QR codes in class

Being in Korea, almost every student in my class has a smart phone. Now, I know that they are experts in using them, so why should I not tap into their excitement in being able to use their phones in class?

I already allow them to use their devices during a word study period in which once a week they have to look up the definitions of words they are analyzing. Taking this into consideration, I decided to figure out a way to use them in my lesson on people’s access to clean water around the world.

Now, also in Korea, there are QR codes everywhere you can imagine. Thus, I knew my students would be familiar with what they are. Rather than just printing off photos from National Geographics phenomenal website on freshwater and the environmental issues surrounding it, I wanted a way to have my students react authentically to them, in essence to be surprised.

I decided to change the photos from National Geographics gallery on Freshwater Conflict photos, by pasting their URL into a QR code generator, like this one here. Then, I printed off the images of the QR codes and hung them around the room. Students, with a partner, silently took their device around the room and using the Red Laser app, scanned the codes. They then answered three items on post-its about the photo: 1) how does it make you feel? 2) What did you learn? 3) Do you have any questions? 

They would put up the post-its by the QR code and then wander to another station in the classroom to check that one out. It was remarkable to see the students working together to figure out how to use the QR codes and reading about the photos on their phone. Because many of the students had never thought about the scarcity of water, this was an incredibly powerful activity that sparked a great discussion. 

Additionally, students came back to their desks to find a fact about water. Something such as, “More than 3.4 million people die each year from water, sanitation, and hygiene-related causes. Nearly all deaths, 99 %, occur in the developing word,” from water.org. 

For our next two lessons on water and its scarcity, we’ll be reading the book One Well by Rochelle Strauss and then we will read non-fiction articles on water use in Africa, the importance of water and more. Articles can be found in many major newspapers on water and it is a wonderful way to have students read non-fiction which is becoming a bigger necessity as people must be able to take information from other sources and apply information or formulate opinions. Students will write their reactions to the article, what they learned, what they didn’t understand, and what they’d like to know more about. 

Finally, we will analyze info-graphics about the use of water around the world and then take the information we learned in our non-fiction articles and create our own info-graphic as a class. Check out our website for some I downloaded off a pintrest search for water infographics. 

Today's Meet...

Wow, wait, what? Many times I have found my students coming to class after watching a conceptual video done on Educreations or Khan academy and are still striving to grasp the concept of mathematics that was taught.

Flipped teaching has worked wonders in my fifth grade class, allowing me to better differentiate and keep up with kids using the coaching features on Khan academy. But there is more to flipped teaching than just watching videos at home and working on problems in class. 

Understanding the hows behind mathematics is key. This past month I have begun to use Today’s Meet at the start of my math class as a place to post conceptual questions. Right now I am creating the questions for the students about the math, but in the future I hope to have them create their own. As a table group, the students then discuss the questions with each other thus increasing their abilities to also discuss mathematics verbally. Next, student are called on to explain a question to the group. 

Throughout this time, each group has one computer set up that allows them to put in answers on Today’s meet or ask questions. An alternate to using todays meet is to make a simple google presentation with the concept questions on a slide and then share this with one student in each group. 

The next step is to give practice problems. I allow students to work collaboratively on these and will pull small groups during this time if needed. Additionally, sometimes this time is used for a project or a more open ended math activity like ones found on illuminations or the Silicon Valley Math Institute website. 

Overall, I am incredibly happy with the structure of my math class now. Each day needs tweaking and shifting and there are times where I simply wish I had another hour with them, but as a teacher it is good to reflect and be open to change because as we know change keeps us growing and learning just like our students. 

Photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajc1/8144344750/

Freshwater 101 Interactive - National Geographic

Link: Freshwater 101 Interactive - National Geographic

Great video to use with teaching about water usage around the world and the importance of conservation. 

Magic of Educreations

Last night at about 10 pm, I received an email from a student kindly and maturely explaining that she was utterly confused by dividing decimals into other decimals. Only an hour or so prior to this, I had g-chatted a student who also was in  a pickle about dividing decimals.

I scratched my head and decided to watch the Khan Academy math video I had assigned one more time to asses it for confusing pieces. After watching it through, I discussed it with my husband and we came to the conclusion that while I understood the video, a 10 year old at home with only Mr. Sal Khan and his or her math notebook for guidance might find the video confusing.

Post video assessment, I logged onto Khan Academy to view the work of my students (one of the many benefits of using Khan academy both in and out of the classroom is that one can actually see the modules that students are struggling on, haven’t started, are proficient at or need to review). Once I found the two selected modules I had assigned, I noticed that quite a few students had been struggling. What I also noticed is that quite a few students seemed to give up after a few problems.

At this point two thoughts crossed my mind 1) Did they give up because they truly didn’t understand? or 2) Did they give up because they wanted the answer spoon fed to them?

My biggest cultural shift since coming to Korea as a teacher, has been realizing that my students truly need to learn how to critically think about their work, understand why something is the way it is, and then apply their knowledge.

That point aside, I brushed my teeth, put on my PJs, and hopped in bed with my ipad and stylus. Then I opened up Educreations and started making a video for my students regarding dividing decimals. What I realized was the kids needed a real life situation to think about dividing decimals in and they also needed a simpler problem in which to first learn the concept.

Upon arriving at school, we watched the video as a class. As the kids watched the video, I watched their faces. It seems some concepts were sinking in, it seemed that some questions were cleared.

I am a firm believer in the power of explanation and Educreations makes it incredibly easy to explain a concept exactly as you would like your students to understand it. Additionally, there is great worth in exploring Educreations in general as there are many videos already created by other teachers that you can use.
Using Educreations in congruence with Khan academy also makes even more magic happen.

imovie Apple Meet Up

It is always an exciting day when I get an email from an Apple Distinguished Educator at my school inviting me to an Apple Meetup! This Friday was an incredibly exciting topic, imovie, as I have created several projects this year. I was eager to hear some ideas from other educators on the philosophy behind imovie and the impact it can have on education. Upon arriving, I found about 20 other excited educators ready to discuss imovie. As we shared movies we’d made, a little part of me was really hoping to have a deeper discussion on why we use imovie and what benefits or difficulties we see in it. 

Because I wanted more, I went online and found some interesting commentary on using imovie. But mostly I’ve realized that each educator can use technology differently and for various purposes. I think the key is the word purpose. Technology is as effective as the purpose behind using it. 

I’ve enjoyed exploring imovie with my students. Here are some of the ways I’ve utilized imovie in my grade 5 classroom: 

1. Autobiography movies—students write an autobiography essay, record an audio file with quicktime or screencastomatic, import it to imovie along with pictures and make a digital movie of their life. 


2. Book Trailers—students are in groups and together create a review of a novel they just read together discussing the importance of matching pictures to their audio recording. Great site for examples and resources. 


3. How To Videos—a fun way to let kids be the teachers is to have them construct their own how to videos. Check out a great contest to enter called Next Vista for Learning based in California. 

Ideas for the future:

1. News Shows—we’ll be doing a weather unit and I would like to have students create imovies as weather reporters


2. Math review movies—we’ll soon be trying out imovie as a way to review for our math chapter test

Tools I want to try in relation to movie making:

1. Xtranormal—create a 3D animation


2. Go Animate—create an animation


3. Sock Puppets—turn your narrative into a fun story told by sock puppets


4. imotion HD—explore the world of stop motion animation

Classics yellow b day cake yummy

Working with @pzaich at #cafebene in Sunae. Love my Sundays