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Teaching an old dog new tricks - final version
- 1. Teaching an “Old Dog” New Tricks: Transformed by Technology Susie Leahy Collegiate School
- 2. The Old Dog’s Story
- 3. Don’t underestimate what these little ones can do!
- 4. Narrable • Narrable “uses storytelling through images and narration to engage students and to draw out important higher order thinking skills.” – Narrable website
- 5. Narrable in Action • Watch this! Free Photo: Children, Playing, School. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Aug. 2014.
- 6. More Narrable • children’s storytelling • sequence of events (e.g., life cycles in science) • sequence of events (in a story or historical event).
- 7. Piktochart
- 8. Piktochart • Our Morning Routine Previna Problemas Nas Costas Das Crianças. Digital image. Vitale Saudavel. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Aug. 2014
- 10. Big Huge Labs
- 11. Big Huge Labs
- 12. Aurasma
- 13. Aurasma Pre-K Word Wall. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Aug. 2014.
- 14. Aurasma
Editor's Notes
- Welcome! My name is Susie Leahy (the human old dog). Pictured here you see my 13 year-old dog, Josie. She will be starring in some of the pictures today. I am a first grade teacher in Richmond, Virginia. After nearly 25 years in education, I decided to stretch myself a bit and am currently pursuing an endorsement in library science from Old Dominion University. I am excited to share with you some of the exciting ideas I have learned that will enhance your work in schools. (2 minutes)
- A few years ago, my school installed Smartboards in all of our classrooms, whether we wanted them or not. I was proud of myself for learning how to integrate some of our math worksheets into the Smartboard. I thought I looked like a “hip” teacher when I wrote on it. Bear in mind that I have been teaching for almost 25 years, so I definitely need to work on my “hipness” factor. One day, I looked out into my classroom. My twenty first graders looked…bored. It dawned on me that Smartboard doesn’t automatically equal engaging lesson. Just because something looks intriguing, doesn’t mean it will be for the students. I needed to learn how to IMPROVE my actual teaching when using technology. If technology isn’t enhancing what we do as teachers, then we aren’t using it correctly. I became determined to make a change in my teaching. You really can teach an old dog new tricks (unless it’s my 13 year old dog pictured above). I am going to share four tools that you can use in your school to help children engage (and enjoy) the learning process. I’ll give you specific examples of how I use it in my classroom. While I teach in an independent school and don’t have to worry about the SOLS too much, I’ll be sure to let you know which SOLS the various activities cover. (4 minutes)
- Some of the tools I share with you may initially seem too “complicated” for children as young as first grader. However, I disagree. I believe that with clear expectations and guidelines, all of the tools shared are appropriate for the little ones. (1 minute)
- This is a picture of my first graders from a few years ago. It looks like I staged then as a big group, but that was completely of their own doing. I love this picture because it shows how children naturally like to share stories and collaborate. They like to work with each other. Narrable is wonderful tool for storytelling. It’s incredibly easy to use and the creators provide plenty of support.[Share website]. Let’s see some ways I plan to use it in my classroom this year. (2 minutes)
- In order to demonstrate the usefulness of narrable, I created one using pictures from one of my field trips. In this instance, I did all of the work, which included taking pictures, uploading them and then creating short audio for each picture. [Share narrable video]. In a classroom setting, the children (particularly older children) could take over most of the work. They could choose which pictures would best capture the event and then write the captions for each picture. The higher order skills used in this activity include: summarizing, sequencing, and finding the main idea. Children also will develop their writing skills as they write succinct descriptions of each picture. First grade SOLS covered include: 1.1a Listen and respond to a variety of electronic media and other age-appropriate materials, 1.1b Tell and retell stories and events in logical order, 1.14 The student will use available technology for reading and writing. (5 minutes)
- I love to use Narrable to share fun events with the parents (like field trips and class plays), particularly because I know so many of them would to be there with us. But it can also be used for a variety of other activities. Children could use Narrable to create their own original stories. The children (with some help from an adult) could use photographs or pictures of their own illustrations in the storytelling. Narrable is also an excellent tool for showing the sequence of events, such as life cycles in science or events in social studies. It could also be used to describe the steps in building or making something. (3 minutes)
- Learning about Piktochart was a revelation for me. I always wondered how people created cool, eye-catching charts with seemingly ease. I wondered what in the world I was missing. It turns out I was missing this tool! I think this is actually a “teacher’s best friend” as it can be used to make so many different infographics and charts for use in the classroom. One way that I plan to use it in my classroom this year is during our economics unit. Our first graders create ”animal print” stationery using their thumbprints (it’s adorable, trust me). We sell the stationery (mainly to the parents – easy money ) and then donate any profits to the Richmond SPCA. No – I’m not suggesting we use Piktochart to make the stationery. Nothing can compete with children’s own artwork. But, we could use this tool for the advertising component of our economics unit. The children create their own advertisements for our class business in the computer lab. Piktochart is an ideal tool to use to make eye-catching & clear advertisements. The class business, by the way, covers first grade economic SOLS 1.7, 1.8 and 1.9. (4 minutes)
- Piktochart helps take information and/or directions and puts them into a format that is easy to understand. It uses words and simple pictures to communicate. I created an infographic using piktochart to show my first graders a specific routine that they need to follow every morning. I post it on the Smartboard where it’s very easy to see. When the children enter the room (full of enthusiasm – or in other words, loud and out of control), I’ll have explicit, yet simple instructions for what they need to do.[Share piktochart inforgraphic]. Basically, any time information needs to be displayed in a limited amount of space, piktochart is an ideal tool. Another instance where Piktochart will help with instruction (and keeping children engaged and hands-on) is as a post-reading assignment. The children can use Piktochart to create actual story maps of the sequence of events in a story. I’ll start by modeling the activity whole group with a read-aloud book. We’ll work on the activity together via the Smartboard so the children get a feel for how it works. The next step will be to pair the children up in their small reading groups. In a small group format, I can assist the children as they use Piktochart to create story maps. (4 minutes)
- Big Huge Labs is an incredibly versatile tool. It takes your own pictures and enables you to do all kinds of cool stuff with them. You may recognize my old dog Josie in the sample above. As you can see, she is now transformed into a pop art sensation. I’m planning to take pictures of each child in my class and then turn them into pop art. It will be a fun, colorful way to begin the school year (and the parents will love it!) (2 minutes)
- Bear with me on this slide. I know it looks a little….bland. This is simply a screen shot from the Big Huge Labs website. With a little creativity, your students can turn it into a movie poster. Actually, I was thinking it would work as a post-reading assignment. The children could create a “movie poster” to highlight a book. Because there is only limited text available, the student will have to really think about what key ideas to share. They will also need to choose an appropriate image (from google images or an actual photograph) that captures the main idea of the book. Again, this would be an ideal activity to complete in a small reading group. Students will use higher-order thinking skills as they create a succinct “movie poster” that highlights the main idea of a book. This activity will satisfy first grade reading SOL 1.9 b) set a purpose for reading, e) ask and answer who, what, when, where, why and how questions about what is read, f) Identify characters, setting, and important events, h) identify the main idea or theme. (4 minutes)
- Did I mention the map feature of Big Huge Labs? It is a fantastic tool that can be used in so many ways in a classroom. For instance, this is a map I created that shows the states in which I have ridden my bike. Clearly, I need to get riding in the west! The map tool can be tweaked to look at specific regions or the entire world. While studying geography, teachers could have each child create a map of places/countries/states visited - or places that students want to visit or dream about. (2 minutes)
- This is simply a fantastic tool. To me, it borders on magical – really. It’s known as a “layered reality” tool. See – doesn’t that sound magical? In a nutshell, it brings static pictures or photos to life by connecting them to a video. When you point your device with the aurasma app at a particular object or picture, it triggers a video to play. So, how does this work in a classroom? Let’s say you have some student reading one of the Harry Potter books (I’m really going with the magic theme now). You could link a video to the front cover of the book that gives an overview of what happened in the previous book. The student could watch the video right before starting the book as a quick review. I would’ve loved that – the Harry Potter books have a lot of action and characters so this old dog would’ve loved a little review! (3 minutes)
- I love how Aurasma can take a word wall (or in this case, a letter wall) and make it interactive. In this case, children would use a device (such as an iPad) in order to get a video definition of the words on the wall. They simply look at the word through the iPad, which will trigger the video to play. The definitions can be created by the teacher or the students themselves. I prefer having the students create the definitions as it will help them actually remember the meaning! In the beginning of the school year, the wall could just have the letters. The children could create videos that give the sound of the letter as well as some words that start with the letter. What a wonderfully engaging way to review the alphabet sounds! The letter wall and the word wall cover several important first grade SOLS, including: Oral language 1.1 (a) listen and respond to a variety of electronic media and other age-appropriate materials, 1.2 (a) increase listening and speaking vocabularies, 1.2 (b) begin to ask for clarification and explanation of words and ideas, Reading 1.8 (a) discuss meanings of words in context, (b) develop vocabulary by listening to and reading a variety of texts (4 minutes)
- Do you ever get a little nervous before Parents’ Night or your Open House? Here is a fun way to break the ice in the classroom. Take a snapshot of each child, then film a video of each child where she welcomes her family to the classroom. What a great writing exercise, too! You could have each child write a welcome letter to their parents. Then, video each child reading the letter. Using magical aurasma, you can link the video to each child’s picture. Imagine how much fun the parents will have seeing a video pop up as they look at a picture of their child. You could also use aurasma for biographies. My first graders study famous Americans in late winter. I usually have them make “life-size” paper people to represent their chosen famous American. This year, I’ll add one more step. I’ll take a picture of each famous person. Each child will then write a brief summary of their subject. When they’re ready, I’ll videotape each child reading their summary. The final step will be to link the video to the picture of each famous person. I know that my first graders will love watching every single video. Aurasma can also be used to explain homework in more detail – provided families have the app at home. It’s really a fantastic tool. ( 4 minutes)
- [Share video of Josie]. Well, what do you know? Maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks. I hope you all have enjoyed my presentation. Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments or ideas. Thanks so much! (1 minute)