Last Friday Beth Becker's team of teachers and students got to Skype with Hallie Cotnam of Canada. The students loved hearing her stories and asking questions. They had learned about Canada in their social studies class, so this was a great opportunity for them to learn more. Mrs. Becker made the connection with Hallie while on vacation and asked her to Skype into her class. She was great answering the students' questions. This is a great idea that any teacher can do to bring an expert into their classroom!
Over the past couple of weeks. Ms. Kristin Sestina's students have been working hard to create their very first TouchCast Interactive videos. Her students were using the MAMS library iPads to create these awesome videos. She had her students create a script and practice reading this several times before recording. She worked hard to show them how TouchCast worked and we created practice videos first. Since this was their first TouchCast, the students did not use many of the VApps ( interactive web pages added on top of video), but hope to in the future. Watch the final products below. Great job Ms. Sestina and students on being the first students to try out TouchCast!
I visited the classroom of Meghan Ballard this week and saw some fifth graders excited about reading. Yes, I said excited about reading! Ms. Ballard taught her students how to create a book report using Google Slides. These students were changing backgrounds, discussing story conflict, and embedding videos & pictures all in one! The level of excitement over creating a digital book report was CRAZY. These kids were happy to show me every step they took and how they fixed their own problems when encountered. The students haven't gotten to this point yet, but in the near future they will be adding notes to their Google Slides so they can prepare a script to read for Snagit. The next step would be students using Snagit (the Chrome screencasting extension) to record themselves reading the script describing their book report. It was great to see students not only excited at the possibilities of using technology, but how that technology made reading more exciting for them! Great job Ms. Ballard!!!
This week I got to see students in the high school use Google Slides and Snagit to create history presentations. Sarah Hopper and Micaela Floess both had their students create Google Slides presentations about a particular topic in history. After the students created their presentations, they had to use Snagit, a screencasting Chrome extension, to record themselves discussing the presentation. These students were pretty amazing because the Snagit Chrome extension does not allow you to edit out mistakes. Students had to rehearse their presentations to sound professional. As if this wasn't amazing enough, students also had to create a Google Form to "quiz" fellow classmates on specific information in their presentations. This kept students engaged while other groups were presenting. Great job Ms. Hopper and Mme. Floess!
I also visited Heather Green's classroom this week to see the Chromebook usage. I was pleasantly surprised to see fourth graders peer editing each other's Google Docs. They were working hard to look for capital letters, punctuation, paragraph indentation, and sentence structure. Ms. Green is working her way towards peer editing via Google comments. To make the transition easier, the students were starting by peer editing just by handing Chromebooks back and forth to each other. Eventually, she hopes to have them share the documents and leave comments with feedback. I think this is an excellent way to introduce students to the power of Google without overwhelming them. Great job Ms. Green!
I spent some time this week visiting classrooms to see how the new Chromebooks were being utilized. I was impressed by Kristin Snyder's Kindergartners who showed me that they can login to the Chromebooks with little to no help. These students knew exactly how to find Starfall once logged on. It was amazing to watch them login and get right to working on math centers! The best part is watching them smile as they learn because they get to interact with Starfall. The Chromebooks are making a positive impact on education here at LASD. Great job Kindergarten!
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AuthorThis blog has been created by Mrs. Gabrielle Sipe, the K-12 tech integrator in the Littlestown Area School District, for the purpose of sharing tech tips with the school community. Archives
May 2016
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