Chromebooks in 7th grade

This is an updated version of an article I wrote for FreeTech4Teachers last fall about the use of Chromebooks in my 7th grade classroom. I hope you find it useful.

Here's a bit of info about our experience using a Chromebook class set. My school has 3 Chromebook class sets in an ‘in school’ 1:1 program (5th through 7th grades). We’re a Google Apps for Education (GAFE) school. I teach 7th grade Social Studies, and the students use the Chromebooks daily. We're wrapping up year 2 with our 1:1 Chromebooks, and we're very happy overall with the results.

Some general observations. The Chromebooks seem pretty rugged. Two Chromebooks have been dropped in the past year, with (thankfully) no ill effects. One simple, but key, feature is the ‘instant on’ nature of the device. I can ask kids to shut the Chromebooks at any time, if I need their full attention and want to avoid ‘computer distraction syndrome’. For instance, in the midst of a graphic organizer assignment, and additional instruction is needed, I can ask them to shut the lid, give them whatever additional blah blah blah needed, then ask them to re-open their Chromebooks. As the computer only takes a few seconds to restart, they are right back on track immediately. Sounds silly, but this is huge, especially since more than a couple kids do have attention issues....

We also LOVE the long battery life. I teach at end of day, and the computers are still going strong. I asked students for a 'battery check' recently - and all students were between 70 and 80% remaining. The computers had been in use for at least 4 one hour periods that day.

We just completed our study of the fall of the Roman Empire, and I assigned the kids a large culminating project. One early activity I had for the kids was to create a timeline of Roman Empire events using Google Draw. Draw was easy to learn and suited our needs, so, this time, no timeline website was used. Students routinely take notes during class - from (short) lectures, while watching videos (guided and unguided), and for some formative assessments. Students collaborate with each other using various Google tools. For instance, student teams developed a brief Google Presentation that they used to teach others as the “expert” on a relevant Roman Empire topic they chose. The integration with Google Apps (the kids sign on to the device, then they are immediately online and connected to Google Apps) is great and saves more time. It's been easy to point students to various websites that either provide the information needed, or the 'application' capability they need to use.

One of our main tech goals is to use free web tools as much as possible. Since the Chromebook is an internet access device, its use is right in sync with our goals. The simplicity of most web tools we use - Google Apps are a good example - means students can concentrate on ‘higher order thinking’ skills (like evaluating and creating information), and not so much ‘how do I use this application?’ Students support each other very well - I’m very pleased to see them helping each other as questions arise. They love the Chromebooks. The computers are pretty speedy, and accomplish everything we want.

There have been some minor bumps along the way, all resolved by now. Early on, there were some network connectivity issues on a few Chromebooks. Those were solved by ‘refreshing’ the OS (about a 10 minute process); those problems have disappeared. Google also provides regular ChromeOS updates (which install fast and unobtrusively, a significant difference from 'other' OS's of which I'm familiar). The improvements have been continuous. Printing using Google CloudPrint is still a work in process; it’s not always totally reliable. We don’t print much, so not a big deal for us. Saving paper = good.

In the 2011-12 school year, uploading and sometimes editing small (30 to 90 second) video files to web-based editing sites was a definite problem. Now, not an issue. “Digital Storytelling” is a key desired student skill here, so that was troublesome. We’ve started to use Pixorial and I’m very pleased to say that Pixorial’s video editing has been excellent. It’s reliable, the uploads are relatively speedy, the tool is simple to use, and the end results have been excellent. Their customer support - as I got up to speed on how to use the tool- is first-rate. Creating videos was a major part of the student work done for the culminating Rome project, and it was a success!

Here are some of the web resources students have used this year on the Chromebooks:

Google:
Gmail - ongoing two-way communication between students and me
Docs - video notes, lecture notes, formative assessments, assignment and project collaboration
Presentation - collaborative presentations with ‘student as teacher’
Calendar - piloting use of calendar for Fall of Rome project due dates
Forms - collecting “what do I want study?” student responses; “what did I learn today?” exit tickets
Draw (embedded in Doc) - Fall of Rome timeline with embedded images
Advanced Image Search - find copyright-friendly images for various assignments

Other tools:
Collaborize Classroom - For example “who is Rome’s MVP, and why?” conversation
Pixorial - students created video newscast for Rome project
Corkboard - project brainstorming list, shared with class
EasyBib - generate Sources Cited to include with Google Preso
instaGrok- for initial learning about a Roman Empire topic

Here's a link to my Symbaloo page with these apps, and more, that students use on the Chromebooks.

I cannot tell you how impressed all of us at my school are with the Chromebooks. For us, a home run - fast start up, long battery, ease of use, LOW maintenance and good reliability - makes it a great device if your school, like ours, is focusing on free/low cost web-based tools.

We'll be acquiring one or two more class sets of Chromebooks for next school year. At $249 a pop, it's kind of a no-brainer, for us anyway.

Next steps beyond acquiring more hardware is to get much more familiar with the contents of the Chrome Store, and doing a more thorough job of rolling out to students and teachers some of the cool apps there. Just need to make the time to get that done...

Are you using Chromebooks? Please feedback your thoughts!

Prezi Reinvents Presentations

This morning I received an email from the good folks at Prezi informing me of their new resume templates.  My first thought was, “How novel!”  But now that I can give it a second thought, how cool would it be to get a resume like that from a potential employee!  As an administrator, receiving a resume via Prezi tells me the candidate is a little bold, does not hold tight to conventional thinking, definitely knows something about classroom technology, and can capture one’s imagination.  Isn’t that, in part, what we want in a teacher?

Prezi is one of the fail-safe “slideshow” applications students should use when they need to convey information.  The functionality has been updated, making Prezi so much easier to manipulate.  Students can easily set up the path to create the zoom feature.  There are newly added templates, including some with 3D-like graphics.  And Prezi is so versatile; it can be as simple or as complex as a student wants to make it. 

Consider having students use it to provide details, compare information, deliver analysis, and support theories. Currently my students are using Prezi as a creative supplemental piece for their vocabulary units.  It can use it in math to illustrate problem solving and solutions to real-life problems.  

Sir Ken Robinson's April 2013 TED Talk

Create a climate of possiblility in your classroom!



Happy Mother's Day!

Common Core Curriculum Maps

One of the most helpful resources our teachers have used to get their hands around the CCSS has been Common Core Curriculum Maps for English – Language Arts.  Each map includes lesson plans that incorporate all aspects of the standards. 

For example, one unit for 8^th grade - Urban Setting in America - has a focus (setting), a comprehensive list of suggested readings in all genres including non-fiction, sample activities and assessments, and online resources.  The unit has the standards noted, and well as access to a checklist that shows which standards are addressed in which unit.  We’ve used parts of this particular unit for my incoming 8^th graders summer reading assignment, then continue it once school start in the fall.  

These maps have given our teachers an opportunity to look at their ELA instruction in a whole new light.  It has encouraged us to try new approaches, many times with the literature we already have.  And, it has helped us address our non-fiction concerns with interesting selections and lessons.

Opportunities in all areas (Reading, Writing, etc.) are included with each unit, as well as art and use of technology.

The Common Core Curriculum Maps are available for grades K – 2, 3 – 5, and 6– 8.  You can purchase membership for online access ($25) or buy the book. 

Some math maps are now available, and soon there will be social study maps.  Looking forward to using those too!

Our Resources Page Has Been Updated

Looking for something new and different for the end of the year?  We have updated our resources page, check it out and see great ways to keep your students engaged right up to the last day.

LearnZillion - Common Core Aligned Lesson Plans Plus

LearnZillion has a growing compilation of Common Core aligned lesson plans and other resources. The graphic view - in the "Common Core Navigator" -  shows resources starting in kindergarten, but upon clicking around, it appears they start in earnest at 3rd grade and up. LearnZillion about 2000 lessons, with more coming, supporting both ELA and Math. Their site indicates plans to add Social Studies and Science down the road, as well as some online assessments.

A group of 123 "Dream Team" teachers built the included lessons.  I looked specifically at 3rd grade reading information texts lessons (standard RI3.1) and was impressed by the lessons. I was also very impressed by the extra materials included. See the screenshot below (sorry- hard to read) and notice the Read Aloud Video, Anchor Text and Printable Assessment are also included. Good stuff. Clicked through a few more resources and the quality, breadth and depth also seemed impressive.

These resources are relatively easy to assign to students, or teachers can use the resources in class (project some, make hardcopies, link to the lessons, etc.).  Seems like a fair amount of time was spent making the lessons flexible for differentiation, teacher approach, and classroom needs.

 I will certainly recommend these resources to my teachers as we continue to get our heads around how best to make the transition to Common Core.

Membean for Comprehensive Vocabulary Instruction

We know that to be an effective communicator, one must have an appropriately developed vocabulary.  Providing students access to literature and other texts is so important in helping students create a rich vocabulary.  But, unless students have the opportunity to use it, vocabulary instruction may not translate into the eloquent prose you are hoping for. 

My students found our vocabulary book to be pretty boring.  All the students learning the same words, writing uninspiring sentences, taking the tests at the same time, and probably never using the words again.  For me, it was tough to make vocabulary instruction interesting.  Then I was introduced to Membean.  This is online vocabulary instruction that is completely individualized to each student’s ability and progress.

The students go through a calibration process to identify the words they don’t know.  Then the Membean system provides each student with a very large set of words they need to learn.  They use words in context, memory hooks, roots, related words, and examples from real life to convey what each word means.  Video, images, and text are all used to explain meaning.  The Membean system knows when students have learned words, and will repeat exposure when words are not learned. 

Once the student has learned a selected set of words, they can take a quiz.  Student time and quiz results are available to the teacher on the dashboard. 

I supplement this instruction with application activities.  For example, after each quiz, my students create a slideshow (Prezi, Little Bird Tales, or the like) using the word in context with an image.  No definitions, no clapping out the stressed syllable.  By learning the roots and using the visible cues, they better understand the meaning and make connections to other similar words. 

The best part is the students really enjoy working on Membean.  They don’t fear the quizzes; they understand they won’t be quizzed until they are ready.  They talk to each other about the videos and images, and compare slideshows.  This never happened using the old textbook.  The cost per student is comparable to the cost of textbooks.  For me, this is a no-brainer for my upper grade vocabulary instruction for the next school year.

CC Connection: The Language Anchor Standards include Vocabulary Acquisition and Use.  Membean addresses all three subsections.