Instagram in Kindergarten!

Instagram MOM Session from emalkoske

Leah Obach and I had the privilege of sharing Little Hands Extended (project-based learning and the tech tools that support it) at Awakening Possibilities in Winnipeg earlier in the month. We gave our presentation at the Minds on Media session, which featured a number of concurrent presentations in a large room. Erin Clarke was presenting just across from us, and although I was never able to hear her entire presentation, I caught enough snatches of information to capture my interest. Fortunately Erin shared her presentation on her blog, 200 Awesome Days and I have embedded it above.

Instagram was a hot topic at Awakening Possibilities--many people were using it to capture the many amazing sessions at the conference, and many people were talking about how it can improve and support learning in their classrooms. I have used Instagram personally for about a year now, and I find that it fulfills a creative need for me as I edit and share images with friends. But how would I use it in kindergarten? I spent some time researching how Instagram could look in a kindergarten classroom and got some great ideas. I decided that using Instagram in my classroom could help me achieve the following outcomes:
-develop students' emerging writing skills as they caption and hashtag pictures
-create an authentic purpose for writing
-capture and share our learning with parents and other kindergarten classes
-provide an artistic medium for students to express themselves creatively
-to appreciate and share the beauty around them
-learn about other classrooms and geographic regions around the world
-develop an understanding of the world around us as we plot the classrooms we follow on a Bing map
-meet curricular outcomes by participating in challenges such as this one. Thanks Zoe Bettess!

 Last week I decided to dive in and use Instagram for the writing component of our guided reading lesson. First of all, I created a private class account, @olcskinders, for my little ones to use. I began by sharing my personal Instagram account with my senior kindergarten students, talking about the kind of pictures I shared, the captions I wrote, and the hashtags I chose. Then I showed them how to take a picture in Instagram, crop it, and use filters. They caught onto this instantly, so I handed out their devices and gave them the job of taking one photograph and returning to the circle. Together we wrote captions and chose hashtags, and the students were so excited with the results of their first Instagram efforts. Together we looked at everyone's pictures, and began to have some discussions about digital citizenship. Who could we take pictures of? Could we use people's names in the caption or hashtag? As I have signed permission forms from all families, here were the rules we came up with to get started:

1) Take interesting pictures that are neat to look at or show our learning.
2) We can only take pictures of the people in our classroom, not the rest of the school.
3) If we want to take a picture of a staff member, we need to ask them first.
4) All pictures need a caption. We cannot use the person's name in the caption or hashtag.
5) We can hashtag our Instagram pictures with our names so people know who took the picture.

I also decided that we would let our students' families follow us, but we would not follow them back (as all content they post may not be appropriate or interesting for kindergarten students).

 Our first Instagram pictures turned out great!

After using Instagram for one day last week, my student teacher and I decided that students needed a word wall to help them print frequently occurring words in captions and hashtags. Miss Anderson did a fantastic job of creating this one!

This morning, we decided to explore a couple of fun apps that Erin Clarke recommended in her Instagram presentation. I was super impressed how quickly my little ones caught on to using Color Splash and making collages! Wow!

My students are already reasonably proficient Instagram users, so what are our next steps?
-continue to develop our ability to write captions and hashtags
-improve our ability to post quality, interesting images
-develop our ability to read and respond to comments on our pictures
-explore apps to enhance our use of Instagram
-implement a rule similar to Erin Clarke's--for every image you post, you must comment on someone else's image

Take a look at some of our first Instagrams!

 

Interview with a Kindergarten Teacher

I think that nearly every year, an education student from Brandon University asks me if they can interview me about my use of ICT in kindergarten and I am always happy to share with them. And I think that the questions are pretty similar from year to year... so I thought it would make sense to post the questions and responses on my blog for anyone interested! If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will know that I am passionate about teaching kindergarten and infusing technology in a developmentally appropriate manner and they are both favourite topics of mine!

Interview Questions
How did you get started with using technology in your classroom?
I always tell everyone that I was a technology zero. I was teaching Grades 1 and 2 at the time, and I firmly believed that school budgets should be dedicated to buying guided reading books as my main goal at that time was to build my library for reading instruction and home reading. I saw "computer class" as an add-on that took away from my time to teach the curriculum. At best, I used computers as a reward for students who completed their work early. At worst, I never turned them on for the students, and I used my computer for email, online shopping, lesson planning/research, and word processing.

This all changed in 2005 when Howard Griffith, our division's ICT consultant, approached me to see if I would be willing to develop and pilot the new Literacy with ICT continuum in my classroom. My first reaction was, "why me?", but when he explained that I would receive 5 new computer workstations, a printer, scanner, and digital camera for my classroom, my thoughts turned to "why not?".

That fall, I began my journey in technology infusion with my first Manitoba Education Literacy with ICT session in Carman, Manitoba. The pedagogy made sense to me (after all, it was best practice in any subject area), but there were so many new terms floating around--ethical/responsible use, digital citizenship, digital natives/immigrants, so my learning curve was steep. We were given homework to complete before our next session... and it was something like, use technology in one learning experience and plot three students on the Literacy with ICT continuum. As the deadline loomed, I made the decision to use PowerPoint in our Grades 1 and 2 polar animals research. At that time, I didn't have a projector or a SMART Board, so I figured out PowerPoint the night before and did a mini-lesson to my students. 24 little bodies were clustered around the monitor as I explained how to create a presentation on a polar animal. Then I unleashed some of my students, working in partners, on the classroom computers. And within an hour, several pairs of students had produced rudimentary PowerPoint presentations. I was shocked and awed! With great delight, I printed (printed LOL) the students' presentations and took them to the staff room table to show off! I was hooked, and THAT was the beginning of ICT infusion in my teaching practice. After several additional learning experiences that featured technology, I came to the following conclusions. These conclusions marked a huge shift in my classroom practice and still shape how I teach to this day:
-technology is not an extra. Technology is infused to meet curricular outcomes.
-technology develops 21st century skills, which will be vital to our students' future success
-technology is engaging for students and teachers
-teachers/students don't need to know everything about a piece of hardware/software or a web site. We just need to know enough for that particular learning experience.
-every student in our classrooms does not need to do the same thing at the same time. It is fine for some students to use technology while others use pencil and paper.

What types of technology do you use in the classroom?
Tablets: my school division provides my students with iPads, so that is what we use. I would also be excited to use Microsoft Surface devices in my classroom. We use our tablets for many purposes, including photographing and filming. They have taken the place of a digital camera.
Interactive whiteboard: I would be lost without my SMART Board and SMART Notebook software.
Interactive response system: I use the SMART Response LE system, designed specifically for young learners.
Front Row Classroom Amplification System: this fantastic sound system provides surround sound for all my devices (computers, iPhone, iPads, etc) as well as a pendant microphone for me and a pass-around student microphone. Quality classroom sound has a direct impact on student achievement and my vocal fatigue!
Computers/laptops: I use these rarely with my young students, but obviously they are indispensable to me in creating and delivering learning experiences.
Social media: we tweet as a class (@olcskinders) and I tweet professionally (@india0309) as well. I also maintain a classroom Facebook page as a parent communication tool. Check out these blog posts for more information on how we use Twitter and Facebook.
Smart phone: my cell phone is an indispensable tool. I use it to communicate with parents, photograph/film, enter assessment data, as a timer, etc.
Document camera: great for science experiments, shared reading, math manipulatives, etc.

Do you blog personally or with the class?
This blog, Kindergarten Diva, is a platform for reflecting on and sharing my kindergarten practice with other educators and educational stakeholders. Little Hands Extended is a joint blog with colleague Leah Obach and her Grade 1 class, where we chronicle our collaborative project-based learning. Sometimes, the students and I use shared writing to post to this blog. Given the age of my students, I find that Twitter is a better fit for their writing abilities and attention spans.

Do you use Skype to communicate with people and/or other classes?
We use Skype on a daily basis in our project-based learning. We use Skype to communicate with partner classrooms around the world, to consult experts, and to obtain information that is vital to our learning. Read our Skype in the Classroom moment--it was just chosen as a winner and we won a new webcam!

We use Skype in the Classroom to connect with other classrooms who are learning about the same things as we are and to access experts that are far away from us. We live in a small rural community, so Skype is an important tool to that brings the world to us. Also, when I am away, even for a day, I Skype my students to check in on them. I love being able to see and talk to them when I am out of the classroom. Skype is probably my most-used technology tool! Read this blog post to see how we infuse Skype in kindergarten.

What do you feel are the benefits of using technology in your classroom?
The benefits are numerous, but as a kindergarten teacher, I strive to infuse technology when it is developmentally appropriate. Little ones need many real-life, hands on experiences to stimulate their senses and develop gross and fine motor skills. Many students have a lot of screen time at home, and don't need hours more at school! I try to make deliberate decisions about when technology is the best tool for learning! These 21st Century Learning Design Rubrics from Microsoft Partners in Learning guide my planning and assessment. Create your free account to access these rubrics and many other great resources!

Benefits include:
-student and teacher engagement
-development of 21st century skills (communication, collaboration, problem-solving, creative thinking, ICT skills, etc)
-matching the learning style of the 21st century learner
-bringing the world into my classroom and providing students with opportunities that would not be possible in a traditional classroom
-sharing our learning with others
-reducing the amount of paper consumed for a more sustainable classroom
-enhanced parent communication through texting, Facebook, and Twitter leads to greater support for student learning

Is there any advice you would give to someone who is new to using technology in the classroom or is unsure about using it?
-you don't need to know everything. You just need to know enough for that learning experience.
-you don't need to figure out everything! Just know that it is possible and you can always find a tutorial on YouTube or get a colleague to help you.
-start small by infusing technology in ONE area--start tweeting, use your SMART Board for calendar or attendance, use YouTube songs and dances for movement breaks, etc. Once you are more confident, add another area to your repertoire.
-don't be afraid to learn with your students! Become the "guide on the side" instead of the "sage on the stage".
-take risks, be prepared for some technology disasters, and persevere!!! Have a back up plan for when technology doesn't work!
-teach digital citizenship and ethical and responsible use from kindergarten on. Explain that you can't use someone else's music or images. It's much easier to create good habits from the beginning than try to undo them in the middle years.
-attend inexpensive local conferences such as BYTE in Neepawa or visit another classroom that infuses technology
-and remember--infusing technology is NOT OPTIONAL. It is a best practice in education that will enrich and deepen student learning while developing 21st century skills.

My go-to websites:
Microsoft Partners in Learning Network: everything here is so useful, from free software downloads, hundreds of learning experiences, to rich discussions in the Hot Topics blogs! Access to Virtual University webinars brings professional learning right to your home or classroom too.
SMART Exchange: why create a SMART Notebook lesson when you can download and modify a pre-made one? Save yourself time!
YouTube: seriously, who wouldn't be lost without YouTube? Just preview content first and watch out for videos of scantily-clad women that come up when the video is finished playing!
Symbaloo: the perfect way to safely bring web content to your students and their mobile devices! Read this blog post for an example of how I use Symbaloo to build student knowledge.
Evernote: organizing and tracking assessment data. I'd recommend using student initials to maintain confidentiality.
Brain Pop Junior: the videos are fantastic and the educators' community has great free webinars. The videos are subscription only, but there are some free ones so it's worth checking!
Twitter: my students and I love to tweet our learning and interact with classrooms and teachers around the world. I use Hootsuite to manage my many streams. Kindergarten teachers, please tag your tweets with #mbkteachers to share with other Manitoba kindergarten teachers!

Being in an early years environment, how do you monitor and make sure that students are using technology appropriately?
-as I mentioned earlier, I teach and model digital citizenship from the beginning. Students know what they are allowed to do and why. Read this blog post to learn more about digital citizenship in my kindergarten program.
-I use guided access on my classroom iPads to lock students in the one app that they are allowed to use at that time.

My colleague Leah Obach and I often hear that we must be gifted with technology or that we're really "lucky" with technology. Neither statement is true...infusing technology to maximize student learning just requires a lot of persistence and tenacity. Having a teaching partner to share the planning and problem-solving makes it so much easier and more fun (and they don't need to be in the same building or school division). Don't give up--begin your journey with one little step and you'll be walking then running in no time at all! And remember that help is just a text, email, internet search, or tweet away!

The Wonders of Skype

Skype is one of those wonderful free tools that never ceases to amaze me. We have been skyping in my K classroom on a regular basis since 2008. Originally, we started using Skype as a way to connect with other classrooms and find out about their schools, daily lives, and cultures. The students and I were both so excited to have a window into another classroom! However, our calls were often kind of random with no specific purpose in mind. Just the experience of using skype and chatting with learners and teachers from around the world was enough for us.

That all changed when I attended a session entitled "Around the World in 80 Schools" in 2010 (Teacher 2 Teacher Conference in Bow Island, Alberta) with Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano. She shared how she turned a Skype call into a learning call in her classroom with important pre- and post-call activities, and a variety of roles assigned during the Skype call. Every learner in her classroom fulfilled an important function and numerous curricular outcomes were met whenever her classroom connected via Skype. Please click on this link to view this PDF file on turning a Skype call into a learning call--it's a great resource!

Although Silvia's model was a bit advanced for my junior and senior kindergarten students, it had a profound impact on how I wanted to infuse Skype into my students' learning. In the next couple of years, Skype became a mainstay in my technology toolbox. My colleague Leah Obach and I partnered on a number of collaborative projects involving Skype and other tools, such as:

Superheroes: my K class partnered with Leah's Grade 11 ELA class. First, all students used Big Huge Labs to create trading cards to introduce the students in both classes. The next step was to brainstorm the qualities of heroes and villains using a collaborative brainstorming tool, Cacoo.  My K students designed their own superheroes using paper and markers, and we photographed and posted them to our classroom blog. Each of Leah's students chose a superhero and wrote a short story for that superhero (lots of important lessons about audience, level of language, etc). They used the website Hero Machine to create a digital picture of each superhero, then narrated it with Audacity. Using Windows Movie Maker, the students created a digital story of each superhero. These digital stories were transferred to classroom iPods where they could be listened to over and over at a listening centre. The highlight of the project was the use of Skype. Each day, a different high school student skyped in for Skype Storytime. The student introduced him/herself then read the story to the students via Skype. My K students were so excited and engaged, especially when their superhero was being featured. It was a very successful project, providing students with a real audience and feedback for their work.

Digital Team Teaching with Skype: And then my colleague was transferred to Grade 1. We knew that it would be easy to find reasons to connect, but we wanted to take it to the next level. And digital team teaching was born. We began to use Skype (and occasionally Smart Bridgit) to connect our classrooms for actual learning experiences. Leah and I took turns leading these learning experiences via Skype while the other teacher supported. Kindergarten learning experiences often provided important practice and review for Grade 1 students, while activities from Grade 1 stretched and enriched my kindergarten students. Math games and story problems worked especially well for digital team teaching using the screen sharing feature. This project is ongoing, with the goal of small groups of students skyping into the other classroom as a means of differentiating instruction.

And today, we skyped with a junior kindergarten class from the Mandell School in New York City. They located us on Skype in the Classroom, and contacted us to see if we would be interested in working on communities outcomes from the social studies curricula. It was a perfect fit for us. Have a look at some of the slides we created to share with our New York friends.

Our questions and the answers we found out:

Animal Rescue Comes to Kindergarten!

My student teacher, Miss Lobreau has been involved in our collaborative project, Little Hands, Big World, since the beginning of her student teaching placement. Although this is her first placement, she was eager to plan an integrated thematic unit, and we decided that animal rescue/pets would be very timely and an excellent fit with our collaborative project.

Integrating outcomes from social studies, mathematics, and ELA, as well as descriptors from Manitoba Education's Literacy with ICT continuum, Miss Lobreau has planned an exciting and engaging unit with strong links to ESD and social responsibility. She taught her introductory lesson today--take a look at this learning experience!

Table Graffiti: Megan covered the students' tables with brown paper and divided each table in half. After providing photographic examples of graffiti on the Smartboard, the students were given the opportunity to create their own graffiti on their tables. After ten minutes of drawing and printing words about their pets and their needs, students participated in a gallery walk. The next 15 minutes were spent at the Smartboard in our classroom.

Animal and Human Needs Smart Notebook lesson (sourced from Smart Exchange then modified).

Animal Needs Sorting Activity
Students applied their learning by completing this cut and paste sorting activity:

Animal Needs Sorting Worksheet
Later in the morning, Miss Lobreau developed important numeracy skills with this graphing activity on the Smartboard.

Dogs and Cats Graphing Activity for Smartboard

Stay tuned to see how our kindergarten students will apply their learning to make a difference for animals who need homes! This afternoon, we are excited to welcome a cat breeder of Ragdoll-Himalayans to our classroom!

Student Services Forum Presentation

My presentation at the annual Student Services Conference, SMARTer with Technology: Effective ICT Infusion in the Early Years Classroom

Session Description: How can technology engage students and enhance learning in the early years classroom? Session participants will explore actual learning experiences and work samples, web-based resources and tools, and age-appropriate hardware and software to answer this question. ICT infusion is for learners of all ages and abilities!

Introduction
Aven's Corner The Name Game
Poll Everywhere
Goodnight 21st Century Learners: a window into my classroom
Today's Meet: backchannel site used in the presentation

Technology for Procedures
The Hat: a free download, this tool randomly draws individual and pairs of names
Kindergarten Calendar (available for download from my Google Documents account)
Centre workboard created in SMART Notebook
Evernote: assessment, student portfolios, work samples
Social stories (for example: morning routine and swimming lessons) can be created using a digital camera and Photo Story, Microsoft PowerPoint, or MovieMaker

Technology for Communication
Phonevite
Twitter for classroom use
Twitter for professional learning and sharing
Kinderchat
Classroom Facebook page (created as a "secret group")
Using your smart phone in the classroom
Skype: video conference with community helpers, experts, authors, and other classrooms

Technology for Collaboration
Digital Team Teaching: Kinecting Classrooms for Sustainability
Skype Play

Flipped Classroom
-recorded lessons (sometimes teacher-created, other times student and teacher-created) of important concepts for preview, review, and family involvement in learning
-shared via classroom YouTube channel, iPod Nanos, Facebook page, email links
-enables students to learn and practice basic concepts at home, teacher can use classroom time to differentiate (enrich, remediate, etc)
-family directions for using an iPod Nano
-interesting article

iPads
I Touch for Special Needs
Sesame Street video: There's an App for That

Some of My Favourite Resources
-follow this link to my Diigo list

Work Samples