K-2 WL Teachers Explore the Seesaw App

The Seesaw app was shared with K-2 WL teachers as an excellent option for students to be able to share their learning with teachers. The mandarin and spanish teachers loved how easy it was to setup a class and then share a QR code with your students so they could start creating straight away.

 

Storehouse App

A colleague recommended a new app called Storehouse to make photo stories.  I tested it out this weekend and appreciated the simple user-friendly way users can create and share a photo story. Here is a link to my Creation Stations Story, but you can embed the photo story as well.

  

The Storehouse app is free in the US iTunes store.

Creation Stations @TheLOFT

On Friday, Ms. Analu's first grade class tested out a new idea, Creation Stations
@The LOFT. Students chose one station to explore from five different station options prior to the session: Bee-Bots, Stop Motion, Lego, Art, Green Screen.  They had to choose a topic that interested them as the entire 40-45 minutes at The Loft would be spent at that one station, no switching stations.  Students arrived eager to get started right away.  After brief instructions on what to do if they got stuck (ipads with iBooks ready to go with directions on how to explore, discover, and create with the materials), where to store their ipads if they didn't need them, and a reminder that we must tidy up at the end, Ms. Analu's first graders literally jumped to task.

The students were so engaged, excited, and enthralled with their explorations, discoveries, and creations that the time flew by for everyone!  Not only did students love this time because it was fun, valuable skills were practiced and learned:  communicating with each other to problem solve how the Bee-Bot works, collaborating with other students in order to build a Lego City together, critical thinking to figure out how to make a typewriter out of paper, to name just a few.  So it seems that the first trial run of Creation Stations @TheLOFT was a success.  Ms. Analu confirmed that she would definitely bring her students back for another session.

Perspectives Blog

The K-1 librarian and I were highlighted in the SAS Perspectives Blog for the Going Online Safely Digital Citizenship lesson we co-taught two weeks ago.  Check it out as well as the myriad of other stories on the blog that have been shared from various SAS perspectives.  Our post can be found here.

G1 IAs are Moving from Learning Apps to Using Apps for Learning

Grade 1 IAs are now on their third year of attending tech training sessions on Wednesday afternoons. In the beginning, there was a lot of time spent on classroom ipad maintenance and care as well as a some app explorations.  Training then moved more toward building confidence and competence with the core G1 apps.  At the end of last year, G1 IAs were regularly using apps to share learning and create independent projects.

This year, we are following a Discovery Time cycle, where individuals pursue personal interests, passions, and curiosities.  IAs began by brainstorming a variety of topics that interest them, topics that pique their curiosity, and even more topics that they hold dear to their heart as a passion. After brainstorming, IAs have decided on one topic and what kind of product they want to create in order to share their interest, wonder, or passion with a larger audience.

Going Places Safely Online

The G1 Librarian and I teamed up to teach students about how to start using the internet safely.  We begin by making comparisons with real world travel and online travel.  Just as children have rules when traveling in the real world, they should have rules for going places online as well.  After that, students go on a virtual field trip and explore the San Diego Zoo Kids' website.   They practice asking permission to go to Safari or Chrome and have an opportunity to apply rule #3, if they end up somewhere that is not a 'just right' place, students close out the tab.

G1 PLCs - Inquiry Time, Make Time, and Digital Portfolios

First Grade teachers are interested in trying out iTime, Maker Time, and Digital Portfolios this year. The goal is to spend 3 PLCs in S1 planning, developing, and deciding on some basic structures as a beginning framework.  Then, in S2 implement these ideas and during 3 more PLCs adapt the framework based on reflections.

Teachers originally answered four guiding questions to make sure group members shared a similar vision for these concepts.  Two of the questions were, "How much time will this take?" and "Where will the time come from?".  The main concern from teachers was that there simply isn't enough time to integrate all of these ideas independently.  So, we are working on an overall Discovery Time framework that would encompass each of these components in one cycle.