Replacing Textbooks via Google Apps

You may have read in my previous posts that we've adopted GAFE at our school and how it's affecting my language curriculum for 6th-8th graders. As we study units to address mechanical/grammar issues while blogging, I create a presentation and then continuously add to the presentation (assignments) as we move along. The students add their work as well. Once we do a group-edit of each individual's work on the presentation, the student can make changes to the same work on their website and I assess it from there. This got me to thinking...


I really should be videotaping my introductions of the individual lessons, the group-edit discussion, and then embedding them into the Google Doc so students can reflect on the lesson and what was learned. Once the unit's complete, I will have a recording of the topic, our work on the topic, and the reflection we made. All in all, a great way to teach a lesson by example, and a perfect way to catch a student up when they're absent. It will also give me feedback on my own teaching skill and issues I may need to fix before opening the topic next year.


But the real need falls under the preparation for our goal of not purchasing textbooks in the future. We've discussed having only laptops and tablets for high school students next year. I imagine there will be trickle down with middle school students. What will replace textbooks if we don't prepare now? The Google Docs will document all of the lesson if I will take the time to embed videos of our progress. Now, to find the tripod...

A Learning Activity for Editing

Reference my previous blog Google Apps for Education to better understand how we're using Google Doc presentations.

We made our presentation "fat" when each student added to it the sentence they'd constructed about serial commas.
 Posted was Maya Angelou's and my example:

His room smelled of cooked grease, Lysol, and age. 

--Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969)

Hector's room smelled of gym socks, Ranch Doritos, and lies. 

--Mrs. Johnson (2011)

I then asked them to follow this model, which was written on the presentation:

 (Place) smells like ______, ______, and _____." 
Please make the smells distinctly different. Cite as shown (Your name, 2011)

A handful of students got it perfectly--they noticed the difference in the examples and the model, changed "smelled" to "smells," used a place, and wrote a list of distinct smells. Another handful didn't focus on the model but got the place and distinct smells. And there were some that didn't use a place but a thing that was not a place, or they didn't use distinctively different aromas. 

I pulled the presentation up and we critiqued each one in a very nice, constructive way, verbally high-fiving those that got it perfectly. I wasn't trying to trick them; I wanted them to learn to focus on what was asked of them. Was this an eye-opener? Of course. 

But here's the kicker and I didn't expect this: by the third or fourth slightly incorrect sentence, students immediately volunteered what was wrong with the sentence they'd written as soon as it was read aloud, without my calling on them. They wanted to address it first, they wanted to show they understood what had happened. Now, you may think this was a cruel way to introduce them to writing for an audience. But they were all engaged, and not one student was distracted from the activity. We applauded the sentences that followed the model and enjoyed the huge variety of literal and figurative smells. I then asked them to make changes to these same sentences they had posted on their individual web pages to receive full credit.

The ensuing discussion got lively as some that followed the model claimed their due, while some woefully admitted they had rushed through the assignment. It looked like a very simple writing task, but they'd gotten it a bit wrong. I reminded them that this happens to everyone, but that they had to sharpen their focus when writing for an audience. I explained that as self-editors we have to be the first to notice our flaws, we have to continuously work on our writing skills and reflect on them after completion. 

I can remember writing essays for undergraduate courses on the old onion-skin paper that some professors insisted upon. Inevitably, three-fourths towards the bottom of a typed page, I would make a typo, and have to yank it out and start over. Students today do not have to do this, and they should be happy that technology has evolved as it has. But that doesn't mean they can't continue to reflect on their writing, nor does it mean they should read through their finished product once and be done with it. Blogging allows us to save, make changes, preview, and come back again later to write or change some more. Should we have higher expectations for students because of technology? I think we should. There are so many tools built in that help: spell-check, grammar assistance, thesaurus, dictionary, and so on. We can ask them to be thorough. We don't have to be ruthless, but we must ask them to examine once, reflect, and examine again until they develop the intrinsic motivation to write well for an audience or just for themselves. Digital tools offer them the ability to examine deeply, alter their work when needed, and make the best of their efforts in a painless fashion.

And now I welcome your thoughts on this activity. Was it too cruel? Was it definitive college/career preparation? What do you think?

Google Apps for Education

Ready for tremendous success for both students and teacher? Where should I start?

I'll start with me, as it has changed the way I approach my language course for 6th-8th grade.  Using three different resources--Everyday Editing and Mechanically Inclined by Jeff Anderson and The Grammar Plan Book by Constance Weaver--I plan to attack the grammar within writing, mainly directed at student blogging. Using Google in our domain lets me send students presentations of topics. This week it's the study and practice of serial commas. I made a presentation doc and shared it with the students so they could add their practice sentences and cited example sentences from literature. Now they can add to the presentation when it's convenient, it can be pulled up for discussion, and we can learn from each other. I like this, as it makes the students collaborators to the curriculum. I can also send them extra practice documents (old-fashioned worksheets in digital form) via email if they need supplemental practice.

For the students, Google Apps is a fantastic opportunity to use digital tools for communication. Writing blogs and emails helps them focus on writing standards. They've been developing webpages with Sites and writing blogs. Next, I'll ask them to comment on classmates' publications, which will hopefully reinforce what we've discussed for writing: encourage conversation (comments) from readers.

Today I received an email from a middle school student, requesting that I open up the restrictions on our email domain for a brief time so she could email photos from her phone to insert on her Google Site. Students motivated to work on a Saturday evening? I'm all for that! And note: she's already got her own digital tool to use. Google Apps costs nothing yet adds so much to the learning process.

Another exciting feature of Sites is the ease of use. Students can insert links, images and videos with hardly any help. Once they discover the simplicity, they madly support their topics with interesting outside sources. The impact they can add is tremendous. I'm letting them explore topics they enjoy--personalized learning opportunities create lifelong learners and if that's what they become, I've done my job.

Next up will be the collaborative elements of Google. Teams will be formed for project-based learning. When our global contests research begins, they'll be prepared for teamwork. Google Docs gives them forms/surveys for collecting data on the fly, and they can then graph the results.

Are you considering Google Apps for Education at your school? Don't wait any longer--the engagement factor and simplicity makes the learning curve seem negligible. It can act as an ongoing e-portfolio, so unlike papers thrust forgotten into folders or worse yet, into the trash can. Invest the time for the digital literacy your students need.

Integrating QR Codes

At our previous monthly staff meeting, the principal asked us to brainstorm three topics, and one of those was ideas for school improvement. Our early childhood director noted that her church used sticker codes for young child pickup by parent. The child was "stickered" upon arrival to church and the parent given a matching sticker, placed in the appropriate class for the church service, and then picked up as the sticker was matched by the parent. She wondered if we could also do this at our school. As an early childhood worker, she doesn't know all of the students that come to our after-school care, and this sometimes concerns her as to what allergies the child might have or if all adults picking up the child were approved ones. She definitely has a wonderful idea that we can implement using current technology at no cost.


QR (quick response) codes use smart phone technology. Here's a Common Craft video explaining them. Lee Kolbert shares this and other ideas on her blog about QR codes in education. I've brainstormed how I'm going to use them in the classroom which I'll share in a later writing.


For application to the early childhood director's concerns, QR codes will allow teachers on-the-fly access to pertinent student information. And while it sounds all Big Brother, the goal is to protect the student by giving teachers in charge of unfamiliar students access to important data. If we have a student with life-threatening allergy to a food or insect, the adult in charge that day can find out instantly with a phone snap to the child's code. 


I tried out some resources to creating a code for a student. qrstuff.com provides elements in a wide range of formats. We can implement QR's by making a table of student codes on either a web page or a printout sheet in a folder. The after-school care provider can then access the code of any child she is unfamiliar with for instant information. As our school grows, this gives us an additional safety feature to protect children from unwarranted pickups and access to emergency contacts without stringing through time-negating activities. All that is needed is a smart phone with a QR code reader application and codes made from free resources. 


Mary Beth Hertz at Edutopia has some more ideas about how QR codes can be used in the classroom. Read more here.


How will you use QR codes? How will my students use them? I'm picturing all kinds of ways we can implement these in education, but it necessitates smart phones in the classroom, which is another idea whose time has come.


The QR at the top of this post is a link to my blog. Try it out for yourself!

First Week of School Reflection

It's done. The first week of school tells me a lot about how the school year will unfold: which students already need more guidance / 1:1, which students have matured tremendously over the summer and are motivated to learn, and which students I can influence.

We have many new students this year that have transferred in from other schools. I've noticed a particular distinction for many of them. They really care about their education and they want to please. Because they attend a private school, their parents pay tuition. That's an investment. These students may have transferred because they had to deal with bullying issues. They may be undergoing a shift in their families (i.e. a new parent union, new home or a divorce). I want them to have an easy transition and I don't want them to worry about pleasing me too much. Overall, I want to nurture their fresh start, and that means making them comfortable in an unfamiliar setting. One of my first jobs is to make them understand it's okay to question authority. I really don't mind having it pointed out I made a typo on a document or that the date something is due was changed and then I forgot I changed it. Forgetfulness is a bit of my makeup because I try to do too much, especially the first week. My human flaws are okay to notice as long as they learn how to do it with either #1: humor or #2: respect. This is a teaching moment not covered in textbooks, but so important in human relationships.

We got a lot accomplished this first week. My 5th-8th graders developed their Google email accounts by adding their classmates to their contacts. They learned email etiquette. They learned about passwords and privacy. They created a Google site from a template and tweaked it so that it's theirs. This alone is valuable because Sites makes it necessary to understand the different components and where to find them: navigation, layout, linking, sharing, and adding pages to the navigation menu. When we began writing code for contests, they will understand site layout much better because they've spent some time under the hood of the engine.

We started blogging and learned much about the art of reflection. This is more than a standard technology task--it's a writing task that necessitates outlining their thoughts. There are so many standards addressed from blogging and this is a great opportunity for me to really know how they feel. It also helps me understand how they can improve their writing and I develop my language lessons to meet the weaknesses that are apparent.

Team caption applications were returned all week from students that want to be leaders in technology learning. They love helping. I've promised them a sponsorship when they go to high school: if they are my helpers now, I will write recommendations to organizations when they leave our school or when they apply for a job. I encourage them to enter the field of education. They are my special students for which I have the most fond of memories because they often come back and help tutor my students once they need high school service hours. I love getting to watch them develop their teaching skills and having the opportunity to talk with them from that standpoint.

Has it been a good week? Yes, most definitely. I love my job and it continues to make me grow both as a teacher and as a person. Perfection may not be possible, but progress always is.

Rewards and Pitfalls of Student Emailing

Friday night I sent this email to teachers:

Please check often for emails from your students. I will work with them on not using so many emoticons and using a salutary and closing signature. They will be enthralled at first and email you often, I'm sure. Only 5th-8th graders will be able to email and they can only email each other and the teachers; restrictions have been put into place so they cannot email outside our domain. Please report any emails that cause you concern. The 6th graders began on Friday and I think by Monday evening they will all be actively emailing.


I was prompted to send out this email because by Friday evening I had several emails from students that were very excited to have the opportunity to use email. ("I love Google!" "Thank you for giving us Google!") I could tell that they would soon be spending a lot of time making contacts to establish camaraderie with fellow students and teachers alike.

This knowledge is quick-step with trepidation. From my past experience using Moodle with students, most of them want to create digital relationships, but they haven't figured out quite yet how to do that. Some will send repetitive messages that are mainly aimed at getting a reply. If I answer, they have touched base. It doesn't really matter that we are not saying anything new in the back and forth; it matters that they are heard. This, I think, is the heart and soul of why we need to give students email. The opportunity to understand how human relationships work, and the very deep need to give students a voice with current technology is necessary. They see their parents using email and they want to use it, too. It's my job to see they use it properly by addressing etiquette. I want them to represent themselves in the best light possible.

By Friday evening I understood that some students didn't know what the email subject line is for. How great is that feedback? Emailing means they must examine the purpose of the missive and let the receiver know the purpose on their subject line. Casual SMS doesn't offer that. This is a great precedent activity for writing topic sentences; a learning activity already in place that will help me later. I hadn't realized that by-product.

Other topics for which I must rapidly make decisions: How will I address using emoticons and English standards? Should I use behavior standards or grade standards for emailing? Should that even be an on-going directive? Will I directly contact them if they send me emails over and over again about the same message, or will I just discuss it in class?

If you have any suggestions, please make your comments here. I'd be interested to hear your opinion and/or your experience.

My Top 10 Tools for Learning

Pearltrees--visual social bookmarking with the look of concept mapping
Evernote--screen capture and notebooks all rolled into one tool that syncs with desktops and mobiles
Google Docs--collaborate and share word processing docs, spreadsheets and surveys
Google Reader--RSS feed your favorite blogs and news feeds
Google Sites--easy web publishing
Kidblog--managed student blogging platform
Webspiration--2.0 concept mapping by Inspiration
Dropbox--collaborate and share files
SchoolTube--moderated video sharing
Twiducate--moderated social platforms for students