Our First Mystery Skype

Mystery Skype

Recently, my students participated in our first Mystery Skype.  According to the Skype education group, "Mystery Skype is an educational game, invented by teachers, played by two classrooms on Skype. The aim of the game is to guess the location of the other classroom by asking each other questions. It's suitable for all age groups and can be used to teach subjects like geography, history, languages, mathematics and science."

I had heard the term from my twitter PLC but hadn't really looked into it until one of my fellow Global Read Aloud participants, +Jonah Salsich , suggested Mystery Skype as a way to introduce our classes to each other.

We started by introducing the idea to our students.  We talked about the different roles and how important each job was to successfully guessing the location of our mystery Skype school.  We practiced with me secretly choosing a town I knew a little bit about, Duluth, MN, my mother's birthplace.  (It turns out I didn't know as much as I though, but google and Wikipedia were my coaches) my students, each in their assigned job, had to guess where I "was".  They had a lot of fun and learned what sort of questions were helpful. They also learned what sort of things they would have to know about our own location!

So we proceeded to refine our process, mapping out the workflow using Kidspiration, an app by Inspiration Software. 

Then we had our first mystery Skype!  The kids were so excited! Our greeters welcomes each class o the call without giving away details about our location.  My kids even wanted to keep the blinds drawn so the other class wouldn't see how sunny it was!  The questioners could only ask "yes/no" questions.  The filterer sent the answer back to the think tank through a runner.  The think tank decided what the next question should be based on the answer.  In our debrief, we decided that it would be helpful to have questions planned out like a flow chart...if yes, then.. If no then....

Our mappers were key to our guessing strategy.  They were really great at eliminating whole parts of the world based on answers.  They used the wall map, our Big Blue Nat Geo Atlas (complete with magnifier), and Google Earth & maps.

Our answerers had to prepared to answer yes/no questions about our location.  When they didn't know answers, the filters decided if they knew the answer or needed to send it via a runner to the think tank.  The think tank would use mappers and their own resources to research the answers.  We are lucky to have 1:1 iPads so our mappers and think tank could use the devices for their research.  Our note takers and recorders used Notes on the iPads and our tweeters tweeted with a teacher looking on while photographers used iPads to take pictures and movies. Could we have done it without the iPads? Of course.  Was it more authentic to use them? Absolutely.

Our Skype partners also posted about our Mystery Skype at http://salsich5.edublogs.org/2013/09/24/mystery-skype-call-san-jose-ca/ 

Some of our lessons learned included. 

What Qs were helpful? ●  Are you north or south of some landmark, airport ●  Does your state start with A ●  Major water locations ●  Time zone ●  Longitude or latitude	Which ?? were not helpful? ●  Are you near ____ - be more specific ●  Guessing before we had enough information
What worked ●  Greetings ○  Memorizing greeting ○  Script helped ●  Cooperated well ●  Runners and filtered worked well together ●  Liked having assigned stations ●  Using sticky notes and sticking with assigned locations ●  Think tank stayed put which helped them work together ●  Used a “battleship strategy”, narrow down area based on clues ●  Paper mappers used landmarks well, magnifying glass worked well ●  More practice helped, two cameras were good ●  Reporter/notetaker located close to each other ●  Note takers working well, mostly did our own jobs, ●  At front table all did their jobs, runners did great ●  It was noisy but people were working really hard	What suggestions for next time            ● Greetings           ○ Louder voices for skypers, if memorized, still have script            ●  One more runner for each Q and A ●  Have questions prepared for both yes and no response ●  Do more research about our own city, state, etc. ●  Better way to call runners so we can get answers faster ●  Answering in complete sentences ●  Filters need a set of questions ready, that they can determine if appropriate ●  Test technology ahead of time ●  Video tape next time ●  Reporters feed info to tweeters ●  Suggestion to keep quieter so everyone could hear what was being asked ●  one more supervisor – one for front table, one for TT and one for maps
Have a back up plan for people being absent TT = think tank, Q or ?? = questions	What didn’t work? ●  We broke the first rule, ●  Sometimes did not follow jobs ●  Sometimes we didn’t know what ??s were being asked/answered ●  TT and runners were arguing about Qs, Qs were not always prepared , hard to come up with Q when it was so loud and rushed

Yes Teachers Want Tech, Let's teach them how to use it!

I just read an article tweeted to me by Edworld written by Edworld Jason. He points out how most teachers are finally ready to take on tech, and want more of it in the classroom. Buried at the end of the article, beneath some really cool graphics, is this sentence...

Researching costs for technology purchases—ranging from installation to training time—is the first step in identifying what's right for your school.

The training time has been in my experience the biggest block to anyone other than early adopters using technology in the classroom. Teachers I have worked with have dust gathering on projectors, use Smart Boards as screens for their overhead projectors and don't know what to do with laptops, iPads and PCs. I hold dual citizenship, but most teachers are digital vacationers at best. We need to find ways, and finance ways, to help these teachers learn how to use the tools to provide meaningful and authentic learning opportunities for our kids.

I have scoured the Internet for lesson plans using iPads and have come up with very few good examples. New-to-tech teachers need good and easy to find sources of information and resources to help them step across their own digital divide. In our district, where we have a growing pilot program for 1:1 iPads, we have started a wiki and edmodo group to share best practices and ideas. But it is still a challenge for all of us, we are so busy teaching, to find the time to research and learn and share new ways to be innovative in the classroom. Yet, we owe it to our kids to prepare them as best we can 'for jobs that don't even exist yet.'

And, to reward you for reading all the way to the end, here is one of the really cool graphics I mentioned.




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Kids and Candidates

I have been so in awe of my students this week. My fifth graders have an assignment to research presidential candidates' stand on three important issues. They used their iPads to research using Google, YouTube and timeforkids.com as their main sources, though several went beyond that. The students got to pick the issues and the candidate. After researching, they wrote persuasive essays, which required them to understand the position of the opposing candidate. They wrote their essays collaboratively using Google Docs, or Drive, mostly on the iPads, though some chose to use the Dino-PCs since google apps are still a bit glitchy in mobile mode. Finally, they are in the last step, creating presentations. Some students are choosing to make commercials or skits using iMovie. They are story boarding, script writing and filming ...editing starts next week.

I am impressed by their ability to collaborate, to move effortlessly between the high tech tools and communicating face-to-face in a meaningful way. They are problem solving, negotiating and demonstrating creativity in meaningful ways. They are able to integrate tools and are finding new ways to show what they know. I am so proud of my 21st century learners!

An excerpt from EL's essay

Site/people: http://www.education.com/magazine/article/Barack_Obama/page=1/ My mom and my partner Paul helped too.

This issue is important to me because is leaning is an important thing.

Barack Obama promotes an assessment program called “Race to the top,” this new assessment is different from the original one because it asks the students to problem solve, it is more in depth so they can’t just memorize everything. Obama supports charter schools by providing more funding for them. This causes healthy competition between the public and charter schools and makes them try harder to keep the students. Obama believes that in order for the quality of education to rise, we need to improve raise the quality of the teachers by sending them to professional training. He also helped the “American Opportunity,” a program that makes going to college easier, give 4,000 dollars tax credit to help low-income students go to college. Obama thinks that teachers should get paid according to how well they do. That will motivate them to do better.

Will post more samples soon!


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Location:San Jose, Ca

Space Shuttle Fly Over, Students and iPads

Out on the field today we waited and waited for the Space Shuttle Endeavour to do her final flyby. I was following the #SpotTheShuttle twitter feed getitng real time updates. The kids wanted to capture pictures on their iPads, and used the covers as sun shades to allow them to see the screens better. It was very exciting when it finally showed, though some of my darlings forgot the rule "thou shall not sun with iPads in your hands" Fortuntely no one or nothing got hurt. After we got back inside we talked about what we saw, why they flew by, where they were going and such. There were many unanswered questions so they started researching, mostly on the free NASA app. One of my students came up to me with a huge smile and said, "I love researching!" Yippee!

Later the students started writing about the day and the space shuttle using ScribblePress (also free). The used pictures we took and some also created iMovies with videos they took, including interviews. I hope they remember this day as much as I remember watching moon walks from my 5th grade classroom!

Using iPads Daily - Google Docs

In an effort to document how we are using the iPads in the classroom, I will try at least occasionally to post how we are using them day-to-day.

Tomorrow our School Board will be voting whether or not to fund another round of the iPad Academy. This means 5 more class sets of iPads, along with carts, appleTV and a Mac Book. I talked with my students about whether or not they thought this was a good idea. Since my 5th graders are working on Persuasive Writing, we decided to do a shared write letter to our School Board, which I plan to read to the Board during public comments. Since all of my students have Google apps accounts "inside our walled garden", we paired up students just to make the collaborative writing little less congested. On their iPads, half my students logged in to Google Apps, while the other half helped compose the letter. Students added their own sentences, edited each others and had some great discussions about how to persuade people to your opinion in a respectful manner.

This exercise also opened the door for authentic discussions about collaborative work. Since we didn't get a chance to finish, and to honor the need for think time, for homework students had to log in to Google apps (some did it from school), review the letter, do at least one edit or add, and sign their name, if they agreed to the letter. The students who had their iPads out for the letter writing in class had to "share" the document with a specific classmate.

Skills: Google apps: logging in, sharing, editing
collaboration
persuasive writing
keyboarding

In Maryland, iPad trial has more pros than cons

Green Acres school in Rockville, Md started a pilot with 5th and 6th grades that has been so successful, they are rolling out even more, as reported in the Maryland Gazette.
“It’s not really about the iPad, it’s about building a facility with technology, and using technology to give kids the opportunity to build their skills, and the opportunity to pursue their passions,” Neal Brown, head of school, said.
I couldn't agree more. The iPad gives access to technology which will help prepare our students for their future and access to information to help them learn, tools to help them create and problem solve.
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Location:Gaithersburg,United States

Wake up all the teachers, time to teach a new way!

I was driving to work the other day and thinking about a current discussion in my district about whether to improve our use of technology in schools. Some teachers think that the investment in technology is made on the backs of teachers. Some teachers see technology as one tool that teachers can us to improve their practice. Some of us feel that the integration of technology into our practice is mandatory as we educate 21st century citizens. I heard this song, sung by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes and just said...yeahhhhhh!

Complete lyrics: http://www.directlyrics.com/john-legend-wake-up-everybody-lyrics.html
Wake up everybody
No more sleepin' in bed
No more backward thinkin'
Time for thinkin' ahead
The world has changed
So very much
From what it used to be
There is so much hatred
War and poverty, whoa, oh
Wake up, all the teachers
Time to teach a new way
Maybe then they'll listen
To what'cha have to say
'Cause they're the ones who's coming up
And the world is in their hands
When you teach the children
Teach 'em the very best you can
The world won't get no better
If we just let it be, na, na, na
The world won't get no better
We gotta change it, yeah
Just you and me...
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Lead3.0

This weekend I went to a two day conference, Lead3.0 put in by TICAL, CUE and ACSA (my cousin, George Manthey is the  the Assistant Executive Director of Educational Services, of ACSA and the event co-organizer, an amazing guy).  


The first session I attended talked about Common Core Standards. The second session was near and dear to my heart.How Two Superintendents Collaboratively Launched an Initiative to Maximize Classroom Effectiveness in the Digital Age

Dr. Jacqueline M. Horejs, Superintendent, Union School District & Dr. Deborah L. Blow, Superintendent, Cambrian School District: Aware of the importance of collaboration as a 21st Century skill, Dr. Debbie Blow.. and Dr. Jacqueline Horejs, ... decided to initiate a 21st Century Digital Media Academy to provide professional development for teachers in both of our districts.  Teachers from each district applied and were selected to participate in a year long academy to learn how to effectively use digital media in their classrooms.  ...  Management team members are also collaborating on book studies including Trilling and Fadel’s 21st Century Skills, and workshops on the effective classroom use of iPads.

It was so cool to hear Dr. Blow talk about what we are doing and I honestly have never felt more proud of my school district! It was interesting to hear some of the background behind the thinking of the Academy concept & design, which basically is "feeding the rabbits" or as my previous Superintendent called us, "fire-starters".  Find the people who want to use it, they will use it and thus excite and teach others.


The keynote speaker at lunch was Alan November. If you ever get a chance to hear him speak, DO IT! Here are some notes I took, but doesn't really do him justice. If you have time - watch the video recording they made.http://novemberlearning.com/

• Teach by asking not telling
• Unlearning misconceptions is a phenomenally difficult thing to do.
• Math train.tv 6th grade teacher site .for kids to make movies about math.  We so have to do this
• Teach not only content but courage.  We have to teach them to be fearless learners.  Global publishing.
• Children would prefer content provided by children when they are learning something new.
• Unleash an army of creative problem solvers creating problem solving across the curriculum.   Kids work for free.
• Check out Prime factorization by bob on Mathtrain.tv.  She says she learns more doing the videos that the kids watching because she "really has to learn it."
• Kid who per teacher is not a Good 6th grade because she is lazy, as to why she is not doing school work but literally publishing content to a world-wide audience, "I have to decide, do I publish for my teacher or for the world?"
• What is the proportion of work that has purpose and adds value to the world vs work that is done for a grade?
• YouTube Dan Pink drive rsa animate   3 motivators...purpose, autonomy and mastery
• Seed and tree. ...how did it get there?  Kinder give same answer as harvard grads.  And they went to school between then!
• If they don't have internet access, download to DVD and send home.
• Mrs. Cassidy classroom blog   In Moose Jaw, 1st graders reaching a global audience creating documentaries of how they learned something.

Later I attended Technology Tools to Support Academics in RTI by Sheri Wilkins, Program Manager, Desert/Mountain Special Education Local Plan Area.

This workshop will provide participants with opportunities to explore technological solutions that will extend the effectiveness and efficiency of a Response to Intervention (RTI) model. The session will focus on tools for assessment and intervention in the areas of reading, writing, and math. Participants will be given time to explore the tools that are shared in the presentation.  I was hoping to find some good technology sources for reading intervention. This session focused mostly on assessment and not strategies.  I did talk to a vendor who has something similar to SuccessMaker but it runs on an iPad, so I might trial it.

I also attended a session with an innovative PD model between San Bruno Park SD and the Krause Center for Innovation.  I am a MERIT graduate so was interested to see what they did, which was produce an accelerated program to create tech savvy teachers. Creating Affordable and Timely Professional Development by Skip Johnson, Principal, Steven J. McGriff, Teacher-in-Residence, KCI, Gay Krause, ED, KCI and two teachers from the district: Providing high quality professional development to promote the use of technology is a challenge. In the San Bruno Park School District we created a partnership with the Krause Center for Innovation housed on the junior college campus of Foothill in Los Altos Hills to provide low cost professional development through the establishment of the Danford Center for Innovation.

The final highlight of my day was collaboration time with Jason and Martin.  We did some brainstorming about apps, they gave me encouragement about being laid-off, again, and then we went to the Apps for Apps mixer, where it was like speed dating but with iPad apps.  We learned about some really cool apps. I'll add links later.

• App. Home 3d. To build a mission
• App. Reflection can display whatever is on your iPad onto the computer, than project it.  Not as big a deal if you have appleTV
• What we then brainstormed is to use a free app...Join me. It shares my screen with the kids they sign with a code.   Can also log in remotely.  This might be the solution Sheila and I were wondering about if we want all of our users on the same "page" at once, for example with a read along.
• App. Classroom management. Can assign Badges, kids see how they are doing..they get points.  Could display using 2 windows so kids cn always see their status.  It can also be set up to send parent emails.  Maybe useful for 'that kid'.
• app.  Educreation.  Just like show me. A little simpler. can't download videos with show me so if you want to embed them in something else, you may want to use Educreation ..both are free.
• App Explain everything. 2. Cool app to annotate presentations, images, etc.
• Doceri 3 versions can edit with the video then record   Export to an mov. Free $25 no ad, $30 also controls computers
• If you are going to make movies, there is a Case/tripod mount/adapter for lenses. $64 Makayama. iPad 2. You can attach a 37 mm lens.  Kinda cool.  You can also attach external mic with $20 dongle
• Cosmonaut. Stylus. A bigger handle for little kids. http://www.studioneat.com/products/cosmonaut
• App and web based tool  take notes and store them in the cloud for anywhere access..  It is where imam typing this!  Evernote. Shared folder so you can share assignments with kids that they can access anywhere...maybe much the same as Google apps though frankly docs is super slow and awkward.  Jon from Minnerette high school.   Taking notes in the cloud. 
• Assignment: using Ask a friend three questions and record. (t has a voice feature) Then write summary. They have to stay on task because they have to produce soemthing!  

I am so happy I went to this event. It was engaging and re-invigorating. Will post later about the closing session with Steve Dembo 

We are in!

Despite union politics and me being a temp, our application to the academy was accepted and I am in! We had our first meeting and got our teacher iPads and MacBooks on the 26th.  Needless to say, my kids were very happy!