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.

Sneaking Some Biology into Crime Solving Fun!

When asked how to make class more interesting, I often equate my strategies to sneaking veggies into dinner (or even dessert). It is about the presentation, conversation and outcomes that often distract students from being frustrated with their work or reluctant to give it a try. I truly believe it is about the attitude that we use to"serve" the dish of education.

The most recent "entree" I have been serving to my students is the annual forensic crime lab. I combine microscopy, fingerprint analysis, blood typing (synthetic, of course), blood spatter pattern, karyotype analysis and DNA profiling to narrow a list of 37 teacher suspects to one guilty murderer! 130 students are divided into groups to be the CSI for one of the suspects. They share their work in a common space and draw conclusions to end up with the guilty suspect.  This project takes three weeks to complete but can be modified for any schedule. Their main tool to use is their iPad to collect their photos and notes and then compile everything into a 5 minute "mock-umentary".

Please use this link to see the full description of the project.

Something new, added this year, is a two day blood spatter analysis. It was a huge hit and success for adding geometry into the mix! Use this link to get to the description of the blood spatter analysis from the Sherlock Holmes International Exhibit. It was a definite winner.

Projects are due at the end of the week, and I will be certain to share the best of show!

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

Exam Review- Book Creator Style

This is my second year of doing a student produced semester exam review project, and this book was even better than the last.  Each student was given one question to answer from the list I provided. I teach 9th grade biology, but this can be adapted to any subject area and any grade level.  The key is being organized, having clear directions, and affording class time to get great results.

Book Creator Exam Review Project Information




To see the final product, use either one of these links:

Book Creator Exam Review Project 2014 ePub Version

Book Creator Exam Review Project 2014 PDF Version


I had the distinct privilege of being a guest speaker for the EdTech Teacher Winter Webinar Series, Creating and Collaborating on eBooks, on December 9, 2014.  I had so much fun talking about how I use Book Creator in my classroom with the genius brains of Beth Holland, Sabba Quidwai, Dan Amos and Nik Chatzopolous.  How great it was to get to talk to the creator of one of my favorite apps! Follow all of them on Twitter if you don't already!

I also need to give a "shout out" to iPad Educators for mentioning this project in their 2014 App Awards in the science category! Congrats to Book Creator for being a featured app.

If you are new to doing this type of project or just want some ideas, here are my main suggestions:

1. Require students to start with paper and pencil to brainstorm and collect thoughts. Once they have revised and edited their work through conversations with classmates and you, add in the technology.

2. As the teacher, choose the book format. If students do not all have the same format, you will not be able to compile them into one final project.

3. Require students to title their work by question number. It will make your life much easier when you merge all of the separate files.

4. Make sure the work is accessible. Not all families have the ability to open ePubs so be certain to provide links to the project in ePub and in PDF formats.

5. Finally, and most essential, have fun with the project and let your students show you what they know.





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

Cell Projects with an App Smash or Two...

I am a little behind on blogging, so I thought I would write on my students' last three projects.  To say I am proud of their work is an understatement.  I will try to keep it brief since the projects speak so well for themselves. I have included the project description pages as well as examples of each.

I require my students to keep a digital portfolio folder in Drive for our class. All of their projects are then shared with me using the same file name format.  This has been a great time saver for me, and it also keeps them better organized.  Semester exams are just a few weeks away. Having the biology folder ready to go will make for a great review tool.

Cell Diagrams using Explain Everything and Thing Link The requirements of this assignment were simple. Use Explain Everything  (my favorite app of ALL apps) to draw and illustrate an animal and plant cell. Save the pictures to the camera roll. Create a Thing Link account and upload the pictures.  Create targets on the diagram of each organelle, including the name and description of each.

Website link to sample seen below. 


This "App Smash" (phrase copyright by Greg Kulowiec) was so successful that I wanted to share it with the EdTech App Smash Awards. We had a great response and ended up winning the Steam/Stem Best AppSmash Award! I am looking forward to San Diego in February!

Photosynthesis using Explain Everything, Tellagami, and Aurasma

I divided the topic of photosynthesis into 8 questions for my classes.  Each group had to create a video answer to the question assigned.  That answer was uploaded to the camera roll and then added to our school Aurasma account.  Each group also had to complete a trigger image for the class board. This was my first experience with Aurasma.  The end product is awesome, but it did take some time for me to upload all of the videos and triggers. Thank goodness I have an amazing colleague, Ed Patterson, Director of Academic Technology at Norfolk Academy, (@espatterson) to teach me the tricks of the trade.

Photosynthesis Aurasma Project Information

Photosynthesis Aurasma Rubric

Photosynthesis Aurasma "How To See Our Projects" poster

Use directions in the link above if you are not familiar with Aurasma to use the picture (trigger image)  below to see one of our projects!

Cell Cycle using My Stop Action and My Create
For this project, we focused on creating a stop animation video of the cell cycle. Since my students are familiar with many creation apps, they could choose what they wanted to use, focusing on My Stop Action and My Create for the stop animation portion of the project.  I had specific topics that needed to be covered to show understanding of the functions of the cell during division. I then allowed students to "choose their own adventure" with a topic of their choice that relates to cell division.  They had one week to finish their projects and submit them to me via Google Drive. This was a great way to encourage students to put the processes into their own words and also tap into their creative style.

Cell Cycle Project Description

Cell Cycle Project Rubric



D Bell Daniel William Cell Cycle Project from Elizabeth Glassman on Vimeo.

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

TGIF. . . hAPPy Friday!

30 days hath September and they have already passed! I am now in my third year of iPads in my classroom.  It is amazing how much I continue to learn daily about using these devices to enhance my instruction and student learning.  I decided in lieu of my 20% time fall project to do something I call hAPPy Friday!  Every week, we review the content of the week with introducing a new app or website.  This keeps the weekly challenges fresh and wraps up the week's material in a nice little package.  Here is a glimpse of what we have done so far!


Week 1: Use Explain Everything to create a one slide representation of the characteristics of life.  Save to camera roll and add to Biology folder in Drive. Share with me using proper assignment heading.

Week 2: Use the iBooks app of our text to create a study guide for your partner.  Swap and check.

Week 3: Use Today's Meet to submit an article about water in society. Cut and paste the url to the class discussion and comment on two other articles submitted.

Week 4: Use Explain Everything to illustrate dehydration synthesis and hydrolysis.  Use the picture you created as the background in Tellagami. Narrate your illustration. Save to Drive and submit by sharing.

Hydrolysis and Dehydration Synthesis Tellagami/Explain Everything Video from Elizabeth Glassman on Vimeo.

Week 5: Alcohol Edu web course completed to learn the physiological effects of alcohol consumption. This is a program our school uses every year with our 9th graders. There is also a parent component.

Week 6: Use iCell app to complete chart in notes about organelles and functions.  Then use Explain Everything to draw plant and animal cell drawings.  Save both to camera roll.  Using the Thing Link app, add targets/hot spots to your pictures with name labels and detailed descriptions.  Save in Thing Link.  Copy both pictures' urls and paste them into a Google doc that students share with me.


This has greatly improved the fluidity with "app-smashing" in class. The kids have quickly learned that hardly ever do we use just one app to complete a project or task.  They are learning the variety of project based apps to hopefully get us to a place that they can just decide what they want to make without as much direction from me on specific apps to choose.

I am also having them save as much as possible to Drive for future review and reference. It will also be helpful for creating our exam review books in December.

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

The A-MAY-zing Race Anatomy Edition

If you are a teacher, parent, student or anyone who knows any of the above, you know that May is crazy in the world of education! Due to this fast paced daily grind, I neglected posting a new blog that should have been done already! So, this is a blog that explains what I did during the last month of school with my biology classes... The Amazing Race Anatomy Edition.  I have always been a fan of the show, so why not bring it into my classroom? As a way to replace the pop quiz and cover a lot of ground, my colleague, Scott Fowler, and I gave weekly challenges to our students for the different systems of the body. This was a great way to bring some competition and intrigue to those crazy days of May. Thank you to many people who helped this brain child come to life through your innovation and ideas, Tweets and thoughts. Special mention goes to Jodie Deinhammer who provided great information for our reaction time task. Check out her amazing work at iclassroomcoppell.blogspot.com and @jdeinhammer on Twitter.

In the following links, you will find resources for the overall project, roadblocks, tasks and assessments. As with any new project, there is room to grow and expand. Overall, it was a success with students and helped with their semester exam review book. Enjoy.

Amazing Race Overview

Amazing Race Grading Information

Amazing Race Roadblocks and Tasks 1-3 (digestive, skeletal, muscular, nervous)

Amazing Race Roadblock and Task 4 (Endocrine/Reproductive)

Amazing Race Roadblock and Task 5 (Immune)

Amazing Race Final Roadblock and Task (Semester Book Creator)

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

 

It's a Matter of Crime!

One of the brightest parts of a very dreary time of year is our annual crime lab project. The main objective of the 9th grade biology crime lab is to provide our students with an opportunity to work in a collaborative setting to solve a problem while showing proper lab technique and technology skills. Some of the topics and techniques are review from other activities in the year and some are completely new to students.  We kick off the project with a lesson in evidence collection and technique from Joan Turner, City of Suffolk Community Outreach Coordinator and City of Suffolk Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney, Matthew Glassman. 
Here is how the project works...One teacher is the victim, one teacher is the guilty suspect and the rest of the faculty are other suspects to the crime. Students are divided into investigative teams (ideally 3 to a group)based on common free bells when possible.  Each group is then assigned one faculty suspect to interview, gather fingerprints and take a hair sample.  Based on hair and fingerprint analysis, the list of 40 (this number changes each year) suspects  drops to the Top 10. Students submit their choices via a Google form that must be completed by a deadline. By using karyotype analysis

the list is shortened to four.  Using blood type analysis, students narrow the list to the final two suspects.  The final analysis of DNA identifies the guilty suspect. Testing that helps set the scene and motive of the crime include drug analysis and blood spatter pattern analysis.  While conducting the research and completing the lab work, students must document their findings with photos and notes collected on their ipad and shared in a Google doc with their group members.  Students must submit a packet of information on their first deadline which includes a final four data analysis chart, search warrant and crime scene sketch. The second deadline is a “mockumentary” video which is created using iMovie on the iPad. The video includes an explanation of the testing completed, results, and explanation of motive.  The project is conducted over a three week time frame.


My colleague, Scott Fowler, and I have been doing the crime lab project for the 13 years we have been teaching together.  With the addition of iPads, we are able to go mostly paperless and communicate with groups through shared Google docs. We have also changed from requiring a final paper to producing the "mockumentary" video.  I think this has allowed us to get a better understanding of student comprehension of the parts of the project since we have the opportunity to hear their explanation and see their interpretations.

Crime Lab Information Packet  

 

Crime Lab Grading Rubric

As always, every project leaves me with ways to improve and refine the process. Here are my main tips if you choose to do something of this nature.

1. Intermediate deadlines are time saver.

2. Common free time for students is extremely helpful.

3. Clear grading expectations should be presented at the beginning of the project.

4. No last names in projects must be reminded to your students!

5. Patience, sense of humor and popcorn are a must.

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

Thinking Critically with Video Projects

One of my main goals of adapting iPads into my classroom is to continually challenge the quality of work that my students submit. I want to make sure that it shows understanding of the subject matter as well as independent critical thinking. I also want to have the work be something that my students can use when they are studying for the exam at the end of the semester. The most recent work that my students have done required them to present  videos on an assigned topic dealing with Protein Synthesis (project information link) and Human Genetics.  I then used a grading rubric to assess, and the best of each category was then compiled into a video to share with all students and their parents. This can be done with any subject matter and any iPad experience level. The apps we used were Explain Everything, Tellagami and iMovie. All three are paid apps, but worth the cost. As always, Explain Everything is amazing with giving students the ability to do pretty much anything they want with creating or presenting information. Tellagami allows for the creation of an avatar with a background of the creator's choosing. Finally, iMovie allows for the merger of the different videos in to one seamless product. As always, focusing on the push and pull of videos with the camera roll will give the best success for work flow. As long as your students can get their videos to the camera roll, you can publish!


DNA, RNA & Protein Synthesis Video Project from Elizabeth Glassman on Vimeo.




Human karyotype genetics project from Elizabeth Glassman on Vimeo.

I used this project format for our chapters on DNA, RNA and Protein synthesis and then on our chapter dealing with human genetic disorders. In both cases, I had five topics, with four groups of students covering each topic. The "best of show" for each category was awarded bragging rights and a few bonus points on their project grade. Both of these projects have been great preparation for the "mockumentary" movies that we will be making at the conclusion of our crime lab!

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

57 Heads Are Better Than One

As I get myself organized and prepared to start a new semester tomorrow, I want to reflect on the cumulative semester exam review project that was a great success for my students.  I decided to take a risk and have them create an exam review book that each student contributed to. The parameters of the project are found at the link, Glassman Biology Book Creator Midterm Project.  I was inspired to do this project from Greg Kulowiec's workshop at the Ed Tech Teacher iPad Summit in November 2013.  

Basically, I divided up the topics of the semester into 20 sections and then put students in groups of 2 or 3, each group in charge of a specific topic. Because I have 20 shared iPads, I found it logical to have 20 sections to the book to avoid sharing conflicts.  Each group was to summarize the topics, create questions and provide answers to those questions. All groups used Book Creator to submit their work as a Google Doc to me. The other apps that were used are Explain Everything  and ThingLink.  I gave them a week to complete their work during class and submit a shared ePub with me so I could then merge all of the "mini books" into one complete book for all of my students before exam week began.   

If you decide to make a project like this, consider these suggestions for smoother work flow for you and your students. 

1) Make sure all students are saving books in the same format so they can be merged later on.  I chose the square format. I had one group not follow this formatting guideline, and they were not happy when they had to copy everything into a new book. Book Creator will not allow you to change the format once you start a project. 

2) Have a soft deadline two days before the final deadline to check accuracy and depth of content.  This was the best part of all. I found myself saying, "This is good, but you know you can make it better." My students were ok with it, and ended up turning in much better end results with the midway edit. 

3) Remind them that this project is PUBLISHED! That was the biggest carrot of all. Knowing that their names were attached to the project that could be found on the internet created a bigger sense of ownership. 

4) Make sure all submissions have first names only to protect your students.

5) Shorten longer url links (we used bitly) and include them so that anyone using the PDF version of the book can get to the links that are embedded in the ePub version. 

5) When submitted to you, be certain that students have make the title of the book in BookCreator and on Drive the number of the question and the topic. For example, the first chapter of our book is prefix/suffix review so that chapter was submitted as 1PrefixSuffix.  I had 20 books to merge, and this was a huge time saver. 

Once I finalized the twenty mini-books into one book, I shared it with my students and their parents as both an ePub and PDF.  Remember, not everyone has an iDevice at home when you have a shared iPad classroom. My final requirement for each student was to save the book to their Evernote digital portfolio. Please use the following instructions to access the version of the book that works with your computer, iPad, or internet accessible device. Here is a quick reminder in the difference in the ePub and PDF versions of the book. 

ePub files can be opened in iBooks, BookCreator, Evernote, and Dropbox. This format allows you to use the interactive links and videos right in the book.

ePUB version of Glassman Biology 1st Semester Review Book 2013

PDF files can be opened in Drive just as you would open any PDF file. This file version is not interactive, but links have been provided to access that information on the internet.  

PDF version of Glassman Biology 1st Semester Review Book 2013

Please let me know if you have any questions with accessing the book! Happy New Year and may 2014 be a year of taking risks with technology in your classroom!

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

iPads and Projects and Apps, OH MY!

Some of my amazing colleagues from
Norfolk Academy during the conference.
L to R: Scott Fowler, ElizabethGlassman,
Maria Moore, Susie Coker and Ed Patterson

I had the fortunate opportunity to attend and present at the Ed Tech Teacher iPad Summit in Boston November 12-15, 2013.  For any educator who is thinking about using iPads, just starting to incorporate iPads or is a master iPad user in their classroom, this is the conference for you. This was my second time to attend the conference, and once again my brain was filled with so much amazing information I am now just able to put it in writing. Just over a year ago, I was introduced to some of the most influential educators I have encountered. The team of Beth Holland, Shawn McCusker and Greg Kulowiec have emerged as the long distance tripod to balancing the world of the iPad. They are my go-to people with questions and ideas. Their influence brought me from being a novice iPad user to now being a knowledgeable resource in my school.  They are the reason I blog, tweet and take risks.My colleague, Ed Patterson (@espatterson), and I presented at the conference about using iPads in the middle school science classroom and our experience over the past year.  You will find the resources to our session at the following links.

iPads and Projects and Apps, OH MY! Prezi
Live Binder Resources for iPads and Projects and Apps, OH MY!

As with any work in progress, I wish I had more time to share the amazing work of my students and colleagues during the quick 50 minute session. What a marvelous world of inquiry I am a part of.

I am currently working on a project with my students that I created while I was at the conference. We are doing an "appsmash" with Explain Everything, ThingLink and Book Creator to make a semester review book for all of my students to use for their exam review.  Click here to access the project information.  The final product will be shared through Google Drive and saved to each student's Evernote portfolio. Stay tuned for the final product! I will post it after their deadline next week.

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

All You Have to Give is Twenty Percent

This is my 10th blog post and we are in the 10th month of the year, so I figured I had to go with something to do with 10 in this blog post.  So, what is better than doing a multiple of 10 and go to 20? Either I have your curiosity piqued or you are not a fan of my middle school logic and are ready to move on to another activity for the day.

You may or may not be familiar with Daniel Pink who is the best selling author of five books dealing with changing the world of doing work.  As a professional development opportunity a couple of summers ago, I read Drive by Pink.  In his book, Pink describes the effectiveness of Google's twenty percent time in which employees are allotted twenty percent of their time to work on a project of their own interest. After getting excited about the idea of giving students time to work on an open-ended project that they design, my colleague, Scott Fowler, and I decided to take this concept and use it in our classrooms to study the scientific method. We designed a project focused on creating a water filtration device design to fit into a two-liter bottle. This idea came from Scott's experience traveling with the Norfolk Academy Global Health Fellows to Haiti in the summer of 2012 when they met with local children and families to discuss and promote the importance of using potable water for hygiene and cooking. We watched our students wrestle with everything from affordability of materials to filtering microbes that the finest of filters can't detect. Bottom line, did they create the next water device? No. However, did we study the scientific method in a way to open their eyes to real world problems and issues? Absolutely.

This year we decided to keep the valuable project time and devote every Friday of first term to another twenty percent time project. Our charge to students was to design a green roof design for our geographic area, focusing on a specific variable of each group's choosing (insulation, run-off, drainage, etc).

The following list of ideas and suggestions chronicles how I worked with my students through this year's project.

1. Introduce with something attention grabbing. We used the NBC video clip about green roofs, Green Roof Saves Chicago. This clip may seem little outdated, but it features one of our own Academy families who served as a resource for our students. You can follow their website at the link, Our Green House. There is also a more recent clip from WVEC 13.

2. Provide parameters to the project, but not rules. You can find my project guidelines by clicking here.

3. Be clear on your expectations for grading. You can find my project rubric by clicking here .

4. Have a pre-determined calendar of dates with intermittent deadlines. I included that with the project guidelines.

5. Keep the twenty percent time "sacred" from everything else. Show your students that you value this time every week.

6. Because we use shared iPads, we had to make sure students could access information out of class.  One of the biggest "mistakes" we learned together was the idea to rely on Evernote as a storage place for group information. We are using Evernote for their lab portfolios, but they are single user accounts. There is not way to do collaborative sharing in those documents. Next year, I will require that all information is stored as a Google Doc for the groups to share. 

Ideas were fantastic, at times frustration was high, but overall, we had similar results to last year ... students were learning, doing research, building prototypes, submitting reports and then told to make things better. This was a true lesson in being committed to a problem and dealing with having to modify and rebuild when a first attempt didn't necessarily come through. This project definitely held our students to the four core tenants of our middle school experience: respect, commitment, grit and toughness.  

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

APPsolutely SMASHing!

It amazes me that what I think I am going to blog about at the beginning of the week is totally different than what ends up being posted! I finally experienced the magic of AppSmashing! What is that you might ask? This is when you take combinations of apps to end up with a final product that couldn't be created with one application. For my students, we used Explain Everything, Nova Elements and Evernote to create their first digital portfolio entries. This week started off with an activity that I have done for years. We are in the midst of reviewing basic chemistry to prepare for organic compound mastery in the next couple of weeks. To bring some excitement to the practice of making covalent bond models, we use gummy bears for atoms and toothpicks for bonds. This is a fun way to keep kids interested, and sneak a sweet treat in on the side! To combine the technology with the traditional, I decided that this assignment would be the first activity that my students would complete and turn in using their digital biology portfolio. Before doing the lab, I had each student set up an account on Evernote using the iPad app. As with every class account we have, I make sure my students keep a log of usernames and passwords.

What I like about Evernote is that they can access their account from the app on the shared iPad. We do not need them to make any iPad account adjustments within class.  As long as they log out of the app at the end of the bell, it is ready for the next student to use.  I also like Evernote because students can access their work from any internet source at home or at school.  Once the accounts were established, we got started building molecules.  Each student had a list of required molecules to build. I encouraged students to work together as they figured out configurations and ratios. As students completed models they took pictures of the models directly into their portfolio documents. 

After completing the lab, students brought their lab entries to me to review pictures and models. As we noticed that some needed revisions, students asked if they could do something rather than rebuilding with the physical gummy bears toothpicks. This is where the magic really began! I decided to introduce kids to Explain Everything to edit and annotate pictures.  This was the best decision of the entire activity.  I worked with small groups to show them how to work between the apps and insert the corrected photos/diagrams back into their final paper.  What resulted was priceless. Not only did I feel like I could really understand my students' thought processes as we made corrections, but I saw them helping one another to find understanding.  They helped one another learn the new apps and learn the concepts.  What started out as an activity that I thought was predictable and familiar, turned into an experience where I was taken to new experiences in teaching and learning for both my students and me.  

Here are a few suggestions I have to offer when you decide to do adapt a traditional lab to the technology age of science. 

1. When deciding to go digital for a lab book/portfolio, choose a program that works for you.There are so many out there that work well. As with everything else iPad, there are hundreds of ways to answer a question and all are correct!

2. Take the time to walk your students through setting up their accounts and make showing their parents a homework assignment. You will not regret slowing your pace down to make sure everyone is comfortable.

3. Use an activity with which you are very familiar for your first digital assignment. You can anticipate where students will have questions with the concepts to give you more flexibility to address technology issues. 

4. Allow time for mistakes and "do-overs" with the activity you choose.

5. Expect surprises! This is the best part of all.

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

It's Great to Begin Again!

It is hard to believe that I have not written a blog since May, but as the old adage goes, "time flies!" and yes it has! After having the summer to reflect on my first year of having shared iPads in my classroom, I am very excited to begin again. Now that I have finished week one of the new year with my BioBulldogs, I feel like I am at at good point to reflect on what I did differently to start this school year than last year.

I am now officially in my second year of having iPads in my classroom. I think what surprised my students the most is that we didn't even talk about iPads on day one. My focus was on honor, community, and understanding of the individuals in our classroom. In fact, we didn't even use the iPads on day two. If you are thinking about adding iPads to your classroom, just starting out with iPads this year, or you have experience under your belt with iPads, maybe you can find my take-a-ways of value.

1. Introduce your content, your expectations and yourself before the iPad.  If your school is like mine, the kids want to know you first and the technology second. I am blessed to teach in a community where the relationships between students and teachers trumps all else. The moral fabric of our community rests in honor and trust.

2. Make sure you have clear iPad etiquette expectations so that technology doesn't interfere with learning. In my classroom, all students are assigned a numbered iPad for the year.  When this number is given, students write the number on a log that they will use for all of their username and password information for the year. Students quickly get used to learning phrases like "screens off"  when I need to make sure they are tuned in to what we are doing. Little things such as not changing backgrounds, screen savers and moving apps are important points to make with shared iPads. It may seem very trivial, but you do not want students becoming frustrated because they cannot access their i-text or find the project app.

3. Assume that the first time you introduce iPads to your class that all students have zero experience with them.  This way, you are starting everyone from the same point. They will quickly show each other new features and ways to use the iPad. Even the most experienced users don't know everything. Many students are going from using the iPad for entertainment and consumption to using it for a totally new purpose in school.  Using a simple checklist of skills will give you a quick gauge on ability levels.

4. Allow time for discovery.  I have already noticed a stronger comfort level in my students this year since I have given them two full days of class to explore. The first day they were given specific tasks to do. The second day was devoted to working with the i-text version of our book, Biology by Miller and Levine. My students are using e-texts at home and i-texts in class. I want to give them the opportunity to get used to using the book in different platforms to write their notes. We also explored using one of my favorite apps, Nova Elements. Students can build atoms, much like a game, to show understanding of the periodic table and properties of matter.

Overall, the year has started off smoothly thanks to patient students who have a willingness to keep a solid balance between tradition and technology. Stay tuned for next week when we officially launch our class Twitter account and announce our first term project!

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

This Little Piggy...Dissection with a Twist of Technology and Splash of Tradition

One portion of a biology curriculum that always faces questions is dissection. There are feelings of extreme support and extreme disapproval and everything in between.  Fortunately, I teach at an institution that fully embraces the exposure of students to dissection.  My syllabus includes a week long dissection study of the fetal pig. We use this organism because it gives students the best small size model of what their bodies look like on the inside. The fact that they can actually hold a four chambered heart is fascinating to them. Seeing and feeling all that we talk about is so much better than just accepting that these tissues and structures exist.  Knowing that not all of my students share the same enthusiasm for this type of lab, I do make sure I have parameters and options for all levels of interest. 

1. Knowing the anatomy and physiology is mandatory for the course; touching the pig is not. This is a real worry for some students that needs to be put to rest sooner than later. Virtual dissection is always an option for my students.

 2. Dividing kids into groups based on comfort level makes for smoother lab time. I have students fill out a questionnaire based on 1-3 scale; 1 being ready to "fly solo" and 3 being "I need oxygen to get through it" option. Honestly though by week's end, they are almost all at the "I want to do this again" level.

3. Providing virtual dissection options helps for at home review.  My favorite options for out of class study tools are the Pig Dissection App from Kids' Science  and the Whitman College VPD and Biology Corner Pig Review websites.

4. Requiring a comprehensive assessment gives a defined goal. I set up a practical test where kids rotate through stations to identify structures, functions and systems of selected organs. This gives them the feel of a "gross anatomy" exam and encourages groups to look at other specimens besides the one they are using for their work.

5. Having a relaxed atmosphere with fresh air is a definite bonus!  This may not apply to everyone, but it works for us (disclaimer: be ready for extra lab attire if the weather isn't ideal). We set up a tented area outside for dissections that allows kids to step away if needed, but also provides a great opportunity for all levels of science to be exposed to different organisms. Our life science students were studying worms, grasshoppers, squid, crayfish and frogs, while our advanced biology students were examining cats, sharks and rats, and our biology students were in the mix with fetal pigs.  It is always enjoyable to see our 7th, 9th, 11th and 12th graders all together in one place learning science!

 

 

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