Hour of Code: Coming Next Week to a Library Near You!

Next week is Computer Science Education Week, and I am so excited to teach an hour of code to my K-5th graders in the library! Actually, I will probably use these lessons all of December because students love the activities so much.
Check out their website code.org to lead an hour of code at your school, or watch this video:

Students love the popular characters that are featured in the Hour of Code lessons, and the lessons teach logical thinking skills. Last year I used the lessons with my Kindergarten class, and this year can't wait to try it with my upper grades as well!

Give Me a Virtual High Five!

I'm so excited that today I passed the Level I Google Certified Educator exam! Yay! The exam was SO LONG! If you are thinking of taking it, I highly recommend to be prepared for it to last the full three hours! Also, don't do what I did and spend too long trying to figure out one little thing, keep moving through the exam and flag questions and scenarios to return to later.
I'll be studying to attempt the Level 2 certification exam over winter break.
Check out this video to learn about FREE training Google offers.

I love these resources, which are helping me plan tech PD at my school site.

Google Suite Training Resources!

I can't believe Thanksgiving break is only one week away! Over the break I want to keep trying to improve my spreadsheet skills. I'm wanting to use spreadsheets more to teach computational thinking to my students. I'm also wanting to improve my ability to create presentations using Google Slides, and learn how to create a collaborative slideshow that all my students can contribute to. Other than that, I want to learn more about Scratch.
which has been recommended to me by a 12 year old friend of mine who used it to learn to code. Sounds like it's going to be a busy break. Oh yes... and must remember to relax as well!
Have a great week everybody!

More Great Resoures

One thing that never seems to be lacking in edtech is resources. Sometimes, there is so much to choose from it can be overwhelming. As educators, we want to be sure that time that students spend using technology is meaningful and engaging, and that we are not using new technology just for the sake of using new technology.
This weekend I was introduced to a phenomenal resource for K-12 educators looking to integrate more tech in the classroom, Simple K-12. www.simplek12.com/
I had heard of this resource, but had not had a chance to check it out. This weekend I participated in a free webinar about using Google Suite in the classroom. This was perfect for me, since students in my district have Google accounts, and we are already using Google Classroom, and some other features of Google Drive. Beware, the webinars are Eastern Standard Time! I missed one because I didn't realize this, and I am in California!
One great thing I learned about was the use of Google Forms and Sheets to track student data. I had used Google Forms with my class to conduct surveys, and give quizzes, But, I hadn't really thought about ways that teachers could create a Form to track student progress. Right now, there is a tremendous push, understandably so, to make teaching data driven. By tracking student progress using Google Forms and Sheets, teachers can make better decisions about how to use instructional time.
I also learned about a TON of different Chrome extensions that enhance instruction and engage students. I'll definitely need to revisit these over our Thanksgiving break.
The webinar I missed was about Google Slides, which I am wanting to get more comfortable with. I want to learn more about creating a shared presentation, where each student can add a slide. Seems like it should be easy enough, but as with anything that we are using with students, we as teachers want to be crystal clear on our learning objectives and lesson procedures. So, adding that my edtech to-do list as well.
Have a great week everybody!

WebQuest

Happy Halloween everyone!
This week I learned about a new tool to get students researching information: a WebQuest.
I wanted to design a WebQuest about South America. My fourth graders are studying Latin America in Social Studies, and my undergrad degree is in Spanish, so I thought it would be a good way to create something I could use with the kiddos and build on my personal interests.
I used a site called Weebly that lets you design websites for free.
Let me say, this was SO HARD for me.
First of all, it seemed like the site was really geared to people creating wedding websites, or marketing some kind of product. It took me forever to figure out how to bypass all the "themes" and create simple pages like what I want to use with my kids. Then, trying to format the text to look the same on each page was surprisingly hard. Still not sure what I was doing wrong, but even when the font type and size was the same in the "Design" box, it was appearing differently on each page. In the end, I thought it came out OK for a first try, but definitely not up to my perfectionistic standards! I want to find more time to play around with the site and try and figure out what I can do to improve the layout of future sites.
In the meantime, you can view the fruits of my labor here:
http://msmckee0123.weebly.com/
Thanks for reading, and I appreciate any feedback!

Discovery Education

This week I am taking a break from Google Classroom and trying something new with my 3-5th grade library students: Discovery Education. I am so excited to use this learning platform with them! Students met with a partner and created a Venn Diagram: "Me, Me and We." Then, students logged on to their Discovery Ed accounts. Students explored building a board about theirselves and their partners using the Board Builder tool. The wrote a headline, wrote 3 text boxes and included 3 images. I just introduced this program to them, so I plan to give them a few weeks to explore and work on the board. I heard students, even those that aren't always so enthused to produce classwork, say how fun it was. I'm excited to teach them to search using keywords, curate a list of resources, share their boards with one another, and create boards about what they are learning in class. Love this resource!

Technical Difficulties?

This week I am reflecting on how far I have come with my tech skills. I am very interested in work more training public school teachers in technology use. Teachers are under so much pressure with ever changing curricula, and managing large class sizes. Sometime using technology feels like "one more thing to learn." I really believe teachers need to be given time to explore tech tools that are available, and get more comfortable with them. Only then will technology make their lives easier. I should know, I was technically challenged, but lately I've been challenging myself technically, and like anything it gets easier with time.
My advice to technophobic people:
1. It takes time! Rome wasn't built in a day, and no one is going to be able to master all the different ways to use computers in the classroom overnight. But, once you start using more programs, you find commonalities and it becomes easier to learn new products.
2. Google it! If you're having a problem with your computer, or a piece of software, chances are someone has already uploaded a tutorial on youtube addressing that very issue. Discussion forums can also be helpful when troubleshooting tech.
3. Si se puede! If I can figure out how to use tech with K-5 students, anyone can!

Tech and Old-Time!

Wow, it has been a very busy week at my Teacher Librarian job, and in my Instructional Technologies grad school program. First, I made a concept map about one of my favorite topics: Old-Time Music! I was so inspired at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in SF, and hope I can improve my own fiddle playing if I ever have time to practice! You can check out my concept map here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2LOAiHwC_HPOXBXZzBWeTRta0U/view?usp=sharing
This week I also was working with kids in the library using SuccessMaker, and adaptive learning platform for elementary school students. We have been working out a schedule for teachers to use Successmaker with their students, which has been a challenge since we have a finite number of licenses. This week I'll see if I can come up with a schedule so the classes can stagger when they use the software. It must be so frustrating to pass out all the Chromebooks, only to find out students can't log on because we've exceeded the allowable number of users. I'm hoping that we're able to work out a schedule that works for everyone, and that the students benefit from use of the program.
Also this week I'll be looking more at Discovery Education, and hoping students can begin to use their online accounts. I'm excited to get them started researching topics of interest, and creating webpages using BoardBuilder.
Have a great week everybody!!

Digital Story Telling

This week I was very excited to learn about a new way to integrate technology with writing, one of my favorite subjects to teach: Digital Storytelling. I even published my own digital story which you can view here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6Omi2Kof_o
I think that this would be a way to motivate students to write personal narratives, because it integrates art, technology and writing. For me, it was fairly easy to form an idea for my story, which was about getting lost on Mt. Ishizuchi in Japan with my brother. Also, I'm lucky in that I enjoy drawing, and drawing the scenes was enjoyable for me. I know not all kids have an easy time writing stories, or drawing, so I could see them getting frustrated at either stage. The part I was most worried about was uploading the pictures into iMovie, and synching the narration to the pictures. It was actually was easier than I expected, thanks to some great youtube clips that clearly explained the process. However, although we have iPads with iMovie in my library, I would be a little worried about trying this process with elementary school students. I was thinking of doing a paper slide show with them, where they draw the scenes and narrate the story, filming live with the iPad.

Another Week in Ed Tech

This past week brought more challenges and rewards at my new Teacher Librarian job. I checked out books for the first time to the students, and I started wondering how I am going to manage checkout and a technology lesson in a one hour period. This week I kept it simple, focused on the checkout, and then had the student practice typing on Typing Club, or search on Wonderopolis using keywords.
This week I am learning about digital storytelling in my ITEC course, and thinking about how I could do a similar project with my library classes. I'm thinking that I could collaborate with the homeroom teachers. When the homeroom teachers teach a unit on personal narrative, I could ask them to send a story to the library. From there, the students could make slides and film a paper slide show using the iPads. I also want to show the students how to get started creating presentations in Google Slides.
As far as teacher training, I want to create tutorials for the teachers to learn how to share and organize files in Google Drive. I also want to create a tutorial for teachers wanting to use Google Classroom. Both are so simple to use, and I think creating a screen cast will help teachers have something to refer back to. Also, rather than showing each of the teachers individually, they can watch the screencast when they are able. The only thing I am lacking to make all these plans a reality is time!

Teaching in the 21st Century- Challenges and Opportunties

Educators today are bombarded with choices when it comes to integrating technology in K-12 learning environments. At a time when many teachers are nearing retirement, it can sometimes feel like the students are more proficient with available tools. What training is needed to help get these "technophobic" teachers up to speed, and how can administration best support teachers when it comes to using technology with students? Providing Chromebooks and iPads is not enough, teachers need guidance when it comes to integrating technology in learning environments.
This week I experimented with using Google Classroom for the first time. Although my 5th graders were able to log on to their Google accounts and take a short survey after adding my class with a class code, when it came to trying to get the 4th graders on it was total chaos! Many did not know their log in credentials, and were confused about accessing the assignment. I have taken an approach of diving in head first in terms of integrating tech in my classes, but for many teachers an experience like this could turn them off to Google Classroom in general. Training in the use of Google Classroom could ultimately make a teacher's life easier in terms of reducing paper usage and streamlining grading. Teachers who are implementing tech for the first time with students may need a second person with experience in the classroom to support students with logging on the first time.
Unfortunately, many public schools are short staffed, and may not have someone knowledgable about tech integration available to support teachers. Schools need to be careful to not just purchase hardware, but also to invest in training and support for teachers looking to enhance instruction and motivate students using technology.
At a time when education is rapidly changing, teachers need to be mindful of so much. As someone who used to really fear using technology, and feel that it made everything harder, I'm hoping that by learning more about it that I will be in a position to improve my instruction, and support other teachers.

Certifications

Multiple Subject Teaching Credential, BCLAD (Spanish)
Single Subject Teaching Credential (Spanish)
Understanding by Design (UbD) 101 Certification

Here are some of the projects I have been working on. You can read more about how I created these projects in my blog! Here you can find instructional designs I've created in Photoshop and Illustrator, a digital story, a WebQuest, and an instructional tutorial. Thanks for visiting!

Adobe Illustrator was used to created an infographic about monarch butterflies.

Infographic with instructions to grow a plant!

App interface for language learning.

Band logo created in Illustrator.

This timeline explores the history of bilingual education in California.

This sports infographic was created using Adobe Photoshop.

Old-timey concept map

Digital story: My family visited me in rural Japan. What could possible go wrong? Watch to find out!

Koantum Science for Kids- Watch my tutorial about an app designed to teach Next Generation Science Standards!

Studying South America? Students will love this WebQuest that gets them exploring the web, and learning all about South America! http://msmckee0123.weebly.com/

Here is a PDF of an Instructional eBook I designed and wrote about Asia.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2LOAiHwC_HPNzB4SkY1S1RLWG8/view?usp=sharing

Also available on iOS in the iBooks store https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/introducing-asia/id1182837421?mt=11

Website redesign for Alameda Education Association.