TWIMA 3 is LIVE!

Student taking a pic of our alphabet. Can you see the pattern?

As I mentioned awhile back, my class took part in a global iBook project, TWIMA3 (The World Is My Audience) which revolved around the topic of patterns. As part of this project each global classroom created their own pages for a chapter in the book based on their interpretation of patterns, whether that be through poetry, music, science, math, etc. My class chose to find patterns within our classroom as well as create and label our own patterns as it integrated nicely with our math curriculum and 1st grade standards. 

Putting our learning into the app our choice.

Each of my students had choice in how they chose to represent their patterns as well as which app they felt would best show their learning. Most students chose to use PicCollage for Kids or Explain Everything for their final submission. Explain Everything was a popular choice once kiddos realized that they could use the light pointer to tell about their patterns. Many students also used apps such as Geoboard and Pattern Blocks to create their digital patterns. 

One of the completed pages for our chapter

Once our pages were complete we sent our submissions to Mr. Jon Smith in Ohio (you can follow him on Twitter @theipodteacher). He, along with Leah Lacrosse (@LLaacrosse), compiled all the submissions into an iBook which you can find in the iBooks store. You can access and download the book for free using the link below. Our class' chapter begins on page 94, Chapter 10

We hope you'll take some time to take a peek at it. It was neat to see how each classroom, from all different grade levels. tackled this project.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/world-is-my-audience-3-patterns/id1073259490?ls=1&mt=11

This was a fantastic opportunity for my students to showcase their learning in an authentic way. We will definitely be taking part in future projects. Speaking of future projects, TWIMA4 is due to be announced sometime in February. If you're interested in participating, be sure to follow Jon Smith @theipodteacher on Twitter to catch the announcement.

100th Day Collaboration

It's just around the corner, the 2nd biggest holiday celebration in February (or maybe in January for your school)... 

This year my class is hoping to collaborate with classrooms around the world in our celebration and we hope you'll join us! Each year we talk about what we would do if we had $100 or what we wish we had 100 of. My guess is many of you use some of these same prompts during your celebrations. 

This year we're hoping we can find out how other students answer these questions too. In fact, our goal is to get

posts

We've created a 100th day Padlet board and hope that you and your students will take some time to add your thoughts as well. 

Feel free answer as a class or have your students post individually. Pick a prompt from any of the ones listed above or if you have others that you use feel free to share those with us too. Add a picture or just write your idea. We'd love it if you'd leave your name and state/country in the title box. Make it your own and join in the fun! 

Click here to access the Padlet board

Here is a poster you can print off or project with the Padlet board QR code. I also have this QR embedded right on the board. 
I usually project our Padlets on my Smartboard and then have the kiddos come up and scan the QR code right from the board. Works great, easy to use and no printing necessary. 




If you have any questions, don't hesitate to get in touch with me!

Patterns, Patterns, everywhere!

We've been prepping for weeks now to get to get ready to work on our chapter for the global iBook project, TWIMA3, which will be all about patterns. The outcome of this book will be stunning I'm sure as it is being put together by one of my fellow Apple Distinguished Educators, Mr. Jon Smith (@theipodteacher) from Ohio. You can check out his blog here. When the book is done it will be available free on iTunes. I know my students will be ecstatic to see all of their hard work come together in a book that they will be able to share with others and enjoy for years to come!

So, back to the project- Over the course of the past few months we've talked about patterns, found patterns, and analyzed patterns in all sorts of places around our school. We've found them even when we haven't been looking for them!  Currently we've mainly focused on repeating patterns but as we work into our unit on patterns in math in the coming weeks, we'll also learn about growing patterns. Unfortunately the deadline for submission is prior to that so our submissions will just focus on repeating patterns.

Today each students were given the task of:

1. Finding something in our room that had a pattern and take a picture of it
2. Using hands-on materials of their choice from around the room to build their own pattern
3. If they had time- they were also able to create a pattern on the iPad using an app of their choice. Kiddos chose apps such as Magnetic Alphabet,  Pattern Blocks, and Drawing Pad to create their masterpieces.

I was pleasantly surprised by their choice of apps as I wouldn't have thought to use some of the ones that they chose. NEVER underestimate the power of a first grader and their thought process! The collaboration, creativity and critical thinking skills that were used as we worked through the tasks was phenomenal! Many students began with basic color or shape patterns but as they worked through each task, their ideas and creations became more and more elaborate. As I conferenced with students I encouraged them to think differently to dig deep and to stretch their imaginations.

As we continue on with this project we analyze the patterns we found and created and work to explain and describe them to others by either writing about them or recording information about them. We will again be using a variety of apps depending on their personal preferences. Apps may include PicCollage or Explain Everything. We'll see what others they feel will work the job. I'm excited to watch and learn from this great group of kiddos. They never cease to amaze me!
I'll be sure to update this site as we complete our submissions and also add a link to the book once it is published in the iTunes store.

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On a side note, I apologize for not posting here as regularly as I have in the past. I am a member of a new 12 person team in my district that is working to help our district teachers embed technology into their teaching. This, along with full-time teaching and family life has really eaten into my blogging time. I encourage you to also follow our classroom blog, The Dog Blog to see what we are doing on a more regular basis. You will get an overview of projects that we are doing to enhance our learning just not with as much detail.

Kids Teaching Teachers

Last week Monday started out a little different than any other. 

We participated in a Google Hangout with Mrs. White in Indiana again, but this time we didn't chat with her students, we chatted with about 20 of her colleagues from various grade levels. Mrs. White had asked if our class would be willing to join their professional development day and talk with them about the Hangouts that we have done. We thought it was pretty special that we, as kids could teach teachers about using Google Hangouts! 

We have started a new ongoing project using the BookCreator app. We are using the app to create a digital learning journal of our Google Hangout experiences. With each connection, students are documenting something they learned or found interesting as well as inserting a map and locating our state and the state of each classroom. This will be a great way for us to practice our map skills in an authentic way in addition to creating an informational text that others can read and enjoy. 

Authentic Assessment with SeeSaw app

Our school utilizes the PBIS (Positive Behavioral and Interventions and Supports) system. As part of this system, we focus on teaching positive social behaviors.  The way we have our system set up, students are able to earn "Knightly Notes" or tickets for expected behaviors. They are then able to cash their tickets in for classroom rewards (such as sitting at the teacher's desk for the day, lunch in the classroom, choosing something from the prize box, and oh so much more).

Each week when we count our tickets, we put them into piles of 10s and 1s. This has been a great reinforcement of the place value concepts that we are continually working on in math. After putting their tickets in piles, I've been having the kiddos take a picture of their piles using the app, SeeSaw . Once they have their picture, they then use the drawing tool and write the numbers for their piles on their picture to show how many tickets they have. They also record themselves counting their tickets and then send their learning to their parents through the app. This has been a great way for me to authentically evaluate my students' 10s and 1s knowledge and for them to also practice writing 2 digit numbers. You can view a sample of what this looks and sounds like by clicking here. 

Parents are also loving this as they are getting a glimpse of what we are doing in the classroom in addition to being able to leave written or audio comments for their children.

Reflections from #EdcampGB

Professional development on a Saturday? You bet! I attended my first ever Edcamp yesterday and I'm still so excited about all that I was able to do and experience. If you've never heard of an Edcamp, they are "unconferences" that are participant-driven. Best of all, Edcamps are typically free and most often breakfast and lunch are included in your day thanks to the generosity of sponsors. You can find out more about Edcamps here.

We had over 100 educators from the local area and from around the state join us for a day of learning. We started our morning in the auditorium and pitched our session ideas. Sessions did not have to be technology related, although many were. As sessions were pitched, those ideas were put on post-it notes and then arranged and rearranged on the Smartboard where the session schedule began to take shape.

It wasn't long and we were off! It was hard to choose which sessions to go to as there were so many that were pertinent to my interests and my grade level. The beauty of the Edcamp format though is that if "you're not feeling it" in the session you attend, there are no hard feelings about getting up and moving to a new session. Our organizers also did a fantastic job of setting up a shared doc in which we could take notes in each session as well. I've already taken time to go in and read the notes from the sessions I wasn't able to attend and even added information and resources for others as well. If you're interested in checking out the sessions that were offered and taking a peek at the notes you can click on the picture or on this link- #edcampGB GoogleDoc.

I attended sessions on coding in the elementary level, using the app SeeSaw for digital portfolios (I'm currently using this and will be blogging about it soon- it is absolutely PHENOMENAL!!), using tech in Reader's Workshop, and more. Most importantly, I not only learned FROM others but was able to share my expertise WITH others as well. It was the kind of day that we as teachers are always saying that we want and need- time to talk, share, and network with others. Other bonuses to the day? I was able to help several participants get started on Twitter, was able to answer a boatload of questions about SeeSaw (and saw many already getting their classes set up so they could start using the app this week) and was able to meet a whole bunch of people that I follow on Twitter. (My tech geek side came out with that- meeting Twitter friends face to face is amazing!)

I truly can't say enough about the day. It flew by faster than I thought it would or could and as I said above, I am still pondering, sharing, and reading tweets from #EdcampGB. The learning didn't stop yesterday! 

I'm already wondering when I'll be able to attend another Edcamp and have even checked the official Edcamp calendar in hopes of finding one within a few hours of my home on a weekend that I don't have other obligations. 

If you don't have any Edcamps in your area or if you aren't able to attend, find out what the hashtag is and follow along on Twitter. You will be amazed at what you will learn, even from afar!!!

If you're interested in reading yesterday's #EdcampGB tweets, check out my Storify below.