learning this year.    It has kept students engaged and excited about learning.  I am eager to find more appropriate games that will help students to work towards the standards in second grade.

The (Not So) Epilogue

     My journey into the world of integrating technology into the classroom has been a primative and slow process so far, but a worthwhile one.  I anticipate that, with the close of my coursework (and the subsequent close of my first year in a new grade level) I will have more time to 'play' with the technology, and to integrate it more seamlessly to enhance the learning in my classroom.  I may never "reach the red" in the SAMR model in my career, but I will keep climbing!

     

     

Looking Ahead

     I am very interested in the concept of blended learning in the classroom.  As I become more familiar with my standards and curriculum, I anticipate being able to incorporate more of the three main components of blended learning (student control over time, location, and pace, instruction in a classroom setting, and the integration of online and face-to-face instruction) into my students day. (Gatens, 2015)

Watch this TED talk to familiarize yourself with blended learning.

Once Upon A Technology Time...

     Once upon a time there was a Kindergarten teacher.  She was an eager, spritely young educator with a zest for creativity and a motivation to stay current and engage her students in all of the newest and coolest tools available to them. But then...Kindergarten.

     Now Kindergarten is a magical time of exploration and music and singing and play. It's a year of laying the foundation for all skills to be built on, of sparking a love of learning, and of tremendous academic and social growth for Kindergartners.  It's also hard. Harder than anyone who has never taught it could ever imagine. Kindergarten is an entirely different beast than other elementary grades. It knows no social etiquette or boundaries, nor how to walk in line. It struggles with how to open its own juice box, and knows not how to sit and listen to a story. It's a year of repetition and patience, of chaos...and of lengthy iPad lockouts due to excessive failed login attempts with the most basic passcode that was ever in existence.  Kindergarten is hard.

     And so she pressed on.  Then one unexpected day she happened upon a new land. A land referred to by most as Second Grade.  This is the story about how the dreams of one (not quiet as young as she once was) teacher began to come true.