"Hour of Code" and some Kinders!

Today was one of those days that gets you all pumped about being an educator! 

I was at our early childhood school today. (One day out of the week I work there.) I spoke with two of the teachers about trying "Hour of Code" with their class. They happily agreed!

"Hour of Code" is part of Computer Science Education Week. It runs December 9-15. It is about promoting students to start programming, but also about bringing coding into the schools. 

Before we started I took a poll to see how many in the class played video games. Then, of course, we had to share our favorite games. I explained that in all of those games there is a story about a character and the character is always doing something . . . actions . . . verbs!  We made a list of the various verbs in games they shared. I explained that game programmers need to understand verbs otherwise, they can't tell a story. 

Then, I introduced the Puppy Adventure from the Tynker website. There are several different programming activities on this page. The activities are grouped by grade level.

I quickly scribbled some of the verbs the students would be working with and discussed some of the programming lingo. 

In Puppy Adventure, the poor little puppy gets left behind by his family. The task is to get the puppy back to his family.  The students are given tasks to make the puppy move, jump or even bark. They have to determine how many moves the character will need to do in order to complete an action. 

The programming is as simple as drag and drop the actions into place. These guys quickly caught on!

Finding patterns, problem solving, failure lead to success, patience, sequencing . . . just a few of the skills during this challenge!

My favorite moment was when a little boy had to have the puppy complete several actions. He had his code ready to go . . . it was pretty lengthy. He clicked START and completely covered his eyes! He could not stand to watch the dog. The look on his face when he finally heard his dog bark and AWESOME flashed across his screen was one of the those, what I like to call, "Goosebump" moments! He was so excited, I thought he might fall out of his chair. Of course, we had to double high-five! You see, this little boy had redone this level about 4 times. He did not want any help. He kept saying, "I can do it." Perseverance at it's finest!

These kids were so engaged! I was so impressed!

Tomorrow, each student will get a certificate of completion. They are going to be so excited!

After being with the kinders, I quickly drove back to the elementary school where I work.

I also organized the "Hour of Code" for our after school GEMS (Girls Excelling in Math & Science) club that I sponsor. 150+ girls in grades 1-5 all programming! Super cool! Amazing to watch these girls!

So, what are you waiting for? Get your class started with the "Hour of Code."
Great video to get you motivated to try it with your class!

Fifth grade teacher turned Instructional Technology Specialist

Meeting a Ninja, Google Summit & Drawing

Google Summit II was a huge hit . . . again! Dr. Roland Rios did a great job organizing the summit.
I love when I can get together with like-minded educators that are excited to learn new things and collaborate. For me, it was also about making connections . . . which leads me to meeting a ninja, Tech Ninja Todd, that is! Todd Nesloney was the keynote speaker at the conference. He has a lengthy list of accomplishments that could intimidate just about anyone, but I pushed down my nerves and approached the Ninja! I had a great time chatting with Todd. We shared various sites, apps, lessons . . .  and then continued the conversation at lunch where I got to introduce him to several of the teachers and ITSs I work with in my district.

Todd's keynote was inspiring, motivating and pretty darn funny! He kept us engaged the whole time with his fast talking -  ever so funny stories about life in his classroom.
I love that he showed how the power of being connected has opened up so many doors and created many meaningful experiences for his students. Throughout his presentation he shared tweets from his friends, other educators, and authors. He discussed how those tweets have impacted his teaching.

Just a few (cuz there were many) fun things Todd shared...
Mystery Skype - connect with another class and call each other and try to guess where each class is located in the United States or around the world. (Advice from Todd . . . Texas teachers-be sure not use the word "ya'll" or show the state flag posted in your room! Huge give-aways!)
Double Robotics - Using an iPad, Todd's class controlled the robot and toured a school in another state.
Genius Hour - Students have choice in what they learn during a set period of time during school.

I was able to attend one of Todd's sessions, Podcasting with Google Hangouts. I'm still wrapping my head around this . . . Google+ . . . Google Hangout . . . circles . . . thing!


During Todd's session we got to "hang out" with Drew Minock (Two Guys and Some iPads) and see the features of Google Hangout. Tons of fun, but really such a powerful tool! It was entertaining to watch the two try to outdo each other with all the features of GHO.

During Todd's keynote he said, "There's a huge difference between not knowing and choosing not to know."  So, I'm choosing to figure this whole GHO thing out!

Pardon, the fuzzy pictures . . . clearly (or not so clearly) I'm having issues taking pictures. I'm going to blame it on the fact that yesterday we were in the 30s (That's cold for us Texans!)  and I was shaking from the cold!

I was excited to present, Creating Digital Artwork using Google Drawing at the Google Summit.  I really think this is an untapped treasure in Google Docs! There are some amazing teachers at my school doing some even more amazing things with their students using Google Drawing, but that will have to be my next post along with Speed Share #4. Check out #1, #2 and #3, if you haven't already, for some really great tech resources.

Currently ~ December

What a wonderful week! Thrilled that my sister-in-law and her family stayed with us! My daughter and niece are the same age, so got lots of quality time together. It was so fun to listen to them giggle and giggle like 10 year olds should!  My mother-in-law cooked a fabulous turkey with all the trimmings. My one regret, I didn't get my day after turkey sandwich on white bread slathered with mayo. I almost look forward to that sandwich more than the fresh - hot - golden brown - out of the oven turkey!
Next year!

December 1? Is it really? It must be cuz Farley has her Currently posted! 

Link up and join the Currently craze!

Listening - Jinxed the movie with my daughter! Ooo boy! That is some serious bad luck!

(My niece and daughter!)

Loving - All our Christmas decorations! I was really not in the mood to put up directions last weekend. There just seemed to be something wrong with doing it before Thanksgiving, but I'm so glad my husband and daughter pushed me to get it done! Too much going on this next week!

Thinking - Can't wait until this coming Friday and Saturday!
Friday, I'm the guest speaker at UTSA's student teacher induction ceremony. 250 soon to be first year teachers, their family and friends! My stomach is doing flip flops just thinking about it! I've been practicing my speech for days!
Saturday - I'm presenting at the TCEA Google Summit II! Using Google Drawing in the Classroom!
Not only that Todd Nesloney, also known as Tech Ninja Todd, is the Keynote speaker! Super excited to meet him! If you aren't following him, you need to! Recently, he was selected and honored at the White House for Champion of Change and being a "Connected Educator"... so cool!
Saturday evening ... yearly cookie bake!

Wanting - a new blog design/name! I keep saying this, but just need to get going on it. Since, I'm not a 5th grade teacher anymore ... it's got to change! Know any good blog designers that will work with what I have, but redesign the header? Plus, need a new name!

Needing - a cute pair of black boots and a cute pair of brown boots! (The heel on my black boots is broken and my brown boots are way to high for my current position at school. I'll never make it all day!)

Family Tradition - This is my husbands grandmother's recipe . . . she started the tradition of a cookie back. Now we host a cookie bake for friends and family. Everyone brings their own cookie tins and what you make you take home. Look closely at the second ingredient. I try to ignore it! These cookies are sooooo good! Even better frozen!

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Speed Share #3

Our third speed share (See speed share #1 & #2) was Voki! This is such an engaging tool to use in your classroom! It has been around for some time, but I really think it is underutilized!

Click on Tom Turkey for a Message!


It cracks me up that the character will track the mouse movement with it's eyes!

You will need to set up an account. I didn't do the education option. A teacher set up a free account for class . . . easy access for her students. Generic account and password.

It's really pretty simple!
First, pick your character!

Then, pick a background!

Love the fact that you can either record your message or type it!

Pick a voice!

How are teachers using it? A hook for introducing a unit, student presentations, students read their original poem, introduce key vocabulary, practice language development...

Say it in 1 minute! That is the amount of time for recording. I love this aspect. I think it creates the practice of reading with fluency!

Other features:

• Free
• Post your Voki to any blog, website, or profile
• Lesson plans available
• “Voki in the Classroom”: $29.95/yr or $44.95/2 yrs; 15 day free trial
• Voki on the iPad
• Share by either sharing the link or embed onto a website
  
  
  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Gobble till you Wobble!

Blendspace! Speed Share #2

This Tech Speed Sharing is so much fun!
Speed Share #2 . . .

Create digital content in 5 minutes! Say, what?!!!
Oh, but is true!
I literally pulled this together in 5 minutes.

• Free - currently
• Requires a login
• Any browser

What does Blendspace do?
Organize content, asses and track!

How are teachers using it?
Flipped classroom, lesson planning, student research, inquiry based learning, project based learning...

Give it a try! Click on the graphic!

The graphic organizers used are for independent work.

So easy! Drag and drop a wide variety of resources to create "one stop shopping" for  lessons!

YouTube, Google, Flickr, Educreations, Gooru, insert a webpage, files, Dropbox, and Google Drive!

Not only that, create your own quiz! Say, what?!!! Yes, your own quiz that can be tracked.

Here it is! You can give your students the quiz by giving them the class code.

Last, but not least, please go vote that you want Blendspace to be free for education!

If you go to the Help link you can vote to keep it free!

Movenote and Thankful!

I am so thankful for my new team! The other 3 Instructional Technology Specialists and I have been  designing some professional development for our campuses. Last Friday we tried it out on my campus.
Yes, the Friday before the Thanksgiving break! That is how awesome my school is... they let us invade their conference time for some fun sharing, some yummy snacks, and a free "Jean Day" coupon!

So, what was the professional development?
Take speed dating and blend it with technology ... ok . . . minus the dating, just tech speed sharing. We offered 4 choices and let the teachers pick 2... shared for 7 minutes, rotated to second option, then shared out!

The next few days I'm going to share the programs/apps we shared.

Speed Share #1 -  Movenote! Love...love...love it!

In a nutshell - Presentation software that allows you to drag and drop a pdf, image, slide presentation (Powerpoint), or doc into the application and then video/audio record with the presentation. Click through your slides as you narrarate.

• Free!
• Chrome Extension or website
• Interfaces with Google Applications for Education 
• Any device . . . any platform!

How are teachers using it?
Flipped classroom, differentiated instruction, presentations, center activities, or creating lessons for subs to show.

This is soooo quick and easy! Pull in your Powerpoint and then record. Once you are finished recording, you will get a URL to post or embed in a web page.

I created a cause and effect Powerpoint that was a partner activity with a mentor text.

Give it a try! You will love it and so will your students!

November ~ Currently

Beautiful day for a Currently with Farley!

Listening: My sleepyhead daughter has not emerged from her room , so it's quiet in the house....windows open...cool breeze....birds chirping and yummy Dunkin' Donuts blueberry muffin coffee brewing! 

Loving: This past week, while trying at times, was a ton of fun! I got to help out in several classes. Precious little second graders practiced their adorable Halloween/Fall poems for fluency. Then, we recorded them using Croak.it! With the Croak.it! link we turned it into a QR Code. Precious little faces as they scanned their QR code and heard their own voice. Here is my post on Croak.it! and QR Codes.

Thinking: Really?!!!!  Went to dinner with some friends last night. 

Wanting: Ugggg! I'm not a candy kind of person, but Tootsie Rolls are my weakness! They must go! That and all the Halloween decorations to magically be put away.

Needing: Gotta get started on my speech! I've been asked by our local university to speak at their Teacher Induction ceremony. 250 student teachers plus their family and friends. I would love to hear some of your words of wisdom for these new teachers!

Yummy pin!

Carmel Apple Dip! 

This is my "go-to" dish when I need something quick and yummy! It is super easy and a crowd pleaser.

Only 4 ingredients! If you click on the picture it will take you to the directions. These include powdered sugar. I've never used powered sugar. Just leave the cream cheese out for a bit and then spread it on a large plate!

While I was searching for the recipe and a picture . . . I found these! Same recipe, but in a jar! How cute are these?! I think I'm going to send these to my daughter's teachers! A little "happy" for the start of November and a new nine weeks! (Click on the picture and it will take you to the blog post.)

Head over to Farley's for some more Currently action! There are some really great yummy pin ideas! 

Perfect timing with the holidays approaching.

Have a beautiful day!