Tablets In the Classroom

A few years ago, Dave gave me a small digitizing tablet to try out in my 5th grade classroom. I used it a few times, but ended up using mostly the SmartBoard during technology-infused lessons.

This year, however, I have 37 students in a very small classroom, so I've looking for ways to engage a large class and get technology involved any way possible. With the tablet, I have been able to, from anywhere in the room, demonstrate and work injunction with students.

Instead of standing in front of the room, back to the class, working on a whiteboard, I've been able to show the same steps of problem-solving while walking around, monitoring the working students. Plus, students love to show their own work in front of the entire class using the tablet at their desk. No need for kids to get out of their desks to watch a classmate show their thinking on a screen in front of the room. Anybody have any experience or other ideas for tablet use in the classroom?

Smart Casting Lessons

I have had a number of parents comment to me that they are unable to help their students with the work we are doing in class because they do not know how to do the work themselves. Some have asked for the book that we are using in class so that they can check the work and help their children. Unfortunately we are not using one book. Anne and I were discussing how we might help support parents and thought that creating a smart cast of each lesson would be a great start. We hope to get to the point where we can post them on a blog or web page so that parents can access them from home. We have been working on creating the smart casts and it has taken a bit of work. I had some microphone issues that I was able to work out with a wireless microphone. I have also had to go through several takes to get a presentable project. At first I tried to smart cast my actual lesson as I was presenting it to the students. It was helpful for me to reflect on my classroom, but may not have been a good tutoring tool as I was not just working on the skill, but also dealing with class issues and questions. I think that making a list of questions students ask during the lesson and then creating the smart cast after school without distractions and addressing the questions that arose is the best strategy.

Photo Story Project

Anne and I decided to have students create a photo story explaining the steps of a specific math skill they had learned in Unit 1. We did a lot of pre-planning and the project evolved quite a bit. We had a check list and rubric as well as a rough outline of each skill students should use as a “script”. As I introduced the project, my students were a bit confused because they did not want to plan; they wanted to be on the computers. They also struggled with the over all concept of the project at the beginning. After the first day, I created a more structured “script” and that seemed to focus them and help them understand what to do next. The students were very engaged the entire time. I had a few students, as they were working on their skill, say, “Oh! That is how you do that.” Or “Now I understand what we are doing.” It was a project that really asked them to take what we were doing in class and make it their own.
We had a number of projects that turned out great and every student was proud to share their photo story with the class. There were a few technology issues: slides in the wrong order, recording issues, and lost or unsaved projects. I think that students will have a much easier time on the next project because they now have an idea of what to do. Also, I have a better understanding of how to support students, step by step, in order to create a finished project. I always seem to forget how much structure students need as they are being introduced to a new technology. They are not just wrestling with the higher order thinking skill of synthesizing their knowledge into a project; they are also learning how to use the technology.

Technology Centers

I have had great success using technology as a reading and math center. The kids really look forward to it each week. I do have difficulty with the accountability piece. I have been creating worksheets that go with the technology center for them to complete, but I was wondering if there are any ideas for websites that have activities created to go along with their website, especially when the Storytown technology centers are lacking. Let me know if there are any ideas!

Theme 1 Reader's Theater Grade 5

Hi All,

Check out my adorable 5th graders as they act out our first reader's theater of the year!

proposition 62

Please join the conversation with my HS students as they consider this week the "person-hood" amendment for Colorado voters in 11/10. The class blog can be accessed here.

Thanks, Doug

Free digital textbooks? A good idea? (YES!)

"CK-12 Foundation is a non-profit organization with a mission to reduce the cost of textbook materials for the K-12 market both in the U.S. and worldwide. Using an open-content, web-based collaborative model termed the “FlexBook,” CK-12 intends to pioneer the generation and distribution of high quality educational content that will serve both as core text as well as provide an adaptive environment for learning.

The content generated by CK-12 and the CK-12 community will serve both as source material for a student's learning and provide an adaptive environment that scaffolds the learner's journey as he or she masters a standards-based body of knowledge, while allowing for passion-based learning. " from the website http://www.ck12.org/flexr/

I like the idea! Do you?

Doug