After reading chapter 2 of Steal Like an Artist by: Austin Kleon, there are 3 guiding principles of creating that I was able to draw out.
Principle 2 - "Pretend to be making something until you actually make something"(Kleon pg. 30). It is okay to not know what you are doing, but give yourself some confidence! Pretend you got it, and it won't seem as hard. One day, you will actually get it! Principle 3 - Be a Good Thief! It is okay to steal some information, just be nice about it. Look to multiple people for inspiration. Give credit where credit is do; honor your inspiration (Twitter shoutout anyone?). And make it yours. Start with what your mentors have taught you, but then make it your own. That way they can steal from you!
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Living in the world of technology, there are many things that we can do now that we were not able to do in the world before technology. Some people think that technology limits us when it comes to connecting with others. In doctors offices and in subway trains, everyone is now on their devices rather than talking to each other. But they are still connecting, just in their own way.
Enter the Empathy Survey. When you cannot meet face to face with the people you are working with, it makes it difficult to understand who they are as a person. An Empathy Survey looks to build that connection by asking questions that then get you thinking about how a person ticks. While it doesn't replace face to face conversations (you can't ask follow up questions or see how they react when asked a question) it still gives you an understanding as to who that person is and how you can better work with them.
After reading different schools of design thinking, the three most important aspects of it I believe are: Empathy, Brainstorm, and Build (EBB).
Empathize - Chocolate is something that people reach for when they need comfort. Understanding what makes people tick, what people reach for when they need comfort, is the key to design thinking.
Brainstorm - Just like coming up with what you are going to eat for the week, when you are design thinking you need to come up with ideas to try. I feel like this is a crucial process, because it lets you be the most creative. If you don't brainstorm, you have one idea that you go with, and the first idea isn't always the best. Build - You build jam, and you need to build the idea from your brainstorming that you settled on. If you didn't end up with a product, what was the point?
Like this sunflower, I am still growing. This is my 4th year teaching 6th grade ELA/Social Studies. The sunflower also represents the farm that I grew up on, and the August wedding I will be having next year! I like to be active. I hope to run some more 5Ks this fall. I am also currently in a StepBet competition where I have to get 9,500 for an active day and just under 12,000 for a power day. This summer I climbed Mt. Katahdin for the first time. Flexible seating is a huge plug in education right now, and I am shamelessly going to plug my Donors Choose project that I have up currently. At the end of last year I got 2 wobble stools from Donors Choose, and now I need more. They help the students to focus, and two stools doesn't cut it. There are way more than two kids who can benefit from using them. Please think about donating to my project, or even sharing it on your Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram pages! Every little small things helps, and my students and I will be very grateful.
Thank you for listening to my shameless plug; have a good night! Summer learning; we all do it right!? Well the past two days I have been participating in the South Coast Maine Summit for Google Education at Biddeford High School. A long way from Lincoln, but totally worth it. Before I even dive into my learning, let me just say that you can find their future events HERE and I recommend going. Our two Keynote speakers were Eric Lawson and Caitlyn Bennett. You should go give them a follow on Twitter right now because they were both AMAZING! I actually ended up going to 3 presentations by Eric, not including his Keynote speech, and a lot of what I learned came from those presentations. Okay, now onto the learning. Google ExtensionsSo my very first session was about Google Extensions (and it was with Eric). My huge take away, why wasn't I all ready using these? Extensions help make your life more organized and more productive. I have my favorites down below and here is a link to the session notes.
Google Add-onsAlso an Eric Lawson presentation, I learned a lot about Google Add-ons. Like extensions, they make your life easier. Unlike extensions, you need to be in the app to get them. So if I want an add-on for Google Docs, I need to be in Google Docs. Here are the session notes, and my favorite take aways.
Google Forms
Google Sheets
Google Docs
I also learned some great things about Google Expeditions and Google Tour Builder, but these are some of the best take aways I can offer. Once I have more time to reflect and plot, I hope to have a post about my plan for Genius Hour, as that was my ENORMOUS take away from this conference. Straight up, this wasn't my idea. In my summer scrolling last year I found this article about gamifying reading. Don't ask me where that article is now, because I have no clue; just a disclaimer that I am not the one who came up with this wonderful idea. Onto my excitement. This past year I tested out gamify reading with my 6th grade class. Some students really took to it, others did not, but it was year 1, now I am getting ready for year 2. Last years' poster is shown here on the side. It was completely teacher made, and the students didn't have a say into what rewards they got or when they got them. As I said before, this worked well for some students, but I am concerned about the ones it didn't work for. So it was back to the drawing board. I knew I wanted to add more levels, as my avid readers busted past the 12 books, some going into 2 punch bookmarks. But the question then became "how do I get those that don't want to read." The answer came to me when I was chatting with one of my edtechs at the end of the year. She told me that when her son was little she would have him choose what reward he would get for doing what. She gave him ownership and choice. How many times have we talked about how we need this in the classroom??? So that is my goal. I have a list of rewards that I am going to have them rank. The thing that they want the most, will be the hardest thing to get. Hopefully, fingers and toes crossed, this will motivate them to read more. It also doesn't hurt that I have cute little bookworms to mark their progress as the move up the continuum. These posters will be laminated and then the rewards will be expoed on once the students have ranked them. I recommend that if you don't have a reading system in place with your students to try something like this. Before I punch their bookmark, I ask them a comprehension question or two just to test and see if they actually read the book and to help them with their comprehension skills. So here is to a new school year, and a hopefully better system in place! I will let you know how it goes. My 6th grade classroom is very diverse when it comes to how they learn. I have some students who need step by step directions and others want more flexibility. Some students are ready for that flexibility, while I worry that others are not there yet developmentally. As a newbie with inquiry learning, I want to start out on something that I know will work and that my students and I will be successful at. This is why I think doing a wonder write for my informational writing unit would work so well. Last year, let my students choose a person that they wanted to study and the did biographies; however, I think they would feel much more connected to the project if I left it to the wider question: "Research a topic that you wonder about. Become an expert on it, and then teach me about it." Although I worry that this might be too broad for some students, this would be an end of the year writing unit. I am hoping that in the time between now and trimester 3, I can build them up to where they will feel comfortable doing a unit like this. With the writing skills that they come into my classroom with, I wouldn't think of starting with a unit like this, because they haven't really been exposed to writing essays, nor have they been exposed to doing research on their own. By having this be their last writing unit, I am going to be able to build up their research skills and their writing skills. Building Blocks1) The first step on our route to completing an inquiry project is to learn how to do research. To do this, I have started to use some of the lessons from Common Sense Media. When my students come into my classroom, a lot of them think research is using Google Images. By using the Common Sense Media lessons on research, I am helping my students gain the research skills that they will need in order to complete a Wonder Writing Project. These include learning what a keyword is, and the best ways to find the information that you want. 2) The next step that I would take in order to prepare myself and my students for this project is to brush up more on Genius Hour. As a teacher, sometimes it can be very hard to step back and let the students work through a process on their own. In order for the Wonder Writing Project to work how I would want it to, this is something that I would have to do. One thing that I would probably do is run a mini trial where I give students a limited amount of time to work on a Wonder Project. This can help them as well as me get used to the project and can even give them a kick start for their writing project. This would help to differentiate for my students who need more time in making decisions. At the end of the mini project, they can write, create a presentation, or create a poster in which they pitch their idea to me. 3) Loading up you Pinterest Board! Pinterest is one of my favorite sites for finding different ideas. Lots of teachers post anchor charts to help students with the different forms of writing, and it is a great place to also locate organizers to help the students with their thoughts. Teachers Pay Teachers is another great site if you are looking for different types of organizers. Both of these sites can help you prep for for a Wonder Write Project. If you want to check out some of my teaching ideas, you can check out my Pinterest board here! 4) The last step is probably the hardest, but the simplest in theory: let the students free. Let them do the work on their own; step back and watch the magic. This blog article gives some insight into how we can start to develop our students into independent learners. I agree that it is very hard to not answer a student's question right away. I do think that I can start to encourage deeper thinking and learning by asking students to first try to think of the answer themselves, or come up with a way you could solve it. It would be a big shift, but beneficial to everyone. I also agree that strong formative feedback will help. The ProcessEssential Question: What is something that you are passionate/wonder about? Targets: ELA.07.WTI.01.04 (Gr. 6-8) 3. Is skilled at using relevant, precise information and vocabulary for a selected topic in an organized format, while using and maintaining a formal style. (analysis/ retrieval) ELA.06.WTI.01.04 (Gr. 6-8) 3. Is skilled at using relevant, precise information and vocabulary for a selected topic in an organized format (subheadings, figures, chart, table, bulleted items, multimedia) to aid audience comprehension. (analysis/retrieval) During this project, students will be digging in deeply to a question that they have on something that they are passionate about, or something that they wonder about. Not all students will choose the same questions, nor will they need to complete the same project. No where in the targets that I have to reach does it say that the students need to write an essay, even though it is a writing standard. This means that students can finish their project by writing an essay, creating a multimedia poster, creating a presentation, or creating an informational video. As long as students are using relevant and precise information, organizing their material, using a formal tone, and adding in text features, they are meeting their targets. RubricStudent Tools1) Google Slides/Screencastify Two tools that students will have to produce their projects are Google Slides and Screencastify. Students can use these two tools to create a video of their project. Students would first build their video on Google Slides, and then audio over it using Screencastify. In the SAMR model, I would say that this is redefinition as they would be able to safely put the videos out to the world where their faces and names are not involved. It is also a big step up from just writing a paper. 2) Piktochart Another tool that students can use when creating their products is Piktochart. This site allows students to combine text, images, and video all in one easily locatable and visible area; a multimedia poster may you. Students can upload all these differnet types of media and explain how they interconnect to their project. I also would consider this redefinition on the SAMR model, as I would never be able to have them put video on a sheet of paper, it just isn't possible. 3) Bubbl.us The last resource that I would give my students to use during this project would be Bubbl.us. This is a sight to help students brainstorm what they want to research about and what their next steps are. They can make different mind maps to help them visualize where their project is going and what they have to do next. Students can also email me their maps so that I can view them and know where they are going. I would say this site is on augmentation on the SAMR model because I could have them just as easily draw a map. However, not only is this neater, but students can add in links to their research. ThoughtsRight now, this project is unlike anything I have done with my students. I have completed some projects similar to this before, but on different topics in my college education. One problem that I foresee is that the students may get overwhelmed. Just today I had a student ask me to pick what he should write about, and he had three options! I can only imagine how bad that could be when I give them such freedom. I do think that by having it at the last trimester, I am helping them. If I gave this as a first project, I think that my 6th graders would be so overwhelmed, thus making me overwhelmed also. As the last "writing" unit, however, students will all ready know what I expect. I will have also given them many research tools and let them explore the online mediums. That way they won't be getting all the tech at the same time they are trying to figure out how they want to organize what they would like to do. Oh, and also end of 6th grade means more like a 6th/7th grader than a 5th grader; right? As I have said before, I work in a middle school in rural Maine. The school that I work in hosts grades 4-8. Grades 4, 5, and 6 have access to 1:1 Chromebooks, and grades 7 and 8 have access to 1:1 Macbook Airs. I work with 6th graders, so they all have their own Chromebook which they are only able to access at school. With the Chromebooks, my students and I have access to the Google Apps for Education. In my classroom, students come to me with a very interesting take on technology. While they can manage their way around their computers, their typing skills are low, and they think that internet research is to look up images on Google Images! It is my goal to better prepare these students for the rigor that 7th and 8th grade will bring to them. I hope to do this by teaching them how to type and giving them opportunities to practice, by teaching them how to internet search by using keywords and accessing websites for credibility, and finally, by teaching them how to give credit to the author of an image. I also hope to give my students time to practice their 21st Century Skills of communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking by using their new computer skills. FAACE Rubric
So I was challenged to create a rubric to assess the technology that I use, or would like to use in my classroom. After some foundational reading and some rubric searching, I came up with the FAACE Rubric. This includes my love of fancy acronyms and what I thought was important for 6th graders in what I had read.
I chose these aspects because I felt like they were developmentally appropriate to look at for 6th graders. I want them getting feedback on their learning to increase their self directed learning. I need them to be able to navigate the app on their own; I can't keep repeating directions every time we go on the app. Coming from a rural district it needs to be cheap, and if it isn't cheap, it better be beneficial to ALL of my students. One of my goals is to work on their 21st century skills which is why collaboration is important to me; and finally, the app isn't worth it if the students don't want to be on it. Kahoot!An assessment/review tool that I use with my students is Kahoot! While this app isn't project based, it is a student centered way to assess their base learning. This based learning is needed before we can move onto the project based information. Rated on my FAACE Rubric, I give it a 15/20.
Write About ItWrite About It is a website that I started using with my students this year. It is a blogging website that allows students to join groups, create blogging ideas, and write and respond to other students blogs. It has been a great collaboration and communication platform for my students this year as we have participated in the Global Read Aloud. On the FAACE Rubric, I give this site a 14/20.
ScreencastifyAn extension that I have used in my Grad class and would like to use in my classroom is Screencastify. This app would let my students create videos using their voices and the screen that is on their computer. Students can then save them on drive where I can give them feedback or upload them to a class youtube page. Once on Youtube, the global community can give the students comments on their work. On the FAACE Rubric and based on what I know about my classroom, I give this extension a 16/20.
GlogsterI have used Glogster before WAY back when I was in High School (I realize that is not very long ago, but it feels like it). It allows students to create multimedia posters. The posters can then be placed in a presentation area like Padlet. It gives students another way to demonstrate their learning. On the FAACE Rubric, I give it a 12/20, loosing a lot of points because of feedback, and making it the lowest scored app on the FAACE Rubric.
Google SlidesGoogle Slides is something that I use all the time with my students. It allows them to present the information that they collected in a safe space, and it allows them to work together, even if they are not in the same room. It is also in my mind "disaster proof" because, if a student clicks a button deleting everything, I can go back into the revision history and fix it for them! On the FAACE Rubric, this site scored the highest, with a 17/20.
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AuthorMy name is Jessica Meservey and I am a 6th grade teacher. There is no level that I would rather be teaching and learning with. I currently teach in rural Maine. I love to integrate technology into my classroom as we are 1:1. Find me on Twitter at @MsMeservey. ArchivesCategories |