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. :)

Using Shadow Puppet in Pre-K and K: Turning Off the Image Seach Feature

I've been working with a group of AMAZING pre-k through 2nd grade teachers to design technology integrated lessons that are aligned with core curriculum.  Shadow Puppet EDU has been one of my favorite apps since the day I discovered it.  It's an app that can be used for any content. 

Here is an example of what a 4 year old can create with Shadow Puppet. This student illustrated the parts of a plant with another app and used Shadow Puppet to share what he learned.

 

One of the key pieces of our meetings is to really evaluate all of the apps we will be recommending.  We want to answer the questions we know every teacher will ask us. It's important to do this before the pre-k and kinder teachers on our title elementary schools become part of a beautiful iPad roll out.  We want them to be just as excited as we are about the learning that will take place.

"Can we turn off the web image search in Shadow Puppet?" asked a teacher in our meeting. Since we are planning on creating with Pre-K students, I don't know why I've never asked that question myself.  She looked into the settings and there it was! Beautiful, the answer to all of our pre-k and kindergarten worries.  A teacher can turn off the web search when students are working independently to share what they have learned.   A teacher can enable the web search for guided or modeled searches as early learners are introduced to digital citizenship and searching on-line. 

 I love that the creators of Shadow Puppet EDU have thought of everything.  You can undo a recording per page, re-record the whole thing, you can share easily, and even share with parents using their SeeSaw Class and SeeSaw Parent App.

How To-
1. Go to the settings app on your iPad
2. Scroll down till you find the Shadow Puppet App Icon and click on it.
3. Disable the web image search and/or the Edu image search if needed.

Hello Crayon + Chatter Pix Kids

HELLO Crayon + Chatter Pix Kids

I have been enjoying app smashing for some time now.  When you combine apps, educational fireworks fly in the classroom. If you haven't already, you've got to try HELLO Crayon and Chatter Pix Kids together.

I usually recommend HELLO Crayon when teachers are looking for a free drawing app in the elementary classroom. It has a few great features to make life easy when working with lower grades, there's undo and a fill can.  Trust me, that saves a lot of time when illustrating. ;)

Drawing a character from a book or an example of what you have learned in class is something that can be accomplished with paper and pencil.  When sharing this, I like to share Chatter Pix to allow students the opportunity to add their voice to their drawing.  Chatter Pix records 30 seconds of audio and will make it appear like the picture is talking. You can also download the creation to the camera roll for FREE! This is a great way to give voice to our Pre-K students. Imagine them drawing a circle in HELLO Crayon, they turn it into something they have seen that is an example of that shape.  Now they can explain how they know a whole pizza is a circle.

Check out the how-to my buddy Joe and I created and hear a few ideas for using HELLO Crayon in the classroom here.

Here is an example of something created by a 1st grader when she used Hello Crayon and Chatter Pix Kids.  She explains the problem in the story Chrysanthemum from the point of view of the character, Victoria.




Check out our how-to video for Chatter Pix Kids and learn a few ideas for classroom use here.

AR Flashcard Work Stations

Beginning Letter Sounds Work Station with AR Flashcards

AR Flashcards
Using AR Flashcards app can bring in  a new spin on identifying things that begin with a letter sound.  AR Flashcards are augmented reality flashcards.  When you use the AR Flashcard App to view the card, something magical happens!  An animal appears before your eyes.

This app also includes a “camera” button.  This gives the user the ability to take a photo of the Augmented Reality animal that pops out of the flashcard.  If you place items, words, or yourself with the card, you can capture a nice entertaining photo or a photo that shows understanding.

Beginning Letter Sounds Work Station
Set up a work station with a basket of items that include examples and non-examples of things that start with the letter ____.  Allow students to work together to sound out the names of the items.  Students should place items that begin with the given letter around the AR Flash Card.  Students use the camera button in the app to take a photo of their work.  Have students include a name tag in the picture to identify who completed the work.  The photo will be saved to the camera roll.  Consider having students help to build the work station by searching for an example and a non-example at home for homework and brining it to school.  The item should fit into the palm of their hand. In the video below, Joe Meza and I share how to use AR Flashcards in a Beginning Letter Sound Work Station.




Phonogram Workstation

Set up a work station with words for students to read and recognize phonograms. Allow students to work together to read words and identify words that follow rules of the phonogram they are learning.  Students should place words that include the phonogram sound with the given phonogram that is built using the AR Flash Cards.  I share the example of using the -er sound of her in the video below. Students should use the camera button in the app to take a photo of their work.  Have students include a name tag in the picture to identify who completed the work.  The photo will be saved to the camera roll.  Consider challenging students to write other examples they think about on paper and include them when they take the picture.