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My Professional Reflections Blog

Adventures in EdTech, Student Agency, Inquiry, and Coaching.

ICT Skills for Inquiry - Apps & Websites

8/20/2017

3 Comments

 

Collaboration Request!!

Please leave a comment with app and website suggestions for me to add to my lists! Sorry for the format, Weebly wasn't liking the tables. I know this isn't the ideal platform for collaboration, but I will do my best to make it work :-)

​Hello!
Back at it... new school year, new school, new country! I have moved to an IB school in Switzerland and am excited for the change. Settling in and getting everything organised, and I don't have a life yet so here I am blogging again, haha.

I was plotting skills, etc with my new grade 2/3 team and made a chart for myself to keep organised... then decided it might be something worth sharing! Basically what I have done is taken the ICT skills from the IB's list and have created a resource bank of apps and websites for teachers to look at when they are making sure that everything is being covered.


As outlined by the IBO in “The Role of ICT in the PYP,” these are not additional skills to the existing PYP skills. These should be used to support the 5 Essential Elements of the PYP and cross-referenced with the units. 

https://ibpublishing.ibo.org/live-exist/rest/app/tsm.xql?doc=p_0_pypxx_mon_1106_1_e&part=1&chapter=3 

Investigating

Investigating is to carry out a purposeful inquiry or research, to test existing understanding, discover new information and create new understanding. Through investigation, learners critically evaluate a variety of sources, making connections and synthesizing findings to apply knowledge to real-life contexts.

Apps

  • Safari
  • Puffin Academy
  • Britannica
​Comment on this post to suggest more!​

Websites

  • www.google.com
  • www.kiddle.co
  • www.kidrex.org
  • www.kidsclick.org
​Comment on this post to suggest more!​​

Creating

Creating is a process through which learners are provided with an opportunity to innovate and test boundaries. Learners construct meaning, apply critical thinking and original ideas to real-world situations, and share knowledge through self-expression, problem-posing and problem-solving, and reflection.

Apps

  • iMovie
  • Keynote
  • Adobe Spark Video
  • GarageBand
  • Book Creator
  • PicCollage
  • TimeLine
  • Stop Motion Studio​
Comment on this post to suggest more!​

Websites

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Comment on this post to suggest more!
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Communicating

Communicating is the exchange of information with various audiences using a range of media and formats. Effective communicators contribute to cross-cultural understanding, make informed choices when deciding on tools to articulate meaning, and provide relevant, significant feedback to others.

Apps

  • EduCreations
  • iMovie
  • Adobe Spark Video
  • Adobe Spark Pages
  • GarageBand
  • Book Creator
  • PicCollage
  • MindMapper
  • Keynote
  • NearPod
  • Weebly
  • Stop Motion Studio​
Comment on this post to suggest more!​

Websites

​
Comment on this post to suggest more!
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Collaborating

Collaborating is the process through which learners validate and negotiate ideas and reach a deeper understanding and a global perspective. Learners are empowered through digital media and environments and through active participation in creating and sharing knowledge.

Apps

​
  • Seesaw
  • Keynote
  • BookCreator
  • NearPod
  • Google Drive
  • Stop Motion Studio
  • iMovie
  • Adobe Spark Video
Comment on this post to suggest more!​

Websites

​
Comment on this post to suggest more!
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Organising

Organizing is the ability to structure or arrange connected items. Learners understand that ICT systems can be used to inform, adapt, manage and problem-solve during their creative, communicative, collaborative and investigative processes. Learners make connections, transfer existing knowledge and independently explore new technologies.

Apps

  • (All!)
  • Numbers
  • EduCreations
  • iMovie
  • Adobe Spark Video
  • GarageBand
  • Book Creator
  • PicCollage
  • MindMapper
  • Keynote
  • Google Drive​
Comment on this post to suggest more!​

Websites

  • Google Drive​
Comment on this post to suggest more!​

Becoming Responsible Digital Citizens

Becoming a responsible digital citizen involves using ICT to make informed and ethical choices while acting with integrity and honesty. In a globally connected digital world, learners are empowered to be responsible for their actions, to value others’ rights and to practise safe and legal behaviours.

Apps

  • BrainPop​
Comment on this post to suggest more!​

Websites

  • https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/5_7/hectorsworld/ ​
  • https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/5_7/leeandkim/​
Comment on this post to suggest more!​
3 Comments

PicCollage by H.A. Year 5 Student, UAE

5/2/2017

0 Comments

 
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Welcome to the second student-written app review! H.A. from my Year 5 (Grade 4) class in the UAE is excited to share her views of PicCollage with you. In this post you will find:
​
- Student Review
- Teacher Tips
- Student Examples
- My Reflection

Student Review

The app I am reviewing is pic collage.

Hello my name is Hala. I would like to tell you about one of our PYP classroom apps. It is PicCollage. What PicCollage does is help you to make projects about any subject. 

I would recommend the PicCollage app because it helps you work and makes your projects easier! We use PicCollage in all of the units that we took over this year. 
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We can work on PicCollage as a group or by ourselves. We used it to write desert facts, facts about planets, and also to create posters. Last week we made posters about walking in the corridors and we can crop the pictures in the app.

H.A.
Year 5 student, from Lebanon in the UAE

Teacher Tips

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1. Use the grid option to help with formatting
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2. Use the web search tool inside the app to add other photos
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3. Make it move! Use the web search tool to add .gifs! 

Student Examples

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My Reflection

PicCollage is a great tool to use in any subject area at school. The student's creativity shines through in their choices. It is also a great starter for "appsmashing." By that I mean using more than one app. Students can create diagrams, reflections, posters, etc. in PicCollage and add them to an iMovie, Keynote, Book Creator iBook, etc. We use it a lot for homework. It is easy and hands on to ask students to find things around their home related to your unit and then upload their PicCollage onto Seesaw. 
0 Comments

Activities, Apps, and Creativity With the Inquiry Cycle

4/20/2017

6 Comments

 
  As I discussed in one of my previous posts, Making the Inquiry Cycle Tangible, one of my personal goals this year was to focus more on Kath Murdoch's Inquiry Cycle. As a PYP teacher, this is one of the main philosophies in our classrooms. I wanted to make sure I was guiding my students (and assisting my co-workers) through their inquiries in the most helpful way.

Below I have broken down the phases of the Inquiry Cycle with my own reflections of  how I personally interpret them, activities I have used with my students, and technology we have used to assist our inquiries. It may be worth noting that the usefulness of an app may depend on your Unit of Inquiry and that I work in a 1:1 iPad school.  

​[Edit: I know that inquiry is not as linear and straight forward as this. Inquiry is messy. However, as a teacher with no formal training on the subject and with no one around me to assist in a way that I found helpful, this is what I came up with. This is what I have done for a year to ensure my own understanding of the inquiry cycle. Next year: more mess!]

Tuning In

Tuning in is where we find out our students' prior knowledge. What do they already know about the Central Idea and Lines of Inquiry? I try to mix it up a little bit every new unit, however, I am finding that my students this year are actually enjoying the routine of completing the same structured brainstorming activities for each unit, and I have seen an amazing improvement in the way they are expressing their ideas (unit 5). As the point of the Tuning In phase is to draw on prior knowledge and find out where you may need to address some misconceptions, this phase is 100% student ideas and contributions.
Activities
- Unpacking the Central Idea (this I try to present a little differently each unit, as it gets boring the same way each time. As you can see in the photos I have used mind maps, post it notes, and student-created display boards for our units this year). Talk about every  word in every aspect of the new unit (Central Idea, Lines of Inquiry, Learner Profile, Attitudes, Key Concepts, and Skills).

- I see, I think, I wonder  - At the beginning of the year we only do large, collaborative ones. Eventually we begin to complete large collaborative ones and individual ones. 
- Wonder wall (or window!)
​- Mind Maps  - Collaborative, individual, written and digital.

Apps/Websites:
- MindMapper (App to create mind maps)
​- Padlet (A collaborative webpage of sticky notes)
- Seesaw (App to document student learning as their portfolio. Also great for student, parent, and teacher reflection notes).
- Google Docs or Sheets  - collaborative 

Finding Out

Here I usually provide students with the opportunity to research and gain knowledge of the Central Idea in a broader sense. If we are learning about space, they would end this phase with a good grasp of space in general. Stats on various planets, moon phases, constellations, explorers of space, technology in space, etc. If we are learning about Ancient Civilisations they would research about more than one Ancient Civilisation, and the details about each of them. Their tools, food, religions, myths, art, etc. I would provide some opportunity for choice to create an even wider scope across the classroom, but some topics would be more specific to know that they have understood the basics and have a solid understanding to build the rest of their knowledge on for the remainder of the unit. The areas we focus on would of course depend on the Central Idea and Lines of Inquiry.
Activities
- Reading non-fiction books
- Researching various topics related to the Central Idea
- Go on a trip
- Use your school library and/or media centre (and ask your Librarian for their expertise!)

Apps/Websites:
- Puffin Academy
- Safari
​- Pages (note-taking)
​- Google - a great opportunity to teach how to search properly!
- PicCollage
- Britannica 
- Brainpop
- SimCity BuildIt  
(We used it for 'finding out' about city systems. It was perfect! See my SimCity post here).

Sorting Out

Students begin comparing different aspects which they have researched as well as their classmates. Usually there will be some element of choice while still being guided on other elements. For example, in our Ancient Civilisations unit, students were to compare different aspects of Egypt, Greece, India, and one other Ancient Civilisation of their choice.
 Activities
- Comparing knowledge (personal and peer)
- Organising knowledge so far ​(choose an app!)
- Addressing any misconceptions
- Answering any questions or wonders which we have not covered yet

- Timelines


Apps/Websites:
- PicCollage
- Book Creator
(published into an iBook)
- TimeLine
​

Going Further

This is usually the point where I get my students to choose something they are interested in/still wondering about our Central Idea/Lines of Inquiry. Depending on the unit there may be specific requirements or apps for them to plan to use in their creations. Depending on what the Central Idea is focussing on, this may drive what they choose. For example, our Ancient Civilisations unit had a heavy focus on tools, so our Summative Assessment did as well.
Activities
- Choose 1 aspect to research (one photo to the left has a mind map of what they have already learned about this one choice, with post-it notes of questions they are still wondering. Students referred back to this to keep their research on track).
- Hands on experience - we built and compared pyramids from various countries (out of Lego), Greek columns, Roman art, and other activities where the students could have experiences to better relate to the Ancient Civilisations they were studying.
- Ensure all Lines of Inquiry have begun to be addressed.

Apps/Websites:
- PicCollage
- Book Creator
- Puffin Academy
- Safari
​- Pages (note-taking)
​- Google - another great opportunity to practise searching  properly!
- PicCollage
- Britannica 
- Brainpop


Making Conclusions

In this phase my students use their personal research to create a project which will show their knowledge. Part way through the year I begin to challenge my students by asking them to use more than one app. Book Creator and Keynote are great for the integration of this. Students can insert movies from iMovie or Spark Video, music from GarageBand, collages from PicCollage, Timelines from TimeLine, etc. The projects developed at this stage then become incredibly creative and personal.
Activities
- Creating presentations and/or final products - How will they show what they have learned?
- Showcasing in the real world - What is the point of them writing a nice Myth or Advertisement to be stuck in their Literacy book for only you to read and mark? My students wrote their own myths, knowing it was going to be turned into a stop-motion video and published online (see my Stop Motion Studio app review written by one of my students). This made it real for them and they worked harder to produce better writing. When they know their work might go on the school's Facebook page I also see a considerable jump in quality, creativity, and passion.
- Blogs
Apps/Websites:
- Keynote
- PicCollage
​- Book Creator

- iMovie
- GarageBand
​- Adobe Spark Pages
- Adobe Spark Video
​- Weebly
​- Telestory

Taking Action

This phase is linked with the Making Conclusions phase. Here they may be presenting their projects and reflecting on their learning. This may look different for every student, or every unit, or every project. For me it depends on the time of year, as I give them less and less structure and more and more freedom with every unit. Unit 6 in my classroom I plan to let them choose any app(s) or platform they wish to show their knowledge their own way. Reflections should show their action. Did their thinking change? Did they do anything? Are they acting differently? Did they make something to show others?
Activities
- Presentations to the class
- Presentations to other classes/parents/community members
- Making posters
- Making a website (the more real connections with a community group the better). Can it be published?

Apps/Websites:
- Keynote
​- iMovie
- Adobe Spark Pages
- Adobe Spark Video
- Book Creator
(export to an iBook)
​- Seesaw

My Reflection

I love using the inquiry cycle to help me plan activities and units. I feel that it has fostered an enormous amount of creativity in my classroom. Providing choice seems to be a common theme. Choice of what to research (once the foundations are laid), choice of apps, choice of content, choice of action, choice of reflection. The students take a great amount of ownership after making all of these personal decisions about their projects.

While each individual phase may not allow for a huge amount of creativity, as a whole, the inquiry cycle is a great scaffold to students' creativity and inquiry through a unit.
​
What activities or apps would you add to these lists? I may add more photos or resources as I remember them.
6 Comments

Stop Motion Studio by H.K. Year 5 Student, UAE

4/9/2017

2 Comments

 
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Stop Motion Studio Link
Welcome to the first student-written app review! H.K. from my Year 5 (Grade 4) class in the UAE is excited to share her views of Stop Motion Studio with you. In this post you will find:
​
- Student Review
- Teacher Tips
- Student Examples
- My Reflection

Student Review

We used Stop motion in our unit Ancient Civilisations unit. We were supposed to write a myth, and then make it as a video. Stop Motion Studio made our project easier, simpler, and more fun! Stop Motion Studio​ is very simple and easy to use. 

When you want to export Stop Motion Studio's video that you made, you need first to export it as a video in Photos and then you can send it and also post it on the internet. I personally recommend it to students. They can make stories come to life. That will encourage their creativity more so that it won't stop!


Stop Motion Studio... The first step for creativity!

H.K.
Year 5 Student, UAE
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As H.K. said, we used Stop Motion Studio in our Ancient Civilisations unit of inquiry (Where We Are in Place and Time). Our literacy link was myths and legends, and after time spent writing their own myth, they finally got the opportunity to make their own story come to life. The action in the classroom was buzzing with creativity and excitement. They were SO into their stories and how they could portray their vision. Although the app easily allows for collaboration, they all took so much pride in their stories that they each made their own.

Teacher Tips

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1. Use the translucent toggle on the lefthand side to create stability in your end product. The students are actually the ones who discovered this feature, and it is my favourite part about the app! Students who used this definitely had a smoother video at the end. Kids will be kids, and some videos were of course still a bit on the jumpy side (especially the first time they use the app).

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​2. Take as many small movement photos as you can.
 This also creates a smoother, more stable video in the end. Students who took less photos could use the timer to slow down their video, but it slows down the WHOLE video, which in some places wasn't ideal. The more photos they take, the better. They can always be deleted!

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​3. Practise reading your story out loud over top of the video.
 This was a good way to make sure their timing was right. Some students had to go off script from what they had written, which was fine in my eyes. It still told the same story. You can record sound over the video within the same app, which was easy and ideal.

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​4. Start with a letter-by-letter title.
 Adding one letter at a time to the title is good practice for the skills they need to make their video.


5. Do a quick demonstration to show them how easy it is to use. 
I have mini sushi erasers on my desk and they got a kick out of how quickly I could make a video of the sushi falling off the tray... simple and took me two seconds but they were amazed!

Student Examples

My Reflection

Of course our videos are not perfect. Time constraints in the classroom, specialist lessons, and people finishing at different time are all partial factors of this we are used to as teachers today. However - they are completely student made. They take so much pride in their work because I didn't intervene in a way that disrupted their creativity or changed their way of presenting. Of course I probed with some questions to some students and we all shared our learning process when finding out new tricks inside the app, but other than that I just let them fly with it and learn for themselves. When they decide to use this app again for anything, they will have a great starting off point and create even better videos. As H.K. said in her app review, "Stop Motion Studio... The first step for creativity!"


As I am still at the beginning of my blogging journey, any feedback would be appreciated! Is it too long? Missing information? Do you still have questions? Please let me know!
2 Comments

Certified!

3/20/2017

2 Comments

 
It feels like it has been a long week... but very knowledgeable! I have officially now received my Apple Teacher status (with Swift Playgrounds) as well as my Google Certified Educator Level 1. 

As my current school is an Apple Distinguished Schools (ADS) candidate, we are starting to encourage teachers to complete the Apple Teacher program. I have been waiting for the opportunity and finally took it... less than an hour later (while multi-tasking), I was certified. A few days later, after playing with Swift Playgrounds I earned my new badge.

All week I was also studying for the Google Certified Educator Level 1 exam. This exam was a lot more stressful for me. The Apple one is calm, self-paced, and you can re-do anything immediately. The Google one has a set time, a webcam on you for verification, it is a paid exam, and if you fail there are time limits for when you can sit the exam next... all making for more of an uptight situation. However, after a week of studying I sat down Friday morning and completed it in an hour and a half (half the time given).

This blog is to showcase my beliefs and understandings of using these two certifications in my PYP classroom. I have taught the PYP curriculum for 6 years now, both as a classroom teacher and as an ICT specialist teacher. I currently work at an IB school in the UAE. I teach year 5, am the PYP Coordinator, and Computing Curriculum Coordinator. Many hats! We are planning an Apple Innovation event next month for our school community which we are very excited about, and are also working on our iBook to provide to the ADS team.

As my time in the Middle East is coming to an end, I wanted to share what I have learned in the past two years at this 1:1 iPad school. Next academic year I will be moving to Switzerland to an IB school there, hoping to implement these same things into the inquiry-based classrooms there. Some blog posts may be regarding technology, some maybe about inquiry, and some a combination of the two.
2 Comments
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    Cindy Kaardal

    ​Passionate PYP Educator and EdTech Integration Coach in South Korea.

    Former PYP Coordinator and Head of Computing Curriculum/ICT.

    Apple Distinguished Educator 2019, Google Educator L2, Microsoft Innovative Educator, Book Creator and Seesaw Ambassador.


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