Trading in My Flip Flops for My Alarm Clock!

Like many teachers right now, I am busy reflecting, preparing, and brainstorming while trying to ignore the last few days of summer. My flip flops seem to be yearning for one more trip to the beach, and my alarm clock is ready and waiting to be used! As I try focus on what can be a busy time of year, I have decided to recap my "Favorite Things" from last year with my students (feel free to insert a little Julie Andrews singing if it helps).  Some are major projects where light bulbs went off, others are quieter, more subtle ideas that just made life better. I hope you enjoy a glimpse into my world with some amazing students who keep me smiling, loving what I do, and looking forward to seeing them continue to grow. 

1. Book Creator Fetal Pig Lab Projects- Nothing is better than having my students asking to come to class during study halls or free time to get better pictures and ask deeper questions about the anatomy and physiology that so closely resembles their own.  @BookCreator has changed how I teach in more ways than I can explain.  The fact that my students know they are publishing their work adds another level of focus that cannot be otherwise provided. 

2. Crime Lab "Mockumentary" Project- This a super way to incorporate many lab skills, content objectives, cooperative learning, and team building moments into one activity. This is a 3 week project where all of my students are split into teams to solve a murder mystery. The kicker is that the entire middle school faculty is suspect of the crime! Check out my blog post about this project. I guarantee your students will love it!

3. Free "Charge" Bar- It is amazing how making the 15 open slots in my iPad cart available to students can be such a game changer! First, it gets the phones out of their hands/pockets and their eyes looking up. Second, the times that they drop their phones off and pick them up give me two extra personal touches during the day. Third, word got out, so I am lucky to have kids whom I don't teach come by and drop off their phones for some "free phone daycare". 

4. Mystery Skype- This is a total game changer! I am looking forward to next year's Global Collaboration Day already! Thank you, Jodie Deinhammer @jdeinhammer 

5. Cel.ly- I am fortunate to teach in a community where most students have smart phones. We have been able to send out student activity text messages to remind them of events, fund raisers, schedule changes and more. I also have one for my classroom to send out assignment reminders, sample questions, and reminders.

So whether you are still planning or you are fully immersed in a new school year, I wish you luck and the confidence to try something new!

To learn more ways in which I am using technology in my classroom, follow me on Twitter @eglassman757.

Global Collaboration Day Mystery Skype

Awesome Mystery Skype with Ms. Partain's Class! 

My classes had the great fortune to participate in a Global Collaboration Day Mystery Skype. If you are not familiar with a Mystery Skype, check out the official Mystery Skype Link! Basically, it is an opportunity to connect with classrooms all over the world. The mystery part of it is not knowing where the other classroom is located.

Before class, I provided my students with some background information and descriptions of the possible roles they would have, thanks to some fantastic resources within the Mystery Skype website and resources at Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano's Langwitches Blog. I then established a back channel for each group using Today's Meet. This was the forum to share questions with the interview team.

I then organized my students into teams: research teams, interview team, blog team and scribe.  I provided job descriptions for each group as well. Once we were set we made the call!  My students LOVED the experience and are ready for another one. They also want to stay connect with the classes we met. It was a fantastic day and the benefits far outweighed the risks. Taking time away from our regular routine was refreshing, and this is an experience that they will not soon forget.  Many thanks to Jodie Dienhammer (@jdeinhammer) for organizing our collaboration group and special thanks to Ms. Deinhammer's 7th grade students and Ms. Meggan Partain's (@Partain_Science) 8th grade class.

Our blogging teams were doing their behind the scenes work, while the call occurred.  You can enjoy one group's blog below!

To learn more ways in which I am using technology in my classroom, 

follow me on Twitter @eglassman757.

GUEST BLOGGERS: G Bell BioBlog Mystery Skype 

by Carson, Molly, Ellie, and Emme

       Today we took part in a Global Collaboration Day Mystery Skype. We have never blogged before so this is totally new to us.  We already know to be more detailed in the future, but at least we gave it a try! We called a mystery classroom and asked them questions to try to figure out where they were located. We had a couple technical difficulties at first, but after fixing some sound problems we got right into the interview. We would ask the other class a question and when the answer was no, they would then ask us questions. We asked if they were located on the East Coast, and near the Gulf of Mexico. 

We have a research team, who would research the clues that we received. 

We have a blogging team, who wrote down the questions and summarized the events. 

We also had an interview team that asked our Mystery Skype questions. 

 

We found out that they are located in San Antonio, Texas!

     

We had a bunch of fun testing our geographical and investigative skill sets!