Monday, February 8, 2016

Using Padlet to Share Code Studio Creations

Primary grade students are full of creativity, but it's not easy to find ways to share their digital projects without requiring logins to accounts. Padlet is a handy and versatile tool for sharing created content. I recently used Padlet to share creations from Code Studio.

Start by creating a new Padlet. For easiest arrangement, go to settings and arrange the Layout in either a Grid or Stream.



In the Privacy area of Settings, choose Hidden Link and Can Write. This  enables students to add content to the Padlet you create.



Double click on the Padlet to add a post. Repeat for each student in your class.


Get the link or QR code to share this Padlet with your students. Adding it to a class Symbaloo or Dropmark page is an easy way to share links like this with students.

When students open the Padlet, they click on the green pencil to edit and add content.


They click on one of the icons to choose a sound file, video, photo, link, or type text. For my recent project, I used the plus to add a link.


Paste the link for the project, or add a photo from a screenshot. (With this group of first graders, I had them raise their hand when they had completed their projects. It was quick and easy for me to copy the link from Code Studio, open the Padlet and paste the link in the post with their name.)



The students really enjoyed looking at each other's projects, and the teacher was able to easily share this link with parents. 




Once all the projects have been added to the Padlet, go back to Settings and change the Privacy Permissions to Hidden Link and Can View. 



This is just one of the ways Padlet makes collaborating, communicating, or sharing content easier for teachers.


Personalize Student iPads for Easy Identification


Have you heard yourself call out, "Who is Top-6?" In a busy classroom, it can be tough to keep track of student ipads, and challenging to continually identify them with the district's number on the device or the location of its shelf in the charging cart. Stickers fall off and marked numbers wear away. Students forget to put their device away in the correct spot. It would be much easier if the teacher could click the Home button, glance at the lock screen and instantly identify the student-owner of the ipad.

Some creative teachers are now setting the ipad's wallpaper to reflect the student-owner of the device. In a 1:1 classroom it might have only 1 user. In classrooms with only a few ipads, the teacher may want to assign an ipad to a certain group of students. 

The secret is remembering that anything saved to the camera roll can become the wallpaper. Many apps include the option of saving a project to the camera roll, but taking a screen shot of the creation will also save an image to the camera roll. (Hold down the lock button and home button at the same time until you hear the click. ) Then go to the photos app, choose something in the camera roll, click the share icon, select Set Wallpaper, and then select Lock Screen. The photo then becomes the first thing you see when you click the Home button to wake up the ipad. 

Here are some ideas for personalized lock screen wallpapers:

You can download numbered wallpaper backgrounds for a uniform look. 



Students could take a selfie and make that their wallpaper. If you use Skitch or Seesaw, have students annotate and write their name with the photo. Another idea is to have students write words around their photo that describe them.


Use each student's ipad to take a photo of them with their name tag.

Have students take a photo of their name written on paper with their best handwriting, or use a whiteboard app to have them write and display their name.



Use a photo of a favorite project or class activity.  One clever teacher I know decided to use the photos taken of her students on the 100th Day of school with the Aging Booth app. 


Have student spell their name with letter manipulatives and take a photo.




Let the student owner of the device creatively design something that identifies them. Using a whiteboard app or any app with art tools like Doodle Buddy or Drawing Desk, the student could write their name and design a customized screen for their ipad. 

With a little imaginative brainstorming, identifying student iPads can go from problem to creative class project, which can lead to improved student responsibility for their devices.






Wednesday, February 3, 2016

10 Things I Love About Seesaw




If I could only have 1 ipad app for students in my school district, I would choose Seesaw. Here are 10 things I love about it!


1. Students can dictate to publish their writing by clicking the iOS microphone feature to the left of the keyboard. This should not be in place of developing important handwriting and mechanics skills, but it could be a real time saver for primary grade teachers on progress-monitoring day. The class can be busy writing and publishing on Seesaw while they get important assessments completed. 




2. Parent engagement in their child's education is increased! They can easily download the Parent Seesaw app and receive updates when their child uploads work. Parents can add comments about their child's work.


3. This is one free app that takes the place of several apps: interactive white board, voice dictation, digital portfolio, and blog.


4. Easily customizable access- teachers can open up features gradually and use it to best meet their needs. Some teachers may only want to use it as a work-flow tool to get projects from shared class ipads to student laptops or the teacher computer. Others may select features that give students permission to view and comment on each other's content. Some may choose to add parent access. Flexibility and options make this app ideal for almost all elementary classrooms. My one reservation about using it with upper elementary students was the animal cartoon avatar images. Once I found that they can be replaced with a photograph or other image, I knew that Seesaw would be welcomed with older students as well.


5. No logins; scanning with QR code is easy enough for preschool aged children. Older students can login with emails and passwords if the teacher chooses.

6. Great way to practice and save reading fluency samples. Students I work with regularly snap a photo of their reading passages, then record themselves reading. I can add a comment to share their words per minute rate from that week.

7. Annotating photographs- students find examples of their learning (ex: shapes, plants) take a photo and label it. Authentic, real world examples of learning!



8. Students can reflect and explain their thinking. Something every teacher wants them to do more of.



9. Students can reflect on their week's work, and self evaluate to choose a piece of work to add to their portfolio. Many teachers have students add one writing project per week and students must carefully evaluate to determine their best work.

10. This introduces students to early digital citizenship skills. If teachers allow students to see each other's work, they can discuss ownership of original work. If teachers choose to allow commenting or open the blog feature, they can teach skills like participating in an online community and conversation threads.

Seesaw's blogging feature is  a safe, controlled way to publish student writing. Teachers can opt for writing to be shared with only classmates, parents, or even students in another classroom! This may be the next best thing to Kidblog!




11. It is a perfect portal for collecting students' work from any app, which is the main obstacle for most teachers who try to integrate technology! Anything the student creates that can be saved to the camera roll can be uploaded to Seesaw.The teacher can later download and share student work on a class blog or Facebook page if desired. This is a great tool, whether the student share a few ipads or have a 1:1 classroom.



12. This app helps teachers transform the way teachers use technology in their classrooms. Instead of only being used during centers and inside recess, where they become digital busy-boxes filled only with skill based apps and games, ipads can become learning tools that play an important role higher level thinking. The features help develop students' skills with communication, critical thinking, and creativity!


That was 12 instead of 10. I have a feeling I could keep going. The more I use this app, the more I love it. Thanks Seesaw!