I "Mustache" You

I don't know when or why the mustache became so popular and hilarious BUT it did! I also never would've guessed that I would be using a mustache app in an educational setting BUT I did.

                                           

Yup, that's me with a mustache!

As I was stalking  checking the App Store I saw The Mustache App and downloaded it of course! At the time I was looking for an app that would allow students to create a surveys or analyze graphs for a first grade lesson. I didn't find any good apps and got distracted putting mustaches on everyone in my family :)!

 Then I went to Pinterest for a little inspiration and when I searched "1st grade graphing" this awesome mustache freebie came up!

! So the firs thing that I did was created 14 different survey questions using Google Forms. Then I used QRStuff to link the forms making it easier and quicker for the first graders to access all 14. 

I created and labeled 14 colorful QR Codes and put them around the compeer lab. First graders ARE.OBSESSED.WITH.QR.CODES. so they were so excited to get started! They were cracking up at my mustache picture and couldn't wait to scan the BONUS QR Code after they finished 6 survey questions! 

Here are a few of the forms: 

The bonus QR Code had a message to come see me and have their picture taken with the Mustache App. Then they picked their own silly mustache. 

I printed their little mustache pictures! They were HYSTERICAL!!! After they finished responding to the 14 survey questions with their buddy and saws lots of different survey questions they discussed a question that they were interested in asking their classmates. Their question, data collection, graph and graph analysis will be displayed in the hallway! I will share pictures when they are finished!

For our third lesson students were paired up and given the data generated from Google Forms. First they counted up the total responses and decided how many answer choices were given (this was differentiated for each group- some pairs got a survey question with 2 responses while others received a challenge with 4 or more responses). Then we used Create a Graph to come up with these jazzy graphs. These are displayed in the hall with the data. In class students will be working during math centers to write an analysis for one of the graphs which will then be added to the display! 

2012 Mock Election and Google Forms

I am in L<3VE with Google Drive and particularly Google Forms which are created from within the drive! The possibilities are endless and I have used Google Forms for so many different things! Google Forms are SUPER easy to create and they collect and analyze all of the data for you which is amazing!

Since the 8th graders have been studying the political parties and election process we thought it would be a great real life application for them to hold a mock election. We created a Google Form and embedded it in within the computer lab Fusion pages for students to vote. Hurricane Sandy and a few missed days of school ruined our original plans but we were still able to hold the election by having teachers allow their students to vote! Scholastic Election 2012 had some great resources which we didn't get to use but thought would be worth sharing.

It is amazing that even at a young age there is VOTER FRAUD! Middle schoolers were especially dishonest and have at least 10 votes more in each grade than there are students! Each grade level has about 90 students. In 6th grade 147 votes were cast, 7th grade cast 104 votes and 8th grade cast 119 votes. Our school population went from 650 to almost 800! The timestamp on Google Forms is an easy way to see when someone is voting repetitively (each vote is cast within seconds of the next). It is also funny to see that they were trying to be slick by putting a different grade level for each however, the votes are seconds apart and go in order 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, etc. Kind of makes me giggle but also annoys me at the same time.

Anyways, Obama won with 67% of the votes. Romney received 30% and 3% voted "other." Let the countdown until the election begin and America will decide who lives in the White House for the next four years!

Stop and Go

As I am adjusting to my new position I have found that I am being bombarded by people with questions and problems who are expecting an instant fix or answer. They don't realize I have a to-do list one mile long and that they are #583. This became particularly frustrating today as I was attempting to create a staff Google Doc for an activity tomorrow. Every time I sat down to work or began typing my phone would ring, someone would walk in or my email would ping. While I love being able to help it took me triple the time to do something because of the stop and go.

Tonight as I was reflecting on my day and how I would handle this in my classroom! I realized that I never set the expectation for how teachers are supposed to communicate issues with me and I have instantly dropped what I was doing and helped them immediately. THIS is not a reality when school starts and students are the priority SO tonight I came up with a few solutions that I am going to present tomorrow!

If you are not familiar with Google Docs/Drive, you need to check them out. I am going to dedicate a separate post or several posts to Google Docs/Drive. My solution was to create a Tech Help Hotline! I made a Google Form that teachers can access by scanning a QR Code or the link on our staff technology page. The Google Form is easy to fill out on a computer or on an iThing (pod or pad). Google Form then puts all of the information into a spreadsheet which I can check daily and touch base with anyone who had a question, problem or idea! To provide choice (just like I would do in my classroom) I did a second option using Speakpipe. Speakpipe is an online voicemail service where anyone can record a message which is then sent to your email. Brilliant? I think it is brilliant and I am super excited about this. I added a speakpipe here in case you want to leave me a voicemail! I would LOVE it! The only problem with speak pipe is that it does not work with the iPod/iPad because of the lack of Adobe Reader (BOOO!) so I provided the link on the poster as well as on the staff technology page. Of course option 3 is good old trusty email which is always safe!