Driving Questions, Projects, Showcasing...Oh My!

This week in our Teacher Leader Online Cohort we discussed Project Based Learning or PBL.  This is something that our county is currently looking to move towards. Some of the elementary schools in our county have been piloting PBL for the last couple years. I haven't been able to find any feedback on the study, but have been able to access the county PPT via our school principal and a fellow cohort member.  Looking at the county PPT slideshow, Barb Bailey, a fellow cohort member and colleague decided we needed a presentation geared towards teachers that would allow them to understand the meaning behind PBL and why we should use it. The Presentation can be seen here.

We have shared this presentation with our Principal and Assistant Principal and they both really appreciate that we took a concept so large and placed it into terms/visuals a teacher of any age can understand.

Now, these presentation of course can not be complete unless you are able to demonstrate what Project Based Learning can look like in your classroom. Thinking of my 23 little people running around my classroom, always getting their hands into something, asking me EVERY day before recess, DO I NEED A JACKET?!  It hit me like a Mac truck! Weather! I can develop a project for the students to complete to help each know what they should wear during the four seasons.

I began my work of developing something a little easier for the students to work with on the internet. I could have them research multiple topics of Winter, Spring,Summer, Fall on kadoole.co or googlejunior.com, but I wanted to ease them into internet research.  I came up with a plan to make a WebQuest type activity.  My students need to feel comfortable with their navigation skills first before I allow them to go onto the internet.  Many of the Internet Safety lessons from CommonMedia would need to be presented to these students.  This would be a project of group nature that would last at least a few weeks.  What better way to get your students back to asking provocative questions?

The entire lesson and WebQuest can be seen here.

Digital Citizenship

Photo shared from itensamericas.org

 

 

 DEFINITION of Digital Citizen: A person who uses the Internet regularly and effectively. 

 

A good digital citizen is one who knows what is right and wrong, exhibits intelligent technology behavior, and makes good choices when using technology. Much as we want our students to be good citizens in the real world, we want the same in the digital world. Characteristics of a good digital citizen include:

• Being confident and capable of using information communication technologies
• Using technology to participate in educational, cultural, and economic activities
• Developing and using critical thinking skills in cyberspace
• Using technology to relate to others in positive, meaningful ways
• Respecting the concepts of privacy and freedom of speech in a digital world
• Contributing to and actively promoting the values of digital citizenship

Ensuring students understand the importance of good digital citizenship and the potential impact of a negative footprint requires the work of parents and educators. Here are some tips that both students and educators can use to maintain their digital footprint:Think long term. What seems fun today could have long-term consequences. 

• Use privacy settings on your social network pages. Don't use public posting.
• Protect your friends' privacy as well as yours.
• Use the Golden Rule online - treat others the way you want to be treated. 

In order to teach students about the hazards of online, primary students need to first understand the 'Places to Go Safely' 

A few cohort members and myself designed a Google Slides lesson to teach students the importance of Being Safe on the internet. 

To view the lesson please click on this link here 

A Kahoot Game for review can be found at this link 

Global Community and Collaboration

PLN...    IOWA...    VA...     GHO...    3 Classes    ...    

AWESOME Collaboration

Ms. Stout's Kindergarten Class sharing their descriptions with Mrs. Kilgore and Mrs. Gjerde's Classes

When this class first started, I wasn't share how I was going to be able to collaborated with other teachers because I was the only Kindergarten teacher in the cohort. I normally don't let this bother me, but when the assignments need collaboration/group work and I can't do them on my own- I have high school flashbacks.  It's hard to get people you see all the time to collaborate, let alone trying to get someone in a different time zone. Well, I sent an email, shared an idea and BOOM! two weeks later my class was talking to 42 First Graders in Iowa. How amazing!

As Kindergarten and First Grade teachers, we knew that our students needed something that they could experience 100% at the same time.  Small children have a hard time waiting for results. Doing a Google Hangout ( GHO) allowed all of our students to see timely results right in front of their eyes. 

Our lesson involved lots of writing, drawing, listening and understanding of math curriculum words. In this lesson, two classrooms have each taken time to design a monster. These monsters will then be shared with each other using Google Hangout. The students in Class A will be using descriptive words and phrases to tell Class B about their monsters. They will describe the shape and the location of all body parts. Class B will then design the monster as Class A is giving them clues. At the end of the exchange, Class B will turn their monsters around to see if they designed Class A's monster correctly.  * If time allows Class B will describe a monster to class A.

My students Monster they shared with the other class

Our lesson can be viewed here for anyone to give it a try with their class. 

Google Hangouts and Kindergarteners...OH MY!

Tomorrow afternoon at 1:30 pm in Room K- Stout with over 20+ Kindergartners the computer will ring...

Who will be on the other end of the call???

The excitement is in the air for my classroom full of energetic five and six year olds. Through the EdTechTeam Teacher Leader Cohort I was able to connect with a teacher in Iowa.  We were will calling each other through Google Hangout and conducting a lesson that I have done with Pen Pals.  I'm excited to see how this will work out with technology involved. The students will not have to wait for snail mail! 

The Monster Exchange goes down in T minus 24 hours.... let the countdown begin.  

EdTeachTeam Online Cohort

Well hello again blogger world! It's been a couple crazy years and I haven't had the time to blog as much as I used to back in Grad School.  Well hold on to your knickers because I've gone back to school again.  Don't they always say that Teachers teach their students to love learning? What better way then to go back to school yourself!

I ready to learn....bring on the Honey Comb!