Untethered Teachers!

Not only do our students love being mobile but so do our teachers! We have equipped all of our flipped classroom teachers as well as over 40 additional classroom teachers with an iPad, Apple TV, and HD projector to use during instruction.

The teachers are using a variety of interactive whiteboard apps to create and present lessons, such as Educreations and Doceri. They also utilize an assortment of web based tools and videos.

Presenting an online image as a writing prompt.

While there is much to love about this set up, one of the most often heard comments is about being able to move around the classroom during instruction and see what kids are doing and provide one-on-one guidance to students - being "untethered".

One of our third grade flipped classroom teachers is especially good utilizing the iPad during his lessons. He seamlessly moves around the room, switching between apps, and providing one-on-one assistance to students as needed. Very masterful!

If you would like to learn more about being an untethered teacher or using an iPad and Apple TV in the classroom, here are a some interesting articles:

Untethered Teachers: Using Apple TV in the Classroom

Apple TV in the Classroom - The New Smart Board

Apple TV in the Classroom

The iPad, Apple TV, and Classroom Management

Comments

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.

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

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.

Suzanne's Ed Tech Reflections

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