by Shawn Churchill
eCoach at Five Star Technology Solutions
As a former Spanish teacher turned eCoach, I’m always trying to find situations where I can make learning authentic, engaging, meaningful, and fun. During the last two years as a teacher, I made my focus authentic learning within the community and school using technology. Last year, two of my high school classes would teach Spanish to two kindergarten classes in the district. High school students would learn new vocabulary and grammar and then create developmentally appropriate lessons to teach to our new Kindergarten friends using a variety of tech tools. Colors, numbers, classroom vocabulary, and the Alphabet were just a few of the themes. Now, the high school students had to understand the content at a higher level because they were the teachers. Not only did the Kindergarteners learn from us, we learned a great deal from them in regard to technology.
During our Kindergarten classroom visits, I was exposed to many apps that primary elementary teachers use that would be applicable in many junior high and high school classrooms. Here are a few:
Pic Collage- During my classroom visits, many primary teachers were taking pictures on their iPad and making collages using the app, Pic Collage, to post to their classroom Twitter page. In the high school classroom, we took this tool and used it to document our classroom visits and share cool and interesting lessons within our community and world. I took this knowledge and helped a high school health teacher complete an “All About Me” project using this app. Students had to guess who was represented in each collage. A great first week of school project!
QR codes- Primary teachers frequently use QR codes in stations, scavenger hunts, and write the room activities. With 20-25 students constantly wanting your attention, a QR code can literally be your voice when assisting or teaching other students. There are many QR code generators that are free. My favorite way to use a QR code is to link a teacher recording to a QR code. You could use a site like audioboom.com and record your voice giving instructions or teaching a mini lesson. WIth audioboom, each recording has a URL.. Use a QR code generator site to create a QR code that is linked to your recording. Now, you can be two places at once!
A helped a junior high Spanish teacher in my current district use QR codes to teach the Alphabet to her novice students. Her class repeated the activity in a high ability 5th and 6th grade classroom. Engaging, fun, kinesthetic, and different!
Animoto- My first grade daughter came home last week with a video made by Animoto.com showcasing her knowledge of animals that hatch from eggs with colorful pictures, beachy music, and simple text. The videos can be made easily and look professional in seconds. A first grader can do it! Animoto is free for educators. Just scroll to the bottom of the site and click on Animoto for education.
Last year, my high school Spanish classroom made Animoto videos showing what their dream homes would look like with descriptions in Spanish and shared it with another Spanish class learning the same vocabulary. The possibilities are endless!
Padlet- Padlet is a virtual corkboard that allows students to post text, pictures, video, songs, and documents. You can customize your background and each Padlet has a URL. It’s so easy to share student work with other teachers, schools, and students. A few weeks ago, an elementary special education class made a Padlet to depict their favorite chocolate candy before reading about the History of Chocolate in the United States. Then, of course, we ate chocolate! The same day, a high school teacher used Padlet to share information about our school with another school in California after participating in a Mystery Skype. A great way to showcase learning, make connections, and create excitement.
Popplet- Popplet is a great app to capture and organize your ideas using mind maps. Many elementary teachers use Popplet because it’s simplistic in nature and kid friendly, but don’t let this feature stop high school teachers from using it! A few weeks ago, we literally did the SAME activity in both an 8th grade and 1st grade classroom. Students had to identify the setting, characters, and plot from the short story,The Paper Bag Princess, by Robert Munsch using Popplet. 8th grade students assisted 1st grade students making mind maps while listening to a animated ebook found for free on a public library website. The junior high students took their new teaching role seriously as they prepared and practiced before they taught their lessons. Now, the junior high English teachers and students have another tech tool in their toolboxes for their upcoming lessons. We learned about it from a first grade classroom!
Popplet- Popplet is a great app to capture and organize your ideas using mind maps. Many elementary teachers use Popplet because it’s simplistic in nature and kid friendly, but don’t let this feature stop high school teachers from using it! A few weeks ago, we literally did the SAME activity in both an 8th grade and 1st grade classroom. Students had to identify the setting, characters, and plot from the short story,The Paper Bag Princess, by Robert Munsch using Popplet. 8th grade students assisted 1st grade students making mind maps while listening to a animated ebook found for free on a public library website. The junior high students took their new teaching role seriously as they prepared and practiced before they taught their lessons. Now, the junior high English teachers and students have another tech tool in their toolboxes for their upcoming lessons. We learned about it from a first grade classroom!
When I think about creating collages, mind maps, and decorated cork boards to demonstrate knowledge, they seem juvenile in nature. Kinda like something you would do with glue, markers, crayons, and scissors when you were six years old. However, when I see students creating, making, and producing in ALL grades and disciplines, I see students who are able to learn using their preferred learning style. I see enjoyment. I see passion. I see engagement. I see joy. So, if you run out of ideas or need inspiration, visit a Kindergarten classroom. I bet you’ll find it there.