Coding with Kids, Stacie Bell, Pirie Elementary School

This winter has marked the second year my students have participated in the Hour of Code. This program is a great way to introduce students to computer science and demystify coding. Last year, I worked with students in grades 3 and up. This year, code.org introduced a new curriculum that allowed even my Kindergarten students to participate.

Previously, I had students working on iPads to complete lessons. I found that while it worked, there were a few glitches that prevented the entire screen from being in view and, on some pages, the navigation and log out buttons were not visible. This year proved much easier using the Chromebooks giving me the confidence to try this program with a Kindergarten and Second grade class.

After completing an “Unplugged” lesson (which are paper based and meant to teach the entire class the concepts and thought processes they will need to solve problems online), I taught students how to log on. The Kindergarteners and Second graders were given a special class site to go to which had their names listed. After finding their name, they clicked on a special secret picture as their password. This was the hardest part for the Kindergarteners because most had never typed in a web address themselves before. The precision necessary along with brand new keyboarding skills (combined with a few students that had not even mastered letter identification yet) made this login process difficult, but we persevered (and I resisted typing in the addresses myself).

Once logged on, the students were able to complete several activities which taught them basic computer skills such as clicking and dragging. All of my students were then able to move onto solving puzzles and writing simple code to navigate an angry bird through a maze to get those evil pigs. The kids loved learning coding and were enthralled by the Angry Bird theme. My second graders started off working in partners and the site we used, Code.org, had a tutorial video on how two people could work together as a team. The video helped the students understand and accept their roles, which was a big help in preventing someone being too controlling.

Coding with my students proved to be a very successful activity which I hope to continue in the future, well beyond the Hour of Code that takes place in December.

Students Enjoying Chromebooks, Rosalie Buenrostro, Taylor Elementary School

Having success using the Chromebooks in different areas of student learning is not challenging at all.  Student’s are eager to participate in Chromebook projects.  I appreciate this as I have found student’s are more than willing to share their knowledge.  

This is a benefit for me as my knowledge is not very advanced.  I find it is a learning process shared with my student’s help.

I use the Chromebooks with my MTSS student’s as we venture through The Learning Odyssey program.  This is great as I can have several student’s reading, learning and listening at their personal pace.  I like this program because not only is it individualized, it helps them with basic computer skills such as dragging, keyboarding and using sound/headphones.  

At the present time I am working on African American poetry with my 6th through 8th grades.  I like the integration of the Chromebooks and books.  This project is worked on in a group setting.  They study a poem, research the writer in the CPS database and have a discussion about the poem and the poet.  Next they work together to reinterpret the poem in a way their peers can relate and understand the poem.  They create a slideshow using imagery and words.  in the end they will present their work to their classmates.  

This may not be super high tech to some of you reading this but for my student’s who have no access to a computer except in our library, this is a milestone.  I am proud of their progress and I must admit the Chromebooks have created a bond between my student’s and myself.  We are learning together.  They have ideas they are now sharing with me and I will take some of them and create lessons that they will learn from because they participated in how they will learn.

Fun with Chromebooks, Amy Chiu, Corkery Elementary

This has been a fun season in the Corkery Library.  Here is an overview of how we have been implementing our iPads and Chromebooks during our library periods.

With the First and Second grade students, we have been doing stations.  

1. In the listening center, students will listen to an audiobook or a episode from Brainpop jr on Chromebooks that correlates to what they are learning about in their classrooms or  the events on the calendar.
2. In the reading center, students can sit on the carpet or little stools and read pre-selected books I have put aside for them to read.
3. In the check out book center, students will check out their book or write about something they had read that week.
4. In the iPad center, students will work with an app that I assign them to do. Either Write About or DoodleBuddies.
5. Finally, they do puzzle center where they complete educational floor puzzles connected to what they are learning about in the classrooms such as the continent and state maps, the presidents, and the solar system.

I set up stations for the 3rd and 4th graders too.  We don’t do stations every week, but when we do, this is the format we generally follow.

1. Checking out books/Reading center is when students use the time to quietly read on the rug or check out a book.
2. Writing Center is where students write a paragraph about what they have learned and when they are done they can work on an educational puzzle.
3. In the iPad center, students will work with  an app that I assign them to do.
4. Then on the Chromebook station, they have been working with the Corkery library OPAC.  They have been working on finding books on specific subjects and doing research from e-books.

With my older students, we have enjoyed using the Chromebooks to do research and projects on the Presidents (8th Grade) and an African American Sports figure (7th Grade).  The students are getting accustomed to using GAFE and are enjoying the ease and flexibility of the Chromebooks.  

I’m including a “write about” done by one of my second grade students during her iPad center after Christmas break.  May it endear your heart to dream and believe in yourself as it did mine.

Getting Set up with Chromebooks, Peggy Rux, Pasteur Elementary

While it has been almost three months since my last post, I have not been able to make much progress with my fifth grade students on our healthy living publications.  The holidays, testing,  and a variety of surveys to complete are just a few of the obstacles our project has faced.  However, I think we are ready to begin again on our projects starting next week.

One thing that time has allowed is for the students to become much more comfortable using the Chromebooks.  Students really enjoy perfecting their keyboarding skills using typing.com! They have also had an opportunity to “play” in google docs and are familiar with many of its features.  We have not worked on collaborating yet, so I’m not sure how that will go, but we are all excited to get started.

So once again, students will begin working on a project using Google Docs. Since I am now teaching health class in addition to my other responsibilities, I decided to blend research with health. Students will create a publication on healthy living. Items students could include in the publication are articles, charts, graphs, checklist, editorials, interviews and comics.

The first step will be for each group to come up with a theme for their publication. Students are divided into groups of 5-6 members. Each member of the group will need to each contribute something to the publication. The task manager for each group will set-up the publication by giving it a tittle and recording the contributors. They will then share the publication with all the members of the group so they can collaborate online! I have created and collaborated with other teachers on documents online, so I am hoping that experience will help the students through any challenges they may face.

Once the publication is completed it will be shared with me for a final grade. I think this project can really be the start of new way of collaborating for our students. Many of them are not able to get together after school to work on projects and there is never enough time in the day for this type of collaboration, so I am hoping this has a positive impact on all the participants!

One final note, my husband brought these “dividers” home for me from his office and they are a great way for me to store, charge and distribute the Chromebooks. They are just simple file dividers, but hold six Chromebooks very nicely!

Infographics: Creating with the Collection, Analysis, and Interpretation of Data, by Katherine Hlousek, Librarian, Emiliano Zapata Academy

It is essential to continue to introduce new technologies and programs to our students and further develop their information literacy, visual literacy, and technology skills as 21st century learners and creators. I recognize the importance of introducing new technologies and an emerging platform for creating and sharing information: infographics. During the third quarter seventh grade students are investigating, collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and producing an infographic final product using student-created and collected data from a Google Form survey. An infographic is a visual representation of information, data, or knowledge. The purpose of this project is to further develop students’ technological skills, their ability to collect, analyze, and synthesize data and information, and their visual literacy skills to create a visually appealing and accurate product. The infographic unit incorporates many disciplines, including math, English, technology, and art, in addition to library science.  

During this unit, students are completing the steps of the inquiry-based learning model – planning, gathering information, processing information, creating a product, sharing new information, and evaluating learning. This unit was designed with achievable weekly goals for students to reach and complete. Instead of preselecting topics for students to research, I designed this unit to be student driven.  Students selected a topic of their choice that they are already familiar with, for example: general interests of seventh graders, sports, hobbies, etc.  The data students are collecting and analyzing will come from their peers, thus making this research and technology project authentic and meaningful.

I began the unit with an introduction to infographics and an analysis of several examples of infographics. Students worked in teams to determine the purpose and message of the example infographics. The visual and high-interest infographics were appealing and students were eager to begin their infographic project. After selecting a topic, students created a Google Form with ten or more questions. As a mini lesson, I reviewed the various question and answer options in Forms as well as the importance of providing a “none of the above” and an “other” answer option in order to gather accurate data. Once students completed their Form, students shared the link to their Form in Google Classroom. I compiled a class list of all the Google Forms to ensure students had access to and answered all of the surveys. After answering all of the Google Forms for their classmates, students spent time analyzing their data. Students can analyze their data by reviewing the responses of their Form in the Sheets spreadsheet format as well as in a more visual format.  After opening the Sheets response for the student-created Form, click on “Form” at the top navigation, and then click on “Show summary of responses” to view the data in a visual format.  Students will look for relationships or trends in the student-collected data. Students then transferred interesting data points and relationships observed from the Form into an infographic created with Google Drawings.

Additionally, this lesson presents the perfect opportunity to review copyright, creative commons, and citations when students are selecting images and graphics to use for their infographic.

Last year I taught an infographic unit to seventh and eighth grade students. Perhaps the greatest success from the prior unit was the transferable skills students developed. The eighth grade team of teachers was shocked when one of the students created an infographic for a social studies project instead of a traditional written response. I was extremely proud that not only the work students were creating while in the library was receiving notice but students were also utilizing the new tools and skills they learned outside of the library and other classes.  

Gabler Sabin's Crushin' It With Chromebooks, Meghan Gabler, Sabin

Wow! Can I just say I wish Chromebooks were around when I was a student! These have made my students so much more interested and intrigued to learn how to maneuver, explore and even research! I will say for the most part my time has been devoted to working with my 5th - 8th graders on their high school research projects. I will get to that in a bit. For right now I want to talk about how helpful these Chromebooks have been in every other aspect of my teaching and classroom.

As I am sure many of you have similar library media schedules, you see the whole building, or nearly all of it. With rearranging and shifting of classes, my classes that once had a computer for every student when needed now leave me shorthanded nearly 10 to 15 computers for roughly half of my classes. Flash forward to my amazing Chromebooks and the ability for me to set-up students right where they are right when I need them to have access to a computer. From Kindergarten through 8th grade I have been able to help reach the needs of all of my students at once if needed. They hold charge throughout the whole day so I don’t have to stress about getting them back into the case when one class is finished. They turn on immediately so those impatient students don’t have to wait long to access the information they are seeking. They are easy to move around so I can strategically place the students and the Chromebooks right where I need them.

Another reason I am thankful for my Chromebooks is due to the rolling out of CPS Connects. The thought of asking my third and fourth graders to sign on to something I am not all that familiar with was daunting. However, I was able to work with them in small groups via my amazing Chromebooks and get them all set up. They were so excited to be working next to one another. They were moving around helping each other and showing their friends what next steps to take. When they are sitting at the desktops in my library it is much harder to talk to their friends and to move around because of the tables. Once again the lack of cords, mice, clunky computers and such made this experience so much easier for my 3rd and 4th graders.

Lastly, my 5th - 8th graders are at the point they get depressed if we have a day when we aren’t using the Chromebooks! They still love the iPad’s and even the desktops. However, they know just what to do with the Chromebooks as for signing on as a guest and beginning their work within Google Drive. They of course still need some work with logging out of their CPS Google accounts, but at least they are pro’s at logging the previous student’s out when it is their time to log in. Overall, I feel having these Chromebooks are giving my students the best chance to be up to date and on pace to keep up with the GAFE tools and skills that I feel they should be taking with them wherever they go. Thank you!

Expanding Horizons Through Chromebooks and Google Maps, Juan Fernandez-Saines, Pickard

To work with Google Maps, I wanted several weeks to pass by before I had my students explore the app.  In learning how to use the Chromebooks we took the process in small steps.  We previewed two short videos to introduce how the devices would function such as this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVqe8ieqz10 . After watching the videos a Gmail account was created for all of our 4th through 8th grade students and the basic components of Google Suite Apps were learned.  Once I determined that the students had sufficient practice  I wrote two lesson plans that would give all of our students the opportunity to use Google Maps.

During the course of the first lesson, I was amazed how students took to using the program.  The first lesson encouraged my students to explore the neighborhood around them.  They were very eager to learn how Google Maps functioned.  My students could not wait to locate their address and see a photostream of their home.  I was also surprised to see how amazed they were reacting because I had taken for granted their access to this technology.  Our students are well aware of Playstation and XBox games, but when I asked them if they knew about Google Maps they revealed to me that it was their first time ever using the program.

After the initial lesson, the second lesson required for them to find the location of two points.  One of those points had to be our school and the second would need to be a Chicago landmark.  I gave them a list of landmarks and they were required to input the addresses.  One of the fascinating aspects of Google Maps besides being a remarkable technology is that it is a great conversation starter.  To capitalize on this I asked the students to create a narrative or story about the two locations.  I asked them to be creative and described how to get to their destinations.  I also asked them to use any of the Google Apps available through Google Drive.  The two of the most popular apps chosen  for their task were Google Slides and Google Docs.

Upon the completion of their assignment I asked them to Email me their work and share their document with me.  I have created folders for every classroom and as the students send me their work I save it in these folders for easy access.  This is a better way to track the submission of work and it is timestamped. It has been very fascinating to work with the Chromebooks.  Students tend to prefer them over other devices.  We have only begun to touch the “tip of the iceberg” and we can’t wait what other projects we will be able to work on in the coming months.

Lessons from a Fully Stocked Chromebook Library, Eric Currie, Hitch Elementary School

This year, the librarians in the REVITAL Grant are sporting 19 Chromebooks and 10 iPads.  I had access to this last year (though I had 21 CBs).  My school outfitted the Library with chromebooks to increase access to technology in our building, and to get us better prepared for the PARCC technology requirements.  This year, because of the grant, I’m now at 40 CBs.  I’d like to share some of the insights I had from last year (with a limited amount of CBs) and this year (with enough for a classroom set).

Limited Amount:

I enjoyed having the limited amount of CBs.  It forced my hand at centers, which I had wanted to try but wasn’t confident enough in being able to pull it off.  I had a third of the students doing Typing Club, another third usually doing some form of research or an iPad project, and the last third checking out books.  Though hectic, for the most part, it was pulled off nicely.  Everyone used the Guest account which I liked because all the grades could get right on without the fuss of logging in.  However, things got stressful when I had a classes of 35 and I had to scrounge around for ways to get students on (and an iPad wasn’t appropriate).  I also heavily utilized the library page to provide instructions for what students were to do that week.  

Fully Stocked:

Of course everyone would love to have this situation.  However, I have two pieces of advice for CPS librarians who are merging to collections of Chromebooks and getting closer to a classroom set.

1. If you have a collection of unsupervised Chromebooks, get them supervised.  I have only recently done this.  it allows you to use the admin console to push out apps, have a universal experience among the different users.
2. Number the chromebooks and assign them to students.  Create a spreadsheet that you can reference later.  I’ve also recently done this (I previously used a google form to have students sign out their chromebook).  Now, when a keyboard letter goes missing, I know who to speak to about it.  Assigned CBs also mean students can add themselves as users as they will only appear on that specific CB.  

I love having a classroom set of CBs.  Students are able to research more independently and for longer periods of time than before.  However, I do miss the on-the-fly problem solving and spontaneity of having a limited number of chromebooks.

iPad Update:

I find that I only use iPads when I’m doing something that can only be done with an iPad (iMovie, Green Screen, Chatterpix, etc.)  They’re great devices, however, this year I find that I use them only for specific tasks rather than having an entire project “live” on the device.

Smyser Uses Chromebooks to Increase Academic Language Use, Emily Porter, Smyser Elementary School

One added benefit to the library that has come through receiving the Chromebooks is additional jargon associated with the new technology.  Getting used to calling the device a “Chromebook” instead of a laptop has been difficult. One way to break myself of the habit of using the wrong word when teaching students to use the device is to create a simple word wall that contains the terms we need to use.

The students and I researched the definitions online and compiled a list of words to add to our Academic Language display that hangs on a bulletin board in the library. I did this with students in 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 8th grades - all the groups who are currently using Chromebooks for library projects.

Right now, our focus is learning four specific words: Resource, Cloud Storage, Dongle, and Chromebook. I leave the words up indefinitely. It is important to allow students to master the language before adding more words to the list. The students respond to the idea of “sounding smart” when using the correct term for the new technology. It has been a lot of fun for them to correct me when I accidentally

slip and call the Chromebook a laptop… a students’ teachable moment - ha ha!

In addition to increasing our word knowledge, it reinforces the academic language used across the curriculum and establishes common language for our learning community.  For example, I had a very robust discussion with the 8th graders about “Cloud Storage” because they were already familiar with the term, having taken technology in 6th and 7th grade.

The Word Wall isn't only for new technology terms, we also use it to learn research terms and vocabulary related to Common Core. Words and vocabulary are integrated in to all of my library lessons, which become part of year-long Big Ideas in my lesson plans.

Teacher and Librarian collaborate to create Tech PD, Nicole Guevara, Washington High School

A few years ago, Washington invested in three iPad carts specifically for our Argumentative Literacy classes. Our school has a strong focus on close text reading, writing and discussion. Throughout the year we noted how teachers and students were engaging with the technology and after careful consideration, a few changes were made. This year at the same time I was receiving Chromebooks from the REVITAL grant, the school purchased three Chromebook carts available to all classes.

The tech team decided to try something different with our three iPad carts. We really wanted to see iPads bring lessons to life while enhancing curriculum. Using the REVITAL grant application as a template, I created a proposal form to be completed by teachers interested in having sole access to an iPad cart for a semester. Among the winning proposal entrants was science teacher Kyle Leonard. Kyle has been using the iPads in his class every day since the beginning of school. Other teachers took notice of his great work and also of his students’ level of engagement. He shared with me how eager he was to share some of his knowledge and experience. I agreed that is was a terrific idea and offered my assistance. We decided to create a tech series open to all Washington teachers.

Kyle and I met and plotted our course of action. The first step was to create and send a Google Form interest survey to learn about participant interest and needs. Those went out electronically and in paper form. The next step was to synthesize the responses and decide on an agenda and timeline. We decided on a four-part series each with a specific theme. That information then went out electronically and in paper form. We divided roles and responsibilities and began our preparation. Kyle is going to present three of the sessions as they are programs he specifically prefers while I will present the online learning session as well as take care of the administrative tasks. I also requested these sessions to be put in CPS University so that our teachers can get credit for attending which is a nice incentive to attend.

Our “Educational Resources Tech Series” includes:

Part One: Saving Time with Tech

Monday, February 9

Part Two: Increasing Student Engagement with Tech

Tuesday, March 10

Part Three: Online Learning

Tuesday, April 14

Part Four: Communication & Managing Student Behavior

Tuesday, May 12

We recently held our first meeting. Each teacher took a Chromebook and while signing in I shared the presentation with them. Kyle spent an hour showcasing GradeCam, Common Curriculum, Tiny Scan, and EdTechTeacher. Teachers were especially intrigued by GradeCam. Teachers loved that they could save so much time by grading with a camera and even have those grades directly transferred into Gradebook. Our principal, excited about the adult learning, even stopped in to see the presentation. At the end of the Google Slide presentation, I linked a quick exit survey that I created using Google Form. We will use the feedback to inform our next presentation. Judging by the feedback, our next one will have even more tech thirsty participants.

Using Mind Map Apps with Chromebooks, Marcia Mariscal, Goethe Elementary

I have been working on teaching research skills using Kids Infobits with my 4th and 5th graders.  We worked on research grids and were now ready to organize our information visually using mind maps.  I was excited that I would be able to have my students work with google apps for education on the new chromebooks.  Since I have not been able to be added to the Administration console, I had to review the apps CPS allows our students to download.  This would be a real scenario with any teacher trying to work with google apps.  I quickly downloaded some mind maps to help me work through the ease or difficulties my students would face working with these mind maps.  I explored two mind maps:  Mindmeister and Mindmup.

The first one I chose to work with was Mindmeister.  The app seemed very simple to use in terms of adding a main topic, then adding additional topics and subtopics by pressing the + button.  Other features that were easy to use were the three font sizes and various color fonts you could choose from.  At the top right side of the app are seven images that allows you to cut, add, undo, add an arrow, and paste.  I couldn’t figure two of the images and their functionality.  There is also a red arrow that I found serves as a pointer and I couldn’t paste it to point to a picture or a specific text.  On the left side of Mindmeister is the map layout which includes default, text aligned, organized chart and a left and right aligned feature.  In creating a mind map I was able to  attach files, add a URL, and download an image straight from the web.  This is a nice feature since it allows you to download an image directly from the browser instead of having to save the image and then retrieve it from downloads.  Mindmeister also allows you to upload images from their library which contains 60 images.  For an upgrade of between $36 to $90 dollars you can upload your own image or draw your image.  Finally, you can add numbers, flags, smiley faces, votes, completion percentages, due dates, and about 60 other icons.

After reviewing Mindmup and Mindmeister, I decided to use Mindmup to have my student’s organize their information visually.  Mindmup  is a google app that you can download for free.  Like Mindmeister you can keep up to three mind maps for free.  The features that I liked on Mindmup is how easy it was to use the toolbar.  There are icons that allow the student to add topics, subtopics, cut, and zoom in or out.  I absolutely love three functions: the ability to change the node colors, attach additional information with a visual paperclip, and the collapse leaf.  When I was building my mind map I was able to organize my information by color.  You can choose 36 colors or none to have as your background.  This function is not available in Mindmeister.  When students have additional information, so they don’t clutter their mindmap they can attach it by clicking on the paperclip.  Images can also be attached.  Finally, there is a leaf button that allows students to click on and all their information is stacked up like index cards.

I found Mindmup to be easier for my younger students.  It didn’t have too much information to navigate through.  You do have to teach students what is meant by node, parent, child, and siblings. Usually these terms would be main idea, branches and twigs.  Another heads up, when students are adding images, they need to download images, then find them in downloads and select.  These are skills they need to practice before they add images on mindmup.  Also very Important!  The size that appears when students are adding images needs to be changed to between 100-60, then they click on the second box to the right and the size self adjusts.  If they don’t do this the image will take up the whole page.  After I showed them, it was easy for them to remember and apply.  The information on mindmup can also be moved to the right and organized in notecards in a feature called “Storyboard.” this can be arranged to look like an outline, and be exported to become slides.  Finally, Mindmup allows students to collaborate with each other in “Realtime”.  This is important when students are assigned a project to work in pairs or groups.  

In conclusion, in order for me to feel comfortable with google apps, I had to practice and practice so I could anticipate problems.  I didn’t feel comfortable the first time I taught students how to use mindmup, but if there were any difficulties, students picked up on the technology so quickly they were able troubleshoot the problems themselves.  The important thing is that they were exposed to mindmapping and were taught another tool to help them organize their research.  The best part was that it was saved to their google drive, and they were able to work on it at home.  That was pretty cool!

From Form to Drawing, Creating Infographics in Drive, Caryn Mikkelsen, Volta Elementary School

I wanted the seventh graders to learn how to create infographics without having them set up accounts on a public site.  The solution was easy using Google Drive!  

I decided for their first attempt at creating an infographic, I would have the students research a topic they were interested in and had some knowledge about.  Also, I would keep the data limited to just five pieces.  I showed the students a short  infographic video from Kathy Schrock to give the students an overview of what an infographic is.  We also looked at sample infographics.

Students then chose topics and created survey questions along with their response choices in a document.  Next, using their questions, they created a survey in Form and sent the survey to all the students in their class.  I provided the email addresses for the class. Time was given during class for students to answer all the surveys.  Once the data was collected, they went to their spreadsheet, clicked on Form and looked at the summary of responses. They used that data to create their infographics in Drawing.  They customized the size of the drawing in page setup to better fit all the data.  Students added graphics, animations and shapes.  

Not only was this an easy way to introduce them to creating infographics, but they were engaged and really enjoyed the project!

Digital Portfolios, Regina Berg, Brooks College Prep

This year I’m teaching a class in Spoken Word in addition to my duties in the library.  I am using the curriculum from Young Chicago Authors and techniques from Spoken Word for Educators, a course I am taking at Concordia University.

For my class the students have to both write and perform. We had an Open Mic on Halloween that was so cool! Students performed both individual and group pieces. It was their summative assessment for the quarter.

I created a Gmail account for the class and the students use the Chromebooks on a regular basis to compose work and to save and share their work on Google Drive. The Drive has been an indispensible part of the process for us. It gives us the ability to share and edit collaboratively.

Additionally I wanted a creative way to archive their work and show growth in their writing over time. So we created Weebly websites. Each site should now feature at least 8 poems including: a List poem, a Shout Out or Invocation, a take on “We Real Cool”, a personal statement about Ferguson, a Vignette and their group and duet poems. The List poem describes how the students see themselves. The Shout Out or Invocation is either sincere or sarcastic. The Vignette should to focus on an event and use personification. The group poem is a poem in 3 voices. Each team member contributes a piece on a common topic or theme, then edits them as a group to produce one poem.

The site will be a yearlong project with students adding written work, audio and video as the work progresses. We are spread out around the library so the Chromebooks are an essential part of the class allowing the students to work in small groups or individually. Now that we have the ability to print from the Chromebooks, I can easily add hard copies of their work to my paper portfolios of their work and compare changes and edits in the digital portfolio over time.

You can check out their work at brooksspokenword.weebly.com.

Using Chromebooks in the Library, Janice Wellborn, Hernandez Middle School

I started January knowing that I would be seeing nine different classes of students, some of them once a week and some of them twice a week.  At the end of January we were scheduled for a new rotation of students so I was looking for a project that could engage all of them for a maximum of eight class meetings, and a minimum of four meetings. Clearly I would need to make adjustments so that not all classes were doing the same project.  I decided on a Martin Luther King, Jr. biography in light of MLK’s birthday.  Overall, I think the projects were pretty successful.

Students were told to first do individual research using the desktops and the Chromebooks. They were instructed to find biographical information on MLK.  Their results were submitted to me via Google docs using either of the computer types.

Next, students were told to find another student or two (or opt to work alone) to research specifically what was King’s role in the Civil Rights Movement.   They were to identify speeches, protests, or organizations, that Dr. King had participated in. For this part of the assignment all students were using Chromebooks. Their completed research was added to one of their googledocs.

With the research complete, students were given the option to either make an iMovie incorporating five or more photos from Dr. King’s life, or to make a Google Presentation slide show of his life using the Chromebooks.  The difficulty in this assignment came when I found my class kicked out of our huge library space which is very conducive to making iMovies, and instead we had to put 30 people in a regular classroom trying to make movies at the same time.  The iPads picked up a lot of ambient sounds so that the movies were somewhat diminished. Many students at that point changed their minds from making movies to making slide presentations.

As we were at the end of our semester together, I noticed how much the students had grown in independence using either device.  The Chromebooks are very new to the kids, but they have used them in other assignments so they knew many of the shortcuts and tricks and  did not need much instruction. The students really enjoyed the independence of making products which they created by themselves.  I find as time goes on that my role becomes much more of a language arts teacher as I help them to edit and clarify their work, and they become so much more proficient and confident using the new technologies I have helped them to master. The only advice I would have for someone starting to use Chromebooks is to take the time to figure out a few shortcuts and the different methods of downloading photos, as there are some differences between desktops and the Chromebooks.

Turnitin.com and Google Drive with the Chromebooks, Lindsey Mangurten, Lincoln Park High School

My last blog post was about using the google extension save to google drive with the chromebooks. I was interested in learning about other popular extensions for students with the chromebooks. The first one that sounded intriguing to me was the use of easybib. I generally encourage the students to conduct their research using databases which provide the citation within the article so they wouldn’t need easybib. However, many students still chose the google route and need to use easybib to create their citation. Once I explored easybib it got me thinking about turnitin.com

Last year when we became a Wall-to-Wall IB school our school purchased a turnitin.com account for all students. Turnitin.com is a program that provides an account for each student and allows the teacher to create an assignment. The students have an open window for uploading the assignment onto the website and then the website screens for plagiarism. Since this is how all papers are turned in I wanted to explore if there was a way to use turnitin.com and google docs and there WAS.

At first I was worried the students would have to work in google docs and save to microsoft word in order to upload to turnitin.com. It was just one extra step but always best for things to be fluid when turning in an assignment. Once the students logged onto their turnitin.com acocunt they were prompted with several options on where to find their final paper for submission.

1. From this computer
2. Choose from Dropbox
3. Choose from google drive

Once the students selected choose from google drive one of two things happened

If they were already logged onto the computer it would automatically open up their Google Drive account and allow them to find the document or folder to upload. If the students were logged in as guest they would have to log in to google drive first and then locate the document to upload. Once they selected upload it was as if it was a normal Microsoft word document.

This option on turnitin.com and google docs saves so much printing and useless copies of rough drafts. The teacher now has the paper electronically in two places. The submission through turnitin.com and shared from google drive. The hope is eventually to cut down on printing especially since our chromebooks currently are not set up to printing. Before this option was created students would have to work on the chromebooks and when they were finished needed to print/upload from the desktop. This has been a great feature added onto turnitin.com that works perfect with the chromebooks for our entire student population. We did not run into any trouble having the students upload the assignment (as long as the assignment was there, which could be teacher error)

The Amazing Chromebook! Erin McDonald, Nightingale Elementary School

The Chromebooks have been amazing!  I never thought that I’d like them over the iPads, especially for the primary grades, but they have proven to be perfect for their little hands and by using them, the students have learned so much more about the Internet than I anticipated.  

To be honest, I just had to jump right in.  I would say the first half of many of my lessons looked like complete chaos.  But after one or two sessions with the Chromebooks, they students really improved.  I had to do a lot of traveling from one student to the next and I heavily relied on students helping each other.  So the first and second graders began with “Browsing as Guest” and my third and fourth graders logged in under a shared library gmail account.  

Next step was opening Chrome and learning to type in a web address.  I normally have a link to my library website and provide the students with images and links to click from there.  Using the chromebooks naturally led to lessons on browsers, search bar, correct URL’s.  It was great and the students were completely engaged.  They considered the Chromebooks to be baby laptops and that added to their careful of handling the devices.

My students were quickly using the Chromebooks to access the internet.  From there, we moved to having more than one site open at a time.  They learned to use the tabs at the top to move from one site to another.  They began bookmarking and learning to navigate using the tracking pad.