Examples of student Popplets

Third graders at O'Connell using Popplet to identify cause and effect.

Kindergartners at O'Connell identifying main idea and details from a text.

Fourth graders at Mayberry working on common prefixes.

Book Talk

Tell Me:  Children, Reading and Talk by Aidan Chambers

The author has provided a website that corresponds to the text with additional resources such a lists of novels, iPad texts, and short stories.  He also lists more professional articles.   

click for Presentation

 A brief synopsis of  The Crane by Reiner Zimnik 

In an ever-expanding city, one young man claims the job of his dreams, operator of the tallest crane around. Since others envy his position, he never leaves his crane, always eager for the day—and work—to begin.

As the seasons pass, man and machine almost become one. "The crane was a giant with iron sinews, and the craneman was its heart." Then people begin to hoard their goods, grinning ravens multiply throughout the land, and war is at hand. But the craneman never falters, remaining at his post even when the land is flooded, ready for reconstruction to begin.  

-taken directly from http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Crane.html?id=ALJ1VhEtITUC

To get a glimpse of the text and illustrations click here!

It appears as though the text deals with dark themes of war, devastation, and isolation but in a charming way.

The following animations were created based on excerpts the author provided to bring book talks to life:  the following dialogues are nine year olds conversing with each other and their teacher.  The teacher is still relatively new to the process.  

Tell Me part 1 by faerieprincess5672 on GoAnimate

Video Maker - Powered by GoAnimate.




Tell Me part 2 by faerieprincess5672 on GoAnimate

Animation Software - Powered by GoAnimate.

Tell Me part 3 by faerieprincess5672 on GoAnimate

Animated Presentations - Powered by GoAnimate.


Resources
Chambers, A. (1999). Tell me: children reading and talking. Great Britain: Short Run Press.

Using Video for Vocabulary Development

To assist with vocabulary development with kindergarten ELL students, I created this video.  It supports an IB unit that O'Connell school is currently working on (Unit 5-An inquiry into characteristics of living things. After giving a pre-assessment, I determined which animal names were unknown to students.  The unit only has four weeks left so I plan to cover 10 animals a week.  Students are having some difficulty remembering the names so I am hoping that seeing the animals in action in combination with my narration will help them to remember.

*These video clips were all taken from Youtube posts for educational purposes, I do not claim any ownership.

Alyssa's Pi Project

Alyssa's Pi Project

animoto 360p (1) from Ann Thibodeau on Vimeo.

Digital Literacy Project

Click on the picture to get to my literacy project!

Cool Rubrics Creator

This is a very helpful Web 2.0 tool that I discovered while trying to create a rubric for the digital literacy project.  It is so easy to use!  It is a collaborative site so you are able to search for existing rubrics, copy it, and edit it to serve your own purposes.  You can assign different values to calculate scores.  Upon completion, all you have to do is click on the descriptor for the student's work and it automatically scores using fractions and percentages.  If you still need this component, I recommend trying it!

Click on the image to visit the site!

This is the rubric I created for my project:

This is what is left of my final course reflection after I hacked it to stay within the confines of 2 minutes.  It was a much cuter dialogue prior to the editing process but hopefully, my thoughts are still conveyed.  I really wanted to explore a tool I hadn't used before but with the time constraints, I didn't practice using movement or change of scenery much because I didn't want to burn up precious video time.


Final Course Reflection by faerieprincess5672 on GoAnimate

Animation Software - Powered by GoAnimate.

Sock Puppets Anyone?

First grade ELL students reading When You Grow Up


My Project from Ann Thibodeau on Vimeo.

Finally, (thanks to Stephanie for teaching me how to export this!)  this is my first attempt at incorporating the Sock Puppets app.  This is not the best one but apparently I didn't save my favorite one.  Students were reading a Reader's Theater script from Reading A to Z.  They loved this activity and have been asking for new scripts every week!

One of the limitations of the app is the 90 second recording time.  However, it is possible to record the entire play in parts.  The app has the option to share to the camera roll.  From there, you can upload all the parts into iMovie to edit and then share out to Vimeo.  From Vimeo, the video is easily embedded to blogs and Wikis.  Voila!!

This is another script from Reading A to Z.  The students are second grade ELL students with a much longer script.  I'm not sure if I would go much higher because it gets rather lengthy.



Harry And The Horrible Toothache from Ann Thibodeau on Vimeo.

Digital Storytelling Project

Ibrahim's Story

This project has turned out to be much more time consuming than I had anticipated...

However, the pride that Ibrahim exudes makes it well worth the effort!  My Wiki page for East Hartford Public Schools will also have this video embedded so that he will have the opportunity to share our creation with family and friends.  Additionally, through this process, I feel that I have built a much stronger relationship with Ibrahim and his sister (who is also an ELL student at the EHHS).  ELL students need an opportunity such as this to show how much they do know because too often, other students don't realize the wealth of information and the new perspectives that could be shared with students from other parts of the world.  Although the project tried my patience at times, I am grateful for the opportunity.

This is a very rough draft of the concept that I had originally thought I would pursue but it was difficult with all the time off we have had compounded with not seeing my students every day.  However, I corresponded with Ibrahim and his sister outside of school often to try to make up for lost time and fill the seemingly endless gaps.  His sister, Shabana answered many questions and provided me with their personal photographs.  She was exceedingly helpful and then thanked me for my time and helping her practice her English!

The second draft has some of the questions I had, answered but I had some difficulty uploading the pictures that Shabana gave me.  Thankfully, the photos uploaded onto Moviemaker with no problem.  The video seems lengthy at this point because Ibrahim has had some difficulty reading his script and we haven't even covered all the areas I wanted to at this point.  Additionally, he didn't keep the microphone near his mouth so  some of the narration fades out.  I think I will edit some of the script and re-record some of the narration to shorten the video; I may have to delete somethings as well.  I am afraid to upload the video at this point because I am unsure if I will be able to edit it again once I have saved it and I REALLY don't want to do it all again!

The third draft has been edited.

Can Technological Fun Change Human Behavior?

I wish we had more creative ideas like these!!  By incorporating fun into mundane daily practices, technology can really motivate people to make better choices. "Day of Glass" may too intrusive for personal tastes, but I think these are fun ways to incorporate technology in a positive way.  What do you think?

What Makes You Itch?

Personally, I found this video very powerful.  Although I love parts of my job, I don't feel as though my job is overall satisfying...I love teaching but I don't love the teacher that I have become if that makes any sense.  While I understand the necessity of assessments and accountability, I think it is potentially detrimental to how children learn naturally.  I don't feel that I have the freedom to develop their curiosities and creativity by exploring topics in depth or spending the time on projects that are of interest to them.  It is too expensive and  if I did they might not be able to pass standardized tests. I wish that I was independently wealthy so I could just spend time engaged in learning activities led by children.  To me, experiencing the sense of wonder and discovery through a child's eyes is a wonderful feeling!  I think there is too much anger and hatred in the world.  Perhaps, as educators, we should be responsible for leading students on a path of self discovery, as opposed to pounding knowledge [that they don't care about and will most likely forget because it is irrelevant to the their lives] into their heads (often unsuccessfully). How many students get to high school or even college and have no idea what they want to be (my middle baby included)? This saddens me, and like I always do, I feel that I have not done my job both as a teacher and as a parent. I truly believe that having a passion for what you do will bring joy.  It may sound corny, but I also think that if people lived in joy, there would be much more peace in the world...

A Day Made of Glass...is AMAZING!

Ok, so this isn't exactly educationally related but I was amazed that this type of technology could actually be in our homes in the future, possibly now I suppose for those that can afford it.  This video is not new (especially when considering the rate at which technology advances).  It strengthens the argument that the system of education and teachers need to become technologically savvy if for nothing else than keeping up with the "digital natives."

Time Zones...Who Knew?

TED Ed Talks

Why do we have standardized time in the United States?

In my RSS feed, Richard Byrne posted this and other related videos.  Maybe all of you already knew this so please forgive my ignorance as I did not.  I thought it was interesting and thought it could be used for units on Industrial Revolution.  ELL students benefit greatly from multimedia in lessons so I thought maybe I would try to utilize more of these types of videos in my instruction especially for reader (well viewer) response questions.  If I had a class with a blog, I might embed a video with questions for students to blog about.

Want a New Way to Apply PhotoPeach?

PhotoPeach seems almost identical to Animoto in terms of creation and sharing.  They additionally offer educator packages for entire classes and schools that allow all the students work to be in one central location for the community to view.

We all know how to use this type of tool for creating a video but I just read a new idea for using this tool for instructional purposes.  PhotoPeach has an option to select quiz in the educator's package.  The captions you add are questions and multiple choice answers complete with a timer!  For a step by step instructions with screen shots, please visit a Dropbox link on Lori's Latest Links.

To see an example of the quiz format, please click on the following link:  Life Feast: Creating QUIZZES with Photopeach.  This example is of particular interest to me because it was created to practice English grammar by Ana Maria Menezes, an EFL teacher in Brazil.  

Application?

I was thinking of using it as an "All About Me" type of project.  Many of my students have very interesting heritages that would be fun to share.  For those of you that have classrooms, you could send a fun and interactive "All About..." to introduce yourselves to your new students and their families on your blog.

In addition to the grammar example, I could use the video as a type of pre- and post assessment for determining background knowledge in the content areas or for vocabulary development.  I'm not sure of the logistics yet.  I wonder if there is a way to have students respond with clickers to collect data.  I have no idea if that can even be done with iPads but after this week, I am thinking probably not!

If you have any other ideas, I would love you to share them!

   

Are You Looking for a Cool Way to Create a Word Web? Try Popplet!

One of the easiest instructional strategies for ELLs is to incorporate semantic maps.  This strategy has become rather common place so the Popplet app adds a refreshing novelty.  Popplet is usually a paid app on Apple devices but I have heard it is offered for free sometimes or you can access it on the website for free.  The free version is limited to 5 creations but you are able to share or export your popplets and save them as pdf or jpeg files.  The following video describes how to use the features of the app.  



I created a popplet on nonfiction text features to try it out.  Since the site would not let me embed the popplet I created, I decided to take a screen shot.  My awesome sister-n-law taught me how.  Thank you, Elena!!!!  

I exported the popplet as a pdf file but I don't know how to upload it in that format.  I was hoping to enlarge it so that it could be more easily seen but this seems to be the best I can do.  If anyone knows a better way, please feel free to share!

It is really easy so I plan to have my students create their own.  Some ideas for application are:

1. Building vocabulary
2. Synonyms
3. Story mapping
4. Main idea and supporting details

Can you think of anymore?

Richard Byrne

Recently, I attended a Technology conference in Springfield, MA.  As I was listening to the presenter, my phone notified me of Elena's post about a resource she thought I might like (which by the way, I deleted by accident on my phone so now I am not sure if the link she gave me is the same because he has that picture on everything I have found so far).  Low and behold, as I clicked on the link, I saw Richard Byrne's face smiling at me digitally and in person.  You can check out his blog if you would like, he has a wealth of information that he was barely able to touch upon in the short sessions.

I was seated next to our "tech guy" (whom I adore) and during a transitional lull, I was telling him about how much I loved Diigo.  I'm not sure if Mr. Byrne heard me or not because I was so close but he continued the conversation and sang Diigo's praises as well.  I think maybe my "tech guy" was a little impressed with me, THANK YOU DR. ARZT!!

He was explaining how he goes into these manic blog posting episodes but then he programs the dates so that the blogs are released periodically throughout the week in an attempt to hide his digital obsessions.  He used a similar trick on his blog when he was a social studies teacher.  At night, he created links to all his classes for the day with readings, assignments, questions, activities all on their class page.  He emphasized how handy it was for sub planning as students were conditioned and knew exactly where to go and what to do.  He also commented about he used if for record keeping and parental communication as we have learned in our class.  

Byrne shared that recently, he had seen a former student.  The student asked if Mr. Byrne recalled a video project that they had worked on.  He explained that students remember something they made or did that gave them a sense of pride or accomplishment.  He emphasized the importance of teachers staying up to date on the latest technological tools and trends so that they can provide the students "with just the right tool, at just the right time, for just the right product."  To exemplify the variety of student strengths, he shared the following video:  

He shared many tools that were already familiar because we have learned so much in class.  However, there was one that absolutely amazed me!  It is the concept of augmented reality.  He demonstrated how AR apps could provide a virtual reality experience.  For example, when using a device to read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, viewers would see videos of interviews with the author, video clips, and so forth.  Sadly, when I googled it, I couldn't find anything with that description.  However, I found a YouTube video that describes it much better than I.  I cannot embed it because it has been disabled but I highly recommend that you click on the Common Craft link on augmented reality.  Mr. Byrne said that eyeglasses have been prototyped with this technology and are currently being tested.  Amazing!

That session was specifically on blogging but there were many beginners in the audience so he had to go very slowly.  The problem was compounded by the fact that the Marriott's WiFi could not accommodate the volume of people trying to go online.  Everyone kept getting kicked off including all the presenters.  My heart went out to them because all of them were so well prepared with what they wanted to demonstrate but many were unsuccessful due to the WiFi issues.  He did recommend that we visit his blog for further information, which is where I found this on his creating blogs and websites page:

Creating an Effective Online Hub from Richard Byrne


He also has further videos on comment moderation, adding & subtracting contributors to your blog, edublogs, as well other forums.  He knew how to prevent spamming, how to protect his work, and the list seems endless.  

He was fascinating to watch and listen to though, I wish I had more time with him.  I also wish he spent more time sharing creative ways of applying these tools with students.

VOKI

This is NOT my Voki, I was all set to embed the Voki I had previously created.  However, now that type of avatar is for Voki Education use which is only free for a short amount of time...aggravating. So, I decided to try to take a screen shot of it at least.  The following are directions I found online to do so:




<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/EoTpIYLBtKs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

but all I get is this code, it didn't work...grrr...

Anyhow, the tool still has some other avatars that are still free but in the process of looking for one, I lost my original pretty avatar...double grrr...

I am disenchanted with this tool at the moment but I will share some cool ideas for using it since that was my original intent.  

ELL Ideas for Application

1. To model fluency by creating a good and bad example and then having students discuss which example was easier to understand and why.
2. Students can record themselves reading for a similar activity or for self reflection
3. For giving rules for using capital letters and examples
4. To tell homophone jokes
5. To practice writing sentences from dictation
6. Students to make their own Vokis to demonstrate their knowledge of helping verbs
7. To present their findings on culture studies
8. To create Vokis that illustrate different heteronyms
9. To create a Voki that summarizes their news articles

Resources

Life Feast Blog

Voki Lesson plans

My Diigo Library

My Diigo Account








While posting a link to my Diigo library, I decided to take a second look at the tutorial.  I remembered hearing that you could tag and highlight webpages on Diigo but now that I have a little more experience, it was much more helpful.  Watching it actually being done made it that much more appealing so I decided to try it.  I hadn't realized that could take screen shots or that you could highlight certain parts of text or draw arrows or save screenshots of pages that possibly may nor work in the future.  I had recently seen an app that also saves the URL for screen shots but I'm not sure if Diigo does that as well.  

The screen shot feature is as easy as it says it is for the entire screen.  It took me a second to figure out how to take a partial shot and add the drawing to it but I discovered it by accident by playing with it.  I wanted to open a link to a lesson plan but then I lost my ability to take a screen shot.  I was hoping to save the lesson plan for future reference but I was not successful that way.   However, the tool is very helpful especially for the upcoming research classes we will be engaged in.  

I'm not sure if my students are at that of level of sophistication yet but I wanted to incorporate more research or collection of information so I may use it yet.  It would definitely help them in the future.  It is difficult for them to learn the language and content simultaneously so it would help them have references to go back to later. 

Character Traits Animoto

I plan to use this Animoto for instructing my students in grades 3-6.  The purpose of this Animoto is to supplement the study of vocabulary used to describe character's traits in literature.  ELL students are often asked to make connections to demonstrate or strengthen comprehension.  Such students often come to this country with very different cultures and backgrounds; thus, making connections to literature from the U.S. often difficult.  By focusing on character traits and character development, students can personally connect themselves to the characters using similar traits.  It helps them identify with the character in the text by reminding them of something they have done or manners in which they have acted, which hopefully in turn further stimulates their interest and provokes deeper engagement.  

Depending on student interest, I was hoping students could choose one of the apps to enhance a blog post.  By choosing the appropriate app for their favorite medium:  storybird, animoto, voice thread, etc. students will use at least two domains of language (if not more) to communicate their text to self connections in some way, through drawing, writing, speaking, or use of digital tools.  All will demonstrate how the character trait they have chosen connects to them.  Younger students may possibly use their iPads to photograph the character they connect with and write about it while older students may choose another medium cited above.

Developing vocabulary is one of my biggest challenges because of the repetitions needed to acquire terms.  I hope using digital tools will not only address ELL standards and expectations but fulfill ISTE's digital teaching standards one, two, and maybe three as well.  

Digital Storytelling

I was so excited when I stumbled upon Larry Ferlazzo's blog because not only does he have great ideas for digital storytelling but he is an excellent resource for ideas for teaching my ELLs!!  I can't think of a better way to motivate them, to inspire creativity, to integrate technological tools, and to simply get them to write with a project based approach all while giving them an opportunity for self expression.  



Sadly, as I talked to my students, I discovered that most of them don't know their "stories."  They couldn't answer my questions about immigration or what their parent or grandparents lives were like in their native countries.  Some of them could describe some details of their native countries but not as much as I had hoped.  I will try to reach out to the families but that is difficult with the language barriers.  

Admittedly, I wanted to include many of the tools but I haven't explored enough to feel that I can choose my favorite at this point.  I promise I will update as soon as I figure out more....but I do know that it will be another way I can better integrate my iPads.  The iPads are so versatile that students can use them for photos, videos, and text.  They just need a teacher that can get herself savvy with all the tools. 
 

RSS

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) could not have been more appropriately named.  Once again, my technological ignorance smacks me in the face.  Prior to this chapter, I had no idea such a thing even existed.  Technology seems so advanced that tools come out before I even realize I have a need for them.

Just as Richardson indicated, using Google Reader was very easy, I haven't subscribed to anything yet because I am so indecisive that I'm not sure what to pick.  Limitations on time is a very real issue for me so I really want to be sure that what I pick is extremely useful as I haven't yet mastered the 21st century skill of scanning information effectively.  Luckily, there are ways of organizing the information that filters in using folders similar to how an inbox would be organized.  Never again will I miss important important information!  Six Stories Up gives an easy overview of how and why to use Google Reader and RSS feeds; it even has an explanation of usage for marketing.  

I am excited that it will make using student blogs easier and more time efficient.  I will be able to check their posts in one central location instead of clicking endlessly by using RSSmix.com to plug into different feeds.  

Resources

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. (3rd ed.). Corwin Press.

Flipboard

I have been struggling with ways to better integrate the iPads with instruction but it has been difficult for me to keep up with all the technological tools available as well as what is most appropriate for each grade.  The lower grades are a little easier for me because of my experience as a first grade teacher but the older grades are still challenging for me.  I loved the vimeo of first graders illustrating their visualizations of Eloise Green's poem.  I was curious what app they were using but haven't figured it out yet.  

                               

Flipboard is an app for iPads that takes RSS feeds and turns them into what is described as a magazine for kids to 'flip through'.  Thankfully, the latest Richardson chapter just taught me what RSS means, otherwise, I would not have had a clue what that even meant.  The website gives you a tour of the app to give you a better idea of what I mean.  It is available on iPads and  Android devices.




.  


On Judy's Integrating Technology and Literacy blog, I found a great blog on integrating iPads in the classroom for first through fifth graders.  The iPads at Burley blog gives an excellent, thorough explanation why using this app is effective.  The teacher is able to provide a wide variety of content materials based on student interests and the texts are at various reading levels both lending themselves to natural differentiation. Also, the RSS feeds are continuous making them constantly current.  All articles are authentic just as adults would read, giving students the real world application.  Thus, connecting to the first and second NETS standards provided by ISTE.  

There is a YouTube video on Flipboard that explains how to use it that focuses on social media platforms but I'm sure educational content could be substituted.  

Resources

Flipboard. (2012). Flipboard website. Retrieved from http://flipboard.com/

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. (3rd ed.). Corwin Press.

Blogging vs. Wikis

This YouTube video features what I assume to be an educator, Leslie Masden Brooks, that explains her perceptions of blogging and wikis with general ideas as to how to incorporate them into your instructional practice.  

As I read and/or watched the various resources on blogging and wikis, I noticed some commonalities.  The chart is my attempt to organize the information for my own purposes while providing a quick glance comparison of the two tools.  Regrettably, the cute little check marks came out as squares on the blog and I am not sure how to rectify that problem.

Potential Benefits	Blogging	Wikis
Promotes Collaboration
Immediate Feedback
Active Participation
Creative self expression
Invites outside resources/knowledge bases
Increase motivation
Differentiation naturally embedded
Global awareness and exchange
Increased student achievement
Develop multiliteracies
Learning independent from time and space
Captures metacognition
Potential for Cost Reduction
Ease of record keeping for students & teachers

In my opinion, the benefits far outweigh the challenges in theory but I am sure I will suffer growing pains while implementing blogs in instructional practices until my comfort level increases.

-------

Potential Challenges	Blogging	Wikis
Biased/inaccurate information
Lack of technological tools
Participation affected by extraneous time factors
Development of social competencies
Cultural impacts on collaborative process
Openness of participants

References

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. (3rd ed.). Corwin Press.

Online Collaborative Inquiry: Classroom Blogging and Multiple Literacies by Judy Arzt