Goodbye!

Wow! I can’t believe I have not posted anything this entire school year! I’m not sure what that means.

I have decided that I will be retiring at the end of this school year. Thirty-eight years of teaching! Why am I retiring?  I am expecting my first grand-baby this summer! So excited!
Will I miss the classroom? Absolutely! But I would not want to miss watching my granddaughter grow! I always told my boys (my husband keeps reminding me they are grown men, not boys) that when I had grandchildren, I would retire and keep my grand babies!

So it’s time to say “Goodbye”......for now!

Let Twitter Take You There

FlippingWithFisher

If you're like most teachers, the summer is not only a time for lying on a beach somewhere soaking up the rays, but it is also the perfect time to perfect your craft. There are so many wonderful conferences going on right now . . . International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), Model Schools Conference (MSC), and Teachers College Reading Writing Project (TCRWP) just to name a few. I was fortunate to attend ISTE2014 when it was held in GA a few years ago but as much as I would have liked to attend this year, it was not in the budget! Who am I kidding? I don’t have a budget!

I still want to learn new things and be a part of the excitement. So what's a teacher to do? The next best thing is to experience these conferences virtually. I can be a part of the action through Twitter. Yes, Twitter!  Participants at the conferences are happy to share what they are leaning. 

How can I do that? Glad you asked. Just put the hashtag (#) in front of the conference name you want to visit and you will be connected to some awesome educators who are willing to share what they are experiencing. By visiting #MSC18, #ISTE18, or #TCRWP, you will be able to get a snapshot of some golden nuggets left by others. 


Check this out. There is even a dedicated hashtag for people who can not attend ISTE. Enter #NotatISTE18 and it's like you are there. Thanks to @heyMattFrat and @mbfxc I was even able to see the FlipGrid Poster sessions and view many of 

the inspiring Ignite Sessions at ISTE. Thanks!! 

I have to give a "shout out" to my sister, @keashr. She used Twitter to magically transport me to the TCRWP Summer Institute. She is relatively new to Twitter, so I had to convince her to tweet out some pics and words of wisdom from the presenters. I'm trying to get her Twitter game up!  

So even if you're lying on a beach somewhere (like I wish I was right now), you can still experience these wonderful conferences through Twitter. As Mavis Staples once sang, "Let me take you there". 

          

Sharing the Love on Digital Learning Day!

February 16 was Digital Learning Day! It just so happened to fall right after Valentine's Day. So we couldn't pass up this opportunity to share the love with other staff at our school. The students created Virtual Valentines.  We used DoInk Green Screen App to capture our video messages and of course, Seesaw to share them. Seesaw makes it so easy to create QR Codes to share your work with others.

     

                   

We used Padlet to make connections and send Global Valentines.

We also made Heart Idioms and shared them with our friends far away using Flipgrid. This was the first time I used Flipgrid.  It was pretty easy and the kids had a ball. I got this idea after reading a tweet from @YollisClass.  If you are not connected on Twitter, you are definitely missing out. It is the BEST PD around. Take a look at some of our Heart Idioms.

Take some time to share the love!

Begin with the End in Mind

Verrazano-Narrows Bridge

Hummm...That sounds great. In theory. But what if the end seems impossible to reach or even imagine? If you would have told me a little over a year ago that I would have ridden my bike 40 miles. In the rain.  Over the Verrazanno Bridge. I would have given you the side-eye and probably said sarcastically, "Ohh-Kay". 

Let me give you a little background. First, according to Wikipedia, "The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge that connects the New York City boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn." Let me say that again, double-decked suspension bridge! I don't even like to drive a CAR over a bridge, let alone ride a bike over one.



Second, when I started riding my bike I literally could not ride 1 mile. I couldn't even ride a half of a mile. The first time I rode I fell. Twice!  I vividly remember riding my bike as a kid.  All. Day. Long. Not anymore. I will admit it, I was scared!

"We Fall Down, But We Get Up"

So, what changed?  I had a great coach; who was also a friend. She showed me how to turn so I wouldn't fall.  She rode beside me, encouraging me along the way.  I remember her saying, "Do you see that bench? Can you make it to that next bench?"  Then it was "Can you make it to the sign? There is a bench after that sign where we can stop and rest". "There are some horses around the turn. Let's make it to the horses."  I never saw any horses! 

We took pictures along the way celebrating my accomplishments. In the beginning, she was very encouraging. The more I rode, the better my endurance got.  I also noticed that she became a little more demanding: "Sheila, you can do this. We are only going to rest for 3 minutes. Let's go!" 

Celebrate Milestones

             

Why am I writing about riding a bike?  Because there are so many parallels between my learning to ride again and teaching. 

Everything is Better with Friends

If I had tried to do it on my own I think, no, I KNOW I would never have done it!  I needed someone to show me how. I needed someone to encourage me. I need someone to push me. More importantly,  I needed someone to BELIEVE that I could do it in the first place.

Me and Kahliah

I also needed someone who I had a relationship with, a connection, someone who knew me.  She was patient. She showed me how. She did it with me, right beside me. Kind of like guided practice. 

Checking Progress

She encouraged me. She monitored my progress and gave me specific feedback.  Not everything all at once, mind you.  Just enough to move me along. Not only did she monitor my progress, but she shared my results with me: "You're doing great! You just rode 3 miles! You are riding 9 miles per hour. (That's still my preferred speed, by the way. . . Growth Mindset!) 

In the end, I was able to do it. Independently. She gave me something that can never be taken away from me.  The knowledge that I can be successful at what I work hard at. 

I Did It!

And yes, I really rode 40 miles in New York with thousands of other bikers in the Five Boros Tour, In the rain.  When I crossed that finish line, I wanted to cry; I actually think I did?













Later that summer I rode 50 miles in Florida. I still haven't ridden a century . . . YET!

?

Today Was a Good Day!

I just introduced my class to Sway.  It is available in the App store. But I found out that to be able to add searchable photos, my students had to use sway.com.  Sway is the perfect tool for my students to share what they are learning about explorers. It comes with a library of searchable Creative Commons photos that students can easily add to their project. No copyright infringement here!

What I like about Sway is that it is easy for students to use. Additionally, students focus on content before they start changing font, color, or adding a background to make their project pretty. Once they have their content, they can quickly customize their cards to find the perfect look for their presentation.

So let's go back to the content. Students used Georgia Studies Weekly, Brain Pop, and Discovery Streaming to research different explorers. Dinah Zike's 4-door Notebook Foldable helped them organize their notes. I started with Columbus and modeled how to take highlight and take notes. The organizer proved to be very helpful because each "door" on the organizer later become a separate "card" on Sway.                                                                                                                                                              

Students working Together

Foldable to organize Notes

As I was modeling how to complete the cards one student commented that it reminded her of  "Boxes and Bullets" that we had just learned during Writer's Workshop. Oh, Joy!  I decided to capitalize on that and quickly revised the cards to follow the Boxes and Bullets format.

Now it was time for the students to research a different explorer in their small groups.  So I divided the students into smaller groups and gave them their new foldable to begin their research.  Then I watched as students sat beside or near their partners, but did not really interact with their partners. I listened as I heard them talk about basketball and video games; everything but explorers. I did just tell them to "work together", didn't I?

That's when it hit me and I called them all back to the carpet for a Mid-Workshop Teaching Lesson (as Lucy Calkins calls it). But this lesson was not about Explorers nor how to make a Sway.  This lesson was about how to work together with a partner.  And to do this I needed a partner.  I picked 1 student to come sit beside me.  I took the lead and together we modeled how to use the materials together, how to talk about what either of us found, how to make sure we each had the notes we needed.  We talked to each other (about our explorer) and we showed each other where we found text evidence to support our thinking.

I think the most important part of the lesson came next. We had a discussion about what they saw or heard that let them know we were working cooperatively. Students shared their responses. They said things like: "You leaned closer when the other person was talking" and "You looked at the paper and listened when they were reading".  I wanted specifics. If they merely said "You were working together", I asked them for specifics. What did they see or hear us say that let them know we were working together?  I wanted specific examples.

Then I sent them off to work and the difference was phenomenal! See for yourself.

I only wished I had recorded their responses on a T-Chart. The beautiful thing about teaching is I'm sure I will have another opportunity. Soon.

Check out Liliana's final product.

Then There Were Two!

Have you heard the news? The NEW Student Stories is coming to Class Dojo on Sept.15th. I must admit when I first started tweeting about the release, it was all about trying to win a Chrome Book. Then I messed around and actually watched the video! And my mind started reeling! Literally...

You see, I've been trying to streamline the technology I use in my class forever! For obvious reasons parents can get overwhelmed when there is too much technology. Students can get overwhelmed. Let's be real...I can get overwhelmed.

I always tried to make sure each piece I used had a specific purpose: I used Remind for reminders, Edmodo to share content and make assignments, Class Dojo to communicate social and behavioral skills, and Seesaw to share academic progress with my students' families.  Each of these programs is great and I have used them all for several years!  But a little birdie (actually, it was our County's Technology Director) kept telling me that I needed to streamline the technology I used in my class...for parents.

I have a 1:1 iPad class and between the different apps and programs, it can be a bit much.  Especially at the beginning of the year. This year I decided to use OneNote Class Notebook exclusively to assign work and share content with my students.  I also made a conscious decision to use Class Dojo to message AND remind my parents. Yes! I stopped using Edmodo and Remind...Gasp!

Then there were two: Class Dojo and Seesaw! I started the year sending photos of the class on Class Story with messages throughout the day. Unlike Remind, Class Dojo allows me to message 1 parent, a group of parents, or the whole group. Low and behold this has been the first year I have had 100% of my parents join Class Dojo!

Did I forget to mention that Dojo sends a Friday report to parents? But that's not what prompted me to write this post. Hold on to your hat!

Now Class Dojo is changing their Student Stories. Students can share what they are learning in class with their parents.  See for yourself.

Now the big question I'm asking myself is will Class Dojo ever replace Seesaw in my class?  I'm not ready to go that far! Seesaw has proven to be an easy tool for my student's to use to share their work with families and I can easily see the work my students have produced throughout the year.

Right now I'm just happy that I've got it down to just two! I bet Cristin will be happy about that as well.

Side Note: Class Dojo requires a parent email before students can connect and post.

Global Learners

Are you a global learner?  Are your students? Technology can connect people who under normal circumstances would never cross paths.

This year I have had the privilege of introducing my students to students across the globe through Mystery Skype. What is Mystery Skype? Check out this post by Mr. Solarz for a great explanation.

When I look back, I think it all started a few years ago with The Global Read Aloud. I saw then how my students looked forward to using technology to connect with other students. This year (through Twitter and Mystery Skype) I was introduced to World Read Aloud Day by a wonderful teacher in Wisconsin, Jackie Trebiatowski.

Together our classes created a book using the app Book Creator. Students worked to photograph their school and interview staff members. Once each class had their portion of the book completed, I compiled the two books for our final book, A Tale of Two Schools. We each read the book to our class and then met via the Internet to learn more about our new friends. What were the most surprising things we learned about our new friends? Our class was surprised to find out they have recess unless it's below 0 degrees AND they have recess twice a day! They were surprised to find out we have a pet snake and our school has over 1,000 students!


If you have not tried Book Creator, I would highly recommend you try the free version. You can create 1 book with the free version, but you will need the paid version to combine books or create more than 1 book. Students can create their own books to share with others.

This year we created our Reading and Math Journals using Book Creator. At the end of Reading Workshop, my students add a reflection about what they have read independently. I originally gave them a template to get started, but now they are free to use any format they want as long as they include the date, title of the book, author, and their reflection.


We were working on figurative language.


I just recently learned about #BookSnaps on Twitter from Tara Martin. What an awesome way for students to document their reading comprehension!

For our math journal, I Airdrop the Global Math Task Twitter Challenge (GMTTC24) each week.


I also send them grade specific Global Math Tasks throughout the week for them to solve. After my students solve the challenges, I share their solutions on Twitter. This year our class had the privilege of contributing math problems for other students to solve. They got a kick out of seeing how other students solved their problems.





Students share both journals with me and their parents on Seesaw. Parents love seeing their child's work and students love the feedback they get from their parents and peers on Seesaw. Like it or not, we are all global learners. And as educators, we owe it to ourselves and our students to make those connections.

The world is waiting!

Ready, Set, Flip!

Here's an oldie, but a goodie. Click here to listen to the podcast with Jon Bergmann.

Celebrate!

As of today, we have officially been in school for 4 weeks! Four weeks mind you! And today was actually the first day that I have felt like we had it together, or maybe I should say "I" had it together.

We have been fine tuning some of our procedures since Day 1 and I really mean fine tuning. Like only 4 feet on the purple carpet at one time. That means only 2 people can be in their cubbies at the same time....all about crowd control. And stacking chairs and balls BEFORE specials rather than rushing afterward made a huge difference. My personal favorite was what to do while we are waiting for everyone to come to the carpet to share after Reading Workshop.  That proved to be the perfect time for kids to update their reading logs in their Reader's Notebooks; something that was never done consistently in the past. It's the little things!

It is soooo important to take time to teach procedures at the beginning of the year.  Someone (can't remember who) said: "If you consequate, you must educate".  How can we hold kids accountable for things we have not taught them?

Like I said, today things fell into place. So much so that we physically came together in a huddle before they left to go to the buses and gave a loud "team on 3" with high 5s all around!  As I looked at the kids I saw lots of smiling faces. Kids really do want to do the right thing.  I think we will add that celebration to our dismissal every day!

What are some routines and celebrations you practice in your class?

Lights, Camera, Action!

If someone would have told me that me that my third grade students would not only record a green screen movie using DoInk, but would then upload that video to iMovie to edit (add titles, credits, and background music) and finally post that movie on Seesaw for their parents and other classmates to enjoy I probably would not have believed it. Heck! I didn't know how to do all that myself!

My students used Do Ink to record public-service announcements about recycling. We were having problems with some of the videos.  I wasn't really sure how to use the app, let alone how to edit the final product, but I knew it could be done; my fifth graders had just done it just a couple of years ago. They were pros at it.  They did it all, recording and editing. They did it so well that I didn't pay attention to HOW they did it.  They seemed to figure it all out. Now as a third-grade teacher I needed know "how" they did it. . . or did I?

That's when it hit me.  I flipped my class for content, surely there are videos on how to use DoInk and iMovie.  So I went on YouTube and searched "how to add titles and credits using iMovie". Then I thought "Hey! I can google how to use DoInk". So I did.  Next, I created a technology folder on Edmond and upload those videos to our Edmodo class page. I don't know why I hadn't done that before! I told one of my students who was particularly tech  Savvy, "I want you to go home, watch these videos and figure out how to add titles and credits to your Do Ink video using iMovie". And guess what. He did it! He posted the edited version of the video on Edmodo. It was awesome!

When he came back to school the next day, we had a little tutorial session and he showed other students in the class how to use iMovie to edit their videos. Now everyone is doing it, including me!  I learned the "hows" of recording and editing right alongside my students!

My students were able to figure it out without my direct instruction!  I guess what I really wanted to say was you don't have to know how to do everything BEFORE you give that experience to your students. You just have to have the resources available and they will figure it out! Yes, even in third grade they will figure it out!

Here are two videos that were created with DoInk and then edited with iMovie.  Enjoy!

We learned how to make the recycling bin fly in from watching the tutorial video! Pretty cool, huh?

OneNote: Organizing Your Table of Contents

It's the little things that keep me excited!  I just found out today that if I make subpages in OneNote, then I can organize my Table of Contents.  Let me explain.   After adding so many different things to my student's notebooks it was becoming a little overwhelming, especially for third graders!   Things were starting to look a little cluttered.

So I began adding dates to the titles to make it easier for them to find stuff.

Flippinginfifth.com

A little better, but not so much!  This was actually my first attempt at trying to organize the Table of Contents. I even thought about just deleting pages we had already used and starting fresh each marking period. I didn't want to do that because there are some entries I wanted them to refer to time and time again. I also wanted them to have a record of their work and their growth throughout the year.

So I kept playing around with the TOC and I literally just discovered that if you make subpages you can collapse the different sections. So how do you make a subpage?  Just "right-click" on the page name and select the option "Make Subpage".  It's that simple! 

Flippinginfifth.com

If you think about it, it's like putting those subject dividers in your regular - (I hate to say it, "old fashioned" ) notebooks. LOVE IT!

Flippinginfifth.com

I will continue to add the date at the beginning of assignments, but it's not necessary for the other resources I add to their notebooks. Hopefully, this little tip will go along way toward organizing my student's digital notebooks. 

Are you using OneNote EDU?  I would love to hear about some tips you use to help your students organize their digital notebooks!

A Perfect Fitt

I am so excited!  My wonderful administrative team announced they were going to award two $1,000 grants for a class makeover.  I applied and I won!  What did I win?  Only something I have wanted for almost 5 years . . . a class set of Wittfitt Stability balls. There is lots of research to support using stability balls in the classroom; especially for students with attention-related challenges. Click here and here to read more.

There are 3 main reasons for using stability balls and incorporating movement into your classroom:

1. Movement increases blood flow to the brain, which is better for brain function and learning
2. Movement helps children "get the wiggles out" which aides their natural need to move.  This actually helps them focus by expending the excess energy they build up throughout the day.
3. Sitting on a stability ball supports and builds their core muscles. This also helps develop large motor muscles, which support small motor muscles (writing and hand strength).

 Of course, you will need to teach proper sitting techniques.  Students must sit on top of the ball with both feet on the floor.  We also discuss appropriate movement while sitting on the ball.  Our general rule is if your movement is distracting to other, then you need to adjust.

They're here!

Why Wittfitt balls?
These balls have these little (for lack of a better word) teats on the bottom, so the balls stay where you put them.  They can be placed on tables at the end of the day for storage and they won't roll off. When the kids get up from their table, I just remind them to "tuck their balls" and they move them underneath their tables. I was always a stickler for pushing chairs under too.

When you order a class set, they come with a pump, a measuring tape with guidelines for maximum capacity, and an instructional manual.  The manual has lessons for incorporating the balls in class. It also includes guidelines for inflating each ball for each child.

The balls can easily be inflated to just the right height for each child.  I teach third grade, so Lisa suggested the blue balls for my kids. When I first got the balls, I thought "these are going to be too small for my kids".  Not so!   I had them sit on their ball and made sure their hips were slightly above their knees and then let out air or added more air for each child. This is the best position for good posture and back support. It is really important that you inflate each ball for each individual student.  My kids know which ball is theirs because they fit them! I also had to lower my tables.

I have been very pleased.  Not only am I encouraging good posture and developing core strength, but I am giving my students an outlet to get the wiggles out and stay focused!  That's a win-win in my book!

Organizing with WSQ

Note: This is a repost of a previous page.

My WSQ chart has changed throughout the years.  This was the latest version I used as a fifth-grade teacher.  Even with the form, I would get a message on Edmodo every day from at least one student asking "Mrs. Fisher, do we have to do a WSQ?" UGH!  Are you kidding me? What was I doing wrong?

After chatting with Crystal Kirch online, I realized what I was doing wrong. The WSQ (watch, summarize, question) is the format for watching the videos. It's not what you do after you watch the video! That simple change in thinking made a huge difference! Thanks Crystal!



After completing their summary, the students answered questions about the video on a Google Document. I could quickly check before class to see who understood the material on the video.

Then I switched to using the calendars you see below.  The chart would let them know when their video responses were due.  I stapled the chart into each child's math folder. This really helped the students stay on track with their assignments.  I got the idea for using the folders after reading Deliah Bush's blog post, "How Am I Making This Work?"

Next year I hope to have most of the guided questions filled in before giving these to the students. If your students need a template to help them summarize, they could still use the form and just paste it into their math notebooks. You can see initially I wanted to include the class activities we would do to practice the skill we learned in the video. Then later I switched to including the Learning Goal. I'm sure it will look a little different next year. It's a work in progress!

Microsoft Office 365, Oh My!

I've been missing in action for a minute.  This has been a busy year to say the least!   Last year, without being a Google classroom, I used Google Docs, and Google Drive with my students.  This year our county began using Microsoft Office 365, so that meant learning something new - ah-gain! I must say that OneNote has great professional development videos to help you set up your class notebooks.  But I tend to like the personal touch.

In walks Sandra.  Our school was chosen to begin taking quarterly tests online this year.  The good thing about that is we have a tech consultant based at our school for the first part of the year. How sweet is that? Sandra has been sooo helpful.  Whenever she comes in our class, the kids give her a round of applause! She was there to help me walk my students through the process of logging on to their OneNote accounts. Now instead of 6 notebooks, there's just One Notebook . . . OneNote... Get it! :-)

Flipping with Fisher

I still use interactive notebooks; I haven't figured out to make digital foldables. But the more we use OneNote, the more I'm starting to see the power behind it. 

My students are learning to highlight the main idea (and the important information) in a passage. That's a skill I wish I had learned earlier in life. I used to highlight everything while I was reading as opposed to read first and then select what is important.  I guess it's not too late to learn a new skill. :-) They can take notes in the margin to summarize what they learn.  Yes, they could do this just as easily on a sheet of paper, but would they be able to find it 3 weeks from now?  

Flipping with Fifth

I just finished adding material in the Content Library for our unit on Rocks & Minerals.  I am making an audio recording for my students that need support reading the text.  And get this, with the click of a button I can record and insert a video recording to introduce the lesson and scaffold the learning for my students.  Talk about flipping a lesson!  

Flipping with Fisher

When we started our multiplication unit, students used the Collaboration Space to create a group chart. For homework, they found things in their environment that came in groups.  Then in class, they worked together to create the chart. This was their first experience using the Collaboration Space in OneNote

Flipping with Fisher

Students without parent permission also worked in groups.  They just used paper and markers to create their chart. Students can use the information in their charts to create a book similar to What Comes in 2's, 3's, and 4's?.

Flipping with Fisher

I only have about 5 more students that need to register for the free subscription.  In the meantime, I am putting the materials on Edmodo for them. I'm hoping to get the remaining parent permissions soon! In the meantime, we'll keep chugging along.

Flipping with Fisher

Follow Your Gut!

Just this week alone I have read 3 different posts on Twitter about how Minecraft, @MinecraftEdu, has improved students' reading comprehension or math skills. Every time I read one of these posts I can't help but think about Isabel.

To say Isabel LOVED Minecraft would be an understatement.  It was her passion. I don't believe a day went by without her trying to convince me that I should let the class download Minecraft on our iPads. She even enlisted some of the other students to try and convince me. And each day my response was something like "let me look at it" or "we'll see".

If I were to be completely honest I'd have to admit I was afraid.  Yep! I was afraid what other teachers would say if they ever found out I was letting my class play a game on their iPads. I was afraid that I couldn't justify why I was letting students play a game when they should be working. I didn't really understand the game myself. I, I, I . . . I wasn't thinking about the students!

Our class was only 1 of 2 classes in our entire school with a class set of iPads, so I felt like I had a responsibility to make sure the students used them for academics, not playing games. What I failed to realize was that playing games could lead to improved academics.  After all, we played other games in class to learn, didn't we?  How was playing games on a device any different?

I have often regretted not being brave enough to take a chance and follow the passions of my students.  Two years ago my fifth-grade students knew something that I am just now beginning to understand--don't be afraid to be different.  Don't be afraid to listen to your students. More importantly, follow the passions of your students or should I say follow your gut!

Awesome Apps

I wanted to share 3 awesome apps that I started using towards the second half of the school year: Book Creator, Seesaw, and Shadow Puppet EDU. All of these apps were easy for my 3rd grade students to use, but are also appropriate for older students. Basically, I made the apps available and they did the rest! I'm calling them "take it and run with it" apps! I have been able to learn more about the features of each app by following them on Twitter. For that reason, I am including their Twitter handle.

Shadow Puppet EDU

Twitter: @puppet

This app was a great way for my students to share what they learned with others.

The only prep on my part was to give my students a storyboard to help them plan their slideshow. They used the storyboard to record their voice over. At first, they wanted to include a lot of text on their slides, so I had to back up a little to talk about making more effective slideshows.  You can use Shadow Puppet's storyboard or you can easily create your own specific to your task.

flippinginfifth.com

Students can easily find photos with the image search options without even leaving the app. We first used Shadow Puppet after our study of Georgia Regions.

Seesaw

Twitter: @Seesaw

Seesaw is a great learning journal.  Students do not need a username or password.  They can simply scan your class QR Code to log in.  As a teacher, you can decide how your kids log in based on the availability of devices in your class.  I have a class set of iPads, so we use the "individual student sign-in" option.  For classes with limited devices, there is a "classroom sign-in" mode.  You can then choose to allow students to view their classmates' journals or just their own. You can add folders for each subject, if you choose, making this the perfect digital notebook.

When I say this is easy for kids to use, I'm not kidding.  When I first met Seesaw, a kindergarten teacher shared it with me and at first glance, I thought it was a little primary for my students.  Boy! Was I wrong!  The expectation of the teacher is what determines the students' end result.

Why aren't these magnets touching?

flippinginfifth.com

Student Reflection

Imagine a student showing a solution to a math problem and then explaining how they solved it with a voice recording. Awesome! 

A voice recording explains how they solved the problem

Parents can be invited to join and they can like or leave comments on their child's journal post. This is a great way to share the happenings in your class.  Students and teachers can add videos, files, pictures, audio recordings and drawings with a simple touch! I forgot to mention--Seesaw is now available on Chromebooks and Android devices as well as Chrome and Firefox on desktop computers! Awe--some!

Book Creator

Twitter: @BookCreatorApp 

Both of the apps I just mentioned are free.  Book Creator also has a free version so you can try it out.  But believe me, you will definitely want to purchase the app.  Why?  Students can create an unlimited number of books with the paid version. It is so easy to use this program, even I could do it! My kids were so excited to become real authors and share the books they created with others. Students can upload their books to iBooks or export them as a PDF file to print or as a video to post to the web.

flippinginfifth

Everyone was busy adding books written by their classmates to their iBooks shelf. The next day it was no surprise that everyone wanted to read books written by their classmates during independent reading.

Sharing Books using AirDrop

I haven't even begun to tap into the power of Book Creator. Students can collaborate on books. They can work on their own section and then combine the books for a collaborative effort.  You can create class books by assigning a section to individuals or small groups. A few weeks ago I realized that I could use this app to write (for lack of a better word) "textbooks" for my class and then share it with them using AirDrop.  Hummm, that sounds like a good summer project!

Like I said before, you will definitely want to follow these apps on Twitter. Just enter their Twitter handle in the search and you will find tons of resources and ideas to help you use these tools in your classrooms.   I'm so excited about the possibilities!