A Lesson with 5 Cs of Technology Usage

Content?  Yes!
Communication?  Yes!
Collaboration?  Yes!

Citizenship? Yes!
Critical Thinking?  Yes!

Here's a way to use technology to enhance student-led dialogue in your classroom.  Use Todaysmeet.com!

In this ELA classroom, there were two simultaneous discussions occurring:  one verbal and one electronic.  And, what makes it great is that they used each others "conversations" to enhance their own.  How?  Check this out!

Group One - Verbal Discussion:  As outlined in the pictures below, students discussed their literature using clear norms.  Notice that the emphasis is on dialogue, not just being able to speak.  Students led this discussion with questions and topics they had about the reading, and it got deep:  symbolism, relevance of the title, motivation of characters, etc.

Here they are, talking about the book - only the student with the ball could speak, and the students did a great job of holding each other accountable for that rule.  It kept certain students from dominating the conversation!

Group Two - Online Conversation:  While group one was verbally participating, group two was contributing to the conversation through this online site (and everyone could see it on the IWB).  What was so powerful is that they added to the conversation that Group One was having and Group One used what they say online to question each other further.  The teacher was able to direct some ideas as well.  So relevant!

Halfway through the class the groups switched so that every student had the opportunity to participate in both the verbal and online conversations.  

The pictures below show the richness of resources students used to enhance the dialogue with one another.   Notice the use of the text, highlighted passages and notes to support their ideas about the book. 

This lesson highlights an example of how technology enhances learning, increasing engagement for all students as well as deepening content-area understandings.

Think about how you could use Today's Meet to enhance your classroom discussions....

Your Homework: Teach this to someone when you're 60

How well are students retaining what we teach? Earlier this week, orchestra students learned a valuable lesson on the heritage of fiddling. Their task is now to take the same tunes taught to them and teach them to a younger generation in the future. After all, this is how these songs have survived multiple generations.   As I observed yesterday, students were practicing the tunes learned by ear earlier in the week and are dedicated to their task.  It begs the question, "What will our students be able to teach future generations?"  I think of the essential skills and knowledge we teach in classrooms everyday and wonder what's so important that we want students to pass it on when they are 60 years old.

During warm-up and tuning, 6th graders are honing their fiddling skills by practicing the tunes they learned earlier in the week.

In choir, it's warm-up Wednesday, and students are physically engaging their bodies to prepare to sing by stretching their upper bodies and enhancing breathing.  The breathing skills in preparation to sing will last long beyond the songs themselves.

In getting kids to develop long-term skills, we must hold them accountable for learning now, moving from superficial understanding to an ingrained process.  By working with their teacher in a small group, these students are moving toward an embedded skill of paraphrasing.

Students are researching a topic for an informative paper  The skill of researching and citing sources is one that will last long beyond the content of their research.  

In COPE, students role play different conflict scenarios.  To enhance this experience, students write out the dialogue and direct the scene as other students practice.  This hands-on experience will help them generalize the skill.

Everything is Awesome!!!!

"Everything is cool when you're part of a team."  In case you're unfamiliar with this line, it's from the Lego movie soundtrack, and it's irritatingly catchy, as catchy, hopefully, as some of our AWESOME best practices identified below.  As you look at these best practices from our TMS team, reflect upon what you're doing to use similar practices in your classroom.

In PE, the teacher is in the midst of the game.  This helps with modeling technique, form and sportsmanship, and it also increases student supervision in a larger classroom environment. 

Hey - these look just like the exercises I do!  Having students practice in school what we expect out of school or beyond their traditional education prepares them for "real life."

In science, students are using their experiments and conclusions to make a YouTube video.  What makes this authentic is that students then watch one another's videos to make a data table of different scientific topics.

Flight Crew students are designing lessons for Pilots to use in Flyertime.  Within these lessons are videos and discussion guides for students use.  What a relevant learning experience!

"The Table of Contents is just like doing a Google search, only you look by alphabetical order."  So true - sometimes, it's the simple connections that can make a big impact on kids and help them connect concepts and skills to their background knowledge.

In the Mix!!!!

Learning is messy work, and the only way to do it right is to get into the middle of the action - in the mix!  That means two things:  1)  the students are engaged in their own learning processes and 2) we are engaged in the students' learning.  

Check out these examples of teachers and students "in the mix!"

In this science review game, students are "in the mix" to demonstrate their knowledge.  Because the game is set up with students determining the answers as a group and writing those responses on the white boards, all students are held accountable.  This is much stronger than having individual team members come to the front to answer questions because there's "no escape" from learning.

This project required students to make a game getting "in the mix" of historical events.  While this is fun for kids, it also holds them accountable for synthesizing what they know of the time period.  For example, in this game of "Sorry," the sorry cards used real time examples of good and bad events along Paul Revere's ride.  Students choose their historic event, but they pull together relevant information from throughout the time period to support their game.

Students get "in the mix" as a group to review their eValuate tests.  Working together as a group, they can determine errors in their reasoning and learn from their peers.  Again, there's "no escape" from learning in this small group setting.

In the above photos, the teacher has designed a lesson where students choose two writing areas to self-evaluate.  Those areas range from sentence structure to word choice, and students are held accountable for their work by checking the chart identifying which elements they've addressed in their writing.  While students self-evaluate and revise, the teacher gets "in the mix" conferencing with individual students to enhance learning.

Here's another example of a teacher "in the mix" with students on writing while students complete a task to enhance and expand their work.

Getting kids to "in the mix" of their reading can take many forms.  In the above pictures, students have created a timeline of their historical fiction work to build a conceptual understanding of their setting.  They delve deep into their character analysis using their reading notes (aka Post-its), identifying their character through actions, thoughts and words.

Moving from Elite 1 to Elite 3 is a great way to get kids "in the mix."  Notice that the teacher has students put their computers at "half" while providing instruction, thereby, insuring their attention to her instead of their work.



In math, students get "in the mix" by analyzing their own data.  Within their own company, they discuss, evaluate and utilize data to make relevant decisions to build a successful business.


And, the final "in the mix" shows students working with fractions and percentages as they interpret forecasts for this crazy winter we are having!