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Good TeachingGoogle Tips and TricksLibraries

Research Tools for Young Learners

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

In a connected world, there are ample research tools available. Helping students learn how to use them grows more important with ubiquitous access. In this blog entry, we explore several online research tools that can facilitate student research.

Setting Up Class Debates

In the Hyperdoc The Great Milk Debate, fifth grade students find themselves facing a challenge: Their principal, Mrs. Hilcher, has banned chocolate milk. Here’s one possible scenario to present students with:

Students: To improve your health, after consulting with school nutritionists, we have decided to no longer allow chocolate milk to be served during breakfast and lunch. Sugar and sweets present one of the greatest threats to human beings ever. “One carton of chocolate milk includes about 40 percent of the recommended daily allowance of sugar in a child’s diet,” said Mr. LK.

Students are encouraged to explore both sides of the debate. Learners are tasked with examining:

  • Claim: For example, “Flavored milk gets kids to drink more milk.”
  • Evidence: “Research shows that flavored milk, which delivers nine essential nutrients, contributes just 3% of added sugars to kids’ diets versus sodas and fruit drinks.”
  • Reasoning: “Studies show that school-aged children who drink flavored milk actually drink more milk overall, have better quality diets, and do not have higher intakes of added sugar or total fat.”

The Hyperdoc provides students with a means to discover this information. The teacher who creates the Hyperdoc provides the resources students can explore. It may be advantageous for students to do their own research.

research tools

Five Online Research Tools for Children

  1. KidRex – Powered by Google Custom Search, Alarm.org’s KidRex is a search engine designed by kids for kids. Check our their page for Parents. Compare it to Searchquarium.
  2. KidzSearch – Easy-to-use search engine.
  3. Kidtopia – Provides access to a wide variety of topics, but also allows for keyword searches.
  4. Sweet Search – A search engine that provides filtered search capabilities.
  5. Fact Monster -Easily explore and learn new facts at Fact Monster by using their well-organized categories.

What’s Next

In the Hyperdoc, students take their research and use it to craft a persuasive letter attempting to convince others.

Test your preparation and your public speaking skills in The Great Milk Debate. You will be assigned to a debate team. Together you will go through each of your letters together and develop an argument defending your side against another debate team who will defend the opposite side. Each side will get two minutes to present their arguments. The winning debate team will be voted on by the audience.

Kid-friendly search engines can introduce students to search strategies, alleviating educators’ fears of encountering inappropriate content. Give them a try in your classroom.

 

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green screen on smartphone
AndroidEducational TrendsiOS Tips and Tricks

Go Green Screen, Have Fun

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“You know, that shade of green is perfect for green screen in your classroom,” I remarked to my wife, a second grade teacher. We had just finished setting up one of her bulletin boards. I opened up the Green Screen by Do Ink app and aimed it at the bulletin board featuring her class rules. Sure enough, the rules appeared to float on a sea of black (evidence that the shade in green butcher paper was perfect). Have you considered that an inexpensive green screen is only a sheet of butcher paper away?

In this blog entry, we’ll explore a variety of ideas for using green screen in the classroom. These are ideas curated from various Twitter feeds and blog entries available on the web. Let’s start with the basics. You may also want to read my previous blog entry, Four Tips for Green Screen in the Classroom.

The Basics

A green screen allows you to display video or images of far-away places. At the same time, you can have students in your classroom speak to what is displayed in those images or videos. Think of the local television news weather personality.

green screen

The weatherman spends his time in front of the screen using a large television screen monitor off to the side as a reference point (see the above example from a Facebook Live broadcast from KENS 5 Television in San Antonio, Texas during an early August 2017 thunderstorm).

green screenTo get started, you will need a screen solution (e.g. the right shade of butcher paper, a $.99 green tablecloth from Dollar Tree, or green cloth) and one of the apps below. If you have an iOS device, the best app on the market is Green Screen by Do Ink, although you can accomplish even more with Touchcast (but some find it a little difficult to understand at first).

Green Screen Apps

Let’s take a look at a few activities to get going with green screen.

Activity #1 – Make Your Wall Green

Ready to paint your wall green? Try green screen paint from Home Depot (e.g. Sparkling Apple).

Some more tips (source):

  • Get inexpensive green tablecloths from Dollar Tree and hang those up, using tape to smooth out wrinkles.
  • If you are shooting with two different green sources such as a painted platform and a cloth/tablecloth backdrop, it’s best to match the color as close as possible between the two.
  • You can also build your own portable green screen out of PVC pipe.
  • You can also pick up green paper plates and more to create a porthole in a ship or cockpit in an airplane or spaceship.

Activity #2 – Set Up Your Own Mini Screens

green screen

Use a wall-based green screen, green tablecloth, or mini green screens using a green file folder. Get the green three-tab file folder from Staples. Pizza boxes spray painted green will also work well. Affix student creations, LEGO people, and other props to green craft sticks  or green straws or suspend them with all-purpose green thread as you would puppets in front of a green screen. The green craft sticks and thread become invisible due to their color, allowing them to be suspended in mid-air. If you want to manipulate objects with your hands, why not wear green gloves? Green gloves can make your hands invisible. You can get disposable, green latex, powder-free gloves at a low cost.

Activity #3 – PBL with Green Screen

There are many ways to use PBL in a green screen-equipped classroom. For example, students in @MsTranClass get focused on the PBL activity:

green screen

Students can easily create non-fiction, fiction, or informational presentations featuring green screened solutions. Here are some fantastic ideas for PBL, How To Integrate Green Screens into Any Classroom. Some more ideas:

Activity #4 – Green Screen Dioramas

green screen

Why not create a video diorama using a green screen pizza box or box? Students can populate their creation with action figures that they move around with green rulers or straws (or suspend with green string). This adds another level of excitement and animation to the dioramas once created out of shoe boxes.

Students can also recreate scenes from their favorite movies, using action figures against a real life backdrop. Consider dinosaurs, Star Wars, or Star Trek as ways to create engaging plots and stories that explain academic topics. Can your students retell a favorite fairy tale or myth using Star Wars characters?

Looking for More?

Curious about more activities? Find more of my curated resources online. Also, follow @doinktweets and Tricia Fuglestone (@fuglefun) Twitter accounts to see fresh ideas about green screen use.

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STEM
LeadershipRoboticsSTEM/STEAM

STEM Action Planning for Transformed Learning

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“I’m just starting my job as the new Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) director for my school district,” said a colleague at an event earlier this summer. “I’ve been spending a lot of time wondering what I should do.” By a strange coincidence, another friend presented me with a scenario. Let’s explore the scenario to see what elements we can unpack regarding crafting STEM projects from a director role.

Scenario: Congratulations!

Congratulations! You’ve been selected as the new director for STEM, CTE, and Advanced Academics. You will be meeting soon with district leaders to outline your 90-day plan to ensure success for students. The leaders in your district anticipate that your plan will explain your vision for STEM, college readiness, and potential partnerships, and also blend technology into the program. Regrettably, everyone is on a tight schedule, so you will have approximately 10 minutes to amaze them.

This actual scenario presented to incoming director candidates requires you to develop a 90-day plan that will ensure student success.  Some of the key elements of the scenario include:

  1. ​Propose a p​lan outlining key action steps to be completed in the first 90 days.
  2. Develop ​programs and partnerships to enhance STEM opportunities (PREP, etc).
  3. Promote ​the development of the 21st century learner by integrating technology iton content area lessons.

Before We Start

Let’s look at each of these elements in turn. Unfortunately, space prohibits a full examination of the scenario. Given space considerations, you can find more details in the accompanying website (which features a sample 90-day plan). You will also find a response by Roger Wagner (featuring an interview that TCEA member Tim Holt (@timholt2007) conducted at the annual TCEA Convention.

#1 – Key Action Steps in the First 90 Days

stem

“The first 90 days of any job is crucial. It’s the standard grace period for new employees and the time during which first impressions are made,” writes Melissa Llarena in Forbes. No 90-day plan can succeed without relationship and trust-building conversations, technology infrastructure, and collaborative movement forward.

When crafting this sample 90 day plan, I organized  the plan using a cycle centered around four action steps. Those action steps include:

  1. Plan: Involves generating leads with stakeholders, reviewing past actions and programs, moving forward after conducting needs assessments, and visioning
  2. Make: Propose a plan, develop a website that facilitates communication, and share resources with greater breadth in support of plan goals and strategies
  3. Collaborate: Connect and develop partnership strategies with internal partners, external partners, and programs, including non-profit and for-profit entities
  4. Tools: Decide on logistics and benchmark tools to be used in supporting movement towards plan goals while inventorying existing technology available

Assessment is embedded in the metrics developed in the Plan and Make steps. You can see a sample 90-day action plan online. The plan has been informed by Joy Shwartz and Roger Wagner (creator of HyperStudio and Hyperduino).  Developing programs and partnerships remains an important component of any school or district STEM program.

#2 – Programs and Partnerships for STEM

“My vision for the center is to provide a place for students to wonder, experiment, and be exposed to technologies, ideas, and careers they have never thought of,” says Joy Shwartz.  How do you develop programs and partnerships for STEM, especially in low socio-economic areas?

Listening to Dr. Reagan Flowers‘ podcast STEMcast, you can get a real sense of how to respond. STEM contextualizes science, technology, engineering, and math concepts in real life problem-solving. Let’s take a look at a few potential partners to build relationships with.

Partner #1 – C-STEM

Project-based learning, problem-based learning (xBL), takes on another component with C-STEM. The “C” represents Communication for Dr. Flowers and encapsulates STEM, providing students the opportunity to see the utility of tough topics in real life. Dr. Flowers suggests that urbanization managed poorly can cause problems. In turn, students in STEM programs can be tasked to develop solutions to urbanization problems. The solutions involve robotics, civil engineering, coding, art, and film-making, all while trying to answer the questions urbanization problems present.  In addition to the C-STEM Program, schools can reach out to local businesses and organizations. For example, Joy Shwartz reached out to Lamar University and Exxon Mobil for guidance and/or funding. Other school districts, like South San Antonio ISD in San Antonio, Texas, connect with the University of Texas at San Antonio and St. Mary’s University for their SAPREP and PREP initiatives, respectively.

Partner #2 – Texas Regional STEM Accelerator

The Texas Regional STEM Degree Accelerator (STEM Accelerator) initiative provides grants to help support regional teams of education and workforce partners. Their goal is to “increase the number of students who will earn a STEM credential.” They work to provide professional development, align math pathways from K-12 to higher education to workforce, and develop sector partnerships between education and workforce.

Partner #3 – Transformation Central Texas STEM Center

Per their website, the “Transformation Central Texas STEM Center strives to improve student achievement outcomes in math and science as determined by state and national standards for all students.” The Center offers professional development that emphasizes STEM-literacy and hands-on problem-based learning experiences for students. They also showcase the all-important career pathways that help children see what they could be doing. As Dr. Flowers points out in her STEMcasts, it’s hard for children to imagine themselves doing something when they haven’t seen it before.

#3 – Integrating Technology

Integrating technology into the curriculum often occurs as a focus on xBL, where x represents Project, Problem, or Passion, with hands-on technology use. Students have ready access to technology (e.g. iPads, Chromebooks, Surface tablets), powerful tools (e.g. Google Suites, MS Office 365, Apple tools) that are often low-cost, if not free. A wealth of web-based tools also exist. The challenge is less “How do I do this?” and more about what is the best way to solve a real-life problem. Approaches like C-STEM combine project-based, experiential learning opportunities for students engaged in real-world problem solving. And since technical solutions must be communicated, filmography and media-based communications (e.g. social media, audio, and video) provide the “wrapper” for any STEM solution developed. Just as educators build their professional learning networks (PLNs) to stay abreast of changes in rapidly changing fields (e.g. coding, robotics), students must also learn to create and manage networks that keep them engaged and connected.

Connect

Are you ready to learn more? Check out the companion website for this blog entry. It includes a sample presentation, 90-day action plan, and tons of resources for you. You might also see how TCEA can be a partner for you.

Sign up for a TCEA Online, Self-Paced Course – $39 each

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fence
Good TeachingMicrosoft

Collaborative Projects in PBL, Part One

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“What’s the best way to approach collaborative projects for elementary students?” I asked my wife, a veteran elementary teacher. I had some inkling of the response, since a portion of my work in schools was with third and fifth graders. For my own children, the elements of success included playing with others in real time, simulations, the opportunity to engage in real life projects, and sharing their work with a global audience.

Let’s give Generation Z students what they want. What do they want? They want to be:

  1. Media-makers: Use digital media (create/study with videos/podcasts)
  2. Hands-on: Learn through hands-on experiences
  3. Social: Develop team-building skills
  4. Problem-solvers: Solve real-world problems

Let’s quickly explore the elements of project-based learning in the context of those four Gen Z skills.

Element #1 – Real World Relevance

A PBL activity presents a real life problem (e.g. immigration, border patrol, “The Wall”) that captures students’ imagination. It engages them emotionally and intellectually. Over time, they learn to see this problem through the eyes of all stakeholders and develop a multi-faceted solution.

Seek the Crucial

Ready to get started with PBL, but not sure what issue would best capture student interest and be teachable? Any problem will do. In fact, look for what the author of a popular book series call a crucial conversation. You can recognize the crucial when you find it if you keep these points in mind:

  • Stakes are high
  • Opinions vary
  • Emotions run strong

Are you worried that this could get you in hot water at work? Yes, it is possible. Let’s figure out how to not find yourself in the unemployment line.

Ensure the Crucial Doesn’t Get You Fired

When creating your problem, follow these steps:

1) Make a Problem Map. These are questions about the problem you want to see students answered. You may discover other questions that students want answered, but are not navigable in your community. Write those questions down, but mark them as distractions. The focus isn’t on getting lost with precious cargo. Keep the questions that will move the talk forward, not drop you into the Bermuda Triangle.

2) Revise Your Map into a Learning Map. What curriculum standards/objectives do you want to connect to specific questions? Questions that don’t lead to learning can be cut.

3) Pitch Your Problem. Craft an elevator pitch you can share with others. Listeners will feel the emotional and learning potential. This is where you can use technology to connect to real-world problems.

4) Plan the Path you will take with your students. You will explore what they believe they know, then their guesses and hunches. Use thinking organizers (e.g. KWHL) to scaffold learning potential.

With your learning map and path planned, ask yourself, “How can I connect my classroom to real-world problems?”

Use Technology to Get Connected to Real-World Problems

We have rich access to problems. Adapt an authentic problem, develop a mirror image of one to distance learners from fallout, and align it to learning objectives. One of the obstacles for teachers jumping into PBL is that it takes a lot of work to develop a project from scratch. Remember, you are not alone.

Connecting with Real People

One approach involves relying on synchronous communication tools (e.g. Skype or Google Hangouts) or digging for problem scenarios on YouTube or Vimeo. Whether you are bringing a subject matter expert (SME) into your classroom to introduce a problem or question, or accessing a video that frames the problem or provides historical context, this is one hundred percent better than the teacher doing it.

Skype virtual field trips and guest speakers are one approach. The Skype in the Classroom folks have taken great pains to make speakers available for you to meet and problems for your students to solve (e.g. sea turtle conservation, climate change, nuclear fallout).

End of Part One: Collaborative Projects for Elementary Students

In this first article in the series, we explored how to connect real-world problems (without getting fired) to your classroom learning objectives. In part two, we will explore creating prolonged engagement and create context and tasks that matter.

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ChromebooksGoogle Tips and Tricks

Googleize Your Learning: Attend the Chromebook Academy

by Diana Benner
written by Diana Benner

Are you ready to stimulate insightful engagement in your learner-powered, Google-enhanced classroom? Maybe you need some tips on streamlining your productivity workflow?  Come Googleize your learning! Join TCEA members at the 2017 Chromebook Academy. You will discover innovative ways to use Chromebooks and Google Apps through hands-on learning opportunities with fellow educators who have extensive knowledge of Chromebooks and Google.

TCEA’s 2017 Chromebook Academy will help you strategically plan ahead as you capture new ideas that will transform student learning. This two-day academy is designed for those seeking to engage students and deepen their understanding of the GAFE environment through the use of Google-powered tools and devices.  The Chromebook Academy will take place July 27-28, 2017 at the  TCEA headquarters in Austin. These two days will provide you with proven techniques and practical advice that can be implemented in your classroom.

About Chromebook Academy Sessions

You’ll be able to choose from a variety of concurrent sessions that will help you tailor your learning to best meet your own needs. You’ll be inspired and motivated throughout the day. Lunch is included and will be phenomenal. You will also leave with handouts from all of the presentations. A few session titles appear below, but you can find the complete list online at the link above:

  • Writer’s Workshop 2.0: Leveraging Google Docs for Writing Instruction
  • Chromebook Management Tips and Tricks
  • Blended Learning for Brilliance: Students Shining Through Project-Based Learning
  • I Got a Chromebook, Now What?
  • Easy Accommodation and Assessment Tips That Will Blow Your Mind

How to Register

You can register online at a cost of only $239. TCEA will provide lunch for both days. But wait, there’s more! Each paid registration will receive a one-year TCEA membership, access to all session materials, and an opportunity to build a great Google and Chromebook PLN that you can always rely upon.

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5E Model
Good Teaching

Remix the 5E Model with PBL and Technology

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Remix the 5E Model, blending project-based learning and technology (e.g. Minecraft: Education Edition), to serve up engaging learning opportunities. These jazzed-up lessons have the power to captivate students’ hearts and minds. If you’re wondering why you should use the 5E Model with PBL and technology, keep reading. Aside from Generation Z research, which focuses on students we have in our classrooms now, research supports the idea that engaged learners retain more and apply that learning more.

Research

Here are some points that make it an imperative we remix learning in our classrooms:

  • A 2013 Gallup poll of 500,000 students in grades five through 12 found that nearly eight in 10 elementary students were “engaged” with school, that is, attentive, inquisitive, and generally optimistic. By high school, the number dropped to four in 10.
  • A 2015 follow-up study found that less than a third of 11th-graders felt engaged (as cited online by Tim Holt).

Teachers must often overcome several obstacles when initiating PBL in their school. Yet the shift to active learning involves students in open-ended, scaffolded learning opportunities. Terms like active learning are often synonymous with engaged learning. Some see engaged learning as “providing students with opportunities for practice in unscripted, authentic settings, where stakeholders (including the students themselves) are invested in the outcome” (Source). Reviewing the definition of common terms helps ground our work.

Defining Terms

Is this your first time in the kitchen? Let’s take a moment to define terms that have been tossed around.

  • Active Learning: “Active learning is generally defined as any instructional method that engages students in the learning process. In short, active learning requires students to do meaningful learning activities and think about what they are doing” (Source).
  • 5E Model: The 5E Model organizes lesson planning, focusing teacher-created activities and making them student-centric with attention given to Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate to transform learning. You can find a more detailed overview online.
  • Project-Based Learning (PBL): The PBL approach drops students into a real world problem-solving situation and engages them emotionally and intellectually from stakeholder perspectives. You can find more information about PBL online. You may also want to read this LifePractice PBL book review by TCEA member Tim Holt from El Paso ISD.

Now that definitions are out the way, let’s dive into a fun exploration of the 5E Model with PBLT, one step at a time.

Step 1: Engage with Problems

Craft an engaging scenario or problem. You need not limit yourself to problems or issues that arise in your community. Use local news, as well as news sources online such as Dogo News, Newsela, or Newseum. Combine tools like Summarize This or Read & Write to to help transition students to make their research process visible. When selecting a video or news story, search for one that is aligned to the TEKS Standards.

Here are two examples featuring Minecraft: Education Edition (MCEE) PBL Task Cards I adapted from lessons developed in TCEA MCEE workshops:

You can read more about this in another blog entry, Fantastic Voyage: Minecraft Lesson Planning.

Step 2: Explore Student Thinking with Videos

As we explore student thinking, you can quickly make thinking visible with video. Encourage students to “think, plan, investigate, and organize collected information” with either Flipgrid.com or LetsRecap.com. Both offer opportunities for students to share their reflections and research take-aways.

Don’t forget that you can also encourage students to snap pictures in Minecraft: Education Edition (MCEE), write a short description of those, and then export the images. This makes it easy to collect the information into a slide show and have students record audio reflections describing what they learned as a narrated slideshow.

Another approach includes having students fill out paper rubrics sharing their learning. Here’s one example of a rubric that fosters reflection. Students had worked on building a community in MCEE:

Step 3: Explain Learning Take-Aways

In this step, students can use a tool like Shadow Puppet EDU, Toontastic, Google Slides with Screencasting tools, or Powerpoint and Office Mix to create some type of media (e.g. audio, narrated slideshow, video) that shares their learning. The main goal is to externalize their thinking and learning process in such a way that helps others understand it.

Step 4: Elaborate with Paper Slides

In this step, have students apply their new insights and framework to a new idea. One approach involves creating a narrated slideshow with paper slides, where students storyboard their application of a newly developed problem-solving process to an existing problem. Their illustration of the problem helps them see what is happening, bringing order to chaos. Then, video record a paper slide of the process as students explain their thinking.

Here are two sample storyboards (which could be made in a comic book app or website, Powerpoint, or even hand-drawn in OneNote with digital ink. Other tools include Padlet, Google Drawing, Google Slides). It really doesn’t matter what you make it with, provided that students make their thinking visible.

Sample storyboard involving Minecraft and the “Horror” genre:

Another approach is to rely on a tool like Skype or Appear.in to bring in an expert to offer feedback on the paper slide students have created. Here are a few folks you can connect with via Twitter:

  1. Follow Twitter conversation #MinecraftEDU
  2. Neal Manegold @PlayCraftLearn
  3. Benjamin Kelly ‏@BBTNB 
  4. Garrett Z. @pbjellygames
  5. Mark Grundel @MGrundel
  6. Rachel Burkett @tisinaction
  7. Rachel Kent @RachelKTutoring
  8. IrvSpanish
  9. Connor Kropp @ConnorKropp

Step 5: Evaluate with Quizziz or Kahoot!

In this step, students are expected to take evaluation to the next level. Rather than the teacher creating a Kahoot! or Quizziz type assessment, students reflect on the process they have gone through and then create an assessment to offer others who are learning from them. The assessment serves as a reflective measure for the solution developers and for others who seek to learn from the solution or apply it.

Wrap Up

Once you have crafted your 5E Model Lesson with PBL+T, you can take a break and relax. Learn more about PBL in the Classroom at an upcoming Tots and Technology conference.

 

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G Suite
Coding/Computer ScienceDigital LiteracyGoogle Tips and Tricks

Free G Suite Curriculum

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“What’s the biggest problem we face in achieving success on the 8th grade technology applications TEKS?” asked a district instructional technology specialist. That is a question that many of my education colleagues have been hoping to see answered in their lifetime. And the answer is: free technology curriculum! While several curriculum providers have an online curriculum (Learning.com provides one excellent example), few are available at no charge to school districts. That is, until recently. Google has announced a free technology curriculum for grades 7-12. Let’s review some of its benefits.

Benefit #1 – Video-based Curriculum

The new G Suite curriculum comes complete with instructional videos and creative projects. This will be a boon to educators who seek to prepare students for the world of work. Of course, there is a focus on Google Suites for EducationScreenshot 2017-03-21 at 12.44.08 PM tools. Some of the creative projects include If/Then Adventures, which are reminiscent of the Choose Your Own Adventure print stories many of us grew up seeing on bookshelves. The If/Then Adventures video provides great examples that highlight coding connections. They also emphasize real-life connections to apps many of us may be familiar with, such as the Waze directions app.

While watching the video, students can receive prompts known as “CS Alerts” that offer status updates and advise them what to do next or what is upcoming.

Benefit #2 – Earn Badges for Rich Learning Activities in G Suite

G SuiteRelying on activities that feature communication, collaboration, and research, students are able to work on projects and create together. This collaboration provides rich opportunities for joint and independent communication and research. What’s more, students are able to earn badges for activities they engage in.

Benefit #3 – Real-World Applications

A third benefit of the many available resources includes real-world application. Scaffolds are put in place to enable students to “express ideas, collaborate with others, analyze and solve problems, and create.”

Conclusion

Take a look at the free Google Suites for Education curriculum for secondary students. How would you incorporate this to enhance teaching and learning in your classroom? Even if you aren’t a technology applications teacher, you can take advantage of these resources.

 

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Good Teaching

The Book to Get You Started with PrBL

by Guest Blogger
written by Guest Blogger

This is a guest blog post by Tim Holt (@timholt2007), Director of Instructional Technology for El Paso ISD. In it, he shares his thoughts about Ginger Lewman’s book “Lessons for LifePractice Learning.“

lifepractice“If we’re truly preparing kids for the real world,” says Ginger Lewman, “it’s time we start practicing real life, right now.” Problem-Based Learning (PrBL) is a viable method of teaching deep, rigorous, and cross-curricular, student-driven lessons.  Before jumping into the review, let’s take a moment to reflect on the challenges advocates encounter when introducing educators to PrBL.

PrBL Adoption Roadblocks

Roadblocks to PrBL adoption often include time, planning, coming up with viable lessons, and standardized testing. As a result of the last, PrBL is normally put on the back burner in most districts.

Ginger Lewman became an expert in PrBL and Project-Based Learning (PBL) as she opened a school whose curriculum was based on projects and problems. She noticed PrBL and PBL classroom implementations left much to be desired. Although both are preferred teaching and learning methods, few educators were successful.

Bridging the Gap

That gap between how teaching should occur and how it actually does led Lewman to write Lessons for LifePractice Learning. This guidebook helps teachers move from the way they teach now to the way they should be teaching. Lewman’s book is a primer for anyone interested in the topic. She addresses both the novice and the expert in each chapter. Having taken over a decade to write, the knowledge base that she has gained over the years certainly shows in this book.

Ginger focuses on the essentials of the Pr/PBL lesson cycle. Each chapter is dedicated to what exactly happens at each stage of the learning:

  • Prep
  • Launch
  • Expectations
  • Grouping
  • Work
  • Midpoint regroup
  • Closing
  • Assessment
  • Post project wrap up

Lewman addresses both the novice and advanced learner in each chapter, letting them know what they should be looking for during each stage of the lesson.

Recipe Cards

What is most impressive is that Lewman ties these chapters to actual lessons that she has written and perfected over the years. She called these lessons “Recipe Cards,” and they are cross-curricular PBLs that teachers can use as is, or modify to suit particular needs. Teachers can use them:

  • As a cook (novice) would (and not change the recipe)
  • As a chef (expert) would (and change the recipe to meet the various tastes of the campus or students that are using them).

Lewman shows her PrBL roots when she talks about creating “hooks” for students to get them engaged. Emotional attachment to learning is critically important, yet so few educators use it as a foundation in lesson design. Ginger implores readers to use carefully-constructed, emotional hooks that grab student attention. These allow students to own the learning.

Reflections

Lewman, a strong advocate for the use of edtech, makes a strong case for using edtech resources throughout the book. If you are going to make a problem “real,” then it should include real tools. And those tools are more often than not technology tools.

I suppose if I had any qualms with the book, it would be with how Lewman does not deeply address those issues that keep teachers from actually doing Pr/PBL (which was the actual reason she wrote it to begin with).

  • How do you “make time” to develop lessons?
  • How do you advocate to your administrator, who is all about test scores, the need for this kind of learning?
  • How do you design decent rubrics and make that move from traditional grading to rubric-based assessment?

While Lewman addresses these issues superficially, allaying teacher’s fears head-on is a better way of starting a conversation, especially with teachers that might be nervous about trying something new. (That being said, Lewman DOES address these issues on her lifepracticeplb.org website).

Lewman also squishes PrBL and PBL into the same box, and I think that there are distinct differences between the two. But, these are quibbles in an otherwise outstanding work.

Conclusion

This book is easy to read, easy to visualize what Lewman is advocating, and is written from an educator-to-educator point of view, not the expert-to-educator point of view that so many education books seem to be voiced as. It is obvious that she is an expert, but she doesn’t flaunt it. She lets her knowledge and experience do the talking for her.

Lessons for Lifepractice Learning could be an introduction for any campus or district that wants to get started with Pr/PBL. It is a great source of information about the topic. If I were starting a school from scratch, I think I might use this book as a template on how we would teach and learn. Ginger Lewman is one of those that gives back, and Lessons for Lifepractice Learning is an excellent example of a dedicated, passionate educator with something big to share.

Relevant Links

Tim Holt has 31 years under his belt in education. Along the way, he served as President of the Science Teachers Association of Texas, TEC-SIG and was awarded the Make IT Happen award. You can read his blog at holtthink.tumblr.com.

 

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Minecraft
MicrosoftProfessional LearningSTEM/STEAM

Five Steps to Game-Based Learning with Minecraft

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

tceamee_gameboard

TCEA MEE Gameboard
(Get Full Sized PNG Image or Adobe PDF version)

Wondering how to effectively engage students in interactive learning? Before we explore five steps to game-based learning with Minecraft: Education Edition, let’s recall why engagement remains important. If students don’t care, they fail to learn. Some of the top ways to engage students include:

Project-Based, Gamified Learning

Minecraft, which is a game-based effort to engage and keep students focused on learning, taps into student enthusiasm about gaming. Even more important, it models cooperative learning that mirrors teams in the workplace. The skills they develop are the “glue that keep people working together” (source: Getting to Know Minecraft: Education Edition slideshow). Think of Minecraft as a giant, blank canvas, a genesis of divergent learning opportunities students can take advantage of. Minecraft: Education Edition (M:EE) brings a plethora of built-in opportunities ripe for written/video reflections on learning. Also, opportunities for flipped learning about relevant topics are embedded in project-based learning.

Getting Started Actions

People learn through observation, trial and error, and play-based practice. Minecraft’s open learning enables differentiation for students as they accomplish project-based tasks. These tasks are seldom accomplished in isolation. Like real life, they must be done in tandem with a committed team. Follow these steps to get started with M:EE in your school or district:

Step #1: Get your hardware and software licenses in order.Before you can get M:EE going in your classroom, you will need to ensure that your computers have Windows 10 or OS X “El Capitan.” Also, each machine will need an external mouse and every student will need an Office 365 account. These accounts are available through your school district’s Office 365 setup or via a free account.

Step #2: Install Minecraft: Education Edition on Windows 10 computers.To get M:EE ready to go on your Windows 10 or Mac OS X “El Capitan” computers, you will need to go to the M:EE web site. You will need your Office 365 account to get access to the software. Check out the M:EE Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to get started. View this short installation guide with screenshots.

Step #3: Build familiarity with the game.You need to achieve some level of comfort with Minecraft: Education Edition. To help you, TCEA has created this M:EE Gameboard. (You can download a PDF of the M:EE Gameboard above.) There are various tutorials you can watch online at the web site. And here are M:EE online courses that will help build your comfort:

Video #1 – Learn to Play Minecraft: Get ready to jump into a Minecraft world. It will help you learn the controls you’ll need to play. Learn to move around, swim, climb, jump, and place and destroy blocks.
Video #2 – First Weeks of Learning: This is the introductory module for the Minecraft in Your Classroom course. Some teachers may wonder whether they should take the time to incorporate game-based learning into their already packed curriculum. In this module, you will learn (1) what type of learning environments result in the greatest retention by students and (2) how Minecraft Education Edition not only supports such learning environments, but creates a safe, risk-free learning space for students.
Video #3 – Building Blocks of Literacy: This panel explores how and why Minecraft is being used to encourage literacy through play. From artistic collaborations between literature and gaming to stimulating learning through role play and stories, to nurturing new voices and young storytellers, you will take a closer look at the ways Minecraft is inspiring a new generation of readers and writers.

Step #4: Learn key terms and tools in Minecraft: Education Edition. M:EE brings a wealth of specific classroom tools. These are intended to make the game less about surviving zombies, creepers, and griefing (e.g. destroying) and more about working together to externalize learning. Check this glossary available online.

Step #5: Plan your project-based lesson.There is a rich collection of M:EE lessons you can adapt for your own use! We will explore these in more detail in a future blog entry. For now, take a look at some of the ideas displayed in this TCEA TechNotes blog entry Amplifying Creativity: Minecraft Fairy Tales.

 

Did you know? TCEA is offering Introduction to Minecraft workshops throughout Texas. The first is January 23, 2017 in Pittsburg (Area 8). The second is February 27 in Edinburg (Area 1), and there is another on March 31st in Victoria (Area 3). Online course offerings will also soon be available! Sign up now to learn with a Minecraft Certified Trainer.

Conclusion

Technology can facilitate real-life learning through the presentation of ill-structured problems. Minecraft: Education Edition enables learners to create external thinking models as they work to solve those problems. This short guide should start you on a journey of discovery.

 

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stack of books with a red apple on top, colored pencils, and ABC blocks
Good Teaching

Skip Superficial Learning: Blend Technology

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

How can we get past superficial technology use in our classrooms? When I envision changing what is happening in the classroom, some of the transformations I’d like to see include the following:

  • Problem-Based Learning: PBL engages students not with technology, but with powerful ideas and learning possibilities that technology can accelerate. Read more about PBL. | Visit Professional Learning Site.
  • Collaboration: The hallmark of today’s technology-embedded classrooms must be increased communication opportunities along with collaboration. In Three Steps to Leverage Technology for Dual Language or ELL Strategies, you can see that these uses transcend technology and enable powerful, interactive activities that can be done at a distance. Try having students create a multimedia anthology of digital stories that can be read, viewed, and listened to across the globe. Another example involves students nationwide gathering and analyzing data via cloud spreadsheets.
  • Amplify Student Voices: Powerful learning occurs when we hear our own voice in the world. Affirming students’ ability to impact social justice issues in their community helps them develop their voice. Going digital on a world stage can transform lives in an instant for good or ill.

Achieving the Impossible

Technology also makes possible the difficult or impossible. One example includes creating lifelong electronic portfolios and another is augmenting learning.

  • Lifelong Electronic Portfolios: As learners, most work disappears at the end of class. Creating lifelong e-Portfolios enables learners to achieve greater insight into what and how they learn. It also forces reflections on learning. Find out more: e-Portfolios | Picture Portfolios
  • Empower the Previously Difficult or Impossible: Technology enables us to learn in ways previously impossible. Consider technologies like an iPad and Moticonnect, which fellow blogger Richard Byrne highlights through a guest post by Maggie Keeler and EdTechTeacher. MotiConnect augments what may have been done in the past.

Skip superficial attempts at technology-enhanced learning. Commit to blending technology for transformative learning in our classrooms.

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