Week One With District Technology

Students working with Destiny

Each year our school district has technology (3 carts of 15 ipads, 2 carts of 18 laptops and more ipods) to share among the schools. To qualify for the technology each school interested has to submit a proposal on what they plan to do with the technology to enhance student learning.  As part of our commitment we also agree to share how we are doing in efforts to help others learn from us.

I thought the best way to share would be to write a weekly post.  Here is week 1.

April 14-20^th Week 1 with District Laptops

Week #1 - Introduction

Student working on Novellist k-8 part of our district database

The district technology, in our case, laptops, arrived Tuesday, April 7th . Students and staff were eager to get busy using these portable devices.  We spent the first week introducing or re-introducing students to the safety, protocol and expectations of using the laptops. We used library class time for this activity so our Gr. 4-6’s each used them for 40 min. /week. In addition our Gr. 6’s in the 6/7 split used them daily for a second block (40 min) throughout the week for their inquiry project.

General overview (instructions) of laptops with students:

·  hold upright (when using a laptop the more you jiggle it the more likely it is to become damaged or have a shorter shelf life)

·        place on a flat, safe surface when using it (table, floor)

·       be gentle with the lid/cover and keys (be patient when trying to access a site, it might take a while, don’t pound on the keys thinking it will work more quickly)

Enjoying learning with laptops

·       connect to SD68 wireless – PS
·       check power

·       share with your partner (no grabbing, pulling or jockeying for use)

·       Eyes up, lids down (when this is said, students pull laptops cover down ½ way if you go much beyond ½ way they will automatically shut off, eyes on speaker)

Students were assigned laptop partners and laptop #.  They will work with that partner and use that # laptop throughout. 

Day one lessons with our 4-7’s

Destiny:  http://destiny.sd68.bc.ca  (looked at destiny, students used it to find books, compile lists for projects and see if books were in the library)

Databases:  We reviewed our district databases and why we use them.

EBSCO – http://search.ebscohost.com (we looked at various databases within Ebsco such as novelist K-8 and Canadian Point of View)

World Book Online – http://worldbookonline.com (we looked at World Book online and students were given a scavenger hunt to find different features)

April 20, 2015 – PLC

We used the district laptops to work on databases and destiny.  Val reviewed the protocol for students so that teachers could be consistent with protocol in their classrooms. Val went over the sign out sheet and encouraged classes to sign laptops out for their classrooms.  Val offered to collaborate and co-teach units with the laptops.

Teachers worked in grade groupings to discover articles, databases, searchers that would best meet their needs. We discussed and worked on Destiny in depth, looking at book lists by theme, how to search books and the advantages of Destiny over Webcat.

Summary of week one

·       Students worked very well on laptops
·       The flexibility of the laptops allowed a small group of Gr. 6 students (10) to borrow the laptops and work on them independently both in the library and their classroom
·       Many students are familiar and comfortable using laptops 
·       Eyes up, lids down was very successful, students quickly got into a pattern that allowed them to explore then look up then go back to exploring
·       Students are really enjoying destiny and it is allowing them to be more independent in the library. Our library computer is so old that it was difficult to log on to anything during the time allotted.  The laptops allow quicker and more accessible access to destiny.
·       Most classes were comfortable putting laptops back in cart * be sure to assign a few students from each class to monitor and help with return of laptops to the cart (proper plugging in etc.)

Challenges:

·       Two of the 18 laptops do not have internet connection
·       Students must save their work to a USB as the work is automatically erased when the laptop is shut down (this we knew from last year but a good reminder)

Our first week with laptops has been a success.  Students and staff are comfortable using them, we have a unified protocol that will be consistent among the school and databases will be used to help with future inquiry assignments.

 

Gr. 2/3's using Explain Everything for Math problem solving

Randerson's school wide goal this year has been to work on math problem solving.  Students from k-7 have been taking part in weekly problem solving activities.  Each class then submits their solutions to Mr. Mazzei.  Every week a student from each division is recognized for their problem solving skills. 

With our school goal in mind, Gr. 2/3 students in Mrs. MacDonald's worked on problem solving using the iPads. 

We used:
- math problem solving question(s)
- math manipulatives - today we used blocks                             
- iPads (1 per two students)
- app - Explain Everything

Our super-fantastic, energetic kids used the manipulatives to work through their problem. At each stage they took a picture and put it into a slide in Explain Everything. They then recorded their voice, explaining how they worked through the problem and what their thinking was to solve the problem.  While voicing their solving strategies, their partner used the pen in the app to circle the area the student was speaking about.  Teams completed three slides per problem.

Learning with Laptops @ Randerson

For the past two months students at Randerson have been working on laptops as part of the #SD68 technology initiative.

Ms. Burnham's Gr. 3 students are using World Book Online Kids to research structures in science.

Mr. Rosenau and Mrs. Aitken's classes are using World Book Online Student as they research West Coast First Nation Peoples. 

Students are learning how to take notes from webpages including taking key facts from each passage without copy and pasting the paragraph.  They are creating wonderfully descriptive paragraphs using their own words, connections and ideas. They are also learning how and why to cite their work. 

Grade 5 students in Mr. Nixon's class have become experts at Webcat finding fiction, non-fiction and specialty resources.  They are also becoming more independent learners by searching what books they have out and when they are due. 

Mr. MacKinlay's Gr. 6 class is using http://www.tagxedo.com to create word collages based on their novels. Today's lesson was student lead with one boy showing the class, including me, how to create a word design. 

Mrs. Radcliffe's Gr. 7's are working on the laptops for their Ancient Egypt Inquiry project.  Our most recent lesson focused on website citations.  I've been impressed with that attention to detail the Gr. 7's are demonstrating in creating their reference lists. 











  

iPads ~ Discovery and Exploration at Every Step

Last year Randerson was fortunate to be one of the pilot schools for a technology strand of learning.  For six weeks we had iPads in the school and as previous posts show, they were a huge success.  Student engagement was tremendous, creativity shone and teachers and students were learning together. 

It was through this success that teachers at Randerson opted to pursue iPads for our school.  We were able to purchase 9 iPads for Randerson through Mr. McKinlay's milk program, Project Succcess initiatives (technology and inquiry strands) along with backing from student support services. I'm excited to say the iPads are now ready for use.

I would like to thank Mr. Rosenau and Bob Martineau for putting in countless hours in getting the iPads ready for use.  Thanks to everyone at Randerson for their support of this technology initiative.

                                                                                   Challenges amd Triumphs:
                                                                                    iTalk for iPads
We will be blogging about our successes and challenges as we move forward.  One challenge we encountered while loading apps was how to get iTalk on the iPads. In the app store iTalk is only available for iPhones and iPods.
Solution: We downloaded the iPhone/iPod app to the iPad.  It still works it is just a lower resolution on the screen.  In the bottom right corner press 2x to increase the size of the visual for the app.

Day one of iPads
The students were so excited to embark on discovery through iPads.  A grade one student came up to me and said " Mrs. Martineau we have it all figured out, first I do one page then my friend does the other page. We are good at sharing."   One thing I love about iPads is how they naturally lead to a collaborative working environment.  

Incorporating iPods and iPads in the Elementary Classroom and Library

Follow Up From Tammy and Val's Workshop

Coal Tyee teacher-librarian Tammy Reynolds and I had the privilege of hosting a workshop at the BCTLA Conference in Coquitlam.  Our focus was on curriculum based learning through iPads and iPods.  We had 31 wonderful teacher-librarians, classroom teachers and IT teachers join us in the discussion and workshop around uses for the iPads.  As always it was a sharing of learning from all involved. 

Coal Tyee's blog (Tammy's blog)

App Sharing

Here is the list of apps that our colleagues across the province have used successfully. Thanks everyone for sharing.

Apps gone free (advice given - new apps are posted at 9:30 each morning)
Apps for the classroom 
I Can Read (ebooks)
You Tube review of iTalk  * listening to this we may have solved the problem of many not being able to get iTalk on their own devices. It appears it is available 2nd generation iPads/iPods.
iButtons (recommended for movies)
iBrainstorm (electronic post it notes) *one colleague uses this app regularly and asked if there was anyway you could get voice on this app?  Does anyone know?  Please respond.
Comic Life (the iPads at the workshop had strip design which our district uses successfully but another great suggestion for creating comic book style writing was this app)
vBookz Voice Reader (pdf voice reader)
Pic Collage (great for K-1)
Storyboard Composer

Ms Burnham's Gr. 3 and Ms. Lycan's Gr. 2 classes explore with iPods

Why I like this app:

Flip movie – You use a video or pictures then cut it out and make it into a movie. 

Mrs. Martineau asked :  What is a flip movie?

A movie that flips when move your finger on the screen.  You can make it fast or slow.  I like it.  Mackenzie

Puppet pals and talking Tom are fun and creative.  Puppet pals is good for school and Talking Tom is more of a game. With puppet pals you learn how to create something that might come true one day, you learn to use your imagination. In puppet pals you make your own story and in Talking Tom you make him say words. Ryann

Jesica - GeoWalk

I like looking at pictures of things around the world. I liked the picture of Mount Rushmore National Memorial best.  I like that it shows a whole bunch of faces carved out of rock.  It is in South Dakota.  I looked it up in an atlas.  I learned that their carved out of rock to represent the four presidents of the United States. 


Emily - I thought that reading skill #2 was a good learning app. I also think doodlecast and math bingo was awesome. 
They are good because you are learning new things and new math questions.  Reading skill #2 hunt (shows a picture of someone hunting) you choose a level match the picture with the word. 

Nyah - I like math bingo because you learn math questions.  In word bingo you learn words.  It was fun because you can play bingo.  I like basic math because you do math questions and it let you have choices.  It was fun.  I like reading skill #2.  If you try to sound out the words and if you can't do it you press the top and it gives you the sound.  I think kindergarten kids would like reading skill #1.

Mrs. MacDonald's Gr. 3 class explores their favourite iPod apps

Reflections by Gr. 3's

Story wheel - I like it because you can create fun stories that you can listen to. Sarah   

Story wheel - You can create stories and when you press done you can listen to your story.  I like spinning the wheel and you can press record and make a story with your voice. Nicki

Scrabble - I like it because when you do two players you have a 4 hearts they automatically give you a word.  I like finding words.  Kyle      

Math Bingo - I like the bingo about it. Emily 

Math Bingo - I like the bingo bud bungee. You can only do it when you earn bingo buds. I LOVE Bingo buddies. Wyatt 

Math Bingo - I like it because you get to add and then get prizes for getting it right. Colby 

                                                                                                                                                         

                                                    Math Ninja - It's math and a fun game.  Nolen

                                                      Math Ninja - It's fun and practice.  Logan

Doodlecast - I like it because it asks you a category like what is your favourite food and you get to play and listen to the video after.  You can say stuff on it and draw stuff.  Ireland

Puppet Pals - I like it because you can make videos and you can put people in it and you can have them talking and zoom them in and out and make a story.  It's lots of fun.  Ally

iPods in the classroom

Randerson students take part in the global event A~DAY

A Day 

Gr. 5 student picture ~ A Day project May 15th

      May 15th was a day to be a part of a global expression of “a day in the world.” This project was initiated by Swedish non-profit foundation Expressions of Humankind and photos selected for exhibition may be used in a book. Students were asked "What photo would you take to show a perspective of a day in the life of school in Nanaimo, BC?" Classes from Randerson Ridge took part in this global initiative aimed to connect people from around the world and appreciate and celebrate diversity.

Little Fingers ~ iPods with K-2's

      At Randerson students used iPods to capture images. Each group (4 classes, 17 iPods/class) took many pictures to show perspective of what a day in our lives at Randerson looks like. They were asked to select their top pictures to be considered for this international event. Here's a glimpse at some of the pictures our students took. http://www.aday.org/profile/60503 (please note that to upload the pictures, I registered under my name but you will see under the pictures, the story behind the shot is given as well as credit to the student). I was not the photographer, simply the middle person :) Congratulations Randerson students. Your creativity, perspective and engagement in this project was excellent.

Gr. 6/7's learning with iPads and Screen Chomp

Today Mrs. Radcliffe's Gr. 6/7's class had their second session with iPads.  Our focus was how can we learn iPad tools while working on our science project about Inventors.

Here was their task:

1) Find 3 interesting facts about your inventor (either by internet through the iPad or by books) and write them down in note form   (skill development- note taking ~ no cut and pasting allowed)

2) Find an image of either the inventor and/or the product they invented and take a screenshot and save that image (skill development - screenshot and saving)

3) go to screen chomp app on iPad  

4) using left icon go to library and use the picture of your inventor and/or product (skill development, importing pictures)

5) adjust using zoom, rotate etc.  this you will have to play with a bit. It took me a few times to zoom in to a depth I was comfortable with. (skill development - picture quality)

6) once the picture is in place, label or title the picture and/or inventor

7) use record button to record yourself or your partner explaining who this inventor is and the three interesting facts (skill development - working on voice to enhance presentation, learning fluxuations etc.  avoiding cut and paste by voicing work in their own words, taken from brief notes)

You will be working in partners so be sure to help one another and make strong suggestions and offer encouragement. 

Here is some of the work the students created in a 40 minutes class.

Nick's screen chomp on Bill Gates

Spenser's screen chomp on Morse Code