I'm Moving!!!

I have decided to, after many years, make the move from a Blogger blog to a website. While I love Blogger, it just seems to make more sense for all of my work to be in one combined space. Please visit me over at thetrendytechteacher.weebly.com!

All that Noise, Noise, Noise, Noise...

If you were to walk by my classroom you would most definitely hear NOISE! But noise isn't always a bad thing...as long as it's the right kind. I am not the teacher that has to have silence in her room all the time. I actually enjoy the buzzing of a working classroom. I love the group work, the collaboration and the sound of students sharing their ideas with one another and the excitement that learning can bring about. However, we all know that there are those times when your room needs a little sound management, as I like to call it. For that reason I have found some awesome and fun websites to help with controlling the noise level in your classroom. Check them out below!

Bouncy Balls

This website has colorful balls that bounce according to the noise level in your room. The louder your students, the more bouncy the balls. (Fun part: You can also change the balls to eyeballs, emojis and bubbles!)

Calm Counter

Not as exciting as the Bouncy Balls, but a cool monitor that goes from green to red when the noise level gets too loud in your room. This would be good for a small amount of noise to instruct the students to keep their level in the yellow area for group work.

Stop Light

This one isn't a noise monitor as much as a noise controller. You click on the light that you want the kids to work at. For example, no talking would be red. It's a visual reminder on the board for the students to keep their noise level under control.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Here we are in January! Can you believe it! Though I'm sad to see all of the holiday celebrations end, I am super excited about the cold weather that is to come in the next couple of months! Since I live in good 'ole North Carolina...we don't see much of the white stuff around here. However, that's not going to keep me down! We make our own using an awesome website called Make a Flake!

It is a wonderful tool that can be used with students of all ages. I use it with my younger students to practice mouse control and with my older ones to work on geometric shapes. This week one of my classes is creating their own snowflakes and then writing descriptive sentences about them. We are going to upload pictures of our snowflakes to a Voicethread and record ourselves reading our descriptive sentences. Grab this quick and simple freebie for a place for you kiddos to write about their own snowflake!

Need a little inspiration? Check out their AMAZING gallery of snowflakes made by others!

Who says it can't snow in the south? You just have to get a little creative!

It's a Mario Party!

Do you remember those old Nintendo games...you know the ones you had to blow on before they would work? Well in the lab this week we discussed old school 8-bit graphics (complete with Mario Bros music as we walked in.) We talked about the old Nintendo games and how the graphics in video games had progressed since then. We then used Google Sheets ('cause y'all know I'm a Google Girl!) to create our own inspired 8-bit Christmas graphics. They were AWESOME! The kids were amazed when they realized they were also practicing math skills. (It's all in my master plan...queue evil laugh!) Well from there we took it even farther...

The kids shared their graphics and coordinates, which they typed into a Google Doc, with one another in a huge spreadsheet so they could try out one another's designs. Check out their graphics below and see if you can make your own!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1A4iNQC2t9SO43bJH6L8bTDA-akbwXLCxm7VubX7qc5k/edit

How could you use Google Sheets in your classroom other than just for calculating numbers? A map? A building? Share you ideas!!

Teach Your Kids to Code!

Ok, so I am a little embarrassed to admit that I know very little about computer programming and coding. Therefore, when it came to teaching my students how to do it, I wasn't very useful. That all changed when I was introduced to the Hour of Code! The Hour of Code is a movement sweeping across the nation that provides step by step tutorials on how to code and program for anyone between the ages of 4 and 104! Students across the world are learning how to write programs by simply clicking and dragging! Best of all, Hour of Code incorporates all of their favorite characters like Angry Birds, Frozen, and this year they introduced Star Wars and MINECRAFT tutorials! My students were ecstatic! The tutorials start with the basics and move up to the more difficult which includes typing the actual javascript to create the program. We discuss what computer programming is and why it is important to learn how to write codes. My students love being able to teach each other and help one another (including their teacher) work their way through the code. This week is when we celebrate the Hour of Code! Check out the awesome video below to learn more and then visit code.org/learn to learn more about starting to code in your classroom!

Connecting Your Students Globally

Students learning from Steve from South Africa

I believe that one of the biggest impacts we can have on our students today is to expose them to the world around them. Especially if you are from a small, rural community like I teach in. I love to connect my students with teachers and students from other countries. They jump at the chance to learn about other cultures...what they eat, the languages they speak, what their schools are like...and I love to see the excitement in their faces as they learn.

Doing a Mystery Skype with Govinda from Nepal

My third graders are studying cultures and comparing and contrasting them to our American culture. I'm a hands on kind of teacher, so, of course, we couldn't simply learn about cultures through books and the Internet...no, we had to talk to someone from that culture first hand! This week I am connecting each of my third grade classes with teachers from around the globe using Skype and Google Hangouts!

These are staples in my classroom! Skype and Google Hangout are tools that we use constantly to learn and share! How are you using them in your classroom?

My New Favorite Site!!!

Ok, so y'all know I am always looking for new, fun websites and tools to get my kiddos interested in learning! Well, I have found my new favorite thanks to Shannon Miller, an AMAZING educator who I found on Instagram! (If you haven't heard of her, make sure you go check out the wonderful things that she is doing in education!) Shannon introduced me to PebbleGo, an emergent reader and research site. I have one word...."WOW!" I mean this site is what I have been looking for! It is filled with nonfiction articles on anything you could imagine! The articles include read aloud capabilities, as well as sounds, videos, corresponding printouts, and games! It works wonders for my researchers who have a little bit of trouble reading those more difficult sites. I introduced this site to my K-3 teachers and students and they instantly fell in love! There is also a mobile-ready PebbleGo in the works, which would be great for the 1:1 classrooms! Now, you know how I am about my tech tools....I like FREE. However, when it comes to a site that my kids and teachers LOVE and get a lot out of, I am willing to pay. This tool is one that you will have to pay for, but it really isn't too expensive and I think that it is totally worth it! Make sure you go check it out today and get yourself a free trial! You'll get hooked!

Kindergarten Day in the Lab

One of my favorite days of the week is Thursday's this year! Why? Because that is when my Kindergartners come! I had a little trouble in the past creating lessons for my kinders that weren't too simple. I don't want them to spend their computer time learning to click and drag or find their letters on the keyboard. Yes, I do believe those things are important, but I feel like that "stuff" can be incorporated in with more thought provoking lessons. When my students enter the lab I want them to be engaged in inquiring, analyzing, collaborating activities...yes, even my kindergartners!

A couple weeks ago, my kinders started a partner research project on the animal of their choice. All I gave them to begin was a pencil, paper, and a few links they might find useful. Ready, set...GO! I only see my kinders for an hour a week, so going into it I planned for multiple weeks.

The first week the students chose their animal and wrote a few things they already knew about it. They then came up with 2 questions they had about their animal.

Writing what we already know and 2 questions we have about our animal.

Week two, they began researching their animals. Along with finding the answers to their questions, they also had a place on their paper for WOW facts. These were things that really stood out and they would like to share with others.

Researching our animals, using Big Universe, Pebble Go, Discovery Education, & Enchanted Learning.

The third week the real fun began! Students got to use their Discovery Education accounts to create an interactive board in Board Builder. They are in the process, now, of putting all of their information onto their boards, along with some awesome videos, images, and sound effects from Discovery.

Building our boards using Discovery Education Board Builder.

Next week, we will be finishing our boards, and the students will become the teachers! They will use their boards to teach me and the class about their animals.
This is the first time that I have done a complete research project with my kindergarten students and they have blown me away! I truly believe that your students can accomplish anything you believe they can. It does take patience but it is so worth it! I am so excited to see their "lessons" on animals next week!

What's Going on in Your Classroom?

Have you ever been in the middle of a lesson and thought, "Wow, my kids are doing some amazing things! I wish people could see the awesome learning happening now!" but don't have a way to get it out there? I don't know about you but I find myself thinking that daily! My kiddos amaze me everyday with their learning! Since I have turned the control over to them (read more about that here), some great things are happening in the lab! But other than just talking about it over lunch and discussing it on my blog, I didn't really have a way for others to SEE the awesomeness that my kids are getting into....until now!
I have used Padlet (formerly known as Wallwisher) for a few years now. We used to it collaborate and share ideas as a class. However, it wasn't until I went to a workshop with Kevin Honeycutt, who is an AMAZING and INSPIRING educator, that I thought about using it as a doorway into my classroom! Padlet lets you change the layout of the posts to a stream, a lot like Twitter. This works great as a timeline! I have started taking pictures of the inquiring, learning, and collaborating that happens throughout the day in the lab. I then, upload the images to Padlet and type a little blurb describing what's happening with each grade level that day. I may post as many as 3 or 4 pictures that day, just depending on the lessons. I have embedded the Padlet wall into my class website and onto our blog so that the students, parents, and other teachers can get a first hand look at what's going on in our room! Check out our Padlet wall below! How could you get the word out about how awesome your students are?

Created with Padlet

You want me to do what?!

I've really been taking a step back lately and looking at the way that I run my classroom. I've been thinking about how the type of assignments I give. I was coming up with a research assignment where I would give the students a graphic organizer for them to complete, filled with questions that I came up with. Once they finished, I would have my students create some type of product that I decided, whether it be a Glog or a Voki or some other type of multimedia. Yes, I was using technology. Yes, I was using research. Yes, I was using 21st Century web tools. But I wasn't giving my kids any real freedom. I was in control of every step of the assignment. Then one day I read a very interesting quote...

"When we ask all students to do the same learning task in the same way, we have no idea what individual children are capable of." ~Dr. Bertie Kingore

This hit me like a slap in the face! I had been asking all of my students to do the same thing! I decided it was time for me to let go of control. That same day I revamped the way I ran my entire classroom. My students are now in control of the learning. I give them an assignment, but they are the ones inquiring, researching, and creating a final product that best suits their information. I am trying to align my lessons to the Bloom's Revised Taxonomy and giving my students a variety of tools to use for each step in the process. I have to say that, though I have just started, I am amazed at the way my students are taking control of the wheel. It was a little scary, at first, for me more so than for them, just because I had to transition from being the teacher to the facilitator and sometimes even the student!

Have you had any moments like this in your teaching? I'd love to hear how you individualize your instruction in your classroom!

Celebrating MLK Jr. with Discovery Education & Tagxedo

  
Because it is Black History Month, I have been trying to incorporate famous African Americans in
my technology lessons. Today's lesson with my first graders was one of my favorites! First we used Discovery Education to find the video of Martin's Big Words. During the eight minute video we paused and wrote words that were important, positive, and reflected Martin's influence on the world. Once we got our words written, I had the kids navigate to Tagxedo.com, a great website for creating word clouds in any shape you could imagine! The students could choose at least 5 words to include in their cloud. They could then put the words in the shape of a speech bubble and work with their colors, layout, etc. They looked amazing! To display their awesome work, we took headshots and glued their speech bubble to each child's picture. Our version of "Martin's Big Words-2014" are now adorning my hallway!

I created this lesson using two of my favorite tools. Discovery Education is a free website but you do have to have a subscription through your school to create your account. It is filled with tons of videos, articles, images, sound bites, teacher resources, etc. Tagxedo is also free and there is no account needed to create your word clouds. Once created, you can print or save your work and even have it turned into t-shirts, mugs, all kinds of stuff! I love mixing various tools like I did in this lesson! What are some ways that you could mix tech tools in your classroom?

Little Bird...BIG INSPIRATION!

First off, let me say, "hello stranger!" I've been in a little blogging funk here lately...well actually just a funk in general. It seems like, this school year, I just cannot get ahead. I am constantly trying to catch up and certain things, like my blog, and even my lessons have been struggling. I have been in major need of something to get me pumped...something to throw me back on the technology horse. So, where did I turn?? Twitter of course!
Now, I don't know if you have been turned onto that little blue bird or not, but once you get started, you are thrown into a new world of amazing educators sharing ideas, lessons, resources, you name it! The best thing about it...it never sleeps! You can always pull it up and there are new tweets right at your fingertips! It didn't take long before reading through some of my favorite tech idols before I felt much better. I feel like my lessons are improving! I'm more pumped about getting into my computer lab everyday to  work with my kiddos!
Twitter is an amazing tool! It is a way to connect with people in all areas of education and learn and collaborate with them! One of my favorite things to do is "lurk" through the hashtags...especially when there is a conference going on that I couldn't attend. (Yes, I am a hashtag lurker.) When I visit my Twitter feed, I am empowered. I am inspired. It makes me a better educator. Are you a "tweeter" as one of my 3rd graders called it? How does it help you? What other tools do you use to inspire you?

ALREADY??? & My first Digital Paper Pack!

I cannot believe that it is already October! Time for pumpkin, or as we say in the south "punkin" EVERYTHING, cool mornings, colorful leaves....ahhh I love it! It also means it's time for a little linky linky with Farley! Check out my Currently below!

Also be sure to check out my new digital paper pack that I created! It's on sale through the end of the week for $3 on TPT! Leave me some comments and let me know what you think about it!

Columbus on Instagram???

I have recently become addicted very fond of Instagram! I love to use it to keep up with what other teachers and techie people are doing with their students! Well you know I had to find a way to incorporate this super fun tool into my computer classes!
My 5th graders are studying explorers, so I got to thinking...what would explorers like Columbus and others post if they had Instagram in their day? I posed this question to my students and they jumped on it like white on rice! They immediately started researching the explorer of their choice and coming up with ideas on what they would post. I told them to be creative and think outside the box by coming up with picture posts that were more than oceans and boats. Boy did I get what I asked for! Once my students were finished researching and saving 2 pictures (1 for the profile and 1 for the post) I let them open a template that I created in PowerPoint. The students then had to come up with a username for the explorer (Pdawg = Ponce de Leon was one of my favs!) as well as a post time and comment describing their picture. They could also add a comment from someone else, such as Sacajawea on Lewis and Clarks or Queen Isabella on Columbus'. We also had fun coming up with some cool hashtags that might have been trending during that time! I've got more ideas churning using this with book characters, etc. How would you use it?

Click on the image below to download the template for FREE!