Math Monday: Padlet

I have been thinking about how to better share our math thinking as part of our math workshop.  I have played around a bit with Padlet for lots of things. Last week, padlet helped raise our level of share a bit. Kids are used to sharing and responding to math thinking of their classmates.  We use lots of tools to do this but this week, we build a padlet as kids worked.  Finished representations went up on the padlet as kids finished. This is the problem we solved.

Jeffrey buys 5 boxes of oranges. There are 10 oranges in each box.  There are 12 rotten oranges.  How many oranges are there that are not rotten?

Created with Padlet

We have been playing with a variety of tools to share our math learning. So, some students used Google Draw. Others used Pixie. Some used Explain Everything.

I am thinking about the reflection piece of share with my math coach. I think there can be real power in Padlet as a way for kids to reflect on thinking, analyze work and learn new things to try.  The power of this Padlet was in the conversation. Because the Padlet was added to over a 15-20  minute period, kids naturally gathered around the Smartboard noticing things before we formally shared. Then as we shared, there was a power of having all of the representations on one board--in a place that we could see them all at once.

Usually, we can Airplay share one at a time or share a student's thinking from their notebook with a document camera.  Padlet allowed us to see patterns in our work. Kids noticed that with division, most kids were drawing pictures and wondered why that was.  Others noticed different number sentences across work. We could get a close up of one to analyze if we wanted to or we could look at the patterns we saw in our work as a whole.

I am going to work with my coach to build on this and to really think about how to raise the level of the share piece of Math Workshop. Lots of possibilities!

It's Math Monday! Join Mandy at Enjoy and Embrace Learning for the Math Monday link up!

Corkulous for Read Aloud

I have been thinking about ways to use digital tools in authentic ways in literacy workshop. With a few laptops and a couple of iPads in the room, I am finding some challenges.  Recently, I read Katharine Hale's post "Digital Corkboard:  A Game Changes for Readers" on her fabulous blog, Teachitivity. We don't have Corkulous on our student iPads but I put it on my teacher iPad and decided we'd use it for read aloud. I have the board on my iPad and I am projecting on to the Smartboard with Air Play/Air Server.

We started out on Day 1 previewing our new read aloud How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor.  We started off with 2 columns--things we know after previewing and questions we have. 

It was on Day 2 of reading How to Steal a Dog that I saw the possibilities of a tool like Corkulous.  I've always believed strongly in charts and writing to deepen thinking while reading.  And I've been thinking hard about how to make charts better after reading Smarter Charts.  But as we started talking on Day 2, I realized that even though this chart wasn't "up" all day, kids were using it differently as we talked.  Kids started connecting comments we made on stickies and I was able to move those around/rearrange them so threads of conversation emerged. That's always happened a bit with traditional charting during read aloud, but in a traditional way that makes it harder for kids to follow. With Corkulous, I could move and change our thinking as we went.

Since kids had no experience with Corkulous, I was playing with sticky color, arrows, labels, etc. just so they could see all that was possible.  With the projection, they could see the way I used the tool AND the way it was supporting our thinking.  By later this week, our board continues to change. In the bottom right, you'll see the arrow stickies listing Georgina's possible character traits. This started as a conversation about Georgina being sneaky . Then one day, a student decided we should take one of the traits off because the more we read, the more we realized it didn't describe her anymore.  Then kids started talking about which words described her best so we rearranged the arrows--those few on the left are the ones that seem to capture Georgina at this point in the story, based on what we know about her.

Read Aloud is a huge anchor in our classroom.  It is the time that we come together as a community and dig into one book, learning from everyone's thinking.  For that reason, charting has always been key.  But with Corkulous, even after just a week of Read Aloud. I am seeing that yes, this is a game changer.

First of all, the size of the chart makes it very engaging.  I could technically create something like this on chart paper or a board but the size of the Smartboard makes it readable to everyone.  And I can zoom in to the section of the board we are talking about.  I can arrange and rearrange thinking and kids are seeing how writing and talk change thinking and how our thinking changes over a book.  Kids are not only adding to the conversation about the book, but they are suggesting things that  should do with our board--"Move that orange one that says....to the place where we are thinking about Georgina." or "I think we should delete the sticky that says Georgina is naughty.".

I've always believed strongly in Readers' Notebooks as a way for students to capture their thinking in writing.  Now, there are so many other options available with digital tools.  I love this tool for the conversations and understandings that are happening because of it.  And I also love that it is modeling another tool that supports readers in digging deeper in their reading.

I continue to find that when I play with new digital tools, focusing on the learning makes it almost risk-free.  I know my focus is on reading and thinking so if this tool hadn't worked so well, it would have been okay because my focus was on the literacy learning, not the tool.  Although the tool is very cool, the power has been in what it has done for our conversations and how we've been able to capture that as a community.

(I'm hoping to have Katharine's students talk to my students after we've played with this a bit--to share ways that they are using the tool to clarify and deepen understanding.)


Check out other digital literacy posts in the roundup at Reflections on the Teche.

The Perfect Antidote for BYOD

Dot.
by Randi Zuckerberg
illustrated by Joe Berger
HarperCollins, on shelves November 5, 2013
F&Gs provided by the publisher (almost as if they could read my mind)

"This is Dot.
Dot knows a lot.
She knows how to tap...
to touch...
to tweet...
and to tag."

Luckily, Dot's mom sends her outside to "REBOOT! RECHARGE! RESTART!" and Dot remembers about tapping with her toes, touching sunflowers with her fingertips, tweeting with the birds, and tagging her friends as they run past.

Yes, let's not let our children get so caught up in their devices that they forget the real world around them!

(Sorry to review this so far ahead of the publication date, but it was the right book at the right time, and I can't wait to share it with my students!)

BYOD

Two weeks ago I launched "Bring Your Own Device" in my classroom. Not because I don't already have enough to complicate my life, but because the theme of this year has unfolded to be "meet them where they are."

Before I ever mentioned the initiative to my students, I proposed it to parents at Curriculum Night. All five who showed up (which I'll take as a vote of confidence rather than a demonstration of apathy) were enthusiastic about the opportunity for their children to learn to use a device for more than just gaming and texting.

On that first Monday, five students brought devices. The number of devices has more than doubled since then. Somehow, there was a misconception that it was a one-week deal. Jaws dropped when I cleared that up and told them that this is a YEAR LONG deal. We started BYOD with a district Technology Support Teacher on hand to help out. We began with a lesson on digital citizenship, then scanned QR codes as one way to get to an Internet site. Next, the students learned to access the Student Dashboard, where I can upload links for them in all subject areas. We ended the morning with everyone on a school laptop for what started as a quick lesson in saving to the district cloud, but ended up being Fun With Shapes and Colors in Pages.

My ability to integrate technology every day has had its ups and downs. I am learning to be more flexible than ever and to defer to the students with, "What do YOU think?" which of course is empowering to them and why on earth did I ever have to be one who does all the thinking in the first place?

Here are some examples of how we've used our devices so far:

In reading, I gave groups the challenge of representing their thinking about the characters, setting, and most important events in the plot of our read aloud ESCAPE FROM MR. LEMONCELLO'S LIBRARY using their devices as they saw fit. They used Notes, Voice Memo, Skitch, a whiteboard app, iPods and iPads. They shared their thinking and creations using the document camera. (Air Share is aggravatingly not working for us.)

In math this week, we had a "whiteboard quiz" over geometry terms. If they had a drawing app on their device, they could use that for their whiteboard. Others used old-school whiteboards and dry erase pens.

In writing, the devices have opened up a whole new world of "containers" or formats in which students can go public with their writing. I'm anxious to see how this unfolds as they learn to use the apps they have and we find and try out new apps.

If all goes well, we'll have four new iPads soon to further complicate and enrich our classroom lives!

How Technology Really Works by Clive Gifford

Cover to Cover sold books at the Literacy Connection event on Saturday. I always love to buy books at this event because there are always a few new books that I haven't seen. One of my new favorites from my purchases on that day was HOW TODAY'S TECHNOLOGY REALLY WORKS by Clive Gifford.  There are so many fascinating topics covered in this book. Topics include information on game controllers, camcorders, and spy tech.

 This is part of a new Scholastic Discover More series that I think I am going to love!




I like the fact that there are books for various age groups. I love the idea of digital companions. I love the topics and the layouts. I am always looking for books with 2 page spreads, especially nonfiction--to use with kids in minilessons. I think this series will be great for independent reading as well as minilesson work.  Can't wait to see the others in the series!