Learning in Progress

This post originally appeared on FTIS EdTech

Post originally published on FTISEdTech

This post originally appeared on FTISEdtech Background A Flipped Class is one where the teacher develops or curates content that would traditionally be delivered in a lecture and assigns students to watch video, listen to podcasts or read articles or books so that class time can be used for projects, practice and activities.  It is also sometimes referred to as Blended Learning.  And with practice can be used as a method of differentiating instruction and allowing students more freedom to explore and learn content at a pace that meets their needs. I first learned about the Flipped Classroom model about four years ago and delved into an extensive study of the concept.  To my surprise, it is something that unknowingly I had been experimenting with since about 2006 when I began using a Moodle classroom online with students and began recording audio lectures for students if I was going to be absent.  The concept, in my position as a librarian, really helped me create an archive of scr

Post originally appeared on FTIS EdTech What is Digital Literacy? Digital Literacy, according to the ALA is the "ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, and communicate information requiring both cognitive and technical skills". Students who are strong in Digital Literacy could be considered "Knowledge Constructors" under the ISTE Standards and can "plan and employ effective research strategies" and "evaluate accuracy, perspective, credibility and relevance of information" amongst other skills. For elementary students this means that they can identify the very best places to go to find information and can demonstrate persistence in looking for information that meets their needs and ability. For teachers it helps to direct students to quality information sources from the very beginning and provide them with enough choice so that they can begin to develop an understanding of the strategies to fin

This post originally appeared on FTIS EdTech

This post was originally published on FTIS Edtech Background For a number of years we have been using "Best Practice" strategies developed by Robert Marzano to help students graphically organize their work and organize their thinking so that they can retain information at higher levels.   When it comes to teaching vocabulary, researched, Best Practices, from Marzano include the following strategies:  Provide a description, explanation, or example of the new term. Ask students to restate the description, explanation, or example in their own words. Ask students to construct a picture, pictograph, or symbolic representation of the term. Engage students periodically in activities that help them add to their knowledge of the terms in their vocabulary notebooks. Periodically ask students to discuss the terms with one another. Involve students periodically in games that enable them to play with terms. To target these strategies, many teachers use a weekly format of ha

Agenda - click [ here ] Presentation Makerspaces: What you Need to Know Collaborative Discussion  Thursday, October 13, 2016 Friday, October 14, 2016 NGSS: Exploring the Practices and Standards Resources NGSS - Practices NGSS - DCI Arrangement NSTA - Standards by Topic Additional NGSS Lesson Resources Collaborative Discussion Thursday, October 13, 2016 Friday, October 14, 2016 PBL PBL: Taking Flight To see the lesson on Blendspace click [ here ]. Inquiry Resources Empire State Information Fluency Continuum Stripling Model - Interactive Notebook Iterative Design ICE Video ICE - Interactive Notebook Taking Flight - Demo Project Rubric Planning Time PBL Planner BIE.org - Planning Forms BIE Project Search TeachThought NGSS Bundles

Background To encourage a shared love of reading, for the last two years I organized a One Book, One School and this year I attempted a Donalyn Miller ins p ired 40 Book  Challenge .  There are a number of formats that you could use for something like this, including something like a One Book, One Community program .  T he purpose of the One B ook , One School was two fold : I wanted it to be something enjoyable that would encourage a love of shared reading, and I wanted the school community to be able to have a common point of reference for discussion.    As a result, I have budgeted the last few years to use a portion of book fair funds to purchase a copy of the selected book for each adult in the building. For this program I like to purchase our books from a locally owned book store, The Blue Marble .  The 40 Book Challenge came about as a result of seeing a sig nifica nt drop off in reading during the 4th grade year.  I also felt I needed to do a better job

Presentation Big 6 Resources You can find resources for the Big 6 research process including planner, expectations charts, notes sheets and rubrics in The Big 6 Folder .  Project Based Learning specific handouts including a PBL planner and Super 3 organizer can be found in this Handouts folder . Learn More  Project Based Learning: Giving Students Choice and Voice in the Library - blog post that gives more detail about how I used PBL this past year Aquaponics PBL - more information on what happened when 4th graders researched aquaponics and attempted to construct a system Building a Butterfly Garden - how 4th graders researched and built a raised bed garden See more about Genius Hour here including a Blendspace that walks students through the process.

At the end of the 2014-2015 school year, one of our Spanish teachers approached me with an idea.  Her primary grade Spanish classes were studying migration patterns of Monarch butterflies as a way to make connections between our region and different Spanish speaking countries in Central America, and she wanted to try to create a garden that would help promote the survival of the species.  The idea seemed like a great way for the two of us to collaborate, and it turned out that her timing could not have been perfect. The very next week, local businesses were giving away seed packets that contained milkweed, the plant that the Monarch butterfly caterpillars need for food.  We each picked up some seed packets and began working out plans. I began the 2015-2016 year with an email newsletter to our parents explaining that one of the goals for the year would be to work with students to build the garden, and within a few minutes, one of our parents responded to the newsletter with informati

For makerspace inspired Project Based Learning work this year in the library, fourth graders were given a choice of projects to work with .  One of the choices was to learn about aquaponics.  I first became interested in using the library as a place to spark interest in growing things after I read the School Library Journal article " Dig it! Library Gardens Sprout Up Coast to Coast " from August 2014.  I was completely amazed by the system set up by the Cranbury School in New Jersey and felt inspired to bring a more hands on sort of learning experience to my own students. When I discovered a Back to The Roots aquaponics kit while doing a little Internet shopping, I realized that it Kids unpacking the kit could be a manageable task for elementary students.  The Task: Students were challenged to learn about aquaponics, figure out how to put an aquaponics system together and create a project that would teach others about aquaponics. Key 4th Grade Standards Addresse

Makerspaces are an incredible way to connect to student interests, improve student choice and voice and possibly introduce them to a skill that they will use in a future career. Presentation Here is the presentation from the 2016 P ersistence to Graduation S ummit , hel d in Lexington , K Y.  Participants engaged in a maker activity and discussion surrounding makerspaces.   Resources for Further Exploration Hover over the Thinglinked image below and "hotspotted" resources will appear that you will be able to click on.  You can also view the image on Thinglink .   

For the last few years I've been working to develop a makerspace in the library and a model of Project Based Learning that works for me and my elementary students in the library - a model that I can use to convince classroom teachers to take the leap into PBL with me. At the conclusion of this year, I think I've finally got a good recipe for success, and teachers, having seen the outcomes, are up for collaborating. Projects in the library take a million times longer than in the regular classroom because I only see the kids once a week for 45 minutes, so what might take the classroom teacher 2 weeks to coach students through, takes me an entire semester.  But, without a doubt, these projects turn into meaningful conversations about content across disciplines and extended inquiry. U pdate - Some Additional Background For the course of the 2015-2016 school year, students in 4 th grade were focusing on developing strong research skills.   At the end of