Learning Space Redesign

My Space

My current classroom has gone through a lot of redesign in my short 2.5 years teaching. It started looking like a very typical lower elementary classroom, with tables taking up the majority of the room, focused on the front where my large teacher desk sat. My tables were large kidney tables that were poorly designed and only fit 3 kids comfortably, 4 if we squeezed in. At the beginning of my second year, I was purchased new tables by my building to fit more students more comfortably as well as take up less space, but it was still very teacher centered and typically functioning with assigned seats.

 

My first year

My second year (beginning)

 

Last spring, I did a Donor’s Choose project to fund flexible seating in my classroom and it has totally transformed my classroom and teaching philosophy. My students now have no seating chart or assigned seats, and have freedom to choose where they want to sit for each activity. My classroom is small and has several build in cabinets which cause a big restraint on how I can set up, but changing to flexible seating has shifted my focus to my students instead of me as a teacher.

My Redesign

I kept my classroom the same size as it currently is, which is definitely my biggest restraint when configuring my classroom. Flexible seating was very important to me to keep in a classroom redesign. I decided to take out the cupboards that are built into my room and the shelving that is currently in my classroom and minimize it to reduce clutter. I added in build in shelves on the wall that are like a bar that students can sit and work at with a white board above. The white board would give me the ability to add instructional tips or hints for them to use (ex. reading strategies or word families) that not only students sitting in that area could see but students in the whole classroom. I also put a lower one in the front so students who may want to sit on the floor could also sit and work at that type of seating.

I kept my tables and flexible seating because it gives me the option to group students in any way I need so they can collaborate and work together. It also gives them many different spaces to work in to promote project based learning. It could easily give way to personalized learning with projects and potentially partners if they choose to work together. Flexible seating gives students power and voice in the classroom which are both aspects of personalized learning.

For big changes, I added more open windows than I currently have, taking up the whole wall. This would allow tons of natural light which is listed by Barrett, Zhang, Moffat and Kobbacy as a factor for student success. I also added many lamps on tables and the floor and string lights on the wall so that even on gloomy days, the fluorescent lights will not need to be turned on. I also changed the flooring from tiling to carpet. This would reduce the noise of chairs and feet on the floor and give students the ability to sit more comfortably anywhere in the room, not just in a chair. My current classroom is equipped with a class set of clipboards, so students can sit wherever they choose but they always gravitate towards the carpet because it is softer. By adding carpet everywhere, it will open up even more options to them.

Implementation

I have a unique situation in my district where we have just passed a bond and are building a new wing for kindergarten so in the next 2-3 years, I will have a brand new classroom. While the likelihood of the big changes I made happening in my current classroom are slim to none, the chances of some of these ideas being built into our new wing are much more likely so I dreamed a little big! Changing a classroom in the ways I’ve detailed would cost thousands, but since we are building from scratch I’m hoping to take my current furniture to keep with my design and have some unique characteristics that will lead to a more personalized learning, maker centered classroom.

References

Barrett, P., Zhang, Y., Moffat, J., & Kobbacy, K. (2013). A holistic, multi-level analysis identifying the impact of classroom design on on pupils’ learning. Building and Environment, 59, 678-689. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2012.09.016

Maker Lesson Plan

This week in CEP811, we took what we’ve learned over the past few weeks and put it together to create a lesson plan involving our maker kit and learning theories. I focused on personalized learning after feeling very inspired by Richard Culatta’s TedX Talk. While the ideas he discusses seem a little overwhelming for a typical classroom to jump into, I found myself wanting to push my boundaries with my Makey Makey kit and finding a way to add personalized learning in as well. I decided to try to use Scratch* to create a program to use with the Makey Makey kit so my students would not just be seeing the Makey Makey kit in action, but also a program that I can tell them I made just for the project to show them the possibilities of everything they could create.

My lesson is collecting and representing data for kindergarteners. It’s designed to be taught over a series of days, but could be changed and altered for older grades as well. Students will be creating a survey in any way they see fit, with two options for classmates to vote on. Personalized learning comes in with the creation of the surveys, which can be represented in any way they think of. They will then get to use the Makey Makey kit to collect their data and take that information and represent it in a graph. Check out my lesson here!

 

**On my computer, my scratch project only works occasionally. This is a bug I will work out before using it during instruction to ensure it consistently opens on the classroom Chromebooks.

Personalized Learning

 

In CEP 811 this week, we learned about learning theories such as personalized learning, collaborative problem solving and giving immediate feedback based on a Tedx Talk by Richard Culatta. Culatta introduces the idea that each student could come into a classroom with a personalized itinerary for their learning that day and options for how to follow that path. He states that personalized learning “draws students into what they are learning about” and “creates creators”(Culatta, 2013). He also claims that personalized learning would bridge the gap between learners at various levels and paces as well as the gap between technology and education. I was in awe of this type of learning and the possibilities for students but I couldn’t get a good picture of what this would look like in the classroom, especially at an elementary level which led me to focus on personalized learning as a focus for my research further into Culatta’s ideas.

In the article Pacesetter in Personalized Learning, Joanne Jacobs (2018) looks at Summit Public Schools, who have transitioned into personalized learning for the students and how they went through that transition. When they saw that the percentage of students receiving bachelor’s degrees was much lower than expected, they decided they needed to make a change. Jacobs quotes Bill Gates when visiting a Summit school “At its best, personalized learning doesn’t just let students work at their own pace. It puts them in charge of their own academic growth” (2018). One focus they found was project based learning, students learning through projects throughout the lesson instead of one at the end. These projects give students the opportunities to display their knowledge through creative means and use their creativity to explain concepts in a way that makes sense to them. While teachers at Summit schools struggled with this at first, they eventually swathe huge benefits of students creating. The students spend 80% of the day on projects and 20% on personalized learning time, where they are explicitly learning content (Jacobs, 2018). This opens doors to both students and teachers to do their respective jobs at school in an entirely new and productive way.

In the article Personalized Learning for Every Student Every Day, Childress and Benson (2014) analyze the idea of personalized learning in more depth. They spend a lot of time talking about what this would look like from a teacher perspective and what Summit Schools (pioneers for personalized education) do to make it so successful. “Teachers curate materials for student playlists and help them set their own goals. As students advance at their own pace, teachers can devote their attention and instruction where it’s most needed.” (Childress & Benson, 2014) This model would allow a teacher to still be giving instruction, but more focused to what each student needs at different times. Some students could be on a self guided path if they are a more independent learner while others could work in small groups or one on one. This would give the teacher the ability to reach every single student at their level, which is essentially impossible in a standard classroom today. Students are in charge of learning to an extent, with the materials given by a teacher.

Both of these articles give real world examples of personalized learning and how successful it is in the classroom. Project based learning is a base component of personalized learning and how to give students ownership of their learning in the classroom. Students creating and being active learners adds the maker piece to traditional learning to demonstrate knowledge.They also can use their creations to learn and explore new ideas with hands on education based on where they are in the learning and what they need to move forward. This connects very directly with both Culatta’s ideas and the maker culture in education. Can students use “making” as a base of learning and still be as successful? Can students really guide their own learning and stay on track and meet all standards necessary to succeed? Seeing more schools move in this direction gives me hope that technology will become a tool to teachers instead of a burden as technology grows to meet demands in education.

References

Childress, S., & Benson, S. (2014). Personalized learning for every student every day. The Phi Delta Kappan, 95(8), 33-38. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/24374606

Jacobs, J. (2018). Pacesetter in personalized learning. The Education Digest, 83(6), 32-41. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.msu.edu.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/docview/1985541941?accountid=12598

Reimagining Learning: Richard Culatta at TEDxBeaconStreet. (2013, January 10). Retrieved January 23, 2018, from https://youtu.be/Z0uAuonMXrg

 

 

 

Getting Thrifty with Makey Makey

The Process

This week in CEP 811, we got to explore our makers kits! I had chosen Makey Makey, an easy to use kit that gives you the ability to use every day objects to create circuits and an endless amount of creations.

Our task for the week was to use thrift store (or household) items to create something that we can use in the classroom with our maker kit. Before opening my kit at all, I had a bunch of ideas I thought I could try that would work in the classroom but it turned out when I actually looked at what I was working with-none of it did. Lesson learned! I felt very frustrated so I took a break and came back with a much more positive attitude (and helpful husband) to figure out what the kit could do instead of focusing on what it couldn’t. After exploring the kit and trying the ideas on the Makey Makey website I felt like I had a very good feel for how the switchboard works and what I might be able to do.  Since the project ideally would be attached to content, I was inspired by a former CEP students blog to think about math which isn’t usually my go to (literacy is my favorite subject to teach). My students have been learning about subtraction, following a unit about addition and my kiddos are struggling with figuring out which one to use when given a story problem or situation. I made a game of sorts for students where they will hear a story problem, decide whether it’s addition or subtraction and hit the minus or plus sign to check their work and see the problem. I would use this in the classroom as a game to give students practice with the skills. I ended up using tin foil from my kitchen wrapped around some cardboard because I wanted such a specific shape and I knew it would be extremely hard to find something at a thrift store. Check out my video below to see it in action!

The Product

How To:

Materials

• Computer and Powerpoint
• Makey Makey Kit
  • switchboard
  • power cable
  • three alligator clips
• Cardboard
• Aluminum Foil
• Ponytail Holder
• Tape
• Scissors

Step 1:

Make a powerpoint with the questions and answers. I used my my student and dogs as people in the problems because I knew they would find this hilarious.

 

 

Step 3:

Make addition and subtraction sign. I wrapped tin foil (for conductivity) onto cardboard (for stability).

Step 4:

Get your Makey Makey kit ready! Plug the red power plug into your switchboard and the other end in your computer and close out any pop ups (even if it says you need them-you don’t).

Step 5:

Clip an alligator clip from the Makey Makey kit into the “Earth” section at the bottom of the switchboard and clip the other end onto something that will be able to touch your body. I used a ponytail holder because it could easily go from one student to another.

Step 6:

Take another alligator clip and clip one end to the subtraction sign you created and the other to the part on the switchboard labeled space.

Step 7:

Take a third alligator clip and clip one end to the addition sign you created and the other to the part on the switchboard labeled click.

Step 8:

Start the slide show and start the game! Whoever will be choosing and hitting the addition or subtraction sign should be wearing the ponytail holder and clip. Read the slides and have students choose which one the story problem represents!

Playing and Making

For the first week of CEP 811, we explored the idea of “making” and remixing. Many things that we enjoy are “remixes”, or another person’s idea or object that was manipulated and changed to be something different and new. The maker movement pursues creativity and invention and finding. solutions to new problems from unexpected items.

As a kindergarten teacher I teach students who are used to preschool, most of which are play based. Kindergarten is a huge transition year and a lot of them still desperately need play to build social skills, be creative and just relax and enjoy themselves. I try to make sure we get time to play at least three days a week, but it’s hard! As the focus continues to shift to testing and data, play and exploration are left in the dust.

When watching Dale Dougherty’s TED Talk about making, I couldn’t help but think of my students! My students take classroom objects and make them something else on a daily basis. I see legos becomes houses, schools, trees, plants, literally anything they can imagine! Bubble connectors have become swords and my students are now knights battling fierce dragons together. Their creations transform our classrooms and give them an opportunity to work together and make new and exciting things. By cutting back on play, we are cutting back on creativity and the maker culture. As a teacher, I find this to be one of the most frustrating things! These kids will be future makers who contribute to society in meaningful new ways and squashing their creativity could have serious repercussions in ingenuity and resourcefulness. The pressure of teachers to “do it all” is growing. While testing is emphasized from administrations, teachers know that is not what’s best. Below is a video I made using WeVideo about the importance of play in creating makers (featuring some of my favorite little makers 🙂 ).

 

 

Sources:

All videos:

Spearman, D. (2018) Untitled. Mason, MI

Image:

Mateev, M. Playing girl 11523.  Retrieved from https://www.pexels.com/photo/kid-children-playing-girl-11523/

 

CEP810 Reflection

As we finish up CEP 810, I find myself reflecting on not just what I learned as an educator, but also just in general about technology. I had thought that I knew quite a bit, since I’m one of the youngest teachers in my building I tend to be the person people gravitate towards towards for technology questions. I’ve learned a lot about different technologies to use, how to find new tech for the classroom, how to tie technology into teaching (even for kindergarteners which is sometimes hard!) and how to open my mind a little to repurpose things to make them useful for me and my students.

I love the idea of using technology in the classroom, but throughout this course I realized I’m missing so many great opportunities! I really learned a lot from the 21st Century Lesson Plan assignment. I found so many ideas when searching for new technology and found ideas I don’t think I would have looked twice at any other time. The exploration part of that week was very valuable for me and brought a lot of new ideas to mind that I’m excited to try!

I also think actively writing down my Professional Learning Network was great for me. I never realized how many different people or resources I use until now and it also helped me reach out and try to expand this. I regularly use blogs and Pinterest for ideas, but twitter is not a resource I had used before. I plan to use twitter more frequently as well as expanding on some of the blogs I follow. The RSS feed makes it so easy to follow multiple blogs in one place and filter out valuable content. I plan on utilizing that more often as well.

I still want to work on integrating more technology and using the TPACK framework to my advantage. I find myself shying away from some technology in the classroom because of how challenging it can be to teach students how to use it. They really are more than capable to use it with some guidance, I just need to move past my mental block and open up to the idea. I think once I start trying and experimenting with new technologies it will get easier and I will see my students grow. I plan to dedicate more time next year to working with technology to help it work for me with my curriculum and I’m really excited to see where it will take me and my students!

Wordle Image from http://edtech.pgusd.org/

Cooking with TPACK

This week in CEP810, we learned about the idea of TPACK (technology, pedagogy and content knowledge) and how it applies to teaching. According to Kereliuk, Mishra & Koehler (2011), TPACK is “an integrated framework for reasoning how technology connects to content knowledge and knowledge of teaching.” Mishra discussed the fact that very little technology is created for teaching, so we use the technology we are given and repurpose it to fit our needs. Teachers also need to have a solid understanding of technology to be able to apply it to the content areas that we teach and use technology as a tool that enhances learning.

In keeping that mindset, we were given a challenge this week to use three given tools (a bowl, plate and utensil) selected by someone else, draw a task out of a hat and complete it with the given tools. I was given a wooden spoon, mixing bowl and serving platter to make a peanut butter and jelly. I expected it to be much more of a challenge than it turned out to be! I repurposed the spoon into a knife, much like teachers can repurpose technology to fit into their content in the classroom! Find my cooking challenge video below.

This should be a concept that all educators are open to. Technology is constantly changing and morphing, but content remains the same. Teachers should be able to adapt and repurpose technology to fit their content area. As technology continues to grow and evolve, teachers should also grow in their knowledge to continue to use the TPACK framework to benefit their students.

 

References

Kereluik, K., Mishra, P. & Koehler, M.J. (2011). On learning to subvert signs: Literacy,         technology and the TPACK framework. The California Reader, 44(2), 12-18. download .pdf

Networked Learning Final Post

For CEP810 we were asked to learn something new using strictly youtube videos or help forums. I chose to learn to curl my hair, as this is a skill I’ve always wanted to have but never seemed to find the patience to learn. Overall, this project was a success for me! Though curling my hair will be a skill I need to continue to master, I have grown at least enough to curl my hair and go out in public which is vast improvement!  Here’s my video (with such a flatter still 😉 ):

I really enjoyed learning online! I found that videos are much more helpful for me than how to websites or help forums. Descriptions can only do so much, but being able to see what I need to do helped me be much more successful. Some videos that were helpful to me were the Sam Villa Curls Tutorial and 5 Easiest Ways to Curl Your Hair. Both of these gave multiple ways to curl, so I was able to watch for a while and pull some different techniques. While I didn’t find many how to or help forums very helpful, I did really like this Buzzfeed article to help with some small tricks to help me improve my skills.

I will definitely use this approach in the future! I’ve actually been wanting to try using a real camera and learning some photography skills for a while and I just purchased a camera from a friend this week. When I asked him if he would help me learn, he said the best tool to help will be youtube videos! I’m glad I had the opportunity to learn a skill mostly by videos so I know how simple and helpful it is. It’s kind of crazy that I had never done it before now for myself, because I have used youtube to help my dad change oil in an unfamiliar car and when my students ask how something works in the classroom. I will definitely encourage my students to ask for help learning things in this networked learning approach, but because they are so young I would encourage them not to explore youtube independently quite yet. Realizing this, I also want to be sure when I use youtube in the classroom to be more transparent with my students on why I chose a certain video or how I know that it is appropriate!

Thanks for following me on my journey!

21st Century Lesson Plan

This week in CEP810 we were asked to write a lesson plan that includes a digital technology and one of Renee Hobb’s (2011) five core competencies of fundamental literacy practices (access, analyze, create, reflect, act). Technology in kindergarten tends to be challenging to wrap your head around. Often teachers assume because kinders are so young, they aren’t able to use much technology which is not true! These kiddos are growing up in the age of technology and should be taught to use it properly from a young age! For my lesson, I focused on writing and using an online storybook website called mystorybook.com to create a digital book to share.

Find my lesson plan here: My 21st Century Lesson Plan

I chose the digital book because I thought it would be the most authentic and meaningful for my students. They love using technology to play games, and this program makes it fun for them to create a book, which is academic but might not feel like it for them. This is the first time most of my students will use technology for academic purposes and I wanted it to be enjoyable for them. They will be continuing to use technology throughout their educational careers, so I definitely want to avoid giving them negatives views from the beginning. I chose how to books because they can easily be done in a small group, and I knew my students would need support using the technology that I would not be able to give them one on one.

The combination of the “how to books” from instructional writing in our curriculum and the technology piece of mystorybook.com will also show them that they can produce and publish writing in different formats. They automatically associate writing with paper, when in the world we live in most writing is actually done on some sort of technology. I hope to give them a good introduction into the world of writing in multiple medias and this lesson plan aims to work toward that knowledge.

 

Page format for mystorybook.com is very kindergarten friendly!

Networked Learning Update (Post #2)

Well so far I’ve learned curling your hair is WAY harder than it looks! It’s easy to watch a video and think “I can do that!” but those people are typically either professionals, or experts who do this all the time. My first attempt gave me crazy flashbacks to last summer when I was in tears trying to do something with my hair for our engagement pictures. I was so frustrated that I ended up giving in and calling my mom for help because isn’t that what all adults do? This time I slowed down and really paid attention to the tutorial and it went way better!

I used this tutorial for 6 ways to curl your hair from Sam Villa’s Blog.

This video was super helpful because he talks you through each part of it. It’s not very helpful for me to only see it, but to hear explanation to accompany it really worked. It was also nice that he was talking me through because I could try it while he was talking without having to watch the video the entire time.

The first problem I ran into was the actual tool I needed to curl. He suggests a 1″ curling iron. I have a curling wand, and a 1.5″ curling iron. I figured the wand would be close, so I tried that first. Total fail! It looked awful and had weird kinks.

 

Before I Started

Gross Wand Curls

I know I’m not great with a curling iron, so I followed his suggestion of practicing cold before  you actually curl. When I felt prepared, I decided to go for it. It wasn’t working great, they were falling out pretty fast and it looked kind of stringy, so I decided to look up some tips. I found this Buzzfeed article on tips and tricks and learned to try it with the clamp forward, rolling it right away and holding it for a few minutes until it cools. My curls improved! I definitely made some progress and I’m feeling pretty proud! It definitely looked better from the front than from the back, but it wasn’t totally awful!

 

About Halfway Done

The Final Product

As I’ve continued to practice, I decided if I want to be successful enough to use this in the future I’ll need to get the correct tools. I’ll be purchasing a 1″ curling iron soon so hopefully they stay in a little better and get just a tad more curl to them. Overall, I’m thrilled that this project forced me to look up tips and watch videos, because I probably wouldn’t have done it on my own. I’m really excited to continue to make progress and maybe get a little faster!