The Beautiful Hum of Children Learning

Last Friday, some students shared their projects. The sound was like a beautiful orchestra to me, so I recorded this harmony to share.

3 Steps to Create Instructional Videos with EDpuzzle

Steps to Use EDpuzzle:

 

1. The YouTube link below is a tutorial explaining how to download instructional video from Vimeo/YouTube/etc. to your computer.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IubsfPD9U9Q

2. Upload video into EDpuzzle app for editting and adding critical thinking, open ended questions.  I like the way I can really target what I want students to attend to in the video.

 

3.  The edpuzzle app allows you to set up a class to review answers with the class and give feedback to students. I have made several videos and see it's value!!!

 

Here is an EXAMPLE:

 

Watch 'How to Create Your Own Monarch Butterfly Rest Stop.mp4' on EDpuzzle.

https://edpuzzle.com/media/54e8e746df74e777457a765b

Showbie Limitations with Editing Google Docs.

I really like using Sowbie for students submitting work.

Problem: Although I wanted to use if for the purpose of drafting into a closed task, and it isn't possible for students to edit pdf or word docs. 

Solution:  If the Google doc is submitted by teacher into Showbie as word doc. and opened by students in Google Drive, then the students can edit and resubmit the final draft from Google Doc. to Showbie. This way my students don't need to be a signed up for Google classroom.

Proven Successful: Great Journaling App for Third Graders

"It's time for HappyTrack," my third grade students excitedly blurt out after hearing the daily 2:12 app notification from HappyTrack. We stop whatever we are doing, so students can individual reflect about their day with a rating scale of 1 to 10 and write a few sentences describing and explaining their day and rating.

We have consistently used this app all year and my students now have a beautiful journal telling about their days in third grade. Some days being happy, sad, upsetting, exciting, thrilling, or boring with sincere individual student self-reflections and growing emotional vocabularies.

I think what made HappyTrack more successful than hand written journals was the timer notification for consistent daily use, the name of the app (everybody likes to say the words Happy Track), and the ease of writing and caring for a solid iPAD as opposed to a journal that either looks like a piece art at the end of the year or like it just came out of the bottom of a student's backpack. The simplicity of the app also contributed to student success. The students like the color and text adjusting features too.

I will be using this app every year!

happytrack by Seth Hayward
https://appsto.re/us/MQE70.i

The Truth about Standardized Testing!

I was dedicated to the idea of standardized testing for 11 years of my teaching career. From February to May my students immersed themselves in the genre of testing.  I taught countless short term memory skills for math and spent countless hours building my students' stamina to read passages and answer questions.  My students were so prepared for the test that by the time the test came around it was easier for my students than the practice tests. Practice, more practice, and short term memory strategies proved to be successful.  My students performed very well on state testing so well that other teachers spread rumors that I might be cheating.
During those years I always felt I was doing what was best for my students. I whole-heatedly believed that I was helping my students develop an Advanced and/or Proficient label for themselves.  During conferences, workshops, and meetings I listened as educators labeled students into categories, and the last thing I wanted for my students was to be labeled Below Basic or Far Below Basic which I felt set them up for failure in the eyes of their next year's teachers/educators.
The reason I reflect on this now is simple. We are returning to the teach to the test philosophy!  During my grade level meeting last Wednesday, we discussed INSPECT testing questions. These are basically the same questions as in the past! We've been down this road before which resulted in a damaging labeling process.
I have mastered the process of teaching to the test, and it's a waste of students' valuable learning time.  There is no creativity, collaboration, innovation, or communication involved. I'd rather quit teaching then go back to months of shoving short term memory information into my students.     

Words to Encourage Growth Mindset

I need to remember this! It's so easy to slip back into general praise and/or praise with intent to improve. 

I remember reading the results of a study where students learn by age 7 that those given praise are in need of improvement. This made sense to me because I see how my words fed into this belief.

I also see how my words effect students internal dialogue and perception of self.

Some basics are exciting and motivational to young students!

Future Ready includes students learning foundational reading skills.

Some basic reading skills like how to decode larger words by identifing syllable patterns, breaking words apart while sounding out and thinking through words are not as exciting for teachers, but it's not for the teacher! It's exciting for 7 and 8 year olds to learn about words. They rejoice in being word detectives and take pride in learning to decode and encode larger words. Basic skills instruction is not as flashy as supporting students as they create a video production, but it's exciting for students to learn literacy skills and experience success. Primary teachers and educators must remember that young students are thrilled by learning about words. Just don't make it a competition. Rewards for reading and spelling simply reward readers and good spellers who already feel successful while at the same time make those learning to read feel like failures or inadequate at reading.

Reading is not magic... It is taught... The magic recides in the teacher who remembers the basics are FUN for students even when the instruction seems mundane or ordinary. 

The light of excitement on a child's face as they learn a simple decoding skill is anything but mundane... extraordinary!

Digital Footprint! School is a safe place to learn and grow!

Just participated in the podcast about KidBlog on Teacher Cast. It is the next step for my students who really have started to develop as digital citizens on Edmodo.

School is a safe environment for students to develop a positive digital footprint. The idea of a digital footprint is real and what I currently feel compelled to help my students develop.  We will see how it goes! 😁