Students as Scribes

App: SpeaknPhoto for iPhone or iPad




Knowledge




With a group of multi-aged learners from 2.9-5 years, it can be challenging to incorporate the idea of note-taking or written script into multiple stages of literary abilities. As emergent literacy learners, students begin their documentation through scribbles, lines, or shapes until there is eventually more and more detail and control. The use of art and drawing are the first experiences children have of their own documentation. Through these “details on paper” children are able to create a narrative. While these students have yet to begin writing letters or words, they have discovered the art of storytelling and story order. Their oral skills may be “dictated” by the teacher or they may be left on their own to retell to family members at home. In order to better encourage students to use their early reading and writing skills, I was curious if there was an app that could combine student drawing with their oral dictation. This way, their work could be shared with peers in a larger group, available for edits and future revisions, or shared with parents and guardians. I wonder if these emergent literacy learners could feel more confident in their “writing” abilities if they took complete ownership of their work with their own voice and illustrations?












Application

SpeaknPhoto is an app that takes up much less storage space than videos and audio recordings and can be easily snapped, recorded, played or shared with just three easy steps. For this example students were illustrating what they knew so far about the pumpkin life cycle through detailed drawings. They were able to take the time to create their content, take a picture, have a moment to gather their thoughts and press the "speak" button to record their voice. There are two versions of this app, the free SpeaknPhoto and SpeaknPhotoHD which is $4.99 through iTunes. Once students record, they have the option to save or rerecord. It is then saved to the Gallery Dashboard and from there, can be viewed in class to other students, put on a public platform like YouTube, or text/emailed to parents right from the app without the other party needing to download.












Reflection

This app was not originally used for educational purposes. It was catered for real estate agents to create audio content for home pictures. This being said, it was still fairly easy to navigate and create content in the classroom. I was looking for an app that was accessible by students on the classroom iPad (which is their only access to technology in our classroom). Once students begin to write letters and words, the audio component is still a key technology tool for those who use invented spelling. Students can also revisit this work once the unit is complete to improve on their learning and literary skills to show progression without needing their words to be dictated by the teacher. This is a great way for students to collect their own knowledge and share it with others in a way that is accessible to them!

Comparing Education Models

Democratic Schools

I have never heard of this type of “free schooling” before, even though it is here in Massachusetts. As an educator of preschool students, I frequently have parents who are newly enrolled boasting about their child’s advanced academics when in reality what we are looking for is social or self-help skills. This sense of democracy is missing amongst the world today and is so important, but being in a parent’s position, this may be too extreme of a choice for me personally. While the mixed aged group fosters learning and maturity, I am not sure that I am comfortable or confident enough in a young child to explore and learn all they need in life through free exploration. Yes, feeling valued in their voices and votes, being inclusive and having ownership of learning are great attributes to have, but I may need just a little more balance to make me comfortable sending my child into the world as a young adult.


Pedagody of the Oppressed

I am also unfamiliar with this Paulo Freire’s book from what I believe to be his opinions on the oppressed life during the 1960s. This article was a bit confusing to digest but seems to reflect Freire’s theory of society’s role in the relationships between teacher and student. That while an oppressed society looks at a child as an “empty vessel for banking information” that instead they should be a “co-creator of knowledge”. The use of dialogue to solve problems liberates the oppressed. I am still unsure of how this looks in the classroom other than applying the theory that educators are not the dictators of the classroom. That students should feel free in their collaborations and questions throughout the learning process.



Flipped Classroom

“Ah-ha!” This instruction strategy is one that I wish I had in middle school through college. With the changes in teaching strategies from today compared to that of parents, it can be challenging for students to succeed at homework when they need assistance. The idea of using technology as tutorials and mini-lessons at home, allows students to contribute in multiple intelligences and allows for guided learning and mastery in class with peers and teachers. With a day and age where many schools supply laptops and tech devices, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this type of learning become more popular with the popularity of home tech access. While it may take more preparation to create these online videos, the benefits of observing and assisting in the learning process during school greatly benefits student learning. Some students may initially be worried about “teaching themselves” or “not understanding” but that background knowledge that they receive at home only fuels inquiry and practice during the class day. Some critics argued that it is encouraging more tech use at home, however, I look at it as a way to show students that technology can be used for research and learning to benefit their education.



Montessori

Montessori is an educational model that I have had the chance to observe first hand and studied. My current school has adapted some of the Montessori aspects including open shelving, mixed aged groups, free-choice and natural furniture. Typically, there is no technology in these classrooms but I was excited to see the last line of the article revealing that there are Montessori phonics apps being developed and potentially could be an open choice for independent work and small group practice. To me, this is a better balance between children’s independence in discovery and learning like demographic school but also have the support from observant teachers to help guide learning. The only part that always makes me a little uncomfortable when going into Montessori classrooms is how quiet and calm it is. That seems to fit a specific temperament of child and may not be the best fit for children who need more sensory input and guidance.



Waldorf

While there is a Waldorf school close by, I have not experienced it myself other than articles of its practices. I appreciate that teacher trainings include social-emotional development because I feel like early childhood education teachers should be well versed to help build collaborative skills. While there are some aspects that seem beneficial for child development including natural materials and a regular daily routine, there has been some controversy and speculations on the fundamental basis of this educational method. With a debated representation of mainly white students from the original introduction of Waldorf, there is little diversity amongst students. There are no vaccinations required and a heavy influence on spiritual beings. As a future parent, I am unsure if these underlying traditions would make me comfortable in allowing others to “create a spiritual purpose” for my child. There is no technology use in this philosophy.



Glen Urquhart

Through the website, I am sold! Not only the content but the ease and informative nature of the website makes me want to learn more. There is a blend of traditional academic teaching methods and thematic learning along with place-based environmental and community involvement. They promote inclusion and diversity and while it is yet again a tuition based private school, GUS strives to evolve the individual student as a whole. This seems to take aspects of these other methods and place it into a learning philosophy that seamlessly blends the socio-emotional, community and academics together. The photographs of the classrooms seem to have many of the newest technologies such as smart-boards. As one parent’s testimony said, “[my children] were encouraged to discover their individual voices, explore the world around them, and apply themselves with diligence.”

Student Tutorials

Camera and Photo App on the iPad

Knowledge

One of the first instances students have with giving tutorials is relaying information to others that they have already mastered in their everyday life. This is usually done by physically demonstrating or by retelling verbally. With a classroom that has minimal technology (a classroom iPad for teacher documentation and a Television) I contemplated how to dip our toe into the word of technology without diverting far from the regular classroom routine. To do this I focused on the intent of student tutorials and the practice, mastery and experience students must have in order to relay their information confidently. By allowing students to take a photograph of their process and work in real time and allowing it to be explained during group discussion by the students helps students to remember and retell their learning process to other students with support questions and assistance from the teacher.

Application

For free-play time today I placed solo cups on the rug and set up an engineering challenge for anyone to participate. As children began to be intrigued by these new materials on the rug, they began to explore different way of how to use them. After a few minutes of this I asked the open-ended question of what would be a good way to stack these cups up to make a sturdy 3 feet tower? Students began brainstorming and experimenting with a few ideas in both their placement or positioning of the cups as I stood close by and observed. As students got closer to their desired goals I asked if they would like to use the iPad to document their work and share their strategies with the class later during whole group. With this added excitement of “their turn to be teacher” struck, students were quickly organizing their thoughts and working together to discuss their strategies. When it was time for their presentation and the structure had been cleaned up, the students were able to show their pictures on the classroom television for all to see in a large format as they explained their task and the inquiry process they followed along the way. As I hoped, it also sparked the interests of the other students to want to have their turn as student tutorial presenter.

Reflection

Beginning student tutorial work in the group atmosphere takes the pressure off of students to perform at their best. They have support and guidance from others around them. With this a starting point, my hope is that all students will want to share learning processes with others and help guide students into using applications that can help them document and record themselves. Once this becomes a familiar process to them, apps like ExplainEverything or DoodlecastPro. With a mixed age group, I think it can be more of a challenge to find the right fit for technology in the classroom that is age-appropriate. Beginning their exploration in this way allows them to begin to understand the purpose and importance of peer tutorial making!

Tech for Admin Tasks

Meditation and Self Care

I feel as though I have a pretty good handle on my communication skills when it comes to productivity and organization. I use apps that help me share calendars both personal and work related. I am also an avid list maker. For me, what gets in the way of all of this are those little stressors that you just can’t get out of your head. The ones that make it hard for you to accomplish tasks or interfere with time management.

I wanted to explore a little bit more into guided meditation, even if for only a few minutes and see if it could help in both my work and professional life. Could it really help me stop and focus and re-organize by thinking process in order to be more productive in my day-to-day life?

Knowledge

To begin, I researched some of the top meditation apps on the market. Unfortunately, what I quickly realized was that the free download was quickly followed by a free week trial and a subscription service. Apps like Headspace and Simple Habit, while set up for quick and specific needs for meditation did not have many option for free sessions. The app, Calm on the other hand was an Editor’s pick on iTunes and has some great benefits for teachers! With a few one minute demo sessions, you can get a feel for what the app offers. This year Calm also began a teacher initiative supplying a one year free membership to teachers in a Kindergarten-Grade 12 classroom. With this being said, currently there is a wait on this if you do not already have it, but they offer a great pamphlet on how to incorporate meditation in and out of the classroom with all of the same benefits of adult mediation time. Check out the link below! 

http://cdn.calm.com/documents/teachers-onboarding-manual.pdf

Application

With stressors from home-life overlapping with teaching and vis-a-versa, my commute to and from work typically consist of me listening to podcasts or music to unwind and focus on being present for the next part of my day. With this app, I have been able to open it, select my desired outcome, the voice style and download it for traveling. I can take small breaks and listen to these guided meditations to help focus on by breathing, managing stress and helping to stay on track. There are options for sleep aides for when your mind is racing and calming music to put on when doing work. There are many options that are specific to your meditation needs whether it is focused on emotional or management needs. Bringing headphones into work with me has also allowed me to take a moment for myself when I need a reset too.

Reflection

I don’t know about you, but daily stressors can build up inside of me as the day progresses, until I eventually can’t take it and it affects my productivity. I have been able to use this app for those moments when I just need to help myself feel better. It’s pictures, sound effects and easy to find guided meditation topics are organized and efficient. It can be hard for me to make myself stop over-thinking but since using this app for a week now, I have been able to be more present and less stressed throughout the day and what is most important to me, more present with my family at home when the work day is done!