Thing 12: Final Reflection

1: What did you learn?

• How did you put what you learned into action at school? Personally?

Personally and at school I've been going crazy with the Bitmoji extension for Chrome, adding it to emails, presentations, and student essays for reactions. The kids and I both get a kick out of it. I've also been going crazy with Quizlet Live lately with Regents right around the corner. 

• Did you expand your Personal Learning Network? Make new professional connections?

It was great having other educators in the groups and I also shared my tips and findings with my East colleagues. 

• What challenges did you face during the workshop?
• Any big “fails”? Any huge successes? What did you learn from failing and succeeding?

My biggest challenge was time and while I did not have any big "fails" my biggest success is using Quizlet Live. The kids love it, they have to collaborate and I don't have to do much to run it!  

• Were there projects that didn’t work out well for you?

Not that I can say! 

2: What’s next?

• Did you start some projects that you’ll be following up on in the future?

I haven't started it yet but next year when I do my PSA project again with my Freshmen I do want to try and get some of them to use a green screen

• Are you planning to share what you’ve learned with others?

Yes I've started sharing with my department and my other friends at East. 

• What other professional development projects will you be pursuing?

Next October myself and the technology committee at East will be running a tech "bootcamp" with each of us running different sessions on different topics?

3: Did you like learning this way?

• I loved learning this way. I was able to work at my own pace and discover things for myself. I felt very comfortable reaching out for help and I would definitely recommend this PD to everyone! Great job and thank you so much for putting this together!

Thing 16: Bitmoji

Wow! I've used Bitmoji in Snapchat but I never knew there was a Chrome extension. I am going to have ridiculous amounts of fun commenting on my students' Google Docs and slides. My students and I love memes and I feel like this just adds a whole new level of understanding content and building relationships. I am going to have my students as a review exercise create a "bitstrip" on a historical event and challenge them to explain an event only through Bitmojis. (Several of my coworkers use Snapchat a lot so I am sure they will be thrilled to find a Chrome extension like I was). I also like the idea of using a Bitmoji to annotate a text. I have trouble getting students to relate to historical text so by adding this dimension I feel that they will enjoy it a lot more and put sincere effort into annotating. Thank you so much for sharing this, I am so excited to try this and share it!

Thing 37: Green Screen Fun

Green screens are super fun and something a lot of students are interested in with the rise of paid Youtubers. At East we have professional green screens for news casting and such but at my charter school with limited technology I made my own with PVC pipe and green screen cloth although now they have green screen paint at Lowes. My favorite video editor to use with students and green screens is WeVideo because it is easy to use and has a ton of free materials. I had students this winter create PSAs on environmental issues using their phones, chromebooks, and a green screen for the PSA. They had a blast and did a really nice job. I also like the idea of book talks using the green screens or maybe even a report pretending to be a historical figure. I know teachers on Youtube like to make corny music videos with green screens. I think there should be a Green Screen in every department although I wish that the Chromebooks had better video editing software. I know there are also phone apps that the students use for green screens too!

For anyone thinking of tackling a Green Screen project this is a site I've used with students for free background footage!
https://www.filmmakerspot.com/free-green-screen-footage/ 

Thing 26: Note-Taking Tools

There are many advantages and disadvantages to using technology to take notes. My cousin while she was in school often used a LiveScribe pen and said it was the only way she could keep up and review notes. The great thing about adaptive technology such as that is the fact that it benefits everyone, not just students with special needs. In fact it can help students better use different modes of learning i.e. auditory and visual to review notes. Evernote has really nice digital notebooks but has become more costly in recent years. In addition tools such as Evernote, Adobe Reader, and Diigo, are great annotation tools for online reading and annotating. Myself and some teachers I worked with would find an article online and mark it up for students using Diigo to show them not only how to annotate but to help them with independent reading. One of the biggest advantages is that it creates a permanent copy that can be accessed anywhere for teachers, parents, and students. I’ll admit when I am really comfortable on the couch and don’t want to get up, it’s easier to access my digital notes to review. Not only that but digital notes can help students develop better typing and editing skills that they can take with them to college and into the workforce. The only disadvantages would be if students could not access technology at home, if the technology didn’t work that day, and if students are not good at monitoring themselves on technology or using it. Another cool piece of digital notetaking are reusable smart notebooks that digitally transfer hand written notebooks like Everlast (Click here for an Amazon link). I imagine in the very near future of school we will be seeing these and I look forwar to it!

Thing 33: Flash Cards, Quiz Games and More

One of the classes I teach is Global Review so I am always looking for review tools for my students, especially to gamify their learning! I've used Quizlet quite a bit for Regents review for students to study on the bus (hey every minute counts) and I enjoy that the app is easy to use although I still remember when it used to be free!  One of the most useful features I've found on Quizlet is being able to download the flashcards/vocab lists as quick print offs for study hall/support rooms. I also find it handy for uploading to another site I like to use for vocabulary practice called "Memrise".  It's used a lot for language but you can upload videos, audio, and images with the flashcards. It starts by showing students the words and terms to learn them then does matching, spelling, and short quizzes. My students like it because they get to have their monsters grow and compete with each other on the leader boards.

I tried Studystack and I really like how they can sort "know" and "don't know". I also like that it has other playing styles. I feel like it will definitely appeal to my younger students like my Freshmen. I also tried Flipquiz and I think it is a lot smoother of an interface than Jeopardy Labs. I also like that you can include images which will be good for ELL and SWD.

I use Kahoot everyday and besides the usual glitches like timing and picking answers for students the kids love Kahoot. However, if I need to assign individual work or homework I use Quizziz because it is self paced and the students can see the questions/answers on their own screen. I've also used Plickers and PollEverywhere to check answers on the Regents multiple choice and Plickers is a strong tool in the East's science department that many of the students are used to using. Finally I've used Peardeck with Global Review but find lately it has had a lot of bugs and is not counter intuitive to learn. Overall, with East's big push for assessment and learning these tools have made my classroom so much easier and helping build 21st century learning skills.