ePortfolios: Keeping Track of Online Work

I've quickly come to realize that keeping track of my students' work in paper folders is a thing of the past, especially since most of their work lives online or on their iPads. EPortfolios is the way to go. This year I was inspired to learn how to create ePortfolios with Google Sites from presentations at the CUE conference that I attended in Palm Springs, CA in March.  I had my own ideas of how I thought it might look, but what it ended up becoming was far superior to anything I could have dreamed up.

I started off by practicing with an informational writing piece. We broke the chapters up into separate pages. Then I required students to add a combination of photos, maps, or videos. In addition, they had to change the font size and/or color, plus wrap the text around any images they used.

Here's an example of using Google Sites for a report on the Great Wall of China:

Notice how the chapters are numbered. This was key to keeping them in order,
Otherwise, Google Sites will alphabetize the pages, which isn't always idea.

Here's another example:

This theme had a dramatic look!

This is a checklist that I gave to students for their informational writing site:

After this, my students were ready for an ePortfolio. It look some practice in getting everything to work on iPads, which can be temperamental and wonky at times, but we had a number of "experts" in no time. Soon, all students had ePortfolios up and running. Here are a few examples:

Notice the titles and subtitles on the left. Students were able to create photo galleries using photos that I had taken during the year and posted on our Weebly website. They simply saved them to their photo album on their iPads.

Here is a close-up of the titles and subtitles. Check out the countdown menu at the bottom. Many students used this for special events like birthdays, holidays, or to keep track of when school ended.

This is the checklist I gave for completed ePortfolios:

I gave this presentation to teachers on how to create ePortfolios with their students. It should answer a lot of tricky questions.

I can't wait to try this again next year. I'll start earlier with my fifth graders. I will make it a point to remind them to take their own pictures of their work to include in their ePortfolios. I hope you try it too!

Genius Hour

It's the first week of summer, and I haven't wasted any time so far. I've begun making plans to introduce Genius Hour (another name for 20% Time inspired by Google) to my class in the fall. In addition to what I learned from the 2014 CUE conference in Palm Springs, CA in March, here is the link from LiveBinder that I've been using to learn more and form a plan for my class next year. There is so much information out there that is it overwhelming!

LiveBinder for Genius Hour from Joy Kirr

The basic idea is that in order to allow for innovation in the classroom, students need to be given time IN CLASS to do it (and let's just include teachers, too, because who doesn't need some time to be innovative instead of grading papers?). Based on the plethora of information out there, here are some of the "rules" about 20% Time/Genius Hour:

1. Students should pick a topic/issue that they are very interested in and want to learn more about. The subject must be vetted by the teacher prior to the launching of their research. Some teachers have an anything-goes philosophy, while others want it to be based on the betterment of the community.
2. Students should be given 20% of their day (realistically, this would be one subject period per week) to explore this topic. 
3. Students must spend their time in class researching and writing/blogging about what they have learned.
4. The length of the assignment is up to the teacher. Some teachers have a year-long project, others have one project per trimester, while others complete a project in as little as five weeks. Either way, students should create an end product that is presented to the class. Typically it would be a five-minute presentation.
5. Here's the kicker: it isn't graded! That doesn't mean that it doesn't matter or that there is no accountability. It's just that this isn't based on getting a grade as an outcome. Learning, inspiration, and innovation are the outcome. It also fits in tidily with Common Core standards. Winning!

Today I started thinking about how I would present this idea to the class, and I was inspired by a video created on www.PowToon.com by Renee Valentine, so I made one of my own. Here it is:

I have so many more ideas to work out, so this blog post is going to be a work in progress. I plan to revisit it as I learn more. I'm so excited for my students and for me!

To be continued...

Red Solo Cup Challenge

This is a great beginning of the year/end of the year cooperative challenge. Students needed to work together using a rubber band and string to lift cups and put them into formations. It seemed impossible at first, but soon students mastered it. To begin, start with a a rubber band for each group (I had eight groups) and tie four strings to each rubber band. Create groups of four. Then have students practice lifting and changing the direction of a cup. Like this:

Next, start with challenges like, put the cups into a pyramid:

Easy does it.

Then make it even more difficult by starting with this shape. 

         And moving them to this:

Not so easy!

I decided to keep going until the students couldn't do it anymore (or they gave up), which ended up being 10 cups. At that point, it got too difficult to keep four sets of hands steady enough to build a pyramid. Overall, I would definitely do this again. It was so rewarding to hear the kids talking to each other and forming a plan on how to accomplish the challenges. Several of the students came up to me later and thanked me for introducing this to them. Winning!

Sticky Bridges

I've been reading about doing this STEM activity for a while now, and during the last week of school was the time to try it! The idea is that students build a bridge created with no more than 100 toothpicks and 50 mini-marshmallows. The students had 25 minutes to create the bridge (I did it in pairs.). After the time was up, I planned to test the strength of the bridges by suspending them on a pair of stacked books with a space of six inches between them. I told students that I planned to put metal washers (in a bowl) on top of each bridge until it collapsed. The winners would get Smarties candies or Dum Dum lollipops. So much excitement in the classroom! 

First, I gave students about 5 minutes to plan and design their bridges. Some used mini-white boards, others used their iPads, and others simply discussed it with their partner. Then it was off to work!

I loved hearing the students talking to each other about why they thought their design was best. Here are some of their creations I witnessed. As I walked around, I asked students to explain their logic. Some couldn't put it into words, while others explained exactly why they thought that their design would support weight.

Looks pretty, but not so strong.

This one is a little more intricate.

Popular pattern, no? 

This one won! It supported 13 washers.

Finally, it was time to test the bridges. The one directly above won because, as the creators explained, "It had crosses and plus-signs to make it stronger." In addition, it has two layers.

"X" is where the magic lies.

Here, one of the designers explains his creation to me. Notice the "X" he is making with his hands!

When I have more time, (and I will make more time for this next year) I would like students to make a second bridge the next day based on the what they learned from their first go-around. Should be interesting. In addition, it could also be extended by studying bridge designs AFTER this lesson. I purposely didn't do this because I didn't want students to have prior knowledge of this. Clearly, most students have seen bridges before, but have they ever really looked at the engineering? I'll bet they will next opportunity they have!

A Cute Way to Post QR Codes in the Classroom

Let's face it, there is nothing cutesy or personal about a QR code. They're boxy, black, and boring. But when we worked so hard to create ePortfolios this year, I wanted a way to show that work off at Open House, so I knew that I was going to put those unappealing boxes on a bulletin board one way or another. So here's one way! I took pictures of my students posing as if they were holding a box. I tried to make it so that each pose was unique.

Then I simply printed out the QR Codes and placed them in my students' posed hands. Whala! Here is the result:

These were a big hit!

Using Strip Design With Science

I've been experimenting with ways to use the app, Strip Designer. My students love it because they can add speech or thought bubbles, visual sound effects, and because they can easily format how they want their layout to be. For example, they can add or delete cells from templates, detach cells and overlap them, and add interesting frames designs with different color motifs.

After teaching my students about all of the effects and formats they can create, I wanted to decide upon a meaningful way to showcase their knowledge. Then it hit me. Each student has conducted at least two experiments in front of the class this year, but the only evidence of this was photographs I had taken and a grade that I had given.

Now it was time to have fun! I wanted students to create a product that gave information about their experiment using as little words as possible so that anyone who looked at it would understand what hypothesis they were testing. I started by showing them five different ways that I had taken the same information, but displayed it differently. Here are a few of my examples:

Then I had students each create three ways to display their information. This took about two days. When students were finished, I asked them to set up their iPads for a "gallery walk." Students were able to go from desk to desk and look at each other's Strip Designs and give feedback to each other. Finally, they made finishing touches and shared their creations with me as a pdf. It was a huge success! I printed all of the designs and put them on a bulletin board for Open House. 

Here are a few student examples:

My next challenge is to use it in ELA and Math. I'm already thinking that we could use it for word study, grammar, and to solve steps in a math problem. The possibilities are endless!