An American Chromebook Crisis: new report shows sad trends of how students are using the devices

A new report is out that tracks how Chromebooks are being used in K-12 classrooms and it is one of the most disheartening things I have read in a long time. I am not lying or using hyperbole. My stomach dropped reading the release from Chromebook management company GoGuardian.

Read the GoGuardian Report here.

In short a huge amount of Chromebook use is being spent on educationally questionable video games, low level assessments, and YouTube with the two highest trending websites for over 5,000,000 learners (after G Suite for Education) being CoolMath Games and Renaissance Learning, the parent company to Accelerated Reader and other assessments.

Let me say it again. The two highest trending websites (after G Suite for Education) for over 5,000,000 learners are

CoolMath Games and
Renaissance Learning, the parent company to Accelerated Reader and other assessments!

Have you ever really visited CoolMath-Games.com? Maybe I am missing something but I struggle to see how most of these games are even math-related, let alone going to build skills? Yes, there is a ton of strategy and logic involved and kids dig the site because they're always asking if they can use it in STEM. Sorry guys, we have a lot more engaging ways to build both math, strategy, and logic.

But...but...it's got Math in the name so it has to be educational, right? I think that alone is a big reason why teachers allow it to get so much traffic...and that kids are quiet for long periods of time while playing on it. Sure, there are worse things they could be accessing, but when this site dominates the study it shows us that the current state of Chromebooks in the classroom is really stuck at the lowest common denominator.

Now, I am not as hugely opposed to Accelerated Reader (Renaissance Learning) as some in the educational technology community are. In the right doses as a SUPPLEMENT to a reading program and used only when students are free to choose their own books I have no problem with it. However when it shows up as the second most trending site in terms of hits and time spent on it, then that shows that far too many schools are making it the core of their reading programs. That could be a whole series of future blog posts. There are other assessments like Star Reading and Star Math that are likely contributing to this number. It would be interesting for GoGuardian to share out that breakdown. Still it's a gut punch to see activities like these taking up such a chunk of how kids are using technology in the classroom.

Okay, first rant over! The study overall is quite interesting and definitely does a thorough job at dissecting where students are spending their time online with Chromebooks.  The 2017 Benchmark Report: An analysis of emerging trends in Chromebook usage looks at what sites are being used most by students in three age brackets as well as what sites are most used by subject area. According to the report, "(The report) gives you an inside look into student device usage to inform best practices and provide a benchmark for your school’s technology programs. The Benchmark Report analyzes the aggregate device usage of 5 million K-12 students across the country."

GSuite for Education is by far the most utilized set of sites by Chromebook users and GoGuardian sets it aside from other non-Google sites, breaking down how the different parts rank. With 62.1% stated as Google Docs, it's my assumption that includes Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings. I would like to see the percentage that each of those is used but the cynic me thinks it is highly likely that a huge chunk of that 62.1% is typing term papers like it's 1985...albeit using a really tricked-out Smith Corona. I do not mean to poo poo the use of Google Docs one bit though. This shows that all of the great aspects like sharing of docs and access anywhere are being used in great doses. Just over a year ago, I chronicled many of the advantages that the free suite offers. It's also important to remember we don't need to live in the "redefinition" realm of the SAMR framework and that technology should support sound pedagogy and Google Docs really can do that.

What surprises me and frankly saddens me a little bit too is that so few of these students' teachers (8%) are using Classroom to manage their Chromebook environments and that Google Drive is only accessed 2.5% of the time.

GoGuardian breaks down how Google's GSuite apps are being utilized in the classroom by 5,000,000 US K-12 users.

Now we get to Rant #2. YouTube grabs almost 21% usage in the Google category. Yes, there are endless numbers of videos that can teach you just about anything. When we cut access to YouTube this Fall at one of my elementary schools due to students being off-task with it, we found out how much we rely on it for independent learning and quickly opened it back up (filtered of course). Still I would love to see a breakdown of the actual types of YouTube videos being watched by students on their Chromebooks. My heart really wants a disproportionate number to be educational but my head leads me to believe that kitty cats, dumb web series, and music videos are probably leading the pack.

To be fair this study is not all doom, gloom, time wasters, and drill and kill. Both Scratch and Code.org popped up numerous times with Scratch garnering a #5 trending overall ranking. It's good to see these computer science sites getting lots of use by Chromebook users. Teachers are also doing their best to gamify a lot of learning as Kahoot came in at the top of a number of categories. Another favorite site of mine that places highly is the set of science simulations from PHET at the University of Colorado. Also, the study opened my eyes to several new sites I hadn't previously visited so definitely spend some time going through the lists.

What bugs me the most (Rant #3): For 23 years I have been evangelizing the use of edtech tools that foster student creativity and I have recently been preoccupied with a suspicion that because fewer and fewer schools are buying Macs for students that ground is likely being lost in the battle to promote high level uses of classroom technology.  When I opened GoGuardian's email with the study all of those fears were validated. I was saddened but not really surprised. Zero sites for creativity are listed in the study. We know fewer kids are getting to create with Keynote, iMovie, and GarageBand due to device choice, but it doesn't look like they're getting many chances to use any of the Chrome-based alternatives to these apps either.

No Soundtrap. No Canva. No WeVideo. No Pixlr. No Emaze.

Creativity is so important and being able to convey a concept in multimedia is a skill all industries are demanding now. A local school board president was asking me about what's next in edtech and the discussion led to content creation. He holds a high-up position with a multi-national company that creates automobile interiors and he agreed.

"Everything, no matter the concept now has to be pitched in a highly visual and easy to understand way. Just using PowerPoint basic slides won't cut it anymore," he shared.

We need to be fostering those skills now.

At least there's Scratch which provides tremendous opportunities for students to develop creativity while building computer science skills. For me its popularity is the brightest spot in this study.

Bottom line: When the technological investment in five million learners is being primarily spent playing games with questionable educational benefit, taking low level assessments, and watching YouTube then we have an edtech crisis on our hands. We can have "certified this" and "distinguished that" honors in our email signatures and be "ambassadors" for a thousand apps and sites but this report shows us the grim reality of how devices are really being used. Many of us have dedicated significant portions our careers to helping our fellow educators use technology in meaningful ways and this report should serve as a wake-up call as there is still a ton of work to do.

We can and must do better.

Updated: ...and the conversations continue. 

•  Yes...and. Alice Keeler continues the conversation with follow post. 
• Explore and join the Chromebook Creativity Project and help teachers not only transform how Chromebooks are being used in the classroom but also transform instruction by including these great tools. 

It's Super Bowl Week! Get your kids moving with Vikings' Kyle Rudolph

Discovery Education is back with another Super Bowl themed virtual field trip. This year's is completely on demand and features Minnesota Vikings Tight End Kyle Rudolph along with cardiologist Dr. Courtney Baechler.

The American Heart Association and NFL Play 60 team up from the Vikings practice facility to teach about the importance of exercise and healthy eating. Like last year's VFT, this one also includes segments where your students will be asked to get on their feet and get moving in place.

Best of all, the virtual Super Bowl experience is free to all educators and not just limited to subscribers of Discovery Education. Teachers can also download a free classroom activity guide.

Visit now.

Hurry to enter Vans' $75,000 Custom Culture 2018 high school design contest

Every year Vans picks 500 U.S. high schools to design a one-of-a-kind sneaker. The winning entry scores $75,000....yes, seventy-five thousand dollars for its high school art program. Imagine what you could do with that dough!

Visit customculture.vans.com for all of the details. There is a great getting started video that explains the process.

Hurry because registration closes on January 31.

Build a cardboard chair in the latest challenge from Dyson

The James Dyson Foundation's newest engineering challenge is all about constructing with cardboard.

Photo: James Dyson Foundation

Can you build a chair with just cardboard, cutting utensils, and a ruler? Download the instructions and watch a getting started video at the James Dyson Foundation homepage. Check out the other challenges while you are there as well as the many free teaching and learning resources on the site.

Amaze em with Emaze!

Do you know what's really awesome about having a teenager? No, it's not being encouraged to venture into the world of fancy pocket jeans. Having a personal guide to what's new on Netflix is cool but when it comes to the edtech world, I love when my daughter shows me a new site or app she's using at school.

That's how I discovered Emaze. It's like a mashup of the visual brilliance of Haiku Deck with the functionality of Google Slides all tossed together with the flexibility of Canva. Bottom line: it's a great way for users to create visual content beyond just the slide deck.

If you know me, you know I live by the motto, "if you can't make it in Keynote then you don't need it." In many situations however Keynote isn't always an option or even the best one, like when all kids have access to are Chromebooks. Yes, there's iCloud Keynote but even that can be a challenge with Apple Id's and such. Google Slides is tremendously functional too and I use that a lot. I'm not throwing those out of the digital tool box, I am just excited about what a great compliment emaze is  and that it is intuitive enough for kids in upper elementary to handle.

Here's how you get started.

Logging in is available through existing Google accounts so if your kids already have those, then there is no hassle with having to create a whole set of usernames and passwords. 

Because the site is so visually geared there may be a bit of initial distraction as students find rabbit holes to explore on their first visits. Plan for this ahead and make your introductory session as fun and explore time.

Once you and your kids are ready to get serious about creating content, you will find a variety of support videos for most tasks in Emaze. There is also a ton of inspiration within emaze as the site is full of shared work and templates. So, go check out what you can do. You'll be e-mazed!

Morning Motivation: Let the Day Begin

I used to play this in the Plymouth Colt every morning while pulling up to 6 AM two-a-day football practice in 1989 and it was one of the last songs I'd play on the Walkman just before taking the field on Friday Night.

"Let the Day Begin" by The Call still gets me pumped up 28 and a half years later.

So, here's to all of you teachers in the crowded rooms. Have a great one.

Teaching With PBL Is Like Cooking Mac And Cheese

In order to successfully intertwine project and challenge based learning into the student experience, we have to be aware of the nuances that can make or break your projects.

"Embrace the suck."
"Failure is our greatest teacher."
"It's not the destination. It's the journey."

Yep we get all of that, but kids don't arrive on the big yellow buses with much ability to handle that. The best way I can describe the success I have found managing projects from a teacher's role is that is like cooking macaroni and cheese.

You've gotta regulate the heat or these kids will boil allover the stove.

Circulate and pay close attention to the group dynamics. Look for both frustration with the task and frustration with one another. In both cases, get kids to articulate exactly what the root of the frustration is. This is not only good for them but it helps you dissect where the sticking point is and if the frustration is with a classmate, have them tell the classmate exactly what the sticking point is. Simply telling them to figure it out is just lazy.

As you are watching all of this unfold, constantly re-evaluate your plans and whether the kids are ever going to make it to the goal. Give hints when necessary and pump the brakes when a full stop is needed. We want them to adapt as they work on the project; sometimes we need to adapt as they work on the project.

To avoid kids being overwhelmed, help them take that big task and chunk it into do-able bites. Add a little seasoning sometimes to make those bites more appealing. Finally, watch that burner and turn down the heat when you need to or the whole thing will just boil over into a big mess and not much to show for the effort in the end.

Take your little scientists into Peep's Big Wide World

One of my favorite resources for engaging our little scientific explorers in Hamilton STEM is "Peep and the Big Wide World".

It's a cartoon series that follows the many explorations and interactions of buddies Peep, Chirp, and Quack. Each episode features one natural phenomena that the trio try to make sense of with the same mindsets our young students have.

The production comes from PBS and has a fun website that includes videos and games organized by different scientific concepts. In addition to what's available on the site, also check YouTube for a ton of additional episodes.

Recut trailers reveal the power of music in digital storytelling

When we teach kids to tell a story digitally, a key element is helping them understand the power  background music has for setting the mood. It is a device kids don't have when they write and so it's not always natural for them to include it. Look no further than youtube for an impactful and extremely entertaining way to demonstrate this power.

Somewhere in the course of human creative history, our species became inspired to take original movie trailers and remix them with a completely different look and feel. Although the order of scenes has an effect, more than anything the background music really drives home the new mood.

With students, take time to find ones that feature movies that students know. "Scary Mary" is a remix of "Mary Poppins" and perfect for showing this concept...to adults. Many of my elementary kids haven't seen the Disney classic. As old as that makes me feel, I just had to accept it and find others. My personal favorite is "The Shining" recut as a romantic comedy with Peter Gabriel's happy "Solsbury Hill" as the background track.

This is another one that only a certain portion of the population will "get" because of the age of the original film but I love it.

The recut trailer I have found that resonates most with older elementary kids is the "Elf Recut as a Thriller". Another relatable project is the remix of Pixar's "Up". Most know the originals well. There are some "Frozen" remixes out there and a slew of "Finding Nemo" recut trailers to explore.

One challenge I found in looking for the best to use with students is that there seems to be an abundance of horror themed trailers. It's either horror movies being made happy or it's happy movies being made into horror movies. There's nothing really graphic but definitely preview all of them and decide on the fit for your classroom. It's most likely that you'd be employing these examples with fourth graders on up and it is my guess that most can handle it. Although it would be nice to have an abundance of genres to show, the contrast of happy to horror really hammers home the point of how music can really change the mood. 

When you are building that cinematic narrative or digital storytelling unit, hook your young filmmakers with one of these memorable examples of the power the right background music has on setting the right tone.

WeAreTeacher.com: 22 Moments From 80s Movies That Sum Up Teaching Middle School

Even though this is a post from the super cool WeAreTeachers.com geared for middle-school teachers, all of us working in schools...especially if you grew up in the 1980's...can relate to these little gems. 

Well done Melanie Amichetti! 

22 Moments From 80s Movies That Sum Up Teaching Middle School. 

When the Internet is Down....Get Chopped

The first thing I noticed when I unloaded my laptop and iPad today was that Internet connectivity was having all kinds of difficulties. Instead of fighting through a very web-dependent exercise with third and fourth grade STEM classes, we turned to the Food Network.

Based on a cook's ability to innovate and adapt, Chopped makes contestants create gourmet dishes with some of the most random ingredients like candy bars and pickled eggs. The adaptability and innovation are the same skills we teach daily as we help kids develop into creative problem solvers.

Here's how Chopped in the STEM classroom works.

• After dividing the class into five groups of four or five students, each group is given 10 wooden blocks, a small caddy of random Legos, and 4 marbles. All blocks have to be part of the final product as well as at least 1 marble and 1 Lego.
  
• Next, give the groups a task. This varies by age group. For Kindergarten, groups simply have to build something they can tell a story about. Third and fourth graders have to create a device that can keep marbles (any number of the 4 may be used) moving the longest.
  
• Once kids begin working I keep to the following timing intervals.
• After five minutes I stop the building and ask each group to articulate its shared plan. If a group can't articulate a shared plan, then I have them move away from its workspace and sit together on the floor. Once they have it figured out and share it with me, they are permitted to return to work. It's amazing how quickly a plan can come together after a minute or two away from the materials. 
• While constantly circulating to make sure everyone is engaged and included in the building process, I usually give about 25 minutes more of work time. Setting a visual timer  is extra helpful. I make it clear that by the end of the 25 minutes, the prototype needs to be as close to complete as possible.
• At the end of the 25 minutes we stop and talk about how designers and engineers go through the refinement process of constantly testing and tweaking. I give 5 more dedicated minutes for this. When that is up, each group has 2 minutes to clean up any unused supplies.
  
• To wrap up the activity I ask all of the kids to the front of the room and then we do a gallery walk to each table and have groups explain what they built. For the marble devices we give each group a chance to show it in action and time (usually with a smart phone) how well each functions. 

What is most amazing for me to see is how by nature each group always begins with individuals withdrawn and operating in each's own space but eventually (if properly coached) begin to focus on the shared task. Not all groups though successfully make this transition to group productivity. On 9 out of 10 times it is due to dysfunction within the group. The key teaching point when this happens is that the quality of teamwork is directly related to the quality of performance.

The biggest reward is seeing kids go from a natural tendency to stay in their own spaces to truly collaborating on one task

Give kids many opportunities to complete the same task. Watch to see how the dynamics change from one repetition to the next. 

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

3-5-ETS1-1. Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.

3-5-ETS1-2. Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

3-5-ETS1-3. Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.

STEM Challenge: Dyson Foundation 60 Second Marble Run

I am a huge fan of the challenges that the James Dyson Foundation hosts for budding engineers around the world. These can make great in-class projects or be issued as at-home learning. In addition to fun learning, Dyson also provides great videos that feature real engineers sharing a handful of hints while tackling the challenges themselves.

One we are tackling in Hamilton STEM is the Sixty Second Marble Run Challenge. Kids have to build a marble run with just cardboard, tape, and of course a marble. The marble must travel for exactly sixty seconds, no more and no less. The whole experience is a great manipulation in potential and kinetic, energy, and friction.

Each challenge comes with an easy-to-use directions card. Materials are clearly outlined and directions are kept as simple as possible.

Dyson encourages those who complete the challenge to share the results on social media through designated hashtags. Check out other challenges and some the results at #JDFChallenge.

Tiger Woods Foundation Offers Scores of Resources for College Seeking Students

Tiger Woods may be facing an uphill climb to return to his old form on the golf course but his foundation has created a ton of resources for students exploring college choices and ways to pay for their educations.

Students can replay a virtual field trip from the Silicon Valley offices of Facebook or explore a career in biomimicry. Best of all, it's all free.

Visit TGReduExplore.

Sending Sphero to the Office with Tickle App

This was a great moment in our special needs STEM hour. Coding seems to take on added relevance when it controls a physical object and not just objects on the screen.

Middle Schoolers Review Oregon Trail...And...It...Is...Awesome!

Here is a great game review of the original Oregon Trail that many of us Gen-Xers played on the Apple II. It comes from a pair of students in the game design program at William Annin Middle School in Basking Ridge, NJ.

The reviewers take viewers through the interface, game controllers, and game play. For being just in middle school, credit goes to the reviewers for not spending any time on just ripping the game to shreds. In fact these guys are actually pretty complimentary.

"A big part of the game is that it is really realistic," one of them states in the opening overview. "Everyone in your party could actually die."

One great part comes when playing the game, the students are notified of a family member dying of typhoid. "We'll just continue like we know what that is," one remarks.

The part that does my heart the best though is the reviewers enthusiastically showing the audience how to hunt for food. It's great to see that 35 years  and generations of players later, it's still a favorite part of the game.

Great work guys! I really enjoyed it.

Connect Agriculture and STEM Through Coding

In our third grade STEM classes at Hamilton Community Schools we spend a lot of time investigating the science and technology of farming. Hamilton straddles Allegan and Ottawa Counties in Michigan, the two top ag producing counties in the state. All of our students are either involved in farming or know other families who are. In STEM we show them how being successful as farmers takes high levels of scientific knowledge, technical skills, and an increasing level of innovation. Even though we live right in the middle of the "farm belt", every kid across America needs an understanding of how and where our food is produced. Whether you're in Hamilton, Michigan or Brooklyn this unit can deepen understanding and open minds to all that is involved with feeding a nation.

Here is a progression of activities I do to build these skills with a heavy focus on engineering and computer science.

Open Their Eyes: Most of our kids have seen the big pieces of machinery out in the fields plowing and harvesting but only a few have actually had the chance to get up close. YouTube provides a bunch of great videos that take kids inside the machinery and highlight technical advances.

•Farmers Reap the Benefit of Driverless Tractor Tech - CBS This Morning
•John Deere: Improving Farm Efficiency with Technology
•2016 John Deere Combine Features Video

These videos are great for showing kids what is already in use and can spark the innovative imagination as we move forward by asking them to design the farm equipment of the future.

For an overall look into the real lives of a variety of different types of farmers, nothing beats DiscoveringFarmland.com from the US Farmers and Ranchers Alliance. Lesson plans, digital interactive games, and clips from the documentary Farmland highlight what is available.

Practice: The American Farm Bureau offers a great set of farming-based games and their Equipment Engineer game fits perfectly into this unit. Learners travel around the world and are given agricultural scenarios where they pick the best equipment for the job. Through the game, they are gaining knowledge of the way different pieces can be used as well as how farm equipment solves a wide range of challenges.

Get Designing: This is also a great spot to introduce the Design Process and for kids the PBS series "Design Squad" provides lots of resources like cool graphics and the "Kid Engineer" videos are super helpful, especially the Bike Trailer one.  

For creating designs we use Apple's Keynote on our iPads. There is a lot that can be done with the app besides making slideshows. Kids use their imagination to start designing what could be possible in futuristic farm equipment. This is a great activity for detailing designs and the really great Keynote users even are able to animate their designs. Video of our students designing.

[caption id="attachment_1573" align="alignleft" width="300"] Students use Keynote on the iPad to design farm equipment.[/caption]

Building for Function: It is one thing to dream up the future but it is a big task to actually build something functional, even if it is a model made of Legos. This can be a difficult hurdle for kids to clear because for most of them all of their use of Legos has been  purely imaginary. We spend time building vehicles with Legos that must be powered by a robotic Sphero. Here is where young engineers get really good at analyzing flaws and making tweaks as part of the design process. We start off building vehicles that can move straight ahead as just accomplishing that can be a task. Eventually students get to where the vehicles can actually maneuver around the playground.

[caption id="attachment_1574" align="alignleft" width="425"] Students engineer a Lego vehicle powered by a Sphero.[/caption]

Bring in the Computational Thinking:  The great thing about Spheros is that their movement can be controlled down to a fraction of a second by the Tickle app. By using a block programming, kids sort and build out a list of commands for the Sphero to perform. When we first start with the Lego vehicles, we simply tell the device to go as fast as it can in one direction. We ramp the coding up greatly when we start to simulate jobs machinery would perform on the farm.

Students are given a small plot of ground on the playground (or in the gym depending on weather) and have to program the Sphero to "plow" or "harvest" the field. Below is some sample starter code that students might assemble for their Sphero.

[caption id="attachment_1575" align="aligncenter" width="525"] Block coding in the Tickle app used to control robotic Spheros[/caption]

Not only are there tremendous calculations our third graders are making like angles, velocity, and time, but there is a deeper benefit in the way they must think logically to make something real actually happen. They create loops of commands and must algebraically figure a number of variables.

Last year was my first year as a STEM teacher after having taught 16 years in a technology-only classroom. By far the greatest reward was seeing students grab a sense of power over their world when they were able to program an app to make something real happen. It is one thing to program something on a screen, but when they can send a robotic sphere all of the way to the office from their classroom, they become real "do-ers" full of confidence to tackle real tasks.

Putting it All Together: This unit starts with gaining understanding and then progresses to imagining and eventually building and controlling. It takes time and patience and not all kids will progress at the same rate and some may not even finish it...and that is okay. Those who progress really quickly can be given extra challenges. I am planning on giving my "high flyers" a kite, a 3D printing pen and a GoPro and ask them to create a tool a farmer could use to survey crops. We will spend six weeks (meeting once a week for an hour) on this project this year but no matter where individuals are on our last session, we will dedicate a major chunk of time to discussing how the innovation we simulated helps preserve resources and promotes sustainability.

Evaluations and Reflections: Our STEM classes focus heavily on the Next Gen Science Engineering Standards. We are constantly monitoring how individuals are progressing through:

•Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.

•Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

•Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.

We also write, sketch, and reflect daily in STEM journals that students use from kindergarten through fourth grade. We talk about how STEM time is different than any other time at school. We are not just doing school, we are together designers, engineers, and scientists and journals and sketchbooks are tools these people use to do their jobs.



As we continue to develop our STEM classes we are discovering the power in tying STEM concepts like design and coding with real-life challenges rooted in our community. Someday we hope that our current students will not only graduate and do great things...but will do those great things right here in Hamilton.

Follow our Hamilton STEM adventures at TinyUrl.com/HawkSTEM
Catch us on Twitter and Instagram as @htownstem

#AppleTeacher iBooks Collection - Teaching with Mac OS Sierra

Whether you've set it as a professional goal to earn Apple Teacher certification or just want to sharpen your abilities to teach with a Mac, this iBooks collection from Apple Education has everything you need to up your
game. All books are free and feature realistic teaching scenarios. The Teaching with iPad collection is also available in iTunesU and the iBooks store.

Mac OS Starter Guide	iBook
Enhancing Productivity with Mac	iBook
Fostering Creativity with Mac	iBook
Pages for Mac	iBook
Keynote for Mac	iBook
Numbers for Mac	iBook
iMovie for Mac	iBook
GarageBand for Mac	iBook

Learning with Mr. Losik: Student Friendly Research Links

At my classrom site MrLosik.blogspot.com I just added a list of updated elementary level links for research. After doing some routine maintenance on the site, I discovered that many ofgoogle play store update my go-to links for years had bitten the cyber-dust or have been essentially left for dead. Here is a link to the updated list.

Check out: Learning with Mr. Losik: Student Friendly Research Links

Take a Virtual Field Trip to 3M with Discovery Education

Discovery Education has done some great virtual field trips from all over the world but their most recent from 3M's innovation labs might be one of their best ever. With one exciting revelation after another, classes can explore the science behind some of the things we use constantly like the screens on our smart phones and tablets. The video is available on demand and hosted by one of the hosts of Science Channel's relaunch of Mythbusters.

Check out www.youngscientistlab.com/vft to watch now.

"Wide-Open Spaces" Want creative thinkers? Help kids create, says Mitch Resnick – MIT Spectrum

THE LIFELONG KINDERGARTEN GROUP AT THE MIT MEDIA LAB, led by Mitchel Resnick SM ’88, PhD ’92, is known for its educational innovations: the Computer Clubhouse Network, an after-school environment where kids from underserved communities learn to express themselves creatively with new technologies; a 30-year collaboration with the LEGO company begun by Resnick’s mentor, the late MIT professor Seymour Papert, which yielded the robotics kits branded as LEGO Mindstorms; and Scratch, a visual programming language

Read an Interview with Mitchel Resnick on the idea of letting kids create: Wide-Open Spaces – MIT Spectrum

The Hottest Tech Toys from Toy Fair 2017

From VR-powered drones to life-like robots and digitally-connected teddy bears, New York Toy Fair had lots of great gadgets.

Check out "Tom's Guide": The Hottest Tech Toys from Toy Fair 2017

Hamilton Codes with Swift Playgrounds

Fourth Graders are the perfect age for learning to code. Apple's Swift Playgrounds combines fun challenges that build upon each other to increase student skills. It's fun and engaging and builds many other thinking skills.

Apple also provides great teaching materials in its Swift iTunes U courses.

Opportunities Abound in Relationships with Educational Vendors | MACUL Community

One late summer evening I was enjoying the company of several other educators who were all presenters at the next day’s large edtech conference. Somehow a little friendly razzing found its way in my direction. The other teachers in the group were giving me a hard time about all of the “corporate” ties I have.

Check out the whole article at the new MACUL Community: Opportunities Abound in Relationships with Educational Vendors | MACUL Community

Embrace The Learning Curve This Christmas Morning

The more I talk to kids about what they are dreaming about showing up under the Christmas tree, the more I hear about really cool, high tech gadgets like virtual reality headsets, 3D printers, robots like Spheros or Ozobots, and drones.

Here is a newsflash. All of those items are amazing and all of those items can be really hard to use at the start. I am not trying to play The Grinch here; I am telling you now so you can be ready for the learning curve.

When kids dream of drones, they don't dream of a parent muttering words that could get them on the naughty list while trying to assemble it. They don't dream of an endless series of 3 second flights either. They dream of that thing lifting off in the living room and capturing with its camera the majesty of a Christmas morning. Reality is that these toys can make many dreams come true but it will take time. Here are some tips.

1. Prepare yourself. Whether you receive the gift or give the gift, understand that the cool stuff you saw happening in the YouTube promotional video probably was highly edited and performed by the inventors of the device. Make that kind of high level use your goal....someday, not right out of the box.

2. Seek out help. Speaking of YouTube, most companies now post many product support videos online. When I bought my XYZ Mini Maker 3D printer I found their online support videos to be far more detailed and helpful than the printed instructions. You can also often find videos created by other users of the product that share their own tweaks and helpful hints. Use all of the knowledge that exists and that people are willing to share. It can make a big difference.

3. Make it about the journey. Instead of pouting that your first 3D printed phone case turned out more like something stuck to the pan at the bottom of great grandma's egg casserole, have a laugh and know your skills will greatly improve. Try and figure out what went wrong so you can improve upon future designs. Keep that lumpy pile of goo so that when you are cranking out really cool stuff you can look back and see how far you have come. It has taken me months to produce anything really useful with my printer.

4. Remember 1 thing. Everything is awesome! We are so lucky to be living in the day and age we do....especially over the holidays. If you need a reminder, just listen to the old Christmas carol "Up on the Housetop." Here is what those kids got from Dear Old Saint Nick:

"Next comes the stocking of little Will
Oh, just see what a glorious fill
Here is a hammer and lots of tacks
Also a ball and a whip that cracks"

No VR headset for little Will? Bummer. Poor Will probably had to go fix the roof and then drive the oxen to town that day once all of the wrapping paper was cleaned up. The point is.....if you get something amazing, be grateful, and when (not if) it doesn't work perfectly right at the start, be happy about that. Don't get mad. Getter better at it.

Keep Rowing | The Players' Tribune #RTB

Whether you're into College Football or not, the infectious PJ Fleck and his "Row The Boat" philosophy translate well to any school or classroom culture. Having earned my Masters degree from Western, it is great to see the amazing things Fleck and the team are doing on the field, but it's what's happening behind the scenes that is the most inspiring.

The Players Tribune is easily my favorite sports publication, probably because it speaks to the life experiences and not just to the box scores. Give it a read.

You see, I don’t ask my players for their very best only on game day. I push them to hold themselves to that standard every single day.

Article: Keep Rowing | The Players' Tribune

Use Swift Playgrounds Resources with any Coding Program

Apple's  Swift Playgrounds app and their "Everyone Can Code" initiative is a great program for learning the coding language that powers iOS apps. Not only is there a puzzle-based app an immersive learning experience, there are numerous teacher resources in both iBooks and iTunes U. For iBooks there are three teacher guides: Level 1 and 2, Level 3, and App Development.

Now, the Swift Playgrounds program might not be a fit for every classroom because it has to be done on an iPad running iOS 10 and be one of the following generations:  iPad Air, iPad mini 2 or newer, or any size iPad Pro. I work out of four elementary schools and only one has iPads that can run the app.

Even though I use other others like studio.code.org and Google CS-First in my other buildings, there are still a lot of great resources that Apple offers that I use as demonstration even when our activities are Scratch-based. Fellow Apple Distinguished Educator Gabriella Meyers hosts a number of videos within the iTunes U course that explain concepts like algorithms and functions but don't reference Swift specifically. I have found them to be great, concise explanations my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders really understand. Sometime you just need someone else to explain it.

So, it doesn't matter what coding instructions you are using. Take a look inside of what Apple offers for Swift Playgrounds. You might find a lot that is useful.

[caption id="attachment_1428" align="aligncenter" width="452"] Apple Distinguished Educator Gabriella Meyers explains functions in an iTunes U course.[/caption]

Find Great Apple Teacher Resources In iBooks Store

Whether you are pursuing the various badges that Apple now offers as part of its Apple Teacher program or just looking to sharpen your Mac and iPad skills, the iBooks store is full of great resources. Two series of multi-touch iBooks are available for using iPads and Macs in the classroom. Here are some of the titles available.

Each iBook contain video tutorials that allows the user to actually see the skill being performed in detail. Below is a page from the iMovie for Mac guide.

Additionally, Apple Teacher just began offering a path for earning badges for its new coding tutorial app Swift Playgrounds.

Below is a direct link to  the iBooks resources. For more information about the program, click here.


 

Top Gifts for Young Engineers - 2016 Edition - Left Brain Craft Brain

The Top Gifts for Young Engineers gift guide is packed full of STEM toys and activities that will keep kids having fun and learning this Christmas.

Source: Top Gifts for Young Engineers - 2016 Edition - Left Brain Craft Brain

Win an Agricultural Grant for Your Middle School #ScienceOfSoil

Official Discovery Education Release:

 



Second Annual Let it Grow Contest is Now Open! 

Discovery Education and the Nutrients for Life Foundation have joined forces again to give six lucky schools a chance to win big with the Let it Grow Contest. 

Open to educators and community adults nationwide, the Let it Grow Contest encourages entrants to vote DAILY for a middle school* of their choice for a chance to win an agricultural grant, which could be used towards a school garden or gardening supplies, and more! 

Check out the Prizing: 

• One Grand Prize winning school will receive a $5,000 agricultural grant and an introduction to a local agronomist!


• Five Runners-Up will each win a $1,000 agricultural grant and an opportunity to win a celebratory winner event.

Entering is Easy: 

• Answer five soil related quiz questions to unlock the contest application


• Find Your school and provide your contact information


• Most importantly, come back and enter daily


• Don't forget to share with your friends for extra entries!

*Includes all 6-8 public, private, and parochial schools, or schools with a middle component, e.g. K-12 institutions.

For more FREE soil science resources, click here. 

Questions? Email us at FromtheGroundUp@Discovery.com 

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE CHANCES OF WINNING. Voting open to legal residents of the 50 U.S. and D.C., age 18+. Subject to Official Rules. Voting ends 3/14/17 at 5:00PM ET. Void where prohibited by law. 

Remix...Don't Reinvent STEM Lesson Plans

As I get ready to embark on my newest adventure of switching from an elementary Infotech teacher to an elementary STEM teacher, I have been doing a lot of lesson planning.

Luckily there are tons of STEM lesson plans readily available on the web. Some obviously are better than others but here is a list of the best ones I have encountered. Check them out.

CUE SteamPunk 

Sphero SPRK Lessons

Dash and Dot Curriculum

Polar 3D Printer Cloud 

Brian Briggs • Rock Star Drone Academy • Coding Playground

Engineering is Elementary

Cogniflex is a nootropic equation that guarantees to soar your fixation and lift your inventiveness utilizing research-upheld regular fixings. Here's our Cogniflex Review 2017. Cogniflex is a dietary supplement that comes in bundles of 60 cases. By taking two cases each day, you can purportedly appreciate nootropic benefits.

STEM Collaborative • 2

NC State: The Engineering Place

STEMpact: Lesson Design Resources • Sample Plans

Lesson Plan Template • 2

10 Ways To Stop the Summer Slide

The following was posted for my elementary kids on my classroom blog mrlosik.blogspot.com.  I am sharing it here to offer up some ideas teachers can use to help their own students avoid the "summer slide".

Don't let the last nine months of hard work simply slip away. Here are tens ways to keep the knowledge, creativity, and problem solving growing.

1. Read. Our local libraries are amazing places and wonderfully cool on hot days. Holland's Herrick District Library has lot of summer activities planned and so does the Saugatuck Douglas Library. The Kent District Library in Grand Rapids does too if your family is up for a little reading road trip. Best of all, they are all free. Another free online resource is the Michigan Electronic Library's kids section.

Your family can also sign up for Epic Books and have unlimited access to all kinds of digital books for your iPad or tablet. Think of it like Netflix for books with tons of the best titles like Big Nate and Bad Kitty. Epic is $4.99 per month and the first month is free. That's less than a pizza and whether you like fiction or non-fiction, there is something for everybody.

2. Practice Math Facts. Teaching and learning are a lot like playing sports. Professional football players don't just sit around all summer waiting for training camp. They are doing something everyday to become faster, stronger, and smarter. Whether it's running, lifting weights, or perfecting how to better cover a pass, they know without it, they won't be successful. The same is true with math facts. The more they become automatic, the more you can move on to more exciting stuff. Spend time on IXL and XtraMath this summer building your speed, strength, and brain. Here is the Blue Star IXL login.

3. Build Something. One of the main reasons we do math is so we can make cool stuff. Anybody can be a worksheet monkey but is really special to do something with your math skills. Whether you are just nailing wood together on a workbench or creating your own iPad speakers you have to be able to measure your pieces and solve equations. Check out Instructables.com and you will be amazed at all of the projects from simple to mind-blowing. Most even use things you just have lying around the house.

4. Get Outside and Explore. Did you know that in Michigan you are never more than six miles from water? West Michigan is literally one of the best places on earth to spend the summer. Whether it is a visit to a park, the woods, or the beach there are great places to explore just minutes from your house.  The Shore Acres Park near the Felt Mansion has all of that and more. Walk the trails and check out the different trees and then look for fossils, sea glass, and special rocks on beach. The Lake Michigan Rock Picker's Guide is a great book for identifying what you find. Here is a cool blog with some other information. Pier Cove, Westside County Park, Douglas Beach, and Laketown Beach are all free and close by.

5. Grow Something and Eat It. You might live on a big farm or you might live in a tiny apartment, but everyone has enough room for a flower pot or planter. Go big on a whole garden or just spend a buck or two on some green bean seeds and plant them in sturdy pot. Give them water and sun and soon you will have a beanstalk offering up a crisp healthy snack. Gardening Fundamentals  is a great place to start. Print out the journal to track your gardening.

6. Learn to Code. Why just play video games when you can learn an entire new language and build your own? Visit CODE.org and work on a couple of challenges like the Mindcraft, Star Wars or Frozen ones. If you get caught by the coding bug, keep going and try one of their 20 Hour Courses. There is something for every grade level from pre-school on up. Completing these courses will actually give you a nice boost on a career in computer science or set you up to build your own game.

7. Catch the Olympic Spirit. The world's best athletes are headed to Rio de Janeiro in August for the 2016 summer Olympics. Sharpen your geography and boost your knowledge by digging into the history of the games, researching your favorite athletes, and making the flags you find most interesting. Teachervision.com has a great site for getting started. NBC will provide hundreds of hours of coverage but you don't have to wait until August. Check out NBCOlympics.com now to learn all about what is coming up from Rio.

8. Play60. Just go outside and play. You don't have to spend money going to a sports or summer camp. It doesn't even matter if there are any other kids around either. Speaking of Olympics, set up your own events even if you just draw a line, pick up a rock, and jump as far as you can. Set the rock down next to where your back heel landed. Try to beat it. If you want to do some moving with a pro athlete, check out Washington Redskins' Ryan Kerrigan leading some agility activities from Discovery Education and the NFL. Getting creative outside is great for mind and body.

9. Go new places. If you have opportunity to take a trip, understand how lucky you are to be getting out and experiencing new places. Just paying attention to how the scenery changes or the importance of physical and human-created landmarks is the best social studies lesson anybody can have. Even if it doesn't work out for your family to embark on an epic journey just go somewhere different like a park you've never explored. Try to unplug as much as possible but if you are going to bring along a device use it to capture and then share the adventure. Here are some great apps for that.

10. Do Something For Someone Else. No matter what you do this summer, do something for someone else. The real reward is the feeling you get inside. I've always believed true friendship is true service so just randomly decide to help someone do something like empty the dishwasher or even clean your room without being told. The more you volunteer your time and talents, the more likely you will return to school in the fall ready to be the kind of kid that makes any school a better place to be.

Our summer vacation is something we can't take for granted. Find a nice balance of recovering from this school year, resting up for the next one, and finding ways to keep your brain firing while you make it the best one ever!

10 Ways Glowforge Can Disrupt Education

It's been a long time since I have been more excited about the introduction of a piece of technology than I am for the Glowforge.



Aside from all of the personal ways I can see Glowforge help bring my creativity to life, this single device has the potential to revolutionize so many of the ways we do things in the typical school. I have often said, "There is a lot of money to be made in education...just not in teaching." Schools spend a ton of money that goes to vendors, but here are 10 ways a single Glowforge can change that.

1. Die Cut Letters - The Ellison die cut machines have dominated the bulletin board making market my entire career and their stuff is expensive. A single set of alphabet tiles runs $500 and it takes a ton of time to plan and cut that "Hurry Spring" signage. With a Glowforge you can throw a stack of construction paper into the machine and have your whole set of cut-outs zipped out in a couple of minutes...and you're not stuck with one font either. If you can type it on an device, you can cut it out of construction paper.

2. Mothers Day Gifts - Think about the huge ramp-up in production value that the average elementary school class could do when it comes to personalized gift crafting. Goodbye paper plate bouquets and hello personalized wooden votive candle holders.

3. Awards and Trophies - Athletic departments and honor societies spend huge amounts of their budgets on trophies, plaques, and awards. Think about the amount of money that could be saved if schools just bought the raw materials and engraved all of their own awards. What if a school created a class where kids designed and created all of the awards? A teacher may have to do final names but 90% of the work could be student driven and done at a fraction of the dough Ned at the trophy shop is charging.

4. Inventory Engraving - Speaking of engraving...instead of a jittery hand with an engraving pen or a sticker that is easily removed, schools could engrave items like laptops and iPads with attractive, permanent identifiers. Check out what Glowforge designers have done with a Macbook.

 

5. Staff ID Badges - Get creative and save money by creating personalized staff or visitor badges by cutting and engraving them from your choice of materials.

6. Pro-Style Locker Labels - If you have ever seen an interview from a professional or big-time college sports locker room then you've seen the fancy headers above each locker sporting the athlete's name, number, and team logo. With some creativity and cheap 1"x2" lumber, a school could give its athletes the pro treatment.

7. School Spirit Items - Lots of schools sell items as fundraisers and to boost school spirit. Instead of eating up profits by going to one of the national suppliers, schools could begin buying blank stock items and doing the engraving and laser cutting themselves with a Glowforge. You can't screen print with it but you can create some amazing luggage tags, pendants, and other personalized signage that can generate spirit, pride, and revenue.

8. Etsy Class - Think of all of the economics and entrepreneurship that can be experienced when students begin to design, create, and market products with a Glowforge. With sites like Etsy and Mercari as global marketplaces, individual students may begin to peddle their wares  to the far reaches of the Internet. It sure beats 180 days of PowerPoint lectures and worksheets.

9. Trick Out Your Office Space - With every Glowforge purchase comes access to the members' catalog that features projects ready to print and assembly. This iPhone stand is one example of the cool stuff that staff can create for themselves and add a high end, start-up, feel to the workplace. There are a ton of neat items like this available. Glowforge features a similar computer stand in many of its promotional materials that was cut as flat pieces and then glued together.

10. Hands-on Classroom Products - Instead of buying any of these items, just create your own.

•Wooden or Acrylic Cut-out Letters and Numbers for the early elementary classroom

•Wooden or Acrylic Cut-out Shapes or other math manipulates that can be used K-12

•3D Geometrical Shapes that can be cut from all kinds of materials from cardboard to plastics

•United States or World Puzzles cut from plywood or plastic. Team with the art teacher and have kids paint and label each state or country.

•3D Models of Landmarks can be elaborately created by cutting flat slices and assembling a bunch of pieces like this Space Needle or just cut and engrave a 2D image on piece of wood thick enough to stand up on its own or with a small additional brace.

Like I said, I haven't been more excited about a piece of technology in a long time. It can turn all kinds of creative dreams into reality but it has nearly infinite potential to impact how we do things and what we can create in our schools.