Involve your students in planning your makerspace design and be astounded by the results.

I was once trying to plan a video for a contest with my students. I am no expert in art or cinematography, but somehow this project was given to me. I had a concept, but I was having a hard time with the execution so I went to consult with the art teacher. She told me that I was going about the whole thing the wrong way. Rather than asking the students to do something very specific, which fit my idea, I should tell them what the rules of the contest were and see what they came up with. She was so right. They made a beautiful and clever clip, which was far better than anything I could have planned myself. I learned a valuable lesson about letting students lead the way, when possible. In fact, I think a lot of things in education are better when students are involved in the planning. Makerspace design is a great example.

The whole point of the makerspace is to teach students how to be innovative, solve problems in creative ways, and collaborate with peers. So allowing them the freedom to design the very space where all of these things will be taking place is only natural. The challenge of designing a space combines all of the elements of interdisciplinary STEAM education. Students need to plan steps in advance and see the project through from concept to execution. They will need to make calculations and build prototypes, and account for logistical and aesthetic considerations as well. All of these critical skills that we are working so hard to foster in our students will be integral parts of their role in the makerspace design.

Obviously, there will need to be some parameters and guidelines for the project (unless of course, you have unlimited space and budget). Don’t be afraid to tell your students about what the requirements are. This is a great opportunity for them to learn about budgets. They can even submit proposals with all of the details of the costs along with the scaled models that they build. Whether or not you actually use the full design of one team of students, you will probably get some great, out-of-the-box ideas for your new space. When students see that even a part of what they worked so hard to plan is used in reality, they will feel validated, important, and empowered. I think those are some pretty valuable feelings.

What if you aren’t doing a major renovation and building a brand new, state-of-the-art makerspace? That doesn’t mean you can’t get students involved. Whether you are just deciding which supplies to order, or purchasing a few new workstations, students can be a real part of decisions both big and small. One company  even went as far as allowing middle school makers to design their own makerspace furniture, and the results are truly impressive. Even if you aren’t a big company manufacturing on a large scale, you can give students the opportunity to plan, design and build the very furniture they are using in the makerspace. When it comes to choosing supplies, allow students to submit proposals explaining why you should invest in or acquire particular materials, and demonstrate how they will make a real difference to them.

When it comes to involving students in design and planning decisions, there is so much to gain. The makerspace, the hub of the budding entrepreneurial spirit and the seeds of the next major innovations is the perfect place to start.

The post Prepare to be Astounded As Your Students Lead the Way in Makerspace Design appeared first on A Blog for Principals and Teachers - School Matters.

Every experienced teacher knows that there are distinct advantages to having assigned seats in the classroom, not matter what kind of seating arrangement you have. Learning clusters are great, but they are much less helpful if students are not working well together. Smart seating charts allow you to create classroom seating plans which fit your needs and preferences, without spending hours agonizing over the logistics.

Creating a seating plan that fulfills every student’s needs is quite difficult. There might be students with visual impairments who need to sit near the front, students who learn better when they are sitting near a wall, students who absolutely cannot sit together, and the list goes on. There are an unlimited number of possible parameters that can lead to the ideal layout. Once a teacher knows what is best for each student, creating a setup that fulfills the best interests of every individual in the classroom community can be extremely time consuming.

Smart seating charts allow you to find an arrangement that fulfills all of your needs, with the click of a button. ClassCharts takes your input about preferred placement for individual students, and instantly gives you an arrangement that suits all of the parameters. This is especially convenient in the middle of the year when you want to mix up the seats, while making sure that everyone is still in a good spot. This awesome app also allows you to keep track of positive and negative events in the class, and provide feedback to parents and students directly within the app. This allows you to stay on top of follow-up from classroom events, without spending hours every night E-mailing parents.

In addition to offering lots of great seating arrangements, smart seating charts also have some handy tools that you can use during your lessons. With Smart Seat, you can take attendance on a phone or tablet, while walking around the room. This saves you from having to carry around an attendance book, and makes it easier to move around the room while you are checking who is in the class on a given day. This convenient seating app also allows you to randomly select students to answer questions or perform other classroom tasks. This can make such a difference when you have a big class and want to make sure that you are engaging every student throughout the lesson.

Why do seating charts matter? While randomly assigning students to seats can sometimes work out in your favor, it doesn’t take the needs of the individual into account. Research has shown that assigned seats are most effective as a classroom management strategy and learning tool when they are assigned based on things like performance, ability and personality. Additionally, there are some seats which are just better than others, when it comes to encouraging participation. For example, students who are seated toward the middle of the classroom tend to ask more questions, which is a sign that they are engaged in the lesson. If the same students always get the best seats, they will always have the best opportunities to succeed. With smart seating charts, you can make sure that the prime locations go to different students each time you reassign seats, so everyone gets a chance to do their best.

Teachers have a lot on their plates, so any app that can help ease the burden, while improving performance is a great boon. Smart seating charts can really enhance the experience of teachers and their students, when educators choose to take advantage of all the cool features that they offer.

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There are lots of ways to incorporate technology projects into your back to school repertoire. With students and teachers just getting to know each other, using technology in the classroom can be a great way for everyone to shine as an individual. There are lots of digital tools out there which can help make this year’s return to the classroom better than ever for your entire school community.

Back to School Technology Projects and Activities

1. Fakebook Pages

This Facebook-style website allows you to create profiles which can then be printed as a PDF. By incorporating colorful images and personal details that they would like to share with the class, students can express their individuality. Profiles can be printed and hung up around the classroom to add an engaging personal touch, or presented individually directly from the computer, giving each student the opportunity to shine and work on presentation skills.

2. Vocaroo Voice Recordings

This website makes it easy for students to record themselves. This can be a great way to show parents what you have been working on in class. You can have students record themselves reading creative writing assignments out loud and E-mail the links directly to their parents. This is a great opportunity for students to practice reading skills.

3. Kahoot  Class Quizzes

A game-based learning platform is a fun option at any point in the year. For back to school activities, you can create an interactive quiz about classroom rules, or personal details about students in the class. This is a fun way to make sure that students are familiar with your classroom expectations and each other. Students can participate in the quizzes in real-time from any device, which is perfect for tablet-friendly learning spaces.

4. Kaywa QR Code Introductions

You can hang up pictures of students with QR codes and use Kaywa to create QR codes which can link to anything your students want. This can include slideshows, portfolios, class blog pages or videos. By putting personal QR codes next to the picture of each student, you enable anyone passing by to check out what they have been up to.

5. Class Updates with Checkthis 

This is a great way to keep parents informed and get your students involved in updates. Checkthis.com allows you to create colorful posts with images and text. The user-friendly interface is perfect for elementary-school students. You can assign each student a different day of the month when they are responsible for creating a post about what happened in class that day. Checkthis also allows you to include polls, which can be a great way to get input from parents about class ideas, preferred meeting times and much more.

These are just a few of the many back to school technology projects out there. The more you incorporate technology into your classroom in creative and meaningful ways, the more relevant your teaching will seem to your students.

What back to school technology projects have you tried in your classroom? We would love to hear from you.

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The odds are that you will find cell phones in the classroom no matter where you are, unless you are in a school enforcing a zero-tolerance policy. Kids in elementary school are already engaged on an almost constant basis with personal devices. While the initial reaction to smartphones in the world of education was to eliminate phones from lessons, today there are so many ways to promote productive cell phone use in class. With the right tools and the right attitude, an educator can transform cell phones from a constant distraction into one of the coolest educational tools.

There are some great apps for education which are designed specifically for cell phones. One of my favorites is Kahoot. With the motto “make learning awesome” Kahoot allows teachers to create multiple-choice games based on the information they are learning in class. The games can include images, text, videos and diagrams. Students answer questions on their cell phones and the results are recorded in real-time on the teacher’s main device. Kids thrive on challenge and competition, and Kahoot encourages them to relate to the material in a fun, interactive, technological platform.

Another great app for productive cell phone use in class is Remind. This app does exactly what it sound like: remind students and parents about upcoming assignments, projects, due dates and events. Unlike E-mails which can be tedious to compose and easily get lost, Remind messages pop up just like a text message, on the screen of a cell phone, where they are sure to be seen. Remind messages are even compatible with non-smart phones which can only receive SMS messages.

In addition to all of the specific apps which actively engage students on their cell phones in class, there are lots of more general ways to take advantage of these cool tools. Dictionary apps are great for language classrooms, and much more realistic for students. Lets face it, no one walks around today with a paper dictionary in their pocket, but students are likely to look things up on their phones. By training them in proper use of dictionary apps, and pointing out which ones are the most accurate and useful, educators are giving students a convenient tool and life skill. You can even compare a few different translation apps to teach a whole lesson about language accuracy in translation and why all translations are not created equal.

Sometimes it can even be helpful to let students play music on their phones.Playing music out loud can keep the energy level up and help the students stay alert while collaborating or working on individual assignments. By creating guidelines for playing music during work time in class, the teacher can establish herself as a realistic educator who is in touch with the students’ needs, but still in control of the class. You may even want to consider assigning a designated dj for the day who is responsible for putting together a pre-set playlist of approved songs. This gives the students a sense of responsibility and eliminates the complication of arguments over music tastes.

Let’s face it, cell phone use in class is on the rise and as educators we can either choose to embrace the revolution or fight a constant uphill battle. Simple acceptance of the reality is not enough, the best thing we can do for our students is take full advantage of all the amazing tools cell phones have to offer to our classrooms.

How have your classroom cell phone policies evolved (or not) over the years? What exciting and innovative tools have helped you engage students with their smartphones in the classroom? What challenges have you faced? We would love to hear from you. Please share your input in the comments below.

The post Can Cell Phones in the Classroom Be Educational Tools? appeared first on A Blog for Principals and Teachers - School Matters.

Hertz Furniture is proud to present the Designing The Ideal Classroom Infographic detailing what today’s educators think our classrooms should and should not look like.  We surveyed a cross- section of educators including school principals, ed tech specialists, consultants, designers, and administrators.  They responded to questions about the most important components of a classroom, what ideal classrooms should and should not look like, what color scheme the ideal classroom would incorporate and more.

If you haven’t already participated, take our survey now!

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As internet skills become increasingly important and teachers incorporate more and more technology into the classroom, the digital divide widens. The digital divide, the social and economic inequality created by lack of access to technology, is growing and there is no more critical technological tool than internet access. With internet homework becoming increasingly popular, students with no wifi or high-speed internet at home are at a distinct disadvantage. 

If educators, taking into consideration their less fortunate students, stop requiring internet homework, everyone loses out. With such a drastic measure, all students will be missing out on the opportunity to develop the skills and reap the many benefits of the internet, including access to information, collaboration and communication. On the other hand, teachers can’t require every student to have internet at home. The solution is to find a way to provide internet access to all students outside of school. This is quite a daunting feat in poor and rural areas. 

In a certain sense, asking students to do internet homework is no different than assigning library research in the pre-internet days. In that scenario, the students whose parents were unable to take them to a library missed out. However, while bringing a library to each student after hours would be quite a daunting task, providing internet access can be much simpler. It just requires some funding, innovation and out-of-the-box thinking. 

Some school districts have come up with innovative solutions for bridging the digital divide. The Coachella Valley Unified School District in California, among others, has put WiFi in all of its school busses so students can do internet homework on the long drive to and from school. In this rural area, even those who could afford to put an internet connection in their homes, were often rejected by service providers who were unwilling to set up access for them. Some of Coachella’s busses park overnight in accessible areas so students can hop on and get to work. 

Increasing access to busses with WiFi is one solution, but it doesn’t come without complications. If busses are left open overnight, that means anyone, including those who are not students, can come on in, possibly taking spots away from the students who need them or causing damage to the busses. There is also the issue of supervision. If students of various ages are sitting together unsupervised for many hours on the bus, that leaves everyone vulnerable to bullying and worse. 

Even with the ingenious solution of access to busses with WiFi in place, students without an internet connection at home are still at a disadvantage. They have to find a way to get to these busses after hours or rely on the morning commute to get everything done. There are many students who go to libraries or restaurants with WiFi, or even stand outside school buildings late into the night to make sure they get the work don. These solutions, while workable, are still not ideal for young children. Would you want you kids or students traveling, standing outside in the dark or sitting on unsupervised busses just so they could do their homework?

Bridging the digital divide is a complex task that still needs lots of work and out of the box thinking. Putting WiFi on school busses is a step in the right direction but the struggle is far from over. What solutions have you found to bridging the digital divide? Are there other ways for us to provide internet access to students in disadvantaged or rural areas? We would love to hear from you.

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Overview:

Amy Prosser takes the time tested practices of researching, writing and presenting which every one of our students needs to learn and weaves technology into six technology-rich, customizable projects aligned to Common Core and ISTE Standards.

The projects are:

Revamping Research Papers

Epic Student Presentations

Powerful Digital Storytelling

Spreadsheet and Chart Magic

Simple Screencasting

Why Blogging Won’t Die

The author provides the standards addressed in the project,  the tech tools and collaboration information that you need, details on how to plan the project, examples and grading considerations.

About The Book

While everyone agrees that students in the 21 century must become literate in technology, not every teacher is properly equipped to incorporate these skills into their lessons.  Amy gives practical suggestions on how teachers can have their students learn digital creativity, problem solving, and digital citizenship in their core classroom and not just in a separate technology class where students are liable to forget everything that they have learned.

Tech Out Your Classroom: 6 Projects to Meet Common Core & ISTE Standards is easy to read, and has step by step instructions on how to plan your project, learn the technology involved and follow through on implementing and grading the project in your classroom while meeting Common Core and ISTE standards.

Recommendation

I found Tech Out Your Classroom: 6 Projects to Meet Common Core & ISTE Standards pleasant and easy to read.

I highly recommend this book to all educators as a great step to integrating technology in education.  I love the practical tips, what to do when you get overwhelmed and the handy grading tips. The best part about it is that it promises to be a fun experience.  Choose the project that appeals to you and get started.

Where can I buy Tech Out Your Classroom: 6 Projects to Meet Common Core & ISTE Standards by Amy Prosser?

Get the free version of Tech Out Your Classroom: 6 Projects to Meet Common Core & ISTE Standards or you can buy the book via ISTE with free shipping in the U.S. and Canada.

Have you read Tech Out Your Classroom: 6 Projects to Meet Common Core & ISTE Standards by Amy Prosser?

Have you read this book, how did you find out about it? Did you  find it as enlightening and interesting as I did and would you recommend it to other educators?

The post BOOK REVIEW: Tech Out Your Classroom: 6 Projects to Meet Common Core and ISTE Standards by Amy Prosser appeared first on A Blog for Principals and Teachers - School Matters.

A class blog offers an excellent tool for getting students to actively participate in lessons while learning some great twenty-first century skills. If you are thinking about starting one, there are some unique platforms designed for education which will make a worthwhile investment for your classrooms. With concerns like security, accessibility and ease of use, choosing the right platform is critical when starting to utilize a class blog. 

Blogging classes learn how to express and publish their thoughts. Children as young as kindergarteners can start to enjoy posting answers to questions and prompts assigned by the teacher. As students get older, they can respond to peers on class blog forums and maintain open conversations. This is a great tool for students who might be less likely to speak up in class. If students are required to respond to questions or answers from their peers on a blog, they can carefully construct their posts before publishing and participate without being forced to speak. Teachers can request for assignments to be submitted via the class blog as well, which allows them to easily keep track of who has handed in what and provide feedback on drafts in progress. No matter how old your students are, blogs help them work on proper typing and internet skills, both of which are becoming increasingly important. 

Parents can also view class blogs and appreciate the work that their children are doing in real-time. Rather than having to wait until papers are sent home, parents can see the progress that children are making throughout the year, and even go back and compare writing to see how much their children have developed and grown as writers. In addition to providing a forum for publishing posts, teachers can also use class blogs to keep students and parents informed. Educators can publish digital newsletters about what is going on in their classrooms, keep an updated list of assignments and homework and offer ideas for how parents can reinforce classroom learning at home. Another great tool is a forum where parents can post questions so teachers can maintain open communication without being inundated with personal E-mails and phone calls.

What about concerns for safety, privacy and cyberbullying for blogging classes? Sites like kidblog.org and edublogs.org, which are designed specifically for educational environments, offer special features and protections. Teacher-moderated posting ensures that only appropriate content is included in the blog. Additionally, requirements for personal usernames and passwords ensure that only authorized parties can contribute. Kidblog.org offers kid-friendly functioning so even young students can easily learn how to use it. Edubblogs.org allows educators to keep all of the technological tools they want to use in class in one convenient place. Pictures, videos and text can easily be organized and shared within a class, with other classes in the grade or organized on school-wide or district-wide sites.

Class blogs bring tech into the classroom in an educational and interactive way. By encouraging students and parents to take an active interest in education, blogs are changing the way our students learn and revolutionizing communication channels between educators, students and parents. Do you have a class blog? What is your experience with blogging platforms designed for education? How have the students, parents and teachers in your school responded to class blogs? We would love to hear from you. Please post your comments below.  

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Wouldn’t it be great if you could give each child exactly what they need? With personalized learning, educators have the opportunity to tailor material to each student – at least in theory. While this new individualized approach has become a hot new trend in education, it’s important not to jump on the bandwagon before you understand all of the ramifications. Personalized learning through technology may be just the revolution our education system needs, or it might just be another passing fad. 

So what is personalized learning? According to the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, personalized learning is “tailoring learning for each student’s strengths, needs and interests–including enabling student voice and choice in what, how, when and where they learn–to provide flexibility and supports to ensure mastery of the highest standards possible”. In other words, it means teachers have to facilitate an individual program tailored to each student’s unique needs and interests. In this approach, students are allowed to control what they learn, how they learn it and how quickly they progress. 

One of the most popular tools for implementing this approach is technology. It takes an unbelievable amount of work for one teacher to personalize a lesson for 30 students. However, if there is a program that can adjust its level based on each child, or allow children to choose between various applications and topics, then educators can allow each student to move at his or her own pace, according to individual interests. And all without spending endless hours preparing a unique lesson for each student. For true personalized learning, it is not enough to just cater to students on different levels, the students also must be able to choose how they learn and what the subject matter is. What could be better than students learning what they want, how they want and at the pace they choose? 

Using technology to facilitate personalized learning is a great idea, but it is not without drawbacks. While technology can be a great tool, nothing can replace the personal connection between a teacher and student. An algorithm might know exactly which equation should come next in order to help a student grasp a concept, but it won’t know just the right way to apply that concept to a particular student’s life. There is also the question of what will motivate students to challenge themselves when they are dictating the pace. What if a student is learning from a differentiated program and happens to get a couple of good guesses but doesn’t really grasp the concept? The teacher still has to be very involved in each students’ individual progress and learning, even when relying on technology to facilitate personalized learning.  

Allowing and encouraging students to work at their own pace and pursue subjects that interest them can definitely increase motivation, but at what expense? If every student is learning something different, it is difficult to have students work together on something that will be applicable to all members of the class. There is also the matter of logistics. Any school that wants to use technology for personalized learning needs to have enough devices for every student, and a way to ensure that all of the devices are charged up and working properly. There is also the matter of class discussions. They aren’t just a gimmick to make students feel special. Discussions are a genuine tool which helps students learn from the teacher and each other. This tool is quite a challenge to use when each child is focused on something different and working within their own time frame.

How have you used technology to support personalized learning in your school? Have you been able to integrate personalized learning with more traditional teaching methods? We would love to hear about your experiences.

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Let’s face it. Even the youngest children can search their pressing questions on a computer. Good ol’ Google has made knowledge acquisition as easy as click, click, click. In today’s digital and technological environment, with our techy students, the future of the teacher-run classroom might be on its way to becoming obsolete. Or is it?

Student behavior is notoriously more challenging for the educator. Students quickly bore in the traditional classroom where the teacher is the lead and disseminator of information. For students used to quick changing, full color images flying at them from their iPads, frontal teaching no longer flies for their acquirement of knowledge.

Forbes notes that more than 500,000 teachers around the globe use 100,000 interactive, professionally-produced, free videos to teach various subjects. These videos have generated over 500 million views on YouTube. Can the average teacher presented lesson compete?   

So, what is the purpose of schools today? Many believe in this morphing world that education is to develop critical thinkers and people who can work as a team and respect each other. In addition, as we are bombarded with new information on a moment to moment basis, learning how to sift through the endless chatter is a skill most of us can benefit from learning.

Many believe that the best way for schools to remain central to children’s growth is to rethink the classroom. By developing more group activities and encouraging the practical use of information through projects (project based learning), attention can be improved and information is seen as having practical applications.

Another important aspect to assure that teachers remain relevant is the inspiration that teachers bring to the classroom. When a teacher is excited about a topic, students pick up on that energy and can get excited as well. A computer program simply can not generate those same feelings. 

In a world filled with people more focused on their iPhone than the person sitting next to them, teachers must also provide positive interpersonal relationships and encouragement. They must teach their students to care about other human beings. It is known that many wayward children found a positive path in life when one sensitive teacher took a special interest in their success. Google can never replace those interactions. 

Additionally, even the most interactive software can not come close to the subtle and expert ways that a good teacher can adjust a lesson to meet a student’s needs.

How is one to test the success of lessons learned in this new environment? Besides showing a project developed through the use of the knowledge gained, students can give over a “Ted Talks” like lesson. Let them give a timed talk about the process they went through in order to make the information relevant. 

Part of the changes required in today’s classrooms is redesigning of the classroom environment. More color can be included to make the school feel more alive without becoming overly stimulating. Good choices are green, grey and orange with some white and occasional blue walls. Providing shaded outdoor spaces with a proper floor can be a healthful place to learn as well.

Having flexible furniture such as chairs and tables or desks on wheels allows for efficient movement of furniture for paired or group learning. All this leads to a positive atmosphere where student creativity is encouraged and the building of a sense of belonging to a group and community is a reality. 

The day of the passive listener staring at the all-knowing teacher is over. Teachers must transition from knowledge deliverers to knowledge facilitators in order to remain relevant and engage our techy students. Have you incorporated any of these ideas into your classroom? We’d love to hear from you.

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