Have you ever...

• Wished you could clone yourself?
• Wished you had more time for interactive work in the classroom?
• Wished you could spend less time lecturing? And less time answering irrelevant or repeated questions?
• Wished your students could spend more time exploring topics in-depth with your help?
• Wished you could avoid awkward conversations about "too much homework"?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, our first SMA TechBreak is for you.

My previous post on this page explored the idea of the flipped classroom as a successful method of increasing active learning in any content area. Flipping can of course happen in a variety of ways. But for content areas that involve teacher lectures, a great option is to create videos for at-home consumption.

Our TechBreak on December 11 focuses on the keys to making successful videos.

1. Keep each video short (10 minutes or less). Focus on key points. Break up longer lectures into a series of "micro lectures" that students can watch individually. Separate each video with an activity (questions, online quiz, etc.) so students can check their understanding and re-watch if needed.
2. Plan out your visuals and language before filming. Few of us are really good at ad-lib performances. You will be more efficient if you know exactly what you want to say and do before you try to create the video.
3. Keep your language simple and engaging. Speak at a calm pace in clear, short sentences. Use easy-to-understand language. Use examples and stories as much as you can (we are hard-wired to follow those more easily.) Change your tone and delivery to enhance interest, emphasize points, etc. Don't be afraid to pause.
4. But be interesting. Avoid talking heads or leaving the same visual on the screen too long. Remember that your audience is used to faster-paced, high-interest visuals. So try to include visual examples that demonstrate the content, moving/animated material if you can (pretty easy to do with Explain Everything), and funny or engaging visuals to help emphasize your points. 
5. Your chosen tool should suit your purpose and be easy for you to use. Apps like Explain Everything, YouTube Capture, Adobe Voice, Shadow Puppet Edu allow you to create your entire project on your iPad, and each offers a different experience. If you want to use a PC, try Screencast-O-Matic. Macs have a built-in screencasting option as well. The Swivl robot work with your iPad to provide for high quality video of in-person lectures or demonstrations. When in doubt, ask your friendly neighborhood tech coach (or a tech savvy student!)
   
6. Upload the video to YouTube or a similar web-based program so you can then share the link on Schoology. This avoid problems with uploading/downloading times. You can make the video "unlisted" on YouTube so it can't be publicly searched.

Want some extra resources? Check out my Pinterest Board on Flipped Classrooms below--and I will keep adding to it as I find more great stuff. And take a look too at the sample videos below.

SAMPLE VIDEOS:

We've all heard the hype about "flipping" or "blending" the classroom. Yet when it comes down to actually incorporating that model of instruction--or even partially doing so--the concept seems daunting. Especially in light of our busy lives as teachers. 

So why do we keep coming back to this idea? Because it's hard to argue with facts. The concept of flipped instruction has actually been around for years--long before we introduced mobile technology into classrooms. In fact, many of us already practice this model at least in part without realizing it. And research shows that flipped instruction has a significant impact on student engagement and learning. (For instance, click HERE for a fabulous in-depth article from The Center for Teaching at Vanderbilt about the flipped model, how it functions and the research that backs it up.)

But what does it boil down to? 
Step 1: Instead of having lectures in class and then doing traditional homework (practice problems, worksheets, answering questions, etc.), students gain initial exposure to content outside the classroom through videos, readings, etc. As technology has improved,  teachers and professors have successfully experimented with short screencast videos, short video lectures, and a vast array of already available online content (videos, articles, iTunesU courses, etc.).
Step 2: In-class time is spent on collaborative, interactive activities that encourage higher-level thinking about the content through application and creation. Instead of being the central figure in the class, the teacher becomes more of a coach and facilitator.

I'm definitely interested in this approach. But how do I get started? And how do I make it work well? 

• Start small to get your feet under you--try this with just one lesson. Choose something that already exists (a great video on YouTube for instance) that provides the content you might usually lecture about in a particular lesson or unit. 
• As you get more comfortable, start creating your own videos or online presentations for content that doesn't already exist online. But keep them short (10 minutes or less) and interesting. No one wants to watch a 60 minute lecture on video.
• Provide some kind of incentive for the at-home preparation--completion points, quick quizzes, etc. For fun, engaging quizzes that allow you to instantly assess understanding, try Secretive or Kahoot.
• In-class time should be spent on an activity that applies the content in a creative, interactive way (solve a problem, create a product, debate an issue, discuss a chapter, etc.) Ensure that in-class activities are interactive, collaborative, and directly related to the material students learned at home.

For some great ideas, check out the following infographics. Click on them for larger versions online. And don't "flip out"--have fun with it!

Below is a great infographic by hneltner that combines the SAMR model with Bloom's Taxonomy and the idea of app-smashing (having students create content by using a series of apps--"smashing" them together.)  Check it out!

NOTE--this was created using ThingLink, a really fun app that allows you to add photos, videos, and other cool links to a static visual. A great idea for a formative assessment!

So, remember when I said there would be some bugs to work out as we introduced Office 365 to our environment? Here are the first two plus my recommended work-arounds.

NOTE—these comments apply only to the apps, not to the web-based versions of these programs that you can use on the computers.

BUG #1: Students cannot currently submit a document directly from the Microsoft Word app to a Schoology assignment. (Which means you can also not submit directly from Word to Schoology.)

WORK AROUND: Save the document into OneDrive. Open the document in OneDrive—it will open in a viewing window. Click on the three dots that appear in the bottom right corner. Click “Open in Another App.” Choose Schoology and follow the usual pattern. NOTE—the document that gets submitted will be a Word document.

Which brings me to BUG #2:  Unlike Pages, the apps for OneDrive and Word do not currently allow you to save a document as a PDF.

WORK AROUND: When you have a document open in the Word app, click the share button (looks like a little person with a plus sign on the top right corner.) Choose “Email as attachment.” Choose “send as PDF” and type in your school email address. Open the email. Touch and hold on the attachment. Submit to Schoology as usual from there.

Hopefully Microsoft will start adding updates to its apps based on feedback from users (including us) and will eventually fix both of these issues. But the work arounds above should help out for now.

It's a conundrum. Students need to write. A lot. And writing experts agree that the best way to improve one's writing (and the critical thinking skills that go along with it) is to revise the same piece multiple times.

Yet we teachers also have to balance that necessary revision with the other equally important content and objectives, all in a short space of time. 

Barring time travel, it isn't possible to completely remove that tension. But I discovered through experimenting in my English 9 classes last year that our tech tools can help reduce it significantly. As an example, the following is the process I used for an essay assignment during a poetry unit last spring.  

Yikes. It's August already. I don't know about you, but the summer feels like it is flying by. I hope it has been a restful time for all of you, a time that will give you the energy to jump in to a new year with both feet and a hero's cape around your shoulders.

Of course, I know many of you are already starting to gear up for the fall, and it's nice to know what to expect when you return. So here is a list of some of the tech changes to help you get started on your preparations.

iPad return/rollout for ALL students will be Thursday, September 4. 
We have created a B-adjusted schedule for this purpose. Study will be reduced to 30 minutes. The extra 30 minutes will be relocated to the end of the day and combined with the Activity Block to create a time slot for return/rollout, which will be conducted in TA rooms. Sophomore, Junior and Senior TA returns will be short and those students should hopefully be released early. Freshmen rollout will understandably take longer. Further details will be provided during Inservice Week.Yikes. It's August already. I don't know about you, but the summer feels like it is flying by. I hope it has been a restful time for all of you, a time that will give you the energy to jump in to a new year with both feet and a hero's cape around your shoulders.