15 Second Bud Nippin'

One of the really cool tools that Teisha Kothe has brought to Blue Star Elementary as our principal is the "15 Second Intervention".

It is the original work of Dr. Marcia McEvoy and gives both adults and kids ways to channel their inner Barney Fife and nip small behavioral problems in the bud. You are direct, respectful, and allow no arguing. If a student wants to argue, tell them we can discuss it after school Here is how it goes:

"I saw you __________. (Say exactly what you saw or heard.)
That was (mean/hurtful/disrespectful/dangerous/whatever is appropriate).
I would never let someone do that to you. It's not okay that you did that to  (other student).
We don't do that here.
It needs to stop."

We practice this as a staff and practice it with our kids. It gives the whole building a common approach. Deputy Fife would approve.

 

Take 30 seconds and let in the light

[caption id="attachment_255" align="alignleft" width="300"] Twilight shot with a 30 second exposure.[/caption]

This morning I rolled out of bed at 4:45 and grabbed my Nikon D40 dslr camera. Armed with a tripod and a lawn chair I headed out to get a glimpse of the Perseid Meteor shower. With any luck I might get a picture of one of the shooting stars. I didn't end up with any meteors but returned home with some other cool shots.

The key to shooting in the dark is patience and stability. The results can be very rewarding. The formula is quite simple. Put your camera on a tripod to prevent any blurring and allow the shutter to stay open as long as possible. I was switching between 15 and 30 second exposures. This is a lot different from how we normally take pictures. Usually we want bright light that allows us to snap off as many as possible in a second. Great things can happen when we slow the pace. Thirty seconds can seem painfully long to wait but it lets in all of the ambient light to create an image when we seem to be in almost complete darkness. What often happens is that when you look at your pictures you see things you never saw with your eyes while shooting. Don't expect the pictures all to be perfect. This morning I took sixty-six pictures and had seven worthy of sharing with my Facebook friends. Even to a handful of those pictures I did a little post-production editing. There was originally a power pole right in the middle of where the light shines through the trees in this picture.

Since turning the calendar to August it is hard not to think about school. I got to thinking this morning that the way shooting in the dark works is a great metaphor for things we can discover in our kids, our teaching,  and in ourselves.

1. Be stable and have good support.
2. Open your mind (shutter) and just wait, allowing ideas to enter.
3. Reflect, critique, and sort.
4. Tweak your results a bit.
5. Share.

Take your teaching to the DVR World

Don't leave your learners sitting like the mailbox by the side of the road. Find ways to record teaching and learning so you and your students can pause, rewind, fast-forward, and share content.

When I was a kid if I wasn't in front of the TV at 8:00 PM on Friday Night, I missed "Dukes of Hazard". Today's kids have no concept of "It's not on." They have Tivo, Netflix, or an app for almost any network where they can access their favorite shows on demand.

Here is some insight on ways to record your teaching, check for understanding, and let them teach.

My presentation from the Zeeland Educational Technology Academy on August 13, 2013.

Take your teaching to the DVR World from mrlosik

Mobile Reach #55: Summer Acronym Summary ~ ADE, DEN, GCT, and More

Last week I had the chance to join the hosts of the Mobile Reach Show and talk about the various professional learning organization that fuel our teaching.

Hosting the show are Jennie Magiera, Sue Gorman, and Dave Freeburg who I first met face-to-face in 2011 at the Apple Distinguished Educator institute. We were joined by Josh Mika and Scott Meech who both became ADE's with us that summer.  Scott and I first met in 2008 as we became Google Certified Teachers together at the Google Teacher Academy in Chicago.

Prior to the show I had just returned from my week at the Discovery Educator Network Summer Institute and shared how that experience compared to the acronym opportunities other teachers are attending this summer.

Head on over to the Mobile Reach homepage to either listen or watch this episode. 

Lead, follow, AND, get out of the way.

I just spent two days of the last month of summer fully immersed in school stuff. Am I nuts?

No!

Having been lucky enough to have been invited to my school district's first ever Admin/Staff Leadership retreat, I had the unique opportunity to see my Hamilton Community Schools admin team in a bit more human light. I had the unique opportunity to help create the professional development schedule and offerings for the coming year. I discovered the amazing talent we have teaching down the hall from me and in the other Hamilton buildings. I had my voice valued by colleagues and supervisors.

This was no sacrifice, this was a gift.

Not only did I leave the retreat feeling energized and excited that as a leadership team we had drawn great relevance around our staff meetings, grade level time, and PD days...all focused on school improvement and putting individual needs of kids first, I gained some insight on being a leader

My biggest take away was what I learned about leadership. We have heard many times that so-and-so needs to either lead, follow, or get out of the way. For me though, I want to do all three.

Lead: Set the example. Share your vision. Contribute insight. Be a helpful guy.
Follow: Understand that you don't know everything and that a lot can be learned from those who have more experience, or are better at something than you are.
Get out of the way: Don't let your ego get in the way of progress because you insist on putting your stamp on it or "showing them who's in charge". Know when to keep your mouth shut and when to support something great.

I hope the Hamilton retreat becomes a yearly event and I hope to see more colleagues invited to future gatherings...and accept the opportunity to learn and build together.

Let's all lead, follow, and get out of the way during this upcoming school year.

Sharing insight on how technology can truly impact learning

This Spring I had the opportunity to work with the amazing Kristi Zoerhof and her first graders at Bentheim Elementary School. Through Sony's Education Ambassador program, I was afforded the chance to develop a case study where we would see how big of an impact we could make on teaching and learning with the company's Xperia tablet over the course of three weeks.

It was a whirlwind of an experience, but a great one. I recently completed a blog post at Sony's EducationAmbassador.com detailing the case study, how we followed the SAMR progression, and  complete with a video that offers not only the kids' reflections but Kristi's as well.

A Case Study: Great Teaching And The Sony Xperia Tablet Impact First Grade Learning

Stop training. Start Learning.

As we approach August, a lot of professional development initiatives are ramping-up. A word that drives me nuts is "training".

It is a pretty bland word and it has gotten to be so prevalent we don't think much about it, Here is what bugs me though. The results of training are mindless. We train monkeys to ride bikes. We train bears to ride bikes and we know from YouTube that letting them race is a really bad idea. Football coaches train linemen to take the proper footwork so the player can put all energy into exerting physically without having to think. Choreographers do the same with dancers.

Teaching is a creative, artful process that takes constant decision making and reflection. When you "train" a teacher to use a piece of technology you are essentially just programming them to use it in one way without thinking about the device or app's full capabilities or new ways learning can be impacted. When we are in the "training" mindset we get future questions like "Who said it was okay to use Google Chrome? They showed us Firefox."

That type of thinking is inherently a death nail to innovation and problem solving. All we create when we train is very expensive robots that are easily distracted by "The Bachelor", Kardashian's, and fantasy football.

This might be semantic hair-splitting, but consider the alternatives available. When I lead professional development sessions I really try to adopt the "lead learner" approach. I state right away that by no means do I know everything about what I am sharing and that my presentation should simply be a launching point for conversation and many questions that begin with "What if...'. I want my co-learners to share their ideas. This creates an atmosphere of collaboration and an expectation that the conversations and exploration will be ongoing and not just a one-shot lesson in button pushing. That type, the training type of PD doesn't stick. Learning sticks!

Teach the Path to Innovation

We want  our kids to be creative and innovative. What do we do beyond hope and roll the dice that activities we give them generate creativity and innovation?

In a true serendipitous moment I discovered  this great Edheads.org activity: Design a Cellphone. I was at Edheads looking for an activity that a substitute teacher could lead to keep students engaged. I thought that a cellphone link would be a good place to start. What I learned is that the activity has a much big picture it helps teach.

Students learn that in order to be a successful designer, engineer, or a challenge-based learning problem solver  they need to

1)Research
2)Design
3)Test
4)Evaluate their results

The effects of the lesson really translate to future teaching and learning as it provides a great reference point to different stages of projects and challenges.

 

The Road to Redefinition: Teaching with iPads and Android mobile devices

The Road to Redefinition: Overcoming the impossible by teaching with iPads and Android mobile devices

The SAMR model describes the progression educators make with technology from simply "substituting" analog tasks with digital tasks to "redefinition" which entails changing teaching and learning to the degree results were inconceivable before the invention of the technology. Investigate the progression and explore practical examples of how real teachers are accomplishing this with iPads and other Android devices.

Below are my presentation slides. I will be presenting this on Wednesday July 24 at Learning in Disguise in East Grand Rapids, MI and then again on August 22 at the St. Clair RESA 21st Century Symposium in Marysville, MI.

The Road to Redefinition: Overcoming the Impossible by Teaching with iPads from mrlosik

Sony Education: First Grade Xperia Tablet Case Study: Lite version - Extended version

 

Action Movie FX plus green construction paper equals iMovie McGyver gold

While finishing an unconference session with Dennis Grice at the Discovery Education Summer Institute on ways to create cool effects and titles for iMovie by using Keynote slides with the funky asparagus color, I had an "oh wow" moment.

"What if?" I excitedly asked myself, "I pulled out the silly JJ Abrams created Action Movie FX app and instead of filming an object to flood or explode I just filmed green?"

[caption id="attachment_212" align="aligncenter" width="248"] free app available for the iPhone.[/caption]

Would it work in iMovie (iLife '11 not iOS version) as a green screen layer?

I frantically raced around looking for green construction paper and to my assistance came Kyle Schutt and Chad Lehman. They pulled a piece out of a supply case and I was off to try it.

I recorded the effect and saved to camera roll.

[caption id="attachment_213" align="aligncenter" width="283"] Record a few seconds of green.[/caption]

Next I imported the effect clip over green I had saved to iMovie and created a new project. I dragged a clip up onto the project timeline of Dean Shareski who was one of the lead facilitators of the institute. Another group of guys and I had been working on a silly mashup video and we had a fun clip of Dean acting surprised.

The next step was to drag the effect clip of the flood directly on top of the Dean clip until an options menu appeared. You have to be using iLife 11 and you need advanced tools selected in your iMovie preferences.

Next I selected "Green Screen".

After getting the effect clip in the right place, I tested it and the water was coming in too high. I simply used the crop option and tweaked the effect oh so slightly. This tweaking was a Dennis Grice idea and really speaks to the increased flexibility that creating the effects on green provides over trying to do everything with the iPhone.

Below is the final product.

Sure...this is silly. Just think though of the creativity that students can generate. Think of the fun. Think of all of the language arts that can be fostered by creating "What if..." video writing prompts like "What if dinosaurs invaded the Obama inauguration?" or "What if Justin Bieber was trapped under a rock?" and kids had to write about how the problem was solved. Seems like pretty good pedagogy starting out with an anticipatory set like that.

What I plan to do for my students is record all of the different effects on green paper and then place them on Google Drive in a folder students can access. For appropriate use, students can then download effect clips and import them into iMovie projects. There is then no need for them to all have devices with the app on it. Since the app is free I also feel good that we aren't skirting any process that would be outside the ethical bounds of sharing. We can apply to an endless amount of footage which expands the app's capability exponentially.

See what other cool ideas you can think of. I would love to hear them in the comments.

Grow professionally with Apple and iPad Academy's tutorials

Apple has many tutorials on its website to help you learn more about the operating system and specific apps like iMovie and iPhoto. Often I have kids watch these after I give a brief introduction. I figure the folks in Cupertino, California who built the thing can probably explain it a little better than I can. For iPad help I direct you to the huge set of resources at iPadacademy.com.

Find out how - Great tips for PC users migrating to a MAC. (Welcome to the good side of life.)

Mac 101
Switch 101: The PC user's guide for learning about your Mac
Mac Higher Learning: The Next Steps

iTunes tutorials

iLife tutorials (including GarageBand, iDVD, iMovie HD, iPhoto, iTunes, iWeb)
iWork tutorials (including Pages, Numbers, and Keynote)

More on iMovie

All things iPad from iPadAcademy.com (not Apple associated but full of great stuff).

Bringing Teaching and Learning into the DVR World

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="290"] Camtasia 2 from Techsmith is an easy to use tool for creating screencasts.[/caption]

One of the things I have come to understand this year is that our kids live in a DVR/Netflix kind of a world. What I mean by that is that the concept of "It's not on right now" is not a part of their mindset. One of my educational technology gurus Steve Dembo from Discovery Education shared this once during a talk and it got me thinking. If I wasn't in front of a TV at 8:00 PM on Friday night, I missed the Dukes of Hazzard. This was even before the days of watching my dad fight with the VCR to set the timer. If I didn't see something when it aired, it was gone. This isn't true for us now or our kids. There are a number of ways to see programs they didn't see originally air or just want to see again.

I have begun to try and find ways I can turn my teaching more into this reality. On MrLosik.blogspot.com you will find an increasing number of screencasts I have made and will continue to make for our different lessons. We know that a child's attention span in minutes is their age plus 2. In other words a Kindergartener has an attention span of seven minutes (5+2) and a fifth grader has an attention span of roughly thirteen minutes (11+2). By recording a screencast, students can replay, rewind, and fast forward through the lesson to review parts where they may have lost concentration or just need to see it again. I have had a number of students tell me they have used the screencasts at home and that it is helping. I also have been studying the traffic on the blog. We are at nearly 190,000 page views and the vast majority are coming not only away from school but away from Hamilton. It is great to know other kids and teachers across the country and globe are finding this a useful resource.

(I have found Camtasia 2 for the MAC to be an easy to use tool for my screencasting needs.)

Getting Started with InQwizIt

The OAISD has set up a very useful site full of instructional tutorials and printable help guides. There are screencasts that outline everything from student orientation to resetting a readiness screener. PDF manuals are also available for download.

2013 Migration to InQwizIt Help Site

 

 

Virtual MACUL: Lightning Talks

This year MACUL and especially board member Ron Houtman came up with a whole new type of presentation format...the lightning talk. Each speaker submits 20 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds whether the presenter is ready or not.

Here is this year's set of talks featuring a handful of really great teachers from around Michigan. I say that very humbly because after Gary Abud's delivery from the leadoff spot, you will see the bar had been set quite high for me to follow next.

 



riding the lightning at MACUL

The thing I think I liked most about this format is that the audience gets to hear a wide variety of presentators that are forced to stay on point. There is also a very intriguing human, live drama, potential-train-wreck-coming feel to it that makes the adrenaline flow...both while on stage and off.

This year's lineup:

Gary Abud - @mr_abud
Andy Losik (me) - @mrlosik
Steve Kelly - @BigKXcountry
Brad Wilson - @dreambition
Andrew Van Heuvel -@avheuv
Ben Rimes - @techsavvyed
David Theune - @DavidTheune

How Can You Enable Whatsapp Web On Your iPhone?

Whatsapp accompanies a great deal of components and around one year back whatsapp has propelled its whatsapp web.Because it is the new element propelled by whatsapp so a portion of the general population are not utilizing it now and some don't know how to utilize it.So here we are today i might reveal to you how might you empower whatsapp web and the methodology to utilize it so you can appreciate this element of the application.

What Is The Purpose Of Whatsapp Web?

Oh my goodness that whatsapp web was propelled on year back which grants you to make your discussion on the desktop,notebook,tablets etc.Android cell phones and windows telephones clients are appreciate this new element of whatsapp.But because of some stage constraints forced by the apple iphone clients are abhorring the component completely.

So that is not our worry, our worry is that how might we direct you that you can appreciate the component on you apple telephone. How To Enable WhatsApp Web

How Might You Enable Whatsapp Web On Your iPhone?

Getting to the heart of the matter about whatsapp web i am here disclosing to you the entire strategy well ordered.

STEP#1

Above all else you need to escape you gadget to continue further.

What Is Jailbreak?

Jailbreaking is the way toward evacuating equipment confinements on iOS, all the working frameworks of the Apple.Devices that are under equipment limitations are, for example, iPhone, iPod, iPad, second era Mac TV.

STEP#2

When you have escape your gadget. The subsequent stage is to open the cydia and scan for whatsapp web empowering influence.

STEP#3

When you have discovered whatsapp web empowering influence introduce it.It will be free of cost.

STEP#4

In the wake of introducing the whatsapp web empowering influence do following thing.

Open Settings application > look down and find whatsapp web empowering influence inclinations > and empower the change.

STEP#5

In the wake of empowering the whatsapp web enabler.Force close the whatsapp and revive it.

STEP#6

When you have revived it open setting at that point open whatsapp web empowering influence and tap on OK.

STEP#7

Presently open a web program on your gadget and open the given connection in the program.

Have an imperative thing in your mind utilize program like Firefox,Opera,Chrome. (Safari Browser is not upheld for the individual method so don't make utilization of safari while doing the methodology)

https://web.whatsapp.com/

STEP#8

Presently a page like this will show up on the web program.

STEP#9

Output for the QR code that shows up on the website utilizing you iphone apple.After few moments you would be naturally marked in and would have the capacity to utilize whatsapp web on your iphone simply as you do on android telephones and windows telephones. After you are marked in picture fairly like this would appear.Have a look on this one to make yourself all the more clear.

Virtual MACUL: Steve Dembo - Closing Keynote

Steve Dembo closed out MACUL 2013 in Detroit with a trademark high-energy, rousing address.

Enjoy it here through the courtesy of REMC's MI Streamnet.

[caption id="attachment_189" align="alignleft" width="428"] Steve Dembo delivers his keynote "Building Bolder Schools: It doesn't hurt to be first.".[/caption]

 

Virtual MACUL: Kevin Honeycutt's Opening Keynote

If you couldn't make it to Michigan's MACUL conference in Detroit, REMC MI Streamnet can serve as your conference DVR.

Here is the amazing Kevin Honeycutt's opening keynote "Launch Me".

[caption id="attachment_184" align="alignleft" width="416"] Kevin Honeycutt kicks off MACUL 2013 in Detroit[/caption]

Xiaomi Mi6, The Best Xiaomi, Price, Release date, Specifications

Xiaomi Mi6, the commendable successor of Xiaomi Mi5 coming soon to satisfy you. As indicated by report, The Next era, Xiaomi Mi6 with Snapdragon 835 and 6GB RAM coming in April 2017 because of the late dispatch of Snapdragon 835. It anticipated that would be valued approx. Rs. 24,999(4GB RAM+32GB ROM), approx. Rs 27,999 (6GB RAM+64GB ROM), Approx. Rs 29,999(6GB RAM+128GB ROM). Mi6 will cost Approx. CNY 2499 FOR 4GB RAM+32GB ROM, Approx. CNY 2799 for 6GB RAM+64GB ROM, Approx. CNY 2999 for 6GB RAM+128GB ROM in China. It will go up against up and coming OnePlus 4, Samsung Galaxy S8, iPhone 8.

Xiaomi as of late propelled Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 and Redmi 4 and Redmi 4 Prime and Redmi 4A in China soon going to dispatch in India. xiaomi mi 6 release date in india Xiaomi Mi5C, Redmi Pro 2 and Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 additionally released web based coming in Q1 2017 in China.

As per most recent breaks and bits of gossip, Xiaomi Mi6 will keep running on Google's most recent Android N. It will likewise offer you a greater 5.5"- inch QHD(1440 x 2560) Super AMOLED show with Gorilla Glass 5. It will be pressed with an effective 4000mAh battery with Quick charge highlights.

It will bolster Dual-SIM(LTE+LTE), Micro SIM with 4GLTE, Wi-fi, Bluetooth, GPS, Finger print scanner and USB Type C. It will be controlled by the quickest Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor with 4GB/6GB RAM, 32GB/64GB/128GB ROM + 2TB Micro SD card opening. It will likewise join double effective camera, a 20-MegaPixel OIS raise camera and 8-MegaPixel front camera. No official affirmation from Xiaomi up until this point.

Xiaomi Mi6 FEATURES:-

• Double SIM with 4G LTE, NFC


• 5.5 - inch qHD Display


• Android N


• 6GB RAM + 128GB ROM


• Speedier 64-Bit Octa-center processor


• Camera 20-MP+8-MP


• Effective 4000mAh battery

AppMadness13 Round 2 Roundup

With over 6800 votes cast in Round 2, AppMadness13 has gotten a little crazy.

Here is our roundup show.



Voting for the Regional Finals will open up on April 4. Check 21Innovate.com for the ballot as April gets closer.

[caption id="attachment_181" align="alignleft" width="647"] These apps move on to the Elite 8.[/caption]

The Fans Vote! #AppMadness13

Time to use your outside voice and lend your support to your favorite apps. Voting is now open until Thursday March 21 at noon EDT to move the best of the best on to Round 2. Start busting those brackets.

Also.....just added Tournament Central Facebook Page

 

Enjoy the #AppMadness13 !

A couple of weeks ago one of my edtech buddies Brad Wilson came up with a great idea and invited me to help make it a reality. For the next three weeks we will be counting down our own version of March Madness, except this one has a nerdy twist to it. This is App Madness where we pit 32 free educational iPad apps against each other to see which is the champ.

On March 14th we kicked off with a live selection show.



We unveiled our bracket with the help of Jennifer Bond and Autumn Laidler.

Click and print your bracket here.

You can participate by using the #AppsMadness13 hashtag on Twitter to give your picks but also be sure to visit Brad's Blog to keep up to date with the latest developments.

Come Meet 6 MACUL featured speakers at Coral Gables

Instead of a March lunch and learn, I am hosting (from 3:30 to 5:00 on Tuesday March 19) this special opportunity to hang out with six feature speakers from the upcoming MACUL conference in Detroit.

Jon Corippo, Will Kimbley, David Malone, Dave Childers, Sean Williams, and Chris Scott are West Coast educators from CUE, MACUL's sister organization in California, who are road tripping across country to present at the conference.

You don't have to be heading across the state to catch some of the magic. The group will be making a stop at the Annex coffee shop in Saugatuck that is part of the Coral Gables entertainment complex.

Come grab some coffee or a soft drink and hang out with this dynamic band of guys. Talk tech or just enjoy a little after school respite with colleagues from around the area.

 


RSVP at TinyURL.com/CoffeCUEMACUL. Email me with any questions.

A great salute to teamwork

Thanks Brent Ashcroft, Dan Harland, Lauren Stanton, Derek Francis and WZZM for being part of our big Blue Star lip dub project. Thanks also for filing this great piece on all of the teamwork it took to put this together.

 

Here's to the Crazy Ones: A handful of great minds to follow on Twitter

This video is almost two years old but I thought I would share it again in this forum.

EdCamp OAISD: Video production with the junk in your pocket and teacher bag

Here are some places to get ideas and information on making the most of getting video together with your class.

Ken Robinson and Uncle Buck beg you to save creativity.

About.me/MrLosik
@mrlosik

My vimeo channel



Popcorn Maker

Shooting Gallery Shot Guide

Handheld Creativity Resources

Sony's Education Ambassador site: Video Production across platforms (Android Users click here.)

Amazing info-graphics from Canal+

Royalty Free Music from Incompetech

Still don't see the educational benefits of Twitter? Try Flipboard

I recently blogged over at the new Sony Education site about how the app Flipboard can "unpack the power of social media." If you are still in the camp that sees little benefit in Twitter or other social media, you are guaranteed to be impressed if you give Flipboard on the iPad, your iPhone, or any Android device a spin. Yes, I said, "Guarantee". If you are not fully impressed, I will buy you lunch in the Bentheim Elem. cafeteria on hotdog day.

Here is my post. "Flipboard unpacks the power of Social Media in the Classroom" Tell me what you think.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="590"]See social media in a whole new light. [/caption]

Hamilton PD Day 1/25: "Creativity in Hand" Session Resources

[caption id="attachment_145" align="alignleft" width="262"] Great image created by Jacque Drenten using Frames Artist app. [/caption]Here are session resources for my Hamilton PD iPad session "Creativity in Hand".



 

 

 

Video Production

Shooting Gallery Guide



Minarets Shooting Gallery Level One from Minarets High School

Vimeo app • Andy's Vimeo Page

Action Movie Producer

 

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="153"] Arrange your photos with the Frames Artist app[/caption]

Photo Projects

Doodle Buddy
PS Express
Color Effects
Pixlr-o-matic
Pixlr Express
Hipstamatic
Instagram
Frames Artist
Popplet Lite

Other Fun Ones
PegLight 2
Vintagio (Silent Film App)
Pottery HD Lite

Hamilton PD Day 1/25 : "iPads 101" Session Resources

Here are links and resources for my January 25th Hamilton Professional Development Day session "iPads 101".


 

 

Video
Apple Education: Learning with iPads
iPads impacting 5th Grade learning: Reflections
Fifth Grade Book Reports
Unexpected Talent Discovery: Young Fives Student plays Chopsticks on the iPad

App Guides
iEar.org
Appitic.com
App Price Drop
App Start

Math
iFormulas
Quick Graph: Your Scientific Graphing Calculator
Motion Math Zoom Number Line
(Rocket Math) Mathmateer
Meteor Math

Creativity
iMovie
Vimeo
Doodle Buddy
PS Express
Toontastic

Discover
Science 360
Stack the States
Tinkerbox
Tour Wrist

Productivity
Dropbox
Evernote
Screen Chomp
Large Type
ShowMe
iTunesU

Comparing iPads

Food for thought: MichEd Podcast on Student Views of Schools

Brad Wilson who works at the Jackson ISD visits a number of school settings to survey what students think need to happen to improve their school experience.

Everyone seems to have all of the answers for school reform. Have any of us really slowed down to ask the kids what they think.

Listen to #MichEd Podcast 1: Student Views of School

Five big reasons to use Google Apps for Education

Okay, okay...so Google Docs (now officially Google Drive) doesn't do the foo foo stuff and you can't access your favorite font out of the 864 you have installed on your computer. I get that. Well, here are 5 things Microsoft Word can't do for you and your teaching that Google Drive can.

1. Upload (just about) anything. With Google Drive you can upload and store online all kinds of files. Audio, video, Power Points, and images can be put safely and organized on your webspace so you will always have access to them wherever you can get online. This is especially helpful for people who switch between schools or locations and don't always have the same machine with them.

2. Share. Making a document available for your colleagues and students to access is as simple as clicking the "share" button. The same is true for making a document collaborative so that many people can simultaneously work on it. One of the biggest advantages that I have gained through this feature is that students can hit the share button and instantly turn in their papers to me.

3. Give feedback.Once someone has shared a document with you, you can give them feedback very easily. Just highlight something and then click the comment tab. A window pops up and you can share your thoughts. One great way to help students edit their documents is to highlight errors with designated colors (idea borrowed from Wendy Baker). Red might mean to check capitalization. Blue might mean there is a tense problem. Students see what needs to be fixed and can take care of the issues.

4. It can save your butt. It can fry your butt. When the laptop dies or something crashes there is no reason to panic. Google Drive saves your work every few seconds. After a disaster all you have to do is log back into Google Drive and the latest version of the work is right there and ready to go. Not only does Google Drive frequently save your work, it tracks it too. Go to "File" and click "Revision History" and you can return to any spot of the document's creation. This can be a huge help when working on a shared document because Google tags which user made which edit. This became a very helpful teaching tool last year when a fifth grader decided to sabotage a group project by deleting entire pages of shared work. By simply going to Revision History, the whole class was able to see with a timestamp when the perpetrator committed the deletion. It also tagged for all to see who was responsible. A big lesson was learned by all about the powers of Revision History. Another way it is powerful for teachers is that it shows exactly when and how long a student worked at a piece. If you suspect a paper was a cut and paste job and then can see a total of nineteen minutes was spent on a 1000 word essay, it is a pretty good bet that your suspicions are valid.

5. Take the learning everywhere. The ability to access a file is convenient but it can also send a powerful message that technology use doesn't just happen in Infotech or in school for that matter. Kids can access their work at any time and anywhere and on many kinds of devices. I always find it interesting that on many projects students are going way beyond the amount of time I would expect them to be working on their presentations away from school. We do have kids who don't have Internet access at home so I never require work to be done away from school. For those who do, the option is always available and many take advantage of the opportunity.

As for not being able to add lots of foofy borders and all of your fonts to your work, you still can. All you have to do is download the work you did online, run it through Microsoft Word, and then pretty it up.

Wow! That's just about all I can say about these book report trailers.

Sometimes you get an idea and it seems like it might be pretty cool.

I really liked what my Apple Distinguished Educator buddy Sean Junkins had created when he used Discovery Education footage to make historic movie trailers.

Since we don't have access to Discovery Education anymore, I was perplexed how I could do something similar with our kids. Coincidentally at about the same time I was thinking how kids still need chances to do old fashion arts and crafts and little skits. Somehow this project ended up lending itself to the best of both worlds. They would use the Apple iMovie app's trailer building capabilities but would have to get really creative on how they would produce the footage. It was completely open-ended but after a week of brainstorming we had really focus on the project being do-able.

The other guidelines were:
A) Trailers had to provide important information about the plot or focus on character traits.
B) Trailers could not be "spoilers" for anyone who had not yet read them.
C) Trailers had to be non-violent.
D) Several students could work together and there was no limit on the number of projects in which students could participate. Students could work solo but all students had to be included in meaningful ways.
E) This was basically an introduction/exploration activity and I didn't fully know what we would accomplish so there wasn't a set evaluation rubric beyond my formative checkups along the way.

The results were mind-blowing. Here is one on the Hunger Games Trilogy's Mocking Jay. More can be found in the project's album on Vimeo.



My biggest reflection on this project is that you never know how a project might go. Sometimes they flop but as long as you salvage the key points, that is okay. Sometimes you get way more than you ever expect. Also, don't think this is rocket science and beyond your capabilities. I completely left completion of it up to the kids (with some progress monitoring and coaching along the way) but it was them who knocked this thing out of the park.

An insane amount of new interactive resources to share

Thanks to Julie Woldring and Lori Sanders for sharing these sites over the last couple of week.

Julie reminded me of all of the great stuff up on Funbrain.com. She is currently using the cookie dough activity with her second graders to work on writing number words.

Next up is Scholastic's Character Scrapbook.

[caption id="attachment_91" align="alignleft" width="300"] Scholastic Character Scrapbook[/caption]

It is a new take on the old book report wanted poster option. Students have to change the character's physical characteristics to match what they perceive it to be. They then add ten character traits to further show their knowledge of the character.

Lori also shared a site she uncovered full of more student interactive site links. The site is part of the Jefferson County (TN) Schools' website. The Math Interactives have over 150 activities alone. There are also reading, language arts, science, social studies, and assessment.

Give them a look and thanks ladies for sharing.

EdReach.us: Can we find some Common Ground with the Common Core?

Here is a blog post from over at one of my other ventures, The Disruptors Channel on Edreach.us.

This is how I try to go about my duties as a technology integration specialist and coach here in Hamilton and someone who is deeply involved with the goal of continuing to move education forward. If you ever catch me not practicing what I preach here, call me out.

“There’s something happening here.
What it is ain’t exactly clear.” ~Buffalo Springfield

On Wednesday morning as I prepared for school, the news programs worked through their post-election coverage. The one phrase I kept hearing was “a need for common ground”.

Yep. If there is one thing this country needs right now it is some common ground. That couldn’t be truer in the world of education either.

To quote Buffalo Springfield again, “There’s battle lines being drawn. Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong.”

A lot has happened legislatively, economically, and technologically since I first started teaching in the mid-90’s. With all of the change has come increasing divisiveness. Back then it seemed like the only real squabbles in elementary education circles I heard were from the hardcore phonics and whole language camps. Oh, there was also that time when a first grade teacher declared she was now going to do a penguins unit although a second grade teacher had done been doing her own penguins unit for 17 consecutive years. Total chaos in the teachers’ lounge almost led to no Secret Santa exchange that year.

Now it seems like there are passionate camps on both sides of absolutely any issue…even issues that aren’t issues.

I have been hopeful that the new adoption of the Common Core State Standards might help us find some common ground. Unfortunately that is yet to be experienced.

We must not have disrupted this thing enough yet. Right? Sometimes though you have to disrupt the disruptors…call out your own.

Read the rest of the article.

Tip #6: Controlling which applications open specific file types

Sometimes you want to open a document in a specific application or your MAC isn't opening them in the one you want. Changing those behaviors is really pretty simple.

Tip #5: Changing Scrolling Direction in Apple OS X Mountain Lion

Apple's "natural" scrolling gesture seems anything but natural to me. Here is how to get your cursor to move down as you stroke down with your fingers.

Here is a quick how-to tutorial.

Tip #4: Changing how Firefox handles certain types of files like .PDF

Sometimes a web browser like Firefox doesn't handle files the way you want them to be handled. Taking control of those actions is only a couple of clicks away.

Here is a quick tutorial how.

Everything you ever needed to know about IXL.com but didn't know where to look

The good folks at IXL.com have put together a very comprehensive help page for using the site. Getting showbox for pc started as well as running reports are all covered and an in-depth teacher's guide is available for download. There is even a section for parents.

IXL User Guides

Lunch and Learn #2: Five key elements to understanding iPads in the classroom

[caption id="attachment_69" align="alignleft" width="300"] putting iPads to use on a Kindergarten shape safari[/caption]As we start to have more access to iPads in our buildings, it is important to take some time and spend it not so much on learning what buttons to push but discussing key elements that can go a long way in determining how successfully we put these devices to work for us. As I wrote in the Grand Rapids Press last year, iPads don't improve education. Teachers and students improve education with iPads.

Tom Daccord at Edudemic posted a great article (thanks for sharing Abby Perdok) in late September entitled, "5 Critical Mistakes Schools Make with iPads (and how to correct them)". I don't want to just rehash Tom's ideas here but his piece shows us that the devices have been in schools long enough that we now have critical accounts of what works and what not to do with them. Let's look at five elements (some similar to Daccord's) that can help us get the most of our investment in this highly engaging technology.

1. Understanding Apps: When it all boils down, there are basically two kinds of apps. There are "knowledge in" apps and "knowledge out" apps. This is true with any website...okay, educational ones but...I'm not even going to finish this thought. I think you understand the logical consequences. As I was saying, any website or technology tool does one or the other. Kids go to websites on lighthouses to learn facts and deepen their understanding of these structures' history and roll in the world. They then can go to something like Kerpoof.com and create pictures to share their knowledge. Voicethread.com lets them post pictures and give narration. A number of iPad apps like the Voicethread and Screen Chomp apps do too. Just because there isn't an app for a specific part of the curriculum, doesn't mean that an iPad can't still be extremely effective. Have kids put knowledge into their heads and then choose a "knowledge out" app to let them share it in spectacular ways.

2. Getting App Savvy There are thousands upon thousands of educational apps in the Apple App Store. Apple has a webpage dedicated to highlighting a handful of featured apps but to really dig in and find out what teachers really find useful and what kids think, check out these sites: Appitic.com and iEar.org.

Appitic.com is the brainchild of a group of teachers from Mexico and has contributors from across the globe reviewing apps. Things are nicely broken down by a ton of different categories so you can search by subject or grade level but also by higher order thinking skill.

iEar.org is another site "by educators for educators" (my tagline, not theirs). It has plenty of app reviews from teachers and students, but iEar (i Education Apps Review) also features a number of audio selections like interviews with app developers or ideas for implementing certain apps or techniques in your classroom.

A couple of iPad apps can be especially helpful in developing your savviness. App Shopper helps you find apps by subject matter but will also watch the prices of apps. Many times developers will run special promotions where they drastically slash the price of an app and sometimes make them free. When that happens you will receive a message from App Shopper to go and scoop up the app. App Price Drops is a little more stripped down in features but helps you find the deals, especially free apps.

3. iTunes is far more than music It always surprises me how many people don't rely heavily on iTunes for adding content and organizing their iPads. Yes, it is nice to be able to download and install apps from the app store on the fly through the device and it is fairly easy to create drag and drop folders on the device as well. It can be faster though and in many cases a lot easier to do that work while plugged into iTunes. Using iTunes also lets you add all kinds of your own specific content to the devices for student use. Educational movies, audio books, and anything in .PDF form (see earlier post for a how-to) can be placed on the iPad but you have to use iTunes in order to do it. A screencast will be coming that shows each of those processes in detail. Most importantly, every time you sync you diminish the severity of potential disaster by creating a backup file. If your iPad was damaged or lost, a replacement could be synced with your backup and you could start right up where you were on the old device.

4. It just feels right Through all of my experience of working with kids on iPads, there is a constant thread that is present. The iPad's user interface is incredibly intuitive. You just swipe and tap, drag and move. Many argue that kids are wired for the iPad. Much of that is likely true due to the prevalence of technology in our world, but I am starting the think that the iPad is far more wired for kids than the other way around. Apple is cracking the code on the best possible tablet, but Apple is also cracking our code for how we most naturally work and interact with a device. Here is how 5th graders explain this.



5. Think Different It is great to start out by concentrating on things you normally do in your classroom and finding ways to replace those tasks with the iPad. Chances are you will find higher levels of student interest and more engagement. Don't stop there though. Start to ask yourself, "What if? What if instead of typing animal reports, we made videos? And then what if we used those videos to teach our lower elementary reading buddies about the animals". Share your ideas with your colleagues and challenge them to ask, "What if?". Soon we will be watching our students do things we hadn't ever dreamed possible.

Google Has It

Here are 3 minutes and 49 seconds of awesome from a dynamic West Coast educator. Diane Main sums up extremely well in this parody of Adele's "Rumor Has It" all of the advantages that Google Apps can provide a teacher.

If there is something you see in this video and want to know more about, then let's use it as a springboard for some one-on-one learning.



Great work @Dowbiggin

Put a Genius Bar in your classroom

"I'm done. What do I do now?" is an age old question. I am sure teachers all the way back to Ancient Greece probably heard it too.

In Infotech the standard expectation for completed projects or work is to go and explore other links I have posted or to work in an application that interests them and doesn't disrupt; sorry Photobooth. Late last year though I tried something a little different when it came to wrapping up big projects.

At an extra table in the library we set up a Genius Bar. Yep Apple, I am not even disguising it and am blatantly using one of the anchors of your retail stores. Every Apple store has a Genius Bar and offers how-to and fixit advice for all of their products. Now, every major project in Infotech has a Genius Bar where students that are finished with the project can serve as the how-to guides for those still working.

Helping others finish when you are finished is a teaching technique as old as the "What do I do now?" question but there is something electric that happens when you deem students geniuses and give them their own operating space where two or even three kids together can help solve problems. It really creates that same kind of energy you feel when you walk into an Apple Store. Here, kids with questions get up and move to the Genius Bar and find who out of the group can best help them. Usually they pair up and head back to the student's seat to take care of the question. This also seems to change the perception of the advanced student who resents having to always help the strugglers when he or she finishes. Maybe it's just being called a genius but I really think it is the opportunity to work in a collaborative environment as a leader that helps him or her feel less like a crutch.

Here is the basic procedure I use:
• I set up the Genius Bar on the days I am "hoping" we wrap up projects. Some projects seem to need multiple "wrap up days".
• The initial set of geniuses are the students that are finished already when 2/3 to 3/4 of the class is still working. I always have this first set show me their projects to insure projects are really complete and were done with quality.
• When other students finish, they become geniuses too and are available to help. They need to show me their work too.
• It is important to watch for "the point of diminishing return", the point where you have too many geniuses to really be helpful anymore. At this point I make the option of "independent exploration" available but allow multiple geniuses the chance to work together on something.
• Everyone who finishes adds his or her name to the genius list. This includes the last kid finished.
• I thought I would have to worry more about students wanting the geniuses to do their work for them instead of just providing support but after only a brief explanation, everyone has understood what this model can do and what it shouldn't do. This is just one spot where I have been pleasantly surprised through this implementation.

I have had great success now wrapping up video projects in second grade and landform collages in fourth grade with this model. It teaches students how to work collaboratively in a super-charged environment and it provides lots of motivation for that student that would let a project linger on all year if you let them. Implementing a Genius Bar doesn't have to technology specific. Try it for any project at any grade level. I think it would shine in a readers' workshop setting or science lab as well.

From Infotech with Mr. Losik: Adding images to iPhoto from Safari...and citing them too

Here is a quick screencast showing how to send fishing kayak accessories  images found in Safari directly to iPhoto.

Check out "Adding images to iPhoto from Safari...and citing them too" as posted earlier today on my classroom blog.

Lunch and Learn #1: Getting Creative with Images and Working in Word

Thanks to everyone at both schools who stopped by for our first Lunch and Learn of 2012-2013.

We discussed some free online sites that let you have fun and express some creativity with everyday images you take before finishing up with some tips on using them in Microsoft Word.

Photofunia: This site lets you upload any photo and feature it in all kinds of scenes and backgrounds. Here I made myself look like I was being spray painted on an outdoor wall. Photofunia keeps adding more and more scenes. Be aware that some have gotten increasingly violent so it might not be somewhere to send younger students. There is nothing gory or offensive, just the presence of some weaponry. It is addictive though.

[caption id="attachment_39" align="aligncenter" width="193"] Photofunia.com[/caption]

Pixlr.com: Here is another easy to use site for adding a little flair to your images. There are three levels from which to choose on the home page. The middle choice "Pixlr Express" is the quick and easy choice for adding borders and stickers to your images. It also lets you make photo collages in literally seconds. Here is one I did in less than a minute.

[caption id="attachment_41" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Pixlr Express image[/caption]

We wrapped up the lunch hour by doing a little work in Microsoft Word's "Publishing Layout". It is under the VIEW menu in Word. The big advantage we discussed for this layout method is the ability to organize and control a newsletter all through floating text boxes and inserted images. Also under VIEW is control over your toolbox. When you click on your "Object Palette" you have direct access to your iPhoto library. When out saving images for clipart, why not use Safari? It has one major advantage over Firefox and Chrome. With a CTRL-Click or right-click (for you two button mouse users) you can send those images directly to iPhoto and have them one click away in Word. Below is an example of how that looks.

[caption id="attachment_40" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Organize clipart in iPhoto and it is just a click away in Word[/caption]

The next Lunch and Learn is set for October 17 and 18. The topic will focus on how to manage your iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches through iTunes. See you there.

Tip #3 Using the readability feature in Microsoft Word for Mac

Thanks to Ellen Berens for sharing this tip with the Blue Star staff today.

Microsoft Word will gauge the reading level of any document. It is one of those features that isn't turned on by default but easily added to the Spelling and Grammar tools.

This feature is especially useful when insuring that your students of varying reading ability are able to understand the selections you give them to read. It is also important to insure that the materials you are sending home aren't written at too high of a reading level. This isn't to assume our students' parents don't read well. This just helps you keep your newsletter from being too wordy...and nerdy.

Here are Ellen's instructions. I also created a screencast showing visually how to use the feature.

1. Open a word document, scan some text, etc.

2. Click on “Word” at the top of your screen.

3. Click “preferences.”

4. Click “spelling and grammar.”

5. Check the box next to “readability statistics.”

6. When you want to check the reading level, run spelling
and grammar check. Once you are done, your reading level
will be displayed.

For the YouTube video below be sure to watch full screen so you can see the menus clearly enough.

The Anatomy of a Collaborative Endeavor

Today Melinda Bronkhorst, Brian Lancaster (both 4th grade teachers at Bentheim Elementary) and I laid out three collaborative projects in under a half an hour. Here is how it all came together so quickly.

Melinda initiated the planning session by signing up for some collaboration time. She basically just wanted some ideas on how she could engage her students a little more deeply with technology. We came up with an idea where students would connect the iPhoto use skills I had planned for Infotech with their beginning studies of the United States regions. The plan is to have me bring down the mobile lab on Thursdays and ask students to begin exploring the tourist sites of states in their assigned region. They will find pictures that show examples of physical characteristics, save those to iPhoto, add bibliographical information to each photo, and organize them into albums. We will continue the work each Friday when the students visit me for Infotech. The three week project will culminate in some type of production where students share their photos to show the uniqueness of their regions.

I love planning like this. I am able to share my technology knowledge and the classroom teachers share their content and curriculum knowledge. Jointly we can put together an endeavor that is solid in all aspects of learning.

We weren't quite done though. We started to then think about what the next step might be and what other grade level objectives we might be able to address. I shared that sixteen years ago I used to have my fourth graders practice business letters by writing the game and fish office of different states. Every student was tickled to get a packet of information in the mail that featured all kinds of posters, pamphlets, brochures, and stickers. We decided we would resurrect the project and work together to do some business letter writing with Google Docs. Students will find the natural resources office for one of the states in their region and ask for some information on the wildlife that call it home.

That second project led to a third one that involved meeting briefly with Brian. Every year he does animal reports with fourth graders in Science. In the past we have worked together to give students links to research sites, and published them with the computers. This year we are going to try to connect the animal investigations all of the way back to the original regions investigation. The animal that will be the subject of the science report will one that students learned about through material solicited from the business letters. This is designed to build a little extra connection between the student and the subject they will research.

All of this planning and brainstorming took about 25 minutes. In that time we were able to tie together Social Studies, Writing, and Science...all of which were infused with educational technology. These are just examples of the types of projects we can do together. We took Melinda's general initial idea and quickly generated three very specific projects designed to engage learners in new and different ways.

Tip #2 Saving a document as a .PDF on a Mac

There are a number of advantages to saving a document from Word or Pages as a .PDF, especially when you want to share it or keep it on a mobile device. You don't have to depend on your recipient having the same application or version of the application to read it. Graphics stay where you want them and most mobile devices handle .PDF files quite easily.

If you have ever gone to your FILE menu and looked for an option to save a document as a .PDF you have come up empty. It is somewhat counter-intuitive to click the PRINT button but that is what you have to do.

1) Click PRINT under FILE or do a Command-P. I still mentally think of it as Apple-P.
2) Look at the bottom left corner of the window for the PDF button. Click it.
3) Click on "Save as PDF".

There are also a number of shortcuts that you can use from this menu as well. You can mail your .PDF. This is great for sending your newsletter to your principal or emailing a document to parents. You can also send .PDFs to iTunes. Huh? It might not make sense on the surface but iTunes will organize your .PDFs under Books. When you sync your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch you can then have all of those documents handy in the iBooks app. I keep different schedules and lists of meeting dates handy with this feature. It is also really great for taking things like A to Z Reading books in .PDF form (used legally with a subscription) and putting them on an iPad or iPads for students to use.

Here is a screenshot of the .PDF menu that you can access from a PRINT screen.

Tip #1: Compressing Files with a Mac

Consulting time is open to all staff who wish to learn something new. Yesterday, Blue Star Principal Teisha Kothe and I completed the first one-on-one learning session. We talked about bookmarks in Firefox, Google Calendar, and especially about how to compress a number of files into a .Zip file. By compressing a file, you greatly reduce the size of the item or items and it makes it easier to email.

Here is a screencast of the basic steps with a Mac.

And so it begins...

This year at Hamilton Community Schools we are re-inventing professional development one educator at a time.

Wendy Baker who covers Sandyview Elementary and Hamilton Elementary and I are expanding our roles as elementary Infotech teachers. This year in addition to teaching 40 minutes of combined media and technology instruction to students in grades Young Fives through Fifth we will be providing elementary staff a number of professional growth opportunities.

Instead of sticking with the old model of professional development coming in the form of a one day workshop where the great new idea has little follow-up we are choosing to truly differentiate and do PD on an individual needs based level. No matter where anyone might be on the road of technology integration we will help them grow in ways to improve their teaching and engage learners.

The following are the goals of our program:

•To provide elementary teachers with relevant, usable, needs-based professional development in the areas of educational technology and its successful integration into the curriculum
•To create team-teaching opportunities for consultants and classroom teachers to integrate technology together into the core curriculum
•To develop collaborative projects based on a combination of technology skills taught in Infotech and the content being taught simultaneously in the regular classroom
•To create a repository of online self-help reference materials for teachers to utilize. Most likely a blog or Weebly site that houses help guides but also highlights the successes we are having through teacher reflection pieces and examples of student work accomplished through this process
•To champion and highlight professional development the way it should be . . . a bottom-up approach that is individualized, not a top-down shotgun approach that is presented one day and then never addressed again

This blog will share my experiences working with staff members at Blue Star Elementary and Bentheim Elementary this year. It will feature many of the lessons we learn, tips and tricks, as well as reflections from real educators sharing their experiences with this PD model.

I hope you will join us on this journey by reading and leaving your own comments.