Halloween: Dance Their Energy Away (With Tips For Using YouTube)

Lots Of Halloween Energy? Try Some Halloween Energizers!

I remember the excitement I felt around Halloween as a kid. As a teacher, I tend to live more vicariously through my students now. As fun as it is to see students excited, it also can be challenging to keep them focussed and motivated. I find movement breaks can help.

In this blog post I will share Halloween movement break videos (see the playlists embedded below), I will walk through how to create and edit YouTube playlists and how to save playlists made by others. At the end I will share how I try to minimize distractions when using YouTube.

Thanks to M.F., S.M., and A.K. for their suggestions!

Halloween Dance Videos

FSL Halloween VIdeos

Halloween Movement Breaks (Younger Students)

YouTube Playlists

Movement breaks are a regular part of my classroom routine. During exciting times of the year, I use them even more. To help me access them quickly, I create YouTube playlists. This is helpful because it helps me organize the videos and then I have them ready to go year after year. I also like making playlists because often the videos are too short for what I want. For example, my Halloween physical education lesson is often done in class as the gym is often closed. If I want to have the dance portion of my lesson to be 20 minutes, I create a playlist that links a number of dances together. I still have the option of pausing or skipping a video.

To create a YouTube playlist you will need a YouTube channel. If you have a Google For Apps for Education (GAFE) account, you will probably already have a YouTube account. You may just need to activate it. When you go to YouTube.com, look in the top right hand corner. You will either see a blue sign in button or your avatar/icon for GAFE (this indicates you are already signed in).

Tip: If you do not have time to create a playlist, you can find the videos you watched most recently by going to "History" on the left side panel.

If  you want to create a playlist, there are different ways you can go about it. One way is to select My Channel or Library on the left. I suggest selecting "Library". Then you will have the option to make a new playlist. The new playlist button will have a plus sign.

You will be prompted to make a title. Also consider if you want your playlist available to others. You will see a globe with the word Public and an arrow. Public means anyone can search for and find your playlist. Unlisted means it is not searchable but anyone with the link to your playlist can use/view it. Private means only you can access/view the playlist. Note the default is Public and you have to select drop down menu to see the options. 

Once you have created your playlist YouTube will take you to the playlist settings page. Here you can edit your playlist. There are many options. Three that are important to know (to start with) are:

1. You can delete you playlist from this page. Select the three dots on the right.
2. You can change your playlist from Public to Unlisted to Private here at anytime.
3. You do not need to know the videos you want to add yet. 

If you do know the video(s) you want to add, select add video button and follow the instructions. If you do not know all the videos you want to add yet, you can leave your playlist settings page (no need to save) and start searching videos. 

When you find a YouTube video you like, you can add it to one or more playlist you already have. If you are like me, and have many playlists, you may want to use the search tool (box with magnifying class under Add to) to find the playlist quickly. You can create a new playlist within this option, as well. The create new playlist option is at the very bottom of the drop down menu.

Does Order Matter?

Depending on what/how you are using your playlist, you may nor may not care the order the videos appear. YouTube will play the videos in the order you have added them to your playlist. If you wish to change the order, you will need to go into your playlist settings. To access the playlist settings, select library (left hand menu). You may see the playlist you have been working on underneath the word library (click on the playlist). If not, click on library. You should see your created playlists on the right-hand side. Select the playlist you want to edit. You can click and drag the videos by selecting and holding the small bar on the left-hand side of each video.

When you click on a video in your playlist, a drop down menu will appear on the right. It will say "more" and an X will be to the right of the menu. The X is how you delete a video from a playlist. The drop down menu gives you the option to move the video to the top or bottom of the playlist, to edit/add notes about the video or set the video as the thumbnail for the entire playlist. 

Tip For Next Year

It is useful to look at your playlist before you used it each year. Over time videos get deleted for a number of reasons. Your five video playlist from 2016 could end up being only two videos in 2017. Remember you can delete videos from your playlist. You can access the edit features when playing your playlist by going to the gear in the top right corner. 

Use Someone Else's Playlist

If you want to use someone else's playlist, you can! You will have no control over the playlist but you also do not have to spend time creating it! To find a playlist, include the word playlist in your search terms. Select view full playlist to check out what videos are included. 

When you select save playlist, it is added to your library.  To accessed any saved playlists, simply select the library option on YouTube's menu. You will see all your saved playlists under the ones you have created.

Free Is Great... But All Those Distractions

Using the extension ImprovedTube helps with some of the distractions that come with using YouTube. As it is an extension, once you install it, it will be available from your Chrome browser (to the right of the omnibox). You will have to select the setting you want to use. Click on the ImproveTube extension icon and you will get a dropdown box. I suggestion looking through all the settings. I use the options under Appearance Settings. I hide the related sidebar and I hide comments. Under Player Appearance I select Start In Large Player for player size.

Sharing Is Caring

This post is by no means exhaustive for how to use YouTube playlists. Please share your YouTube tricks or treats in the comments. Or share your favourite Halloween videos or playlists!

Further Reading/Viewing

• YouTube has a page on getting you started with playlists.
• Rutherford Gets Its Google On: YouTube Playlists - a short video I made to show how to make playlists. 
• GoNoodle Brain Breaks, Many Possiblities - GoNoodle is great for movement breaks!

Reflections On: Connected From The Start PART 2: Blogging

Connected From the Start

At this year's Greater Edmonton Teachers' Convention I went to see Kathy Cassidy's session called "Connected From the Start" which is also the name of her book, which covers the same topics. 

Like many teachers who use technology in class, Kathy uses a wide variety of technology devices and applications. It is important to note that her classroom has one-to-one iPads. Her session had three main sections: Skype, Blogging and Twitter. I am going to review each section in a separate blog post.

Part Two: Blogging

Like Kathy, I have blogged with my students for a number of years. Unlike her, I have used laptops, netbooks and Chromebooks, not iPads. I do not have one-to-one access but I do have regular access to technology.

Kathy's top choices for student blogs are: Edublogs, Kidblog and Easyblog. All have a financial cost to someone. I liked how she reminded participants that storage costs money and that is what you pay for.   

EduBlogs

She blogs with her students (using iPads) on the Edublog platform which uses Wordpress.  She pointed out that Wordpress can be somewhat cumbersome to someone new to blogging. It is also important to note that the free account does not have Student & Class Management options. The "Pro" account costs $39.95 USD a year. 

Kidblog

I have used Kidblog over the past two years. Last year I used a free account, but that option is no longer available. They do have a one month free trial. The "Premium" account costs $36 USD year. Kathy felt the Kidblog platform is less complicated than the Wordpress-based EduBlogs platform. Div1 Edtech in EPSB posts on blogging:

• A Spring Blogging Activity With Kidglog
• Jump In and See What Happens!
• KidBlog: A Review (based on the now obsolete free version)
• Concrete Graphs, Photos and A Blog Post
• This is the blog post that doesn't end. Yes, it goes on and on my friend.

EasyBlog

Kathy also demoed EasyBlog which is available for iPads only. It is VERY slick! If you wanted to start blogging with students as young as kindergarten, then this is the platform to do it (if you have iPads)! There is no cost to teachers but all the data is lost at the end of each year (unlike EduBlogs or KidBlog). Parents can choose to purchase the data at the end of the year. If you want to do blogging in primary classroom with only one iPad Easyblog makes it... easy.

Other Blogging Platforms

Kathy mentioned ePals as another blogging platform teachers could try. That's how I cut my teeth on connecting my classroom globally and blogging with students almost a decade ago. I moved away from ePals when EPSB moved to GAFE. Since I have used it, ePals has been taken over by Cricket Media.There is no cost to ePals.

I often get emails asking for suggestions for free blogging platforms that are suitable for younger students. I usually suggest Blogger as we have it as a part of our GAFE suite in EPSB. I do not find Blogger the best choice for teachers wanting to start blogging with younger students but it is the best FREE option I can suggest. However, Seesaw has just launched a blogging platform that is available for use on iPads and Android tablets as well as via the web (from what I can tell). I have only done some preliminary research but I believe it is free. Check out Richard Byrne's blog post for more information. 

Parent Permission

Kathy shared that her division uses a form that informs parents and requests their consent for students working online. She also brings parents in to her grade one class and shows parents examples of what she wants to do with student work online. As a result, she has not had parents who have not provided consent. 

She uses blogging as well as Skype and Twitter as a way to show younger students how to be on-line and show what you learn. She does post pictures of students but she never links a student's name to their image. She reminds students and parents not to use full names (so no last names) when blogging. She will even delete parent comments* when the parent uses a full name/last name in connection with a student. (*The class will read the comment as a class and discuss why it has to be deleted. Then she contacts the parent and explains that is was shared in class and gently reminds them to not use identifying names when commenting in the future).

She provided some good options for those families who are concerned about their child's work being public. You could provide that child with a pseudonym and/or never post that child's image. This became a bit of a discussion during the session. 

I shared that one workaround I have used is that I have a form specific for my classroom when parents have been uncomfortable with signing the EPSB FOIP form. I explain to parents in person or via email that without the FOIP form signed their children will sit off camera for Google Hangouts as I cannot always control if the teacher on the other end will take pictures or video. Parents can provide specific written permission for allowing their child on screen for Google Hangouts. As well, I let them know their child will only be able to post to connections or classmates for Kidblog unless they provide written permission. 

Honouring Student Work

As someone who has blogged with students for a number of years I found this section of her talk reaffirming (which is sometimes as useful as learning new things). That said, when she shared one of her students blog posts (excuse the blurry photo) I was forced to stop and reflect on my practice. 

She had honoured the student's writing by letting the student's errors be posted as is but she added clarification for the audience in brackets. I have a tendency to require more "publish" ready posts. 

I think there is a fine line (and I do not think I have found it yet) when it comes to blogging, especially with younger students. I believe publishing work (of any kind) to the 'public' requires a certain set of standards that we do want to establish. At the same time, we do not want students to be so controlled by "perfect" writing expectations that we stifle their desire to write. Thanks for the food for thought, Kathy.

Reflections On: Connected From The Start PART 1: "Skype"

Connected From the Start

When I started using Google Apps For Education in the classroom, there were very few lower elementary educators who were sharing what they were doing with technology in the classroom. There were even fewer K-3 Canadian educators sharing. Kathy Cassidy was one of the few exceptions. So I was excited to have a chance to see this trailblazer at the 90th Annual Greater Edmonton Teachers' Convention. I went to see her session called "Connected From the Start" which is also the name of her book which covers the same topics.

It IS All Connected

Like many teachers who use technology in class, Kathy uses a wide variety of technology devices and applications. Her classroom has one-to-one iPads. Her session had three main sections: Skype, Blogging and Twitter. I am going to review each section in a separate blog post.

However, I want to add a caveat to blogging about these topics separately. The magic in what Kathy (and other educators like her) does is that she does not just do ONE of these in her class, she does ALL of them and more. That's where the magic happens. Students are not simply bloggers, tweeters or Skypers, instead they see themselves as connected to the world throughout the day, across the curriculum. I know that can seem daunting to someone who has not tried any of these tools. However, I think people who only try one platform or only do blogging for one assignment will not be able to appreciate or experience the magic that happens when you open your classroom up to the world in multiple ways and vice versa. 

Part One: Skype (Google Hangout)

For those of us in EPSB, I would suggest using Google Hangouts rather than Skype (both are video chat platforms). However, the program used is not what is important here. It is how and why video conferencing is used in the elementary classroom (based on Kathy's presentation):

• Can't get an expert to come in class? Have them Skype in: Nurse? Geologist?
• Buddy reading  
• Mystery Skype (she did not recommend this for grade one)
• Mystery Number Skype
• Skype an Author

How To Connect With Others?

Kathy recommends checking Skype for Educators to find other teachers/classes/experts to connect with via Skype. She also encouraged people to use the Twitter hashtag #mysterySkype and Connected Classrooms community on Google+.

 

My Reflections

As I began to write this blog post I realized that we have not blogged here at Div1Edtech about Google Hangouts yet. I have used Google Hangouts a number of times. I find it an excellent, yet fairly simple way to make learning relevant for students. It is great of any age, any grade. Going to Kathy's session reminded me to pursue more opportunities for Hangouts this year. 

• Can't get an expert to come in class? Have them Skype in: Nurse? Geologist? This is sometimes easier said than done. However start with people you know. Kathy mentioned she uses her sister, a nurse. I will say that this is when being a "connected" educator comes in handy. It is amazing how many opportunities you can create for you class because of your Twitter or Google+ PLN. Note, developing these connections does not happen over night.

• Buddy reading. I love this idea! I think students would find it motivating. I have already lined up Mr. Reilly for a test run! Look for a blog post about how it goes. 

• Mystery Skype (she did not recommend this for grade one). As someone who has never taught grade one, I appreciate her opinion about grade ones' readiness for Mystery Skype. I have done it in grade two, and with guidance and structure, it is a worthwhile social studies activity.

• Mystery Number Skype. See her blog post Mystery Number Skype: Even A Six Year Old Can Do It for more ideas. 

• Skype an Author. Kathy shared a website: Authors Who Skype with Classes & Book Clubs (for free!). She mentioned that usually the authors can only Skype for ten minutes or so. I cannot wait to make use of this information!

iPads in Kindergarten

At Dunluce Elementary, Shanon, Dana, and Raelene along with their Principal, Bryan Evans, are excitedly preparing to introduce iPads to their Kindergarten classes. They have all had their own iPads for a few weeks to get comfortable with them and now they are getting ready to roll the cart out to their students. Wisely, they bought five for each Kindergarten class first, with the potential to expand to other grades when the need/demand presents itself.

When asked how they hoped to use the iPads, they were mostly saw it as a consumption device in Division I, or in UDL terms, to be used for multiple means of representation. After we went app hunting and playing, we discovered that the most of the content apps were either expensive, limited in scope, or not very good. However, we did find a lot of cool content creation apps that we thought had a lot of potential applications and began to realize how powerful iPads can be for multiple means of expression and engagement.

Here is our discussion guide and the advice sent to us from Lisa Henderson at Pollard Meadows:


What I came away with from our discussions:

Have Configurator installed before starting the conversation and looking at the apps. It would be best if the lead teacher(s) had a working knowledge of Configurator (and the Volume Purchasing Program) before iPads are introduced to the teachers. It would have helped me a great deal if I knew and understood Configurator.

One idea that we came across was to set the lock screen with a picture of the class iPad rules. Originally, we used an image of rules we found on the internet. It wouldn't be hard to make a graphic set of rules that would be closer to our context once we see the iPads in action.

Please share any advice you can share with us about your experience using iPads in Kindergarten.