The Beauty of Visual Teaching

In working with teachers on implementing iPad technology in the classroom, I am reminded again and again, how the simple act of adding colors and images to a resource can transform a simple lesson.  We want our students to be successful on inevitable tasks, like a simple pencil and paper test, a state test, or basic math operations.  So we go over these skills often times in whole group relying a lot on our verbal directions.  We talk about logical steps and we ask kids to respond to our simple questions. Sometimes we forget that with an iPad in our hands we can add so much more engaging content to a lesson.  

Little things like circling key words in a bright color can grab the attention of our students.  Or using stickers within an app to replace our own maybe messier drawings can have a positive impact during a lesson. We have so many great tools in our hand when we are using the iPad.  I think we need to remember exactly which tools can have an impact.  So the next time you are explaining something to your students while using your ipad and projector, consider making it more visually pleasing.  Here are some ways to make your lessons more visual for your students.  

Prepare your images before your lesson.  

If your math lesson is going to be adding up pie pieces, go find some pie pieces on Google and save it to your photos.  Or if your lesson talks about parallel lines, make sure you have some images of linear building in your camera roll.  You could take it one step farther and create image albums in your photo app.  Organize those photos by subject, lessons, or ideas.  Then they are there when you need them.  This will save you time on the fly during your amazing teaching!

It sounds simple enough, but use color.  You’d be amazed how often I see teachers only using black and white.  Certain colors help students remember information.  Green is a great color to use on a white screen!  Color coding ideas also helps with organizing information.  The app Popplet is a great tool for color coding ideas and information. 

Use an app with easy access to design elements like Notability.  Notability lets you import PDF’s so those plain old documents can get doctored up with its marker tool, highlighting tool, and web-clips.  All of a sudden, student notes start to look like art projects and they are completely tailored to what the students were thinking as they are note taking.

Let your students doodle.  Doodling can be a great brain break for students young and not so young.  Doodling can also be used to portray a feeling or theme from a reading selection.  Don’t be afraid to model a little doodling of you own!  I like the app Paper 53 for doodling or even something as simple as the app Screenchomp.

Begin your lesson with an introduction video featuring you!  Yes!  Use your Camera app and record yourself excitedly introducing a concept or a lesson.  Maybe even dress up as a character that goes with your topic.  Our students can have a short attention span, so a quick 1 - 2 minute intro video might be all it takes to grab their attention and maybe even have a laugh to start a lesson.  

Remember, joy is important and learning can be not only fun, but beautiful!  

Written by, Jenny Krzystowczyk

@jennykbps

An Interview with @Gtwitsims on a Paperless Paper

Well, it's over.  The project has come to an end.  If you'd like to read my previous posts on a paperless paper, just search those words.  There are 7 previous blogs on the project.  How I wish we could have just left the iPads with Mr. Sims, from Fairview Elementary, and his awesome 4th grade students.

I do however, want to give our readers a different perspective on how the project turned out so I asked @Gtwitsims to provide us with some feedback on what he thought about using iPads to create written works with 4th graders.  

Jenny:  What were your initial concerns with the beginning of the writing project?
Mr. Sims:  The time it would take to initially teach with the technology was a concern. Most of my students have never used Dropbox or sent an eMail and I think it is safe to say that none of them had used Notability before.

Jenny:  What technical skills have your students learned during this project that they wouldn’t have otherwise learned?
Mr. Sims:  My students have learned the general use of a touch device - 

• How to manage, run, and utilize multiple apps in the same session - How to log into and utilize DropBox for file sharing - 
• Cut/Copy/and Pasting (both on an iPad and a PC - Battery/Power Management on an iPad as well as how to shut off programs not in use - 
•  How to send an eMail using Safari and their gMail accounts -
•  How to find and insert a picture on an iPad (via Google and Noteability) - 
• General use of Notability- 
• iPad tech skills like screen orientation and locking, keyboard spliting, charging the iPads, use of Photobooth and the Camera/Camera Roll feature - changing the home and lock screen pictures and more.

Jenny:  In thinking about your students’ attitudes towards writing, how would you describe their attitude about writing on an iPad vs. paper and pencil?
Mr. Sims:  They were extremely enthusiastic! I had *MANY* parents comment to me all their children had told them about using the iPads in the classroom - I am positive that doesn’t happen for ordinary writing assignments.

Jenny:  Is there anything that your students miss when writing and using an ipad vs. paper and pencil?
Mr. Sims:  Not really - I get comments from parents all the time wondering why we still teach handwriting and how “in the district we came from, they didn’t. So my child doesn’t know how to write.”  Pencils are messy, they break, and students get hand fatigue often (so do I!!).

Jenny: Can you foresee in the future, using ipads indefinitely for the writing curriculum?
Mr. Sims:  Yes - If my students had 1 to 1 iPads in the classroom, I would utilize them every single day. It would completely transform my teaching - they would use the iPads to create, edit, revise, and publish their writing to a larger audience than they do now. Students get *VERY* excited when they realize more people than just their teacher(s) or classmates will be seeing their writing samples. That enthusiasm transfers into their writing.

Jenny:  What for you was the best way to provide feedback to your students during the writing process?
Mr. Sims:  I wanted to keep this project entirely paperless so due to time constraints, we ended up having students copy/paste their Notability writing into an eMail they composed and then they each sent the eMail to me. I am in the process of writing notes in each eMail sample to mail back to them. They will then be using the Lab computers to open the eMail, make the changes, and resend it to me for final evaluation. After that, we will most likely publish them online using a blog site - possibly Yaptime, which I used many times before.

Jenny: What was your biggest frustration during this project?
Mr. Sims:  The initial learning curve was tough - especially using an immersive app like Notabilty, that I am not completely comfortable with. The time constraints, coupled with everything else we have to teach, also was a challenge.  However, we adapted to the situations and I believe the students are turning out great samples and I am going to be able to provide much better feedback than I might using a red pen as I am so much faster and more comfortable typing than I am writing.

Jenny:  What was your favorite part of the project?
Mr. Sims:  I am *always* looking to try new things in the classroom. Especially things that energize and excite the students. I recently told my student teacher (in regards to classroom management) that, when a student doesn’t like your class, sending them out to the hall or to the office, etc. for misbehaving is not a punishment for them - it is a reward. Teachers *need* to make their classroom a place *each* student wants to be. It provides a lot of leverage with the student. I’ve often tried to do this with Science and Technology, and Educational Games - tried to have fun, different, educational experiences that they enjoy so that they will *WANT* to be in my class. The iPads have definitely helped with that through this project. Most kids don’t like to write or struggle with it at some level. This added technology element provided that excitement for the student.

Jenny:  Anything else you want to add for others considering running their writing this way?
Mr. Sims:  I’d be interested to see if there were any noticeable differences in a class that used iPads to write every day and a class that didn’t (in their overall writing ability). I wonder in 4th grade state writing test scores would be any different.


Wow!  It sounds like these kids could give us some lessons on using an iPad!.  As our district moves towards a 1:1 environment with tablets and or laptops, I feel it is critical to share out our results and processes that we have used.  A HUGE thank you to Mr. Sims for allowing me to invade his classroom and work with his wonderful students!  

Written by:  Jennifer Krzystowczyk
@jennykbps

Entry 7 A Paperless Paper

This post is reflective and slightly different than my previous posts on our paperless paper project. I don't have any how to's today or problems to solve. Things are running smoothly in our 4th grade class. Using Notability, Dropbox, Gmail, and Preview seems to be working quite well for both the students and Mr. Sims.

At this point the kids are using the ipads as a normal tool in their classroom.  Isn’t this the goal?  To have a device that becomes the norm?  They aren’t ooh-ing and aahh-ing about it anymore.  Just like when you first fall in love you become so excited and it is all you can think about.  And then you commit to it and just ‘have” it.  Our 4th graders are doing just that.  They pick up their ipads, go to their apps, and begin working.  Just the way it is supposed to be.  

Not only have our kids increased their writing, but they have learned a bunch of other cool skills that they can use in many environments.  For example, they know what a web-clip is.  The know what the word “export” means.  They understand different hand gestures essential for the proficient ipad users.  Their typing skills have improved because they are doing it every day.  Or how about using text wrap in a document.  These were unplanned learning experiences that just happened throughout our project and the students are better for it.  

For the next 9 days the students have the ipads to use for writing.  I know they will be sad when I have to take the ipads back for our next curriculum project, but maybe, just maybe there is hope in the future that their ipads can come back and stay in their hands for more fabulous learning!  Check back for some final written work by these fabulous kids.  

Written by: Jennifer Krzystowczyk

@jennykbps

A Paperless Paper Entry 6 Feedback and Revisions

Entry 6 Giving Feedback and Doing Revisions

If you haven’t read my previous posts on a paperless paper feel free to take a few moments to get caught up here.  Now we are ready for feedback!  Mr. Sims is using preview with the annotation tools to guide his students to a better piece of writing and contacting them using student gmail accounts.  

Students need to be able to view their annotated piece of writing and then edit what they have created.  My brainiac idea was to seek out some amazing, and by the way, nonexistent app that would allow students to look at feedback on one side of the screen and revise at the same time on their saved note on the other side of the screen. Essentially cutting the screen in half like two iPads.  If it does exist, it really isn’t that great of an idea because the screen size will be cut in half and that minimizes the experience of using an iPad to create a good piece of writing.

What I discovered is that sometimes the low tech solution is the way to go.  This low tech solution was evident in a training I did with an Apple trainer.  He was asked during an iPad training, “Can we highlight sections in an ibook for our students?”  He replied, “Of course!  Just walk over and highlight the text in their iPad.”  The solution was literally hands and feed.  I had to chuckle, because in our high tech world we expect our solutions to be so much more complicated.  

So the solution on viewing feedback and reworking student writing is going to be a simple four finger hand gesture on the iPad- no app necessary.  

Here is how it looks for work flow:
1.)  Student logs into their dropbox account
2.)  Student opens up their note that Mr. Sims has annotated over
3.)  Student opens up Notabiity and opens the note that is also saved in their Notability app
4.)  Now the student can take four fingers and gently swipe left and right to move back and forth between the two documents

In some ways, it might work better than paper in that the student is required to concentrate and understand the feedback.  Instead of having the paper right under their nose and looking back and forth, this method of swiping between apps demands a bit more concentration on the part of the student.  

I am anxious to see how the students feel about reworking their papers this way.  Check back in next week to see how our students are feeling about the workflow and experience!  

Writing by: Jennifer Krzystowczyk

@jennykbps

A Paperless Classroom Entry 5

Entry 5 Annotating over PDF's from Dropbox Using Preview

At last entry I was pondering our choices for providing feedback to our students.  I’ve since decided to go with the laptop tool Preview.  One reason is there just isn’t another iPad to go around and the second is that Mr. Sims is pretty comfortable in the laptop environment.  

So here is how you use Preview on a Mac to annotate over a PDF.  Once your PDF is open in Preview, click on tools on the tool bar menu.  From there scroll down to annotate.  Here you will find a variety of tools to use for marking up a PDF like a thought bubble, a speech bubble, arrows, shapes, and text. If I were still in 4th grade, I would much rather receive feedback in a hot pink thought bubble rather than a red ink pen, but that is just me. Take a look at the example below:  

Once the PDF has been checked over and some feedback has been provided to the students, the teacher can save it back to the dropbox folder for the students to view.  Using the students gmail account is another great way to communicate to the kids that feedback has been given. The great thing about this is that the students still have the copy in their Notability app so they can edit it based on the feedback given by their teacher.

So here is my next wonder..... How about a screen splitting app so they can view the feedback and their copy at the same time! Check in next time to see if I solve it!!!

Written by: Jennifer Krzystowczyk

A Paperless Paper Entry 4

Creativity in Notability and Exporting Files!
If you haven't read my previous posts about a paperless paper, take a few minutes to get caught up! Today's lesson allowed 4th graders to create new notes in the app Notability, do some writing and illustrating and export it to their shared dropbox folders. The students only had one folder created so this was basically just walking them through the steps.  After clicking on the “happy share arrow” they choose the email button> dropbox> folder> and export to dropbox.  Students were thrilled to go into their dropbox app and see their note sitting in their newly created folders.  

Once we got through these steps we let them have some free journal time.  The objective was to have them create a document and practice exporting it out to dropbox.  

These 4th graders were working for almost an hour on writing.  You could have heard a pin drop in the classroom.  These kids were so engaged!  Some students were writing full paragraphs and inserting in web clips off of Google and Wikipedia. Other students were using the drawing tool and illustrating their stories.  I love the creativity that is available in Notability!

 

Our next challenge is to allow Mr. Sims to provide paperless feedback.  We have two choices.  One is to use preview on the laptop and save the notes back to the dropbox folder.  The other is to scrounge up one more iPad and use Notability to annotate over student notes as Notability allows users to import a PDF and add to a note. Check back to see where we go with this decision and how it affects the work flow of our paperless environment!  

 Written By: Jenny Krzystowczyk
@jennykbps

A Paperless Paper Entry 3

"You came back!" said a bright eyed 4th grader as I was walking down the hall to my iPad group. Yes, I came back! How could I stay away? These guys were sharing out Dropbox folders to their teacher today. On this day we let the students get more familiar with dropbox, while we pulled students in small groups to learn how to not only log into their dropbox accounts but also their gmail accounts. 

This step is key in making sure each student remembers his or her student logins and passwords. We made sure that usernames and logins were the same for both accounts in order to avoid confusion. We also put the account names and password on a google doc and shared it between myself and @gtwitsims.

Here is what excited me the most about today's experience... Kids were writing right away using Notability. Worried about what they were to write, one student asked, "What's the topic of our paper?".
"Anything you want!" I replied back to him. 
With a huge smile he continued writing. These kids were ready to begin exporting their first paragraphs to Dropbox before I even got everyone finished with their sharing task. How great! This is going to be fun!

Written by: Jenny Krzystowczyk

@jennykbps

A Paperless Paper Entry 2

Today I introduced the students to their iPads!  Their little faces were literally aglow with excitement.  First I had them “name” their iPads using photo booth and photos.  They simply took their own picture and then saved it to their home and lock screen.  That way, each student will be able to use the same iPad day after day.
 
We made sure we allowed them to spend time playing with photo booth.  Giving kids time to play with new stuff is essential to avoid distraction later when we want them to really dig in and work.  Demystifying apps and tools is key in making room for the real learning.  

We had 2 ipad1's without cameras. In that case we took some screen shots of things that the students identified with. You can take a screen shot by holding down the home button and the power button at the same time. For example, one student enjoyed a certain reading series, so she took a shot of a book cover and made that her home screen.  

Next, I showed them some very basic features of the app, Notability.  After about 15 minutes of doodling time with the app I paused and showed them some more tools in Notability like the filing system, web clips, and drawing tools.  It will probably take a few more sessions with the app before we begin any serious writing.  

Classroom management is key in a successful project. So for this project we assigned 2 trustworthy little 4th graders to be the ones to pass out the iPads and check for charging needs after each session.
We also used Apple TV to model some iPad basics. Apple TV requires users to be on the same network and have the same apple ID entered on their device. So here is a little tip for those of you interested in using Apple TV in your class.  Create a class Apple ID so that you can have your classroom devices using the same ID and then they can jump on the Apple TV without having to touch the devices that want to share.  

Written By:  Jennifer Krzystowczyk

@jennykbps

A Paperless Paper

I am excited to begin an iPad writing project with @gtwitsims and his 4th grade students.  Our goal is to have the students write a completely paperless paper.  I was inspired by an article I read from ipadders off of Twitter, along with our tech committee’s plan to begin introducing tablets into the classroom.  One hot topic that always comes up is, “How can our students write a paper on an iPad?”.  This project will answer that question and allow us to problem solve any issues that might come up throughout the process.  

Our plan is to use notability and dropbox folders.  I created a dropbox account for each student.  We will have each student log into their accounts and create a writing folder.  Then students will share that folder with their teachers.  This way Mr. Sims will have access to the students’ work.  I can’t wait to see how it all turns out and what these kids will create.  We chose Notability because it has the capability of doodling, web clips, and paper preferences that I knew the kids would love.  Pages would also be a possibility, but because Notability lets the kids have so many creative options we plan to stick with that.  

Check in periodically to see how our project flows.  I am thinking we need at least four weeks to make this happen, and I can’t wait to share the results with you all!  A big thanks to Mr. Garrett Sims for letting me invade his classroom with ipads and technology!

Written by: Jennifer Krzystowczyk
@jennykbps