Students become teachers using a Retell

As educators we are constantly seeking ways to spruce up the curriculum and make learning more relevant and engaging. I have attempted to use many apps this year to do just that. When it comes to implementing new techniques I must admit that I am a risk taker. Thankfully I have a class this year that are willing to jump on board with any idea I may come up with, regardless of how crazy it sounds. Once I initially demo a new activity, I then give my students time to play around and use their creativity to see if we can adapt the apps, activities etc. into other areas of our curriculum. 

This week, my students have taken on the challenge of becoming teachers and assistants but more importantly collaborative partners with a grade 1 class in our school. Anytime we complete a read aloud or independent reading I expect my students to go through the retell process. We have practiced using comic strips, written responses, concept maps, and my favorite - popplet app on an ipad. 

The grade 1 teacher and I, partnered our students where they then had an opportunity to choose a Robert Munsch book. Sitting "Elbow to Elbow, Knee to Knee", our students read through the stories together. We both have a wide range of ability levels in our classrooms. It was fascinating to see those struggling or reluctant readers dive into the reading process. The next step was forming a popplet which detailed the main ideas of the story (Characters, setting, problem/solution, a brief retell of the beginning, middle and end). My grade two students rose to occasion and became amazing little teachers. I couldn't resist smiling while hearing how some were explaining how to use the app. 

We are now moving into drawing and retelling the story in the form of a comic strip. From here our students will use the ipads to take pictures of their art work to use as the background for their concluding project. The concluding project consists of a green screen video where the partners (a grade 1 and grade 2 student) will discuss the main ideas of the story in a 6 sequence retell. 

Just another way to incorporate technology, collaboration and the curriculum! 

World Connections - Digital Literacies

Throughout the course of the year, we've pegged communities we had an opportunity to connect with.

What an exciting year for our grade two students. Our connections were either in the form of mystery skype/hangout, blog e-pals, virtual field trips, being a virtual audience for readers theatre, Art Exchange project,  and  our Math Collaboration projects.

I had the absolute pleasure to watch my students delve into the use of technology and master apps such as google earth, kidblog, google docs/forms and many more. It was great to see this development and growth, but more importantly my students grew into great digital citizens who learned how to use technology to better themselves and their learning. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing comments from my students comparing themselves to others we were connecting with. The common theme was always how similar we all are regardless of where we are from or our backgrounds. I am so proud of my students, they truly embody the idea of being an Ethical Citizen.

Virtual Field Trips - Connected Classrooms

Connected Classrooms on Google+ is an extremely useful community. Google for Education has made it possible for students to travel to far away places for Virtual Field Trips. 

Last week my students had the opportunity to travel to Hawaii all while seated at their desks. We watched in real time as an elementary class travelled to an active volcano site. The field trip was even more unique as this particular class was attempting to use Google Glass. My students were able to see a volcano from an expert, teacher and students perspective as all three were wearing Google Glass. We also had an opportunity to learn a traditional song and hear about the spiritual and cultural reference to volcanoes in Hawaii. 

Other virtual field trips we've viewed this year: 

• Minnesota Zoo - Farm Babies (students had the opportunity to meet spring farm babies which tied nicely into our theme at the moment. Animals we viewed: duck and chick that were born just a few short hours prior to the field trip, sheep and calf). 
• Snake Adaptations - Students viewed a python as it ate a rat. The rat was not alive therefore it did not scare the kids. Cameron Young delivered a fascinating presentation where he explained the adaptations of snakes and how it is possible for a snake to eat prey that is significantly larger than itself. Cameron lives in Colorado and constantly posts pictures and videos of snake hunts. He has a passion for caring and protecting snakes and explains the information in a unique manner. 
• Polar Bear & Google Map Expedition - we travelled through the Tundra of Churchill, Manitoba as members of google recorded Polar Bears in their natural habitat. The most unique aspect of this field trip was watching how google create their virtual maps as well as viewing the Tundra Buggy. 

I have also used Connected Education for personal virtual field trips. I thoroughly enjoy learning about history of the world, specifically Word War I and II and the Holocaust. A few weeks ago I had an opportunity to view two virtual field trips provided by the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. During the field trips, high school, college and university students, as well as adults like myself had the pleasure of listening to two Holocaust survivors talk about their experiences. 

Innovation Day

Last year I was introduced to the idea of an Innovation Day/Week (or as it was explained a Fed-Ex day). A few colleagues of mine attended a session at the Science School in Calgary where other schools mentioned this project. The idea is giving students 100% control of their own learning for a day. June is such a busy month with sports days, field trips etc which left me thinking about completing an Innovation Day somewhere within the craziness. After completing one last year, I'm left now in the reflecting process and attempting to refine the project to make it as successful and engaging as possible.

Basically what Innovation Day is: a week before I will bring up the idea and send a planning sheet home with my students. They will need to think and discuss with their parents the idea "If I wanted to learn about ANYTHING, what would it be?" On their form they will fill out their topic, and why they choose that particular idea/project. Students will also have to fill in materials they will be bringing from home, as well as what materials they need that I can provide at school. Materials from school would involve things such as an ipad/computer, space, construction paper etc. Finally students need to think about how they can "show" what they learned. Whether that it in the form of a poster, a video, a demonstration etc.

I love the fact of giving students ownership and independence. It is amazing to see the results and engagement when students take learning into their own hands. Instead of the traditional teacher dictates what they learn and how they go about doing it.

This project fully embodies the new Alberta Framework of creating Engaged Thinkers and Ethical Citizens with an Entrepreneurial Spirit.

Caine's Arcade

Back in January, my class participated in Caine's Cardboard box arcade Challenge. The purpose of this activity was to encourage creativity, innovation and enhance the entrepreneurial spirit. 

We spent some time watching the video below, then discussed activities and ideas. After brainstorming, it was now left in my students hands. I provided duct tape and a few other simple items, but the design and ideas were completely directed and created by my students.

My students were given 2 weeks to complete the projects. This meant being extremely flexible in my schedule allowing a half an hour here and there but I am so glad that I made time for this amazing project. 

Once we were complete, my students invited the other Grade 2 class, the Grade 1's and 3's as well as our principal to come in and play their games. My classroom was beyond loud, but I had to see past that as every student, and adult in the classroom was fully engaged in the activity at hand. 

My students took it upon themselves to decorate our classroom door and surrounding area to ensure other students knew what was happening in 2F. They took left over scraps of cardboard and wrote words that represented this project. Examples of what was written: Creative, exciting, unique, One-of-a-kind, fun, challenging and my favorite - Imagination! My students turned a simple piece of cardboard into something amazing. 

Some of our projects included: 
- Whack-a-mole
- Target's
- Minecraft bow and arrow 
- Talking Robot 
- Maze 
- Soccer Game
- Skee Ball 
- Jungle challenge

Hopefully next year I will be able to complete this project with my students on Global Day of Play!

Science Fun!

Part of the grade 2 science curriculum is a unit entitled Buoyancy and Boats. Today students had to take an object that floats and turn it into a sinking object.

Our final project! Students had an opportunity to use whatever supplies they could find around the classroom in order to turn either a cork, a piece of Styrofoam or a Popsicle stick into a sinking object. 

Just another fun day in Grade 2!  

Math Collaboration Project

I am super excited for our combined math collaboration hangout this week. This project has definitely put me outside my comfort zone, but by doing so I gained so much experience and knowledge of google's capabilities. 

After finding 8 teachers who were willing to collaborate I had to decide on how I could compile all of our students wonderful questions. This gave me an opportunity to use Google Sites. It shocked me how easy and fun it is to create a google site! This week we all put our students in groups where they created their very own questions for other students to solve. Keeping with my belief in education, my students choose the strand that they felt the most comfortable with to create a question. I want this experience to be unique, authentic and 100% student-driven/centered. Once all the questions were complied, I had to figure out a way to have a "hard copy" for my students to work on. Therefore I turned to google once again and used a google form. 

I thoroughly enjoy how this project is turning into something great for both my students and I. 

Link: https://sites.google.com/a/horizon.ab.ca/math-group-project/ 

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FOLLOW UP:

Today we completed a combined Google Hangout with two other classes in the USA. This week my class spent a few days solving the questions created by other grade two students. They had an opportunity to work independently, with partner or even a group to complete the project. As well there were many manipulatives such as hundreds charts, base ten blocks, pattern blocks, cubes etc available for students to work with. I was absolutely amazed to see the engagement in this activity. I must admit, problem solving and math in general is not exactly a favorite activity for my students, but the fact that these questions were created by other grade two students really upped the interest and engagement level. The students had both a hard copy of the questions, as well as an iPad with the questions in a google form to work through. 

During our hangout today, my students had an opportunity to talk and discuss with two other classes in the United States. There were a few questions that we skipped as it did not correlate with our curriculum, but still the project was a tremendous success. 

Before the hangout, we spent some time as a class reflecting on the process. 

I love the question: Why would your recommend this activity to someone at another school? 

My students responded with the idea of students becoming teachers and being responsible for their own learning. That in itself made this activity a success in my mind!