Bat Signal?... No It's a Tweet!

Is That a Bat Signal?  No It's a Tweet

I just dawned on me that my Twitter account @kim_mccoypk has become by own personal Bat Signal when I am stuck or need help I now go to Twitter and post my question, concern or need like Gotham in need of Batman.  And to my surprise the superheros in my PLN come to the rescue. 

When I was looking for a keyboard typing program because the district was still deciding what software to purchase I flashed the Bat Signal (tweeted for suggestions) in a very short time I had several suggestions to research.  Within 48 hours the research was done, students entered into the teacher management tool, log ins  assigned and we had begun our keyboarding tutorials.  The district is still researching and working on making a software purchase but our students are well on their way to becoming lightning fast keyboardists and loving it.

Typingweb.com
TypingWeb is a free online typing tutor & keyboarding tutorial for typists of all skill levels. TypingWeb includes entertaining typing games, typing tests, and free official typing certification.

• Completely Free
• Perfect for All Ages
• Lessons for All Skill Levels
• Teacher Portal to monitor progress

I tweeted a random comment on how I was apprehensive of the gaming portion of my Emerging Instructional Technology Class and received a tweet back from Michael Matera  @mrmatera

author of Mr Matera Musings who blogs about gamification of the classroom.  Below you will find a link to his article Tech tools for the gamified classroom.  He also suggested I take a look at edbean another site full of wonderful articles by insightful educators.  As I was perusing these websites I notices that not only had @mrmatera made suggestions and offer support but he was now following me on twitter as well how cool is that?

I found out this weekend that the Bat Signal can work two ways.  I noticed a blog that @emma_george8 who is part of my PLN would be interested in.  How did I know she would be interested in this particular blog you ask?  I know because I read her blog Little titbits by Emma George she is studying to be a Spanish teacher so I thought she might be interested in one of my favorite blogs Flap Jack Educational Resources.

Images from Flapjackeducationalresources.com

I love this blog because of the wonderfully engaging activities she creates. I have found multiple QR code game ideas on this sight and have purchased many of her resources from the website Teachers Pay Teachers.  Many of the resources on this site come in Spanish as well as English.

When Emma tweeted back a thank you for the resource the realization solidified that Twitter can be an effective Bat Signal for asking for or providing assistance.

How will you use your "Bat Signal" this week?

Time to Stop Talking the Talk and Start Walking the Walk

I think we can all talk the talk about the benefits of integrating technology into the classroom and how we need better training and more technology in our educational system, but talking the talk is not going to get it done.  It's time to start to walk the walk even if it is a baby step at a time.

This last week I decide it was time to stop talking and start walking.  Instead of trying to sell the benifets of technology this week I decided to show the benefits to my colleges.

The fifth grade teachers were having difficulties solving the issues of students continually forgetting their study guides for upcoming tests.  They managed to get daily planners home but the study guides were constantly being misplaced.  The other issue we were having was that students were forgetting math lessons taught in the morning when it was time to practice the math at home.  The next day as soon as they would see the hints or work laid out on the whiteboard it was all the trigger most needed to be successful on their own.


Step: 1   Create a QR to tape into daily planner to provide a link to study guides via smart phones or tablets to enable students to have access to study materials in the car or waiting at practice.  I started out a simple black and white QR Code created by Google URL Shortener but as other teachers requested  QR codes for their study guides it became apparent that the plain black and white QR code was not going to work well to separate out study guides.  I then changed to using Visualead to generate QR codes within pictures that tied back to particular subjects.  Here is the QR code used for the most recent Social Studies Chapter Study Guide: Columbus and the Exploration of the New World.

Social Studies - Study Guide 

Step: 2   Create Classroom Blog KayPow5.blogspot.com a blog that would communicate classroom activities for day, links to practice games and interesting sights as well as parent reminders.  Initially the teacher I am working with dismissed the idea as too much work and not of much value.  She stated very clearly that if I wanted to create the blog and do all the posting it would be fine with her but she did not have the time or the technological knowledge to contribute.

I posted the first several postings complete with whiteboard photos of classroom explanations, links to games, videos and activities to reinforces the math concepts learned, funny visuals, links to the different study guides and information about what interesting things happened in the classroom throughout the day. 

I left a link to the blog open on the teachers laptop and continued to add snippets through out the day never taking more than a minute or two to add additional information.  Quickly the kids began to pipe in with reminders of what should be included on the daily blog.  I showed the teacher how to look at the statistical information and she watched as I posted bits and pieces throughout the day.

On Friday last week when I came back to the classroom after an appointment outside the building I was meet by a very bubbly fifth grade teacher who couldn't wait to tell me she posted three times on the blog while I was gone, BY HERSELF!!!!!    I promptly gave her two stickers for trying something new and unknown;}  I feel like I created a little chink in the resistances to technology last week.

The question I have for you is what can you do to help soften the resistance to technology and show that you are not only willing to talk the talk but walk the walk as well?

QR Codes in the Classroom

Lately I have been exploring different ways to incorporate QR codes into the classroom.  QR codes are an easy portable way to deliver multiple types of media.

I have found multiple ideas for independent math stations utilizing QR codes as a self-check mechanism on the Flapjack Educational Resources blog.

 QR Code Math Freebies - contains multiple QR math station activities and ideas for incorporating QR codes into math class.

The Green Classroom Blog
QR Codes and Bottle Cap Fun! - Great activity for practice ordering fractions using recycled bottle caps.

Image link: Flapjack Educational Resources

 
Create your own QR codes through Visualead's Qurify2  the possibilities are endless.

This next week I would like to work with students to produce QR Codes to link fellow students to self produced book reviews for classroom reading libraries.  The QR codes will link future students to written, video or voice recordings of book reviews shared by fellow fourth grade students. These links can be used to preview and help select reading material for future classes.