April Tech Tip - Memes in the classroom

Memes in the Classroom

Memes (pronounced meemz) are an image with a brief, bold caption overlaid on the image. They are incredibly popular on social media these days. Our students, especially at the secondary level, are likely looking at and sharing several memes each day.  I myself see them everywhere, and one day when I was on Pinterest, I saw a post about using them in the classroom to share classroom rules.  I did some digging and found several that I put together in a Google Slides presentation.  I use this at the beginning of each course to go over classroom rules and expectations with my students in a fun, engaging manner.

I use this one to discuss the materials
they are expected to bring to class.

This one is a favorite of mine, but the
kids are usually too young to get it!

They were a huge hit, which made me wonder how else they could be used in the classroom.

Here are my favorites takeaways from the ISTE blog post 5 ways to use memes with students:

1. Thinking Prompt/Ice Breaker: You could project a meme (related to something you will be learning about or discussing) as the students walk into the classroom.  They could write about it or discuss it with their classmates.

2. Creating Memes: Student can use a meme-creation tool online to make an original meme.  Miss Sealock has her English 12 students create their own memes as a project in class.  In the ISTE blog post, the author go in depth about this specific activity and how she used it in her math class.

3. Vocabulary: Students to create a meme to define a new vocabulary term.

Shane Rowlands - Personalized PD Level 5 share out

For my personalized professional development, I wanted to find a way to incorporate technology as an assessment tool.  Thanks to the assistance of our Technology Instructional Coach at Southeast Warren, I was guided towards information and research that would help me reach that goal by having the students create web pages summarizing the first five chapters of their textbook on google sites.  Additionally, Mrs. Birchette also instructed my students on how to create and share their webpages with me, as my technology aptitude is quite low.

The implementation process worked quite smoothly on the technology end, as Mrs. Birchette was quite effective at getting the students to understand the setup process of google sites.  Any glitches that occurred in the implementation process occurred on my end due to not providing a more clear edict to the students in regards to how they needed to show their understanding of the subject matter and how to display that information on their webpages.

In reflection, I feel that I greatly benefited from this collaboration with Mrs. Birchette, and my students definitely benefited from the experience of doing this project.  I look forward to seeing how the students improve upon their end of year test being able to use their webpages as notecards to truly see the benefits compared to last year. I also think that this will be a good experience for the students next year, as the webpage can continue to grow and expand as their learning increases.  The final change I will make next year is having Mrs. Birchette teach the students to do this at the very beginning of the semester so the students can expand their webpage each chapter. Overall I think this was a very beneficial experience for me as an educator and for the 7th grade students to learn at Southeast Warren.  I’m also quite hopeful that these students choose to use google sites on their own to help organize their learning in other classes.  

SeeSaw in the Elementary Classroom

SeeSaw in the Elementary Classroom 

SeeSaw is an online learning journal that can be used for all ages of students, PreK-12th Grade. SeeSaw can be used as a resource for collecting and organizing student records in a digital way and can also be used to provide interactive and engaging learning opportunities for students. One of the most beneficial features of SeeSaw is the communication it provides between teachers/students and parents enabling student work and learning experiences to be showcased in a digital archive.  

For Students-

Students can share what they know and what they're learning through videos, photos, drawings, texts or links. This can be shared privately with their teachers, shared with parents, or shared collaboratively with others students.  

For Teachers: 

Teachers can review and grade student work and upload new assignments through SeeSaw. This also provides a great resource for documenting student work over the course of the school year. 

For Parents:

SeeSaw creates a triangle of communication between parent, teacher and student. It allows parents to see inside the classroom and be more actively engaged in their child's learning experiences. It provides an avenue for effective communication online in a safe and confidential way. 

3rd GRADE STEM CHALLENGE

Third Graders had fun participating in one of their many STEM Challenge Days in March. STEM Challenges incorporate the use of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math into lessons and activities to promote problem solving. It also provides hands-on learning opportunities for students and encourages the use of critical thinking skills and application. These challenges allows students to become creators, inventors and problem solvers in a fun and active learning experience. 

Quick Response

 Watch my latest video and send me a response! Happy Spring everyone!

March Tech Tip

Video tutorials & instructions:

This month I wanted to share an idea about how you could use videos in the classroom. Many of us have used videos created by other to teach or share content with our students.  We have also had students use video to create projects and presentations.

Another way to use video in the classroom is to create your own videos for tutorials and instructions.  I have used this a few times recently in my own classroom, and it has helped me because I don’t have to explain something multiple times to students, especially those who are absent.

Example #1:

Students were working on formatting a Works Cited page, including a hanging indent. Usually this is something I have to show them and explain several times.  This year I created a short video using Screencastify that walked the students through the formatting process so they could watch it whenever they got to the point of formatting.  

Example #2:

Students in Mrs. Cooper’s social studies class were creating quizzes on Google Forms. Several of them were unsure how to turn the form into a quiz. I created this short video to walk them through the process. Mrs. Cooper was able to put the video on Google Classroom so the students interested could watch it and learn how to create the quiz.

Example #3:

Ms. Sealock has her students create videos over Greek gods and goddesses.  This year she is going to record a video that walks students through the assignment expectations and rubric.  This will allows students to watch the video if they can’t remember something about the specific expectations.  It will also be helpful for any students who are absent.

These are just a few examples of videos you could create for your students. If you have any questions or would like help making a video, please let me know!

February Tech Tip - Unsplash Photos

Unsplash Photos Add-on

Unsplash Photos is a website that has “creative commons” images, which means they are free for anyone to use - no copyright issues.  I know that many of our students are used to just using Google Images when they need an image for an assignment, however, when they do this they are most often taking copyright laws into consideration.  Unsplash (along with other sites) offers image that are free for anyone to use.

Unsplash Photos are not the standard clipart style photos or stock google images we are used to seeing. These are much more creative images from photographers around the world.  

This is an example of an image from Unsplash. 

Easily Accessible:

The Unsplash Add-On is a great tool that allows students (and teachers) to add images quickly and easily into their powerpoint presentation as well as ensure that they are no copyright violations.  

This video will how you how to get the add-on within your Google Drive and what it looks like once you have added the add-on.