Using Plickers for Status of the Class

Nancie Atwell's status of the class for determining which children are in which stages of the writing process can be applied to any class in which there is a multi-day and multi-step assignment.

You can create a Plicker question to represent the status options or create a blank Plicker question and ask it
on the fly. Use in art class, for PBL, writing workshop, etc.

It lets you instantly prioritize checking in/conferences, see if there are larger issues, and proactively take care of concerns before things spiral out of control. Additionally, if students need to peer conference, you have in your hand which students are looking for that and can pair them up easily.

Adding Embedded Audio Files in Formative

I'm on an audio roll! Add audio files from Vocaroo (vocaroo.com) to Formative (goformative.com).

Using OneNote for An Assignment to be Read Aloud

Many times accommodating learners who have oral administration for assignments can be challenging, not because reading assignments aloud is difficult, but because during the testing scenario quiet is often needed for other students so you don't want to disturb the class, keeping your eye on the rest of the class while also reading aloud is tricky, or sometimes students are embarrassed to ask for the accommodation. 

I was challenged by an inclusion teacher for a way to use tech to help with audio recordings and I came up with a way that is as easy as 1, 2, 3!

Using OneNote from an online version of Office called Office 365 you (1) insert the assignment, (2) insert the audio, and (3) get a shareable link or QR code. Link to video.

Note: you can do it in the desktop version, but if you make it in the desktop version as of the time I am writing this, the uploaded file will not appear on the online. So we decided to solely use Office 365.

Conferencing Strategy: Award Ceremony

This is a fun little conferencing students can do with a journal entry. In groups of three, students listen as each students reads a short piece aloud. What they are listening for is what that writer does the best. The other two listeners give them awards of "Best Voice" or "Most Inventive Dialogue" or "Diction Diva" or whatever it may be. The reader draws a trophy or medal and label what they did the best.

When all three have finished, students are in charge of using their peers as inspiration and improving their writing in one of the two ways the other writer. As experts, students can discuss and offer suggestions.

BreakoutEDU 411

What is BreakoutEDU? 

Simply put, participants solve a series of problems in order to unlock the main Breakout box. Clues are content related and typically involve a mixture of physical and digital tasks. Breakout can be content specific, team building, or even professional development.

What do I need?

Breakout instructions - many made by classroom educators - will take no more than what is in the breakout kit (minus some office supplies). I was able to put together  my own for $60 (which involved me getting 3 extra locks because I did locks that came as pairs. That way it was less per lock and I could add in more puzzles if I wanted) using Walmart roll-back plastic toolboxes and locks and finished up the kit with locks from Amazon. Or you can order a kit from www.breakoutedu.com. Some people are able to get their kits paid for by Donors Choose grants. Just use Amazon and you can get 2-3 kits. Crowd-source it with a team of teachers and there should be enough for the smaller group Breakouts. Kit includes:

• USB drive
• 4-digit lock
• 3-digit lock box (I made mine with a smaller plastic toolbox and a small 3-digit lock)
• large Breakout box (some games require the little box to be in the big one, so I would 
• directional lock
• word lock - 5 letters
  
• key lock
• hasp 
• invisible ink pen
• UV flashlight (I bought the pens with the UV light on the cap. Many breakouts involve separating batteries from flashlight. I just take out the bulb and battery combo)
• some games will ask for little things like paperclips or whatnot, but it shouldn't require additional items that wouldn't be commonly found in a school. In fact, there are a lot of cool ciphers and puzzle ideas on the Facebook group and Pintrest. 

How do I start?

Sign in to breakoutedu.com - MAKE SURE TO CHECK THE PAGE AFTER YOU SUBMIT YOUR INFO! THE PASSWORD IS IN THE INSTRUCTIONS! 

Get a sense of how a breakout works by trying it out with loved ones. I knew I wanted to create a dystopia Breakout so I picked Dr. Johnson's breakout as a trial run. I hid the zombie virus anecdote in my large breakout box - it was for my hubby so I made sure it was a proper payment for giving up his time to do this  ;) - set up the game in the playroom, and watched him go to work. He had to do all the steps to get into the large box while also avoiding the red herrings out into the game (and a sneaky wife who hid things under the blinds). 

Make sure you sign up to the Facebook group! People will show off neat ideas and share tips.

Can I make my own?

That's what I did! I started with what I wanted my students to cover content-wise and then I looked for opportunities for the texts/visuals/concepts to fit one of the types of keys. From there, I created clues. For example, I knew I wanted the students to look at the etymology of utopia and dystopia. When I was on etymonline.com, I noticed it mentions who coined the terms. I decided to play on the homonym of "coin" and created a coin to put in the box that would lead participants to a letter lock clue. 

If making your own sounds daunting - I saved time by adapting parts of a webquest I've used in the past - you can instead add to an existing BreakoutEDU. Add in a couple more puzzles to get to existing clues or add more puzzles with new locks. 

Breakout in lower elementary:

Breakout in upper elementary: 

Breakout in middle school (this is created by 7th graders for 8th graders!):

Breakout in high school:

Creating Templates for Padlet

Padlet is one of my "go to" applications for beginning or end of class activities. Since it is device agnostic, it is perfect for a BYOD classroom. In situations where tech is not 1:1, which is my usual day, I have students use the BYOD as small groups.

To make things easier to incorporate Padlet, I've created templates for Padlets. Now when I want students to work on a KWL, Venn Diagram, or similar graphic organizer I have them already set up and ready to go. I just make a copy of the original for my class and share out with QR code or shortened URL (I prefer Bit.ly solely because I love having a puffer fish up on my task bar!) 

How to create Padlet Templates to Facilitate Do Now. Closure Activities:

Step 1: Create Template

I use PowerPoint because I like the SmartArt Feature, but you can use anything that will save as a JPEG.

Step 2: Save as a JPEG

Step 3: Create a Padlet. Click on the clog in the upper right hand corner to modify. Scroll down to Wallpaper and select "MORE"

Step 4: Select your JPEG by clicking on "ADD YOUR OWN", "UPLOAD", and then either drop your image in or "CHOOSE FILE" and confirm.

Step 5:  After saving changes you should be able to see if you need to adjust your original image to fit the screen how you want. Repeat steps 1-4 until you have the desired look.

Then each time you want to use the chart, Venn Diagram, or similar template, just make a copy and rename with the specifics of the lesson. For example, KWL's copy becomes "KWL - Holocaust".

Using Wordcounter for Self-Selected Nonfiction Possible Sentences

Possible Sentences is a great way of having students predict and check their predictions for informational texts. In Kylene Beers and Robert Probst's Reading Nonfiction, the strategy is described with examples. It isn't just a great strategy in the ELA classroom! It could be used very well in history and science readings as well. I encourage you to read the section of Reading Nonfiction, but in a nutshell:

1. Students are supplied with 10-15 key words for the nonfiction text they will be reading
2. Students create 5 possible sentences that will be in the text
3. Students read, clarifying their understanding and then revise their sentences for accuracy.

This is strategy for 4th grade and up, but I think it could probably go younger, especially for whole class where the teacher is helping compose sentences. (Here is a nice link to a handout your students could use.)

It got me thinking about Newsela (pronounced like news ella). I love how Newsela has leveled

versions of the same article as well as text sets novels, core content areas, and hot topics. In a Pre-AP classroom, I have students who have a reading level putting them around a senior reading level and other students who are actually below reading level. I think it is important for students to have choice and have reading that is at a level that challenges them a bit and Newsela can give me all that! Wouldn't it be neat to let students pick the non-fiction article to pair with their self-selected novel?

So it got me thinking, how to use possible sentences for self-selected nonfiction. Then it occurred to me: http://www.wordcounter.com! Students select their article (level, topic, or both), copy and past the article in the box, and then write their possible. Then students take the top 10-15 words and create the possible sentences.

Vary with Tagxedo or Wordle for visual component. 

STEP 1: Find an awesome essay!

STEP 2: Paste article in wordcounter.com

STEP 3: Get most  common words.
STEP 4: follow possible sentences strategy
as usual!

Clickbait for the Classroom: Using the Tricks Websites Use to Engage Students

This week I presented at Fort Bend ISD's Digital Learning Conference. In an effort to complete with some very interesting sessions (people got to program robots build with Legos, learn about the new Microsoft Office our district just rolled out to the teachers and are about to roll out to students next year, etc.) I decided to send out this tweet:

We ended up having to turn people away! So it got me thinking, could I use the same tactics for my blog - with accompaning Pintrest and Twitter feed - in my classroom. After all, there is a reason why people use these tactics. 

Before blogging, it would not have occurred to me to have made clickbait, but since I can see which posts get me hits on my blog posts, I've become increasingly savvy on how to get hits:

- pleasing visuals (canva.com is my new love for images I'm posting to twitter) 

- titles (clickbait titles as well as listicles) 

- organization of info (lists, infographics, or any other visual that helps people easily get info)

So why not approach how we give assignments in the same way? What if on the board instead of the homework being 

"Read article 'Bridges Made of Spider Silk? You Can Thank the Goats for That' and write response entry." 

VS: 

By tapping into our students' brains and how they are already primed for visuals as well as the reason why clickbait is so effective - a person's curiosity is piqued - students may be more likely to do the work and approach as less of an arduous task and more as a point of inquiry. 

3D Gallery

Easy to use and apply this 3D Art Gallery by Classtools.net!

Art: create a digital portfolio of student work and student can include artist statements
Art: Artist study. Students can put work in chronological order.

History: To review an era, students can take well known works from that era and apply them. Students could also create questions for students to answer.
Science: Potential research project for the evolution of scientific discovery.
Science: diagrams for review with questions.
Science: research project about a particular scientist.
ELA: Visuals to connect for a novel study with text evidence and reasoning.
ELA: For texts in which history plays a large part (either historical fiction or works in which the time period of the author is highly influential), students conduct pre-reading or post-reading activities highlighting primary source visuals of events, people, and places and writing the significance to the text.

Satirical Headlines with Headline Generator

Use classtools.net's headline generator as a warm-up, center station, or enhance a larger satirical project.

5 Skill-Building Time Fillers for Computer

When you are in the computer lab as much as I am, telling students who are done with the assignment to go play an educational game becomes problematic. Students may rush to finish the assignment and not do their best. Students who work slower never get to play the game. Once you open up the computer to Cool Math Games "but only play the ones where you actually practice math! And no games that look like shooting!" as the teacher, you are now trying to monitor game selection, distracting you from helping students with the assignment. I find that classroom management issues can often be mitigated with sound lesson planning, and the filler minutes are no exception.

When looking at students creating a digital work, I think of add-ons: extra things students can do that will enhance their product, develop additional skills, and keep students engaged and on task even when "done." Here are some of my favs:

Blabberize -
What it does: gives an image a mouth that you can then make "talk"
What it is good for: any product. Students can download the video for multimedia products or can do the hyperlink option for interactive products where video where hyperlinking would be a better option such as word processors, Thinglink, or easel.ly. Print products would need a QR code added.

Voki 
What it does: similar to Blabberize, Voki provides avatars instead.
What it is good for: Because it can't be downloaded, Voki is better for an interactive product where the viewer can click on a  hyperlink  (example in my hyperlink!) Print products could us a QR code to connect

QR Stuff:
What it does: creates QR codes to link to text, webpages, etc.
What it is good for: if the finished product will be printed - posters, brochures, images - students can add a QR code that links to all sort of things: as text they could write and artist statement, create link to a webpage that includes more information. If the product can be posted to web, students can spend 5 minutes creating a flyer in a word processor with a QR code for their work and then print out the flyer and attach to their locker or give to their parents.

Thinglink:
What it does: makes images interactive with buttons that can lead to text, webpages, images, etc.
What it is good for: for products that are images - anything that can be saved as a jpeg - like collages, students can import into a Thinglink (there is a way to create a dummy student account. I would suggest creating one that can be used by all students instead of each student) and add links to sources or additional annotations.

Vocaroo:
What it does: records audio on the internet and provides link to the audio (audio is private and can only be accessed by a link)
What it is good for: interactive products or print. Student can embed, link, or hyperlink. If doing a print product, use QR Stuff to add in link.

Using Google Forms for Status of the Class

Why Google Forms:

• Because students are not having to publicize where they are or what they are struggling with, they may be more forthcoming about struggles or concerns.
• Form data shows up in sheets, which lets you organize information
• Students dos not have to wait for you to finish status of the class to begin working. They can come directly into class, do the status of the class form, and then begin working.

Set up is easy:

Create a new Google Form. I like to include: name, information about their piece, a drop down of what stage they are in, a drop down of how they are feeling about their piece and what they need from the teacher, an additional short answer if they feel there is any information they need to tell me. Check out what this form looks like here. I make the form and then I make a copy for each class period. I prefer to do it this way so I can see the pie chart (see below) for each class as an individual instead of cumulative. I want to be able to tailor my instruction to each period, so it makes more sense to my thinking to do it this way.

Responses:

The first view of data gives you an overview of responses. If you see most kids at a certain stage, this can help you decide mini-lessons and pacing. Likewise, this can also tell you how your class is doing overall. A class feeling a lot of uncertainty vs. a class that for the most part feels good to great needs a conversation or perhaps new approach.

The second view is in the sheets. The first sort I go to is "Where are you?" From there, I quickly pair up peer conferencing opportunities, then I look at "How is it going?" to see if any students are in dire need of help. If I see several students who are giving me SOS and on the same stage of the writing process, I'll do a quick small group to help them. I may also see about using a student who is done helps a student who may be stuck on revising do a second, more in-depth conference. Likewise, students who are all done, may actually be "done" and I may partner them up. From "How is it going?, I move back to "Where are you?" and start with students wanting to conference with teacher and meet with them, check in with students feeling uncertain, and the cycle through my students who have finished peer conferencing or revising as needed.

 Additional way to use Google Forms in workshop classrooms:

When doing group projects, this can also give you insight into issues within the groups. Have each student fill out their own without group members looking over their shoulders.

Great for literature circle status of the class as well. It can help you determine if a group is falling behind or confused by their book.

Use it for self-selected reading. Students can communicate the page they are on, their goals for the reading, etc.

Status of the Class comes from Nancie Atwell's In the Middle. I highly recommend every ELA teacher read this book!

Choose Your Own Adventure Prewriting Lesson 5: Submitting

How to get a word count for Power Point

It is hard to get an accurate word count for PowerPoint. A quick search of the Internet shows that the

suggested method of selecting the file's properties and then looking in details is inaccurate. However, since I asked for a minimum of 1000 words for the presentation and I wanted it ran through turnitin.com, I wanted to make sure I could get the word count receipt.

Students need only convert the PPT to PDF and then submit the PDF to turnitin.com.* It will check the originality and count every word. Students turn in the receipt and the actual presentation to Edmodo.

*I checked turnitin.com with a simple submission of the PowerPoint presentation without it being converted to PDF and it reflected the same word count found when using the properties feature.

Example from PPT using word count the properties>details feature vs. converting to PDF and using turnitin.com: 

Word count using properties: 50

Word count using PDF version on Turnitin.com: 1,728

Choose Your Own Adventure Revising and Editing Lesson 4: Beta Testing

After students complete the presentation, students participated in "Beta Testing" which is similar to the conferencing and revising found in writing workshop.

Each presentation needed two people to beta testers. I had them fill out a beta testing form:

Beta Testing

Owner of the presentation: Set your presentation to presentation mode.

Beta tester: click through the presentation. If you need to uncover a slide number, you can press the ESC key, record the number, and then resume presentation from that slide

Does the PPT have 2 deviations (5 for partners)?

Does the PPT have 3 themes that seem accurate (6 for partners?)

Issues with hyperlinks: (ex: it doesn’t work, description doesn’t lead you to the slide that would make sense, etc.)

Accuracy issues:

Spelling or grammar issues (make sure to include slide numbers!):

Areas where you would like more details, info, imagery, dialogue (this may  not be for everyone, but you should especially let people know if their storylines feel skimpy)

Choose Your Own Adventure Formatting and Drafting Lesson 3: Set up PPT, Hyperlinking, Narrative Voice

Now that you finished index cards that follow the plot as well as those that deviate,  it is time to start creating the the PowerPoint, make hyperlinks, and draft.

Choose Your Own Adventure Prewriting Lesson 2: Create deviations from the plot

After completing day one of prewriting, it is on to day two: Deviation day! The kids love playing the "what if?" game and not only get a good dose of creative writing but also are secretly analyzing how those decisions influence theme.

1. In my example, the plot took 8 cards, so I model with my first deviation and have that become card 9. I also show students how, if they want, they could have deviations within deviations.
2. Students determine the new theme. (see my method of teaching theme here)
3. I do make sure each child has only one of each card and lays out their outline to show how it makes sense. 

adding in the deviations

Go to the next day, creating the PowerPoints, linking, and drafting. 

Choose Your Own Adventure Prewriting Lesson 1: Set up the plot

What a way to get kids to work and enjoy themselves at the same time! Students liken this project to writing fanfiction. So many of them are so excited after our first day that they tell me "I can't wait for tomorrow!" In my version, students create Choose Your Own Adventure PowerPoints (Google districts can use Slides, of course) for A Midsummer Night's Dream. This is, to me, a great project for a Shakespeare play. What makes this different than the typical Choose Your Own Adventure is that my students are working from a text they have read, thus making this both creative writing as well as reading comprehension and analysis all in one. 

What Choose Your Own Adventure asks students to do:

- review a plot of the play

- write prose paraphrasing the poetic drama

- show an understanding of the plot following one character

- creatively write deviations from the main plot

- determine a potential theme of the play and how the theme changes if a character's actions change

- use Hyperlinks within a presentation to go to non-linear slides

Overview:

Day 1: create cards for accurate timeline
Day 2: create cards for deviations
Day 3: set up slides and hyperlinks
Day 4: draft accurate timeline
Day 5: draft deviations
Day 6: beta testing with revising
Day 7: submission

Day One:

1. I showed students a couple slides of an example. This gives students the big picture. The
example I use is for Theseus because students have to use a main character and Theseus, being a minor character, works well to model without giving or "stealing" the students' ideas. 

2. Students select a main character and write that name at the top of the paper. 

3. Students write a chronological list of all the decisions that character makes through the play. I encourage my students to use scene summaries and the play itself. I also have them sitting next to people who are doing the same character if they choose. That way they discuss and clarify what happened. I did set the students on a 10 minute timer for this portion so they would not lollygag. 

4. Modeling with my list of options by Theseus, I selected three places where I will have a deviation. The requirement for my students were 2 deviations which leads to 3 separate themes with a total of 1000 words if they worked as individuals and 5 deviations which leads to 6 separate themes with a total of 2000 words if they work in partners. Students selected theirs. I encouraged students who want to do more and make things more complex to do so.

5. With my own index cards I modeled creating just the timeline for what actually happened in the play. I leave the deviations blank. I model a couple cards and then showed the kids my completed set of 8. The rest of the class time was for the kids to finish theirs.  

Don't forget to see what I do Day 2 and Day 3. 

Here are how my example cards looked. I use cards because each card will match up with the PowerPoint slide. 

Cards: red numbers are what the card is,
blue is the card it will link to.
Card 1: title card

Cards are notes/outline.
Deviation Cards: for day 1,
students are only marking the
plot points that actually
 happened.  The blank is where 
the deviation will be filled in later.

Plot Point Cards: sometimes you
have so much information you
will need to split it up over several
 PPT slides or there is a setting
change. That is when you use 1 button.

Final slide includes the theme.

Analyze Decisions in Drama

Reading narratives lets you analyze decisions of characters and authors, but when that narrative is a piece a drama there is an entire world of decisions waiting to be analyzed. Directors, actors, costume designers, and lighting directors make a multitude of decisions as they work with the texts. To me, what a waste of Shakespeare if we don't have students take this opportunity to look at interpretations of his work! 

In A Midsummer Night's Dream, I love to have students look at Act 3, scene 2, where Hermia and Helena are fighting and Lysander and Demetrius are torn between wanting to protect Helena and wanting to fight. The scene has so much action, and comedy, and conflict that watching it three times in three ways doesn't feel arduous. I prefer to use stage productions, where possible, although the benefit of a movie version thrown in does them lead to some interesting questions: What are they able to do in movies that can't be done on stage? How is the movie of an audience different than that of a theater?

I like to match a traditional clip (you can actually find clips from The Globe on YouTube!), a clip set in a past time period (there is a great one set in the 1960s by the University of California), and a very modern clip, which is actually part of our Wordplay Shakespeare.

The most important reason I think students should experience analyzing different versions of the same scene is that if they only see one version they think that is the way to do it.

Analyze Character with Costume Design

Switch up the mundane "character trait, textual evidence, explanation" by asking your students to adapt to book into a movie set on their campus. Students act as costume designer and have to use character traits and symbolism to hit on keep traits, motivations, relationships, and themes.

Students responded very positively to this assignment. I had a lot of kids telling me both in person and via the Edmodo login that it was fun.

Sample from a student's analysis of A Midsummer Night's Dream:

One way I would modify it in the future is request student use at least one piece of textual evidence per slide.

Thinglink to Annotate Tableaus

Inspired by the Royal Shakespeare Company's use of student created tableau to foster close reading, I knew it would be a perfect pairing with Thinglink.

Analyzes movement to connect to motivation

Students select a moment in time to create a freeze frame, snap a picture to create a moment in time from the text, and then annotate the decisions they made in body, facial expression, proximity, and movement. The app is stripped down compared to the website, but it is easy to use with a picture students take of themselves if it is all on one device.

Analyzes proximity to reveal conflict.

The trickiest part is actually on the teacher end. Thinglink limits the amount of groups - 3 - and students - 105. So if you have class sizes like mine and 6 classes, you can't make a group for each class or give every kid a login. I decided to have one student per group request I register. Because the registration produces a dummy e-mail, complex password, and then I have to have students insert the class invite code, there are some steps that the students must take logging in that would not be friendly for younger students, but once they were in and students got into the app, I had very few questions and students were able to work through it fairly quickly.

Citation of lines that show the moment in time.

I also like that this is a shorter assignment. Students did their first one about half a period. I think if we did a second one, we could probably get the kids down to 15 minutes now that they understand how to login and use the app.

Tagxedo to Analyze Diction

I'm a huge fan of diction analysis, and it is for sure an instructional emphasis in my classroom, which can sometimes make it feel redundant when we've been doing it all year long with every conceivable genre. That's the great thing about tech. You can have students do the same thing in tech that you've done in a very similar way on paper and the students don't even notice. The novelty makes the entire assignment feel fresh and creative. Gamification and tech, I've learned, are great ways to trick kids into practicing skills with renewed vigor!

My example created in the video. Super pretty, no? 

The end of the year we have fun with Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. What better way to keep the kids engaged than by taking away the desks, putting on some fairy wings, and punning? 

The video pretty much says it all: add any text (I'm having my students pick a monologue from MSND) to Tagxedo , add the word cloud it into a presentation slide or word processor, pick out the 8-12 largest words, determine connections, write analysis for at least 5 of the words answering the question "Why?" - Why is this word being repeated? Why did the author choose this word and not ___?, save as a PDF and upload to whatever platform floats your boat!

Chopped and Cutthroat Kitchen Come to App Smashing

Last year I used the Numbered Heads strategy and it was okay, but not the most engaging strategy.
Two weeks later, I decided to try it again but this time I came up with a completely arbitrary points system, added a stuffed monkey to be a place holder for what group spoke next, and referred to it as a game to m students. It was the EXACT same strategy just with some bells and whistles. Kids in third period walked in with "I heard we are doing something really fun today!" Minus the obvious insinuation that my classroom is not always amazingly fun ;), I found this comment hilarious. Turn something into a game and add a points system and all of a sudden something is "really fun!"

Our rewards system of our brain rewards the brain with little bursts of dopamine every time kids get points. Watching Chopped and Cutthroat Kitchen got be thinking of App Smashing. What is app smashing besides taking a bunch of ingredients (apps) to create a dish (objective of the app smash). 

Principles of cooking competitions:

- throw in surprises that make the task harder (Chopped does this with an odd ingredient that doesn't go with the rest and Cutthroat does this with sabotages)  

- make a challenging time frame

- narrows pool down with each round (apps, entree, dessert)

1. Introduce the concept as App Chopping and build up excitement. Explain briefly for students who are not glued to Food Network (Foolish youth!)

2. Explain there will be courses (if you choose) each with a time limit. Each course could actually feature its own app, which when combined with iMovie or similar app, creates the app smash

3. Give student task  - example: analyze a character's traits - and the apps to be used.

4. Post timer for board 

5. At intervals, add in the twists! You can make each twist offer extra credit to the presentation, that way instead of causing undo stress, it is more of a fun suggestion. Twist ideas:

• put random props - stapler, inflatable shark, a set of plastic cups - in bags and have students randomly select. They can include prop in video.
• give everyone a silly word - "pineapple" or "boomerang" - that they have to integrate in their App Chop and those who do so in a seamless manner get bonus points.
• If using an app with backgrounds like Tellagami, have students pick the most inappropriate background and have it make sense
• Have students use a feature in an app and make it work for their video. For example, giving an iMovie filter like "aged film"

6. Students create videos and can post to edmodo, google folder, or wherever you prefer. 

7. For additional "courses" you can build upon the first course. In my example, course 1 is analyze character traits with evidence, course 2 is analyze how the character's traits contribute to a conflict in the story, course 3 is what lesson should we learn about the way the character's traits influences the creation or resolution of that conflict (aka, theme!)

QR Code Museum Pieces

Turn your classroom - or school library - into a museum.

Student created art

Students create museum pieces and museum placards that indicate the information required. Perfect for history, prereading for historical novels, or post-reading for self-selected texts where each child can share an artifact from a book.


I wish I could show the kids' faces. There were smiles all around!

Students learn about lutes

Here are the directions for it as I applied it to pre-reading for Midsummer Night's Dream in which students examined the Elizabethan Era - so much better than a lecture from the teacher, right?

How I used this:

Shakespeare Centers (set up in ability groups of 3-5 with two of each type of center runnign concurrently)
Center A: Students participated in Shakespeare Museum
Center B: Students explored The Globe with the Shakespeare's Globe 360 App
Center C: Card Sort - advanced groups paired Shakespearean insults to their 21st century prose versions while struggling students worked on literary terms matched to examples from All the World's a Stage

Abydos Conference 2016: Day 2

General Session: Sharon Draper (how am I so lucky?!?)
So many awesome affirmations and motivations,

• In regards to Out of My Mind: "I was writing something from my heart."
• Stella by Starlight is a tribute to Draper's grandmother, the "first writer (who couldn't write) in the family"
• Pro tip from Draper: One page first chapters are an excellent way to get kids hooked on a book. Convince the kid to read the first chapter because it's only a page.
• Mrs. Draper travels all over the world. On a trip to Africa, an African man came up to Draper to talk about America over testing. He explained, "In my country if we wish an elephant to grow, we feed him; we don't measure him."

Session E: Isabel Corona "Organization and Progression or Is This the Best Way to Organize My Essay"

• I chart
• Using what students know - their personal experiences - as support for reasons

Session F: Michelle Johnson "Welcome to the 21st Century Classroom"

Some of the free goodies available for tech

• Symbaloo
• Story Board That
• Blendspace
• Powtoons
• Google Docs Add-on "Draft Back" - creates a video of the construction. Could watch a student typing 
• rattle- poems created inspired by current events

Session G: Valerie Maclin "Shaping the Color of Our Learning: Using Mulicultural Literature to Unlock the Stories within Us"

Great book options:

• The Other Wes Moore - nonfiction; two boys with the same name and similar childhoods grow up to be completely different men
• The Secret Olivia Told Me - picture book
• Enrique's Journey - nonfiction
• Ball Don't Lie
• Simon vs. the Homo Sapien Agenda - kid being blackmailed with the threat of outing him
• Beyond Magenta - follows 4 trans kids
• Mexican Whiteboy
• Separate is Never Equal by Mendez - picture book
• The Big Box by Toni Morrison

Session H: Michael Guevara "Writing SHort: Beyond Elements - the Atoms of Style
Love, love, love this. It reminds me of how when working on a poem every word and structural element is more closely considered and considered for a greater period of time because there are fewer words. Guevara too micro messages - Chipotle bags, the inside lid of a a yogurt cup, a fortune cookie, etc. and challenged students to create their own micro messages. The journey of writing balanced, unbalanced, and change of pace micro messages over the same subjects is a wonderful lesson in writing style and instantly make me consider syntactical decisions, focus, and thesis. Powerful stuff that can be done as mini-lessons.

I also deeply appreciate how he pointed out the long essay came from a time where a student's writing was mainly kept within the classroom and for that audience, but today, students are writing for a much broader audience using social media, but the messages are much shorter.

Session I: Emily Newton "Brene Brown, Shame, and the Writing Classroom: How Does Shame Impact Us and Our Writers?"
Emily Newton is phenomenal. I feel like I was just in therapy and made a breakthrough. Through defining and determine the difference between shame and guilt and then relating that to our lives, our students' lives, and then having us take on the voice of a child experiencing shame or guilt at a essay in which red has been bled all over it and marked with an F? Brilliance! Also, made me go out and buy the last two copies of Rising Strong by Brene Brown. One for me and one for others I love.

2016 Abydos Conference: Day 1

Opening General Session: Jeff Anderson

Anyone who has been so lucky as to sit in on a Jeff Anderson Abydos session knows he commands a room. His energy was absolutely brilliant for the large stage. Quick takeaways, connections, references:

• Jeff's entire introduction was organized in hero's journey. He examined his own tragic flaw, which I think is simply brilliant and has multiple classroom opportunities
• The Plot Whisperer - helped Jeff with his fiction writing
• "Manifesto of the Brave and Brokenhearted" by Brene Brown - what a powerful piece. I want to suggest it be read at the beginning of next year
• Ted Talk on Power Stances - want to make me instantly feel uncomfortable? Make me stand like Super Woman and repeat something en mass
•  Jeff Anderson quote of the day: "It isn't fake it 'til you make it. It's fake it until you become it."

Session A: Shanna Peeples...yes, that Shanna Peeples

There was so so so much in this session, but one of the biggest was I feel the Progress Principle from Harvard Business Review's Teresa Amabile paired with journaling (because, as Shanna says, "Writing is what is going to save us") to chunk what is her 10 minute reflection mentioned on her site. My favorite part? "Fear is cheap and easy, but what's hard is to be a creator, to take risks." and then she has us silence our inner critic and bring out our inner coach and write for 2 minutes about what went well.

Session B: Beth Egmon's Putting the "Draw" into Writing: Using Illustration Study to Nurture Young Writers

Beth is a-maz-ing! I was about to teacher my first institute with her. Even though the session was for primary, you can easily see how drawing as prewriting and studying illustrations to add details helps students create depth in their own writing. 

Session C: Malaika Easton's From Self to Story

Even though Malaika left our campus over the summer *sob sob* I was able to see this transformation of thought and reflection unfold and come full circle from last year until now. I simply loved how she took her role as a counselor to create a lunch bunch of 5 "bad boys" and through writing, examine their own stories and how they can be the authors of their own narratives. These boys will never forget Malaika and I have no doubt she changed their lives for the better. Insert plug for the three memoirs that were part of Malaika's reflection process and which are wonderful: Brown Girl Dreaming (READ THIS BOOK), Bad Boy, and Zlata's Diary. All three of those are musts if you ever want to do a memoir lit circle. 

Using ReadWriteThink to Simplify Differentiation

Instead of lecture on Shakespeare, I devoted two days to research of choice. Students researched 15 interesting things about Shakespeare and his time and got to choose the product they made. Students could make a crossword with Crossword Creator or the Timeline. Simplify the amount of info and make a Cube.

Instant Poetry 2: Beautiful Poetry App

Instant Poetry 2 is a great app for teachers - students can make a poem quickly and it is a very non-threatening app. Teachers not used to iPads will quickly get their students making poetry in thirty minutes or less. The finished products are lovely and the free "stripped down" version does not feel stripped down at all.

Graphite Blog Post: 5 Ways to Flip Shakespeare

Please follow this link to the blog I wrote for Graphite!

Technology Integration Matrix

This is an amazing resource. Not only does it show the levels of technology integration with the characteristics of the learning environment, it does it for each subject area. You can see a video of integration with a procedures.

Logical Fallacies with Comic Creation

In addition to the list option for the logical fallacies project Hubby is doing, I also came up with a way for students to identify the logical fallacy and illustrate how it affects the audience. It is a pretty straightforward assignment:

1. View one of the 2016 presidential primary debates for one of the two major parties, Democrats or Republicans. Read the transcript of your selected debate. Links to the transcripts of the debates are available at this site: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/debates.php.
2. Locate fallacies committed by the various candidates.
3. Go to http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/ and create a 4 panel comic
4. Title it the logical fallacy being use
5. In the first panel, label the speaker and write the logical fallacy
6. In the three subsequent panels, label potential audiences (the intended audience as well as those who would watch the debate to be an informed voter), and indicate the reactions the logical fallacy would have upon each

Teachers could even easily differentiate using either the list assignment or this one. I would suggest 5 logical fallacies found and put on a list of 10 for the listing OR do three of the comics like the example.

Poetry to Rock Your Socks: Combining World Poetry Day and World Down Syndrome Day

Our counselor in charge of No Place for Hate came to the ELA department to ask us to do a poetry assignments that celebrates out heritage, culture, religion, etc. for March 21st. We decided to do a modified I Am poem that includes info about such things.

Then yesterday, we get an e-mail about World Down Syndrome Day and the viral campaign #lotsofsocks to raise awareness on ... March 21st! So with a quick modification to the task, students are going to be exposed to both concepts with the overarching idea of celebrating a world of diversity regardless of race, religion, or how many copies of the 21st chromosome one has, write the I Am poem, and place it on a handout that looks like a sock.

Students then color the socks to reflect identity. Hang them up on a  clothesline, and you have a wonderful celebration of diversity!

Finished Products: