Wanna Hangout? Google Hangouts for Education

I am always looking for ways to create opportunities for my students to experience an audience outside of our classroom. I want them to know that their work will reach a global reader via our blog, Padlets and Google Apps for Education.  The development of our global audience started when I joined Twitter. My students loved reading the comments from other students, educators and famous authors. These connections gave us valuable feedback and we enjoyed building relationships with new digital learners and adding them to our PLN (Personal Learning Networks).

We enjoyed connecting through our writing, but we wanted more. Who were these people, really? What did they look like? What was their classroom and school like? So many questions. My class is a group who likes to talk, a lot! I am amazed by the conversations they have during book clubs, conferences, pair shares and strategy groups during Reader's and Writer's Workshop. They want to talk to their new friends in their global PLN. Honestly, so did I. I decided to look for opportunities to connect with our buddy classes via Google Hangout.
Two years ago my students had a Google Hangout with Adam from Google about 1:1 Chromebooks.

Merton was one of 3 districts in the country that implemented the first round of available Chromebooks. My students shared with Adam what they liked about the Chromebooks, and what concerns they had. Adam shared some troubleshooting suggestions and gave them a "sneak-peak" into what was coming next for some of the tools, like Google Presentation. My students left that Hangout inspired and knew that they were part of the future of Chromebooks for Education.

Our first Hangout this year was with Steve Pratt's 6th Grade class. We connected for Digital Learning Day via our blogs. We both did comic web site review blog posts and had our students comment on each other's posts. We decided to have our students meet via Hangout. I set up a Padlet for Mr. Pratt's class so they could prepare some questions ahead of time so we would be prepared for our Hangout. On the day of the Hangout, my students were so excited. I projected the Hangout and we dialed Mr. Pratt. When his face appeared on the screen, my students screamed and jumped out of their seats. Mr. Pratt and I gave the students a few minutes to chat and just enjoy the new experience. Next, they started asking each other questions about their classroom, school, and learning opportunities. Finally, it was time to say good bye. We ended our Hangout and my class and I reflected on the experience.

Our next Hangout was for World Read Aloud Day on March 5th. Jill Barnes and I connected a few years ago on Twitter and our students have been blogging together. We are always looking for exciting, innovative ways to connect our readers/writers. We decided Google Hangout would be the perfect way to have our students read aloud to their PLN's on this important day. It was a wonderful collaboration. We finally "met" each other digitally, and celebrated the right to read and share our stories.

Our most recent Hangout was for our Passion Projects. I was introducing Passion Projects for the first time this year, so I decided to contact my friend and expert, Paul Solarz. Paul and his students have been working on Passion Projects all year, so I knew they could give my students some advice to get started and help them form their own essential questions. Paul's students were so helpful. I requested that Paul's students post advice to our Padlet so we had some direction before our Hangout. We wanted to make sure our time with Paul's students was valuable and we asked important questions that would help us with the next steps of our project. This Hangout was different than the others because it was a project think tank session. One class shared their knowledge and excitement about a topic while the other group took notes and asked questions. The collaboration and communication between the students was so energizing, and they just met! This motivated my students to dive in and get started on their projects. I know that I could not have created this experience myself. This was the result of Paul, his extraordinary learners, and Google Hangout.

Student PLNs

If you are reading this blog, it means you are probably part of my PLN (Personal Learning Network), and for that I thank you.  As educators we should all have people to learn from on a regular basis.  We need a network of like-minded professionals to challenge our thinking and heighten our professional experience.  These can be co-workers and colleagues in our buildings, but I am sure you are reading this via Twitter, which means you are plugged into a broader global community of learners and know the potential of connecting digitally.  Since personal learning networks can include anyone who you trust to support your learning and make you better, shouldn’t we encourage our students to develop their own personal learning networks so they can experience the same benefits?
  I decided to apply this idea to Writer’s Workshop last year.  We were doing daily conferring and pair shares, but students really wanted to meet with me every day.  I explained to them I was only one perspective.  I introduced PLNs and told them about mine, locally and globally. I shared the importance of trust with PLNs.  I gave an example of how I would create a new workshop or blog and I would ask Mrs. Heizman and Mrs. Kasprowicz to critique it.  They are dear friends, but I also have great respect for them as professionals.  Mrs. Kasprowicz is a 5th/6th grade teacher, but also a published author.  Mrs. Heizman is our experienced Technology Administrator.  They are also extremely honest and will tell me what they think.  That is an essential part of the learning process if I expect to learn and grow.  

To help my students decide who was already part of their learning network, we answered the following questions:

Who helps us learn?
Who really knows us?
Who makes us laugh?
Who pushes us?
Who are our cheerleaders?
Who will be honest?
Who listens to us?
Who do we connect with locally and globally?

They went to work creating their PLN on Google Drawing.  I was happy to see they included me, a few classmates, parents, previous teachers, our current buddy classes, and Mrs. Barnes' class, our blogging buddies from Virginia.  Over the next few weeks in Writer’s Workshop, instead of asking writers to find a partner, I encouraged them to find someone from their PLN for feedback until I was able to confer with them.  They loved the term “professional” and took the responsibility seriously.

I found success with 5th Grade student PLNs, but I wondered if this same idea could be applied to younger students.  I consulted another member of my PLN, Ms. Losik, a 1st grade teacher at Merton Primary School.  Our students had done a few collaborative activities already and were comfortable working with each other. I felt my students were confident with their knowledge of PLNs and they were ready to teach their first grade buddies what a PLN is, and help them create their own so they could start using their network in 1st grade for Writer’s Workshop.  Ms. Losik prepared her students for our visit by talking to her students about their own learning experiences and brainstorming together who helps them at home and school. 

When we finally brought our students together for our PLN pair share/teach activity, the excitement was explosive. They were so proud to share the important, special people in their lives who help them learn. First the 5th graders explained what a PLN is, and shared their Google Drawings of their own PLNs.  Next, 5th Graders assisted their 1st grade buddies to brainstorm their PLN members by asking similar key questions we used to develop our own PLNs.  They wrote the names of the people and drew pictures on a graphic organizer similar to our Google Drawings.  After about 15 minutes, each 5th/1st grade pair presented their PLN.  It was interesting to note that even though these students were different ages, they both valued teachers, classmates and parents in their PLN.

This year my students continue to grow their PLN. They are excited that our blogs have reached new classrooms this year and we have made connections with famous children’s authors. Each TCRWP unit of study has a new element of excitement because the audience is no longer limited to our classroom, but reaches an unlimited global community and Personal Learning Network of their choice.  

  

Validation

Whenever you start a new Language Arts initiative with your students, you are always hopeful.  You want THIS program to make the difference.  The materials are purchased, the teachers are trained, the parents are informed.  Then the real work begins. Implementing real change in your own classroom. In order to do this successfully, means looking at literacy differently and creating a writing environment that looks and feels different than what has been done in the past.  Exciting! Year one of Writer’s Workshop was an absolute whirlwind in my 5th Grade classroom at Merton Intermediate School. It was new to everyone, so we learned together.

That was part of the fun.  My class and I loved conferring best.  We simply loved talking and sharing about writing.  It brought us all closer together as writers. We also had a class blog so we could continue our writing and discussions outside of the classroom. Blogging extended our audience to a global community and provided authentic learning opportunities. We loop 5/6th grade, so I was thrilled knowing we could continue what we started the following year.

I attended Teacher’s College Reading & Writing Project in August 2013 and kicked off the new Units of Study this year.  We started with Personal Narratives.  It was exciting to start our unit with experienced writers who were familiar with workshop. We spoke a common language and were living our lives as writers.  I didn’t realize just how much until 6th Grade volunteered to present “Writer’s Workshop: Year Two” at a school board meeting in November.  I started gathering artifacts and recruiting my writers to present at the meeting.  I made some amazing discoveries.

First, I asked my students, “ How are we living life differently as writers this year?”  Over the next two days students posted their responses on a Padlet.

It was exciting to see responses like:

• “Last year I learned a lot of things that I needed to apply to my writing.  Now that I know all of those skills, it is a lot easier for me to add them to my writing without even having to think about it.”
• “We are more aware of our surroundings so we can make the moments we have lived into small moment stories.”
• “I think I have grown as a writer by being unique and brave.”
• “We are writing blogs which don’t just help me, but inspire others too.  I reach many readers.”

Next, I went back to find a similar activity I did with my students a year earlier.  We were working on building stamina as writers since this was our first exposure to workshop.  My students were not exactly “enjoying” the amount of time we spent writing each day.  We discussed stamina and why it was important to build stamina in all areas of our lives. I had them each contribute to the question, “Why is Stamina Important in Writer’s Workshop?” on a shared Google Doc the same way I did with the Padlet activity.  Some of the responses were:

• “We can build stamina by putting effort into your work.”
• “We can build stamina with practice, practice, practice.”
• “We can build stamina by practicing and writing stories.”
• “We can build stamina by writing a lot at home or anywhere you go!”
  

For both of these activities, I posted the question on our class web site and asked my students to share their thoughts.  What a difference a year and the correct writing model can make.  What I noticed the most was the first year responses were all about the work, effort and practice. The second year responses were about the writer, blogger, inspiration, audience, life, and stories.  YES!!

We proudly presented our findings to our school board and ended the presentation with a potpourri voices share. Thanks TCRWP for your amazing resources and instruction this summer.  Most of all, thank you to my Merton 6th Grade writers/bloggers for your dedication and trust in me.  I am so proud of you!  Merton Community School Board Presentation: 11/23/2013

Students! Assemble!

I am a superhero fan.  I love the comics, movies, action figures, costumes, and most important, I love the story behind the hero.  I like Ironman, but I am in awe of the brilliant Tony Stark.  He has an idea, and retreats to his lab to research and build with J.A.R.V.I.S. to create the next great technology masterpiece.  I like Batman, but my favorite scenes are when Bruce Wayne and Alfred or Lucius Fox are researching, brainstorming, discussing strategy, and testing the newest tech tool.  These men are mere mortals, but they don’t believe there is a limit to the possibilities. Awesome. I understand that Iron Man and Batman are fictional characters, but we all need a little superhero to push ourselves and believe that anything is possible, because it is.  This is a lesson I want to teach my students with the support of 1:1 Chromebooks.  In education, teaching and learning should lead to Common Core Standard assessment, but should start with student ideas and choice.  As learning missions take flight, we decide the best learning path together.  We research, we collaborate, we strategize, we create, just like Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne. Once the mission is complete, we celebrate our success.  Finally, we reflect and set goals for our next mission, just like other superheroes do. I feel honored to lead my superheroes on their daily missions.  We are fortunate at Merton to have Chromebooks, Smartboards, document cameras and iTouches to enhance our learning experience. I just remind them that it is the operator with the brilliant mind and thoughtful heart who is the superhero, not the device.

Thank you to my fellow tech geeks @chris_reuter, @chadkafka, @dkapuler, and @MisterMinor for sharing resources and my passion for superheroes. 

The Chromebooks Have Landed

What a wonderful Friday in Merton, WI.  At 10:12 A.M., the Chromebooks landed in Room 121.  My class used Chrome and Google Apps on netbooks last year as 5th Graders, but Chromebooks are a right of passage in 6th Grade at Merton.  My students immediately became one with their Chromebook.  It was a beautiful thing. Once they discovered a few things, they started to share their gems with classmates. After a few minutes, they went to their Google Drive and started their writing activity in Google Docs.  I was pleased that they remembered our discussions from last year, and why we have 1:1 access in our classroom.  We focus on learning outcomes.  Our tasks have purpose and tie closely to our learning targets.  Luckily there is always room for the 4C’s and fun in the process.  The graphic by Bill Ferriter can help educators take the focus off the shiny tools, and put them back on the learning outcomes. The tools will follow, and so will the students.  

One of the ways we start conversations and find answers is by connecting with classmates, PLN's and global communities via Kidblog. My students will be posting their first reflection next week. Please visit and comment often. Our connection to a greater audience and your comments motivates my students to write more than ever. We are always looking for other classrooms willing to connect and create together. Mrs. Reuter's Class Blog


We ended our day celebrating our week of learning and our Chromebooks. We discussed how we will model digital citizenship as we explore our Chromebooks over the weekend. What a great week! I’m so proud of my students. 

Looking Back/Looking Ahead

60 degrees in July? What’s up Mother Nature? Rather than sitting by the pool, I am inside covered in a blanket. I know we will have more hot days to come, but this weather is a gentle reminder that the 2013-2014 school year is quickly approaching. I will miss the time at home with my boys, but I am anxious to see my students. I am a 5th/6th Grade looping teacher at Merton Intermediate School, so I am fortunate to have my same students for two years.

The 5th Grade year was full of exciting “firsts” for my students. Some of my favorites include: 1:1 with Netbooks/Chromebooks, Google Apps, Boom Writer, the 4C’s, Kidblog, 1st & 3rd Grade Buddies and Student PLN’s. Our greatest success was the implementation of Writer’s Workshop. My students and I embraced the model and love our workshop time. Our favorite part was sharing our work with our class and global PLN. The Workshop Model stresses that both students and teachers see themselves as writers. This idea is what inspired me to start my own professional blog. My students’ blogs were amazing and showed extensive growth throughout the year. Please enjoy our final post titled, “Looking Back/Looking Ahead”. We are always looking for other classes to comment on our blogs and collaborate on project-based activities.

In less than a week I will be traveling to New York to attend The Teacher’s College at Columbia University. I am honored to represent Merton Community School District at The Reading & Writing Institute. I am excited to learn about the new units of study and how I can best deliver this CCS-based content to my eager learners. I promise to share my TCRWP gems in future posts.

Still only 66 degrees.  Stay warm and read blogs.