Moving Along with Our Flipped Classroom

Well, things are progressing with our 7th grade math flipped classroom pilot as we test the waters for next years full implementation. The iPads have gone home all this week and have been returned each daily ready for use in class.

The math teacher and I have been co-teaching all this week doing some math instruction but also introducing and modeling good use of the iPad and apps. We set up the student's Gaggle email accounts and are finding this a good way for the teacher and students to communicate.

Yesterday we introduced PaperPort Notes. We emailed a short student survey to the students and had them "Open In" PaperPort Notes. They learned how to use the pencil tool to write, inserting a text box to type, and we even practiced with the "Tap to Speak" tool using the voice to text capabilities.

Today everyone practice creating their own notes in PaperPort Notes. We inserted the different types of paper and used the various annotation tools. The students even used the camera to take a picture of something in the classroom with a right angel and annotated on the pictures - right in PaperPort. The students then emailed their annotations to the teacher.

They are learning about the Pythagorean Theorem and we will continue with right angles and right triangles next week using the Skitch app to do our annotations. Trying to decide if we want to use the camera or show them how to get an image from the web - Creative Commons Licensedof course!

The students are excited about taking charge of their own learning, the teacher is excited about his opportunities to really be able to interact individually with each of his students, and I am excited to help support them in this new learning adventure!

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Digital Science Fair Projects

At the end of the year, many of our schools hold school wide science fairs. Students plan Science fair project tri-fold display board and implement projects and then present the process and resulting data on tri-fold display boards much like this. One class decided to go green and do away with using display boards. They conducted their experiments and recorded the data but rather than create paper reports they used their iPads. Project Data Graphs The students took pictures and video and created graphs and other visual representations and imported those into the Explain Everything app. During the science fair, students brought their iPads to the school's multipurpose room and presented their projects to attendees right from the iPads. In addition to using digital tools, these students are also developing their listening, speaking, and presentation skills - all vital to college and career readiness.

Holt Interactive Graphic Organizers

Check out these online graphic organizers from Holt: Holt Interactive Graphic Organizers The site has over 30 graphic organizers for a variety of tasks. Each graphic organizer is interactive and can be downloaded onto a computer with Adobe Reader and be filled out right on the computer. There are also Teaching Notes available with tips and lesson ideas for each organizer What we really appreciate is that they also work on the iPads! Using the "Open In" feature in an IOS web browser such as Safari or Chrome, you can import the graphic organizer into the Adobe Reader app and easily fill in the fields. Students can then take a screenshot of the completed graphic organizer to share with their teacher or import into another iPad project.

T. A. G. Strategy

We want our students to reflect on their own work but also to be able to give effective feedback to each other. This is true for writing, conversations, or digital work. It's tough for us as adults and even more difficult for our students - no matter the grade level. As we have started using Seesaw ( https://web.seesaw.me/ ) and its student Comment feature, I've seen lots of "I like ..." and "That's cool" comments. Not very meaningful. I recently came across this simple strategy called T.A.G: Tell, Ask, Give. An easy to remember acronym and a good way to get students started in making effective comments. I've seen several variations but like these descriptors for the acronym: Tell - something you learned or was meaningful ("like" if they are specific about what they like) Ask - a question Give - a compliment or recommendation (depending upon the purpose for the comment) Download a pdf here . Here are some additional

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