My Thoughts on a Friday...Chromebooks initiative #busedu

Our school is undertaking an initiative, according to the most recent board meeting, to move to a 1-to-1 situation for students next year. Teachers were given Chromebooks this summer, and next fall (2017) all high school students will have the device as well. Obviously, this is being met with mixed feelings.

As a computer teacher, I'm used to technology. I am used to managing (micro-managing) the use of the internet in my room, monitoring what students are doing and whether they are on task, and trying to integrate technology in "non-tech" business classes in a useful way. But, many teachers are feeling overwhelmed. Another thing to learn. Another thing that won't work properly. Another reason to stop class because of something not working well. And, technology issues are way bigger than a broken pencil lead that you can walk 20 feet and fix immediately.

And, I get it. I do.

But, I encourage anyone doing something new in tech to just embrace it. Go ahead. Don't fight it or be afraid of it. Don't retire because it might be too hard. Don't just refuse to use it because you shouldn't have to learn yet another thing. Don't whine to the kids about how you won't be using it because you don't have time. Be positive.

I'm in a unique situation in that my daughter (who attends a different school) is on year 3 of having devices. She's used to it. I've been the parent who has to make sure her laptop is charging at night to take to school the next day. It was a change, but it's just how things are now. It's not a big deal. And, she'll tell you that not all teachers use it the same way and some very little.

But in a conversation with an intelligent high school student yesterday, I was reminded that they appreciate teachers who try to use technology. I use Canvas, our LMS, to deliver course content. That includes what we are doing each day, copies of materials, uploading work for grading, embedding videos, etc. If one misses my class, they can log in and know what they missed. They don't feel as "behind" when they return from a three day illness. I know I am preparing them for the type of course delivery they will have in college. And, that makes me happy.

An article in PC Magazine quoted George Eastman saying:

We can't be content. We are behind. These students have technology integrated into every facet of their life, but still have to book a computer lab to type an essay in LA. This is a GOOD change. It will not be without issues, but you have to take it in stride. Technology can and will fail. Students can and will be distracted. You can't control that.

You can control your attitude. And, your attitude is contagious.

A Successful Photoshop Breakout Today! #busedu #worktogether

As a computer teacher, it's often hard to find good "cooperative learning" activities or provide solid opportunities for productive group work that doesn't turn into one person doing all the work and everyone else taking credit. But, my students have quite enjoyed my first two attempts at digital Breakout EDU in the computer lab!

Today, we did the newest Breakout I created for Photoshop. It's here, so check it out!

https://sites.google.com/site/photoshopbreakout1/

I learned much from creating my first one, and I decided to make this one a bit more challenging and the groups bigger even though I was afraid some people might fall through the cracks a bit. I took a chance and out of about 40 students, I truly only had one who I felt was "not engaged" in the activity and wasn't actively working with a group like he should have been.

My first step this time was to provide them with a teeny overview of what a Breakout is on our class website bellringer-- (adapted from https://sites.google.com/site/digitalbreakoutjb/faq)

How do you play a Breakout EDU Digital game?
Breakout EDU Digital games come fully loaded and ready to play - no setup required. Simply navigate to the page and begin looking for clues on the page and connected pages. You might find something in a foreign language, pictures with hidden messages, or QR codes that you can scan with your phone or the QR code Chrome Extension. Our best advice - click on everything possible. If you see something clickable, it’s worth a look. Other clue types include bolded letters, Google Apps documents, invisible text, and whatever else we can come up with! The games require a degree of critical thinking and will not always be completely straightforward. Additionally, some clues act as red herrings (decoys to throw you off). Your goal will be to solve the lock codes (dates, directions, words, numbers) until all are correct.. and then, you win!

What do I need to play?
All you need is an internet connection and a device! You can use your computer and/or your phones, but your team will need to submit the "final locks" on one machine to unlock the game and win. It's helpful to try to work together to solve puzzles more quickly. Your team will be given two CLUE CARDS that you may give to your teacher during the game to help you, but all must agree when to use them and for what part of the game. Otherwise, you cannot use the teacher for help.

If you finish before the hour is up, you will win a prize. :)

I put four sheets of paper on the board with numbers to match how many students were in the class and gave each group an animal name (Llamas, Penguins, etc.).  They were told to sign up on a line in a group of their choice (and since it wasn't "go grab a partner" if you didn't know anyone, you could just sign a line and not feel weird about it) as they walked in. Then, I gave a short intro to the activity, told them they could use computers and/or phones, and that if they worked together well, they might indeed win and get a prize! I also let them know they were only competing against the clock, not against a neighbor group (but not to share answers anyway).

I also provided each group with two HINT cards, which is done in the non-digital version but I didn't think about the first time I ran a game. They had to all sign the back and write which lock they wanted a hint for or which puzzle/clue they wanted help with. Otherwise, they couldn't talk to me during the hour and had to work together to try to solve the locks.

Here is a group of 5, spread out moving back and forth, turning monitors to share information, and working very well together. These guys actually finished the fastest today, in about 30 minutes!

Once a group was able to find all the locks and "win" the game, I took their pictures and treated each group with a candy bag, which they could divide as they saw fit.  Here are my 5 winning groups from today! 

Some thoughts going in to creating my next one....

1. Always have a "pretty easy" lock so they can experience some easy success. 
2. Have at least three people play your game and get feedback before you use a game. For this one, I modified it a bit after feedback from both students and adults who played my game. I added a random word that was buried in some "invisible" text to help them "hint" that there was text over there, a "quote" above a slideshow that helped tell you what to look for in the slideshow, and provided some "help letters" on the crossword/word puzzle to make it easier to complete. These were good changes and things I might not have done without feedback from about 6 people.
3. Provide a tangible reward. I didn't hand out candy the first time I ran one. This time, each team knew a bag of treats was on the line! And, I didn't let them keep the card that I took their pictures with, but a few students asked why they didn't get to keep the card, so maybe they need some sort of "certificate" or something. I know some of the ones I've participated in provided a badge or something for completers.

I'm already looking forward to creating another one! My next one will be in Web Design and will be a hybrid one since I am kicked out of my lab for Aspire testing on November 1. I hope to create physical clues but use an iPad or tablet as the "lock box" for each group. I already have two clues figured out! But, I plan to create a physical version AND a complementary digital version of that one in case someone does want to run it without printing clues.

If you have any good ideas for Web Design or Photoshop locks, let me know!

Why This Teacher Won't Allow Personal Music and Earbuds... #meanteacher #busedu

One of the first things I go over with my students at the beginning of school are my class expectations. As a school, we have a fairly "open" cell phone policy. Students are allowed to use their phones between classes or if a teacher deems it necessary and appropriate in class. They walk down the halls talking to their parents or calling to check work schedules, and it's become pretty commonplace to see. Thus, many students tend to want to pop in the earbuds and escape to their own world, connected only to their phones. Not in my room.

Between classes, they aren't allowed to have earbuds in walking the halls (because we want them to hear the announcements made over the intercom between classes) and teachers can make up their own rules in their classrooms (some allow music during work time, etc.). But, as a computer teacher, I have students wrapped up in technology all the time. And, I play music every day (various genres and themes each day) so students aren't sitting in silence. However, no earbuds and personal music.

Why?

Do I care what music they are listening to? Nope.
Do I think they might be doing something inappropriate? Nope.

Do I want them to be able to hear me all the time? You bet.
Do I want them to be available to neighbor students who need help? Absolutely!
Do I want them to stay engaged, even during independent work time. YES.

That's my reasoning. If you have earbuds in, your neighbor is not likely to interrupt your jam to ask a question. Each student tends to gets tunnel vision, only worried about their own goals and concerns. And, in my world, we work together. I want students to ask neighbors before they ask me, and I expect students to help each other.

It's not uncommon in my room for 2 or 3 students to be up across the room, guiding a fellow student on how to do something they are confused about (and I have a 'hands off' rule, too, so they can't do the work, just provide oral assistance or point with their fingers!).  I identify quickly who my experts in the room are and just as quickly can identify those students who might be struggling.  And, they know I might ask them at any time to go help someone. Most are okay with it because it's just the way we do it.

And, I love the system. Kids can sit in their rooms at night doing math homework with those earbuds in. But, in my room, they're going to hang out with us, in my community, so people are free to help one another.

They might even learn to like it. I hand pick my teacher's aides based on those willing to get up and help others, and it has paid off in dividends not only to help me teach the class, but to empower other students to feel that they are indeed an important part of my well-oiled classroom machine.

Web Design Breakout EDU! Classroom fun today! #busedu

Today, we tried my Web Design Digital Breakout in my Web Design classes.  It went really well! They stayed very engaged, despite me letting them use their phones to look up information, scan QR codes, etc. I did decide to do groups of 2 (or you could choose to go solo) and they could only use one desktop computer, but phones were allowed.

I've done a few of these digital ones on my own and they are much harder than the one I created (and most of my students were able to breakout in the 40 minutes I gave... one group was not successful in one class and two groups had 3 out of 4 locks but were unsuccessful in the other class). I didn't have many "distractors" in the website and I provided hints occasionally as needed to help them move along. Most did really well with working through the frustration and getting through it, so I was very proud!

I'm working on a breakout for Photoshop class, so be looking for that in about a week! That's for next week in that class.

A few tips:

• Be sure to double check all URLs; our school firewall blocked two of them, including a jigsaw puzzle site (for kid logins, not mine) and I had to scramble to get it unblocked. Fortunately, most could use their phones but not if hooked to school wi-fi. So, that was a snag.
• Consider installing a QR code decoder to the computer/Chromebook. For my second class, I had them install QuickMark QR and it worked for most of them (you can right click to decode on a page if you don't have a phone to take a picture of the code). Some had an app on their phones, but not all. 

Fun stuff, and a great change of pace. I think my plan will be to do two a semester for each class for Web Design and Photoshop... and maybe expand later on for my other classes. I don't want it to be too commonplace for them or, once other teachers get excited about it, them to be doing them too many places and not enjoy them anymore.

Have you tried Breakout EDU in any of your classes? I can't decide if I want to do a "physical" hunt or not (with clues hidden in envelopes, etc.) as the setup is pretty time consuming and I feel like groups would have to be bigger.

Web Design Errors... and Google Docs! #busedu #gafe

I have decided to assign, as a bellringer once a week, some "HTML tag" errors activities in my Web Design class. I wanted a way to really help them "train" their eyes to find errors even when they can't see what the page should look like (since many errors don't actually affect the way the page displays). So, my solution? GOOGLE DOCS!

I created an html file and took a screenshot of the codes. Then, I created a new Google Doc and inserting a DRAWING. Inside the drawing, I uploaded the image. Then, I shared that document to my students (changing EDIT to COPY at the end of the URL so they have to make a copy for their drive).

They got into their copy, double clicked the drawing, and then used the Scribble tool (hides under the line tool next to the arrow) and circled where they found errors.

After a reasonable amount of time, I shared the "answer key" for them to check their work. So, nice instant feedback to see if they were able to find all the errors (and I give them the number of errors so they can be motivated to find them all).

It really worked great in class today! Here's the document for you to see what they were doing and you can feel free to use it as well. Links are below it.


Source document for them to copy and edit-->
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oQzW1I5CvQxdi1AKVvpphS1gC-OmMWAk3prEEaXn99s/copy

Answer key-->
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b6Vl25unA3pDRQM97ua0-T15XevBnJkjhWMXQ0IMvyw/edit?usp=sharing