Prezi

For those of you who have been affected by Hurricane Sandy, please know you are in my thoughts! While northern Virginia appeared to be right in the path of the storm my area did not get hit nearly as hard as meteorologists were anticipating although we were beyond prepared. School was closed Monday and Tuesday and we resume as usual tomorrow morning.

Are you ever amazed at what even the tiniest kids can do? I never underestimate the little ones as I've worked with first graders for years but it still blows me away when they are able to produce awesome products while using technology. I think sometimes people think that they are just too little to handle technology but that is NOT true at all!

I have been working with third graders on their animal research. They created QR Codes linked to a cool fact and a picture during our last two lessons. This past week I introduced them to Prezi and the app Scribble Press which I blogged about over here. The third grade teachers were not familiar with either so I had to come up with a way to make this lesson work while being in two places at once. I have been reading a lot on the flipped classroom and I decided to create a video tutorial for the students doing Prezi. This couldn't have worked more P E R F E C T L Y! I was able to get both groups started and then circulate and help everyone. This is three tech tips in one.

1. I used SMART Recorded which is a SMART Technology resource that I adore but didn't even know about until I found it on accident. If you have SMART Notebook you likely have it! It is a great screen recorder.
2. YouTube can be such a powerful "tool." Don't discount it :)!
3. "How to" videos can be extremely beneficial for students! Everyone was able to watch at their own pace. I gave little instruction on the "how" part of video watching. Some students watched the whole thing through and got right to work, others watched a part, paused and completed the step then went back to the video watched a part, paused and completed the step, so on and so forth and some watched in entirety and then used the video to troubleshoot when they couldn't remember what to do or if something went wrong.

I was so impressed with how well that this lesson went and the amount of work that was completed during a short time period! I am VERY interested in learning more about "The Flipped Classroom."

Google Search Stories

Have you seen the Google Search Story commercials? I was in love with them from the first second I saw them.

Did you know you could create your own Google Search Story with a few simple clicks? Check out my Google Search Story.

Happy Wednesday!

Tomorrow I am hosting an optional QR Code work session. I wish I would have had teachers RSVP so I could better prepare for my audience. I plan to go over the basics of creating QR Codes, offer suggestions and ideas for classroom implementation and allow for work time with support! 

While putting together with a few practical applications I found twtpoll which allows you to easily create polls and since I haven't posted yet this week I thought I would share this super quick tech tip. So here is my poll which I easily embedded into my blog.

And here is what the results look like....

Show Me

Last week the 6th and 7th grade social studies teacher asked if I could  be one of his centers today. He wanted students to create a podcast of a letter they wrote about the three ancient African Empires. He wanted me to use VoiceThread which is an app I have had downloaded on my iPads but haven't really explored. I did some research, created an account and was excited to use it today...

Not so fast, do you ever have a lesson that goes GREAT in your head but as soon as you begin to execute it crumbles...

First, the iPods were not connecting to our wireless network. As soon as they would agree to the acceptable use policy they were booted. Then, I finally got 4 kids logged in and started and VoiceThread informed me that I needed to upgrade to add more comments.

Since these two things were out of my control I had to quickly come up with a back up plan because sometimes things just don't go how we planned. AND sometimes Plan B ends up working out even better than you could have imagined Plan A going (actually that happens in real life too;)).

While quickly flipping through pages of apps I realized that Show Me would be a good substitute! I grabbed the iPads and we got to work! We ran into a few snags BUT they were able to take a picture of their letter, add photos and record their voice. One problem we had was with the photos, we couldn't figure out how to easily edit and move the photos once you had got out of the add screen. Another problem we had was the inability to "start over" with the recording. The third problem was that we didn't have enough iPads with cameras available so students had to work in pairs. We worked through all of these issues and figured out simple solutions.

Here are a few examples....

Virtual FETC and DEN VirtConLive

Happy Monday! I feel a little behind in the blogging world but last week I attended my first virtual conference (FETC)! There were some really great sessions. Adam Bellow founder of EduTecher had an awesome presentation called Wonders of the Web: Great Tools for Schools. He made such good points that I have to often remind myself of and I wanted to share with you all.

1. 42 million websites have cropped up in the last year. It is HARD to keep up.
2. Use your PLN to stay connected with educators and learn from each other (TED Talks, Fcebook, Twitter, blogs, etc.).
3. Don't do too much too quickly. Find one new thing to introduce.
4. Educational technology is about what you can do with the technology NOT what the technology can do for you.
5. Technology is not about the "stuff."

In addition to these tidbits of advice he also shared several great Web tools which can be found here. A few of the tools I have blogged about or used before but I also got a few new ones which I am excited to try.

Virtual FETC got me really excited for the real deal in Orlando which is less than 100 days away and I didn't even get to listen to all of the sessions. One great thing about the virtual aspect is that all of the sessions were recorded and can be accessed for the next three months. While attending Virtual FETC I made some awesome connections with educators across the country. I spent a lot of time chatting in the lounge and building my PLN (personal learning network). @PGeorge is one of the newest Twitter handles that I follow (look I am learning Twitter vocabulary).

On to my next point, Saturday morning while spending valuable time on my PLN I noticed that @PGeorge had tweeted about VirtConLive so I followed her link and was sucked into another virtual conference which was hosted by Discovery Education. Since I had plans for the day (Fall Festival at my school and a 1st Birthday Party) I was so bummed that I was going to miss out on the wealth of information (Yes, I know, I am a nerd with a capital N.). BUT just like Virtual FETC DENVirtCon was also recorded and can be viewed just like TiVo. I haven't had time to go back to either yet BUT I am certainly planning to soon. Without meeting Peggy at Virtual FETC I would have never know about DEN VirtConLive. I am so excited what expanding your PLN can do.

Blog Giveaways

WOW! Congrats Caitlyn at fourth grade lemonade on 100 followers! Celebrating 100 followers in the blog world is kind of equal to the 100th Day of School! Caitlyn is having a HUGE 100 follower giveaway with tons of prizes. Go check out her blog and become her newest follower :)! Enter to win the Rafflecopter (50 possible entries)! 

Who doesn't love giveaways? The Hive is having a 200 follower giveaway with lots of fun prizes from TPT stores! Go check out her blog and enter the giveaway.

I've Been Boo'd

You know how much I love linky parties and since Halloween is one of my FAVORITE holidays  I am super excited about this one :)! Molly at Shining and Sparking in First Grade Boo'd me and I can't wait to link up with the Second Grade Pad for the party.

So I've actually never been Boo'd or Boo'd anyone which makes this even MORE exciting :)! I've seen all kinds of BOO ideas on Pinterest but don't know any of my neighbors to boo so I can't wait to participate in the virtual BOOing! 

You've probably all played the popular game BOO at school where you leave a ghost on someone's desk or mailbox along with a treat. Let's do the same by sharing some love from our stores... 

Here's how to play. Choose a fellow blogger that has MORE followers, another that has about the SAME number of followers, and last, someone that has LESS followers.

Highlight their blogs with links to encourage others to check them out. Don't forget to let your fellow bloggers know that you shared about them. 

Lastly, leave them some love by offering them a goody from your store as their "treat." (I also don't actually have a TPT store so I hope I can still play by offering the BOO and some blog love :)!)

Here are the blogs that I have chosen...

1. My first boo is for Alex over at The School Potato who has disappeared from the blog world! She is a first year 2nd grade teacher at my school. I have the privilege of being a colleague, mentor and friend :)! Go check out her blog!



2.  My second boo is for Second Grade Freebies! I picked the third blog on my "Reading List"! Yes, I am that OCD (everything in 3s)! Anyways, go check out her blog! 

3. Boo #3 goes to Mindy at iintegratetechnology because she was the third email blog feed that I received today :)!  

Happy blogging and booing friends :)!

Virtual FETC

I am counting down the days until FETC and the big Florida trip in January! I blogged about it over here if you want to read more! I will be presenting with 2 colleagues on QR Codes in the elementary classroom. Our proposal was one of 200ish selected out of 1,150 which we are really excited about.

While stalking FETC checking for sessions and workshops to be posted I found Virtual FETC which is a free online event on October 18th from 10:30 - 6:30. There will be interactive sessions, the latest tech tools and even keynote speakers. I am looking forward to learning and collaborating with educators across the country in this online conference. The platform looks like it will be a lot of fun (yes I know, I am such a nerd)!

Sign up to attend the virtual event and I will see you there!

Solar System QRs, Google Drive, Clickers and Graphs

I know more about our solar system today than I did a week ago thanks to VA SOL 4.7 and 4.8. I've had so much fun working with the fourth graders on these objectives! During our first whole class lesson they used QRStuff and QR Code Maker to create their QR Codes. They used QRStuff to link to a cool fact about the planet they had researched in the library and QR Coder Maker to link to a picture of their planet. During the second lesson I had a small group (10 students) use Google Drive to create quiz questions from the curriculum and the class study guide. On their third lesson they learned how to copy and paste from Google Drive into SMART Response software (SMART Notebook) and set up a Clicker Quiz. On the fourth visit the whole class came again and took the Clicker quiz as a review before their big unit test. They did A-W-E-S-O-M-E and cheered upon walking in and being told they were taking a Clicker quiz haha! Today I worked with the same small group and Google Drive again to create graphs from their quiz scores and find the range, mean, median and mode of their scores (2 math objectives which I don't know of the top of my head). They did such a great job! I was beyond impressed and absolutely L<3VE using Google Drive with students! Check out their Google Drive Graphing Activity over here.  

I printed the Clicker quiz and their Google Drive document to hang in the hallway and I put a little blurb in our STAR Points about what 4th grade had been up to with me! I mentioned that if anyone had a similar SOL objective or if they wanted their kids to have practice scanning QR Codes that the 4th grade hallway was the place to be. I suggested students visit the hallway as a center with their iPod and a clipboard to record facts and didn't think much of it! This afternoon the 6th grade science teacher flagged down the fourth grade teachers and asked if it was ok for her kids to come scan the posters, had them send their clicker quizes for her to give to her 6th graders as review AND asked me to help her create a QR Code scavenger hunt slash space timeline activity for her 6th graders for next week! I showed her how to link text and pictures to QR Codes and got her started on the lesson! She was so excited about the activity and couldn't believe how easy it was to make! Needless to say I was SOOO happy leaving school today :)!

PS I was stalking the 4th grade unit test scores this afternoon since we use an online software and I have access! All three classes did very well on their test and ONE even earned a denim pass for next Friday! (Since we are a traditional school and we wear uniforms jeans are very special at our school. You can get a denim pass by earning a class average on a test of 95 or higher).

50 Followers!!!

Check it out friends!!! 

50 followers! Woooo hoooo!