Flying to China

Since our 4th grade Ancient and Modern China curriculum was implemented, a "flight to China" component has often been included.  Google Earth is a tool many teachers were familiar with, and both the Smartboard and netbooks have been effective in using it to explore the geographic landscape.  I am not that familiar with the program and all of its capabilities, but I have a new Nike approach to teaching with technology ("Just Do It").  So I showed my trusty Powerpoint on why we study geography and ended with two exploration questions for them to use while they looked at China on Google Earth with their iPads:  "What barriers do you see that would have made traveling to China in ancient times difficult?"  and "Where was China the most vulnerable?" 

It worked well (with only one kid who kept looking for his house instead.).  They explored the boundaries, found the Himalayas, determined darker blue water was deeper, found the bulk of people and cities along the Eastern coast, decided the north was a good place to attack from (Who said attack? This is a Quaker school!), and figured that was where we would find the Great Wall.  Good times! Now what?   

We have a bunch of other activities in landform development and mapmaking coming up, but I would like to keep using this app too.  One plan is to use it while making our 3-D plaster terrain maps.  They can use it to determine where to place the mountains, valleys, and other features. The variety of community pictures of the places we study is very cool.  I have found tours of Mt. Everest and other peaks. What other things are there "tours" of?  Any other ideas about how to integrate Google Earth into our geography study? 

We Have iPads at our School - Now what? (The Practical Side of Using iPads in the Classroom...)

This is my first year with iPads in my classroom. I had used the device before at home, but have to admit that even though I was excited and ready to use it in my classroom, I wasn't sure where to begin. As I have talked to teachers at different schools, I have found that I am not alone. Some teachers are excited, some are nervous and many aren't sure where to begin. So I thought I could help by talking about some simple ways that I have found to integrate the iPad into classroom routines and lessons.

1. Documenting Student Work (by the teacher)

A colleague of mine, Denise Coffin, was gushing about Evernote and how it changed her life in the classroom. I wasn't familiar with Evernote, but since she was so enthusiastic about it, I started playing around with it.  She was right. Evernote is the best tool for documenting student work and teacher observations all in one place. I was one of those teachers who took some notes, had some assessments, but left a lot of my thinking about students in my head. I didn't always write things down when they happened, so I had to rely on what I remembered sometimes several days or weeks after the event. It worked to a point, but I know that I missed some things. Now that I have started using Evernote, I have "at the moment" observations, pictures of student work and student reflections all in the same place. 

I have to admit, it took some time to set up the folders so I could easily keep track of kids. It was totally worth the effort. Basically, I went to a training session with our Tech Director, Jenni Voorhees, and she showed us how to set up folders and share them with other teachers. (This is the part that took a while.) Once that was done, however, my teaching partner and I can see all the notes that either one of us writes about a particular student.  (At our school, we team teach, so there are two teachers in every classroom.) I started by taking pictures of student work during math time.  Once I had the picture in place, I had the students talk about what they were doing and now have an audio file connected to the picture. These are not the greatest notes, but it is a genuine reflection by the student about their work! Since then, my teaching partner and I have started to divide up the students by day, so we are getting some documentation on every student at least once per week.  I know my colleague who first told me about this amazing app has more documentation on all the kids, and probably a better sytem for recording work, but she's been using Evernote for a much longer time than me!

2. Documenting Student Work (by the students)

This might be the easiest way to get kids comfortable (and in turn become more comfortable yourself!) with using iPads on a daily basis.  Once students learn how to use the camera, which really is about a 2 minute tutorial for them, kids can begin to take photos of their work or take a video of themselves or their classmates working on a project.  The videos and photos are saved to the camera roll. If your school has set up an email account for your class, then your students can email you their work. If not, you can set up a Dropbox account and kids can save the work there for you to look at later. Of course, sometimes the kids want to take pictures of things you don't really need a picture of for your records. In that case, great! Let them click away - pictures can always be deleted in the future. Making sure the kids feel ownership of taking care of class iPads and are responsible for managing the pictures and videos on the iPad is essential. 

3. Extensions for kids who are finished early

We all have those moments when students come to us with, "I'm done! What do I do now?" Sometimes  we have the next step for them to complete and sometimes we don't. If you introduce a few problem solving apps to the class early on, then kids can know that is an option for them. Giving students the time for a guided discovery and discussion of the app first allows for questions and problem solving as a group and less problems when students try out the app on their own.  Currently, my favorites are Slice It!, Math Doodles, Symmetry Shuffle, Kickbox and Opposites. I haven't introduced these all to the class yet, but hope to soon!

4. Allowing for Differentiation 

This may be one of the best reasons for having an iPad in the classroom.  The iPad is a unique device that allows students to have some independence and help at the same time. For example, we asked students in our class to write about something they like to do in the fall as a journal entry one day. One little boy came up and told us a wonderful story about playing in the leaves with his siblings. It had a purpose, details and a clear voice. Just what a teacher wants! However, when this same little boy went to write his story, he came back with one sentence. The physical act of writing was just too difficult for him right now. However, it wasn't a problem because he was able to take an iPad, tell his story into it (just by taking a video) and then we could sit down with him and review the video. He could see and hear that he had wonderful details, and was then willing to take another shot at writing. iPads allow students who need another way to show their thinking an avenue to show teachers what they know. All students need to learn to write, and the little boy in the example will learn, but he has a crutch now when he needs it to help him along that path.

5. Let go and Let the Kids lead the Way

Students in my class have been using iPads in the classroom since last year.  They came in mostly comfortable with the devices and enjoyed using them right away. The first time we took them out, I was really nervous. What happened if they dropped the device? They are 6 and 7 year old kids - that was a legitimate concern. I also felt the need to have a "project" in mind. This is where I think many teachers approach technology - why use it unless you have a "project" to do? This is a switch that I have started to make in my thinking as I am becoming more comfortable living with the iPads in our classroom. There isn't the need for a "project". You have to start thinking about how the students in your class can use the devices when they need to, when it makes sense.  For kids, this device is intuitive. They figure things out and mash up apps in ways that we adults would never think of. It's hard to let go of the control, but once you do, it's amazing to see what your students can create. Some of it isn't pretty, and there are certainly times when there is a lot of chaos in the room, but in the end, students are taking risks and learning from their mistakes.  

iPAD, What Have You Done For Me Lately?

It must be hard being a new piece of classroom technology.  Wary teachers give you the side eye and are all like, “You better not be more work.”  Salivating children lunge at first glimpse, “Letmeathim, LETMEATHIM!”  The old technology gathers dust in the corner grumbling about life back in their day.  And there you are, new kid on the block, eager to get to work and crossing your fingers nobody breaks you. At least the first week.

It occurred to me last week that I have always taught in a one to one technology program.  Seven years ago, when I began teaching 4th grade, we had Alphasmarts.  I had actually filed Alphasmarts way back in the recesses of my memory and forgotten they ever existed until someone mentioned them (laughed about them) recently.  Remember how the letters typed themselves during the data transfer?  So funny!  

After the Alphasmarts came netbooks. Little computers are totally adorable. And they are functional.  Except when they take forever to boot up.  Or the operating system contains mysteries never to be revealed, especially where it hid that all important, saved incorrectly file.  More a logistical solution to providing an affordable way to type stories, in no way did any netbook revolutionize my classroom.   Sure, I would have been glad to get an updated set, but nothing would have changed.  Instead, we got iPads.

Having a one to one iPad program feels pretty fashionable.  But I am not Diane von Furstenberg and this isn’t New York.  I teach.  I need these things to help my kids learn.  This time will it really be different?  Or in 3 years will I just be rolling my eyes at our naivete?  

This time certainly feels different.  People keep saying, “It’s not about the iPad.”  But in many ways for me it is.  I was just introduced to the SAMR model of technology integration where projects can be visualized on progressive levels from substitution to augmentation to modification to redefinition.   With both alphasmarts and netbooks, we never got past the substitution stage.  Students typed their work, drew some digital pictures, and surfed the web.  Creative projects always required borrowing a “real” laptop set or me, the teacher, finishing things up on my own.   The requirements to make something with video or audio felt insurmountable.  I couldn’t problem solve or trouble shoot, and I wasn’t brave enough to give students’ the freedom to figure it out for themselves.  I am sure the netbooks could have done more, but it seemed like too much work to overcome their limitations.  There was no creativity, no real collaboration, and perhaps most detrimental to my students’ experience, no independence or ownership.

In the two months since we have received our iPads, things are already looking up.   It was easy to start with making reasonable substitutions where it made sense.   Some projects that we thought were just substitution become augmented when the kids put their creative spin on things.  Modification ideas are turning up in every corner as we plan our curriculum for the year.  And the other day I experienced true redefinition when my students were able to teach themselves how to use Explain Everything to make a problem solving video.  I never imagined being able to have that experience with my kids and it turned out to be so easy.

What I am most impressed with is how the intuitiveness of the iPad and the simplicity of its interface has removed me, my fears, and my inadequacies from the process.  Now my kids don’t need me to walk them through every little step as I bite my nails hoping they don’t get lost in the computer or press some button combination that causes the screen to go black.  With the cloud and integrated apps we don’t need a lot of cords to transfer files from here to there.  There is magic in the seamlessness.  Students are constantly making decisions about how to improve their work or enhance their experience.  Half of the time they are teaching me how to use new programs and 100% of the time I can let them teach each other.  That’s creativity.  That’s collaboration.  That’s independence and ownership.  It’s time to stop asking what the iPads can do for me.  And maybe what I can do for them is just get out of the way.

iPad Summit - Not All About the Technology

Last week a group of teachers traveled to Boston to attend the iPad Summit, and since we have returned I have been asked many times, “So what did you learn?  Did you find out about some good apps?”  Refreshingly, I am able to answer that the summit was not all about apps and technology.  For me, it was about learning, how education is changing rapidly, and finally how technology can help kids and teachers achieve their goals. 

I was inspired by many speakers talking about the redefinition of learning.  Before, people went to school to get information because schools, teachers and professors held the knowledge, and schools were the place to find it.  Now, information is everywhere.  If you want to know something, there are easy ways to look it up.  Information is no longer the reason to go to school.  Schools now need to help students figure out what to do with the information.  What can you create?  How can you build on the information received?  How do we help children become resilient when faced with failure? 

The last point in many presentations was almost a side note – how does technology fit in?  It may seem odd that technology was not the main event, but I think that was the point these innovators in education were trying to make.  Don’t use technology because someone in your school bought iPads for student use.  If that is your reason for using them, then perhaps you should leave the iPads in the closet.  However, if you see a student struggling, and technology can help that student share their thinking, then embrace it!  If you can see that students have a different way to show what they are learning, by all means, again, embrace the technology.  In a profession where most teachers are used to having a level of control over what happens in the classroom, it can be a scary proposition.  How can teachers let go and trust that the students will fly?  That is the change in our school culture that we need to embrace if we want our students to become the leaders and innovators of tomorrow. 

I want to thank Tony Wagner, Greg Kulowiec and the many other presenters in Boston that challenged me last week to really think about the way I interact with students and bring out the best them!

On Becoming Innovators - Failure is Mandatory

This week a team of seven Sidwell Lower School teachers went to Boston to participate in EdTechTeacher's first iPad Summit USA. The two day intensive on iPads in education began with a keynote from Tony Wagner, the author of Creating Innovators, among other books. He began with the reminder that our students must create jobs in the future that don't exist now. He ended with a caution that there is clearly reason to be concerned about unrestricted "screentime" for our children. (But did not elaborate on what constitutes screentime-passive consumption of media, active gaming, socializing, creative composition of original works, or all of the above?)

What became my theme for the conference however, was the middle of his engaging talk and reinforced in Tom Daccord's sessions and keynotes: How can anyone become an innovator when our culture of schooling emphasizes failure and creates risk-aversion among students and teachers?

Wagner said that in his research for his book, he found that across the board, innovators make mistakes and learn from them. Innovators (and life-long learners, which we all say we are working to create in our students) don't look at mistakes, missing the mark, or setbacks as failure, but as one more iteration - making mistakes, learning from them, trying something else is the most valuable part of their learning process. 

Tom Daccord shared his mantra: “Failure is...mandatory" in his discussion of school culture, both for teachers and students. He argues that it is through those failures that we learn and document best practices. The celebration of failure and risk-taking as a step towards growth requires a culture of trust and respect between teachers and students. We can only hope to encourage risk-taking, new ideas, and unexpected growth, in an environment where it is clear that failure, followed by reflection, is not only expected, but celebrated through honest conversation, encouragement, and positive feedback. 

As teachers, we all know that the first time we teach something, it is a dress rehearsal for the next time, and each iteration of the lesson gets stronger as we work out the kinks. Even when we think we have a perfect lesson planned, the students step in and change it in unexpected ways. Why are we so sure that we know the ultimate method of presenting ideas and concepts? 

Tom Daccord also shared the mantra of the Singapore school system, which states simply:

“Teach less, learn more”

Perhaps it is time for us as teachers to become risk-taking innovators who not only don't fear failure, but embrace it, who don't consider ourselves the only source of knowledge, but let go the reins and allow the students take to charge of their learning and to share in the teaching. Thus we will all become the innovators the future needs.

Great teaching is about the process, not the product

iPads fit perfectly into teaching thinking, creativity, and problem solving because they allow for a unique and thought-filled process.  Teachers who give assignments and expect products will create one type of student - the type who knows he/she just needs to figure out what the teacher wants.

Teachers who send students on journeys where they get to demonstrate understanding, think flexibly / creatively, see things from differing viewpoints, make connections, teach others, practice persistence, experience struggle, and articulate their thinking create one type of student - the type who knows that it is the thinking itself that is valued.

 
What happens when something goes wrong?  An iPad is a piece of technology after all, so something will go wrong sooner or later.  When a student loses a project or an app crashes it's important to remember that just the project was lost.  The student still has his knowledge, his creativity, his thinking. He has still been on a journey of learning.  It's just the product that was lost - not the process.

iPads are not the answer to every educational challenge or opportunity.  Just because a device is great doesn't mean it's worth giving to a child for educational purposes (Mike Muir, 2011).  This is true of any tool we use in our classrooms.  However, iPads do allow for varied, individual, and creative thinking opportunities for a wide range of students. It's not about whether this is the right tool, it's about when is this the right tool, and how can teachers use it effectively.  In other words, educators need to remember that the iPad can be a tool to teach thinking.  It should be used to help students think and learn and not to provide just another way to deliver a product.

What is the Hallmark of our iPad Program?

In our second year of using iPads in the classroom, we are are recognizing how much our vision of the role iPads would play has evolved. Had you asked us last year, “What is the hallmark of your iPad program?” we would surely have described our successes teaching handwriting to kindergarteners and how helpful teachers find Evernote for classroom documentation. Even then, we would have insisted that it’s not “all about the apps”, but rather it’s about including iPads as a classroom tool when it fits the curriculum, or a moment where the iPad offers the best option for learning.

When we first began to teach with iPads, we sought out apps that solved the challenge of improving how we teach specific skills in Kindergarten, beginning with handwriting. This led to the inevitable search for the “best app” for the purpose, and we learned a lot - specifically we learned that there is no perfect app, and that perhaps our search for such a thing was distracting us from the real opportunities iPads provide.

With early writers and readers, we want to create multiple ways to help them share their knowledge and make it accessible to others. We use Book Creator to make books about their experiences in class and on field trips. We used iStopMotion to record events in the the classroom, and to tell stories in a new way. We create our own illustrations for our stories using Drawing Box.

As we began this year, we realized that we had a very different view of how the iPads would be used. We have expanded the program to include a set of iPads in each first grade, and 1-to-1 iPads in fourth grade. We chose a few apps, and grouped them in a folder on the iPads called “Creativity”. This group includes those already mentioned, and writing apps, presentation apps, and photography apps.. Students are using their iPads to create written projects, to do research and take notes, to express themselves, create collages, prepare books to read aloud to younger students, and to create presentations. The iPads are thus becoming a useful, accessible tool that fits the need when the need arises. The single-use, single-purpose apps are rarely, if ever called for.

There seems to be a divide among iPad teachers between those who seek the “killer app” for every job, and those who seek to find the apps that offer the most open-ended, creative possibilities. This is the similar to the divide between teachers that seek the “best” curriculum package to teach a subject and those teachers who pull from all the resources they find, and embellish their curricula with their own touches to fit their students’ needs and to match their classroom and school culture.

The hallmark of our iPad program? Encouraging creativity and self- expression; offering multiple ways for our students to make their thinking visible. It is so simple, and so rewarding!