Category: technology

Ed Tech & Literacy Best Practices

~ Christina Hughes ~ Leave a comment

From the start of my teaching career, I integrated technology into my classroom.  I used to be a rarity!  People would come observe me using tools and ideas that today are commonplace in schools across the country.  As education begins its transition into the 21st century, schools are quickly adapting by purchasing technology to aid instructional practices.  Teachers are beginning to use these tools to have students conduct research, create multimedia, and take the lesson plan to a different, exciting level!  
All of these are steps in the right direction.  However, we must remember that this venture into the new land of Ed Tech must be rooted in best practices.  
Using Roskos & Neuman’s article from The Reading Teacher as a guide, we’ll be discussing how educational technology can help teachers be more effective and engaging while being sure to implement best practices.

Best Practices in Reading: A 21st Century Skill Update by Roskos & Neuman
PIN: 

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How can you integrate technology into your literacy block while still holding true to the best practices highlighted by Roskos & Neuman?

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9 Best iPad Apps for Toddlers

~ Christina Hughes ~ Leave a comment

I know, I know.  The blog is supposed to be about middle school classroom tips and tricks, but let’s face it.  Lots of teachers are moms, and as a mom, I can tell you it is hard to find good information about technology appropriate for my babies!  So let me tell you my story…
We were heading to Florida to visit my in-laws and wanted to fly with the girls.  (Are you getting anxiety already for me?)  Although I had a backpack, diaper bag, and purse filled with books, toys, and snacks, I also knew that I needed a good last resort: the iPad!
I tried to do research and find apps that would be fitting for my two year old and infant, but it was difficult!  After hours of searching, I finally have a solid list.  
I filled up the iPad with a variety of apps, and the girls were GREAT!  
And I shall share my life-saving apps for toddlers with you here!
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1.  Peek-a-Boo Party:  This app is $4.99 and well worth it!  The graphics are adorable, the sound effects not nearly as annoying as they could be, and best part? It’s educational!  Ellie’s favorite when she was younger was Peekaboo Barn!  An animated barn comes on the screen.  The viewer hears knocking and an animal sound as the barn door shakes. When the kid taps the door, it opens to reveal the animal making the noise, the word for the animal and it says the word, too!
2.  Infant Zoo:  Emmeline loves this app!  When we were on the plane, my poor little one was so bored.  She loves walking around and looking at new things, so traveling all day was not her cup of tea.  This app saved us (and our fellow passengers) from a cranky cranky baby!  You can either WATCH or PLAY the app; Emmeline watches.  The screen has a blank circle with a high contrast screen, it shakes, confetti is flying, and then it POPS and changes into an animal face!  She was laughing and smiling the whole time!  Absolutely adorable.  And the Lite version will suffice!  
3.  Memory Train:  This $0.99 app is adorable.  I wanted to start getting apps that would stimulate Ellie and make her think!  This one worked.  Basically, you follow the elephant’s POV as he sits on a train and watches shapes go by.  Then he stops to think.  A thought bubble comes up, and the child has to pick either the shape or the color of the shape that passed.  She got very competitive!  Wonder where she gets it… 
4.  TinyHands Sorting: TinyHands has several versions of this Free app, and all of them are great!  The images are colorful and the games are easy!  This kids have to sort different items into its appropriate spot.  For example, one of the games has various sized clothes, and the child needs to sort the clothes to the correct person (either the adult koala bear or the baby koala bear)!
5.  Endless Reader:  These Endless apps are so amazing!!!!  I cannot say enough about them.  They offer free versions, but I definitely recommend paying for them.  They have one for learning the alphabet, one for numbers, and this one for reading sight words.  The word comes up on the screen, the speaker says the word, then, a crowd RUNS through the word scattering the letters everywhere!  The child clicks each letter (which says its name the whole time its being held) and must put the letters back in place.  Then, the word is used in a sentence which the crowd destroys again and the child must put select words back in place.  
6.  Toca Band: Ellie has so much fun with this app – it’s not educational, but it’s so cute.  There’s a stage with spots for singers.  The bottom of the screen has all different singers, think aliens, balloons, yodelers, and grandmas.  The child selects singers, puts them on the stage and they begin to sing.  The child adds singers to add to the harmony and create music.  It’s amazing… but can be slightly annoying.  Invest in headphones 🙂
 
7. Elmo Calls:  This one’s on my iPhone.  Kids can FaceTime Elmo (or Cookie Monster)!  They hit the telephone, it rings, and Elmo answers!  Sometimes he plays pretend, others he’s on a farm, but all the time, the kids are having fun!
8.  Sesame Street GO!  A free app FILLED with short video clips from Sesame Street.  There are games on the app as well, but they’re not too great.  The videos are the best part.  You can select videos based on character, topic, or skill.  They also have a lot of classics, like C is for Cookie!
9.  The Monster at the End of This Book: Growing up, this was my favorite book, so naturally I spent the $4.99 on the app for my chickies.  It’s interactive, the words are read aloud and highlighted, and it’s just great.  Grover reads the whole book, but the kids have to tackle the obstacles themselves.  At one part, the kids have to hammer down a brick wall!  
I hope this list helps you find appropriate, fun, and educational apps for your little ones! 

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Classflow: Make Your Presentations INTERACTIVE! ::cross post!::

~ Christina Hughes ~ 1 Comment



Like many of my teacher readers, I like starting class with a Do-Now, and since I teach English, we complete a daily grammar practice.  Prior to having a one-to-one school, this would be a worksheet students would complete, and every day a different student set would come to the board.  We tried to make it collaborative, tried to assess every student quickly and daily, but it took time… too much time for a warm-up.



But there is good news!  I’ve discovered a new tool that has revolutionized my classroom, especially this section:  Classflow.

Classflow turns any presentation interactive, allowing me to send individual slides to the entire class, small groups, or specific students and have them engage with the material.  I can conduct polls, formative assessments, and even summative assessments using Classflow.  The image beside shows the options for the polls; my favorite is the creative response!  

For the creative response, students can use text, images, and even a marker to annotate the slide and return it to the teacher.  But here’s the best part.  Remember those daily grammar practices? 

Well, now I can send them to the students through Classflow, have the students individually annotate them, and when the students submit their responses, each student’s answer comes on the screen and I can review them all quickly and easily!  The students receive instant feedback, I can assess the entire class on the skill quickly and accurately, and best of all, I have data collected from the kids in front of me to guide the instruction for the class period!  

I use Classflow for so much more than these grammar exercises, but it’s a quick and easy example of how my teaching has changed!  

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about this tool!



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Virtual Field Trips: Links Included!

~ Christina Hughes ~ Leave a comment

Looking to try virtual field trips with your class?  
Check out some of my favorite resources to really engage your students with the content!

1.  Google’s Virtual Field Trips
 
2. Google+ or Skype
 
Boston Tea Party Experience:  http://www.bostonteapartyship.com/virtual-tours
 
3.  YouTube Virtual Field Trips
 
Atlanta’s International Terminal:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isxfYBSh2q4
 
Plimoth Plantation: The First Thanksgiving:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5qi3Meqy24
4.  National Parks/Monuments
5.  Other
 

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Going One-to-One? Use this guide for integrating tech!

~ Christina Hughes ~ Leave a comment

Since the addition of Chromebooks into our school this year, the pressures of using technology throughout a class period pulses through the halls.  Teachers, novice and veterans alike, are finding themselves on a frantic search for technology tools to integrate into their lessons… but at the end of the day, are we finding the RIGHT tools?

The following is the process I am seeing many educators go through:

  1. Find a website/tool that seems appealing
  2. Think of a lesson or content that is upcoming
  3. Create a way to integrate the tool into the lesson
As a result, students are using technology and at times, creating things that seem very impressive.  Yet, when scratching the surface of the product, it is clear the learning objective was not the focus  – using technology was more important than students learning the content.
At the end of the day, though teachers are USING the technology, it is not being used in a purposeful way; it is simply being used.  
When looking to integrate technology, the process needs to flip.  It must start with the learning objective.
  1. What is my teaching objective?
  2. How will I know when the students have mastered the objective?  What skills do they need to acquire and/or demonstrate?
  3. Can technology make this process more effective, engaging, simplistic/advanced?
  4. In what ways can technology support this lesson?
  5. Which web tool can help me achieve this goal?  
My best piece of advice:  at the end of the activity, reflect.  

What did the students throughout this process?  

The answer should be your learning objective!

Don’t forget!  Good teaching is good teaching.  Trust yourself as a professional.  The decisions made about your lesson plans should always focus on achieving mastery of the skills/content on the student’s end.  
Keep that UBD mindset from your undergraduate classes fresh in your mind when integrating technology!
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Looking to change your thought process?
There are several great infographics to help teachers sort through this process since it CAN be overwhelming, especially to those new to technology integration.
I’ve included several resources below to help through this thinking process!
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4 Must-Try Websites for Your Middle School Classroom!

~ Christina Hughes ~ Leave a comment

Our school just went one-to-one this year, and though I’ve been using technology in the classroom for years, I’m finding this year it’s different.

Before, I’d sign out the laptops and have them for a week.  This was just enough time to complete a project for students.  Technology for project creation… that I was rocking.

But technology for everyday use in the classroom?  That’s another story. 

Thankfully, these four tools have played a crucial role in my classroom.  Instead of letting technology take over my classroom, I’ve been using it as a way to assess student learned daily!

Socrative:  Using a unique class code, students can join your virtual class.  They can take quizzes, play games like Space Race, and even use an Exit Ticket.  My go-to is the Quick Question.  As I’m lecturing, giving notes, or reviewing a model, I can pose a question verbally to the class, and click “Quick Question”.  The students’ screen will change, allowing them to type in a response using any device.  All student responses come up on the board, and I can select whether or not I want to display student names.  This is great for creating those teachable moments!  Assess right away and address right away!

Padlet:  Formerly known as Wallwisher, Padlet is a virtual corkboard.  As a teacher, you can create a “board” and send the link to your students.  Students simply double click and can create virtual post-it notes with text, hyperlinks, images, and even videos!  I’ve used this to help build background knowledge on a topic – it has been great!

Blendspace:  I’ve been using this for independent station work or reviews of certain topics.  Teachers can create their own “spaces” – a webpage with multiple tiles.  Tiles can be text, websites, videos, powerpoints, PDF files, questions for assessments… and more!  Teachers can easily find resources for the tiles within Blendspace and students can easily navigate through the teacher’s resources to complete the given task!

Formative:  Formative is a tool I just found recently and it’s completely revolutionized classwork.  Again, I have a classcode I give to the students.  When they log into my class, they can find my assignments and get to work.  I can upload PDFs or Word Documents and then annotate them with text, videos, and most importantly, questions.  As the students go through the document and answer questions, the teacher screen changes.  I can watch every student type their answer to each question in real time  – and message them to have a conversation about their work without changing screens!  Think of it like watching mini Google Docs on one screen. IT IS AMAZING!

Are there any Must-Try websites you use in your classroom?

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