Blog

Last week I attended the Innovative Education Colorado Conference (InnEdCO) in Keystone, CO. Throughout my four days, I spent most of my time learning about personalized professional development, online tools to support students, and STEAM activities. I also presented on Wednesday afternoon about 3D printing and the use of TinkerCAD for students to create 3D objects.

I used this blog to take notes about my experience. Here’s a break down of my notes:

Personalized PD:

1) Sarah Thomas Keynote & Workshop during the morning of Day 1 (@sarahdateechur)

2) Session 2, Day 2: Personalized Professional Development using the EdCamp model

3) Personalized Learning with the Beacon Network in DPS for the 2nd session of Day 2

4) Personalized PD — planning tools for all levels and types of teachers

Online Tools:

1) HyperDocs with the Denver Public Schools Digital Coaches during Day 1

2) Gamifying your Classroom during my final session of Day 1

3) ELL Toolbox – finding tools to assist our English Language Learners for the first session of Day 2

4) Shark Tank Tools — a fantastic set of tools within one website built by Candy McGregor and Megan McQuinn

STEAM:

–STEAM with Eric Carle — I love the idea of using picture books and STEAM activities

Also, on Wednesday, June 13, I offered a 2 hour workshop during the conference. I’ve linked my presentation below:

InnEdCO Workshop 2018

Posted from: https://jalibrarian.blogspot.com/2018/02/project-based-learning-hyperdocs.html

Within my 5th grade technology class, we’re working through a project based learning opportunity by designing our own tiny home. I start the project by uploading a HyperDoc to our Google Classroom so each student has a copy.

A HyperDoc, in this instance, is a Google Doc where students have access to links to helpful websites and can work at their own pace. You can read more about HyperDocs from Jennifer Gonzalez’s blog, Cult of Pedagogy.

 I built the HyperDoc so the students are following the engineering process as they work through the project. Each step within the HyperDoc is a step in the engineering process (Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, Improve). To be honest, my HyperDoc isn’t the best looking. My students informed me it’s difficult to read and follow, so I’ll be changing it for next year to be color coded with a better layout.
_______________________________________________________________
During the creation step of their tiny homes, my 5th graders used the following tools :

2D floorplan: LucidCharts (one of the many Google Apps)
     -under templates, choose floorplans

3D model: Planner 5D
_______________________________________________________________

After using a HyperDoc for this particular project based learning opportunity, I’ve found it be largely beneficial for students for the following reasons:

1) Student empowerment —  they can work at their pace with plenty of personal choice to make during the process.
2) Feedback Opportunities — with the HyperDoc living on our Google Classroom, I can leave comments on students work throughout the project. I find it keeps them engaged while allowing me easy ways to check their work.
3) Changing Instruction — when students need certain instructions or more information, I can add links to articles and videos to help them along the way. It frees me up to move around the classroom for more 1-1 instruction with students.

_______________________________________________________________
I have my entire 9 day lesson plans (with differentiation, assessments, exit tickets, etc.) on Teachers Pay Teachers

I recently learned of the acceptance of my workshop/presentation for this summer’s InnEdCO conference in Keystone, Colorado. Last year, I presented a beginner’s workshop for teachers to learn the basics of TinkerCAD, possible 3D printer options, and how to fund a 3D printer through crowd sourcing (Donor’s Choose).

I’ll change my presentation this year to include an advance level within the workshop. It will still be open to beginners, but I’ll have an option within my Google Slide deck for participants to explore the classroom features for TinkerCAD. It now allows teachers to setup classroom accounts, have students easily join the online classroom community, and for teachers to push out specific lessons to students in your online classroom.

I’m not sure when I’ll present my workshop, but it will be a 3 hour time slot during the regular conference dates:

Tuesday, June 12–Thursday, June 14

I’m truly grateful to InnEdCO for giving me this opportunity to share and learn.

Over winter break, I participated in a completely free, online Professional Development opportunity through Twitter. Matt Miller, of Ditch That Textbook fame, facilitated the PD opportunity, appropriately titled Ditch Summit. It’s a 9-day extravaganza where Mr. Miller interviews a different educational leader/thinker/innovator each day, so you tune in for a new hour long session each day. Participants can pick and choose what they wish to learn about and the videos disappear after Dec 31 (sorry, there’s always next year!). I “attended” 4 different days and included a reflection of each one below:

1) Tanya Avarith and Holly Clark — Technology and Pedagogy

-Co-authors of the educational book, “Google Infused Classroom” (On my reading list)

-Discussed ways to effectively integrate technology in the classroom

a) Make thinking visible = students showing their brainstorming through tech –  backchannels, padlets, shared Google Docs, etc

b) Student voice = tech can help us gauge, in real time, how well students understand a new concept or what questions they may have on that particular subject (think Google Forms, Kahoot, etc). Also, students should have some choice in what and how they learn.

c) Share student work = as educators, we should be sharing student work beyond the walls of our classroom. I share students’ work on our blog. It’s amazing to see their faces when someone in another country has viewed their blog post.

2) Eric Curts — How in the Google did you do that? (Eric is a Google genius)

–Control Alt Achieve (Eric’s amazing blog); YouTube channel

-Eric Curts’ blog is a one-stop shop for anything and everything Google, which includes webinars and ready to use Google lesson plans.

–http://www.controlaltachieve.com/p/resources.html

3) Sara Thomas — How to Learn from a World of Educators

-the importance of connecting with other educators on social media —  share ideas, feedback, discussions, etc.

-Twitter chats = great way to join discussions (EduMatch – find educators with same interests)

-Hashtags to follow = #ISTE, #Ditchbook, #Futureready, #CUE, #EDUMATCH

–Voxer = instant voice communication for teams (http://www.theedsquad.org/voxer)

4) Matt Miller — Chromebook Crash Course

-Author of Ditch that Textbook

-I learned so much from this session. It’s difficult to write about all of the keyboard tricks & commands, but you can find many of them on his YouTube Channel = Ditch that Textbook

-Follow his podcast = Google Teacher Tribe

-Here are a few good tips for Google Drawings & Slides:

©Matt Miller (http://ditchthattextbook.com/)