Supporting the #Wildcatway Reading Initiative

The Wildcat Way is more than just a motto at Wilson Middle School.  Over the summer, teachers put down their beach reads and picked up Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters by G. Kylene Beers and Robert E Probst in an effort to better understand ways to foster a culture of  reading across campus and provided opportunities for collaboration through ways to disrupt our thinking about reading.  

It was from this book study, teachers Helen Read, 7th grade ELA, and Matt Norris, 7th grade Math, crafted “The Wilson Review.”   The Wilson Review is a process of creating and posting digital video reviews for students and staff. The goal of the showcase board is to get students interested in books as well as to share the books they love so that they can get inspired to read. Students can access the reviews via teacher Moodle pages and Google Classroom courses. The Reviews are also on display outside Ms. Read’s and Mr. Norris’ classrooms on a large bulletin board where students and teachers can use their mobile device to scan the QR codes.  

While the activity of having students submit book reviews might seem somewhat mundane,

these two teachers took it up a notch by allowing students to use FlipGrid as a tool for recording
their review.  In the world of Instagram and SnapChat selfies, what a better way to relate to
students than asking them to record their book review. 

Flipgrid is place where you can verbalize your learning.  Flipgrid was purchased by Microsoft and provides a moderated and easy to use platform to create up to 5 minute videos and showcase the videos for only NISD users to view.  Flipgrid along with the cameras on student’s Chromebooks were a great pair for this project. “With the integration of Flipgrid students get excited about sharing their books using the Book, Head, and Heart Model.  As they are creating they can investigate what others have said about books they might be interested to read.  Find a review you enjoy, students can leave a thumbs up to the creator and check out the book in the library.” This type of interaction motivates students to continue reading so they can make additional post.  WOW,  so far The Review board has 26 hours of engagement time and growing. 

Student Raul shared, “Flipgrid allows you to express what you think about a book, you can
say what you want.”  Students enjoy the freedom and creativity this outlet offers.  The ability to
record something for others to watch later is also an aspect of the tool students appreciate.
Gracie Clair reflects, “My flip grid experience has really put it in a way for me that I can speak
up and prove my thinking, with people watching it after I film it, not while I film it.”

Staff have already seen an increase in student engagement during daily reading and this is
only the beginning!  Ms. Read and Mr. Norris hope to continue utilizing Flipgrid throughout
the year for book reviews.  Even teachers have benefited from the program!  As Ms. Read
reflected on her experience she shared, “Making my own Flipgrid video was an interesting
experience because it put me in the shoes of my students. I was a bit nervous recording myself.
It also solidified what I wanted my students to be able to share about their reading. I’ve learned
about some books I have definitely added to my own TO BE READ list.”  Mr. Norris has also
enjoyed the experience and was pleased to see, “With showcasing of teacher examples and as
more students recorded their reviews, students overcome their hesitations.”

In today’s schools, technology can be seen as an enemy of reading, however these two innovative teachers have uncovered a strong ally in growing passionate readers.  The Wildcat Way Reading Initiative is off to a strong start. 

Digital Review of a Math CBA

Students and teachers both feel the pressures of Curriculum Based Assessments or better known as CBA's. It is a time where students show what they have learned over a longer period of time. Fifth graders at Sendera Ranch Elementary were challenged by their math teachers, Mrs.Courtney Baker and Mrs Tracie Gomez, to display, explain, and justify mathematical ideas and arguments using precise mathematical language in written or oral communications that would help students to review and study for the next CBA in a new way.

First, the teacher deconstructed the review questions into three modules and assigned them to groups of students. Each group received five review problems that represented each module. Students downloaded the questions from Google Classroom to their Google Drive and imported them into the interactive whiteboard application called Educreations. In Educreations students created HOW TO videos using the annotation tools and voice recording features. Using this web based digital tool made it easy for students to demonstrate to their teacher they could solve the problem and show their work digitally. Below are pictures of Kristopher and Maverick as they are recording their Educreations videos.

 

Once the student was done with their video, the next tool used on the Chromebook was Screencastify. Screencastify was used to capture the tutorial video with easy integration into Google Drive as it saved the video for future use. Google Drive allowed the students the ability to set the shareable settings to allow others to view the videos. Click the image below to view Jack’s tutorial video showing the problem solving process for problem #12.

Jack stated, “This was an awesome way for me to send work to my teacher. It made learning math FUN!”

Mrs. Baker and Mrs. Gomez wanted to have something published that could be sent home to parents to provide help to their student before the CBA. Teachers also know the importance for students to provide peer feedback with written communication and doing this digitally enhanced the learning. Students created a Google Document where they embedded their Screencastify video and shared the doc with their group where students added detailed peer feedback. Students not only saw their peers comments, but they could go back and make any corrections needed based on feedback for the final production that would be published. Below is a copy of Kayden's Google Doc with peer feedback. Kaden states, “I like to read the feedback so I can make changes. Also, look at the time the comments were made, some of them were after school.” Mrs. Baker and Mrs. Gomez were so impressed with the students focus and dedication to the project. With the help of the Google Tools, this project extended to well past the school day and students were able to log into their Google Account from home and continue to learn.

 

The final published product is a compilation of student tutorial videos. A Google Slideshow was created and teachers gave all the students in class editing rights. Each student had their own slide where they embedded their video and a link to their video. Once the Slideshow was complete, the teachers published and emailed it out for reviewing outside the classroom walls. Click the image below to access the final product that was sent home this past Friday.

 

 

When I asked Kaden what he liked about this type of project he stated, “Normally I do not like computers, but the Chromebook makes things easy to organize, record, and do many things at one time.” Kayden added, “after reading through my peer feedback I knew I should have made the denominators equal.”

Maverick stated, “I know I am going to do well on this CBA.”

The amazing part of this project is just how fast the students have adjusted to the 1:1 environment. All of these skills were accomplished within ten days of the Chromebooks becoming deployed on this campus. ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) emphasizes skills and qualities we want for students, enabling them to engage and thrive in a connected, digital world. This project met the ISTE Standard of Knowledge Constructor in which students critically curated a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produced creative artifacts and made meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others.

More Than Just a Pretty Voice

Today, technology is advancing into every nook and cranny of our daily life.  The same can be said of our schools.  The use of technology in most classrooms is evident, even in the most surprising places, such as the Wilson Middle School Choir classroom. Choir teachers Mrs. Wilemon and Mr. Quinene were asked, “Has your instruction been dramatically different in a classroom where the students all have devices versus in a classroom where they didn’t?”

Mr. Q states, “It is great that kids can have their recordings to practice with them at all times. They can practice in the car, at home, or at school.  We can update them with reminders and news almost instantly.  We also can record assessments and submit them so we lose as little class time as possible.” 

Mrs. Wilemon replied, “I’ve only ever taught in this district where students all have devices so my instruction has not changed, but it is definitely different than when I was growing up in choir. The technology helps me assess in class much easier and it gives the students a greater opportunity to accurately practice at home with practice tracks. When students go home and practice their parts – it makes for a much more successful joint rehearsal."

Students use a variety of tools to enhance their learning in this music class.  Teachers allow the students to choose their voice recorder that they find the most beneficial and easy to use.  Some of the tools that students use are: Windows Sound Recorder, Voice Recorder, Audacity, and Windows Movie Maker.

“Technology is very important in choir for we use it to record and listen to ourselves so we can work on improvements.” states Halen. “This saves the students and teacher time so they do not have to listen to us one at a time in their office.”     

Emmarie likes that her teachers use technology and apps like Remind and Moodle to help her stay organized.  “Middle school students are busy so the text messages are great reminders to turn in assignments when they are due. I also like our it when our teacher creates an assignment dropbox in Moodle for us to turn in work - even from home. The teacher can grade and give us direct feedback in Moodle." 

Below is a screenshot straight from her Moodle page.  Notice the number of students using this feature. .”

Student Olivia says, “ By using the recording apps of our individual voices the teacher can give us feedback to work on things. Many choir students use the application called Audacity to create a parody to a song; while another project that we are assigned is a lip sync video which was a very fun project where we used our video camera and Windows Movie Maker.”

Using technology in the choir classroom has so many benefits for students and teachers. Click below to here a sample of their work.  

Click here to view video

The average person might think that technology in a choir room is surprising -  after all, what other tools would be required for music education besides a piano and some voices? However, by using technology resources available to them, these students have made their classroom come alive both at school and at home, making it easy to see that music and technology can work together in perfect harmony.

This blog post was written in collaboration with Wilson Middle School students Halen, Olivia, and Emmarie using Google Docs.