ShamrockTech

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Just One Thing

Image from: www.fundraisingdirectory.com.au

I have heard from many Maple Lake teachers telling me about the One Thing they are doing this summer to learn more about technology.

A few have joined Twitter, beginning a community of Maple Lake educators who are connected online.
Follow these teachers on Twitter:
@blumhoeferteach
@jost_annie
@MrMeyertheteach

Others have explored new things such as:

*creating a video to learn more about video editing

*reading a book that is part of this year's Global Read Aloud to see how participating might help students reach academic goals and connect globally

*exploring the concept of flipped instruction for some lessons

What is your One Thing? Reply in the comments, send me an email, text, or tweet (#shamrocktech) to let me know!

Monday, June 15, 2015

After following some great educators on Twitter, I came across a fantastic blog post about the style of teaching and learning that is made possible by incorporating technology into the classroom. Technology does not simply enhance our current teaching, it transforms it. It makes things possible that could not be done before.

Image from: https://twitter.com/mrswideen

Mrs. Kristen Wideen of Ontario, Canada writes,

"Technology is used to give students a voice, give students choice, to give students a global audience, to make thinking visible and to allow me to assess and give feedback using voice and video. It also enables my parents to see their children’s work on a daily basis through Twitter and their personal blogs."

Check out her full post about iPad Learning Stations for Elementary Grades. (The theory behind her ideas and the purpose of technology can apply to any age group and any technology!)

Click here to view the full post.

Image from: www.mrswideen.com

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Summer Tech - Try Something New!

Image credit: blog.tweetsmarter.com

Here we are! It's finally summer! I am enjoying the relaxation and sun - I hope you are too!

This summer, try experimenting with new technology. The first step is to be willing to try new things, outside your comfort zone. And . . . try it today, rather than some other time.

I recommend joining Twitter if you haven't already, and then committing to check it 2-3 times per week for the summer.

What Twitter will do for you:

* Show you innovative things other teachers are doing, with technology and otherwise

* Give a glimpse into a great way to communicate with parents and the community

* Connect you with other educators in our district and other districts

What Twitter could do for your classroom:

* 50 Great ideas for PreK-12 here.

* Ideas for primary grades here.

How to Sign Up:

* Use your school email or a brand new, dedicated gmail account and consider this your professional account. Use it only for professional purposes. On Twitter, you will find many people using the one account for both professional and personal purposes, but this is not recommended.

* Click here for detailed instructions on how to get started.

* Choose at least 5 people to follow (keeping in mind this is your professional Twitter account)

* When you feel the inevitable feeling of "I completely don't get it" as you begin exploring, commit to checking Twitter 2-3 times per week for several weeks until you get the feel for it. Just click stuff and try things. This is the best way to learn!

Choose at Least 5 to Follow:

From our District:

@MrsHaglin

@caseboltn
@blumhoeferteach
@jost_annie
@MrMeyertheteach
@kfynboh

@MLHSIrishHoops

@vb_ml (Maple Lake Volleyball)

@MapleFootball

From Elsewhere:

@MLLibrary

(Maple Lake Library)

@MapleLakeLakers

(Maple Lake Lakers Baseball)

@HLWWHS

(HLWW High School)

@PrincipalMix

(HLWW High School Principal)

@HumphreyElem

(HLWW Humphrey Elementary)

@WinstedElem

(HLWW Winsted Elementary)

@MrsOlsonMES

(a 1st grade teacher at Montrose Elementary)

@jseroadrunners

(John Swett Elementary in CA, which has all teachers on Twitter)

@AWelcome

(Principal of John Swett Elementary)

@soup192

(Superintendent of Farmington Schools)

@pernilleripp

(7th Grade teacher and founder of The Global Read Aloud)

@MattBGomez

(Kindergarten teacher and leader in technology)

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Free Summer Math Practice K-5

Give your students a fun, free way to practice math this summer. Set up your class with Splash Math accounts and send home their usernames and passwords before our last week of school is over. Don't feel like you have time? I can help. Email me a class list, and request my help to get them enrolled and print out parent letters:

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: