The Sun and Publishing Student Created Books

He is making uv bracelets with the class.

Personal Connection

At the end of the school year, my son came home with a project. He was asked to design and teach a lesson to his kindergarten class.

We spent time talking about the things he knows a lot about. My son knows a lot more about the sun than the average kindergarten student. I'm not talking about facts like the size or temperature. He has to apply sunscreen 30 minutes before he goes outside, wear a hat, and wear long sleeves daily to keep his body safe. He is very sensitive to ultra violet rays.

Together, we worked on a book writing project. He read the story to his class and created uv bracelet kits to try out a few challenges with his classmates.

Here is his book, The Sun, on iTunes.
Here is his book, The Sun, in BookCreator On-Line.

The Sun

Click to read this book, made with Book Creator

https://read.bookcreator.co

Sharing with Teachers

During the summer, Kirsten and I shared the process of publishing student created books with the Book Creator App. You can view our examples and others that we discovered while preparing for our session. You'll also find a collaborative book that was created by our teachers during the session. They are so talented!

EPISD Blended Learning Conference

This summer I had the opportunity to teach and learn at the EPISD Blended Learning Conference. Blended learning is a blend of face to face and on-line learning that allows students some control of the time and place, their learning path and pace. Essentially, if you begin small, blended learning can give a teacher more time for small group targeted instruction, allow for personalized instruction, can foster student agency, and the opportunity for students to have authentic audiences.

Catlin Tucker was the Keynote for our district Blended Learning Conference, organized by the Instructional Technology Team. We were so excited to have her, because she relates well with teachers. She is a teacher!

Catlin Tucker agreed to meet up for an on-line interview. We shared a few of the videos with teachers leading up to our conference to create a little excitement about her visit to EPISD. I've linked them below.

Getting to Know Catlin Tucker 1
Getting to Know Catlin Tucker 2
Getting to Know Catlin Tucker 3
Getting to Know Catlin Tucker 4

Catlin Tucker Interview Question 1
Catlin Tucker Interview Question 2
Catlin Tucker Interview Question 3
Catlin Tucker Interview Question 4
Catlin Tucker Interview Question 5
Catlin Tucker Interview Question 6

I've challenged myself to Sketchnote this year. Taking the time to go back to my notes and finish up a Sketchnote after a Keynote has been a great way for me to review and organize my thoughts. Here is the Sketchnote I created after listening to Catlin Tucker inspire our teachers.

I'm still learning all about Blended Learning. The books I'm reading are Blended Learning in Action and Blended Learning in Grades 4-12. Notice, that Catlin Tucker is the author!

To read more about the EPISD Blended Learning Conference, read  Blended Learning conference draws hundreds of teachers, EPISD Community Engagement.

Please share your feedback, blended learning ideas and tips in the comments below. :)