Administrative Tour of the Model Classrooms

Yesterday, the administrators in our district were invited to a tour of all the model classrooms to see how the technology is being used to improve learning.  Here are some videos from their visit.

PBL 2 - Student Project Example

I attended a keynote address by Gabe Zicherman at the Minneapolis TIES Conference this past weekend and he talked about gaming and gamification.  So many students are enthralled by video games!   I thought this example of a student PBL project was fitting to the topic of pulling some ideas from gaming into the classroom, as these students designed a new idea/invention and displayed their idea and predictions (in Spanish) for it through a video game!    This is their presentation with screen shots taken from their video game design.  Take a look!

Genial Writing App + SlideRocket Presentation = Great conjugation practice!

We utilized the "Genial Writing" app today along with a Sliderocket presentation I made containing alternating slides of a verb with a subject to conjugate and it's answer.  Students display the SlideRocket game on one of the tablets and use the other tablet to write their answers.  We are using this game/strategy to practice conjugation in the future tense, but it could be used with really any tense in a foreign language or be applied for other concepts in any subject area.  Things I like:

• SlideRocket is a great presentation creator!  Great slide transitions and it embeds easily into a blog or website.  Also, it allows you to specifically share presentations with specific people and see how many people are using your presentation and how.  Best part.... it's part of our Google Apps!

• Genial Writing is a free app and is super user friendly for students!

Take a look at our activity here!

What do students think about the technology?

Here is a video of some of my students discussing what they like about being in a model 21st century classroom.  Take a look!

Mobile Devices = Differentiated Learning

One thing I really love about having the Android Tablets is how much easier it is to differentiate learning for students.  We have a vocabulary quiz tomorrow and students were given various choices the latter part of the class period to prepare/practice their vocabulary.   Take a look here!

Updated List of Andoid Apps

Here is an updated list of the Apps that we are  using most frequently in my Spanish Classes.

• Blogger
• QR Droid
• Spanish Trainer
• Spanish Verbs
• Conjugate Spanish
• Word Reference
• SlideIT
• Pulse (for SSR)
• Movie Studio
• SuperNote
• Google Docs
• Letrix
• Hangman for Spanish
• Splashtop (for Instructor)
• SketchBook
• DoodleText

A Look at the PHS Model Classroom

Classroom Tools/Components:

• 15 Motorola Xoom Tablets
• 15 Asus Transformer Tablets (w/ keyboards)
• 6 Cell Phones (donated by Cellcom)
• 1 Multi-Touch Smartboard
• Android Apps
• 1 Ipevo Document Camera
• Multiple Learning Spaces
• Online Classroom = Learning 24/7

How has the classroom changed because of all this technology?

Learning is more.... differentiated, meaningful, engaging, collaborative and 24/7!

What do the students think?