BCS Steam 2020 Vision Online Conference

COVID-19 has certainly put a damper on a variety of activities since March, but simply put, it hasn't stopped those of us that are wanting to continue to learn and grow in our profession. Many scheduled conferences have turned to using virtual platforms and as such have opened doors to educators from near and far!
Looking to add a little PD to your summer repertoire? Check out the BCS Steam conference (#BCSSTEAM20)! You can find more information at bitl.ly/bcssteam20sched. There are LOTS of great sessions throughout the day on a wide variety of topics. I'll be presenting a session on Google Jamboard at both 1:00CT  and 2:00CT. Both sessions are the identical so pick which one works best with your schedule. We'll dive into learning about Jamboard (an online, interactive whiteboard) and also jump onto a Jamboard in real time to play and experiment. 

Fonts, Images, and Presentation Tools... oh my!!!

I'm having SO much fun getting my blog spiffed up and back in shape that I also redid the format for my weekly newsletter for next year and have now been working on getting my Wakelet boards back up to par as well. They have needed some TLC for quite some time but they're getting there and as I'm getting them back in shape I'm opening them up for anyone and everyone to enjoy. I won't even tell you what time I finally went to bed last night, ahem... I mean, this morning. Yikes!! I just couldn't walk away! Have you ever just been in the zone and couldn't stop yourself?!

So, since my computer is now at 7% and I can't stay up as late as I did yesterday two days in a row, I'm going to do a quick share before my computer dies and then head to bed! 

I LOVE putting presentations and my newsletter together. I find it a bit therapeutic to putz with the colors, fonts, and templates. My OCD side craves it!!! I've collected quite a few sites over the years to help with everything from fonts, to text generators and templates, to color matching extensions (my fave!). I finally had the chance to put all of these amazing tools into a Wakelet board for easier access and in a place that others can also benefit from them. I hope you'll find a few new tools on this board as well. 

Have others that you can't live without? PLEASE drop a comment below and share. I'd love to add a few more amazing sites to my list!!!

Technology for Standards-Based Literacy

Utilizing technology during the literacy block can be a very rewarding venture. I have been and continue to work to find ways to bring technology into our reading and writing while still maintaining good pedagogical practices. I don't believe that technology should be used for the sake of using technology. There needs to be a purpose and it needs to in some way enhance traditional practice. 

The presentation above is one that I am giving at SITA15 on using technology to enhance standards-based literacy instruction. Tools discussed will be Padlet, PicCollage and use of interactive whiteboard apps such as Explain Everything and DoodlecastPro. As with any presentation, the face to face presentation gives participants much more information so please don't hesitate to get in touch with me if you have any questions after viewing the slides. My contact info is on the last slide of the presentation.

You can also find more examples of many of the tools discussed right here on my blog. Check the "Oodles of Topics" area for links.

If you have any wonderful ways in which you've used technology to enhance your literacy instruction, I'd love for you to share it in the comments area below. In our connected world, it is wonderful when we can all share and learn from each other!

Social Media in the Elementary Classroom

Click on image to access the presentation slides

Above is the presentation that I  am giving on using Twitter in the Elementary Classroom. The session description was as follows:

This session will help you explore ways in which you and your class can utilize Twitter to share your learning and become globally connected.  Time will be spent discussing Twitter lingo and management for newbies. Multiple resources will be shared for connecting and collaborating and time will be given to begin putting together your class' PLN in addition to exploring the various resources. You'll leave ready to try Twitter with your class this fall!

If you are looking to start using or increasing your Twitter usage with your class there are many great projects listed with coordinating hashtags and links (when available) for more information. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me. 
Of course, I'd love to have you come and join the learning happening on Twitter with us too! Our classroom account is @Malchow1stgrade

Tech-Tastic! Pulaski PD Presentation

Click image to access presentation

I am co-presenting at our district technology inservice on ways to integrate technology into both math and literacy. If you're interested in finding out about ways you can integrate Padlet, DoodlecastPro (Explain Everything, Educreations,etc) and PicCollage, feel free to check out our presentation link above, just click on the image. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

My co-presenter is a 5th grade teacher and as such we have many examples from both of our classrooms. You'll also find links to Padlet boards with more examples as well as video links with tutorials to get you going.

APPsolutely Amazing Apps for K-3

I am once again preparing to present at SITA (Summer Instructional Technology Academy) and as usual am struggling with the time frame and everything I want to share. Passion is a wonderful thing but can be a curse when a time limit is involved. I have 2 hours to share all of the APPSolutely Amazing Apps that I have tried. If you've ever been to TIES and seen Mark Garrison's 50 sites in 50 minutes presentation, you'll have an idea of the frantic pace I'm feeling I'm going to need to use. Needless to say, I don't think I'll be sharing ALL of my finds... I had to pick and choose but even that was difficult!! I've also included a few tips and tricks as well as sites to find great apps. 

Check out my presentation and let me know what you think. All of the apps are linked to iTunes for easy access if interested in downloading. If you have any great apps that you have tried with your class please share in the comments section. Click on the image below to view.

5th Annual Pulaski Tech Academy

On Friday, my district hosted our 5th Annual Tech Academy. The theme for this year was, "Apps Away: Google, Notebook and iTunes".  The sectionals focused on utilizing Google Apps, Smartboard apps, and iPad apps for student engagement and learning. All of the presenters got these Kick-app t-shirts which we wore to identify ourselves during the day. Totally love the play on words and the graphic. 

If you'd like to check out the presentations from our various sectionals, click here to find the various presentation links. 

I was asked to do the "There’s an App for That~ K-2" sectional. The info read as follows:

"There are so many apps and so little time!  This session will highlight some of the district iTunes apps installed on your classroom iPads as well as share other iTunes apps.  Strategies will be shared on how to find apps as well as time provided to do so!  The app purchase process will also be reviewed!" 

Our district has specific apps preloaded onto each grade level's iPads so I had to try and highlight a little from each level. I also asked staff if they had any specific requests which is where the multi-player and multi-account apps came into play. Feel free to check out my presentation by clicking on the picture above.

21st Century Learning - PCSD New Teacher Inservice 2012

21st century learning skills & technology
 enhances teaching and learning
for even the youngest learners!!

   Engaging!            Motivating!        Problem Solving!

 Creativity!         Risk Taking!

So... where do you start? 
Here are just a few of the tools I have had success with in my own classroom.

Our classroom blog

SMARTboards are wonderful tools!

Students are:

- Engaged

- Independent

- Collaborative

-Problem solving

-Critical thinking

The sky's the limit...

Photo from Jessica Meacham's website

* Math lessons

* Word Sorts/ spelling activities

* Attendance/lunch

* Daily 5 check-in

* Calendar Activities

* Handwriting practice

* Student-led conferences 

* Great for substitute teachers- lessons can be preplanned

Click here for more SMARTboard files from Jessica Meacham

There are TONS of wonderful, 
free tools and apps to use

To find out more about how to connect with a class click go to http://www.skypeforeductors.com
 or the Skype in Schools wiki.

Pic Collage App
Click image for iTunes link

click image to see more about this project

Educreations App
Click image for iTunes link

Remember- you have a lot on your plates for this year... choose one thing to start with~ explore and have fun with what you choose!

Educational Technology Quotes from jarledgesshs

SITA 2012

Thank you to all who attended my sessions at EWSITA this week. I hope that you walked away with a few new ideas and/or apps to use in your classrooms. If you have others that you can't live without, please feel free to let others know about them by leaving a comment.
As always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me.

Have a great school year!!!

APPsolutely Amazing Apps for the Primary Classroom on Prezi

iPods in the Classroom Presentation

I had the privilege this week to present to a group of elementary teachers on iPods/iPads in the classroom. I was asked to discuss various apps that would tie into the core curriculum for grades Pre-K through 5. Below is the Prezi I used as part of my presentation.

If you have some apps that you just can't live without, please add them to the comment section. The more the merrier!! 2 hours, which included "play time", is really only enough to scratch the surface.

iPods and iPads in the Classroom on Prezi

WASB convention

Along with good conversation, networking, and friendship came frustration, problem solving and glitches. Technology is such a wonderful tool For learning and collaborating but over the last 2 days it has come with its frustrations. It reminds me that to learn, one must make mistakes, problem solve, and remain calm at all times.
Last night, 4 of my model classroom colleagues and I traveled 2 hours to present at the WI School Board Association Convention. We talked, laughed,and learned from each other. We shared positives and frustrations in our journey but most of all we enjoyed talking tech and being social.our presentation was ready, our passion on fire and ready to share UNTIL.. We arrived in our conference room and discovered that we did not have Internet access short of sharing the wifi connection in the hallway. We frantically, No scratch that, we collectively began to problem solve. In the end, it all came together and we were able to share our message... Successfully!!
I won't go into all of the frustrations of the last two days ( I almost threw my "stuff" out the window yesterday) as every day brings its challenges. I will say though....
Technology rocks! It brings endless possibilities for learning and collaboration, problem solving and frustration and yet continues to push us forward in positive directions and FRIENDS, well... friends are the glue to all things
Thank you my model tech friends... You know who you are. You all rock!

For anyone interested in seeing our presentation, you can view it here.
http://prezi.com/jew-coi9aolc/pulaski-wasb-model-classroom-presentation/

School Board Presentation

School Board Presentation~ 12/7 on Prezi

21st Century Learners

The post below is part of a presentation that I will be giving to new teachers in my district showing some of the ways in which I integrate technology and 21st century learning skills into my classroom and how it enhances teaching and learning.

"If a child can't learn the way we teach,

maybe we should teach the way they learn." ~Ignacio Estrada

21st century learning skills and technology enhance teaching and learning in even the youngest of learners!!

Engaging!

Motivating!

Problem

 solving! 

SMARTboards are  WONDERFUL tools! 

Students are:

-Engaged

- Independent

- Collaborative

-Problem solving

-Critical thinking

The sky's the limit...

Photo from Jessica Meacham's website

* Math lessons

* Word Sorts/ spelling activities

* Attendance/lunch

* Daily 5 check-in

* Calendar Activities

* Handwriting practice

* Student-led conferences 

* Great for substitute teachers- lessons can be preplanned

Click here for more SMARTboard files from Jessica Meacham

It's not all about the tools~

you can implement 21st century learning into your rooms with little to no technology.



Learning about life cycles we experienced
real-time integration!

Last year, my students only had access to a SMARTboard, my teacher workstation and my personal iPod touch. We also had access twice a week to our school's computer lab. 

Students used my iPod touch for fluency checks.

* Active learning
* Student-centered
* Media used for learning and assessment
* Self assessment- Huge!!!
* Able to address student diversity

 
 

 


Click image to find out more about how we integrated
technology into our groundhog study

 

Click image to see how we used this picture

to practice our paragraph format.





Our classroom blog has made our classroom walls transparent for parents but has also been a wonderful tool to integrate 21st century skills into the curriculum with not a whole lot of technology!

Click on image to find out more about our animal research



Our animal research was a fantastic culmination to our year!

It promoted:

* Collaboration

* Information and media literacy

* Creativity

* Active learning

* Student centered learning

* Problem Solving

There are TONS of wonderful, FREE

web 2.0 tools to use

This was part of a project-based writing unit.

Students used the writing process to create their paragraph and then used Microsoft Word to publish their piece. We learned how to change the size, font and color of our writing in addition to printing and saving.

We used digital cameras to take pictures of each other and our projects and made a slideshow to show which we embedded onto our class blog for our family and friends to view.

We also embedded a Wallwisher board (an online board maker) to have others share with us what they would do if they had a shiny red nose like Rudolph's. (*UPDATE- Wallwisher is now Padlet

This project utilized the following skills:

* Collaboration

* Effective communication

* Information and media literacy

* Globally connected

* Authentic writing/ audience

Click here for more ideas on how to use Wallwisher in the classroom.  



Wordle/ Abcya Word Clouds

Skype is another fantastic tool!

We have had buddy classes from Virginia, Iowa, and Kansas. We connected once a month or so and shared information about our cities, our interests, what we were learning at school (both classes used Everyday Math), read books together, shared our research projects and more.

It was a fantastic experience which helped both classes to become:

* effective communicators and collaborators

* globally connected to areas and issues

To find out more about how to connect with a class click go to http://www.skypeforeductors.com/ or the Skype in Schools wiki.



To find out more about this project click on the image

Digital Cameras

We used the cameras after our study of 3D shapes. Students went on a 3D shape hunt with a partner. The pictures were used as part of my assessement of their learning.





To find out more click the image



We also gave our Read Across America door decorating contest a technology twist by using the digital cameras.

Check with your LMS to see what else is available to you on a checkout basis. We were able to check out digital cameras, COWS (computers on wheels), webcams, and microphones to make other project-based learning come to life.



Remember- you have a lot on your plates for this year... choose one thing to start with~ explore and have fun with what you choose!

'There is no risk-less way to the future, we must choose which set of risks we wish to run.'

~Jay Ogilvy

New teacher inservice

We have 43 new teachers starting in our district this year! WOW!

I have been asked by our director of curriculum to be part of a technology panel to show and share how I am using 21st tools to reach and teach my young, 21st century learners. Cool! What a great way to get our new staff thinking about how they can incorporate these skills into their teaching!

25 sites in 50 minutes

For those who follow this blog or check in regularly, my colleague Tracy and I presented a workshop during our district inservice titled, "25 sites in 50 minutes". We talked about all of the sites listed below.

At the bottom of this post I have embedded a Lino wall for you to share great sites that you use or can't live without. Please add your "can't live without 'em" sites to our wall. Enjoy the following links- hopefully you will find something new that you can use as well! If you have any comments about the sites listed, please feel free to leave a comment!

Teacher Resources

Tumblebooks

Storyline Online

Smilebox
Shwup
Voki/ Monkey Business
proteacher.net
Teacher Tipster

Beth Newingham

Ms. Winston

Garrison

Harvey's Homepage

Sqworl 

WallWisher / Lino

Interactive, online kid sites

Wordle

ABCya word clouds

Abcya!
Arcademic Skill Builders

Young National Geographic

National Geographic Kids

Spelling City

Starfall

Giggle Poetry
Letter Generator
Mad Libs Junior
Digital Storytelling

Now it's your turn- what are some of the great sites that you use that you can't live without. Please add them to a sticky note for all of us to learn from each other. Just put your mouse on the blue "Share your favorite site" bar and pull down a sticky note of your choice.

To see others' posts, grab and slide the background up, down, left, or right. You can also hover over the blue tab on the bottom right which will slide out and show you where the various posts are located on the wall. Also, if leaving a link, in order for it to be clickable link, you will need to use the http:// address.