I remember back when I took my technology class at Sam Houston, my professor considered an overhead, a pencil, and manipulatives as forms of technology.  It was easy to get marked high for technology on your observations because everyone used an overhead.  However, these same tools would not be considered technology today.  So, what do we expect to see in a classroom now?

📊 Usage Share of Internet Browsers 1996 – 2019 https://t.co/mWMXPvxW9r Who remembers Netscape Navigator Gold? #edtech #GoogleEDU #GSuiteEDU #GoogleChrome pic.twitter.com/N4NNa8cOVh

— Eric Curts (@ericcurts) August 31, 2019

As technology has evolved, so has our opinions about how we use the technology in our classrooms.  I worked as a classroom teacher for Willis when we did the first rollout of devices at the middle school.  For those student take home devices, we just hoped the students were using them at home appropriately.  The next round of devices were a few teachers with a set of tablets in their classrooms.  I vividly remember attending a meeting with Mr. Harkrider telling us he expected them to be used often and for more than just research.   I looked at my partner and asked her are we sure we want to do this?  We jumped in, full steam ahead with support from administration and our campus iCoach.  We learned a lot and tried many new things during that time.  I remember how nervous I was about turning students lose with the devices and what happens if they do something I do not know how to fix.  It was not always smooth sailing, but some of my favorite years in the classroom.  Looking back now, I am still amazed at how differently classrooms look in relation to technology than they did when I started fourteen years ago.

The vision for the instructional technology department is to empower learners to create, innovate, and collaborate.  Thinking back to my college professor’s view of  technology,  I realize it was all about how the teacher used the technology.  Now, it is about how is the student using technology.

ISTE Student Standards Poster

We want our students to take the information they are learning and create a product that illustrates their understanding or extends what they know.  No longer do we want students to create for only their classroom or their school.  Instead, we want them to publish and collaborate outside of our school walls.  To ensure their success, we have to equip them with the tools to do so.  Check out ISTE‘s webpage to learn more about the International Society for Technology in Education student and teacher standards.  It is a fabulous resource for our digital age learners.

With all the new changes with technology in the classroom, how can I help you?  I’m going to share some advice that helped me in the classroom.  First, do not be afraid to ask for help.  My best resource during my technology transition was  my iCoach.  She was always willing to listen as I walked through something I wanted to try, offering suggestions or support as needed, or just being an extra set of eyes and hands when trying new things.  My goal is to support you in using technology to ensure all students will learn at high levels.  Just let me know what you need from me: support during a lesson or planning, researching ideas, or just a sounding board.  I am only an email away.  Secondly, learn from  your students.  Our students are growing up in an age of digital learners.  They will be ahead of us every step of the way.  Let them teach you.  Finally, reflect on your lessons.  With technology, things will go wrong at times.  Reflect on the lesson  and think about how to make it better.  It could be something as simple as giving clearer instructions or working in partners instead of independently.  It is sad to see technology removed from lessons because it went poorly when a small change would have changed the outcome.

National Geographic Magazine Ad from 1994

As I visited classrooms this week, I happened to walk into an ELA room that was starting class with 10 minutes of silent reading for both students and the teacher.  I did not want to disturb the flow of the classroom, so I sat down and grabbed a magazine to read.  It happened to be a National Geographic from 1994.  What I found interesting was the Microsoft technology advertisement pictured to the right.  It was student perspective on taking a field trip through the Human Body with Mrs. Frizzle and her Magic School Bus.  As I read this ad, I spent some time reflecting on how much technology for our students has changed in the 25 years since this innovative technology from Microsoft.  Our students are no longer engaged clicking through the slides or just watching the videos from Magic School Bus, but instead want to immerse themselves in VR and AR activities to decode the wonders of their education or question their world at a global level.  Think about that when planning quality lessons involving technology.

This week, our sixth grade students reviewed important concepts about ELA using Kahoot.  The students could work independently or in partners during the activity.  After the students had time to answer their question, Mrs. Herrington would discuss and review any misconceptions that the students had about the material, such as the difference between compare and contrast.

In Ms. Baker’s class, students used the VR viewers to visit the Taj Mahal and learn more about India.  Students were given time to explore and ask questions about what they could see in the viewers.  If you would like to check out the viewers, check them out in the SSO (Single Sign On).

Coach Pope and I had a great meeting about using Flipgrid for student responses to open ended questions.  He wants to have his students record their answers to questions and make connections to prior knowledge of Texas History.  We discussed how to implement Flipgrid this year and how he might considered using it next school year with his students.

Our 8th graders are gearing up for STAAR testing in reading and math.  Mrs. Gilliland used Google Classroom to engage her students with some high interest reading passages.  She preassigned her classes in Google Classroom and gave them one of two passages to read.  She gave them a copy of the reading selection and open ended questions to answer and return digitally.  Students worked in partners or small groups to discuss the questions and make inferences.  Towards the end of class, Mrs. Gilliland had students pick one of their questions and write four multiple choice answers focusing on one being the distractor.

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For T3 this week, we focused on some quick and easy activities to use with students to keep them engaged.  A few of the things we discussed included Poll Everywhere, Mentimeter, and Plickers.  One of the favorites from T3 was Bingo Baker, which was shared with me by Shae Robinson.  Every teacher at the training was encouraged to pick one of the ideas shared and use it with their students in the two weeks before our follow up T3 on April 16th.  If you did not attend the first T3, you are still welcome to join us on the 16th.

It was a great week back after a restful Spring Break.  Staff and students returned excited and ready to complete the last nine weeks of the school year.

A student in Mrs. Gutierrez’s class building their Tiki-Toki Timeline.

Mrs. Gutierrez’s sixth grade Pre-Ap classes used Tiki-Toki to start building digital timelines.  The timelines focused on events that are important to Space Exploration.  Students had to put eleven events on their timelines and add information to the events, such as the importance of the event and how it impacted future space missions.  During the activity, the students asked great questions to make connections about how the events overlapped and impacted each other.

Coach Winn’s seventh graders worked on a Goosechase in the library over Data Analysis.  The focus was on making connections between bar graphs, circle graphs, and dot plots.  Students connected the material they had learned prior in the week to the questions on the Goosechase.

Mr. Soose’s Wizer.me

In Mr. Soose’s class, his students used a Wizer.me to show their learning of the short story, “The Monsters on Maple Street.”  Mr. Soose choose Wizer.me because it is easy to send a link to the assignment in Google Classroom and many of his students will be taking online tests and this helps prepare them.  If you want to learn more about Wizer.me, come to the T3 training on Tuesday, March 26th in the library.

The week started with a great T3 on Google Tour Builder and Tour Creator.  The teachers in attendance learned about using these two programs for classroom instruction.  Tour Builder is similar to Mapquest, but students create points, upload images, and write descriptions or stories in their own words.

Tour Creator, a newer Google program, allows the student to create a VR like experience from a pre-created template or their own destination.  Teachers shared many ideas of how to use these programs such as a road trip to a  national park, visiting the Alamo, or explaining the Solar System.

This week, our sixth-grade students studied Sub Saharan Africa.  To help the students gain a true understanding of the culture and climate,  Ms.  Baker used the app Google  Expeditions and the Virtual Reality viewers to submerge her students in Africann culture.  Students learned about the Cape Peninsula, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, and Ellis Park Stadium.  During the experience, students took notes in their journals about their observations and how it connected with what they had learned in class.

Seventh graders reviewed their understanding of volume and surface area of prisms and pyramids in a variety of ways.  Mrs. Johnson’s class competed in a voracious game of Jeopardy.  The class was divided into teams and competed to get the most points to win.

@caleb2012 using @plickers to engage students while practicing volume #LucasPrideIsJustified @LLMSLynx pic.twitter.com/lGXJS0VZEG

— Ashley Soose (@AshleySoose) February 26, 2019

Coach Winn’s class used Plickers to answer questions and quickly check for their understanding of the material.  Students received immediate feedback on their learning while Coach Winn was able to track student progress and determine students who might need extra support.

Whew!  For a short week, it sure feels like the teachers at Lynn Lucas packed in learning and technology this last week.  I felt like I needed to be in multiple places at once and I just couldn’t keep up.  I was in desperate need of a time turner (think Hermione Granger from Harry Potter fame).

Mrs. Evans and Mrs. Gutierrez rocked the sixth graders’ world with the use of Merge Cubes and the app Galactic Explorer.  The students were able to hold the Solar System in their hands as the completed a scavenger hunt of the material.  The two ladies did a phenomenal job planning and preparing for the activity by sending home an information sheet to parents about the activity and the app download, making a Google Slides presentation with clear guidelines and directions, and having extra paper Merge Cubes for large classes.  Get this, some students asked to take one home to show their parents what they learned.  This is not something that happens every day.  My favorite part of the experience was watching the excitement on the teacher and students’ faces as the explored the Solar System in a new and exciting way.

If you would like a copy of the Google Slides presentation or parent handout, there are copies in the LLMS Technology Google Classroom.

To see Merge Cubes in action in the classroom, click here.  For an interview with students and their thoughts, click here.

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On Wednesday, my boss, Courtney Brown, got to spend half the day with me.  Not only did she get to see the Merge Cubes in sixth grade, we also got to see a few of the video game creations taking place in Ms.  Burge’s Career

Student created Unicorn for their Bloxels game

Pathways classes.  Students are working on creating dynamic main characters that match their game theme.  Some groups have already moved onto building backgrounds and secondary characters to interact with the main character during the game.  Going into the coming week, students will continue to work on building their backgrounds and start constructing their games.  Each game is required to have 26 levels.  If you have time, swing by her 1st and 2nd periods to check out the students’ awesome game creations.

In sixth grade math, Ms. Robinson’s students reviewed their understanding of plotting points on a coordinate plane and locating points within the four quadrants using a Goosechase.  To get the students out of the classroom and working collaboratively, Ms. Robinson overlaid a coordinate plane on top of a map of Lynn Lucas.  Students then completed missions taking pictures of the classroom that matched the given coordinates or video evidence explaining the quadrant a room was within.  Before beginning the activity, Ms. Robinson spent a few minutes helping the students acclimate to the coordinate graph.

Be on the lookout for Mrs.  Harrell,  Mrs. Hersey, and Mrs. Todd’s class to be participating in the Goosechase soon.

This was a busy week for technology at Lynn Lucas.  On Monday, I met with Mrs. Evans and Mrs. Gutierrez about Augmented Reality, or AR.  [metaslider id=”330″] We looked at the Galaxy Explorer and HoloGLOBE apps.  The Galaxy Explorer app focuses on the parts of the Solar System.  The HoloGLOBE app shows real time data using NASA satellites of wind patterns, temperatures, and precipitation on the Earth.[metaslider id=”335″] These two ladies starting running with the information and created a whole lesson plan for the Merge Cubes.

Merge Cubes and Galaxy Explorer App

Check out their plans in the LLMS Technology Google Classroom.

On Tuesday, Ms. Burge’s Career Pathways classes began a unit on Bloxels.  Bloxels is a user-friendly way for students to learn to build their own video games.  Students had to work in groups to choose a theme for their game, such as adaptations to the environment due to pollution.  Students then used the Bloxels app and the game boards to build characters.  Each character had to have idle, walking, and jumping actions.  The students got to choose the type of character, the costume, and the actions.  Next week, the students will begin creating the game and the background for their characters.  Be on the look at for student-produced games soon.

The T3 on Tuesday was a discussion on VR and AR (Virtual and Augmented Reality).  There were seven teachers in attendance.  It was a great afternoon learning about Google Expeditions VR and AR activities, as well as learning about the Merge Cubes.  For more on Merge Cubes, visit the Miniverse.

Sixth-grade math is gearing up for another round of Goosechase.  This time, these ladies plan on having the students use a coordinate grid overlayed on a map of Lynn Lucas to practice plotting ordered pairs.  Students will have to identify classrooms in all four quadrants and give ordered pairs for a specific location.  During the activity, students will be working together to plot the points and then go and take a picture of the teacher’s room that corresponds.

It was a great week at TCEA in San Antonio,  Texas.  I enjoyed getting to catch up with my other iCoach friends, meet new people, and learn some exciting new ideas to increase student engagement and learning using technology.  Keep reading to learn about a few of the exciting things I learned this week.

Tuesday was a great first day beginning with our own iCoach Shawn Lane presenting ideas to engage secondary students.  Some of our fabulous students and teachers using Goosechase even made the presentation.  The day continued with ideas on Bell to Bell  Instruction and lesson planning with technology.  Ms. Benno presented a fabulous session called Fixer Upper: Digital Edition, which focused on transforming paper and pencil projects into higher level technology greatness.  My favorite session of the day was about Merge Cubes.  Check them out in an upcoming T3 training and watch the Solar System come to life in the short video clip below.

Getting excited for all the potential learning opportunities with #mergecube #tcea In the early stages of exploring all the things students can do! #hcisdedtech @JodieAllex pic.twitter.com/PLwn5M4q0a

— Julie Guerra(Garcia) (@JulieMarieG06) February 8, 2019

After such an amazing Tuesday, I was not sure how Wednesday could get any better.  I started my morning bright and early learning from Leslie Fisher on Tools You Can Use Tomorrow.  Her hour and a half session was full of tips and tricks.  My favorite was a free program called Immersive Reader from Microsoft.   

I went on to learn about digital stations for secondary students and resources to bring experts into our classrooms using Skype and Google Hangouts.   I am excited to dig into this resource to get outside experts to speak to our students.

The final day I got up early because, well I had to have a Starbucks.  It was rough not having my coffee each morning.  However, my early morning paid off because the line for my first session was already forming.  It seems everyone present wanted to see Gerry Brooks (check him out on Facebook).  His presentation on Personal Climate and Culture:The Key to Professional Success was uplifting, funny, and a great reminder of why each of us do what we do every day.  My final session of TCEA 2019 was on Hyperdocs for math teachers.  While it was content specific, I cannot wait to share with all content areas to drive instruction and create relevant and meaningful lessons for our students.

To keep things interesting this week, Courtney Brown had us compete in a Goosechase.  Her missions included reflecting on what we had learned, sharing our favorite quotes, and taking pictures/videos of things we wanted others to see.  For those of us that choose to be overachievers, she included a few bonus missions.  Check them out below.

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