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Posts tagged with student work
by derrickwillard on May 8, 2012 at 7:20 pm · Filed under engagement, iPad and tagged: apps, iPad, student work
Recently my environmental science iPad pilot class used the Pages app (yes, the same program Mac users are familiar with) to create invasive species posters. These are not just any posters, but “NOT Wanted” posters. I can’t claim this is my idea, as environmental science teachers have issued this assignment for years–just do a quick Google search. The basic idea was to produce posters about invasive species on our campus made in the spirit of old west (USA) “Wanted” posters for notorious criminals.
NOT Wanted Poster Example
My students were able to create beautiful posters with relative ease on the iPad2. Then, I had the students put up the posters all over the Kindergarten Hall in our school. After about a week of letting the younger students see the posters, my students came in to teach a brief lesson on invasive plants. The students designed and led the lesson.
Senior Teaching Kindergarten
Then, the older students organized the students into groups and took them outside to tag the invasive plants pictured on the posters. Each student was given a small piece of colored flagging tape to tie around a plant.
Tagging Invasive Bamboo
The Kindergarteners were told that they were tagging the plants so that older students could come cut them down on Earth Day. And, indeed, older students from our service club came out to remove the invasive plants.
Students Remove Wisteria
Did the iPads make the difference? No, of course not. But, it was nice to be able to create and revise the posters without booking the computer lab. My students, most of whom had never used Pages, loved the Page app and were impressed with the professional looking posters they produced. Me, I was thrilled to see my seniors engaged at a time of the year when they are ready to check out…
*You can read more about the project and see a slideshow of the students in action here.
by derrickwillard on October 30, 2011 at 4:58 pm · Filed under iPad and tagged: iPad, student work, whiteboard
Here is an image of one of my students using the Explain Everything app and a projector to review concepts before a test. Now every iPad2 can be a “smartboard.”
I’ll try to upload a short video of the app in action soon.
by derrickwillard on October 13, 2011 at 7:43 pm · Filed under iPad, paperless classroom and tagged: iPad, paperless, student work
So….I had this neat realization today in my environmental science class. Yeah, the one using iPad2 only-no paper except for tests (haven’t figured that one out just yet). So, I did have to do a little bit of lecture today. The topic was The Theory of Plate Tectonics. A review of how the Earth moves giant sheets of rock around, resulting in earthquakes and volcanoes. After about 10 minutes, I noticed no one was writing a thing down. They were actually focused and engaged on the information on the screen and my explanations of geological processes. Hands were going up ever so often. No one was looking down at the iPads. No one was taking notes. When class was over, everyone got up, walked to the whiteboard and took pictures of the notes on the board. It only took them four weeks…
by derrickwillard on September 26, 2011 at 7:01 pm · Filed under blog, iPad, paperless classroom and tagged: blog, iPad, student work
So, last week we learned a little more about the tools on our iPads. I graded lab reports students turned in using iAnnotate PDF-they marked them up using the app, and I made corrections using the same app and emailed them back to the students. We also practiced taking pictures of notes on the board and embedding the images in a unit notebook in the Noteshelf app. Our presentations went better than I expect. Students easily built 5-slide presentations in Keynote (one chose Explain Everything) and then hooked up to our class projector to share what they learned about symbiotic relationships. I have yet to collect some written feedback, but I plan to survey the kids after this unit test. The only paper they will write on this first unit with the iPad is our unit test tomorrow. I have found a new app called eClicker, but I’ve yet to test it. There are a few apps that may allow for testing on the iPad, but I am not trying those yet. We’ve yet to really get the class blog cranked up, but that should start this week. One of the students will author a post about the progress on our rainbow trout rearing project.
by derrickwillard on June 13, 2011 at 9:34 pm · Filed under blog, Google Tools, iPad, paperless classroom and tagged: blog, iPad, social media, student work, students
In my last post, I wrote about how I was attempting to use iPads (1st generation) for consuming and creating course content while traveling with six kids in Costa Rica. We are now 8 days into our trip, and I think I’ve learned a thing or two about going 1:1 in a class:
1. Choosing content to upload in advance is key. When we have had “down time,” the kids could view/read “homework.” Then, we could spend our face-to-face time doing more outside.
2. The initial synch-up with the “master Mac” for the class has to be thought through carefully. I noticed, after synching all the iPads, that I was logged into multiple apps. So, if I did not log out the students would be able to purchase apps at the iTunes store or post content under my name at YouTube or access my mail in Google Docs.
3. The students don’t mind the touch screens. I brought one keyboard dock, but the kids seemed content to type away on the touch screen just fine. I was amazed at the amount of content they could generate in a short time.
4. If I gave the students enough to do, they stayed on task. I know they used the iPads to entertain themselves, check Facebook, email home, etc…but when I designated “classwork” time, they went at it. In fact, sometimes I had to tell them to quit!
5. We’ve largely managed to operate the course “paperless.” With the exception of bringing an environmental science text and a lab notebook (for data collected in the field), everything has been done/read at our blog or in Google Docs or in notepad-type apps on the iPads.
6. Trying to run a wiki on iPads was an epic fail. Thus far (June 2011), there does not seem to be any reliable app to author/edit wikis on the iPad.
I’m sure more will occur to me as this trip winds down and I find time to process and reflect at home. I also plan to survey and/or interview the kids on the whole experience. If you have time, check out the work the kids have done at out class/trip blog: http://pdsblogs.org/costarica/
by derrickwillard on June 7, 2011 at 8:06 am · Filed under blog, iPad and tagged: blog, iPad, paperless, student work
This year I have become fascinated with the idea of iPads as devices that host digital texts, and more recently I have started to see their possibility as “digital backpacks” full of school tools. Currently, I have undertaken a 1:1 iPad pilot while on a trip with students to Costa Rica to study the tropical rainforests here. So, I have a whole series of posts about the planning and realities of trying to make this experiment work.
So, how are we using the technology?
First, we are using it to view content. Yesterday was a travel day. Since we had down time in the airport (flight was delayed) and on the plane (4 hour flight), I gave the kids the following assignment:
When offline-
- Read Chapter 4 on Ecosystems (in Environmental Science Text)
- Watch uploaded iTunes U lecture on Tropical Rainforest (on iPad
- Watch uploaded iTunes “Ecogeeks” Podcast on Rainforests (on iPad)
Student watching multimedia rainforest presentation on iTunes U
Second, we are using it to research and create content. We have great wireless access at each of our field sites (they are set up to handle American college and university researchers). After dinner last night, we went to a classroom and the students started working on their blog assignments on the iPads. Each has the following assignment:
When online-
- Start researching your taxa group (keep track of source pages!)
- Experiment with editing your taxa page in WordPress app
Student authoring blog post on WordPress app for iPad
In addition to these group projects at our trip blog, each student takes turn writing an account of the day. You can read the first account here. I think I’m going to wait a few days before posting again, as the Life 1.0 experience is too amazing to miss. Heading out for a little birdwatching…
by derrickwillard on June 2, 2011 at 8:37 pm · Filed under blog, failure, iPad, wiki and tagged: blog, iPad, student work, wiki
Ok, so in my last post I discussed “packing a digital backpack” (loading apps for educational use) for kids in my Tropical Ecology of Costa Rica class…I had them ready to go and had this ambitious plan to have the students post work on a class wiki and journal on the class blog. Well, I figured out the hard way that you don’t get full functionality editing wikis on iPads (see this link to an Apple Support Community discussion on the topic). So, I looked for a few apps to help. I found two (Wiki Edit and Wikid Wikis), but neither worked for me. So, back to the drawing board. I took the plans for the wiki and built extra pages and subpages onto our trip blog. Check out the Major Tax Projects page. Each kid has a major taxonomic group and will build blog posts at the respective page to catalog what we learn. I think this should work. I’ve got two years experience with my AP Environmental Science students building out robust class blogs. We’ll see. Stay tuned…
by derrickwillard on March 29, 2011 at 2:07 pm · Filed under blended classroom, blog, engagement and tagged: blog, flipping, student work
Last week I wrote a short post lamenting the onset of senioritis in my AP Environmental Science students, and a plan to deal with it during our energy unit. So, my plan was:
Mr. W-handles the fossil fuels
Students-handle the alternative energy sources
Groups of 3 produce 3 products for their lesson:
1. A 15 face-to-face presentation
2. A blog post (homework for classmates to read/watch/respond to the night before the presentation)
3. A handout with key takeaways that students can reference on an open-note test
Well, now we are a few days into turning my class of over to the kids. I must say I’m pretty pleased thus far. The kids are producing short blogs as topic “teasers” for classmates to view the night before (as homework) they present their lesson in class. Here are some of my favorites thus far:
Biomass Energy
Hydroelectric Energy
In a way, I’m watching a small experiment in “flipping” my classroom. I am intrigued by the notion of “flipping” or reverse instruction, but I have yet to really try it myself. Perhaps our class blogs can become a good vehicle for hosting a flipped classroom next year? Even if I don’t flip my classsroom next year, this type of activity validates our blended classroom.
Regardless, I hope the activity is boosting engagement a at critical point in the year. Overall, my kids are writing (for a more authentic audience than just me), searching the web for good video content, and helping each other understand the technologies. Next, I’ll do some sort of evaluation when we are done to see what the kids think of our little teaching project.
*Yes, I do step in to clear up misconceptions and “teach” too….
by derrickwillard on March 21, 2011 at 1:59 pm · Filed under blog, engagement and tagged: blog, student work
Back in action after a week away from computer screens…’twas a nice break.
Ok, so I teach mostly seniors AP Environmental Science. It is that time of the year-many have started to fall ill with senioritis or if not, they are trying to fight it off. I’ve heard many schools offer AP courses as one “treatment” for this disease in hopes of keeping seniors engaged during the period after college acceptances are received but before graduation. Of course, no teacher can expect every student to stay engaged during every unit all year long…
Whatever-the students are probably tired of listening to me at this point. And, I’ve got this ridiculous amount of material to “cover” on energy resources from the College Board APES syllabus. There is NO way even one of these kids can possibly master all of it. So, I’m gonna share the load this unit.
THE PLAN
Mr. W-handles the fossil fuels
Students-handle the alternative energy sources
Groups of 3 produce 3 products for their lesson:
1. A 15 face-to-face presentation
2. A blog post (homework for classmates to read/watch/respond to the night before the presentation)
3. A handout with key takeaways that students can reference on an open-note test
Will it work? We’ll see…check back in next week for links to student blog posts.
Out.
by derrickwillard on March 8, 2011 at 9:28 pm · Filed under wiki and tagged: student work, wiki
Earlier this school year, I wrote a brief post about a project with my 7th grade science class to create a wiki that reflects what we learned this year. In a sense, the kids are writing the book. The printed book we use is a good basic text, but it is getting a bit dated. I thought this would be a good way for the kids to put a new twist on the publishers resource. In my mind, I had some grand visions of what they would produce. In reality, they knew very little about authoring wiki pages (even though they had “used” them in classes last year). Well, after some scaffolding and practice I think they are getting the hang of it. If you have a moment, check out our lesson pages for our current earth science unit-maybe you’ll learn a little something from the kids….
Science 7 Wiki (click to enlarge)
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