The Flipped Classroom

This afternoon at our faculty meeting, we will be starting a discussion around the concept of the flipped classroom. A Google search on the topic of the "elementary flipped classroom" brought up 12,700,000 results. WOW! 

So, what is the flipped classroom? First, it is NOT just about watching videos for homework. It is a fuller cycle of learning, with deeper connections to both the content and the learning community members. Learning tasks can become engaging, relevant, authentic, and exciting. The flipped classroom also doesn't center around videos - teachers are still responsible for making decisions about which tools will best meet the needs of their students, keeping the overall learning climate and objectives in mind.

Jon Bergmann (@jonbergmann) has been coined as a co-founder of the flipped learning concept, and has an entire website dedicated to Flipped Learning, including videos, blogs, and resources on the topic. 

Here is his advice for elementary teachers: "Don't flip a class: Flip a lesson."

One piece of advice he gives to elementary teachers is to not assign the video as homework, but make it a center in your classroom. The new term I have heard for this is The Cloned Teacher, from Jennie Magiera. I LOVE this term because it fits much better with our elementary classrooms and students. 

Ready to try it? Here are examples I have found of what it could look like at each grade level:

Kindergarten

1st Grade

2nd Grade

3rd Grade

4th Grade

YOU! (Yes, you can be a flipped learner too! Searching YouTube to find what you want to do is an awesome way to learn!)

Wait, wait, wait.. are you saying I have to make all these videos for my kids? NO! There are hundreds upon thousands of videos that you can already use...! Here are just a few:

National Geographic Kids videos

Biography.com

Khan Academy

Math Pickle

TEd Ed

And even BrainPop & BrainPop Jr!

One final video... Salman Khan's TED talk: Let's use video to reinvent education. 

Additional Articles & Resources:

The Truth About Flipped Learning

Flipped Classroom Infographic

Edutopia: Should You Flip Your Classroom?

Five Minute Film Festival: Flipped Classroom

Flip'n'Out

Flipped in the Elementary Classroom blog post

Reading Rockets: Flipping the Elementary Classroom

Get Connected! Flipped Learning Group for Elementary Teachers

New iPad Apps: Bricasso and Learn Money

Here are two more new apps that we have on our iPads!

Bricasso is an app that has a lot of potential! 

Basically, it is Legos on the iPad. You can choose a background for your design and use the variety of colored blocks to build whatever you want! Here are a couple examples:

     

While you might be saying to yourself, "this just seems like a toy", I think it would an engaging tool to use with students when studying area and perimeter. Or, it could be a fun start to a creative writing project. I first learned of the app on the Technology Tailgate, and a teacher had her students design and invent a car that did not use gas - they used Bricasso to create their cars. Here is one of iIntegrateTechnology's students' examples:

Learn Money is another new app on our iPads. 

Learn Money's content is aligned to Common Core State Standards, and is broken up into 8 different topics with lessons and quizzes: Identifying Coins (Penny, Nickel, Dime), Value of Coins, Counting Coins, Quarter and Half Dollar, Money in Dollars, Making Amounts, Add/Subtract Money, and Making Change. 

Hope you check them out!

Skitch

Skitch is an app that you can use to personalize and annotate images. You can take your own photos, upload images, or even use maps!

Here's an overview of how it works:

There are so many uses for the classroom! How about labeling a picture with vocabulary words?

Or a map?

What about Spanish vocabulary (or any other foreign language)?

Pictures can be saved on the iPads, emailed, and printed. 

Looking for an idea for Martin Luther King Jr's birthday? I found this idea on the Technology Tailgate! After reading the book Martin's Big Words, the teacher used Skitch to have students take a picture of themselves and write their own "big words". Very cute idea! I imagine a writing project could also accompany the students' picture depending on your grade level. 

If you'd like to learn more about how to use Skitch, check out their tutorial.

Here comes 2013...!

I saw an article on Mind/Shift the other day that sparked my thinking about where technology in education is headed. After all, after the iPad "changed education" just a few years ago, it's hard to foresee what's next! 

The article discussed 3 big themes in learning over the coming year:

1. Smart use of tech

Computers have been present in classrooms for a number of years now- we have desktops, laptops, iPods, iPads... the projection for 2013 doesn't necessarily include new devices, but continuing to find innovative ways to integrate technology into instruction. Maybe it's simulating and/or presenting a science experiment, turning math and vocabulary drills into games, or promoting online collaboration among students. 

The article also predicted that we would gain a better and more realistic sense of what technology can do for students, as well as what it can't. "Young people still need to interact with classmates and teachers face to face. They still need physical activity and hands-on experiences, whether in the art room or science lab." 

2. Advance of the Common Core

Training has already begun on the Common Core State Standards, which has been adopted in 45 states to date. 

I found another website, Mapping Media to the Common Core, that asks the question, "What do you want to CREATE today?". There are several options to choose from: interactive writing, narrated art, radio show, visual notetaking, etc. The links for each project take you to a page with its definition, workflow, tools, and examples. 

3. Learning outside of school.

"More than ever before, 2013 will bring a recognition that learning can happen anytime, anywhere- not just in a classroom and not just during the school day... We'll continue to explore, for ourselves and with our children, the wealth of information and ideas available on the web."

So.. where are you and your students headed in 2013? What innovation do you want to bring into your classroom and share with your students? 

QR Codes

"So.. umm.. what's a QR code?"

Well, a QR (quick response) code is a barcode that can be scanned using an app on your SmartPhone, iPad, iPod, etc. It can contain images, website links, and text messages. Fun fact: unlike your standard UPC barcode which uses only 12 digits, a QR code can store up to 7,089 numerical characters or 4,296 alphanumeric characters!

On our iPads, we use the Scan app, which was free!

As Winter Break approaches and all the kids in Santa hats are getting a little restless, why not try out a pre-made activity using the iPads? It'll get your class moving and excited!

A quick search on TeachersPayTeachers for "QR code" brought up 160 results, and some of them were freebies!

Some of the lessons had students make their own QR codes, while others use the QR codes to check student answers. 

Or, if you're feeling daring, you could make your own! I usually use qrcode.kaywa.com to make them. You just enter in the text box what you want your QR code to link to (URL, text, etc.) and click on Generate Free and you can take a screen shot of your QR code to save it for later. 

And now that you're really excited about using QR codes with your students, here are 46 Interesting Ways to Use a QR Code to Support Learning!

I have various activities and QSGs stored away for QR Codes, so let me know if you're interested in co-planning or need any help!

iPads: Spelling City

Did you know that some new apps have been added to our iPads this year?

Spelling City is one of them! If you use the website with your students already, checking out the iPads might be a fun alternative. There are pre-made lists on the iPad already, or you can create an account and easily add lists for your students to use. Students would search for your name and then your spelling lists would show up for them to select- without giving them your username or password!

Spelling City is a fun way to learn spelling and vocabulary words by playing engaging learning games using any word list. The most popular activities are a spelling test, HangMouse, and the vocabulary games. 

This is Hang Mouse:

I also found a teacher through the Technology Tailgate who has made worksheets to accompany the app. You can download them here.

ScootPad

I have been hearing so many great things about ScootPad from teachers and bloggers that I just had to tell you about it right away!

ScootPad is a great common core practice website that...

1) is FREE!

2) Has NO ads

3) Students can sign in from home, from a computer or mobile device (all the apps are free too, for iPad, Android, etc.)

Here's a video for teachers that explains how it works:

Basically, Scootpad is a site where students can go to practice all of the Common Core standards for math and reading.  The site is adaptive, so students can move through the standards at their own pace.  You can also modify the content to meet the needs of specific students!  As a teacher, you will be able to see data {a lot of graphs!!} about how each student is performing and can also get detailed email updates about students' progress.

A fellow blogger, EduKate & Inspire, uses it with her students, and this is what she loved about it:

"1) Rewards... of course!  I am typically not a big fan of having a lot of incentives for students {in my opinion, intrinsic motivation is always the best}, but they sure were a great motivator on Scootpad. As students complete practices on Scootpad, they earn coins.  In your teacher account, you can create rewards and specify the amount of coins that each reward is worth.  You can use tangible items like candy or a pencil, or set other rewards like lunch with the teacher or show and tell {I do not do show and tell in second grade, so this was a highly coveted prize!}  Parents can also set rewards for their child to earn at home. Here is a screenshot of my rewards page:

2)  Social media... students love being able to connect with their friends on Scootpad!  They can send messages to each other, choose a smiley face to indicate how they are feeling for the day, pick out their own avatar, check out their news feed (updates about messages from friends and coins they have earned), look at the class wall (with posts from the teacher), and check out the leader boards. One nice feature is that the messages are pre-selected, so students can't actually type anything to each other {otherwise, they'd spend all day sending messages instead of practicing!}.  As the teacher, you CAN type messages to students, which is great for encouragement.  Here is a screen shot of the cute messages students can send to friends:

3) Badges:  Students can earn badges to show off their hard work!  I love the 100% Ninja badge :)"

Check out ScootPad by clicking the button below! 

Spring Cleaning & iPad Resources

After posting about backing up last week, I found a blog post on Scholastic.com called Virtual Spring Cleaning - A Five Step Plan. I thought it gave some great tips for cleaning up some of the virtual clutter that is on your computer, as well as help to get organized and stop wondering "where did I put that file again?" Here's a screen shot on how the blog author organizes her files:

On another note, a fellow tech teacher shared a YouTube channel with me called iPadagogy. The channel is dedicated to instructional videos of useful apps for the iPads. For example, I found a video that explained Popplet Lite, which is an app we have here at school. 

Finally, McGraw-Hill Education is offering some of their Everyday Math apps for free this week!

There's an App for That

At one of our iWonder Lite's a few weeks ago I shared some tips on searching for educational apps in the App Store. There are millions of apps out there - some good, some bad, so it is important to check reviews and explore what other educators are using. Here are some places to start searching!

On APPitic, teachers can search for apps by Subject Area, Multiple Intelligences, and even Bloom's Taxonomy. 

The iPad Curriculum has a similar search engine as APPitic, and also includes detailed reviews as to what the app is and how it can be used in the classroom.

iPads in the Classroom is another wealthy resource that not only has app suggestions, but also tutorials, related materials, classroom uses of the iPad, the iPad for Special Education, and Bloom's Taxonomy related apps. 

If you ever come across another fabulous iPad, iPod, or App resource, please pass it along and I'll share it with everyone!