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Monday, January 29, 2018

Second Grade Virtual Tour Guides through iPad App Smashes with Google Street View & DoInk Green Screens

Recently some second grade students working with Julie Olson and Rachel Studnicka at Groveland Elementary School did a creative app smash for their research projects. The end result was a video of themselves narrating a second moving video in the background. This virtual field trip with the students as a tour guide really brought their learning to life. Students were very excited about this and their projects turned out great, such as the one shown above (used with permission). Besides Egyptian pyramids, other students led tours to places such as Hawaii, Chile or along the Mississippi River.

Prior to recording, the students spent time selecting a topic for inquiry and researching it using Britannica online. After organizing their research, students spent time scripting out their narration with a template (I am broadcasting from… The reason I am here is… Here are the important facts you need to know… The most interesting facts about this topic are…). They also selected their background location and practiced panning and zooming around in it using Google Street View prior to the filming using the iOS 11 screen recording tool. Once they finished this recording, they saved it to the iPad camera roll to import into DoInk as the background for their green screen recording. Students also spent time learning to use DoInk and merging their two videos. DoInk’s green screen app is a great tool used by students in all of our grades--more on that in a couple previous posts here and here. Final projects were saved in Google Drive.

This is yet another great example of the use of technology for learning. It helps students make learning more meaningful, personal, and memorable. Throughout this project, students used multiple skills on the Minnetonka Teaching and Learning Framework besides technology: critical thinking, creativity, communication, and authentic and real world learning. Learn more about the Framework here. Related posts about app smashing, green screens, iPads, using technology for learning, and more can be found linked below:

Monday, February 19, 2018

14 Popular Tech Tools to Increase Student Learning & Engagement

Last Wednesday in place of a regularly scheduled monthly staff meeting, all of our high school teachers spent that time in instructional technology staff development. The teachers each learned about additional technology tools they could use with their students. There were fourteen sessions offered for 45 minutes, each led by a different teacher, and all instructors were all colleagues of the attendees. They called these classes "Tech Mini-Sessions."

Each of the fourteen mini-session descriptions are below. Teachers signed up ahead of time and received CEUs for their time spent learning. All staff were expected to participate as this was in place of a staff meeting. Our three high school instructional technology coaches 
Ben, Darren and Jason each led sessions and organized this event.

TopicDescription
QuestioningResearch shows that teachers ask hundreds of questions per day. How can we get the most “bang for our buck” in regards to questioning and discussion? How can we use this strategy as a tool for student engagement? For when we use content to engage students, learning occurs. Join us as we discuss the characteristics of a high quality question and ways in which we can incorporate them into our daily lessons. Various discussion techniques and technology tools will be highlighted such as Answer Garden and Padlet. Please bring an upcoming lesson or unit that you are wanting to focus on.
QuizizzLooking for another fun way to review? Quizziz is a multi-player game that students can join with a game code and play on their own. What's great about Quizziz is that students get questions on their individual devices instead of on the SmartBoard, and can move through the questions at their own pace. This feature eliminates students signing out due to boredom or because they're "not winning." Quizziz gives teachers valuable data that they can use to review common misconceptions with students right after the game is over. The ease of creating Quizziz games is only a few clicks away if you already have a completed quiz!
Class KickClasskick allows students to complete assignments and get help instantly from their teacher and peers. Students self-pace on assignments with their iPads, while teachers can write notes for all students to see or give tailored feedback to individual students. This is great is great way to replace short paper pencil quizzes, as well as, a "first five" or "last five" activity. Bring a lesson or idea to create and share your own ClassKick.
Book CreatorBook Creator is an app that allows the user to create fully interactive ebooks. Students can create comics, photo journals, learning logs, lab reports, etc. With Book Creator, students can incorporate video, audio, images, and text to create a polished, professional product suitable for sharing. Students can also collaborate with one another and create group, or classroom, eBooks. In this session, we will look at the features of Book Creator, as well as options for collaboration and publication. During this session you will be creating a book specific to your content area or interest.
Schoology Quizzes & Question BanksAre you looking for a way to increase the academic integrity of multiple choice or free response tests, make grading easier, and get better information to inform instruction once the tests are completed? This session will cover: 1. The construction of question banks that can populate randomized Schoology quizzes. 2. Creating a test code to limit access to to assessments. and 3. Using the view by question option in results to inform instruction.
FlipGridVideo-based responses made easy and fun! Meet your students where they're at. Selfie videos, what more can we say? Flipgrid is a tool that allows students to post responses to your questions, topics, or discussions in short video clips and share them on grids. Students can then watch one another’s clips and respond. You can use their responses in assessments or use them to build community and relationships. The concept may not new, but the elegance and ease of the tool is. Try it out if you want to introduce a new tech tool with a minimal learning curve for both you and your students. You will have the opportunity to create and be ready to run a Flipgrid for your own class.
PearDeck (Google Addon)Breathe some new life into an older tool. Rethink how PearDeck can fit into your classroom teaching routines. This session will highlight how to use the Google Slides PearDeck addon that allows teachers to add interactive questions to any Google Slide presentation. Allowing you to ask questions during instruction and quickly get insights into how well your students understand the information. Even if you have used, or already been using Pear Deck, join us to learn new features and develop a PearDeck lesson to use with students.
Digital Card SortsIf you use card sort activities in your classroom and are tired of envelopes full (or partially full) of cards in your desk, try turning them digital. In this session, you'll learn how to create and facilitate card sorts with students using Desmos. Never have an incomplete set again as the activities are stored and managed using your Google login. Bring a set of terms or images for students to sort in an upcoming lesson. We will create and share our card sorts!
CoggleStudents can collaborate on mindmaps together using Coggle. Coggle is a step up from Popplet, as it allows students to work on the same concept map in real time using their Google accounts. Students can personalize their maps and share with their teachers, reflect it on the classroom computer to share with the class, or copy the link to share their Coggle with anyone! This session will introduce you to Coggle and show you how it can be used for an inquiry based project in the natural sciences or a group project in social sciences. Learn how you can make Coggle work for your classroom! Come with a lesson idea for which a mindmap would enhance your content.
Video Discussion BoardsUtilizing student designed videos for discussion boards and formative assessments. In this session you will be introduced to examples and opportunities of how teachers are currently utilizing video to advance student learning to the upper levels of the framework. We will discuss how to enhance Schoology's capabilities with video. By the end of the session teachers will have developed a formative assessment utilizing video.
EdPuzzle (Pro Version)EdPuzzle is a way to have your students reflect on a video while they are watching it. If you want them to watch a video on their own and ensure that they watch it, you can create an EdPuzzle. It's great for homework, when you have a reserve, or if the content is a topic that works better as individual reflection rather than whole class. You can add audio comments in case there's anything you want them to pay particular attention to. You can also create true/false, multiple choice, and short answer questions. Videos can be clipped and copied.
DoInkGreen Screen provides a way to create green screen videos and images on your iPad. The app lets you combine photos and videos from the camera roll with live images from your iPad’s camera. This app emphasizes ease-of-use and simplicity allowing students to tell a story, explain an idea, and express themselves in truly creative and unique ways. Bring a lesson for which green screen might allow for student creativity in your content.
Google Docs Assignment App in SchoologyIf you've ever wanted to check on a student's essay progress or aren't sure which students actually opened up the document you sent them, then you'll want to use the Google Assignment app in Schoology. The Google Assignments app further integrates Google Docs into Schoology. Once you set a Schoology assignment as a Google Assignment, it will make a copy of the assignment for each student, with you as the owner of the document. It allows you to view student progress on a document without asking them to share permissions. The workflow for students is simplified and turning in assignments is as simple as clicking on a "Submit Assignment" button in Schoology.
QuizletMany students are already using Quizlet flashcards to study terms and concepts and many subject areas have lots of Quizlet decks already created and ready to go. This session will look at creating and searching for Quizlet decks and using some of the more interactive features like Quizlet Live and the new Quizlet diagrams. Have a lesson idea for which Quizlet could increase student engagement and critical thinking.

This process of ongoing learning, sharing, dialog, reflection and colleague observation is one of the keys to our success and growth of our 1:1 program. You can learn more about our it, iPads, and use of technology for learning in the additional r
elated posts below:

Monday, July 3, 2017

Immersive Technology Accelerates Learning in World Language Classes


Technology is used to enhance and accelerate learning in Minnetonka classrooms. Our world language classrooms are just one of the many places where this is evident daily. Whether you are in our Chinese or Spanish immersion classrooms beginning in kindergarten or in our middle or high school elective world language classes, technology is used to help students better learn languages. 1:1 iPads for all of our grade 5-12 students help make this happen.

As you will see in the video about Immersive Technology in Minnetonka World Language Classes, students use their iPads for all sorts of learning activities. Students record oral exams which frees up days of class time, increasing time and opportunities for students to learn even more. Teachers have also found that their students rehearse their speaking exercises more ahead of time, too. Students collaborate and communicate with one another using tools like Google Docs. They write and annotate scripts using Notability. Students act and film projects using video and tools like iMovie, Adobe Spark and DoInk Green Screen. These are all skills that are part of the Minnetonka Framework for Teaching and Learning to deepen learning, making it more meaningful and engaging. I sure wish I had been able to use these tools back in my German world language textbook based classes! Es wäre so viel besser gewesen!
You can learn more about our 1:1 program, iPads, and use of technology for learning in the related posts below:

Monday, April 22, 2019

Earth Day at Minnetonka Schools Family Makerspace Event



On Saturday, April 13, Minnewashta Elementary hosted a makerspace event to celebrate Earth Day. Families could select from two 75 minute time slots for an open-house style event with opportunities using makerspace materials to create, code, and play. A year and a half ago Minnetonka officially launched our “Hub” Makerspace program at all K-8 schools, providing supplies and instruction to integrate maker activities for students into the curriculum.
I attended the Earth Day event with my fourth grade daughter who had a great time. There were five stations which we rotated through. At the first station, she cut up an old t-shirt to make an “upcycled” bag. Then she was on to the next stop, coloring an animal mask and using DoInk Green Screen to place a photo of herself on an Earth Day themed background (pictured).
There were also multiple stations set up for coding and robotics. Attendees could use Ozobots and program paths and patterns for the robots to follow. At the Makey Makey stations, students could use both circuits and coding with Scratch to play a piano made out of fruits and vegetables, play drums made from potatoes, and play and reprogram the code in an “operation” type game. My daughter enjoyed playing “Ode to Joy” on the food (watch video).
At the another station, students could make light up insect critters using LED lights and circuits along with craft supplies. There were also Rig-a-ma-jig, Keva planks, and straw building areas where many families spent time creating, designing, and constructing things. The event was sponsored by the Minnetonka Public Schools Foundation, Executive Director Melissa Streit, and led by Minnewashta High Potential teacher, Joy Curran and Minnewashta Information and Digital Learning Coordinator, Shelly Traver, as well as Andrea Hoffmann, Middle School East Tech Coach and Tonka Coders & Makers Project Lead and Julie Baeb, one of our Innovation consultants.
The event was a great way to build community awareness and support of our makerspace program and the Minnetonka Foundation which provides the funding for so many opportunities for our students such as this. It gave parents a firsthand experience using the great materials that their children get to use at school. It also was a great way for parents to spend some quality time with their children in fun activities!
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