Book Creator for student projects

This month teachers have been using the new Book Creator for chrome to take advantage of creating and publishing on Chromebooks.   Two English classes (ACC/CP Freshman) created comic books on Romeo and Juliet.

Other classes are creating Poetry Project (Sophomore honors). The teacher created a library and modeled the features to be included in the book.

Be inspired, and click on the 'Read more' links on each piece if you want to delve deeper. Use the link below to access the online version of the book. Book Creator for Chrome users will find a handy link to the book in their profile menu (click on your avatar in the toolbar). Read 50 ways to use Book Creator. link to learn more.

Next up.. designing a PBL rubric with students to assess their projects!

Google Takeout for Seniors and retiring staff!

:

Reminder for seniors - Take your Google files with you using Google Takeout! Go to https://takeout.google.com

PLEASE do this before the end of May! See doc with details https://goo.gl/EsJzLq & Video Twitter #GoogleTakeout 

You may also want to consider 'Delete Day' and clean up your high school social media accounts before heading to college!

Learning and Reflecting more on Design Thinking from Cooper Hewitt & PBL

Yesterday I spent the day with colleagues from other districts at #DLDMedfield.  Whenever I decide to present I always spend a great deal of time thinking about my the audience and how to make the session meaningful and work for all participants.  I reviewed my last year's presentation on Adobe Spark and thought I would just tweak it for this year.  Instead, the night before I ended up watching a Tips and Tricks Video on Adobe Spark in the Classroom and learned about all the new features they added this week.  Guess what?  We ended up completely redesigning our presentation and make it more current and relevant.  When providing presentations it makes you stop, think and reflect on your most authentic projects and how to share the reflection along with the tool.

In addition, I was able to attend a Cooper Hewitt's presentation @cooperhewitt  on Design Thinking with a group of colleagues.  I have been intrigued with PBL and Design Thinking for the last few years and I enjoy not only learning about Design Thinking but actually experiencing the process using materials provided in the presentation. 

As I return to school today, I am reflecting on the process of taking the time to showcase student work and celebrate teachers that are willing to take risks and share.  

Last fall we had a great experience sharing out PLT on PBL at MassCUE bit.ly/PBLmasscue and  I think I will collaborate with my colleagues to see if we will showcase PBL and Design Thinking again next fall at the conference!

Digital Day of Learning - Medfield #DLDmedfield

Next week is Medfield's Annual Digital Day of Learning! #DLDmedfield I will be co-presenting on Adobe Spark with my colleague Craig Sheil.

Last year we featured the new product, Adobe Spark showcasing the basics.  This year we will reflect on some of our projects over the last year and share the importance of telling a story using visual media.

Here is the link to the Adobe Spark Page - Getting Creative with Adobe Spark Projects http://bit.ly/adobesparkprojects
along with a new Spark Post image for the session!


 Adobe will be announcing new feature and Adobe Spark edu that will not cost teachers to upgrade.  I need to explore how the new accounts will work within a school domain.

I am looking forward to seeing @gcouros   he delivers inspiring presentations.  His book  The Innovator’s Mindset: Empower Learning, Unleash Talent, and Lead a Culture of Creativity has been on my to-do list for the last year and I hope to read this summer.

We have been discussing have a book club on it next year. He always gives us plenty to think about!
Innovation Does Not Happen in Isolation https://t.co/qqDIhofKxi 

Flipgrid Overview

I will be gearing up for a Flipgrid PD session for teachers in a week.  Although I have used Flipgrid with teachers in my graduate class I have not explored all of the new features.  I will be collecting resources along with Flipgrid's presentation and customizing with permission for my
PD session on March 9th. Link  https://goo.gl/2qSwRB  

Flipgrid is a video response platform where educators can have online video discussions with students or other educators. Teachers can provide feedback to students and better yet students can provide feedback to one another. With Flipgrid One (Free) you get ONE grid with unlimited topics.  If you have multiple classes or subject areas as we do at the high school you can just create a different topic for each and share that topic code.

With Flipgrid Classroom (subscription based $65 per year or there a building special) you get unlimited grids, topics, responses and replies to responses. You can definitely do a lot with the free version so check that out first and if you decide you need more you can update your account.
(Want to try Flipgrid Classroom for FREE? Sign up and use promo code provided MARYMAROTTA for free access for 45 days, after that you can pay to upgrade or it will revert to a free Flipgrid One account.)  Need ideas to get started? https://vimeo.com/flipgrid

A Flipgrid Walkthrough

A 2-minute video https://vimeo.com/229139609 that will take you through the steps of creating your first Grid and Topic.

Quick Walkthrough Video from Flipgrid on Vimeo.

Get started with Flipgrid

1. Create a discussion board and share the link with your class. (With the classroom account you can embed fully functional Flipgrid cards or a grid in Google Classroom, Haiku, Blackboard, Canvas, Schoology along many other sites or in an LMS)
2. Students record their video (Flipgrid can be used on ANY device) iOS download for phone!
3. You and your students reply to one another and take the discussions further.

Presentation  

Hyperdoc The 411 on Flipgrid Explore-Explain-Apply HyperDoc https://goo.gl/AAFX4w

Ways to use outside the classroom http://blog.flipgrid.com/news/2017/6/13/10ways  Book Clubs!

Other:
Tweeted out this week: @flipgrid The Educator's Guide to Flipgrid FREE eBook 2nd Edition
Packed full of resources to help you blast off with awesome ideas and take flight with NEW features http://static.flipgrid.com/docs/Flipgrid_eBook_2nd_edition.pdf

Learning from students by shadowing a student

When I return to school next week I will lead a second session on Design Thinking.
Last month we got to experience and overview of DT by playing the extraordinaires game. I thought it was a great way to experience the phases of design thinking. I also presented at our leadership meeting a road map to transforming a lesson connected to teaching in a 1:1enviroment. I’ve been thinking about how to connect the two elements and basically arrived at the process should start from a student perspective.

As I went to my go to PD, twitter I found the following post
http://www.gettingsmart.com/2018/02/shadow-a-student-reinventing-school/
A quick summary  “The global Shadow a Student Challenge (designed by School Retool, IDEO, and Stanford’s d.school) can be particularly helpful and enlightening as it provides methods (including a free toolkit) and a network. The Shadow a Student Challenge is a journey that starts with seeing school through a student’s eyes, identifying opportunities to improve the school experience for students, and then taking action to create change. The Shadow a Student website provides resources that help to ensure that the shadowing experience will be meaningful, including email templates and permission slips. There are tips for creating learning goals for the shadow day, choosing a student, and coordinating with the student, parents, and staff.” 

There is an open invitation to join the 2018 challenge, which will run from February 19th to March 2nd. Spread the word to your networks, and remember to share about your experience on Twitter and Instagram with #shadowastudent!

Should this challenge start with building leadership and department chairs? What an interesting way to start a conversation! Or maybe it’s a group option for my PLC/PLT next week!

Transforming Lessons with Technology - Models for Designing Lessons that Utilize Digital Tools

At our leadership meeting this month we discussed several technology topics.

• Chromebook Survey (Grade 9 & 10) will take this month for updated and relevant information.
• 1:1 Initiative (grades 9-10) and moving forward

A Roadmap to discussing Transforming Lessons with Technology using a Hyperdoc model presented here https://goo.gl/UcH7oD

Other options discussed was to “Shadow a Student” and start with empathy to truly understand our students and the way we teach and technology being one of the components. This connects back to design thinking and a topic that we should explore more deeply to address school culture.

Other ways we are using technology can be found using Twitter with the #nashobalearns