End of Semester and Awesome Podcasts

So apparently it was a busy first semester of the school year as evidenced by my lack of writing. WOW.
I seem to apologize often for my lack of writing. I don't think I am really cut out for this but hey, I try.

What did I accomplish this first part of the school year? Well....I'd have to say that one of the best things were podcasts. Turned out really well but here were the challenges:
1- my students have their own Microsoft Surface devices so I wanted them to be able to use them to create the podcast. Problem- How to record?
2-Audio editing. Yeah, a whole bag of problems there.
3- I needed a place to host the podcasts. Problem- Free? Ease of publishing? Safety/privacy of my students?
And how did all this work out?
1- OneNote has an audio record feature within the program. Unfortunately we were not getting good recordings using the built in microphone (who knows why? they are kids.) so we ended up attaching my Blue Yeti mic. Worked great. Love this microphone.
2- Editing- We needed to add music which we got from bensound.org at the beginning and ending of the podcast. I prefer to use Audacity but that was not an option. I tried finding some other things but I wasn't happy with what I found. We ended up pulling the music and the audio into a Chrome app called Beautiful Audio Editor and it worked perfectly. We were able to save it as a project and reopen it later. We also were able to download it as a wave file which we then converted to an mp3 for easier upload to where we were posting the podcasts. Which by the way, we used Audio Converter from 123Apps. Also was super easy to use. Our creating process was not as challenging as it started out looking to be despite all the bumps in the road.
3- Where to post? I have used other sites before like Podbean and others but I just didn't like the fact that their podcasts were located where they could access other podcasts that were not necessarily those I wanted them to find. Remember, these were 7th graders. Solution? I am a major Edmodo user and created a group just for our podcasts. I am the only member and I made all the posts BUT I made all the posts public. That way anyone with the link to the Edmodo group could listen to the podcasts. By the way- the podcasts were all on Social Justice Leaders and probably would not interest anyone but other teachers, parents and well that pretty much sums up the list so I was not so much concerned about "gee now the whole world can hear your podcasts". This platform gave them the publishing they needed but in a very controlled world. And if you would like to hear the podcasts you can follow this link: SPS Podcasts Unfortunately though there seems to be an Edmodo glitch and even though there are 21 posts you can only see the first half of them. When you click on load more posts it won't. Boo hiss. So what was and is a great way to post podcasts safely for your students has this one very important problem. I've contacted Edmodo but still no solution. Again- boo hiss.

First Week of School

We just finished the first week of school and what a whirlwind that was. Phew! I'm tuckered out. And what did we learn this week?

• don't let 5th graders make their own Edmodo accounts. Well let's just say that didn't go as perfectly as I had hoped. I was being overly optimistic and I didn't take them through the steps like I should. My mistake. Live and learn. I created the second class myself.
• don't make the needed copies of the schedule until you finish the first week of school. Yeah there were some errors and new versions had to be made. I only made one set. 
• I still haven't found the magic potion that gets students to put and keep their hands in proper typing position. Unfortunately some of them are getting really good at text typing so they transfer that to full keyboard typing and I must admit that some are pretty darn fast with two fingers. But we keep trying.
• Practice, practice, practice. We usually use typing.com for
  
  
  
  
  
  our keyboarding practice but for fun I had them go to ABCya and play the typing games their hoping something silly and easy would help them use the correct position. ABCya is a great site for educational games for K-5. I actually had 6-7-8 using the typing games also. I love typing.com because I can create classes and monitor or assign what I want my students to complete.
• I had a chat with the librarian and we decided to do a joint project after Christmas on the Iditarod. She was given a book called Granite by Susan Butcher  (you can find this book on Amazon) about a sled dog in the Iditarod. Very cool story. Have to start looking for resources. Found one already: Iditarod Just not sure what sort of projects we will do. Hmmm..... So be on the look out for more posts about the Iditarod.
  
• AND to top it all off, we are setting up a staff notebook inside of OneNote. It has been not without challenges. But it is going to be GREAT!

And so, the weekend, which so far has been non-stop rain, and back to it on Monday!

What to do new this year?

Getting ready for back to school? What is the one new thing you will bring to your class this year? I'm not really sure what I want to do that is new. I've taught and seen so many things it is hard to pick one. I have not yet seen my schedule but I am hopeful that I will have more time to actually sit down and talk to teachers and not have conversations passing in the hall about how I can help them integrate technology. There was much talk at TCEAtots about coaching/mentoring and assessing technology integration with teachers. There were sessions that included SAMR and LoTi as a means to evaluate where teachers are in their integration levels. I think this is where I will make my focus.

Diana Benner from TCEA has a great site with her presentation and links for Assessing Tech Literacy Of Staff and Students.  

Exploriments and getting lost on the internet

I got lost this morning on the internet. It was Google's fault. I was actually doing some research on iPad apps and projects for middle school when I wandered over to Common Sense Media and their suggested list for apps which got me to thinking about Windows apps since my students use Microsoft Surfaces and iPad apps don't really help us. And I thought to look around for apps that my students could use which made my train jump to another track but long (and I am rambling here) story short I have hit on the website Exploriments. Way cool!

I take this from their site:
Exploriments are simulation-based interactive learning units for enhancing conceptual understanding in Science in an experiential manner.

Totally out of my mental world but there are virtual experiments and demonstrations that even I (a math phobic) enjoyed doing and my brain did not shut down as if often does when presented something involving an algebraic equation. I just completed a nice little activity on atomic weight. I especially like how the site will tell you what you got wrong and explain how you get the correct answer. Nice. 

Exploriments has a collection of iPad apps that unfortunately are not free but are very inexpensive and probably would be worth the money for your students to benefit greatly.

The website, however, has more interactives that you can access for free. I did create a free teacher account (you will need an email address to register and students will need one also) but some of the Exploiments are locked. It asks me to register or login to access but no luck. I've sent a message to them so we shall see. However- the rest of the site is open and free to use. This site definitely deserves a look/see.

Tots and Tech Galveston and Frisco

Did I mention I was presenting at TCEA Tots and Tech Galveston? And in Frisco too! #tceatots
Well I did. It was awesome once again but this time no sea weed or tropical storms so we actually had a "vacation" of sorts and stuck around for a few extra days and explored Galveston. But I digress....

Presentations in Galveston included:

Edmodo in the Classroom
Edmodo, My Personal Learning Network and More
Fun Web Projects and Resources
iPad Projects that Wow
Quiet on the Set: Making Movies with Your iPad- Green Screening
Let's Do the Paper Slide and Mime

If you would like to see any of the presentation material, you can go to my co-presenter's site. You can download everything from Hold the Mayo (nothing to do with sandwiches- her last name is Mayo!)

http://www.tceatots.org/

TCEA Tots Frisco sessions will include the following:

Edmodo in the Classroom- Beginner
Engaging Your Students with Interactive Lessons using Nearpod
Fun Web Projects and Resources
Formative Assessment using Technology

Again- any presentation material will be available at Hold the Mayo
If you are local to Texas/Dallas-Fort Worth, you should definitely check out this mini conference in Frisco -> TCEA TOTS
I highly recommend attending. Very well done and not as intimidating as the regular TCEA conference that is held in Austin in February.

Green Screening it!

So my dear friend, Paul Wood (a great guy to follow on Twitter @paulrwood if you do that sort of thing- I'm terrible at it though I try), bought me a fabulous green screen kit. Awesome background and lights. Love it! So my I felt I needed to let my 8th grade classes be the first to use it. Initially I was going to come up with some wonderful cross curricular project and have them do their video on whatever that might have been. The more I thought about it the more I thought, nah, let them just have fun. And so the only parameters I gave them were that it had to be school appropriate and keep it under 2 minutes. So glad I went this route. They have had more fun coming up with their "story" and making the video. Even though I didn't tie in with anything subject matter they did accomplish more than they realize. 1- They had to come up with an idea, write the story, and write the script. 2- They had to rehearse it and make it all fit in a small space (the green screen area is only so big) 3- And they had to make it all work in 1-2 minutes. I watched kids take charge of directing, supplying props, ideas, it was fun to watch. Hopefully in a week or so we will have time in between their finals to have a little movie time, eat some popcorn and enjoy the end of the school year.

Oh- guess I should have mentioned what we used! We used one iPad and the Doink Green Screen app. Great app. Super easy to use! Worth the small cost!

NCEA- OneNote

Yesterday at #NCEA16 I presented on Microsoft's OneNote, a supersized note taking tool and I learned about something BRAND NEW for OneNote. There is now a Class Notebook add in for OneNote. Once you download it, it creates a new option in the ribbon to create a class notebook right there! It saves time in creation of the class notebook. You are also now able to add things directly to a section in a student's notebook individual or the whole group. Thank you #Microsoft!Exciting news!

NCEA 2016

Finally it is sunny San Diego! I am here for the NCEA (National Catholic Educators Association) conference.

Presenting two topics- Microsoft OneNote and Nearpod. OneNote was today and in 1 hour and 15 min I hope I convinced people to give OneNote a chance. I am a heavy Google Drive user. Edmodo is my best friend and I love to use so many different tools. So I can honestly sit/stand here and say I am not married to any one tool to use. BUT I have found the OneNote is a supersized resource to use for organizing your life, especially that of a teacher. The ability to put it ALL in one place is the big bonus to using OneNote. For anyone that is trying to find my presentation you should see a tab at the top with the title of the presentation. When you go to the page you will see the presentation as a TACKK (be sure to check out tackk.com).

Tomorrow will be a session on Nearpod and I am co-presenting. Nearpod is pretty awesome too and I think I have talked about this one also.

TCEA 2016

The Texas Computer Educator Association conference took place in February in Austin, Texas. And this was the first year in a few that I was not part of a team to present. Which was kind of nice since I was able to actually participate and see what others are doing. It also gave me the time to devote some brain power to really delve into OneNote. I spent far too much time at it but I did manage to get my OneNote Certification! woo hoo! And while I was at it, I passed the Microsoft Word certification also. The tests were free at TCEA so why not? A pretty good deal. I will admit though that they were harder than I expected.

So what did I do besides One Note? Actually not much! I was determined to really understand what can be done with the program and especially with the new OneNote Classroom. Our school is a Office365 school and our 6th graders have their own Microsoft Surface so it only made sense that I invest my learning time in OneNote.

I attended a Green Screen session for iPads that was nothing I didn't already know. But even if it is a session that I am well versed on it seems there is always something you can walk away with. Not so in this one. Same for one on using Google sites for eportfolios. Good info but not for my use.

One new product that looks cool but again- gotta have Microsoft- and that is Sway which is a new presentation tool. Potentially very cool. Not sure about the ease of the learning curve. We shall see. If you have a Microsoft account you should check it out.

Time off and CODE

Apparently I decided to take the holidays off because I realize I posted NOTHING since November. Busy perhaps? End of the semester is always crazy but I was so very happy not to be planning musical programs as I had been for the last....(too many) years. December was a blur. A tornado hit close to home. Took out an elementary school of a friend music teacher. So very sad to see. And of course the devastating loss of life that this storm caused.

Well December was peaceful in my classroom. We finished our Digital Citizenship focus for the year and embarked on the Hour of Code. Only I elected to do more than an hour. My 6-7-8 grade students worked on the accelerated code course and my 3-4-5 students are completing course one on the code.org site. They are loving it and have made my days very easy! There are many sites out there that offer your students a taste of coding but code.org certainly has made it particularly easy for teachers to manage classes. I thank them for giving teachers the tools to introduce their students to coding in a very simple manner. The only drawback came in December when they decided to shut down the "save and progress" area. It was frustrating for the students to not see their progress saved and also frustrating for me as a teacher to not have that documentation of what they had completed. The postings that I read from other teachers were comparably frustrated.

Well I explained to my students that anything web based will have it's issues and this is just one and we move on. That has to be one of my main goals in working with people/students with technology in that there will be frustrations, there will be glitches, there will be problems, but we try to fix, amend, or do what we can and move on. Sometimes there is nothing you can do but getting annoyed and irritated with the internet or program doesn't matter. There are bigger things in life to use that energy on.