Making Blackboard Accessible to All Learners: Organizing Your Course using Icons

I was lucky enough to take all 3 Blackboard classes when I was hired in the district as part of my TDP credits. So, the switch to using Blackboard as the delivery system for this school year seemed like it should be simple, right? I already knew everything I needed to know to get started! And, from what I remembered, many of the tools were similar to tools from other programs. You can add images, videos, text, links, no problem! 

However, when I popped back into Blackboard for the first time this year, it didn't seem to be working the way I needed. In the spring, I had found a way to use Google products to create (what I hoped would be) kid-friendly materials that ALL students could navigate themselves rather than relying on adults at their house to figure it out.  As I thought about how I made that happen in the spring, I realized it was not the program I chose to use but how I was able to organize the content that made me reach my goal. 

The tool I found most helpful last spring was using icons. An icon is a graphic representation of something: a person, a place, or, in this case, content. I had created an icon to show kids where to click and one that reminded of how to put their device in present mode (arrows). There were also icons to show what they needed to watch, do and share (T.V., pencil, Google Classroom icon). This made my content easily accessible to all of my learners.

Good news: you can do that in Blackboard, too! Check it out for yourself:

You can also use icons to make your course accessible to all learners.

First, you need the actual icons, or pictures that will cue students.  There are a few ways to do this:

• Search an icon using Google
• Find one on website thenounproject.com (all free and transparent background images)
• Create your own by using Google Drawings or Canva (Canva is an online graphic design platform that provides free pro accounts for teachers)

Once you have the icons you need, there are two ways you can add them to your BB9 course.

1. You can place them directly into BB9 using the insert image function. To make this an active button that students can click, you would select the image and choose to link it to where students need to go. 

For example, the first grade team at Hadfield designed their announcement page to be a collection of icons leading students to each separate content area. As students enter the BB9 course, they can easily choose the subject they are working by clicking on the picture that matches.

2. Another option would be to put your icons on Google Slides. This option might feel a little more familiar to you especially if Slides is how you previously organized the materials for your students last spring like I did. Just like in BB9, your icon can added by using the insert image function and it be linked to whatever students might need access to complete their work.  Once you have added your icon and links, you can embed the Slide directly into your BB9 course. 

Below is an example from the music page at Hadfield. The table was created by using shapes in Google Slides so the icons and links could be organized by classroom teacher. An added bonus in using this method is that any changes you make within a Slide will be reflected in the embedded content on BB9 automatically. For instance, if the content needs to be assigned to a different homeroom as the specials rotation changes.  That means once your Slide is embedded  you do not have to make any changes directly to your BB9 course again.

Watch the tutorial on how to embed a Slide into BB9 to see the step by step instructions on how you can use this method of organizing your content by using icons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS1cjJxREPo&feature=youtu.be

Teaching through COVID-19

Let me start out by saying that I'm not sure, after 4 weeks of this, whether I'm doing enough, too much or too little. All I know for sure is that I miss my classroom, my students, my colleagues and my normalcy. I miss fifth grade banter that made me laugh out loud on a daily basis. I miss field trips and group work and my morning high five or fist bump. I miss debriefing at the end of day with my colleagues about our shared students. I miss teaching!

Although I miss those things I am equally amazed at the way our district made it possible for us to work through this pandemic and create a virtual school setting within two days. Our IT department has made some really great decisions that have allowed us to stay connected with our students and families and provide a bit of routine as well as academics to our students. Before all of this I felt intimidated that I had to dabble in technology here and there, and I definitely dosed it out slowly as to not feel too overwhelmed. 

Now I don't know what I would do without it! My DAILY routines consists of Google Classroom, Google Slides, Jamboard, Webex Teams, Quicktime Player, Class Dojo and I even created my own Youtube channel! I feel like for the most part we are all starting to settle into a "routine" (if that is what you can call it), as we all hunker down to accept our new normal. My students started sending messages on Webex just minutes after hearing the news that we were closed for the rest of the year. I was in tears as I read their messages to one another stating their current feelings about the situation and offering support to help each other get through probably one of the most difficult times of their young lives.

Student response to school closing

My family and I getting ready for our Banting parade!

student response to school closing

These are their sentiments as well as mine. I am a teacher and a parent of the School District of Waukesha, and I couldn't be more proud of BOTH of those roles. I truly believe we are pioneers at a time where uncertainty is so prevalent. We are doing everything within our control to stay connected to our students and families, making it possible for us to continue to teach, just in a very different way. And my own children are continuing to learn, which I am so grateful for as well. But at the core of all of this craziness, I still believe that relationships matter. Not only do they matter, they are the foundation of successful schools. They are what makes my classroom management, interventions and student growth possible. Relationships are what is making this virtual learning possible.

I was keeping my fingers crossed that we would be back together again before the end of the school year. However, I will start the new school year with a very different perspective about technology and it's power, as well as a completely reaffirmed belief that being with my students and the relationships we create throughout the year are the most important part of teaching.

 

Slides + Quicktime = Learning Video

I LOVE Google Slides! Slides are versatile and so much more than a presentation tool. Using Google Slides along with Quicktime to screen record can make a nice little learning video.

One way that I like to do this is to start with a new Google Slides presentation or use an existing one.  I try to think about the steps I would take to show a skill or concept during a face to face lesson and then I use each page of the slides presentation to show a small part at a time. 

I use the “animate” feature in Slides to make visuals or text appear slowly onto the page so I can try to explain an idea in a coherent and sequential way.

When the slides and animations are in order and they make sense, I go through them in “presentation mode “and I practice doing a voice-over through each page of the slide as if I am recording. After a few short run-throughs and a couple of adjustments with the Slides, then I add Quicktime. 

Quicktime is a tool that is used to record audio and video. I use it on my Macbook to Screen Record while I speak. Quicktime allows me to record my voice and my computer screen simultaneously. When I am ready to screen record, I put my Slides in presentation mode, select to record the entire screen and I teach the skill or concept through the visuals and text on the slide along with my voice. This little combination then produces a learning video that I can use to teach a concept through a flipped environment, blended learning or for virtual or distance learning.

I have included two resources to help you get started. There is a video that I made to introduce perimeter with my 3rd graders so you have an example of the final product. Also included is the Slides Presentation that I voiced over to create the video. The Slides include the animations so you can see how I ordered them to produce the sequence of visual and text. Feel free to make a copy and try it out on your own. 

Lesson Video Link  & Slides used for Video. 

The video can be shared out to your students in a variety of ways. The video can be easily uploaded into Youtube and shared out. I have given kiddos access to them in the classroom as an in-class flipped environment with QR Codes or direct links. I have shared the videos with kiddos in an LMS like Blackboard 9 or a workflow app like Showbie or Google Classroom. 

Things to keep in mind as you begin. 

1. Start small. Use the skills you have and build up little by little.

2. Be okay with making some mistakes along the way. It took me many tries to put it all together. 

3. It doesn’t have to be perfect! It’s ok if you stumbled over a word or two in the voice over. It’s ok if you don’t edit out the “dead” time when you start the video. 

4. If you are trying a first video during the virtual learning with the pandemic, kiddos love hearing our voices. Remembering this helped me to let of go of the perfectionistic tendencies when sharing out content online. The sound of our voices with the inflection, tone, and intonation can bring understanding to a topic and a sense of comfort at the same time.

How Google Earth Saved my Social Studies Unit

I have to admit, I sometimes dread planning for social studies lessons.  Mostly due to the fact that we have standards to cover, but not a whole lot of resources to implement stellar lessons.  My first grade students needed to learn about maps, landforms, and identify suburban, urban & rural areas. Yikes.

I did what desperate teachers do... looked back at my plans for this unit from last year.  I wasn't overly impressed with my 2019 self.  At all.

I had thought to check out Google Earth, which is an app I was familiar with and have explored on random "roll the dice" expeditions from time to time.  I started the unit by having students explore a Google Map of their community.  (I had my iPad projected on the SmartTV) My students were cheering with excitement when they saw familiar landmarks on the map.  They were interested in finding their own houses and asked if they could go home and learn their address to look up the next school day. I have never had so many kids beg for homework!  This was also a perfect segway into learning about map symbols.  They were able to identify shopping centers, gas stations, fire stations, etc.

Landforms was next.  I can't speak highly enough of the engagement I experienced with this one!  I had to do some work on my own finding real examples of landforms on Google Earth, but it was beyond worth it.  Students were asked to choose 3 landforms that were interesting to them.  They explored the examples I gave and screenshot their experience. They used the screenshots to create a Clips video sharing what they had learned.  This lesson was very successful and I can't even begin to explain how much more students got out of this lesson being able to see landforms such as Mt. Everest in 3D.

We ended the unit exploring rural, urban & suburban areas.  Once again, I provided examples of these for students to more easily pull from to expedite the lesson.  Students chose an area, watched a QR code for the corresponding Brain Pop Jr. video, then explored the real life examples on Google Earth.  They were then matched with students who researched one of the other area types.  They taught each other about their findings using an adapted AVID strategy.  I heard amazing student-to student questions, such as "why are there always a house next to the farms?"... questions students would never organically come up with from a text.  

Do yourself a favor and find some time to play around with Google Earth.  There are endless possibilities to use in your classroom.  Try it out with students and let me know how it goes.  I'm also happy to share any templates mentioned in this post. :) 

From Post-Its to Jamboard

"Okay kids, make sure to refer back to today's anchor chart when you are responding to your prompt in our thoughtful logs". If you teach literacy and especially using the Comprehensive Literacy Model, you have said these words. But how do we assure students are using the resources we are providing? It's a tough job: they have to be engaged, routines have to be in place, there also has to be a system of accountability for students when they are working independently. So, on my Journey to Modification, I decide to try out Google Jamboard with my students. The results were great!

We have "bilingual" groups established and we work in them almost daily, so I sent out a Jamboard to my students and assigned a specific page for each group to work on. From my perspective, as I was walking around the room I could see that everyone was either typing their ideas or discussing them. Side note: this RARELY happens, there is usually an argument or two that I have to referee in order for some groups to get through the task. After the 15 minute timer went off we convened on the carpet and this is what I heard from my students as we reflected on the day's lesson:

• "That was so much fun!"
• "Everyone participated this time!"
• "Mrs. Hegg, can we please NEVER go back to writing on boring Post-its?" 
• "I love it when we use Jamboard"

Of course I won't say never to Post-its, but using Jamboard has really made a difference in my classroom. Those Jamboards that we created then became a resource for everyone, as they could access the information from all groups after sharing out, during their independent application time. As I settled in to work with a group of students I popped open my iPad and launched Apple Classroom just to check in and hold my students accountable for their independent work time.

This has proven necessary as many of them tend to wander on Safari instead of staying focused on the tasks for the day. To my surprise, I had 11 students on Jamboard using it as a resource while writing out their answers to the days prompt!! Score!!!

The Journey Continues

My goal to use technology in the classroom to increase engagement has led my explore my use of powerpoint, or google slides, presentations. I usually begin new units with presentations for the purpose of introducing new terms and formulas that will drive our learning for the unit. I noticed that an increasing number of my students (high school students in physics and AP physics) started taking pictures of the slides in the presentations. I inquired into why some students did this and they told me they just wanted the pictures to review later. Most were also writing down the information while also taking the pictures. However, an increasing number of students are only taking pictures and not writing anything down. They said they would review them later, before the test. A few students admitted that most times they would fail to review the notes at a later time. This got me to start thinking about changing the way I present material to students.

I found 2 products, Peardeck and Nearpod, that make presentations more engaging by letting students interact with the material on their screens by answering questions, drawing, etc. I settled on using Peardeck. After struggling with the normal learning curve of using Peardeck I was ready to use it with students for the first time this week. When I put the login screen up on the projector some students said "Cool, I really like this," as some teachers in the building have been using Peardeck for a while. I used it for one class and realized I needed to fix a few things as I had used text boxes instead of drawing boxes, easily fixable things I can do. The second class dove in with an equal enthusiasm. Near the end of the presentation, when the students had drawing boxes to use, I decided to use the "Show Answers" feature. As I scrolled through the answers I came across a very inappropriate response from a student. Yes the answer was on the projector for the entire class to see. Ahhhhhhh!!!! I realized that I now have to freeze the screen before I search through the answers to present to the class. (Yes I found the student and handled the disciplinary situation appropriately.)

I am not going to let one bad apple spoil my use of interactive presentations. Students like them and I find that students are more engaged than a "regular" presentation. I will reflect back later to see if the newness wears off and students will sour on the interactive presentations like they did with my "plain" presentations.

Forget your MacBook at home!

A few weeks ago, the unthinkable happened... I forgot my MacBook at home.  I live far from the building I work in and I had no one available to stop home and deliver it to me, so I was left with panic and cold sweats.  Suddenly, it felt as though I didn't have a pulse or even air.  As I stood in my classroom thinking I was in a bad dream and wondering how life would go on, I suddenly remembered I had a different tool I could try to use to get me through teaching for the day - my iPad.  (That thing you use to take pictures in your classroom)

I was fully prepared to give my students a talk about my mistake and how a few things might be different today, since I was unable to access their attendance and other files we use.  After playing around on my iPad for a while, I became more and more aware that my day would not be affected very much after all.

The morning started.  I shared my digital attendance slide to my SmartBoard with just a few short clicks.  I airdropped my math lesson to the students rather than pulling it up on the Smartboard.  I quickly grew more comfortable with the flexibility I had walking around the room with my iPad as I taught.  Was it possible I was enjoying this?  My students were more engaged in my lesson than usual.  I tried things I hadn't tried with them before and explored new apps.  A wave of relief came over me as I wondered why I don't use my iPad more often.

I'm the first person to tell you how vital the MacBook is to my day.  However, I encourage you to leave it at home - just once- to force yourself to change things up and find the beauty in the options the iPad can give you.  I was forced to change my routine and try something I hadn't thought to do and now I'm very thankful the universe was not on my side that day.  My creative juices for activities I can do using my iPad with students have been flowing ever since.  Give it a try and let me know how it goes!  You got this :)

(By the way, I created the image above on my iPad!)

Meet the Teacher - Steve Ramthun

Hello my name is Steve Ramthun. This is my 3rd year with the School District of Waukesha, and my 23rd year teaching. I currently teach physics and AP physics at Waukesha South HS. My life has been hectic to say the least for the past year. The past year has brought some huge changes to my personal life. Last year we sold our house in Waukesha because we were building a house. Our new house was not completed so we moved in with my sister and brother in-law for 2 months. We then moved in to our new house in the end of June. Finally, my wife Laura, a teacher at New Berlin Eisenhower HS, had a baby girl on August 22nd.


I embraced technology early on in my teaching journey, often before other teachers did. However, my use of technology was mainly as a tool to collect data in the physics classroom. The use was of data collection sensors and probes was limited to a few labs per unit and not an integral classroom tool on a day to day basis. I did notice that when I did use the data collection devices for labs, student engagement increased. As the years passed, I integrated computer simulations for student use. On the teacher side of technology, I was one of the first teachers to regularly use powerpoint presentations in the classroom, yes I am that old. Additionally, I have started to make my own videos for students to use as "answer" videos. Most of the mathematical problems I assign in physics are supplied with answer videos that students can access online by way of BB9. I originally used these videos as a time saving feature to free up class time from doing math problems on the board. Not all students need  help with the mathematics of physics so I found the videos I created as a nice solution to free up class time for other activities and still provide help with the students that needed it. Students find the videos very helpful.

As I start my journey to integrate technology into my daily teaching I will be guided by engagement. The technology must keep the students engaged in the lesson. If the technology does not increase engagement, I will reevaluate its use as a teaching tool. I live through the era in science teaching that pushed hands on learning. I started to realize that not all "hands on' activities were "minds on" activities.

So my journey begins to integrate technology into my daily lesson plans. The struggle will be to choose activities that not only engage the students, but engage them into meaningful learning that scaffolds into high levels of understanding. I will keep you posted on both my triumphs and downfalls on that journey.

Flipping "dictados"

Spanish section of dictation notebook

English section of dictation notebook

If you ask any teacher what is one of his or her biggest challenges, I would bet a large majority would say it's time. It seems as though there is never enough time to accomplish all of the skills we want our students to have before they leave us, never enough time to teach the curriculum that our district wants us to teach and of course never enough time to allow our students to apply the skills we have tried to teach them during their time with us. With this challenge in mind, my teaching partner, Kris Carey and I, came up with a solution to give us more time. In our Dual Language classrooms, we use a strategy to help students develop language called, "dictados" or dictations. My first attempt at giving dictations with fidelity was in 2014 and I will admit it was a huge failure. I was to give 15 dictations in each language (Spanish and English) throughout the school year, so a total of 30. Well, the process took so long and I had to repeat the dictation out loud multiple times in order for all students to have a fair chance at writing down what I was dictating to them that each attempt took over 30 minutes! I did not have that kind of time and so the dictation was always put on the back burner. I would say of the 30 I was suppose to give that year, I probably made the time to give 5 or 6! So, the following year, during our days of planning prior to the start of classes, Kris and I came up with a way to streamline this process. We flipped the dictations and pushed them out to our students through Google Classroom. Each week students received a new video clip from us. We took some time that first week of school to set up the procedures around our expectations regarding these dictations. Each day they would have something to do with the dictation of the week. We alternated languages week after week. They also have a spiral notebook dedicated solely to dictations.

Video clips range from 30 seconds to 1:20

1. Monday: Listen to the video clip and write down what you hear in your "dictation notebook".
2. Tuesday: Receive the typed dictation script and compare it to what you wrote yesterday making corrections where necessary. (Today students also receive the mini-lesson highlighting the teaching points from the language in the video and an explanation of grammar rules and patterns to follow.)
3. Wednesday: Practice your dictation for a second time but this time you will read it to a partner and then they will read it to you. You will both write down what you hear your partner saying to you in your dictation notebook. 
4. Thursday: Correct the partner dictation from yesterday and practice once again using the video in Google Classroom. Make sure to correct this final dictation paying attention to any errors before tomorrow's final dictation, that is graded.
5. Friday: Final graded dictation. Use the video from Google Classroom, and write down the final dictation on a separate piece of lined paper to turn in when completed. 

Bank of videos clips and the dictation scripts 

By the end of that school year we had our bank of 30 videos (15 in English and 15 in Spanish). We had to adjust our procedures here and there. Because this process allows for so much student autonomy we realized quickly that we needed to check in with students, some daily while others just once before the final dictation. At the end of the school year we could also say with conviction that when students followed the process and completed all parts correctly, most times,  their final dictation was at or above grade level expectations. 

First attempt in dictation notebook 

Final dictation 

So, when do students complete this process? During independent work time. It also depends on the student. I have many students that are in groups and/or receiving interventions therefore they are able to bring this work home and complete it there, because they do not have the same amount of independent work time as others. Like they say, practice makes perfect and we have found a way to embed student practice into independent work time, making these lessons accessible to all students, regardless of time. 

AVID Note Taking is Digital Too!

A lot of people get the impression from AVID that it's all about papers and binders.  Well, I'm here to tell you: IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE!

My fourth grade dual language students right now are working through a self-paced learning module that I created on Blackboard for math about multiplicative comparison.  At the beginning of the module, they build background knowledge by watching a series of videos.  Some of the videos cover grade level content.  I also include videos from past grade levels for students who may not be quite on level and some videos that contain advanced content for my students who are ready for that content.

In the past, I asked students to take notes on the videos in notebooks without much direction.  This year, I upped my game and created an AVID note taking sheet to help focus students as they watch the videos with both an essential question and look-fors in the videos.  I made the note taking sheet in Google Docs and exported it as a PDF which I distributed to my students on Google Classroom.  They in turn sent this note taking sheet to Notability and put it in their digital math thoughtful log.

As students watch the videos, they complete the note taking sheet in Notability.  Afterwards, they work on several hands-on activities to practice their learning.

Here is where the power of the note taking sheet comes in

Students then meet with their math partner to discuss their notes.  They use the information from both of their notes, and then create a product.  The product is either a 2 minute iMovie explaining the concepts of the unit or a mini anchor chart.

Going back and reviewing the notes is a powerful reminder of what they've learned.  It's also an opportunity to add more depending on what their math partner has written down.  This is our first unit doing this, so we're still working on that part.

Isn't this just Substitution?
Perhaps.  If your students simply watch the videos and then write their notes, then it's just substitution.  My students are starting to augment their notes, though.  I have some students who have the video and notes open on split screen to be writing and watching the videos at the same time.  They are also screenshotting certain parts to remember and use examples and are then annotating the pictures that they are inserting into their note taking sheet.

So 
If you thought that AVID is paper and binder only.  You just got one easy, quick way to make it digital.

SMART TVs.. Worth the hype?

Are these fancy new Smart TVs that are slowly making their appearance in your buildings worth the hype?  I keep going back and forth...

Let's all admit we get stars in our eyes when new shiny technology devices get delivered to our rooms.  I first saw a Smart TV when I was doing work at Lindholm and found one in a room.  To say I was beyond excited to start touching to see and test the bells and whistles was an understatement.  (Starting to understand how students feel...)  I fell in love with the Smart TV's ability to allow two hands touching/writing simultaneously, erase with your fist, access the internet and receive Smart lessons from your Macbook from any location.  Sub plans made easy!  I received more training to use this new device in August and learned some exciting features, such as screen sharing and file saving.  I couldn't wait to start using with students.

DUN DUN DUUUN.... There I was full of confidence and excited to wow my students with features of the Smart TV, when I tragically discovered just how touchy this TV was.  I went to show a video (simple, right?) when suddenly a bunch of screens popped up with the volume full blast.  While it was definitely a kick to my technology ego, I decided to push forward and keep on going.  (Even after a student uttered "Hey! My grandma makes our computer do that, too!" from the carpet) Another setback I discovered was that the Smart TV was just that, a TV.  I was in the mindset of having the ability to edit a Smart document on the spot.  This device is more of a display.  Since we specialize, I now had to send my smart mini lesson twice, so the second group doesn't see the activity from the first group. 

Now that I am almost two months in, I have gotten the hang of the features that I wasn't quite comfortable with.  I now know just how delicately to touch the screen and I know I have to "share" my Smart documents more than once for the different groups I teach rather than editing it.   Overall?  I'd definitely recommend this device.  My mind was made up day I unexpectedly had to have a sub, and was able to send my lessons to my Smart TV from home.  Impressing my Smart TV-less teaching partner and repairing my damaged technology ego!  

Meet the Teacher-Jessica Hegg

I 💗my family. Sofia and Lucas are my beautiful bilingual babies and José is my rock!

My name is Jessica Hegg. I am embarking on my 6th year as a fifth grade dual language teacher at Banting elementary and my 16th year teaching. My journey began as an elementary school teacher in Santiago, Chile. The use of technology in our classrooms at the time was non-existent. After 7 years of teaching like that you get pretty good at cutting and pasting-literally. 😂

Then we moved home to Milwaukee and I began teaching in a different district where I was in charge of my third graders and the very first wave of 1-1 iPads. I had to create a google email account for each student and set up all of their iPads with the 26 emails I had created. Yikes! 

I can say with pride that now my Banting students use technology, in a variety of ways, every day. I have tried technology in many ways over the last 9 years. Some have been successful and others epic fails. I love being a dual language teacher and my hope is that I can grow my practice each year finding ways to incorporate technology to take my student's dual language development to higher levels.

Meet the Teacher - Meredith Sweeney

Hello! My name is Meredith Sweeney and I am starting my ninth year as an 8th grade teacher at Horning Middle School. My background, and current teaching position, are in Literacy, but I have also greatly enjoyed teaching U.S. History in a blended humanities model. 

My experience with technology in the classroom has changed over the years. In my first few years in a regular English Language Arts classroom, technology was only used to project lessons, with the occasional use of the school computer lab to type papers. After experiencing frustration about being unable to reach all students, another teacher and I tried a blended humanities class, in which we combined U.S. History and Literacy curriculums using an online platform to disseminate and collect student work. Researching and practicing blended teaching strategies, learning from colleagues, and exploring at Waukesha One Conferences has opened my eyes to the possibilities that technology provides to differentiate instruction, allow students to shine and practice skills in different ways, as well as allow for more student choice in content and pacing.

The apps and technology tools themselves usually overwhelm me at first. I am not the type of person who enjoys playing with apps. Once I see the possibility of a new tool though and use it enough to feel comfortable, then I can get excited about how to use it in different ways in the classroom. My goal with technology is to empower students to own and share their own voices and learning, without relying on a teacher. I am excited for the opportunity to learn more!

Meet the Teacher- Brianna Beadle

Hello! My name is Brianna Beadle and I am currently teaching 8th grade science at Horning Middle School This school year marks my 3rd and a 1/2 year teaching, all of which has been at Horning. I have taught everything from literacy and world geography to US history, supporting in math and of course science. In the past three years, I have done everything from almost no technology to blended learning and then back somewhere in the middle.

My experience with technology is quite random. I was in school on the cusp of the technological revolution but the most technology we had were typing classes in the computer lab. Needless to say, I am mostly self taught with technology and it has been completely trial and error. I am eager to try out new things in the classroom after I have gotten a chance to play with them on my own.

I am looking forward to giving this next year a little boost by intentionally planning for using technology at a higher level!

Green Screen in the Classroom?

How often do we find ourselves coming up with fantastic ideas for students to share their thinking during a unit, but we think we don't have the time or resources to implement?  I have been fortunate enough to work in 2 buildings that both had access to green screens.  My problem wasn't not having access, but rather monitoring students who were ready to record vs the students who still needed time.  Would I allow students to use the green screen in our makerspace alone?  Would I be able to schedule different time slots to avoid using it when another classroom had reserved it?  So many questions came to mind and it seemed much easier to just alternate the assignment to find something much easier (on me) for students to share their work.

One day, my nephew had called to tell me he wanted a green screen for his birthday.  Since I had a small budget and a Pinterest account, I browsed through to see what I could do to create one myself.  I discovered that most people don't actually use fancy expensive green screens after all.  All I would need is green fabric and some clamps.  For my nephew's green screen, I found fabric on sale at JoAnn (always use a coupon!) for $5.  I used PVC pipes to create the stand to hang the fabric.  It was so inexpensive and easy that I wanted one for my classroom, as well.  I didn't have the space in my classroom for a clunky PVC pipe stand, so I opted to just sacrifice a little wall space and used some binder clips for hanging.  Total cost of project: $5.62!

Now, my students have the access to the green screen whenever they are ready and it is convenient for those who need to go back and re record or fix errors.  My students are using it on a daily basis.  I need to keep reminding myself that this process doesn't need to be difficult and doesn't require fancy resources!  My students have created masterpieces on our makeshift green screen :)

Humanizing Your Digital Footprint

I'm a little late to the party on this one, as this post was heavily inspired by a session I attended by George Couros, author of "The Innovator's Mindset", at the SLATE conference in early December.  Couros' session began when George pulled up his agenda on the jumbotron with an empty Google Doc and insisted the audience share out their thoughts, questions and ideas on digital footprints.  As teachers, we are not used to anything that isn't explicitly laid out minute by minute, but I can honestly say it was refreshing to have the power to raise my hand and contribute to a live discussion rather than sit and get.  When no one raised their hand, he began to hunt down audience member's Twitter accounts and exploit them publically.  His strategy worked very well, causing many teachers to get outside their comfort level and have some reflective conversations with their peers.

George had so many eye opening thoughts about how teachers often keep their Twitter accounts on lockdown and only share a few things they want to show off and give a very specific perception of what the "norm" is in their classroom.  He went on to show samples of teacher Twitter accounts and compared  how the teacher accounts who keep their profiles private and post rarely come off significantly less compassionate or "human" than those who list themselves as a father, mother, wife, hunter, baseball lover, cook, etc. and tweet photos from your personal life.  He also pointed out that if you have the mindset to shut students and families out once you walk out of your classroom door, you're not doing your job.  "When you are a school teacher, your job is 24/7.  You don't get to take that hat off.  Classroom teachers leave their work at the door."

George is a strong believer in using social media to change the world or to simply brighten someone's day.  He had example after example of how Twitter changed someone's life. (I only cried twice)  If you are interested in this idea, I strongly encourage you to follow him on Twitter @gcouros.  George tweets a new question each Friday that requires a GIF response.  He also tweets #yourdailyawwwwww to inspire and share positivity.  George's message seemed like such a simple idea to me, but it has changed how I both view and portray myself as a professional (and human) on social media.  How can you humanize your digital footprint?

Measuring Oracy with...Google Forms!

This year my school is really trying to work on oracy - encouraging students to participate orally through multiple turn-taking.  We as teachers are doing a lot to plan to get 100% of our students participating in discourse.  What we're doing to track our progress and monitor how students are participating is by measuring student participation.

Measuring student talk?  What?  If you haven't done this before, you're probably wondering what this looks like.  As an example, in a circle discussion, you might draw a circle on a piece of paper and label the circle with where students are sitting.  Then as the discussion occurs, you can note what is happening in the discussion: who participates, how they participate (add on, agree, disagree, etc.), and if students are participating in a non-verbal way such as hand signals.  It might look like this:



This is great.  You can easily see who participated a LOT and who did not participate at all.

This was presented to us at a PD opportunity, and I immediately thought: GOOGLE FORM!

I am terrible with paper, and every day the places where the kids sit changes.  With a Google Form, I could just list all of my students and possible ways that students could participate in a discussion.

This is AUGMENTATION!  How?

• I can more easily track data
• I can view trends
• I can aggregate data more easily based on: subject and language of instruction!

Since I teach in a dual language classroom, I want to see who is participating more in English vs. Spanish.  I can also check to see who may feel more comfortable participating in literacy or numeracy, small group or whole group.

The best part?  I have told my students that I am tracking their participation using this form.  I show it to them.  They WANT to see how they participated.  I have students whose job is to run my discussions, and about halfway through our discussion time, I show them who has not participated yet and their job is to find a way to get those students involved.

I showed this to the staff at my school and we now have teachers in grades as low as Kindergarten using this to track the quantity and quality of their students' participation in oracy activities.

I have only used this so far in whole group discussions, but I am now starting to use it in small group discussions.  Some students just don't feel comfortable talking in front of a whole group!  But this is an awesome tool that you can try to use to check in and really see just how much your students' participation in discussions grows and changes over time.

Your Voice is My Favorite Sound

Although my professor Dr. Amy Chivington taught me many things in my time at Otterbein College (now University) in Westerville, OH, one piece of advice has stuck with me all these years later:

Teachers are the best thieves.

Yes---it sounds so wrong, but she had it so right. Why reinvent the wheel? Why not learn from each other?

Last year, it was my goal to stop just being the "thief" who took from others....even though I still do that ALL THE TIME...but also contribute my own teacher voice out into the world. I started small by creating a professional account on both Twitter and Instagram. I shared small ideas and projects I was working on in my own room.  I also responded to another music educator who was looking for teachers to write short articles regarding music and technology. Very quickly these two small efforts connected me with other educators, companies and opportunities to continue sharing my voice.


1. You are amazing.

You can do it too! 

It might not always feel that way, but you rock your classroom on a daily basis. Your classroom is something to celebrate and share with others.

2. People are listening.

Educators can feel so alone but your tribe is out there. Sharing your story allows you to find other educators who can relate, help and even push you to continue to better your own craft.

3. Who doesn't like swag?

So many education and technology companies are responsive on social media. They love to see how you are using their product, how it can be improved and always have cool swag to share.

A note from Brian Yearling, the Instructional Tech Coordinator lucky enough to work with Katie in her Journey to Modification:

Katie has shared her voice in many places over the past year. She accomplished her goal of sharing in big ways. You can follow her on Twitter at @K8TMiller to connect with her in social media. Additionally, she has guest blogged on the Midnight Music blog on her use of Class Dojo and tips for managing one-to-one iPads.  She was also recently interviewed for the Midnight Music podcast on a project in GarageBand with book reviews that Katie did with teacher Jennifer Guckenberger.

Meet the teacher - Jillian Miller

I have been teaching in the district for eight years at Whittier and Lowell Elementary, mostly specializing in Mathematics.  When the district first rolled out 1:1 devices, I had 5 iPads to share with my whole class.  I would often find myself using the iPads for students to make simple videos, take photos of learners at work, and practice math fluency facts on some shiny new flashy app I discovered on Pinterest.  Since then, I have learned from my colleagues at WaukOne conferences, as well as some Google Educator professional development and have completely changed how I view and use technology in my classroom.  My favorite way to use technology? Break down walls.

 I have a passion for using technology to break down the walls in my classroom for many reasons.  First, there are so many people and resources bigger than us out there that I want them to be aware of.  My students have Skyped professional authors and illustrators as well as students from other states that have shined so much light on the world they live in.  Second, breaking down classroom walls have set a mindset of inquiry with my students.  When we did a Google Expedition of the phases of the moon, students were able to see a realistic view of the moon which prompted deeper thinking and questioning. Finally, I find students are extremely engaged.  My students have gone on virtual field trips to the San Diego Zoo and a live African safari and months later, still talk about it.  Even students who have behavior challenges are completely engaged in learning with virtual field trips!

I am very grateful for this model tech classroom coaching opportunity so I can continue to grow as an educator and discover more effective ways to break down my classroom walls!