iPevo Camera Review

My document camera came in a couple of weeks ago and I am so excited to try it out for each of you. I had a limited budget, but I wanted the camera to have a record function so I can video my lessons. I have used a less expensive iPevo in the past. It was useful, but it stopped working after five years. I ordered this one from Amazon. It was relatively affordable at $99 plus tax.

Creating Videos

     You know that moment when you submit a grant request and at the bottom of the form, you realize they want a video about your project but they don't allow Powtoon? If you don't, I'll describe it to you. imagine you have spent a week day hours creating a media project for your college class and a specific grant proposal just to find out it won't work for this specific random grant you just found on the internet after days hours searching for additional grants. It's like a kick in the gut papercut slap in the face with a wet noodle! I know, that bad, right?
    Have no fear, Biteable is here! And since I just blew 100 bucks on Powtoon for my class next year, it was free! Did I mention that school is out, so I can't actually video my actual students doing actual work. Stinks right? Luckily, Biteable does not bite and is really easy to use. One drawback is it does not allow voice over like Powtoon.

Biteable Video

Powtoon Video

The audio is not great on this video. It is my fault it isn't any good. I will re-record it at a later date. The thing I don't like about Powtoon is you can't add your own video and it doesn't have produced stock footage to add to your presentation.

    Here is my vertict: Powtoons and Biteable need to come together and make a super video/presentation platform baby. I know that is really technical for a blog dedicated to technology in the classroom, but that's it in a nutshell. Until next time...

Technology Grant Writing

   

     Soon I will start my new job, at a new district, at new grade level. I am really excited to start this next phase of my career. I will miss interacting daily with my old friends at my old school. I will also miss the fantastic technology resources I had in my old classroom. I had a state of the art Promethean ActivPanel and a document camera. Not only did I have a classroom set of iPads for three and a half years, my room was right across the hall from the computer lab.  Needless to say, I was a little spoiled.

     However fabulous the technology was at my old school, I will be so glad to have a room with a lock on the door, a locking closet, and real desks. It doesn't take much to make me happy. In my new classroom, I will have a new desktop computer and a brand spanking new SmartBoard. What I will need is a document camera and some devices for my students to publish their work. We are a Google school and I want to take full advantage of the cool features of Google Classroom. No problem, I'll just flop down $7,000.00 and supply the class with everything I need. Who am I kidding, I'm a teacher! Heck, I'm lucky to have a new job. So what is a poor teacher in the state of Oklahoma, which has had the highest cuts in the nation in education since 2008, to do? Time to start grant hunting!

     With the blessing of my new rock star boss, I have permission to start pursuing technology grants. My professor is helping me polish up my first proposal that will be the foundation for all of the ones to follow. 

     I used to be in sales, so I know this is going to be a numbers game. Not only do I need to sell our school, our need, and my "expertise", I need to put my proposal in front of as many institutions as possible. I will spend countless hours in front of my computer searching for that elusive source of cash to propel my students into the 21st Century and beyond... I have a feeling Google will become my new best friend.

    Lucky for you, I started this blog. I will post my progress and provide links to grant opportunities. What better way to improve your readership than promising loads of dough for classrooms?

      

Digital Resources

   As mentioned earlier this week, I have ventured out into allowing my students to create their own websites. Students are allowed to create any type of website, so long as it is school appropriate. This is a huge leap for some of us to take. Giving up control of what our students create can very scary for teachers who have been drilled into writing step by step detailed lesson plans which account for every minute of classroom time. They are then submitted to an administrator as proof you are teaching the right standards in the right way. I have strong opinions about this practice. Lesson plans are not for administrators! They are for you. (I happened to use a digital lesson plan called Planbook. It is easy to use and relatively inexpensive for the ease of use and features.) Just as lesson plans are not for administrators, actual lessons are not for you, they are for students!

    So this leads into what should come first when it comes to integrating digital resources in our classroom? Learning! Digital resources should first focus on how it helps children learn. Does it hinder their understanding of the topic or does in enhance it. I tried many different digital lesson planning platforms before and after Planbook, but I always came back to Planbook because it is so darn easy to use!

   But the key is that I continue to look for something better. That is how we should view teaching and technology. Use what works, but always be on the lookout for new digital resources to enhance student engagement and learning. A new digital resource I want to try next school year is Sutori, www.sutori.com, which allows students to create digital timelines. I have to give a shout-out to my sister-in-law, Kathy Hayman, who is an awesome teacher-leader in Texas. She forwarded me the link in an email earlier this year. I didn't have a chance to incorporate it into my lessons this year, but I will with my high schoolers next year.

One digital resource I have used for several years is quizlet.com, however, now they have Quizlet Live which is a great tool to use. My students BEG me to play this. The great thing is they are learning and communicating with one another while they are using it. It is web based and does require a small yearly subscription. Here is a video of how it works. (Not my actual class.)

  Together with the local Kiamichi Technology Center Director, we created an online program that while help teachers earn a certificate as an educational technology specialist. The course is over four hundred hours long. Teachers will be able to take as many of the modules as they like or complete them all for a nice resume enhancer. The great news is that teachers within the local Promise Zone consortium will be able to take it for free! Other teachers will have at steeply discounted rates if they complete the entire program.

   So now the question is, how can I stay current on the latest technological trends? It's like I tell my students, you have a hand-held computer at you finger tips. Look it up! Network with other tech-savvy teachers. Don't be afraid to try something new. If it doesn't work, ditch it and move on to something that does. I don't have to reinvent the wheel. I can also use technology to enhance things I already use in the classroom. Attached is a video of how I combined using an interactive notebook and an iPad. Students were able to research any topic they liked and then used the interactive notebook as a guide to write a paragraph citing evidence from a digital source.

Student Created Websites

     This year's state testing is finally over, Hallelujah! Now the struggle is to keep students engaged while preparing them for the next school year. I am in the process of setting up my current district with G-Suite for Education. I will be teaching at a new district 2017-2018 that is already a Google school. 

     Yesterday, I introduced my students to New Google Sites. I set up a dummy site they could all log into to create their webpages until our G-Suite account is approved. I want them to be excited about this new platform, so I decided to use the COVA model. Students can make what ever type of site they want, so long as it is school appropriate. So far many of my students are stoked about making their new webpage. No one has asked to play games or complained about the activity. Winning!

     This activity serves a purpose beyond student engagement. It is part of our Oklahoma Academic Standards, Multimodal Literacies. Next year I hope to have students create ePortfolios for their classes at my new school. Hopefully, teachers at my current school will embrace them as well.  

ePortfolios and Authentic Agency

3/20/17

As I reflect upon incorporating ePortfolios in the classroom, I find myself wondering how to encourage students to take ownership of the content. That is the difficulty, how do you balance the need to ensure students are on task in reference to their ePortfolio and how do you keep from stifling agency? I think it really depends on the content area and the mastery level of your students. How do you keep it from becoming a repository for assignments that ticked off the appropriate box for the class? How do your ensure that the content is a reflective example of a student's learning? These are the areas I struggle with when it comes to the ePortfolio.

Failing Forward

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemaddock/2012/10/10/if-you-have-to-fail-and-you-do-fail-forward/#2de63f8658e5