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Comical Collaboration

2/17/2015

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In the education world, we are starting to see more and more technology in the hands of our students. Naturally, we start to see technology as a way to individualize learning and students can engage with material that is on their level.  But we can also choose to use our technology in a collaborative way. Collaboration helps our students learn to communicate effectively, learn how to cooperate with each other, build up those interpersonal skills, all the while, mastering the content given to them. And while our students use technology in their personal lives and it is mostly an isolated event, we as teachers can promote using technology in a collaborative, productive way.

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Kindergarten teacher at Meadowmere, Christina Phyall, decided to use the power of collaboration within her math lesson.  She wanted her students to be able to explain how to solve a math problem and decided to make it more engaging for her students by having them create their own comic with Make Beliefs Comix.  Mrs. Phyall started by modeling how to use this free website by making a comic with her whole class.  Then she took her little ones into the computer lab and called it a disaster! Her students had problems logging in to the computer and even getting to the website. This sparked the idea of having her big buddies, another third grade class at Meadowmere, come in and sit with their little buddies to help them out!  The third graders were asked not to do the work for their kindergarten buddies, but to help guide them through their assignment.  Mrs. Phyall reported that her students loved this assignment and loved working with their big buddy. Take a look at Angela K's finished comic and Kolten J's finished comic.

Whether or not we have a device for each student, don't be afraid to pair/group up students to work collaboratively on a project, assignment or activity. These collaboration skills are important life skills with or without the use of technology.

Reflecting with SAMR

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By Diane DeLaTorre
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Twitter is not just for teachers!

2/10/2015

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3rd grade students in Michelle Blakley's class at Conn-West recently began preparing to use a class Twitter account to share, connect, and collaborate with the world around them. Over the next several weeks students will take turns sharing snippets of class work, learning, and life in the classroom. 

Before allowing students to post on Twitter, Ms. Blakley contacted Technology Integration Specialist, Diane DeLaTorre, for assistance. Diane spent time introducing students to Twitter, explaining the rules, and showing them how to tweet. 
Diane created a "Twitter Tweet Sheet" to provide students to assist them when it is their turn to tweet. Diane also assisted with the creation of a parent letter to inform parents and invite them to follow the class Twitter account. This is a perfect example of how our district Technology Integration Specialists can assist teachers with great ideas about using technology in their classrooms. If you are interested in some other ways Twitter can be used in the classroom, check out this link. Check out the attachments below for helpful resources if you are interested in using Twitter like Ms. Blakley's class. As always, let us know how we can help!

Great job to Ms. Blakley and her 3rd grade students! You can follow the learning in Ms. Blakley's class as it unfolds by following @MBlakley2 on twitter.
twitterparentletter.docx
File Size: 52 kb
File Type: docx
Download File

twittertweatsheet.docx
File Size: 127 kb
File Type: docx
Download File

Reflecting with SAMR

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Scott Sisemore
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Building a Classroom Economy

2/3/2015

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Did you know that we have an entire classroom full of pharmacists, social workers, architects, and more? I’m not talking about their futures, but rather the Economics Unit that 7th Grade students in a Social Studies class at GMS are working on.  Ms. Blocks has created a classroom economy that requires students to get jobs, buy houses, and pay their living expenses all while maintaining a budget based on their income.  

This real-world opportunity is supported by the use of the iPads and online tools such as mortgage/loan calculators as well as a great website called My Kids Bank (www.mykidsbank.org) to keep track of their money online in a realistic way.  Each student has his or her own login information to access a bank account and is responsible for making deposits and withdrawals online to track their money.

Ms. Blocks says that students are extremely mindful about keeping track of their money and entering the amounts correctly.  They are also extremely competitive.  They want to compare their balances with one another and are beginning to realize that sometimes you cannot afford that puppy or a huge house!

Students have been asking what they can do to get ‘bonus pay’ and have even made suggestions about things that they would like to see happen with the lesson, such as the ability to get a new job/promotion and even to continue the activity through the rest of the year!  It has created an interesting, competitive mini-economy where students are motivated to work hard!

This lesson easily falls into Quad D on the Rigor and Relevance Framework.  Students are required to analyze their budgets and prove that they can afford things, like houses, but they continuously have to evaluate and modify their budgets in order to make informed decisions.  Next up, students will be buying cars and they can't wait!  

Mary

Reflecting with SAMR

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Below are several of the documents that Ms. Blocks is using to support this lesson.
Account Register
File Size: 86 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Apartment Application
File Size: 211 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Mortgage Application
File Size: 170 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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