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Category Archives: Technology


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Course 1 Final Project

My favorite unit to teach so far this year is our story unit.

I love stories and so do most second graders so this unit is a match made in heaven.

The unit was coming up around the same time as Jason Ohler‘s one day Digital Storytelling workshop at ASIJ.

Naturally, I jumped at the chance to see if his ideas could compliment or enrich our already well established unit of inquiry.

After the short one day workshop, not only did I feel we needed to shift the main focus of our unit, but I rediscovered my own passion for storytelling.

Ohler emphasizes the equal  importance of oral storytelling, written storytelling, and art in his process, where as our unit was only emphasizing the written aspect of storytelling. Stories have been passed down orally since before written communication existed. And the ability to tell stories to persuade, sell, or get your point across, makes it an increasingly vital skill for our current times.

My favorite example of Ohler’s Digital Storytelling is Hannah’s story, because I think it’s powerful the way Hannah tells the story orally with her hand drawn illustrations supporting her in the background. It’s something my second graders can do.

Ohler’s whole philosophy, approach and resources are on his site and are available for anyone to use.

PYP Unit Planner – Grade 2 – How We Express Ourselves


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Messing Around

At the Google Apps for Education Summit (GAFE) I was lucky enough to attend several of Jim Sill‘s workshops.  Sill introduced me to the Google Art Project, showed me the simplicity of the YouTube Video Editor, and demonstrated the endless possibilities for authentic collaboration on Google Maps.

Now the GAFE conference is all about tools.  The presenters were just sharing google web tools and their potential uses for the classroom.

Jim Sill is a dynamic presenter and you only have to look back at the twitter history from the conference to see that I was not the only one raving about his many presentations. (All of which he has up on the resources page of his blog.)

Throughout the conference one thing was nagging at me.  I slowly realized that during the presentations I attended I found myself missing a lot of what the the presenter was demonstrating because I was absorbed in messing around with the tool.

After a while I even found myself wishing that the presenters would change formats.  Instead of diving into the presentation, what if the presenter said, “Let’s explore (insert name of tool here).  Open it up and mess around for about 10 minutes.  What do you notice? Talk with the people around you if you want. What can you discover?” I felt like, if I just had 10 minutes to mess around with the tool and get it out of my system, I’d be more focused on the rest of the presentation and more open to deepening my understanding of the tool and it’s possibilites.

Once I had this realisation, a second thought hit me: Wait a minute, don’t I present new tools and skills to my students the same way as these conference presenters?

No wonder half my students get frustrated with bordom or feel lost when I introduce something new on our laptops.  I’ve never handed out the computers to my second graders and said, “Just click around a bit. See what you can discover. Share with each other, walk around to see what others are doing.”  I’ve never given them time to mess around and get a feel for a program, website, or just the machines themselves.

Instead I’ve been doing exactly what many of these presenters did. Because of time constraints, the conference format, and the pressure to fit in as much as possible in a short tim: coupled with this sensation we have that if we are not Teaching something, we’re not doing our jobs.  But just look at the learning that happens when we stop Teaching. (‘Teaching’ with a capital ‘T’ refers to being the center of attention, the one talking, the one giving direction, etc.) When we stop Teaching, our students are more apt to discover things for themselves, or work with others to make discoveries. They will help and teach each other, most likely leading to more enduring understandings of what they are learning.

Next time I have the chance I will throw out the step by step instructions, the everyone working at the same pace to learn a new skill or learn about a new tool.  I will let them inquire. Write their own steps and work at their own pace, like I do in other areas of instruction. Why, in my mind, did inquiry not apply to the technology I put in the hands of my second graders? It does now.

What about you – do you Teach or present when demonstrating a new skill or tool? Or do you leave room for inquiry, exploration, and messing around to facilitate new learning?


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Go Where the Students Are

This article by Clarence Fisher on his Remote Access blog resonated with me.  I started following Fisher’s blog because he was on the COETAIL list of recommended blogs to follow.  It’s quickly become one of my favorites because I am interested in many things Fisher has been doing and writing about for years.  (Like makerspaces and coding. Funnily enough our Raspberry Pi computers arrived at around the same time.)

But it was Fisher’s article reflecting on his practice of using individual blogs for his students that clinched it for me.

Fisher throws out a bunch of solutions at the end of his article. I like this one: ”Interest / passion based communities that exist outside of schools that we simply help them to locate and join?”

What a powerful idea! Students joining an online community based on a personal interest or passion and beginning to connect, share, and create within the community. Sounds like they’ll be geeking out in no time!

My favorite comment was from Juliana Bonilla Garcia who said “I appreciate your honesty… It takes a reflective practitioner to know when to abandon something that is not working for their students even when it goes against the mainstream. I hope you figure out what the “new” thing is that will get your kids excited about sharing their thoughts, reflections and voices. When you do, I look forward to learning from you.“

When it comes to anything we do in the classroom, what has worked in the past will not necessarily work forever.

Here’s where I’m going to connect what Fisher and Garcia were talking about with my own experiences. Please note that my experiences are different. From what I understand,  Fisher has been a middle school classroom teacher for many years and a pioneer in student tech use. I, on the other hand, before ending up at tech-savvy YIS, was teaching elementary students at a school with one tiny computer lab. Then I moved on to teaching PE at a school that was beginning to explore the importance of technology in the everyday curriculum, but was not quite there in terms of implementation.

This is just a head’s up that my experiences have to do with student – teacher communication – not connecting authentically with a global community like Fisher’s struggles. Because of my limited experience these are the only connections I’m able to make at this point.

When I was teaching PE in Helsinki, I was having a hard time keeping in touch with my MYP classes because I only had class time with them once a week.  Communication was essential because our lessons depended on the weather and the facilities available. I had to communicate to them where to meet and what to bring, sometimes at the last minute. Every year I tried something different; text messaging, a class blog, finally closed Facebook groups combined with a class blog to post resources and assignments that they needed to access outside of class time, (+ we used our mobile phones for emergency purposes or to text last minute messages).  With this combination of tools, our interactions became more frequent and more collaborative. They made authentic connections beyond the classroom. Using these tools, they were even able to rally their community to support a charity event that was successful because they advertised and built hype where everyone they knew was hanging out.

I was trying to meet the students where they were hanging out, and in the case mentioned, it worked for me and the group of kids I was with.

So my suggestion for Fischer is to find out where his students are hanging out and ask them how they authentically connect with their community and beyond. Is it Facebook? Twitter? Tumblr? Readit? Flickr? YouTube? How do they connect in these communities? What do they create? What do they contribute? Maybe it’s different for each student.

How do you get beyond something that doesn’t seem to excite your students anymore, especially when it’s been so successful in the past?


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The Power of Skype

Up until this point I have used Skype to stay in touch with my family these past two years I’ve been overseas.  I also wrote about having used Skype in the classroom to connect to other students around the world.

I know that it is just a tool, but today I truly witnessed the power of Skype.  Yes, it can help us stay in touch with family and friends; yes, it has educational benefits; but it can potentially have profound emotional value as well.

You see, today I attended my Grandfather’s Funeral via Skype.

My Grandfather died on Tuesday.  This was expected and for the best.  He had Parkinson’s and dementia and his quality of life was deteriorating daily.  But my Grandfather was a kind man and he was loved by many, so it was very sad to lose him.

This past weekend my Mother told me that they were taking him off his medications and were letting nature take it’s course, making sure he was comfortable and felt no pain.  During our weekly Skype call she prepared me for the worst and told me the Doctors said it was just a matter of days.

It’s been a hard week.  I felt helpless and isolated, so far from my family.  I couldn’t help my Mom with all the arrangements, I couldn’t give my Grandma a hug to comfort her, I couldn’t say my last goodbyes while I held my Grandpa’s hand.

This was the first time in two years that I felt true frustration at being separated from my family.

I did what I could do from here.  I Skyped with my Mother daily for updates, and we emailed back and forth. I called my Grandma the ‘old fashioned’ way because her nursing home didn’t have a wireless connection my Mom could connect to her laptop.  I had Mom put the phone to Grandpa’s ear so I could tell him I love him and miss him.  He couldn’t speak anymore at this point but the nurses say he could hear my voice.  I sent flowers.

When Grandpa finally did pass away I offered to represent the grandchildren and write something to say at the service.  I tried to think of a creative way to do that from across the ocean.  I didn’t like the idea of someone else reading my words – I wanted them to be just right.  I decided on a podcast. It was so easy using drop.io.  (I got the idea from Richard Byrnes’s post on podcasting, I already used drop.io but it was my first time using the ‘voice mail’ feature.)

All this still didn’t feel like enough.  I apologised to my Mom again and again for not being there to help and support the family.  We talked about how I could be ‘present’ at the service.  (My Mother preferred the term ‘Celebration of Life’ rather than funeral.)  She decided to check out the wireless connection at the funeral home to see if it was possible for me to attend the service by Skyping in on her laptop.

So, as it turns out, today I spent nearly two hours on Skype, being passed around from family member to family member before the service, waving at distant relatives, ‘sitting’ between my Mom and Dad in the front row so I had a good ‘view’ of the proceedings that followed.

It was the next best thing to actually being there.  I could not only hear all the familiar voices, but I could see all the familiar faces too!  I could hear the sniffles and sobs during the prayers, the laughter and the murmurs of agreements during the eulogies.  My own short podcast eulogy was played from my brother’s iphone which he had hooked up to the main sound system.

Today I was able to have an emotional connection with my family and take part in a ceremony that a few years ago I wouldn’t have been able, simply because of geography.  I understand that Skype is just the tool I used and that the real reason I had this opportunity is my Mother’s deep desire for me to be present and involved, a funeral home in rural Ontario actually having a wireless connection good enough to support the video call, and my brother taking ownership to test and make sure everything worked.

Skype was just the tool, but I can’t think of another tool that is free or as easy to use.  Skype enabled me to be present and involved in my Grandfather’s Funeral.  I was able to support and comfort my family.  The peace of mind given to me by being able to make this emotional connection has been a priceless gift.

Thank you Skype.


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Grade 3 Skype Experience

(This past Thursday, I set up a Skype call for our grade 3 class at ISH to connect with students from Jacksonville, Florida.  It was a great experience – you can watch an amazing video reflection from the students at their end here, on the ‘Around the World with 80 Schools‘ Ning.)

Using Skype in class…

‘I thought it was over-rated…Maybe just an over-hyped novelty…Probably end up being a one-time thing…’

Boy was I wrong.

It was worth the hype and more.

The students level of excitement, the wide eyes, the ooohs and ahhhs.

This was definitely a memorable experience for these kids – one that had them making connections and asking questions, and learning from each other.  They were carrying on a dialogue over thousands of kilometres.  A dialogue that saw them looking at kids their age in a different part of the world, different cultural and religious backgrounds and realizing – they had just as much in common with these kids than their neighbour sitting next to them.

I was very fortunate that the teacher at the other end had lots of experience conducting these kinds of lessons, and I was very happy to follow her lead.  They asked and answered great questions that highlighted both the differences (geographically and culturally) and similarities – this was so key.  The similarities now seem insignificant – two kids on opposite sides of the ocean have art as their favourite subject – both groups of kids like pizza, the same TV shows – and the same Hannah Montana song.  But these seemingly insignificant shared pieces of pop culture astounded and united the kids who were oceans away from each other.

In order to do a better job of this next time , (and there DEFINITELY will be a next time), I’m reflecting on how I prepared, what I loved, what I learned, and what I would do differently next time.

What I did to prepare:

  • I ‘test-called’ the other teacher in Florida to make sure I could get a good skype connection at school
  • Informed students and ‘hyped’ them up
  • Sent home a letter (email) to parents asking permission for students to stay after school to skype and included information (website, etc.) about the school we would be communicating with
  • Tried to prepare the students for our call by using ‘Google Earth’ to find both Helsinki and Florida on the map and compare.  Looked at photos of our school and of their school and compared
  • Made a list of different nationalities represented in our class.  (13!!!)
  • Talked a little bit about what the call would look like (but I wasn’t very helpful…this was my first time  too!)
  • Set up the video camera – (ended up being useless)

What I loved:

  • The excitement in the room
  • The anticipation
  • The faces of the kids in the room

What I learned (or re-learned):

  • How important it is for kids to connect with other kids
  • Kids can learn from each other
  • Kids can teach each other
  • Connections are powerful
What I would do differently next time:
  • I would prepare the kids better (inquire into the places we are skyping to)
  • Set up a ‘hot seat’ for the person speaking
  • Get a better external microphone that can pick up the whole class, but is still able to clearly pick up the person speaking (any suggestions?)
  • Get a tripod for my video camera and have a designated camera person
  • Maybe figure out how to ‘tape’ the webcam feed (on both ends for video making purposes)
  • Have students rehearse asking and answering questions
  • Talk about ‘good’ questions
  • Talk about behaviour expectations
  • Have students record what is going on during the call (back-channelling, photos, videos)
  • Have a student introduce the class
  • Prepare something special for the class to show the school we’re skyping with
  • Debrief students immediately afterwards

One big thing I learned after this lesson, (that is completely unrelated to Skype), is that I have zero video editing skills!  This is something I plan to change.


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Coming Soon – My First Classroom Skype

Very recently I joined Twitter, and while I’m still figuring out how to best take advantage of this outstanding tool – I have already made some very cool connections with fellow teachers from all over the world.

My PLN has grown exponentially and continues to do so.  One great connection I made was with a well-respected 21st Century Learning Specialist and blogger.

This connection has led to my school’s very first classroom Skype call.  I cannot wait to post about it.

Do you have any advice, tips, strategies, suggestions, etc. either preparing the Grade 3 students for the call, or for the actual execution of the call itself?

(Please comment below or reply via twitter to @msaquinn.)

Use Skype to make free video and voice calls, send instant messages and share files with other Skype users.


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The North American Barn Owl Part 2 – A Reflection

The past two Thursdays I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone and into a Kindergarten classroom for the first time.

I taught two mini-lessons on owls.  (See this post, for the full lesson idea.)

The lessons went well.  I was nervous teaching such a young age group, but it went better than I thought.

The fist day I read ‘The Barn Owls’ by Tony Johnston, and then asked students what they already knew about owls.

They knew so much already, and we were able to make a big list.  The kids commented on how much they already knew.

We then headed up to the grade 1 classroom where we  used their smart board to view Molly’s Box live.  We also watched some recorded videos of the box and a video of an owlet hatching on YouTube.

The Kindergarten students had great questions and were very engaged watching Molly and her babies ‘Live’ via ‘The Owl Box’ on UStream.

They did start to get a bit restless, (not surprising), but they were nonetheless engaged.

Surprisingly, the hardest thing to convey to the students was what it meant to watch something ‘Live’ as opposed to pre-recorded like the YouTube video.  It was also challenging to explain to the K1′s that Molly was in California, so it was only 11:30pm there, while here in Helsinki it was already mid-morning.

The following Thursday we headed straight up to the grade 1 classroom.  We looked at the list of what we already knew about owls and then made a new list of things we knew about Barn Owl’s digestive systems. (It was more just me telling them about the Barn Owl’s digestive system.)

Molly’s UStream channel was down so we watched some pre-recorded videos of Max (the oldest owlet) expelling pellets.

Since I wanted the kids to further understand the distance between Molly and them, I made a really simple google map to show the distance between San Marcos, California and Helsinki.  The Kindergartens found the map so interesting – it sparked more questions and discussion than the owl pellets.

(My idea to use a map came from Heidi Hayes Jacobs’ new book – Curriculum 21 – Essential Education for a Changing World.  She argues that maps should be used throughout the curriculum in order for students to be able to relate to geography in a meaningful way.  For more about this, check out the book, or Curriculum 21′s Ning, or this great post by Silvia Tolisano on her Langwitches Blog.)

We then headed back to the Kindergarten classroom to make our own edible owl pellets! (Scroll to the bottom of this entry for the recipe.)

These were a very messy highlight.  The kids loved making them, and loved tasting them even more. We added ‘rodent bones’ to the recipe, (mini marshmallows and small pieces of white chocolate.)  Delicious!

I was having so much fun, I forgot to take pictures of the K1′s but I revisited them when their teacher had them do a follow-up activity making owls from paper plates.

Paper plate owls - so much fun!

Reflection:

What went well:

  • Reading the picture book and asking students for prior knowledge
  • Watching Molly live and watching pre-recorded videos
  • Making edible owl pellets

What didn’t go well:

  • Questioning
  • ‘Lecturing’
  • Understanding

What I would do differently next time:

  • I would consult the classroom teacher about questioning – the K1 teacher was really helpful during my lesson, asking clarifying questions and prompting the students
  • I would have taken more of an inquiry approach, maybe try to get real owl pellets to look at and touch – I did not intend to ‘lecture’ Kindergarten kids, but that’s what happened because of lack of time and maybe my inexperience with this grade level
  • I would take more time to look at and discuss the map – I’m slowly realizing the importance of maps in lessons, regardless of subject or grade level
  • I would do a better job of checking for understanding – after making the edible owl pellets, most K1 students couldn’t express themselves when their classroom teacher asked them to recall one thing they learned

This was so much fun and I can’t wait to work with the Kindergarten teacher and students again.

Next: My first skyping with students.  Coming soon…


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1:1 Laptop Programs – Resources

A couple of weeks ago I found out my school has a proposal on the table for piloting a laptop program.
I wanted to know more about the subject and see what other schools were doing so I could feel informed when helping the Technology committee and my colleagues with this initiative.
So last weekend I asked my (very) small twitter PLN for some resources on starting a 1:1 program.  I was thrilled with the response I got – thanks to @langwitches, I was not only led to a bunch of very useful resources, my PLN more than tripled in size.
So thanks @langwitches and @cybraryman1 for the resources, and thanks to the community of educators on twitter for making me feel so welcome.
Here are a list of useful resources I found for planning, implementing, and evaluating a successful 1:1 laptop program:
(The resources include an academic journal, various websites, a newsletter, blog entries, etc.  I found many other sources, lists, websites and wikis – but these were the most relevant for my purpose of finding out how other schools plan, implement, and evaluate 1:1 laptop programs at their schools.  Please feel free to suggest other relevant sources in the comments.)

The Journal of Technology, Learning, and Assessment

Bebell, D. & O’Dwyer, L.M. (2010). Educational Outcomes and Research from
1:1 Computing Settings. Journal of Technology, Learning, and Assessment, 9(1).
This edition of the journal is a research paper that compiles the data collected from 4 separate studies of 1:1 programs.  There is some excellent concrete information about the benefits of a laptop program in relation to student engagement and motivation.


Queensland Government. “1-to-1 Learning”
Smart Classrooms. The State of Queensland (Department of Education and Training) 2010.
This site has really clear information and is easy to navigate.  Some great links.


Queensland Government. (2010) 21 Steps to 21st Century 1-to-1 Success.
The Smart Classrooms Bytes Newsletter, 2.
This edition of the Smart Classroom Bytes Newsletter is a 21 step guide to planning and implementing a successful 1:1 program.  The document has handy checklists in the sidebar that help direct you through the 21 steps.

Angus King. “Getting Started in a 1-to-1 Classroom Video Series”.
What I love about this series of videos is that it emphasises the role of the teacher in 1:1 programs.  Angus King, (former Maine Governor and series narrator),  stresses that the reason Maine is at the forefront of the laptop in schools movement is that right from the beginning, their focus has been on learning and teaching – not on technology.


Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation. “21 Steps to 21st Century Learning”.
This website’s 21 steps are broken down into 4 phases – Planning, Preparation, Implementation, and Review.  Very clear site.  Easy to read bullets and lots of useful links.




This outside consulting agency offers many services, but it’s online 1:1 Readiness Assessment is free and can help your school determine whether or not they are prepared to launch their program.

Blog Entries


Kim Cofino. “Going 1:1: Top 5 Insights from ASB Unplugged”
Kim Cofino’s blog entry on Going 1:1 was really useful in highlighting 5 essential ingredients to any successful 1:1 program.  I especially liked that Cofino was coming from an International School perspective which applied directly to my research.


Chris Ludwig. “1:1 Laptop Programs: Shifting the Way Students Learn”

Chris Ludwig highlighted alternatives to 1:1 programs by giving us a look at how he uses a shared set of classroom laptops in his science classroom.  Great links on Ludwig’s post include his ‘Technology Boot Camp’ prezi and his Moodle site.


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The North American Barn Owl

So, I’ve been mildly obsessed with `The Owl Box‘ – this U-Stream channel that’s gone viral lately and is completely addictive!

Molly

The story behind The Owl Box is a great one.  Carlos and Donna Royal set up this owl box in their back yard complete with cameras (one for daytime and an infrared one for night-time), and waited for something to happen.  The owl box went unused for two years before a barn owl chose to nest in it.  They named the owl Molly and her mate McGee.

Since they have started broadcasting online, Molly has laid five eggs, four of which have now hatched.  The channel is so popular, at times there are tens of thousands of people watching.  This has garnered an incredible amount of attention for the couple and their city of San Marcos, California.  Carlos has skyped with schools around the U.S., talking about owls and answering questions from inquiring students.  There is Molly merchandise and even an e-book in the works.  (Reference: Mollysbox.wordpress.com)

The educational opportunities The Owl Box offers are endless.

I approached the Kindergarten teacher at my school and told her about The Owl Box.  I offered to come in and teach a lesson on Owls for their on-going unit of inquiry on ‘The Four Seasons’, obviously relating the Owl and her nesting cycle to the season of Spring.

So, this Thursday, I’m going into the Kindergarten class for a fun owl themed morning.  I’m very excited and it’s been fun putting together what I hope will be an engaging lesson.

This is my lesson plan so far:

Preparation:
  • Prepare edible pellet mix
  • Make sure smartboard and U-Steam work in G1 teacher’s room
  • Ask K1 teaching assistant to make a giant cut-out of an owl where we can post ideas and questions
  • Photocopy and mix sequence of ‘nesting cycle’ from ‘Owls’ by Gail Gibbons
Objective:
  • To learn about the nature of owls through a case study on the North American Barn Owl
Mental Set (in K1 room):
  • Read ‘The Barn Owls’ by Tony Johnston
  • Think Pair Share – Ask students what they know about owls (display somehow-giant owl cut-out?)
Input & Modelling (In Gr 1 room):
  • Talk about how Owls are born (what do students already know about the nesting cycle?)
  • Show Molly on the smart board, answer student questions (or at least try to, I’m not an expert)
  • Write down student questions (display somehow-giant owl cut-out?)
  • Focus questions on the nesting cycle and on digestion
Practice (In K1 Room):
  • Put ‘nesting cycle’ story in order
  • Make (edible) owl pellets
Check For Understanding:
  • Ongoing: I will be checking for understanding as students ask question and as they sequence the ‘nesting cycle’
Closure / Reflection:
  • Review what we know, and what we’ve learned
  • Have students bring home Owl Pellet to parents and explain what an owl pellet is
  • Have students bring home ‘nesting cycle’ to explain to parents
  • Give students links to the ‘Owl Box’ on U-Stream and the ‘Molly’s Box’ blog
Materials:
  • ‘The Barn Owl’ by Tony Johnston
  • ‘Owls’ by Gail Gibbons
  • Display for ‘What we know’
  • ‘Nesting Cycle’ sequencing photocopies
  • Edible Owl Pellet materials

I got the edible owl pellet recipe from The Barn Owl Trust.

I tried it out this weekend, (yes we had owl pellets for desert at Easter dinner).

Edible Owl Pellets

A closer look

They were delicious, kind of like chocolate truffles.  If I was living in North America I would use this recipe from Dr. Rickert’s Education Adventure.  (Taken from ‘Owl Puke’ by Jane Hammerslough.)  It has stuff that’s hard to find and expensive here in Finland.  (It’s not nut-free either.)

I will post a reflection on the lesson after teaching it.  I can’t wait!

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