How To Create a Graphing Lesson That Engages All Students!

This past week, our curriculum had us revisiting graphs!  I don't know why, but I LOVE teaching my Kinder friends about graphs!  Probably because I struggled with math as a student, but if you put a table, chart, or graph in front of me...I could analyze that data all day! :)

My students get excited about graphs because I do.  Don't get me wrong- I love the cute clip art and chart paper graphs, but we had already done a week of this type of graph!  I needed something new and exciting...for them AND me!  Room 304 was about to explode with excitement on the day that I decided to take graphs a step further and integrate some technology into our lesson! 

I use the FREE app Doodle Buddy a lot because it saves me so many copies...and it's fun!  I have taught my Kinder friends how to use it for reader's response pages in reader's workshop, so it was really easy to implement into this lesson!  So here's how you do it...

1. Start with a blank graph template like this one I made for you!  
2. Take a picture of the graph using the background tool in Doodle Buddy so that the graph template is now the background image in the app.
3. *optional step* I turn on my reflector app on my desktop and then on all of the ipads that students would be working with.  This allows me to watch what they're doing and make sure that all groups are staying on track! :)
4. Students pass the iPad around and use their fingers or a stylus (after the lesson, I realized that a stylus would actually be better!) to color in the box to record their data (their age, type of shoe, etc.)

All 20 kiddos were completely engaged the entire time!  Even if it wasn't their turn to color in a box on the graph, they were helping classmates and watching the screen to see how other groups' data compared to theirs!  They couldn't wait to analyze everyone's data at the end.

Engaged students, learning target met, and saved trees... can't beat it!

What graphing apps do you and your students like?

HOW TO INCREASE PARENT INVOLVEMENT IN THE CLASSROOM- The AMAZING SeeSaw App!!

Me:  "What did you do at school today?"

Daughter:  "Uhmmm... I don't know, but at recess I played with Sally!  We played family and I was the mom"

Me:  "Really?  Awesome.  How was Math?  What are y'all doing in Math?"

Daughter:  "It was good."

..........sound familiar? I hear parents complaining about this every year and I feel their pain.  I go through the same thing with my daughter and if it weren't for my son's amazing preschool and the daily journal that they fill out for us, we would have the same conversations with him!  (not exactly... he's 15 months old)

well... da da DA!!!

This app is AMAZING! ...and FREE!!!!

In just a few simple steps, my kinder friends are able to take pictures/videos/etc. of their work and add it to an online journal for their parents to see!  Don't worry... all entries added by a student come to the teacher FIRST for approval BEFORE going into the student's journal!  All journals are secure and only that child's parent can see their entries.  That's how I have mine set up; however, you can enable it to where classmates can see everyone's entries.  I didn't find this necessary.

 

How do you get started??

So how do we use it in Kinder?  What are the logistics?  Setup was simple!  I created my teacher account and called the students up to take their pictures.  The app also has little icons the kids can use if you don't want to take their pictures.  I think, at least with littles, the pictures allow them to find themselves in the list quickly when adding items to their journals!

After creating my account and my class list, it was time to get down to business....teaching KINDERGARTENERS how to use it in hopes that they can do it INDEPENDENTLY.  Well well well...it just so happens that SeeSaw had the same thing in mind and created a perfect little handout with kinder-friendly directions!  All I had to do was print (on cardstock for durability) and post in a few places around my room!  Now I should clarify...these directions showed students how to login to the app!  Not how to add things to their journals. 

To teach students how to add items to their journals, I used my trusty Reflector App!  If your school doesn't have this...ask for it NOW!  It's like AppleTV.  I've got a post about this- here! ;)  So I showed students what to click, went over the rules for what types of things we wanted to add to our journals, etc.  Then it was time to try it!  They had just created these adorable Shape Monsters and Graphs, so I had 6 students at a time come up and add a picture of their project to their journal!  We also added a fun, voice greeting that explained to parents what it was!  Some said "Hey Mom!  This is my shape monster!  Isn't my graph great?"  or "Do you like my project?".  Things like that!

We've only been using this for about a week but parents are LOVING it!  Moms and Dads are able to "like" projects or type comments to their child!  I sent home parent letters (those are already made for you, too!!) and parents haven't had any trouble logging in!  It's been so fun to see parents write positive comments to their kids or even just show that they saw something by clicking the little heart!

Here are some pictures from my end (the teacher side of it!).  

This is what it looks like when I open the app.  You can see on the left, the red number shows me how many "unapproved" entries there are.  I told you they love it! :)

 

I can scroll through the entries and view each one, decide if it is appropriate, and if not I can delete it.  With a simple click of that red button, this entry would not go to parents.  However, this friend did a great job on his precious monster, so of course it was approved! :)

 You'll notice that at the very bottom, you can click the green button to approve all.  I scroll through and view each entry before doing this, but this is what you will click after you have deleted any unacceptable entries.  :)

 If you click the 3 little dots under a child's entry, you get a box like this:

 And when they're all approved, it looks like this:

As the teacher, you can also add entries!  We were doing an author study in the library last week and I went around and took pictures of the groups working.  It took two seconds!  I was actively monitoring and connecting with parents at the same time!  

I sure do love me some SeeSaw!!

What are you waiting for?!  Visit SeeSaw's website for more info!  They have a great little video right on the homepage that gives an overview!

Not your ordinary birthday card!

So I have to share the precious "card" that my 9 year old made for my husband's birthday!  She kind of loves technology, too! :)

First she drew dad's favorite ninja turtle the old fashion way, on paper! Then she used good ole Chatterpix to add a special greeting and a present in the turtle's hand! Check it out! 

Pretty cute, right?  We used our AppleTv and showed it at Dad's birthday celebration.  She was so proud! :) 

Chatterpix is great for in the classroom, too!  We have used it in our Kinder classes to share animal research.  Students drew the animal they researched, took a picture of it and then made it talk and give one fact they found from their research!  You can't help but smile when you see their illustrations come alive!

What have you done with Chatterpix??

My absolute, MUST HAVE app for teaching littles about technology

In case you didn't know...I'm an Apple Addict!  At home we have a handful of iPods, a MacBook Pro, a Desktop, and 2 iPads.  We love us some apples!  Ohh...I almost forgot!  I gave  myself my husband an AppleTv for his birthday!  My techy daughter (9) and I have a blast coming up with different things we can do with it!  ...but this post is not about AppleTv.

We don't have AppleTv at my school.  BUT we DO have Reflector!!  And O.M.G.!! This is a MUST for anyone who does not have AppleTv!  A much cheaper alternative! (only $12.99 for one user!...discounts available for multiple users!)

I use this thing almost daily!  Anytime I want to introduce a new app to my class, I show them using reflector.  If I want to play music in my classroom, I use reflector to play it from my iPad through the speakers in my classroom ceiling.

It's so easy...
There's an icon on my desktop computer that I double click.  Then on my device (iPad, iPhone, iPod, etc) I "swipe up" and click "AirPlay".  Here's where it gets tricky!  Make sure you know which computer is yours!!  Our whole school has this and one time, I may have sent "Shake it Off" blaring in the Kinder classroom down the hall! ;)  Sorry, Mrs. B!

Anyway!  You can click "mirroring" if you want your iPad screen to show on your desktop computer.  In my classroom, I have a projector, so I turn on my projector, which shows what I have on my desktop...whiiiich is whatever I have "reflected" there!  TA DA!

Then I can show my students how to use a new app!  We also use this for group activities!  You can "reflect" more than one iPad at a time!!  ...more on that later! ;)

Happy Reflecting!!

Differentiation with iPads! There's an app for everyone!

This week is Spring Break for us in North Texas, so I brought home my iPad minis to do some "Spring Cleaning".  I want to get them all fixed up with the apps I'll need for projects when we get back!

The first thing on my to do list is get organized!  This means, creating folders on the devices, deleting unused apps, and assigning students specific devices!

Something that has always interested me is using the iPads for differentiation!  I'm going to do this by creating assigned iPads for each student.  I've never assigned students a specific iPad and haven't ever had a problem.  BUT it occurred to me that IF I tell students which iPad they can use, I can put specific apps for the kids that will be USING that iPad!  DUH!  So I created these cute number wallpapers (that match my classroom!) for my 6 minis!  I used photoshop, dropped them in DropBox and then opened them on each mini!  Save the the camera roll.  Hold down your finger on the image and click "set as wallpaper".  It will then ask you to scale the image (just make sure you can see what you want to see) and then it will ask you if you want to also use the image for your home screen.  I say "use as both".  Easy peasy!

The next thing I have to do is group my kiddos (6 iPads = 6 groups).  I've seen where some teachers will give the kids who use THAT iPad a passcode to access it.  I love that...HOWEVER,  I teach Kinder which is a pro and con in this situation.  Con = they will never remember a passcode.  Pro = they want to please their teacher and wouldn't even THINK of using an iPad they weren't supposed to use! :)  I love my Kinder babies!  I *MAY* do a simple passcode like 1111 on iPad 1 and 2222 on iPad 2.  I could probably even tell each group that their code is a secret and they shouldn't tell anyone else who isn't in their group ;)  They would love that, but it's totally unnecessary.

On each device, I am going to have a folder named "EVERYONE" and then a folder with each student's name.  In the EVERYONE folder, I will have apps that EVERYONE can use.  In the "Bob"  "Mary"  "Sue" folders...I can put some special apps for each child!  These will be apps to help them work on specific skills.  I have students who come in reading on a 2nd grade+ level, ESL students with very little (or no) English, and others who are still working on letters and sounds in March, so this is going to be GREAT! :)  Everyone will get what they need!  I only wish you could put apps in more than one folder :(   i.e. if I wanted Mary AND Sue to work on a specific app, but I guess that's when the EVERYONE folder comes into play!

I also put a folder on each iPad with my name.  The kids know that they don't need anything in this folder and they shouldn't go in it.  It's where I put all those random apps that you can't delete and won't use in a classroom.  I also put the settings shortcut, app store, etc. in this folder.

What are some organizational tips YOU do for your iPads?!

CREATING, MANAGING, AND REMINDING: ALL ABOUT SIGN UPS!

Can I get a volunteer??  Would you please sign up for ___??

This little website makes asking, managing, and even REMINDING parents SO. MUCH. EASIER.

SignUpGenius

 It's free and pretty user friendly!  Set up your free account and in no time at all, you will be creating sign ups that manage themselves!  Here are a few ways I've used it recently:

Conference Sign Up!

Volunteer Sign Up!

Special Item/Supplies Sign Up!

 I usually create my sign up and then copy and paste the link in my weekly email to parents, but the site does allow you to put in parent email addresses and it will send an email on your behalf.  Which ever is easier for you!  My favorite thing is that it will send a reminder email to parents about what they signed up for!  I have used it for parent conferences, volunteers for special projects, and when asking parents to send in special items for a lesson (i.e. the oral directions lesson picture here or items for our Thanksgiving Feast!).  

What are you waiting for?!  Go make an account!!

HOW TO MAKE A CHECKLIST THAT SYNCS ON ALL DEVICES!

#GAMECHANGER

I make lists constantly and a class list is something I use almost daily!  I have probably printed my class list 50+ times this year!  I use them to cross out, check off, and scratch out as the students turn in their permission slips, are chosen for Star Student, bring in an assigned item, etc.  ALL. THE. TIME.

I thought I had really figured something out this past week while given our Math CBA (A district math test).  I have to give this test one on one and I like to have a list of who I have already done/still need to do.  I taped a class list on my teacher table and used a sharpie to check off as I pulled the kids to the back table and completed the test.  When I was finished, I used a Mr. Clean Magic eraser to wipe it off.  This worked.  BUT...THEN... I was introduced to EVERNOTE and my life as a checklist lover will forever be changed!  (This would be one of those moments where I get way too excited over technology!)

da da da...

 

Introducing the coolest thing ever...You can use the FREE app, Evernote to create a class list (new note, insert table, type away!).  You can put your headings across the top and what you are "checking off" at the top of the other columns.  You can insert a "to do" by clicking where you want it to go and then clicking the box with the check- right here:

When you add the app and sign in on your other devices (ipad, iphone, computer, etc) your list is there!  Waiting for you!  Synced and updated!!  It's also easy to edit if a student comes/leaves! 

***I added my check list to my shortcuts, so it is quick and easy to access when I pull the app up! 

Do you use Evernote??  How else can it be used in the classroom??  I would love to hear your ideas or ways you make Evernote work for you!

HEADPHONES

These right here... have made life better and quieter, which is kind of the same thing at times in a Kinder classroom.  Last year, I had an iPad and an iPod Touch for students to use to scan QR codes during Reader's Workshop.  They would listen to the books and with only 2 going at a time, they could spread out in the room and it wasn't really an issue.  

Well this year, we were given 6 iPad minis.  That's a problem.  6 different devices, reading 6 different stories while I'm trying to pull reading groups is not o.k.  I started looking for solutions and found these head phones at my local Dollar Tree.  (They don't have these particular headphones online, but I bet you could show your store the picture!)  They are retractable headphones and cheap enough ($1- duh!) that I purchased a pair for every kid in my class (and a few extra in case there were some duds, but I haven't found a dud yet!)  

On the round piece, I use a sharpie and write their class number.  This way, if they are left plugged into a device or we find them on the ground, we know who they belong to!  We also don't share them, so we don't spread ear wax germs! :)  I tell the kids (and parents) that this is the one and only pair they will get from me.  If a student breaks or loses them, I ask for their parents to send a new pair.  I also share with them that they can be purchased at the dollar store!  ...or how many pairs of ear buds do you have in drawers around the house?!  They seem to multiply because they give you a pair with every device you by these days!  

Anyway!  I was surprised by how hard it was to find inexpensive headphones!  I like that these are budget friendly, small, and we can write our names/numbers on them!  

What do you do for headphones in your classroom?  Does your district provide them? Do parents donate them?  I'm curious how others handle headphones!  ...because I'm a dork like that :)

Remind Them About It!!

***Update 3/23:  Remind is having a Spring Giveaway for Teachers!!  Win $75, a Tshirt, and a poster for your classroom!  Enter to win here:  http://woobox.com/g8b2ze/e99gs4***

I'm a busy parent and even though I AM a teacher, I admittedly scan emails sent from my child's teacher and I occasionally miss important things!  There!  I admit it!  I'm NOT perfect!  I'm ok with saying that here, because the chance of my husband reading this is absolutely 0.00001%!  

I know what it's like to work all day, shuttle kids from one place to another, cook dinner, do homework, and try to balance it all while staying sane!  If long, wordy emails could just be simplified... and maybe if they were a text that I could read quickly- that would be better!

The flip side of that- I can be in the middle of cooking dinner when I realize, "Ohh no!! I forgot to remind parents about picture day tomorrow!!" In the time that it would take me to find my laptop, sing in to my school email, and write an email...my family's dinner is charcoal!

Well the masterminds behind Remind (formerly known as Remind101) have solved this problem for parents and teachers everywhere!  ...and I'm a BIG fan!!  It makes my life as a parent and a teacher so much easier!!   ...ohh and did I mention that your cell number is never shared with parents and their numbers aren't shared with you either!  Genius!

Here's how it works:

• Go to www.remind.com and set up a free account!
• You will set up a class code and you can even download instructions to print and send home to parents!  I usually include this in my packet given at Meet the Teacher Night! (Click here to see other ways I incorporate technology into this night!)  They have a handout right on the main screen that you can download.  It gives parents all the info they need to know!  You can also visit Teachers Pay Teachers for about 70 different versions of parent handouts and reminder cards to send home with directions for parents!  The one from Remind isn't very cute and I like cute!  So I usually use one from TPT! :)  But here is the one from Remind...

• Once you have your account set up, your parents invited to subscribe, you can download the app on your cell phone, ipad, etc.  It looks like this... 

 Very user friendly!  You click "to" and select the group you want to text (so this is great for teachers who teach more than one class and may need to connect or relay different information to different groups of parents/students), type your message, attach a picture or voice memo if you would like, and your done!  You can hit "send" OR you can SCHEDULE the text to send on a certain DATE and TIME!!!  So when I send home a permission slip for a field trip, I go ahead and schedule a text to be sent out the day before (2 weeks in advance!!).  I can do it while it's fresh on my mind! Again...genius!!  Below you can see, I keep them short and simple!  A reminder about picture day from back in September and a personal little "happy" that I sent to parents this morning!  We woke up to 4 inches of snow and ice in North Texas, so school was canceled today!  -My kinder friends LOVE seeing pictures of my baby boy! ;)

Have you used Remind before!?

Welcome!

Thanks for visiting my new BLOG!  I am super excited to share the technology projects that we are doing in my classroom, as well as how I use technology to make my busy life as a mom, wife, and kindergarten teacher run a little more smoothly!  So here we go!