ShamrockTech: April 2015

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Book Creator

Great news! Our iPads now have the Book Creator app! Try it now - this could be a great way for your students to show their learning during the last few weeks of school, and a chance for you to explore this new tool to get ideas for how you could use it next year.

Your student's book can become a video and be posted to YouTube for parents and friends to enjoy.

Please coach your students to refrain from editing other students' books, as this app is shared with the entire school.

Beth can come to your classroom and help or coteach as you explore and use Book Creator.

Want to . . .

make How-To books?

present facts in Social Studies?

document an experiment in Science?

have students each make a page and combine them into one class book?

create a book to share a field trip experience?

Please contact me to discuss how I can help you try this in your classroom.

** There are 5 more licenses available for teachers who would like to put Book Creator on their class iPad. Let me know if you are interested! **

Click here to see a short video about what this app looks like.

Thursday, April 9, 2015

High School Space

Welcome to my new office! Dave has given me a space at the high school (in addition to my elementary location) so that I can be more accessible to the high school staff! I am located adjacent to the HS Media Center and copy room. Please feel free to stop in anytime.

Wondering when Beth is in the office?

Click here.

And as always, the best way to contact me is by email - haglinb@maplelake.k12.mn.us - or by using the contact form on the right side of my blog.

Monday, April 6, 2015

Student Web Presence: Maple Lake Exemplar Teachers

Image from: imgarcade.com

My last two posts were about allowing students to post their learning online and seeking an interested audience to view and respond to their content. Next I would like to focus on teachers in our district who have invested in providing an online platform for their students and/or procured an audience.

First grade teacher Sue Schmitz

Student Blogs

Learning Posted: Sue's students share their writing as well as photo updates about classroom projects and daily learning.

Audience: their blog has been visited 1,292 times and has received 183 comments in response to their posts.

Fifth grade teacher Amy Kosloski

Student Blogs

Learning Posted: Amy's students share their thoughts about a read-aloud book.

Audience: combined, her three blogs have been visited 5,628 times and have received 163 comments in response to their posts.

HS Spanish Teacher Kim Fynboh

Student Blog about Spain Trip

Learning Posted: Kim's students share their experiences in real time while on a class trip to Spain.

Audience: parents and friends back home view posts and leave comments about students' experiences.

These three examples have harnessed the power of giving students an authentic audience - their audience has been actively involved in responding to the learning they have posted.

Many other teachers in our district have created the initial infrastructure of placing student work online. See more examples of online student work that has been shared: