QR Codes in the Classroom

photo credit: Yutaka Tsutano via photopincc

I had a lot of fun this year helping another teacher begin implementing technology into her lessons. She isn't the most tech savvy educator, but wanted to learn and could see the benefit that technology could have for her students. I offered to help and we chose a few days to begin meeting an hour or two after school. When I asked her what she wanted to do she told me that she wanted something that she could easily integrate into lessons she had already planned.

A misconception many people have with using technology to teach is that you change what you teach. You suddenly need to make all new lessons. The thing is, you don't change what you teach as much as you change HOW you teach it. She had the right idea, so looking through her lessons we decided to try QR codes first.

This is one of the QR codes that the teacher used!

QR codes are basically bar-code images that allow you to quickly send information. The information can take many different forms: a website address, a location on a map, an e-mail address, or even just plain text. She had already planned a states project and a math graphing lesson for her students that she felt she could easily change parts of to integrate QR codes.

So, how did she do it? Instead of having students find the website to make their bar graphs on for the math project, she made a QR code for them to scan that would take the guess work out of if they were using the right site. Then, instead of having them write out how they went about getting their information and creating their graphs, she had them create a QR code that they would attach to their graphs.

Next, she decided that for their state projects, students would create QR codes for their state's capital. In this way they not only had to find their state's capital, but be able to locate it in google maps (which, let's be honest, that's how most of us would look it up). She then had students create QR codes of short paragraphs about their state. These, they posted up on a map.

I liked her idea so much, I used it myself!

Her results? The kids LOVED it! Her students were proud of their work and would show it off to not only other teachers, but to each other. They were engaged with their work and enjoyed learning about what others did as well.

Now, many of you may be thinking: that's it? But realistically, these small successes the teacher had encouraged her to step further out of her comfort zone: if this worked, what else could she do? By the end of the year, this teacher ended up creating her first video! Now that she knows how to create and edit a video she wants to show her students! How amazing is that?

So the questions is: Do you know someone who could use a little help with implementing technology into their lessons? What's stopping you from helping them?

Don't know how to use QR codes? Check out my iTunes U course on them!

As always,

Overly Enthusiastic Jen

Binding Responsibility Together: Using Class Binders

A few years ago, my fellow teacher Lacy Floyd, started talking about binders. I had seen other teachers use them, but wasn't too familiar with them.  So, I looked it up and found a lot of resources already available!  So onto the binder bandwagon I began!

First, I want to tell you that the two weeks leading up to the first day of school were great! I was excited about using my D.R.A.G.O.N. Binder: Daily Requirements And Goals Organized Neatly. (Here's a link to a site with acronyms if you'd like to try this!) I got all of my management tools out of the way, figured out what would be inside the binder, and was ready to start.

Then the first two weeks of school came: I HATED THE BINDER! It took my students forever to get them set up let alone remembering to use them. I even remember having a moment of: Why in the world did I even try to do this?

Then a month later my first moment of zen happened. One of my students had forgotten to remind his mom he needed field trip money. I asked him to look in his binder in our special pocket for notes and money...and there it was! His mom had used the binder too!

Next, I had a parent call and ask about the behavior checks her child was receiving in class. Was she mad? No, she said she noticed he wasn't getting his usual marks for behavior and wanted to know if there was something she could do to help. It was only his second day of misbehavior and they were small things. I told her how I had moved his seat and was hoping this would fix the "chatter bug" he seemed to have. The binder was now a communication tool that was being used!

Then, I had a young lady who started filling in her calendar with important dates. Personal important dates. It was like she was actually using it to stay organized with her home life too.

Suddenly I noticed that most of my students were actually using their binders! For more than just their homework and studying too! They used it to carry notes for their friends. They used it to keep their paperwork for after school clubs. Suddenly, a tool that I hated became my most loved tool.

My advice to my fellow teachers: stick with it! As with anything, keep in mind that they're kids. Keep in mind the age of your students and if they've ever been held accountable before. I teach 3rd grade and some had a VERY hard time with this. At the same time, I have a feeling a few of them will continue the binder next year!

Fast forward to the end of the school year and a meeting at our district office about going 1:1 with a device. Suddenly, I thought of my binder. What if I used an iPad to keep them organized? Would it be hard at first? Yes. Would it be worth it? YES!

So have you used binders or iPads to keep your students organized? If so, how did it go? Did it work out well for you? Let's hear about it in the comments section!

As always,

Overly Enthusiastic Jen

The Power of Just Shutting Up

A few months back, my friend Michael recommended Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. Upon reading the title, I wanted to know if this was a mean joke on me: I talk excessively. He assured me it wasn't. Michael wanted me to read this because he felt that as an educator who is increasingly pro-"group collaboration", I needed to stop and think about the introverts in my class and what group work might be doing to them.

I began thinking back to recent professional development sessions in which I had to collaborate with my peers. If you put me in a group with a few of my close friends we work extremely well together. My fellow teachers will share ideas with me and work together to make a cohesive product. They'll ask me to present our idea knowing that I'm willing to do so. 

But what happens when you put me into a group with strangers? If they're all introverts, we do well. I will constantly ask for input and will take the pressure off of the group by offering to present. This is probably due to the fact that quite a few of my friends are introverts. I KNOW to ask.

Yet, if you put me in a group of extroverts, I tend to fade into the background. I'm less willing to offer ideas. I'm quite willing to go along with whatever the group thinks is best even if I feel like I have a better idea. 

Suddenly I began to think back to the introverts I have taught over the years. How many times have I let extroverted students take over a small group or form the tempo of a lesson.

The book offers many antidotes and studies on introverts that made me realize collaborative group work needs to be monitored carefully and students who wish to work independently need the opportunity to do so. Now, before anyone bites my head off, I realize that everyone needs the opportunity to work in small and large groups too. I do see how our work-force and companies are becoming more about collaboration.

This is a great book for both extroverts and introverts alike. You'll learn a lot about introverts and maybe gain more insight into you as an educator and your students.

If you've read the book or have an idea, please reply!

As always,

Overly Enthusiastic Jen

The End of Another Year

Sigh. It took me a whole year to finally post again. I think I have more goals for the start of this summer and the new school year then there are days in the school year! But I think that happens a lot. A big part of being an educator is looking back at what you did and figuring out what worked, what you could have done better, what you will change, and what you won't do again. I know I'll be trying to be better with posting all of the things my students and I do in class so that others can share in my learning experience and hopefully find something they can use in turn. I've also enlisted the help of one of my fellow grade-level teachers to help out with becoming more organized. Today, my husband and I cleaned, did laundry, and set up my new work station. I think that this will help me be more motivated to want to do work this summer. Of course, the cat likes my workstation more than I do... >_< What are your goals for this summer and the new school year? <3 Jen