DRUMS - Build your own classroom drum!

If you have ever been to the Ron Clark Academy, you have had the privilege of hearing the sounds and music making its way out of the school. It almost sounds like an amusement park! These sounds are not kids just going crazy. The sounds are made with precision, accuracy, engagement, excitement, and joy! One of the keys I found at the school was the implementation of the djembe drum. Most people are beyond confusion as to why you need a drum in your classroom. From personal experience and observation, implementing drums within the classroom delivers a bit of spunk and excitement. To me personally it keeps my students focused and it gets rid of that dead silence. When I first introduced the drum, the students were a bit skeptical but as time went by they all wanted a shot at it! Now this doesn't go without having a bit of rules in your class as to when they are allowed to hit the drum and when they aren't. For example: When a new topic is introduced or when we applaud someones efforts together by all means ... GO CRAZY! The issue is that most teachers can't afford that sexy $150 Celtic X8 Djembe that sounds great. Just this morning the coolest idea hit me during my morning shake. An empty jug of protein would suffice nicely! Just rip off the label, decorate, put holes in the bottom, hand it to a student, and you are set! Ask around your school to see if teachers or students drink protein (try the athletic department) and when they finish their jug off, ask if you can have it! Of course, tons of ideas are available that make this magic happen in your classroom! Hopefully this gets your creative juices flowing! ENJOY : )

Periscope - Live webcast with your students!

Periscope is a new app that is beginning to heat up across the world that I believe can be extremely useful in the classroom. Periscope is an app that allows you to live webcast to followers all over the globe as long as they have WiFi or cell phone service. Periscope connects with Twitter so you will have to have a Twitter account in order to access the functions of the app. As you are live webcasting followers can like what you are doing, saying, or where you are. They can even write comments that pop up instantly that you can answer! I believe this opens up tons of possibilities for educators mostly because the product allows you to reach out to almost anyone and of course because the product is absolutely free (most webcasting services unfortunately are not)! Even after you have finished webcasting, Periscope saves your video for viewing later if you would like! Here are some ways that I feel you can utilize this app in your own classroom:

1) Sharing ideas with teachers around the world

2) Setting up a phone/camera and having teachers around the world observe you

3) Reviewing a study guide/outline with students

4) Review session with students

5) Review session with parents

6) Makeup an assignment with students who were absent

7) Sharing visited locations and places with students

8) Scavenger Hunts


https://www.periscope.tv

If you have some of your own ideas, please share in the comment section below. Hope you enjoy!

Augmented Reality Scavenger Hunt

Last week I decided that I wanted to do a scavenger hunt with my students on solutions but I wanted it to be different than a normal scavenger hunt. I wanted the hunt to be involved with their iPads, show creativity, and keep them going wow! After some research I located information on augmented reality apps where the students use their iPad like a QR code reader and a video/picture pops up when they find what they are looking for. BINGO ... an idea was born! 

Augmented Reality - a view of a real-world environment that has features that are augmented or supplemented by computer-generated sound, video, or picture.

Apps

Aurasma

Aurasma is the app that was used to detect the pictures. I first typed up the scavenger hunt and created clues for the students to locate the picture. I then wrote questions that would be answered using augmented reality.

 For example: Clue) What is the animal that uses a solute to lower the freezing point in its blood in order to sustain life during freezing temperatures? Answer: Fish Question) What is the name of the solute that (clue #1) uses in order to lower its freezing point? Answer: Glycoproteins

After I created the questions, I drew an image on paper of a fish and used Aurasma to detect the fish. I then put in a video of myself saying what the answer to the question was. After getting all of the clues and videos created, I placed the pictures around the school and the students had to locate the clues as well as write down the answers. Each video gave them a coded letter that led them to the last location that had a secret message! 

Another way we used Aurasma was the students created an instagram post in order to summarize a topic. They were assigned an article to chunk and then they had to create an instagram (complete with a caption, location, and hashtags) post that described their article. After they completed their picture they had to present their information. Instead of presenting the picture to the class, they simply made an Aurasma of themselves. They took their picture and posted it outside on the wall and then I recorded a 1 minute video of their presentation. Afterwards, the video was put into Aurasma along with their picture. The pictures were left up for the rest of the week so that other students could walk up to the pictures at any time, scan them, and watch the presentation on the content to help them retain the information! 

Morfo

Morfo is a 3D face creating app that allows you to take a picture of yourself and turn it into a 3D model. Then you can record yourself talking and place the video into an Aurasma if you would like. My students found it so cool when my 3D face would pop up all around the school when they scanned the pictures. It also helped with discipline too as they seemed to think I was standing around every corner when they heard my voice ! : )

Using Tablets in the Classroom

Hello Fellow Instructors,

          I have been asked on several occasions about how I implement tablets effectively in my daily lesson. Therefore, I thought I would shed some insight on the matter. It definitely was not included in a course while I was in school nor did I attend a professional development opportunity. However, mobile devices are becoming a staple in the classroom whether we like it or not. It was honestly trial and error as well as word of mouth that lead me to use certain apps and programs that I implement in my teaching. Some teachers fear the fact of putting a device in the student's hands and I will admit I was skeptical about the idea as well. If you ask any of my students what the iPad does for them I am sure that 90% of them would respond that it gives them access outside of the walls of school! Honestly, I couldn't agree more and we as teachers can use that idea as a driving stake to garner student success in our class! Being able to expose students to the outside world and show them opportunities and advantages that they wouldn't have otherwise can help them realize the concept of wanting to be successful and having a dream. This in turn creates engagement and interaction in our classroom! Below I have listed several of the apps and programs that I use consistently and how I implement them.

Distribution of Information and Note-taking

Edmodo (program/app)

This is a program that allows you to set up a class and have your students join which enables you to send them information during and after school hours. It truly has cut down on my paper usage as I can send students homework, quizzes, reminders, pictures, video links, and even polls. I use this app every day as it allows students to complete work and submit it through the program but it also allows students to work from their home if they are absent. I use the poll function when I want the students to vote on something such as the beat to a new rap we are making! Edmodo is extremely user friendly not only for teachers, but also for students due to the fact that it takes shape of their favorite social media app .... FACEBOOK! Edmodo also prepares students for the next step after their high school careers as most colleges and universities use a type of program (i.e. Blackboard/Canvas) to distribute information to students and have them submit items online.

Edmodo gives students a Facebook feel and ease to work with!

Notability (app)

This program allows students to write or text on any PDF handout or file that is sent to them. They can take notes, highlight, insert pictures, or record information using the app. This app is extremely useful when used in conjunction with Edmodo.

Notability gives students the ability to write on handouts to submit.

Remind (program/app)

This is a messaging service where the teacher can set up a class and have students join using a code. The teacher can send out reminders to groups of students or individual students at any time. From an administrators view it could be an extremely useful tool to use instead of the intercom in certain instances. As an administrator, you can send teachers information about faculty meetings, forms to be turned in, etc. You could also send students reminders about school wide policies that need to be followed!

Classflow (program/app)

Classflow is a cloud based program that allows teachers to display lesson content from the computer, to the projection screen, to EVERY single device in the class! Teachers create a class and have students use a code to sign up. Teachers can also create a roster to allow students to only have to sign in one time on their device and classflow will remember them for the rest of the term. Teachers then create lessons and send them to the students when they are signed in to the class. Each image, slide, quiz, question, website, and video will pop up on each student's iPad individually when the teacher sends it to them! A 'creative' function also allows students to respond back to the teacher by writing on their iPad, taking a picture, or typing and then submitting their work. Teachers can then pull up what the students have done and share with the class or review any misconceptions! This is an excellent tool to keep every child actively engaged in each lesson as well as helping the teacher ensure each child's level of comprehension using formative and summative assessments!

Classflow allows teachers to create dynamic lessons and send them to each students iPad. The number in the right hand corner will display how many students are currently logged in to the session.

 Collaboration and Comprehension

KaHOOT (program/app)

This is an unreal app that allows teachers to create review questions and distribute them to students as a trivia game. Students sign in with a name and teachers distribute the questions one at a time with points being distributed each time. The device is strictly used as a remote as the question does not pop up on the device but only on the screen. KaHOOT adds music to create suspense as well as a timer! Teachers can add questions in the form of text and images. The program is extremely user friendly and students absolutely love playing it to compete against other students and groups. After completion of the game, the results can be put into a chart or excel spread sheet that will display the individual average, class average, and even the percentage that was correct on certain questions. This can be used to gauge what concepts students do not quite comprehend and things that may need to be retaught.

Socrative (program/app)

Socrative is a program that allows teachers to gauge student comprehension of content after an individual lesson or after an entire topic is covered. Students enter a class code into their device to join the teacher's class. The teacher has a prepared set of questions for students to complete. Socrative also has a function known as 'Space Race' that is an exciting game that pits different groups in the room against each other by giving the groups separate colors. Groups that answer the most questions correctly in the shortest amount of time win the game! Just like KaHOOT, teachers can put results into charts or spreadsheets to check for student comprehension. 

Socrative Space Race shows students progress throughout the game

Review/Study Tools

Quizlet (program/app) 

This app allows teachers to create notecards for students to study for comprehension. Quizlet also puts the notecards into different types of games for students to play as well. My students typically will challenge each other to see who can get the fastest times. The app also has a spelling function where students are required to spell the items correctly to get a higher score! Students can also create their own notecards in their account in which they can share with other students to collaborate. 

Skype (program/app)

Skype is a world renowned program that allows loved ones to see each other across the country and tell each other " I LOVE YOU" !!! Yes .... we all know that type of Skype .... however it can be used as an awesome way to connect with your students for review sessions after school hours and even meet with parents! Students make an account and add the teacher by searching for their account name. Students and teachers can text chat, video chat, or voice chat! This adds an array of possibilities to help the student review content and help with comprehension as it allows the teacher to connect with the student beyond the class and display information if needed!