Google Expeditions

Good morning colleagues! I'm back after a luxurious two weeks off from school and ready to talk about a training session I ran this past Thursday with the staff.

I'm assuming that most people reading this blog have heard of Google Expeditions. If not, Expeditions is an application that allows students to travel the world using virtual reality. As the teacher, you can guide your students through these tour with pre-made, scripted text that helps you talk to the students about what they are seeing. In your classroom, you have six options for running Expeditions.

I will admit when I was asked to present to the teachers that I was nervous. Technology doesn't always go over well in my building, and I wanted to ensure that what I demonstrated was relevant and engaging for the staff. Initially I was going to present one application while providing teachers with an opportunity to learn about a different app if they so choose. But while I was designing the training, I realized how perfect Google Expeditions was for the staff. Basically, every content can be covered through the variety and quantity of expeditions available.

I've been obsessed with organizing information into hyperdocs recently, so I put together a hyperdoc for the teacher to access the materials. I also divided the hyperdoc into a beginner, intermediate, and advanced level (so that everyone was covered during the training).

I started off the training by having the teachers actually USE Google Expeditions. I received a grant from EdCamp last year and use the money to purchase Google Cardboards and inexpensive phones. I had the Cardboards and phones out, ready to use when the teachers walked into the library. I used the ultimate teacher tool - the hook. Yesterday I took the teachers to American Samoa, Mars, Hong Kong, and Machu Picchu. It worked "hook," line, and sinker. The teachers immediately responded positively because they, as adults, thought virtual really was SO COOL.

I briefly walked them through the hyperdoc: what Google Expeditions is, the six ways to access Expeditions in their classroom, and the available Expeditions. I then answered questions that they had, then gave them 20 minutes to play. The teachers were all over the app (whether by playing on Cardboard again or on their iPads searching the variety of Expeditions).

I knew that the training was a success when one very excited, but tech-resistant teacher checked out the Cardboards and cell phones to use in her class next week. I was STOKED! My former mentee also chatted with me about integrating the Gettysburg Expedition in his class by checking out the iPad card from the library and how excited he was for the students to "see" Picket's Charge.

If you haven't checked out Expeditions or how to use Expeditions in your class, please do. It's amazing what 15 minutes of virtual reality can do to change the environment of your classroom.

Thanks for reading. I'll see you next week :)

- Rachel
@historicalipad
My Teacherspayteachers website

Story Spheres!

Colleagues! I'm back!

I cannot believe that a new school year has started. It has been overwhelming being in this new job, but boy has it been positive! Many teachers have wished me luck, told me that they believe in me, and have already asked to meet and build their tech knowledge.

 

What has been stressing me out is designing this new broadcasting curriculum. Teaching Social Studies is easy. I've been doing that for eleven years, and I don't have to prep much to start. Teaching something new is probably good for me because I am way out of my comfort zone! This year I am working on being comfortable with being uncomfortable.

A couple of weeks ago I went to a Google Summit here in the Springs. My very first session was with Jessica Loucks (who is ah-mazing). She presented 360° storytelling with Street View and Story Sphere. I just recently received a grant from the Edcamp Foundation and was able to buy 30 Google Cardboards and 15 phones. I KNEW that I wanted to incorporate VR, but wasn't sure how to do it. 

I finally figured out that I wanted to start with Story Spheres in my class so that students could a) learn more about storytelling and b) tell me/the class about themselves. I started with a video from Khan Academy/Pixar in a Box. The video talks about telling stories that are exciting but make people feel how you feel about your story.

Then I had students access this great PDF about major master plots. I told students that they were going to write a story about themselves (so I could get to know them) using one master plot. I told them that my story was plot #13: maturation. 

How do you create a Story Sphere? I first wrote my script about what I wanted to say. I then went on Street View (on an iPad) to find 360° photos of the locations in my script. I saved the images to Google Drive, downloaded the images to a computer from Drive, THEN uploaded the photos to Story Sphere (it is much easier than it sounds!). Inside the web app, you can upload hot spot recordings so that students can hear from you as they "visit" these locations. I just used the voice app on my phone, then e-mailed the mp3s to my school e-mail where I uploaded them to Story Sphere. Students viewed my Story Sphere, through VR, on the first day of school!

Perfect way to start the first day of school! Thanks @GoogleForEdu! #edtechchat #middleschool pic.twitter.com/hDKlUUAgc4

— Rachel Jeffrey (@historicalipad) August 2, 2017

Needless to say, the kids thought this was SO COOL. When I told them that they were going to be telling me a story about them using a Story Sphere, they were all in!

They have taken quite a bit of time to create, partly due to me trying this for the first time, partly due to some tech issues in the building, and partly due to my students' lack of tech knowledge with iPads and new software. Even so, the kids still bought in and were excited to share their stories with each other. I'm hoping on Monday that we will get some Story Spheres actually created so I can tweet them out. 

Thanks for reading. I'll see you next week! 

- Rachel

@historicalipad

My Teacherspayteachers website

First Week Recap

Good morning! It has been an EXHAUSTING week as it was the first full week of school! Welcome back to Skyview! Because I am so tired, I struggled with coming up for a blog topic this week. I figured a recap of my week would be best, to try to reflect on how everything went. 

As I blogged last week, I was quite excited to try flexible seating in my classroom. To NO ONE'S SURPRISE, my students ate it up. The first day, I had them switching seats every 5-10 minutes to try all of the the different seating options. They actually did not care for trying all of the options (because I think they didn't want to move), but in the end, it was better that they did because some of the students are picking new seats every day. I have found that the students like the yoga balls, so I may have to purchase more further down the road. They like the big fluffy floor pillows, and some of them use the pillows with the camping chairs. I need to find a way to get donations, or tell the students that they can bring in more seating options too. Yesterday, I ended up taking 18 desks and chairs out of my classroom (I don't think my janitor was too happy about them all being out in the hall after school). My room looks quite large and rather empty, which is exciting! I kept an extra four desks in my classroom as I am going to lower the legs so they can sit on the floor and use a desk. Many students may prefer that option, so we will see how it goes over the next couple of weeks. 

I do think I will have a bit of a hill climb when it comes to using QFT (Question Formulation Technique) with these students. I'm not sure how the students will react to it. My classroom tends to be a bit different than other classrooms at Skyview, and I'm not sure how much choice they've had over the years. I worry that having such an open-ended curriculum will throw them for a loop, and they will react badly. But, if things are not going well, I know that I need to provide structure and support. 

I think we do have good students this year. We're both feeling each other out, and I think my students are trying to determine if I am being genuine and sincere. Middle school students usually wait for the inevitable (i.e. bad) to happen, so I think they're waiting for me to "flip". 

It has also been a great week for my mentee and myself. I know I haven't talked about my mentee much, but we had communicated a bit over the summer, so I was pleasantly surprised to have him as a mentee. We are communicating very well. I am trying to provide support in any way that I can, and he's great about coming to me when he needs something and he's been asking a lot of questions. Starting your first year of teaching is super stressful, so I'm just trying to help out when he needs it. I don't want to overwhelm him, but I think we already have a good enough relationship that he'll tell me when he just needs time and not help. 

I'm also excited for all of the new teachers in the building! We have a number of new staff members and a handful of student teachers. Their excitement and eagerness are spreading through the school and I feel like the culture of SMS is changing (slowly, but steadily). It's exciting for me because I feel like I'm helping change the way. It's a good feeling. 

My other big excitement is that my 10 Google Cardboards are on their way to my classroom! They're supposed to be delivered next Saturday (but the building will be closed), so I should get them on Monday, August 15th. When I went to purchase them on Thursday, I noticed that instead of paying $15 each, I could get two for $25! I posted only social media, and got another $75 in donations. That was a nice boost for the end of my work week :) I can't wait for my students to try Cardboard in the classroom. I hope that it's exciting and interesting for them!

I can't think of much else other than that I have a lot of work to do this weekend, and the cat sitting on my lap and the cup of coffee next to me are helping me stay focused. 

Enjoy your weekend and Go USA! I'll see you next week :)

- Rachel
@historicalipad
My Teacherspayteachers website
Donate a Google Cardboard to my classroom!