Chromebooks in Kindergarten

Are you wondering how Kindergarten students might be using Chromebooks? 

This year, we received one tech tub with five Chromebooks in our class.  The students loved using these fast computers to learn all year. 

First, the students have learned to take their log-in information cards and independently type in their usernames and passwords. Next, from the home page that has been set up by our learning technology department they can choose Raz-Kids or Dreambox by clicking on the icon. The students can go read a book or master the key concepts of elementary math anytime during learning centers. Then, they have learned to use Google Voice to ask various questions. They can discover how to say new vocabulary in French (e.g., Say friend in French), get answers to their wonders (e.g., Caterpillar picture), learn how to spell words (e.g., Spell dog) or discover how to represent numbers using numerals (e.g., What is 5?). In addition, we have caught students going to YouTube for purposeful learning.  The students found the YouTube icon, typed various titles of songs that we had previously learned, had fun singing and dancing to them. 

The students are using the Chromebooks very well. They are responsible!   No Chromebooks have been accidentally dropped on the floor.  They share and work together to problem solve when they encounter difficulties (e.g., typo in username when logging in).  Observing how the students use the Chromebooks is impressive and I realize that there are many possibilities for 4 and 5 year old children to use them to learn.

Here are more possibilities that I will explore with my Kindergarten students: 

• explore Google Drive-Drawings (e.g., make a plan before building at the block area)
• explore Google Drive-Document-Research-Images  (e.g., labeling the doctor's office at the dramatic play area) 
• show them how to navigate to the class blog and select learning links (e.g., ABCya)
• explore apps (meegenius, pbskidsplay, scootpad, spell up)

How are you using Chromebooks with your Kindergarten students?

Metacognitive discussions on determining learning goals!

I am sharing the process of metacognitive learning by determining individual learning goals and classroom learning goals.  This process is the base of a valuable connective platform of reflective conversational classroom community encouraging thinking, communication on learning and being clear about what we have accomplished and what needs to be accomplished.

On a daily basis students are given opportunities to engage in reflections on their learning and determining their next steps. The individual goals are shared with their teams, this collaborative thinking promotes questioning, ownership of learning, clarification of any content misconceptions and students converse about their goal setting of inquiry learning and next steps. This process makes learning transparent and it solidifies the classroom as a learning culture based on what individuals have learned and will reach. 

Using a chrome book per team students share their daily documented learning on Google Calenders that is embedded in their sites. As mentioned in previous posts Google is our Learning Platform for all activities. 

This connection also takes place face to face and digitally by inviting their colleagues to reply on next steps during learning tasks. They embrace each others' learning by having students voice on how to meet goals and share learning skills and strategies.  This creates a nurturing social, transparent and intellectual culture of learners committed by caring about each other's learning. 

The following are samples of connective learning:

Teams gather to listen, react and learn about reflective learning goals. 

Student on site sharing her reflective learning.

Students reflections on Google Calender

We have le "professeur du jour" detrmining our whole group goals.

Not all reflections are digital some students to choose to write them on a daily basis 

I wished I had Google glasses as I always miss capturing many rich students ownership moment. I might invest in a pair this summer! 

All this learning is also articulated in French not only they are reflecting on their learning that is written in French also enriching their oral French through conversations. Students take risks in second language and respect all entry levels of learning. Through this process as parents and students admit not only they have learned skills, strategies and content from each other, it has also improved their oral and written French. Through rich conversations on goal setting students take full ownership of learning during their tasks.  I will soon be posting more example of oral rich conversations learning tasks. 

 We need to provide students with these reflective opportunities online, in writing and  face to face to constantly expose perspective of learning through an engaging community.

Students' partnership in learning!

As teachers we all look for partnership to grow professionally with colleagues and connecting with professionals on social media. I have always appreciated many blogs and tweets that make me reflect on many pedagogical learning experiences.

As mentioned in several posts on voice, inquiry and the ownership of learning, all credits are given to students for their partnership in learning. I was reading Aviva Dunsinger's post on Celebrating Learning  addressing students showcasing their work and how students are amazing teachers when given the choice. In recognition of #AboutThekids and catching up to my reflective blogging this post is dedicated to my teachers of Grade 6 and Grade 5/6 who make me celebrate and reflect on a daily basis.

I am sharing an example that took place with the whole school where students were to lead learning. The reason I am sharing this learning activity  is to demonstrate that every opportunity in class or out of class should always be  reflected on with students, by focusing on learning skills and how learning skills are always applied to any situations.

Students had an opportunity for a day mentoring the primary students through Math activities organized by Mathletes.  As students were mentoring, I had them reflect on their experiences on the classroom Twitter account. I have gathered their responses and videos of the day on a padlet. I am unable to share the live link as the videos are of many students from all grades.

   

All students' reflective tweets during the Math stations are the exact reflections that makes a classroom a learning space. 

The tweets were about:

•  The importance of collaboration when teaching and learning
•   Positive feedback during activities
•  Motivating students by giving them a hint or a question to provoke their thinking.
•  Learning the Math content with the other students while teaching and explaining
•  Learning is fun when students are talking
•   Lots of fun when students were engaged with learning
•  Students listened and persevered when they were challenged
•  Students were accountable at completing their tasks and never gave up
•  Learning through games is motivating.

 Students' reflection mirrored what happens in the classroom and how important to always take advantage of all learning situations and reflect to improve learning skills. I enjoy watching students every year take full ownership and responsibility of learning and perseverance to inquire for learning and share their learning. Teachers who regularly visit my classroom or see my students in action at school or out of school wonder, how do we do it! It is about reflective learning on a daily basis by focusing on learning skills and actions taken to master tasks through skills.  

Student-Led Persuasive Writing

Example of student persuasive writing during Literacy Centers

Students ready to show their expertise at our Open House

A fabulous persuasive writing opportunity to persuade our parents to come to our school's Open House during Education Week began when some students in our class Teacher Center wrote that they will try to convince their parents to come. Our class goal was to come up with reasons for why our parents should visit our classroom. Many of the reasons the students came up with was to showcase their technology expertise. We have been using many tools all year with a focus on student voice and students have turned into Tech Experts as a result.

Throughout the week, students worked on their persuasive letters to their parents and used the Teacher and Writing Center during Literacy Centers time to add more ideas. When we completed our persuasive letters, we sent them home to our families. Students were tasked to read their letter to their parents with the hope that the letter might sway them to join us for our Open House. Follow this link to view what their letters sounded like.

Our after school Open House arrived and an excited group of students arrived in our classroom with their families. Students were enthusiastic to announce their their persuasive writing worked because they were able to convince their families to join us!

Throughout the classroom visit, our mandate was to have the student voice in our room be the guide. Students led parents around our classroom to show some of the great projects and assignments we have worked on over the past few months. Students used their persuasive reasons to show their families all of the exciting learning in our room. 

It was lovely to see the pride by the students and the parent engagement as well. Our class is blooming with tech experts who showed their parents how to scan QR Codes, how to Tweet, how to record on the AudioBoo app, how to log into the Chromebooks and so much more! Students are leading much of the learning that takes place during our Literacy Centers, and our Open House evening highlighted some of the student-led inquiries within our room. For instance, the Teacher Center expert got to show her mom what we can do at the Teacher Center. She even showed her how to record on the AudioBoo app.

listen to ‘NN’ on Audioboo

The QR Code expert showed his mom how to scan a QR Code! He showed her where some codes are around our room and how to add her thinking to our Padlet using the QR Code link. Please feel free to add your thinking to our Open House Padlet below!

Created with Padlet

We also had some class tweeters and guest tweeters add to the fun too. Students showcased how to compose a tweet and what we can share on Twitter. The parents were happy to watch their child guide the learning of the evening. It was apparent that many more experts are emerging in our classroom! The idea to have student experts is to allow their voice to dictate how we can post and to show their parents that there is a purpose to the technology in our room. My hope is that students continue to let their student voice shine. They were happy with the opportunity to finally showcase some of their learning to their families. I am grateful for the successful turnout and the parent engagement that evening. My goal is to continue to have my Tech Experts lead the way in our room. They are taking ownership of the tech tools we are so fortunate to have in our classroom, and becoming leaders by demonstrating their strong skills with other eager learners. 

HH says:We are going to have much fun to be with parents in open house also with my lovely teacher.
— Mrs. Ciampa (@MrsCiampaClass) May 8, 2014

A future tech expert during our Open House!

Why we love Google!

We rely on Google for everyday's learning experiences! From planning to capturing thinking, learning as well as sharing and reflecting. I have applied Snagit Screen sharing to explain the importance of Google  in our everyday classroom applications. My eduwin of the week! Many tools, extensions and add ons are applied to our everyday learning, from youtube, Padlet, Snagit, Google drawings,Google  presentation, forms and documents. I am sharing some videos applying Snagit Screen sharing.

This video explains how I use Google sites for sharing links, housing students sites that are eportfolios for capturing learning and reflecting.

An amazing interactive wall: Padlet

Google presentations for transparent plans shared with students and parents. 

We use Google forms for checking for understanding by adding images and videos. 

I have used doctopus and had trouble with the scripting. I have not used yet flubaroo as I do not give quizzes;  I need to find a good use for it like checking for understanding. We will be applying many add ons.

Love the way Google keeps on synchronizing many tools and making learning accessible and visible . Many more Google tools will be shared and I will updating the blog regularly.

Students are using Kaizena  to self-assess and provide evidence of learning.  I also use kaizena to provide feedback written and oral about the student's evidence.

Voices...Ownership... reflections...

I was very fortunate to be able to take part in 1:1 International Computing Conference in Atalanta Dec 2nd &3rd. international11computingcon2013  (please visit conference schedule for presentations).  I would like to thank the Canadian Educational Association  http://www.cea-ace.ca/ an amazing team who speaks to learning and thinking for accepting my proposal to take part in the conference. I am proud to have had this opportunity to meet many educators from around the world who put students voice and thinking first.

Jane Hill my principal at St. Gabriel School also presented with me. She set the tone as how principals need to trust their teachers and support their learning and students' learning.  Every student,

• should feel he or she belongs, feel safe, be a valuable contributor and have the opportunity to succeed

1-Yes students need to own their learning as teachers, we need to step back and have a classroom without a front podium.
2-Students need take risks, have clear expectations that they have deconstructed from the curriculum. Students need to  have a purpose for learning with rich tasks that allows  ownership of learning.
3- Many tools could amplify students' thinking like Google Apps, IOS Apps. Teacher need to weave these tools with a purpose for thinking and for students to speak to their thinking. (metacognition)
4- Learning is visible though consolidations and pausing for reflections in order for students to learn from each others and  build a community of trust and ownership.

I am also fortunate to have a large PLN online support through twitter from educators who I have also  learned and reflected from their experiences. @shareski @KristinZiemke @gcouros @KleinErin @permillripp @HeidiSiwak @soxnevad @kathyschrock @tombarrett  and so many more including all Learning Connection Team from Ontario my colleagues at school and at the board office who listen and appreciate students' thinking.  I would also like to thank my colleagues from the board office who invite me for many opportunities and ministry initiatives projects throughout Ontario. I owe my learning to my students who engage me in thinking and learning from them. My students who open up their hearts and minds to learning and enjoy our time together in the classroom. I am trying to keep up to my professional reflections, and time is speeding and hoping to catch up. I am focusing on the classroom blog on a weekly and sometimes daily basis than daily tweets this year. The blog is by the students, their voices on learning and how we learned.  http://ensemble-together.blogspot.ca/

My thinking that I shared at 1:1 computing conference I will share on the blog.  My learning is like a working document that requires updating and enhancing on a regular basis. Today I am following many colleagues in Montreal at #gafesummit who are confirming my experiences in the classroom. The presentation is a summary of my learning with my students. 

International11computingcon2013 

What amazes me is when you invite students to interact they do take ownership in planing, decision making and even voicing in class "I love school"!

Examples of students communicating and planning. Google presentations are attached to the classroom calender that becomes part of the daily plans. 

Comments on the presentation become reflections to our daily plans. 

Students also reflect on a daily basis what I have learned and I have accomplished and what to improve on. 

I continue to explore and learn on a daily basis and I almost wish I had Google Glasses to capture all my learning. I need to take notes as I observe my learning from my students and update my blog. Thank you to all colleagues and educators who share their learning online. 

Teacher collaboration project – Math journals

I have written briefly about one of the teacher collaboration inquiries that has been going on in our three schools.  In this post, the teachers have written an explanation of their work so far.  I am hoping that more of our teacher groups will do the same so we can post their work on this blog.

These rest of this entry is written by Teresa Zappavigna, one of the teacher triad members.

Our Triad team came together in early October to determine an area of focus for our students in our junior grades.  After examining EQAO scores, last year’s records, and our personal running records to date, our next steps became quite evident.  The attitude toward math and in particular, problem solving, needed to be addressed. Many times, students have the skills, but are thrown by the math language.  Students needed to find a tool to help students break down math  problems (scaffold their thinking) in order to understand:  “What do I know?”; “What do I need to know?”;  and “How can I help solve the problem/ What strategies can I use?”. A tool was introduced by our partners from St. Daniel’s.  They were in the process of working on interactive Math journals which help guide a student’s problem- solving process and encourages them to demonstrate their understanding of new math concepts in a personal and creative way (through re-enactment, art, poetry, music, crossword puzzles, etc.,).  Our intention is that if we explicitly teach problem solving strategies and provide opportunities for students to prove, explain and reflect on their learning in Math journals, then students will have more success in explaining their thinking while problem solving.  By allowing students the opportunity to express themselves creatively (be it literacy, numeracy, arts, verbal, kinesthetic, tactile,) we hope to make math fun for students who shy away from math.

We are still in the process of developing a routine using these journals with our students.  Our observations so far have been positive.  Students have been eager to share their rap songs, cartoons etc with the class and are often asking the teachers if we will be working on our “journals today”.  The atmosphere is changing and we hope to continue these “brag books” as a tool to help students develop efficient problem solving strategies.

Video of a student conference…Please watch both (one is the continuation of the other) In this video, teachers can see the importance of conferencing with students on their journals, EVEN if the student puts a GREEN traffic light on the activity. He or she might not fully understand the concept. The example is a student working on Place Value activities.

samples and photos from the teacher inquiry

Sample of a grade 4 journal – this is a collaborative project in grades 4, 5, and 6 being carried out in three schools

Image Posted on November 21, 2013