An Interview With Kelly Maxwell

Kelly and Colette (blog author) 
at the 2015 Calgary Summit.

A Perspective From Outside of EPSB

While the primary focus of this blog is the work of EPSB, we also like to collaborate and share experiences with our colleagues in different districts. Kelly Maxwell is from Black Gold Regional Schools. I managed to catch her for an interview before she leaves division one for division two. Kelly has been a grade two teacher for twelve years but is moving into grade five in September. You can find her on Google+ and on Twitter as @kelmax307.

The Interview

What technology skills should students have before coming into grade two?

Students should be able to log onto their Chromebook, care for the device, know how to access their Google drive, how to open and close tabs and know how to bookmark a site.

Where do you get your educational technology ideas?

I get my ideas from Google+, colleagues, blogs and FreeTech4Teachers.  Our district’s Engaging Students has become a treasure trove of ideas as they are shared locally by teachers and tech coaches in our district.

What hashtags do you follow on Twitter?

I follow #edtech; #gafe  but I’m not a huge fan of Twitter (shocking, I know!).

What type of technology do you use in your school?

We have Chromebooks, iPads, webcams and Epson Brightlink.

Imagine you only could keep one technology at your school. From the ones you listed about what would be the one you would keep?

Chromebooks.

Based on your response to the question above. Why would you keep that technology?

I would keep Chromebooks because they are easy to use and they meet the needs of me and my students.

What is one piece of technology would you like to try in your classroom that you haven't had an opportunity to yet?

Android tablets.  We have used iPads, but they are so expensive.  I am such a Google fan that I wonder if an Android tablet could be effective at a portion of the cost?!

How has technology changed the way you teach?

It expands my classroom to include people and information otherwise unattainable.

How do you decide what is worthwhile for students to learn through technology, given literacy and skill challenges in division one?

If the technology makes the learning more engaging and differentiated, then I do it. Also, if it makes the teaching more fun for me!

What apps or technology tools do you use? Are there any that you use for specific projects?

I use:

• xtra Math for math facts
• Prodigy for math skills for review
• Spelling City because it supports the spelling program Words Their Way
• Google Classroom (and other GAFE tools) for all subjects
• Seesaw for digital portfolios and classroom blogging
• Weebly for my classroom website

My focus is to try to find free tools.  I am tired of paying a bit here and there for tech tools for my classroom when these free tools meet my needs very well.

What are your hopes for educational technology in the future in your classroom? Alberta? Canada? Globally?

Wow! This is a big question. I would hope that classrooms would be more equitable in regards to technology. Not that the kids have to have Mr. So-and-So to use technology, but that all teachers would embrace the value of technology as a tool to enhance learning in every classroom. With that in mind, there also needs to be equity in regards to hardware and bandwidth so that every student and teacher has access to quality tools and the bandwidth to effectively use these tools.

________________________________________________________________________

I would like to thank Kelly for taking time to do this interview in the middle of report cards, packing up her classroom and switching grades. Division one's loss is division two's gain.

Check back for the September interview with Shannon Pasma!

related blog posts: 

• An Interview With Marge Kobewka
• An Interview With Nick Reilly
• Subscription Based Websites For Math: Prodigy $
• A Review: SpellingCity (Free version)

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!

A Spring Blogging Activity With KidBlog

I wanted my students to do more meaningful writing during literacy centres, so I added a blogging centre.

Needed:

• students who already know how to blog (I wouldn't recommend this as a first blogging activity)
• another class/people who will comment
• three to four lessons/centres

Activity One: Blog About Spring

Students were assigned to blog about spring for one of their literacy centres. Each week I review any new centres at the beginning of the week. So I reviewed what was needed for a blog post and then modeled it by composing one myself. We reviewed:

• titles have capitals
• you start with an introduction
• you should aim for at least three middle sentences
• end with a conclusion (I encouraged students to ask a question to encourage comments)

I usually chose one student's post to read at the end of centres each day to check for understanding and reinforce expectations (as well it holds them accountable to finish their task as they never know who I will pick). Students then blogged throughout the week and I grabbed students for quick edits during quiet reading time, if needed, each day before I approved posts. Doing this in chunks made it easy to manage and keep on top of the edits. 

I also found it helpful to have the task written on chart paper that I could put up during centres so students could be reminded of the expectations.

Activity Two: Commenting

The following week I changed the blogging centre. This time they had to comment on another person's blog. By this time, each student had one or two comments from people who I occasionally ask to help provide an audience to my students. So the task this week was to:

1. Re-read your own blog.
2. Read the comments others have left you.
3. Select the name under yours on the blog list and read their blog. Then comment.
4. Continue down the list until time is up (We reviewed when you get to the bottom, you start at the top of the list next).

Again, I reviewed and modeled the task at the beginning of the week. I chose a student's blog and read it aloud. I reminded students how to access the comment box and modeled making a comment. I explained that commenting needed fewer sentences. My expectation was they had one sentence that showed they had read the blog post. Then they needed a question.

Like the week before, I usually chose one student's comments to read at the end of centres. Also like before, I grabbed students for quick edits if needed each day before I approved comments. 

Just as before, I had the task written on chart paper so students could be reminded of the expectations and format.

Activity Two: Replying

I put out over social media a suggestion that people could reply to our blog posts as a writing activity. And as luck would have it, someone did! We had another KidBlog class read our blogs and comment. The teacher said that, " They're hoping that the kids will comment back."

As we never had gone over replying to a comment in class, I decided NOT to do this as a centre. Instead I did it as a whole class activity.

First I explained and then modeled the task:

1. Find your spring blog post.
2. Read the comments people made.
3. Reply to the comments (most had at least three, many had more).
4. Finished early? Read comments on other classmates' posts.

The expectation for the reply was much the same as the commenting task. I wanted students to write two sentences. This time the first one should be a personalized thank you. The second sentence needed to reflect they had read the comment.

Reflections

I loved this task. It was authentic and motivating. By making it a centre, it was easy to monitor. The biggest challenge is finding  people to comment on the blogs, but a work around for that is having the students become the audience for their classmates. By having students comment in a structured way (comment on the person's blog who is below you), you ensure that all students get at least one comment. I write a few comments on blog posts that only initially had one or two comments.

Students enjoyed the task as well. They really were excited during the last activity when they saw how many comments they had.

The first time I had tried having students comment on blog posts I made it way too complicated for grade twos. I like the simple format I used this time: a sentence that shows you have read the post and a question to the author.

Next Steps

I'd like to do something similar before the end of the year as an assessment task.

Reading Response and Forms Revisited

Last May I used and blogged about Google Forms as a reading centre for reading response. Last year I ended my post with thoughts on my next steps: I am going to be teaching an integrated science (about insects and the like) and language arts unit soon. I've been working on creating a number of forms to go with animal book sets. A year later I am revising and refining the integrated science-language arts unit. 

Reading Centres

As a Balanced Literacy trained teacher, I use reading centres in my class most weeks. When creating centres, I look for activities that are engaging and independent tasks that have an element of accountability built in. The combination of Google Forms with Flubaroo provides me engagement, independence (for most students) and accountability.

The Book Tubs Centre

I set up the activity to be two centres. First they go to the "Book Tubs" centre. There students have a range of books to choose from. This year I decided to create three tubs (one, two and three). The books in tub one are easier, the books in tub two are an average grade two level and the books in tub three are more challenging. This way the task is multi-level as I often have multi-level groupings. Each tub has about four different books. I have five to six copies of each book (I use guided reading book sets).

At this centre students read multiple books during centre time. I encouraged students to be responsible for selecting their own books. Whenever I introduce a new centre, I always model it. For this centre I reviewed that students need to make the best choice for themselves. I encouraged them to select books that they can read independently as they need to be able answer questions on what they read. Some student needed some guidance on their choices initially. 

The Google Forms Centre

The next centre is when they select one book that they read at the Book Tubs centre to do a comprehension activity on a Google Form. I use a class website as a portal for most online work, so I created a page on my site dedicated to reading responses (SchoolZone and Classroom are good other alternatives).

Last year, I had required students to login prior to doing the Form but this caused some problems. This year I have NOT selected the "require EPS login to view this form" but have simply made typing their name a required question. This has allowed me to post the Forms on my class website and avoid the need for logging into Google Drive (we do not have Chromebooks you see).

I tested each quiz once I posted them on the class website. This gave me a chance to check for errors as well as to make a key for marking later.

Quick Accountability: Flubaroo

After each centre, I use Flubaroo to quickly grade the quizzes. Students who did not do well on a quiz are given that book to do again (sometimes later that week, sometimes the next time they go to that centre). 

What I Learned From Flubaroo

Last year, I used many text and paragraph answer type questions in the quizzes. When it came time to use Flubaroo to mark the activity, it became too time consuming. Flubaroo can mark some text answers but does not mark paragraphs. So last year I ended up with many long answers to read in the spreadsheet, which was difficult to assess in that format. I think long answers are important for reading comprehension, but it did not work for this particular activity.

Remembering what I learned last year, I decided that this time I would only use questions that Flubaroo could mark to make it easier and quicker to track student work and therefore to hold students accountable. 

Year Two, Less Work

As I did this last year, I had most of the Forms already created. However, as I decided to not use long answer questions, I did have to re-vamp many of the questions but this was not too time consuming. As with last year, I've posted all the forms I've made for books on the Division One Collaboration Site For Educational Technology.

Concrete Graphs, Photos and A Blog Post

Concrete Graphs

In grade two, in Alberta, students need to "construct and interpret concrete graphs to solve problems." I typically have had students do this outcome as a centre. Students create a concrete graph and then ask others at the centre questions about their graph. I typically do this centre with students twice. What I have had difficulty with this outcome is having time to properly assess it. So I decided to look at how technology could support assessment of this outcome.

Photos

My first idea was to have students take photos of their graphs. This would allow me to capture their graphs quickly and assess them later. That way I could still move around the centre to assist students with their graphs or assist students in asking questions about their graphs. 

However, that did not address or capture the second part of the outcome: interpret concrete graphs to solve problems. 

A Blog Post

So, I decided that students could write a blog post (we already had a class blog) about their graphs and ask people questions. The second step of the activity would be for students then to answer their peers' questions. 

Steps

Step One: Construct Graphs and Take Photos

I still had this as a centre (there were two other centres and students were at each centre for about 18 minutes). As well, I still had students do a concrete graph centre twice. The first time was just practice. The second day was when I had students take their photos. This meant that I only had eight students needing to take photos at a time. This is a manageable number! I have access to tablets in my school. So I took four tablets for this activity. On the back of each tablet I taped on some paper. As students took their photos, they wrote their names on the paper on the back of the tablets they used and how many photos they took. This helped me keep track of which photo went with which student. 

Step Two: Uploading Photos

I uploaded all the photos from each tablet to a file on my computer I called "graphs" and I named each photo the name of the student. I then uploaded them all to the media library on Kidblog. This takes a little bit of time, but not a lot.

Step Three: Students Blog

Once the photos were in the media library, students could blog. I demonstrated to students how to access the media library. Then all students had to do was look for their name! Once they inserted their photo, they had to write a minimum of two questions about it. 

Step Four: Approve and Edit Posts

Before students could comment on each others' posts, I went through and approved each blog post. Some needed some editing before they could be published. I simply logged into Kidblog and had students do edits with me instead of having them log in, find their unapproved comment, edit, press update, etc. 

Step Five: Commenting

When all the blog posts were published, they were ready for the final step... commenting. I paired students up. Each student had to comment on their partner's blog post.  Students who finished early could comment on other graphs.

Step Six: Approve and Edit Comments

Just like step four, I went through and approved each comment. Some needed some editing before they could be published. And just like step four, I did that by logging onto Kidblog myself and had students work with me one-on-one in a quick conference to make necessary changes.

Step Seven: Assessment

With my rubric in front of me, I logged onto Kidblog and assessed both parts of the outcome that started this adventure: construct and interpret concrete graphs to solve problems. 

Problems Along They Way

The biggest problem that I ran into was during the photo stage. Students sometimes bumped their graphs and so their objects moved and no longer lined up on the graph paper properly. Some students did not do quality work and I did not notice until the photo was taken. So many students had to fix or redo their work and retake the photos. If I were to do this again, I would address this issue with students prior to starting the project and be more diligent in checking the graphs before students took the photographs. 

I had actually hoped to also get other people to interact with each student's blog post but I couldn't find any takers. 

Glare was also a problem as their graphs were on laminated paper. We ended up turning off some of the lights to help mitigate this problem. 

Reflections

I liked this assignment. It definitely required more work from me than my previous centre activity. However I think it increased the amount students were engaged in thinking about what the graphs show and not just constructing them. I would definitely do something similar again. The photos did use up about 40% of my storage space on Kidblog (free account). 

I would like to have the activity have more real life relevance (a real problem for them to solve) or purpose but I have not come up with what they could do a concrete graph for to address that. . . yet.