If I Were a Wizard: Coding for Littles... And More!

Last week, I was delighted to find this book delivered in my mailbox from Amazon. 

"If I Were A Wizard" (hardback) by Paul Hamilton

At first glance, it looks like another delightful children's book, doesn't it? In actuality, "If I Were a Wizard" by Paul Hamilton teaches readers young and old all about computational thinking and coding concepts. And it does this without intimidating terminology (and yet provides connections at the end). 

When I talked with Paul this July at the 2018 Apple Distinguished Educator Institute, I was amazed by his humility. It struck a chord with me when he mentioned that humans are drawn to story, but true connections are made via characters. Thus he created Hazel. And Hazel is more than a beautiful mouse on the pages of the book or the digital swipes in iBooks. Hazel is a relatable comrade for all those who get to know her. Students can "meet" Hazel and experience her world through Augmented Reality with the free app Wizard AR. While exploring this magical world, teachers like Katie Gardner can capitalize on creative writing opportunities. Or simply enjoy an original title track performed by a beautiful young vocal wizard. Teachers can build closer relationships with Hazel by visiting the wizardcodingbook.com website and downloading the numerous free educational resources-- writing, math, art, and even more beyond just coding. It is clear to see that Paul has created more than just a coding book!

https://www.wizardcodingbook.com 

It is hard to debate the value in teaching coding concepts in today's primary classrooms. With "If I Were a Wizard" young children of all ages and backgrounds will be inspired to consider today's reality-- that they, too, can code.  And I will continue to be inspired by the author's dedication to education that matters. 

Getting to Know Your Students: Back to School Activity Ideas with Keynote Shapes

Many teachers may remember the brilliant "All About Me" project shared on the Apple Teacher Learning Center.

In it, students use the Shapes Library in Keynote in creative ways to share all about themselves.

This is a wonderfully simple and adaptable activity for those first days back to school.

Below I have shared some additional prompts for a similar "Getting to Know You" activity.

You can download the Keynote file (for Mac or iPad) and adapt it even further here:
Getting to Know Students- Shape Collages_blank template for Keynote

Or see some finished examples for additional inspiration.

How do you plan to use and customize the incredible Shapes Library in Keynote to get to know your students this school year?

10 Ways to Transform Student iPad Workflow

http://neta18.weebly.com/10-ways-to-transform.html

In a recent NETA 2018 presentation, co-presenter Ann Feldmann and I shared 10 simple ways to reach all learners with built-in iPad features- designed to take learning in your own hands!

Accessibility features were not created merely for learners with disabilities. Rather, with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles, all students can be empowered to customize and streamline their own personal workflows.

“Designing learning for all empowers every single student.”
-Ann Feldmann


 Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. 
~Chinese Proverb

"iPad accessibility helps each student be in charge of their own, best learning… for a lifetime."
-Katie Morrow 

The following videos are screencasts to illustrate the slides on the digital handout found at: http://neta18.weebly.com/10-ways-to-transform.html

UDL Guidelines: Provide multiple means of Engagement

1. Assistive Touch

  

 2. Airdrop

3.  Split Screen + Notes

UDL Guidelines: Provide multiple means of Representation

4. Speak Screen & Speak Selection 

5. Dictation & World Languages

6. Scan & Annotate

7. Screenshot & Annotate

UDL Guidelines: Provide multiple means of Action and Expression 

8. Assistive Touch

9. Screen Recording

10.  Sketch in Keynote

 

Six Shot Stories

Every once in awhile you find that tech integration idea that withstands the test of time. Even as the tech tools evolve and change, the learning still holds its value. "Six Shot Stories" is one of those practices for me. As an English teacher, the value of writing Six Word Memoirs created numerous educational benefits with my students. Theme, concise word choice, summarization are all skills emphasized with this simple activity. Pairing the concept with media was brilliant, and Don Goble's One Best Thing book: "Six-Word Story, Six Unique Shots" remains an invaluable resource for delivering the lesson to students.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/six-word-story-six-unique-shots-enhancing-writing-through/id846218165?mt=11  

Recently I worked with the 4th grade classes at West Holt Elementary to share their school's stories through this technique. And Apple's Clips app on iPad was the perfect medium to create some powerful digital stories in a short timeframe.

I began the lesson by viewing Apple's latest commercial for iPad "Homework" and asking students to count the number of cuts, in order to establish the importance of storytelling through a wide variety of camera angles and shots.

Then students paired up to author a Six-Word Story about their school, their classroom, or their daily activities as 4th graders at West Holt Elementary. It is amazing to see such powerful stories created in just six words by students!

I used Don Goble's book on iBooks to demonstrate different shots that were possible, and reminded students of some simple best practices when capturing with iPad. Instructions were emphasized that each shot should be between 3 and 5 seconds and no technique should be repeated (each shot is unique). Students used a storyboard to plan their six shots and then used the camera app to capture each on their iPad.

Finally, with only literally a few minutes of instruction on the Clips app, students assembled and edited their story. Some added all six words of text at the very end, some used one word per shot, and others split up the text in varying ways. Many were able to experiment with the other creative features of Clips as well, even within the one-class time period we had together. Each team of students exported their product to camera roll, then Airdropped to their teacher's Mac in order to upload on a YouTube channel and organize in a playlist.

What I appreciate most about this project as an ELA teacher, is the tremendous focus on concise, clear communication it entails. As a technology teacher I value the creativity and composition techniques that allow student media production to instantly be raised to the next level.

Enjoy some of West Holt Elementary's Six Shot Stories!

Building Word Wizards with Creation Apps (NETA 2018)

Building Word Wizards with Creation Apps (NETA 2018)

Use the power of iPad to transform students into vocabulary wizards in the K-12 classroom. Learn about 10 creation apps that will move your students from consumers to creators and empower them to expand their word wizard skills. Walk away with ideas and apps to use immediately in your classroom. Bring your iPad and create some ‘magic’ along with us.

"The Important Thing" about Augmented Reality

The important thing about augmented reality is that it is a great way to merge digital and analog student-created content. It is true that with the free app Blippar, it is simple enough for third graders to use. It offers great options for a student publishing project, and will likely response many positive reactions from your entire learning community. But the important thing about augmented reality is that it is a great way to merge digital and analog student-created content.

Many may recognize this text pattern from Margaret Wise Brown's The Important Book. Recently this text was used as the basis for a third grade project in Mrs. Pistulka's reading class while learning about their local community history.

Katie Morrow from ESU 8 worked with the class to assemble the pages students wrote and the illustrations they created into a book modeled after “The Important Book” by Margaret Wise Brown. Then we made the pages “come alive” through augmented reality. Basically, if you download the free Blippar app on your smart phone, and enter our localized "code", then you can scan the pages of the book and videos will “pop up” where the students teach you even more!

Here are the steps completed in the process:

1. Mrs. Pistulka encourages her reading class to learn about community history in creative ways. First students learned about O'Neill's past by interviewing a local historian and viewing past projects.
2. Second, students selected a key person who has had an impact on our community of O’Neill. Each 3rd grader researched their "Important Person” and took notes. 
3. They then wrote their narratives for the pages of the book, modeled after Margaret Wise Brown’s The Important Book.
4. Next, students decided on an additional fact or interesting tidbit to share out loud in their video.
5. Mrs. Morrow helped us film in front of a greenscreen that we borrowed from the Eagle Eye News crew.
6. Each student created an illustration to go with our page and hand-wrote our “Important Book" text onto a template page. 
7. Mrs. Morrow took photos of all our pages and uploaded them to BlippBuilder hub to make them come alive with Augmented Reality (AR).
8. Finally, Mrs. Pistulka sent our book off to be printed so we could share our creation with others!

And here is the end result:

on iBooks (free for anyone with a Mac or iPad to download and try out)

The Important Book of O’Neill, Nebraska

and physical books printed through Blurb.com (approximately $6 for each economy color, soft-bound  trade book).

Free EdTech Resources for Computer Science and Digital Citizenship

Any teacher. All students. Either recently released or new this school year, we didn't want you to miss the opportunity to incorporate these important instructional technology lessons into your curriculum.

How Computers Work free video series with related careers from Code.org target audience: MS-HS Learn More Be Internet Awesome free Digital Citizenship curriculum and online game from Google target audience: grades 4-6 Learn More Everyone Can Code free coding curriculum with apps and learning materials from Apple target audience: K-12+ Learn More