iPod Enthusiasts

The excitement of using the iPods is still all around us in the Creighton School District. I had a couple of encounters with teachers yesterday and their enthusiasm was very obvious.

Irving Berlin Google Search

I was walking to a classroom along with the music teacher at the school. She shared that a couple of days before she was holding her music class in one of the 3rd grade classrooms. They were learning about Irving Berlin and she had the students get their iPods and search the web for information. They could then share their information with other students. This was something new for her and she thinks having the iPods and that instant access to information is amazing. Another proponent for mobile learning in the classroom!

Voice Memos

One of our "new" 3rd grade teachers (new to 3rd but not new to teaching) has really been working on effectively integrating the iPods in her classroom and anxious to discover new ideas for using the iPods in the classroom. Yesterday, we taught her students how to do oral reading fluency recordings using the Voice Memos app. When they were finished she commented that she thinks she is going to have to stay in 3rd grade because already she can't imagine teaching without iPods!

Me thinks we are going to see lots of exciting things happening this year!

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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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