Clif Mims

Disrupt Your Classroom with Authentic Learning

What: Authentic Learning has been a buzzword in education for quite some time and has many definitions but is most understood as making learning meaningful by engaging students in relevant and real-world experiences (source). But, what does that mean exactly? This blog will discuss Authentic Learning and how it can be used to disrupt your classroom – for the better.

Why: Authentic Learning allows educators to bring a real-world context to the classroom by allowing students opportunities to take real-world issues and problems and create solutions that are applicable to a group of people regardless of if they are local, national, or global (source). Implementing Authentic Learning experiences simply means that you are allowing learning to be an active process led by students. Long gone are the days of sit and listen learning. Students need to be engaged in the content of the lesson and take ownership of their learning. One of the best ways to do this is through Inquiry Based Learning allowing students to question and have their curiosity lead the way of Authentic Learning.

How to: Implementing Authentic Learning experiences disrupts your classroom for the better because it prepares learners for the real world, enhances creativity, improves critical thinking, increases engagement and motivation, boosts retention of information, teachers life skills like collaboration and problem-solving, and allows students to understand multiple perspectives (source). Implementing Active Learning in your classroom might be hard at first but is well worth it in the end.

Next Steps

Interested in learning more? Check out the websites below for great information.

References:

All sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.

TLDR (too long didn’t read):

Authentic Learning has been a buzzword in education for quite some time and has many definitions but is most understood as making learning meaningful by engaging students in relevant and real-world experiences (source). But, what does that mean exactly? This blog will discuss Authentic Learning and how it can be used to disrupt your classroom – for the better.

@hollandkaylah

Recognizing and Supporting Students with Dysgraphia

What: Dysgraphia is a learning disorder that affects writing. Psychologists refer to it as “an impairment in written expression” (source). Researchers say that students with Dysgraphia currently make up “7 to 15 percent of students” (source). It is likely that we have students in our classrooms that struggle with Dysgraphia. This blog discusses why it’s important to recognize Dysgraphia in students and how to help students with Dysgraphia.

Why: It is important to recognize Dysgraphia in students because there are simple accommodations that will assist students to be successful with writing assignments in your classroom. Students with Dysgraphia have an extremely difficult time with written assignments because they have a core deficit in manipulating the sounds of language (source). Students who struggle with Dysgraphia do not have difficulty seeing or hearing but simply processing what they see and hear (source). “To better understand the processing differences that students with dysgraphia struggle with, consider this analogy: You enter a destination into Google Maps, but instead of being directed onto the wide-open highway, you find yourself on windy back roads, and the trip takes three times longer than it should. You still get to the destination, but you have to focus harder because of the roads taken”(source). You can recognize Dysgraphia by looking for the following signs: “poor phonological awareness, poor pencil grip, persistent inconsistent letter formation, illegible writing, difficulty copying visual information accurately, and inaccurate spelling” (source).

How to: You can assist students struggling with Dysgraphia by offering these options: “allow extra time on written assignments, allow speech-to-text tools (or teacher or peers scribes for written assignments), allow students to write numeric formulas as opposed to math word problems, provide a written copy of whiteboards notes, create an inclusive classroom that allows all students to use accommodations (not just the students who need them) (source). You can also help students by offering these suggested strategies: “stretch out your hands, learn to touch-type, use cursive vs. print, request accommodations, try different paper and pens, make audio-recordings, recite spelling out loud, brainstorm ideas before writing, and use outlines and multiple drafts” (source).

Next Steps

Interested in learning more? Check out the websites below for great information.

References:

All sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.

TLDR (too long didn’t read):

Dysgraphia is a learning disorder that affects writing. Psychologists refer to it as “an impairment in written expression” (source). Researchers say that students with Dysgraphia currently make up “7 to 15 percent of students” (source). It is likely that we have students in our classrooms that struggle with Dysgraphia. This blog discusses why it’s important to recognize Dysgraphia in students and how to help students with Dysgraphia.

@hollandkaylah

New Year’s Resolutions for your Classroom

Welcome to January 2020. I know it’s only the third day of the new year and most of us are still reeling in the holiday spirit, but have you decided on a New Year’s Resolution yet? Most of us choose New Year’s Resolutions for our personal lives – lose weight, rest more, travel more, eat healthier, etc. Have you ever chosen a New Year’s Resolution for your classroom? I often blend my personal and work lives together because after all we are both a teacher and a person, right? Todd Henry, in his book The Accidental Creative, discusses his idea of the big three. What are the three things you want to focus on? They can be ideas or tasks. For example, one year my big three were to exercise more, learn and implement AR in the classroom, and learn and implement design thinking in the classroom. Todd Henry believes that once you choose the big three all of the stimuli you input needs to connect to those three things – everything you read, watch, follow, etc should be connected to your big three so you can focus on learning everything and anything about those topics. It helps to maintain true change in your life instead of simply creating a New Year’s Resolution and dropping it by February.

If three are too many, just choose one. What is one thing you want to see change in your classroom? I am a big fan of pinpointing a focus and often choose one word per year to focus on throughout the year. In the past my words have been: trust, adventure, perspective, grit, and family. You can have your word printed on things to offer a daily reminder. I like to order bracelets from My Intent. Every morning, putting on the bracelet allows my mind to embrace the path I’ve chosen for this year.

Other educators simply create a resolution for their classroom. For example, some are to stay positive, spice up your classroom routine, build fitness in your classroom, get your work/life balance in order, give individual time and attention to students, get organized – work smarter, not harder, avoid auto pilot, dress to impress, get students involved (source).

So, what is your New Year’s Resolution? What is the change you want to see in your classroom this year?

References:

All sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.

@hollandkaylah

Talking Less Improves Student Learning

What: Educators generally lean on their ability to explain concepts more thoroughly when students do not understand. The main goal of educators is to assist students in mastering concepts. However, the more educators speak the less students own their learning. Instead of jumping in to solve problems or explain concepts again, educators should provide the tools and time to encourage students to own their learning by doing while educators say less (source).

How to: Most educators are willing to provide the tools and time needed but are unsure of how. Edutopia, in this article, offers the following suggestions.

Start with Struggle: removing struggle for students removes the ability for students to take part in deep learning and understanding. Educators can assist by allowing students to experience struggle. Explain the concepts but then allow students to struggle through the concepts before jumping in to save the day (source). I love the moment when students finally understand a concept or are successful with someone they have struggled.

Reduce Teacher Talk Time: students need to own their learning. A few strategies that can help shift the role of the teacher from lecturer to facilitator are:

Ask a student to time your mini-lessons so that they are limited to eight to 10 minutes. Ask a student to politely interrupt you when the allotted time has passed.
Use video to allow students to watch direct instruction at their own pace, while you coach your students.
Limit your initial instruction to two minutes, and leave the rest of the time for students to do the work as you coach and provide actionable feedback.
Observe students as they practice, allowing them to make mistakes, get feedback, and revise. Be transparent with students about the fact that you are in observation mode, which demonstrates that you value their work (source).

Slow Down and Observe so that you can collect data, gather evidence of learning, and plan the next steps. “Create a chart with student names and particular behaviors you might observe (e.g., zoning out, engaged, fake reading, collaborating). Throughout class, mark what you notice in each student. Use this data to plan engagement mini-lessons or conferences. Note particular behaviors such as “perseveres when problem solving” or “tries a variety of solutions.” Observing students and noting what they need can better inform your next steps to move toward student ownership” (source).

Provide Non-Teacher Scaffolds: When students struggle, they often look to the teacher for answers. Instead of establishing a teacher dependent culture, establish a culture where students seek answers from other places before asking the teacher.

Establish critical partnerships with fellow students, and train students how to provide feedback to each other.
Create “coach” name tags for students to wear when they are ready to provide feedback to classmates.
Use clear teaching points paired with visuals. This can take the form of a note after a conference or an anchor chart in front of the class.
Ask students to teach the concept or strategy to another student or small groups (source).

References:

All sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.

TLDR (too long didn’t read):

Educators generally lean on their ability to explain concepts more thoroughly when students do not understand. The main goal of educators is to assist students in mastering concepts. However, the more educators speak the less students own their learning. Instead of jumping in to solve problems or explain concepts again, educators should provide the tools and time to encourage students to own their learning by doing while educators say less (source).

@hollandkaylah

PD in Your PJs!

What: Christmas break is almost here and I have great news to share. Ditch That Textbook is offering nine days of professional development available online from anywhere starting tomorrow. This online conference brings together some of the brightest minds in education to discuss technology, pedagogy and more (source). What can be better than PD in your PJs? And yes, before you even ask, completion certificates are available to submit for CEU credit.

How to: You can join this fantastic professional development opportunity by registering at ditchsummit.com. Each day beginning December 21st, you will receive an email to join the live session or you can watch the recorded sessions at your convenience. The recorded sessions are available through January 8th. This is an incredible opportunity that you do not want to miss.

References:

All sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.

TLDR (too long didn’t read):

Christmas break is almost here and I have great news to share. Ditch That Textbook is offering nine days of professional development available online from anywhere starting tomorrow. This online conference brings together some of the brightest minds in education to discuss technology, pedagogy and more (source). What can be better than PD in your PJs? And yes, before you even ask, completion certificates are available to submit for CEU credit.

@hollandkaylah

Creating Extended Learning Opportunities

What: Early on in my teaching career, I used to fear the question, “I’m done. Now what?” from my students because I did not have anything planned beyond the lesson. I quickly realized that I needed independent activities that engaged students while also being educational and on a perfect day linked to what we were studying. I like to think of these activities as extended learning opportunities. I began added extended learning opportunities to every project and students loved it. Then, I began allowing students to complete extended learning activities on a regular basis once they mastered the content for the lesson or we finished the lesson with 20 minutes left until lunch or recess, etc. For example, I allowed students to practice on Duolingo (a language learning app) for 20 minutes while I gave extra help to students that needed it for that particular lesson. Matt Miller from Ditch That Textbook just released twenty activities for students to complete with time on their hands and I have listed a few below that I loved using in my class.

Code.org or Codecombat are both wonderful ways to teach coding. Students can learn skills that will aid them in the future. These programs both have self-guided activities and tutorials.

Free Rice is a fantastic program that gives back. Each time a student answers a multiple choice question correctly it generates points. A certain number of points produces money being sent to the World Food Programme (WFP) to support its work around the world. Advertisements are used on this website.

TedED contains curated videos for students on educational yet culturally relevant topics for students. I personally learn so much from TED videos and love that this version is all about education and all for students.

The 5 Clue Challenge allows students to play a guessing game. Michael Soskil has traveled the world and created short videos that present five clues to guess a location, animal, or person. Students can pause the video and research questions in order to guess. What I love most is that students can even create and submit their own videos!.

Google Quick Draw allows students to draw with automated suggestions giving students a brain break while also encouraging problem-solving and creativity.

Next Steps

Interested in learning more? Check out the websites below for great information.

References:

All sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.

TLDR (too long didn’t read):

Early on in my teaching career, I used to fear the question, “I’m done. Now what?” from my students because I did not have anything planned beyond the lesson. I quickly realized that I needed independent activities that engaged students while also being educational and on a perfect day linked to what we were studying. I like to think of these activities as extended learning opportunities. I began added extended learning opportunities to every project and students loved it. Then, I began allowing students to complete extended learning activities on a regular basis once they mastered the content for the lesson or we finished the lesson with 20 minutes left until lunch or recess, etc. For example, I allowed students to practice on Duolingo (a language learning app) for 20 minutes while I gave extra help to students that needed it for that particular lesson. Matt Miller from Ditch That Textbook just released twenty activities for students to complete with time on their hands and I have listed a few below that I loved using in my class.

@hollandkaylah

Adding Audio to Google Slides

Image result for google slides — Image source

What:

Google Slides users everywhere have long been requesting a feature to add audio to slides and Google for Education finally came through with the option to add audio to a slide. The only issue is that Google has not created an internal tool to record the audio. Therefore, here are four web-based free audio recording tools (source).

ChromeMP3 Recorder is a simple tool that is a web app that only runs on Chromebooks. A brief how-to is located below (source).

First, install the “ChromeMP3 Recorder” web app. You can get the Chrome Web Store link on the site at https://www.hablacloud.com/
Once the web app has been installed, you can open it from the Chromebook app launcher when needed.
When the app opens, simply click the red “Record” button to start recording.
You can click the “Pause” button if needed during recording.
When done, click the “Stop” button.
The app will now ask you where you want to save the MP3 file in your Google Drive. You can also name the file at this point to make it easier to find later.

Online Voice Recorder is another easy tool but this one is a website that runs on Chromebooks, Macs, and PCs. A brief how-to is located below (source).

Go to the site at: https://online-voice-recorder.com/
Click the mic button to start recording.
Note: you will need to give it permission to use your microphone the first time you use the site.
Click the “Stop” button when done.
You will now get a screen where you can preview your voice recording.
If needed, you can trim the start and end of the audio to remove any extra dead space.
When done, click “Save“.
The MP3 file will be downloaded to your device!

Beautiful Audio Editor is easy to use and has lots of extra features for editing. A brief how-to is located below (source).

Launch the tool at: https://beautifulaudioeditor.appspot.com/app
Click the “Record” button at the bottom of the screen to start recording.
Note: you will need to give it permission to use your microphone the first time you use the site.
Click the “Stop” button when done.
Your recorded track will now be added to the editor.
You can drag the play head back to the start and press the play button to preview your recording.
If you need to trim out any of the audio, you will need to use the “Split Section” and “Remove Section” buttons in the top toolbar.
When you are happy with the audio, you can click the “Download as MP3” button to generate a link to save the file to your device.

Twisted Wave is a more robust audio recording tool with lots of features that allows you to record up to five minutes at a time. A brief how-to is located below (source).

Go to the website at: https://twistedwave.com/online
Click “New document” to create a new file..
Click the red “Record” button to start recording.
Note: you will need to give it permission to use your microphone the first time you use the site.
Click the “Stop” button when done.
Your recorded track will now be added to the editor.
You can click at the start of your clip and press the “Play” button to preview your recording.
If you need to trim out any of the audio, you can click and drag with your mouse to select the portion you want to get rid of, and then press your “Delete” button.
When you are happy with the audio, you can download it my clicking “File” then “Download“.
Better yet, to save it directly to your Google Drive you can click “File” then “Save to Google Drive“. TwistedWave will ask you to log in with your Google account and give permission.

Next Steps

Interested in learning more? Check out the websites below for great information.

References:

All sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.

TLDR (too long didn’t read):

@hollandkaylah

Favorite Features of Google Keep

Image result for google keep reminders — Image source

What:

Google Keep is a tool that often goes unnoticed in the suite of Google for Education products. Google Keep is available on mobile devices, web browsers, and even as a chrome extension meaning you can access it anywhere anytime and all versions sync together. There are many ways you can use Google Keep for teachers and students but I’ve highlighted my favorite five below.

Collaboration is a great tool within Google Keep. You can create notes in Keep for everything from department meetings to grocery lists and all the notes can be shared so that everyone has the most up to date information.

Grab Image Text is a neat feature in Keep. You can create a new note in Keep and add an image that contains text. Then, click the three dots and choose grab image text and abracadabra your text appears in the note for you to copy and paste wherever you choose. This works amazingly well for long pdfs that need to be converted or text from your textbook that needs to be displayed for the whole class. This is such a neat tool, however, please remember to always properly cite any and all sources used.

Reminders can be set for any note within Google Keep. You can create a reminder for a specific day and time or even a specific place (meaning gps coordinates). This has saved me many times by reminding me to run an errand after school by setting the gps coordinates for when I leave my school’s location.

Annotate over an Image is similar to the grab image text feature except that you can create a note with an image and then choose to add a drawing allowing you to annotate over the image itself.

Integration with other products is similar to all products with Google for Education’s suite. You can easily integrate your Keep notes within Docs and Slides making your life that much easier.

Next Steps

Interested in learning more? Check out the websites below for great information.

References:

All sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.

TLDR (too long didn’t read):

@hollandkaylah

What do you do for fun?

I recently watched a video where three generations of people were asked the same question: “When you were a kid, what did you do for fun?” (source). The different answers between the oldest generation and the youngest were staggering and showcase how much society has become dependent on technology. For example, answers from the oldest generation were picking blueberries, sledding, growing watermelons, and going fishing. The middle-age generation answered that they played outdoor games with friends and built forts. Yet, it is the answers from the youngest generation that are the most concerning. The younger generation answered that for fun they play video games and spend time on their phones or watching tv. These answers alone are not inherently concerning, however, it is the truth of how much time is spent doing these things that is troubling. One member of the youngest generation said he watched 23 episodes of his favorite tv show in four days. Another said she would die without her phone. Members of the youngest generation admitted that they spend three, four, even five hours straight on some type of screen. In full disclosure, this video is an ad for spending more time outdoors and it is sponsored by Nature Valley. You can see the entire video by clicking here.

So the real question is, what do you do for fun? I love to spend time outdoors running, hiking, and biking. I love to read and complete puzzles. However, I also love to watch movies and spend a great deal of time on some type of screen (computer, phone, tv). The video is meant to generate a reaction of alarm. However, I do not personally believe that all children, or adults for that matter, are addicted to their screens. Although, more and more are becoming unable to step away from their screens at an alarming rate. On the other hand, I am not an advocate for saying no to all technology. I truly believe that technology can help make our lives more efficient. The solution is instead of being controlled by technology we must make technology work for us. Cal Newport outlines a way to make technology work for us in his book Digital Minimalism. He discusses ways to take control of technology from the simple (turning off notifications) to the extreme (taking a digital fast) and everything in between.

References:

All sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.

@hollandkaylah

Owning Your Classroom

Top 20 Tech Tips for Teachers — Image source

What:

Kasey Bell from Shake Up Learning recently released 20 Tech Tips for Teachers (source). I think several of these tips can be applied as common practice in our classrooms. The following five tips are my recommendations to own your classroom – with or without technology.

Shift Your Mindset:

Positivity is a choice. We can allow frustrations to weigh us down and create a sense of negativity or we can shift our perspective and show students how to overcome setbacks with a positive mentality. Shifting our mindset is the number one best tip for a welcoming classroom environment. Learn more by clicking here.

Take Risks:

If you can maintain a positive mindset, take risks. Show students that failure is inevitable but it’s what you do when you fail that counts. Take risks and celebrate the successes but you can also model problem-solving when it fails. Learn more by clicking here.
Start with the Why:

Your “why” is the most powerful tool you have. Your “why” is the reason you show up every day year after year attempting a positive mindset despite all of the negative things taking place. That same why can be thread running behind every lesson and unit. Students will truly feel that you care for them if they know your why. Learn more by clicking here.

Give Students Choice and Voice:

Give students autonomy in the classroom by letting them choose how to show mastery of content. I have been amazed over the years at the creativity of students. I would never have seen the secret talents of students if I created the lesson, rubric, and assignment every time. I definitely set parameters (especially for younger students) but allowing students to take ownership of their learning is truly inspirational. Learn more by clicking here.

Share Your Voice:

Finally, share your voice. I read something one day that said no matter what your problems are as a teacher, leave them in the car when you get to school. I cannot tell how much I disagree with that statement. Students need teachers to share their unique voices, struggles, obstacles, victories, and hard times. Sharing your story can empower a student to share their own. Learn more by clicking here.

Next Steps

Interested in learning more? Check out the websites below for great information.

References:

All sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.

TLDR (too long didn’t read):

@hollandkaylah