Flipped Learning Served with a Side of Fun

You’re ready to flip your classroom. You’ve seen it done with the usual tools and methods – screencasts, teacher-created videos, Khan Academy, or other curated videos. But what if you could flip your lesson in a fun and humorous way?

Instead of filming myself explaining a concept, I prefer to use the colorful and unique characters from GoAnimate for Schools to do it for me. For example, when reading Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” my students encounter quite a bit of irony in the story. I can make a presentation slideshow and add a voiceover, but that’s just not my style. I’d much rather rely on GoAnimate for Schools’ myriad of interesting characters to create a more engaging lesson.

However, if I ended my lesson with just the animated video, then I’ve only accomplished half of my goal. Where’s the inquiry, the collaboration, the discussion, or life of the lesson?

In many flipped classrooms, teachers assign a video for students to watch for homework and sometimes they include some form of teacher-driven assessment to hold students accountable. In my classroom, I teach my students to collaboratively find the answers through self-directed inquiry.

Enter GoAnimate and Schoology – a more exciting way to flip your classroom.

Schoology is my Learning Management System of choice, and it’s a perfect platform where I can seamlessly embed my GoAnimate videos. Because I want my students to discuss and question what they’re learning, I prefer to post flipped learning materials under Schoology’s discussion forum. After watching a short and funny GoAnimate clip that explains a new concept, my students can demonstrate their understanding by posting directly underneath the video. They can ask questions about what they just watched or explore ideas beyond what was covered in the video. The key is to train students to do this, and once they master this skill, they will amaze you with their answers.

With the GoAnimate for Schools app on Schoology, you’re not just flipping with videos. You’re now flipping the learning by giving students a chance to engage and explore together on a platform built for social learning.

After watching my GoAnimate video on irony, my students were astonished to discover I had created it. When I told them that they will be making some of their own animation videos, they cheered – literally. My students can’t wait to take the learning into their hands. Thanks, GoAnimate, for another successful lesson!

This post is also published on GoAnimate Educator Experiences blog.

Two-way Sharing with the Dropbox App

You're using iPads in the classroom.  Now what?  How do you collect the work they created?

I found Dropbox to be a great two-way sharing tool.  Students can share their work with you, and you can share files you want them to access, too.

According to their website, "Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere. This means that any file you save to your Dropbox will automatically save to all your computers, phones and even the Dropbox website."

This is my setup:

1. I have two Dropbox accounts: one that I use to store all my teaching files (I'll refer to this as my teacher account), and a second one that I use only for my class set of iPads (I'll refer to this as my iPad account).
2. I create a folder called "iPad Language Arts Folder" from my teacher account and share it with my iPad account.
3. I create subfolders in this "iPad Language Arts Folder" for each of my classes (i.e. Period A, Period B, etc.)  My students would upload their work to their specific class folder.
4. I also have subfolders of the unit we're studying (i.e. Short Stories, The Outsiders, etc.)  I usually leave those folders there for students to access all semester.

This setup allows me to easily drop any file I want to share with my students.  What do I share?  They're typically files I create just for my students.

1. A word document
2. A presentation file I want them to follow (You can turn off your LCD projector to save your bulb!)
3. A PDF file
4. An audio file
5. A video
6. Pictures (I take pictures of the participation points they're earning in my class.  I also take a screenshot of their current grades from my computer.  Both are posted anonymously.  You no longer have to post paper grades on your wall for everyone to crowd around.)

What kind of work can your students share with you?  The Dropbox app allows you to import images and videos from the iPad camera roll.  It could be any picture or video they created on the iPad.  It also could be a screenshot of any work they created on an another app.  See my post on "How the iPad Transformed My Classroom in 30 Days" to read about the different apps you can use with iPads.  I also describe in detail how I use Zoodle Comics in my classroom on a different post.  

How do you use the Dropbox app in your classroom?  Please share in the comments section.

How iPads Transformed My Classroom in 20 Days

Last fall, my school deployed a cart of iPads to be shared amongst 51 teachers and approximately 1500 students.  I’ve always loved teaching with technology and have always dreamed of going 1:1 with my students.  So though I long to sign up for the cart every day, I usually wait until the last minute to give others a chance before claiming it for myself.  

Our iPads are not fully loaded with apps, and since our school hasn't set up an Apple Volume Purchase Program account yet, I make do with what few free apps we have.

So far, I've been able to clock 20 days of iPad use in my English Language Arts class.  How have I been using them?  These are the apps and activities I've used with my students.

1.  Students used a sticky note or mind mapping app for character analysis.  Students could choose from ABC Lite, PoppletLite, iBrainstorm, iCardSort Lite (there used to be a free version), Stickyboard, Idea Sketch, Mindjet, and SyncSpace.

2.  Students used GoSoapbox.com to ask questions and to vote for the most thought-provoking ones.  They can also answer each other’s questions.  Additionally, GoSoapbox.com was used to brainstorm different thesis statements for their upcoming essay.  GoSoapBox events were set up for each thesis, and students had to join an event to submit their supporting evidence.  Lastly, they critiqued each other’s contributions and had an opportunity to defend their choices if their quotes were deemed irrelevant.

3.  Students used Edmodo to join or start a literary discussion on our current text.  Soon, they were initiating discussions on their own at home without waiting for me to assign a topic.  (Update:  In the fall of 2012, I switched to Schoology and never looked back.  Read my blog on my experience with various learning management systems, and why I chose Schoology over all the rest.)

4.  My students used Kidblog to write app reviews, reflect on their readings, and explore intellectual topics.  A number of them ended up writing more than double the amount of blogs assigned.  These became my distinguished bloggers, and I had the class vote for the coveted title of “Blogger of the Month.”  I plan on awarding this title once a month.

5.  Students also used Nebulous Notes Lite to write responses to the literature we were reading.  The integration with Dropbox was an added plus since students could just upload their files to Dropbox.  Because I set up a shared folder on the iPad, everything they put in that folder would just instantly show up on my laptop or iPad.

6.  Students also used Dropbox on the iPad to follow my presentation slides, access handouts I created, and read speeches and poetry.  If my district’s network didn’t have such a rigid firewall, I could’ve also used Idea Flight or Join Me for this purpose, but alas, I couldn’t.  (Update, the Nearpod app is a great way for students to follow along a presentation. You can also add quizzes, polls, and drawings to elicit active participation.)

7.  I used GoogleForms to ask questions for anything I wanted to know, such as their daily technology use, their choice for “Blogger of the Month, how they felt about using iPads in the classroom, etc.  I called it the “Student Pulse.”  It’s a great way to know what they think about anything relevant to their learning.

8.  My students used Socrative to take quizzes, polls, or answer questions.  The “Exit Ticket” feature is great, and you can get a spreadsheet of their responses emailed to you.  Plus, you can randomize the questions on a quiz!

These are just a handful of activities I’ve had the opportunity to try with my students.  Like I said, without the AVPP account set up, our app collection is a bit sparse right now.  However, I feel that my students have accomplished a lot in just 20 days.

Imagine what they can do if we could use iPads every day.

Right now it’s just a dream of mine.  But I hope to make that into a reality soon.

Update:  As of the 2012-2013 school year, I began teaching in a 1:1 iPad classroom.  Dreams do come true in schools after all.

Evernote is a Must-Have for Educators

I use Evernote and absolutely love it. It’s an extremely powerful productivity tool for one’s personal and professional life. With the ability to access my notes across all platforms (whether it’s my laptop or my numerous mobile devices), I always have everything I need to remember within reach.

Here’s how I use evernote as a teacher:

1. Notebooks: In Evernote, Notebooks are like folders.  I create notebooks to help me organize information. For example, I have notebooks called "Students," “Web 2.0 Tools,” “Apps,” “Tech Committee,” “Temporary,” etc.  Some teachers may want to create a notebook for each specific student if they need create documentation for parent conferences.

2. Notes: I create notes on anything I want to document or file inside a notebook. I usually receive paper copies of student IEP's and 504's from my school.  I prefer to store them in Evernote so that I can easily search for them without thumbing through stacks of papers.  I can either scan the paper using a traditional scanner, take a photo of it, or use a scanning app.  I also like to scan or photograph student work to who parents during conferences.

3. Web Clippings: Anytime I come across an article, blog or webpage I want to read again, I save it to Evernote. Sure, Read It Later and Instapaper are great for this, but I like to keep all my work information in one place, and Evernote fits the bill.

4. Save Emails from Outlook: Now whenever I receive an email from a parent or student, I can click “Add to Evernote” from my Outlook desktop client to export it.  If you have a notebook for a particular student, this is a great place to file it so that everything is in one place.  After I choose "Add to Evernote," a window will pop up, waiting for me to designate a notebook and add tags. If I’m using my iPad, I can just forward the email to my Evernote email address, and it’ll be filed under the notebook of my choosing. This leads me to my next tip.

5. Send Emails to Evernote: Each Evernote account has a unique email address, and sometimes I’ll come across a website that gives me the option of emailing a link or the page. This feature is especially handy to have on the iPad where there's no "Clip to Evernote" option.  Hint: on the iPad, if the page allows, tap "Reader" so that the entire page will be sent to your Evernote account.  Otherwise, only the link will be emailed to you.

6.  Students Submit Work Through Evernote:  Students can also send their work to your account by using your unique Evernote email address.  First, set up notebooks for each class you teach or name the notebook after an assignment.  Then, when they send their work, have them use the notebook name in their subject title with the "@" symbol.  This way, their work will go directly to that notebook.

For example, Joe Bruin from Period A needs to submit his Journal #1 to you.  He will fill out the email like this.

To:  Teacher's unique Evernote email address
Subject: Journal #1 Bruin Joe @ Period A

This way, all the assignments will be grouped together, and the students' work will be in alphabetical order, too.  The "@" symbol tells Evernote to file the note under your notebook named "Period A."

7. Take Pictures of Student Work: This is for when you need to bring examples of a student’s work to a parent conference. I used to photocopy student work just in case I ever have to justify a grade, and now I don’t have to make a trip to the copier or waste paper if I never end up using it.

8. Purchases: We all buy things for our classroom, whether at the store or online. This is a fabulous place to store those receipts or order confirmations. For web orders, I use my snipping tool to create a jpg of my confirmation page and load it to my Evernote.

9. How-To Guides/User Manuals/Product Information: This is a great place to store that type of information, especially if you need to know the model number of something because you have to replace a missing or broken part. I also take pictures of the product so that I can match it to the user manual.

10. Special Assembly Schedules: At my school, we have various assemblies throughout the year, and because the duration of the assemblies vary, we always have a new schedule each time an event occurs. I will take a picture of the schedule (or upload an emailed copy of the schedule) so that I never have to carry a sheet of paper around to see where I need to be and when. I also do the same when we have standardized testing in the spring. Every day is different when we are testing.

These are just a few ways in which I use Evernote for my professional life. I also use Evernote in my personal life: for shopping, vacation planning, home improvement projects, organizing kids activities…but that would be an entirely new post.

How do you use Evernote as an educator? Please share in the comments below.