Using Edmodo with Younger Students: part 4 - App-a-looza

Using Edmodo with 4th and 5th graders has opened my mind to a variety of creative possibilities. After attending my second #edmodocon in person at +Edmodo headquarters, I  was challenged to begin using apps.  Having 1:1 iPads in my classroom made this endeavor easier, but there is a lot you can do with 5-10 devices, whether mobile, laptops or desktops.  Due to an incredibly difficult year, I was not as successful as I would have liked in trying new apps, but at least I dipped my toe in and am looking to dive in next month when I get my new class. Trying a variety of apps became easier when in the fall of 2013 I won the Power of One contest and was awarded a substantial amount of Edmodo app store credit to share throughout my district. At this point I was blessed with an overabundance of apps and set my students on a quest to explore and review new apps.Here are some highlights.

Some apps were great for students who had finished their work early and could work independently. My students liked Manga High's PEMDAS for math. They also liked Animal Cell, Thirteen Colonies and Slim the Ogre apps for ELA.  With a nod to gamification, they really liked when they were awarded badges automatically.  I used +Common Sense Educators Digital Passport app as a refresher whenever a student violated our classroom agreements.

Demonstrating understanding and Storytelling with Cartoons

My  students loved using +PowToon , +go animate and +Pixton Comics  We used these somewhat interchangeably, and students decided which tool they wanted to use to suit their purpose.  With GoAnimate, they realized they needed to so a lot more planning than they'd anticipated.  They realized the benefit of storyboarding, for which they used Storyboard That,  as well as editing their work.

Learnstreet - Hour of Code

Last winter we participated in the CSEDWeek/Code.org Hour of Code. We used the LearnStreet app which had a special 'course' where students could code their own holiday card.

StoryLines Pages

Inspired by the story All Good Things by Sister Helen Mrosla, StoryLines Pages asks each student to express (in one sentence) something unique that he appreciates about his classmate. In my blogpost about this project I explained how this project worked well for all abilities, and helped me identify some grammar, spelling and punctuation trends in my students.  I think this app would work well with much younger students as well.


Snapshot
I started using Snapshot after I returned to the classroom in late April.  Snapshot is a Edmodo app that helps you see  what your students know (and what they don’t). With real-time feedback and multiple ways to view results by student and standard, Snapshot helps you take the guessing out of assessing common core standards.  It was really helpful for me to get a handle on what they had learned while I was gone. I also used it to help double check meeting of standards for our report card.  This coming year I am looking forward to using Snapshot for pre- and post assessments, both on a lesson-by-lesson basis (exit tickets, etc) but also for broader concepts.

Apps I want to try

There are many apps in the Edmodo app store that I want to dive deeper into including Educlipper and instaGrok.  I also plan to use Curriculet and Subtext for reading comprehension and literature circles.

Using Edmodo with younger students has proven invaluable in helping me manage my time, increasing student engagement and providing my students with real and authentic ways to become good digital citizens.  We've participated in groups with classrooms across the country and we have an alumni group to keep connected with our past students. Edmodo is a game changer! And I feel like I have barely scratched the surface!

Using Edmodo with Younger Students - part 1: Getting Started

I suppose I am what you'd call an +Edmodo  power user in our district.  I am an Edmodo Certified Teacher and an Edmodo Support Ambassador, I have the t-shirts to prove it. I am often asked how I use Edmodo with my fifth grade students and how I would use it in even younger classrooms. So here are some ideas and what I have found to be best practices.

In my first day letter to parents, I include information about digital citizenship, technology use in general and how we will be using Edmodo in the classroom. I always start out the year with two weeks of #digicit lessons from +Common Sense Educators .  Students earn their passports by completing all of the lessons with me.  I then introduce them to Edmodo.   I do compare it to Facebook to give them a frame of reference and we discuss the differences: Edmodo is first and foremost is a safe and secure learning community.  We talk about what it means to be safe and secure. Then we focus on the fact that it is a learning community.  Not all teachers choose to allow their students to post 'personal' or non school related comments and it is something you should decide on before you introduce Edmodo.  While I do allow my students to post non-academic content from home, they know that they will lose privileges if they are socializing via Edmodo during school hours. And even though all notes (posts) are time stamped, some kids still seem surprised when I know that have posted, "'s'up" during class.

Next we have an extensive discussion on how/what to post and comment.  We use the acronym RAME - is is relevant, appropriate, meaningful, and edited.  We discuss Socrates three sieves - is it true, good and necessary.  We then use the expanded, child friendly acrostic THINK - is it true? helpful? interesting or inspiring? necessary? kind?  We do some role playing and I remind them that if they wouldn't say it to someones face, with me in earshot, then they shouldn't write it in Edmodo.

After all this talking, they are anxious to get started.  At this point, I have already created a group for my class, usually called something like '14-15 Room 7' Each group has a unique join code that new student users will need to sign up for Edmodo and existing users will need to join the class.  Generally, my students are new to Edmodo so they will need to create a student account. Even if they have an email, I do not have them enter it, since they are under 13 years old and technically not allowed to have email accounts.  I also do not allow them to use their last names.  I used to but then one of my previous students pointed out that she was at the public library using Edmodo and her name was all the screen for any passerby to see.  So now I have them use an alias. One year I used our school name for all of their last names.  Last year we had faux twitter handles, so they could use that for their name. Another teacher I know uses her last name for the kids' names, and then when they go on to another grade they change their last name (which avoids too many Jennifer School-name instances).  It is fairly easy to change a name after creating an account.

I initially start out my students as "read only", not contributors, that way they can see what I post but they cannot yet post.  It is easy to change this later, when you are ready, via the group members page. Their first activity after logging in, is an Edmodo scavenger hunt to familiarize them with basic features.  In the past I have used +Melissa Butler 's Livebinder Scavenger Hunt. If you use it, you will need to change students to contributor when they reach step 4. Be aware that Edmodo has redesigned some of their pages so although the activity will be the same, they look of the page might not match. That said, Melissa's +LiveBinders is a great resource!

That night's homework assignment is to tell their parent's about Edmodo and help them sign up as parents. I generate parent letters that include an overview of Edmodo, how we will be using it in class, and instructions for creating parent accounts, including their unique Parent code (associated with their child).  You cannot finalize the letter until the child has created their own account.  If  families do not have access at home, I invite parents to come early to Back to School Night and I will help them get started. I usually give a prize to the child whose parents are first to sign up and I award a badge to all students who have their parent or guardian sign up. It is easy to tell because that child's profile will have a parent icon by their name, on the same member's page where you can assign badges!

Some primary grade teachers have skipped having pre-writing students sign up and just had parents sign up as students to facilitate parent communication.  This causes slight problems in later years when that parent wants to associate their own email ID with a parent account.  This can be fixed but a better solution would be to avoid creating the problem.  Have a parent or an aide help you create student accounts for your class. This will generate the parent code for each child. Then the parents will sign up and you can now communicate with them as a group. The difference is that as "students" they can post to you and as "parents" they cannot.

Earlier in July I co-hosted an #edmodochat about using Edmodo with younger students.  The transcript of that chat was +Storify 'd - see below.  Coming up next: Edmodo With Younger Students - Part 2 year one 5th graders at work