Pushing the limits of presentations with 5th graders

Toward the end of every school year the 5th graders embark on their Capstone Projects. They choose an area of interest, develop a main inquiry question and related sub-questions, seek out experts in their field of interest, conduct interviews, go on site visits, and do a ton of traditional book and web-based research.

It is an awesome undertaking and the students are immensely engaged. It is a project that they drive, based on an area of their interest. It's part traditional research project, part passion project, and an epic culminating activity.

In the past all their hard work resulted in traditional tri-fold board. Printed pictures, printed slides with questions and answers, and students waiting for people to come around ask them about their project during a parent open house...

Live streaming 1st grade egg hatchings! 2016 Edition

Every year the 1st Graders get eggs and learn about the process of chickens hatching.

We are live streaming the eggs and the hatching process!

For the technically inclined here is how I set it up:
(last year's specs were slightly different)

• MacBookPro "mid 2012"
• 2.5 GHz Intel i5
• 8 GB 1600 MHZ DDR3
• OSX 10.9.5
• these are old, stripped down, refurbished systems
• former teacher machines
• battered and bruised
• essentially solely running the encoder
• Used my lab's YouTube channel to set up a Live Event
• YouTube has a great setup tutorial
• Encoder setup FAQ
• I did not use Google Hangouts because they have an 8 hour stream limit and we were looking for a 7-10 day continuous, 24/7 stream
• Installed Adobe Flash Media Live Encoder
• required for YouTube Live Events not using Hangouts - allows for 24/7 feeds
• Set up my stream specifics
• YouTube walks you through it
• Preview the feed
• Started streaming
• Emailed links to teachers to share with parents & posted feeds on lab blog

A couple a quirks:

Koko's Kitten: a layered collaboration in 2nd grade

Recently, two Second Grade classes read Koko's Kitten by Dr. Francine Patterson. 

To extend the experiences and add a technology component we had both classes work in layered partnerships to create their own reflections on Koko's Kitten, as a group book.

Students worked in teams of two to create a "page" of this new book. Both classes came to the lab simultaneously and each student partnership worked on a single computer, using a single Google Slide. Once each student partnership was finished with their page they were all printed out and the class partnership built an amazing bulletin board to showcase this collaborative reflection on Koko's Kitten.

The board looks amazing...

Internet Safety Resources for Parents...

How do we keep students safe while still allowing them access to the amazing tools available in 2016?

This year I led two Parent Coffees about Internet (and Technology) Safety geared toward the parents of students K-5. The sessions were broken up into two, one geared for the parents of K-2 students, the other for parents of 3-5 students.

Thank you to all the parents who were able to attend, we had a great conversation. Attending in person is not always possible, so to ensure the entire community has access to the conversation I am posting the presentation for all to share and use...

3rd Grade Google Slide: The Year Long Reflection

The Project:

Using Google Slides 3rd grade students will create a 13 slide presentation, one month at a time, over the entire school year.

The Why?

It is never too early to start building a digital portfolio and not every portfolio will look the same. But one great way to show true growth and progress is not to publish the best of the best, as most portfolios tend to be, but rather show real, individual progress and growth though the eyes, and words, of the students themselves. It's important for students to think about, and voice, the things that stand out to them the most, their "a-ha" moments of clarity, their personal triumphs. It is also important for students to keep a record of such things and look back on them. It's one thing for us as teachers to say "you've come so far" but it's far more powerful for the student to look at a body of work and say "this is how I've grown."

The How?

Addressing Twitter concerns...

I am often asked about social media’s role in education, Twitter in particular. These questions are often brought about by parent concerns, which often mirror the initial concerns of teachers.

When addressing parent concerns I approach it just as I do with teachers:

1. concerns are normal
2. I’m happy we are discussing concerns as opposed to flat out rejecting the concept
3. concerns are a learning process for me as much as for those bringing them to me, as they help me reflect on my practice as well as see what I do through an external lens

I have written many things in the past about social media in schools but there are always new questions that aren’t addressed by old posts.

This post looks at the two most recent concerns I’ve received:

1. There is a time stamp if you follow it. One can piece together a class schedule.
2. Why are teachers stopping instruction to take photos?

Let me address each of these one at a time…

Celebrating the tweeters @HeathcoteSchool

I think it is important to promote, and celebrate colleagues. Especially when they step out of their comfort zone and embrace new challenges.

When I joined the staff at Heathcote Elementary School in Scarsdale last year only a handful of teachers had Twitter accounts. And those that had accounts used them mostly for tweeting a picture of the whiteboard with the homework written on it.

When I interviewed for the job I expressed my passion for Twitter in schools and I was given full support by my new principal to push it as a school-wide initiative.

And my new colleagues were awesome. They jumped in full force.

Kindergarten seems to be working

Over the last week or so I wrote about my toughest day as a teacher and how we survived the first day of Kindergarten.

I'd say we've more than survived..

... I think we've rocked it.

And by "we" I mean my daughter. Her mother and I have coped with our little girl growing up as any parent does, a few tears of our own and lots of nostalgia. My rock star daughter has gone from tears on day one to excited for school by day three.

She has even turned our playroom into a classroom:

We survived the first day of Kindergarten

Yesterday was my toughest day as a teacher, but we all got through it. And by "we" I mean what I like to call the "over 6 set." Mother, father, grandparents... more butterflies for us if I had to count.

It was my daughter's first day of Kindergarten. A half day, but a first is a first.

There were tears, a few from my girl and a few from my wife. Apparently Nana, my mother-in-law, got a bit weepy looking into the classroom at pickup and seeing my girl with a giant smile on her face. But who wouldn't. End of the first day and she's got a giant smile. Good stuff.

My son just wanted to play. Because he had a donut as a treat. On my daughter's first day of school. Do the math on that one. Apparently being the little brother has it's privileges.

My daughter was a champ. She love it. My wife was a champ. Apparently there were no meltdowns or major hysterics from the over 6 set. Proud of everyone.

Another first today

Today is the first full day. The first time my daughter is eating lunch at school. Another day of nerves. More the over 6 set, I think my daughter's fine with it. She practiced eating lunch with her lunchbox when she got home yesterday.

Should be some awesome stories when I get home tonight. School cafeterias always evoke interesting emotions. More on that in a minute...

Mrs. V and Mrs. Liz

Mrs. V is my daughter's teacher. Mrs. Liz is the class para professional. Apparently they are both rock stars. My daughter had a few tears at drop off. Mrs. Liz came right over, comforted her, took her in and it was all good from there. I heard a lot about Mrs. Liz when I got home from work. Good things.

Mrs. V is now an icon. In the words of my daughter

"Mrs. V. is so beautiful and kind..."

Post dinner we had to go sit in our playroom and act like students so my daughter could draw on her easel and teach us. Just like Mrs. V.

The bad with the good

It was a great morning. Everyone did great. Everyone was, and still are, excited. Minimal tears all around. But as with anything there's always a flip side, a bit of a bummer for every win. The bummer for the day was the second half of the quote from my daughter:

"... but the cafeteria smelled like yuck"

Welcome to elementary school!

It's going to be an awesome year.  My daughter is a rock star and is embracing school like a champ.

Now I just have to get Mrs. V to tweet...

My toughest day as a teacher

My toughest day as a teacher is today.

It's not my first day of school, we started last week.

It's not a new school, that was last year.

It's not a new content area.

It's my daughter's first day of Kindergarten.