Read and Reserch

This week we continued our study on heat transfer using the tablets in the classroom.  We have moved on to natural insulators and how living things adapt because they respond to stimuli.  We started class using the discussion feature on the amplify tablets.  The question that I posted was what features do animals have to help them survive in the wilderness.  There were many great answers posted on the discussion board.  I was looking for students to connect the previous lessons to this topic by naming how natural insulation like blubber, fat, and fur can help animals survive.

Next, I sent out a document as an assignment on their tablets using the amplify software.  The students downloaded the article on polar bear insulation and read it on their tablets.  They could use the highlight, underline, and note taking feature in the kingsoft office app to aide their reading.  After the read, they wrote a paragraph talking about what features a polar bear has to protect it from the harsh conditions of the Arctic.  They did this by editing the article and typing it in at the bottom.  When they were done, they sent the edited article back to me using the same software.  I am able to sign on to my tablet and view all of the students' sent work and assess it from my tablet.

In another lesson, I used the tablets to assess where the students are on each individual standard.  There is an app called Math Map.  It is a series of hexagons where each hexagon has a different standard in it. the standards run from fourth grade all the way up to early high school standards.  They are organized in clusters that show how the correlate and build off of one another.  Students can click on one, learn about it by watching a Khan Academy video, and take a mini assessment on that standard.  The app automatically grades it and assess if the student has mastered, understands, or needs more work with each standard.  It will color the hexagon green, yellow, or red according to how the score.  This is helpful for teachers to see concretely how the students are doing on each individual standard.

GoAnimate

This week, we dove right into using the tablets with web 2.0 assignments. heat transfer.  Conductor and insulators are big topics in this unit.  In order to get the students to showcase their knowledge, most teachers have students explain in writing what each of the vocabulary words are.  With tablets, we can make that activity much more interesting.

 In science, 6th graders are studying
My students used the website GoAnimate to create cartoon situations where one cartoon would have to explain to another what conductors and insulators are and give examples.  Since the students have never used this site before, I set up a tutorial on sophia to walk them through the steps, show them what to do, explain what is expected and give them a rubric on how they will be graded.
On the amplify network, I sent out the link to GoAnimate and to Sophia.  The students clicked the links and worked through the tutorial as they created their account on GoAnimate.  This was a great way for students to be independent and practice following step by step directions.  In groups of two, students worked together to research heat transfer and write a dialogue to showcase their knowledge about the topic.  Most students choose a teacher/student, student/parent, or student/student relationship to have one person explain to the other what the different aspects of heat transfer are and how they work.
This lesson was a huge success!  The students loved to work together in groups and to create their own project.  Most of them have never gotten the chance to create their own web project.  The students actually went home and created their own cartoons in their free time because they had so much fun!
Since this project kept their interest, allowed them to prove their knowledge, and was a good time, we will be doing a lot more fun projects like this!  Click here and here to see some student examples.

Amplify Lessons and Personalized Learning

As a county improvement initiative, most middle schoolers in Guilford County have been issued Asus Android Tablets for use in school work.  Students get to use the tablets in school as well as have them at home for extra practice and homework.  This initiative is meant to personalize learning for all students to ensure that they are individually improving and growing as students.  The amplified software is installed to create virtual classrooms.

Within these classrooms, students have folders for each class they take.  The teacher can send out website and video links, files, documents, and assignments.  The student checks into class in order to see what the class feed says.  Other cool features of Amplify folders are the ability of the teacher to see what apps the students are on, to send out formative assessment check such as spot checks and short answers and have student lead conversations and discussions.
In my classroom, I am using the tablets as formative assessment tools.  I sent out a google drive form to the students and allowed them to take the survey about ratios.  The questions had the students writing ratios, simplifying ratios, explaining the different types of ratios, and creating word problems having to do with ratios.  Once they took the survey, the results were sent start to my account for assessing.
Another way I am using the tablets in my classroom is to have math fact practice.  Within the first few weeks of teaching, I realized that my students are getting and understanding the concepts that I am teaching them.  Yet, they are getting most of the questions incorrect.  This is because they have not mastered math facts like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division or they make careless errors.  In order to fix this problem, I set them all up on xtramath.org.  This website is a quick and easy way for teachers to monitor and have students practice math computations.  Every morning, as the students walk in, they take out their tablets and sign on to a session of xtramath.
For more information, click on this link to go to the Guilford County Schools newsbreak to view a video (with me in it) explaining how personalize learning will be used in the classroom.