Your Contribution to 200+ Academic Activities with Mobile Devices

Dear teacher,

I invite you to submit a short paragraph description of how you help your students to learn or to demonstrate their learning through mobile learning for an ebook tentatively entitled “200+ Academic Activities with Mobile Devices”. I am trying to show the wide variety of ways that students improve their learning through mobile learning.

I will email you that I have received your submission and I will make the final decisions about all submissions by the end of May^..

The following long form explains each of the categories. Then, a sample entry illustrates what your actual entry looks like. The emphasis is on students’ academic learning, not on explaining the technology.

Please email your submission to htuttlebs@gmail.com by April 30^{th. .} Please put 200+ in the subject line. If you have a question, please email me at htuttlebs@gmail.com. I appreciate your willingness to share your ideas.

Harry Tuttle, Ed.D.

Long Form Explaining the Categories:

Personal Identification such as first name, last name, school, district, city, state or first name, last name, subject area, city, state:

Level : elementary, middle, high school, university

Subject: Art, Business, Computer Science English/Language Arts, Health, Home Careers/Life Skills, Languages, Math, Music, Physical Education, Social Studies, Science, Technology

Specific Subject such as English/Language Arts -First grade, English/Language Arts-AP Literature, Languages: Spanish Level II:

Student Learning Outcome: (what will the student learn/do and how well)

Specific mobile application or tool such as Camera, StoryBird App

Learning Activity:Please focus your paragraph on what the students do to learn or to demonstrate their learning, do not focus on the mobile device. See the following example.

Example of an actual submission:

Name: Robert Tuttle, Roxboro Middle School, Lakein School District, Shortschester, NY

Level: Middle School

Subject: Modern Language Spanish I

Outcome: Students will narrate eight sentences about a picture or pictures in Spanish

Mobile: Camera

Learning Activity: Joellyn listens carefully as her teacher explains that for the topic of “food-restaurant”, each student will narrate eight sentences for a given picture or pictures. That afternoon, Joellyn uses her mobile device’s camera to take a series of eight picture showing restaurant actions. For example, she takes pictures of restaurant actions such as ¨to enter,” ¨to look at the menu,¨ and ¨to order,¨ etc. Then, the next day in class, she shows her pictures to her partner, John who narrates a story using those topical actions. John says at least one sentence for each photo. For example, as John looks at Joellyn’s first picture, he says, “Ron enters the Italian restaurant.” For the next picture, John says, “He sits down in a chair.” John continues until he has narrated all of Joellyn’s pictures. Joellyn counts each sentence to make sure that John says eight sentences. Next, Joellyn narrates John’s’ pictures while John counts her sentences.

Example from Tuttle, H. G. 90 Mobile Learning Modern Language Activities, publication date of May 2013.

Please share this with your colleagues and other mobile using educators

My three formative assessment books, Formative Assessment: Responding to Your Students,  Improving Foreign Language Speaking Through Formative Assessment, and Successful Student Writing Through Formative Assessment, are available at   http://is.gd/tbook

My modern language blogs are  now at  http://bit.ly/imprml

I have developed 25  Spanish activities  and 4 Modern Language Visual activities that allow students to begin to express themselves in the modern language and to begin to move toward spontaneous speaking Teacherspayteachers:  http://bit.ly/tpthtuttle

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Formative Assessment and Technology Tech Forum NY 2011 Presentation

Dr. Harry Grover Tuttle
htuttlebs@gmail.com

Formative Assessment:The process of helping students move immediately forward from their presented diagnosed learning to the desired learning goal.

Formative Assessment Process:
Student responds → Monitor → Diagnose → Feedback → Improvement Time → Success

Clearly state the learning goal and desired level of success

Use Exemplars to raise the bar of learning

Pre-test (“I can” forms for self assessment; content quizzes). Use digital forms such as Google Formsand Quia.

Formative Assessment and Technology
Student Responds	Monitor	Diagnose	Feedback	Time	Success
-Digital form is best – Write on wiki or blog- Sound or video recording – Take pictures of	– Record data using spreadsheet, Google Form, digital checklist, online program such as Quia.	– Compare against digital exemplar with specifics- Compare against digital checklist or formative rubric-Identify new strategy from digital library	-Orally give through avatar (Voki), audacity or screen cast; face to face – Refer to website that shows new strategy (QR code) – Suggest explanatory PowerPoint made by student or teacher – Read word processed info, text, or tweet – Go through digital exemplar	In-class time  or screen cast	– Eportfolio – Wall of Fame – See changes in spreadsheet graph -Celebrate!

His Books on Formative Assessment (Eye on Education)
Formative Assessment: Responding to Students
Successful Student Writing Through Formative Assessment
Improving Foreign Language Speaking Through Formative Assessment

Let’s Hear it for the Power of Technology! LOL!

I know of a person who does not have any technology in his room accept for a 70s looking overhead.  One day he decided to walk around  his institute and see how the teachers who had technology in their room was using it.  9/10 rooms were using the “elmo” type device to show a handout, a passage from a book, etc.  They were using their fully Internet capable machine as a modern day opaque projector which would project the image of anything put inside it. The one other person was showing a DVD.  How much money has been invested in technology so that people can use technology from the past such as a DVD player or an opaque projector!   Educational institutes need to take a lead in helping their teachers to use the many educational resources that are available.  Perhaps at each faculty meeting there can be a five  minute demonstration  of various ways to use technology to improve student learning in powerful ways.

What does a walk around your school reveal about technology use and student learning?

My new book,  Successful Student Writing Through Formative Assessment, is available through Eye on Education.

My book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Your Students, is available through Eye on Education.

In Medias Res (in the Middle) or From the Beginning

My wife and I went to a movie. It took me a long time to figure out what was happening until they did some flashbacks. I felt very lost just jumping into the middle of the movie.  Where do you begin your unit planning? Do you start in deciding on the standard, the particular aspect and then the learning goal? Or do you jump right into the activities you will do in the unit?

Understanding by Design advocates starting with the standard, the assessment, and then the activity so that “the end is always in mind”. Without a firm view of your “end” you will not be able to measure student learning against the standard. f you plan “in medias res”, you cannot be sure if you activities truly help the student reach the learning goal. Also, you may not be focusing on the essential ideas for the standard but, instead, on some very minor learning. Likewise, with a firm view of the “end” learning, you may focus on students’ minor errors that are not the most serious errors.

The preplanning (standard and assessment) for the lesson gives a foundation for all you do in the unit. Start from the beginning so your students can arrive at the end.

For any one who is interested in implementing formative assessment in the classroom, my book,
Formative Assessment: Responding to Students is available through Eye-on-Education.

Apply the Heat to Learning

Another thought about putting plastic on windows to insulate the window. After putting the tape on the window and putting the plastic over the tape, the last step is to apply heat. The heat forces the plastic to attach itself more firmly and tightly to the tape. It changes the loosely fitting plastic to very tight and firm plastic.

How often do we apply heat to our student’s learning after they have had some basic instruction and practice? Do we present them with a challenging task that causes them to apply their learning to a high degree? Do we have them think at the analysis, synthesis or evaluation levels? Do we have them take their “book” learning and apply it to real life? Do we have them evaluate present conditions based on past ones? Do we apply heat to their learning?

How do you apply the heat to your students’ learning?

For any one who is interested in implementing formative assessment in the classroom, my book,
Formative Assessment: Responding to Students is available through Eye-on-Education.

Making the learning stick

When I was putting the insulation on my windows, I had two different products. One had the instruction of waiting fifteen minutes before I removed the backing to the two sided tape. The other did not have that instruction. The fifteen minute wait tape was far superior to the other.

I wonder how much time we give our students to stick to their new learning before we ask them to use it. Fisher and Fry suggest in Better Learning Through Structured Teaching that when we give our initial modeling of the new learning, we do not ask students to actively participate but, instead they are to think about this new learning. If they do not firmly understand the modeling before we ask them to practice it, then there is a high likely hood that they will do it incorrectly. Their first steps of doing it wrong will be cemented into their brains. Instead, we can model the learning for them and go over an exemplar of it. We can let them think about the new learning and then scaffold them through it.

Let’s organizing our teaching so that we allow students plenty of time to think about the new learning before they are asked to do it. Let’s let them get firmly stuck to the new learning before they use it.

For any one who is interested in implementing formative assessment in the classroom, my book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Students is available through Eye-on-Education.

New Windows, New Visions: Insights into Class Learning

Our church is having its stain glass windows cleaned. As the window company took out the stain glass windows for cleaning, they put in clear windows. The sanctuary is covered with light now. Things that we did not notice, we know notice.

I wonder how much light we have in our classrooms. Do we see which students are struggling? Do we see how they are struggling? Do we see which resources we can use to help these struggling students? Do we see how we can lecture less and spend more time helping students? Or do we teach our lessons so we only see darkness (our teaching) and not students’ responses?

Turn on your lights by noticing how students respond to your higher level questions through their hand signals or personal response systems. Brighten the classroom by observing students doing in class exercises to determine where their strengths and learning gaps are. Enlighten your classroom by having numerous formative feedback activities to help students who struggle.

Let student learning shine brightly in your classroom.

For any one who is interested in implementing formative assessment in the classroom, my book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Students is available through Eye-on-Education.

Giving Students’ learning Choices Through Technology

I like to rent Redbox movies, those red kiosco in grocery stores and McDonalds. I can preview the available titles from the comfort of my home; I can take my time to decide which movie I want. I can even rent the movie online so that it is ready for me when I get to the store. I can return it to any Redbox.

I wonder what school would be like if we could have more options and choices available to students. Sure all students have to learn the same basic standards. How much choice do we give the students in how they go about doing it? Do we provide lectures, demonstrations, guided instructions, interactive activities, group activities, and self-tests in various digital formats for them? By using technology we can have many different forms of learning the standard available to the students. What, if instead of lock stepping the class in terms of the students’ learning, we freed up the class to make their own choices? They can select in what order or format to see/hear/experience the learning.

We can start small with podcasts, emovies, and interactive Power Points as we build up our library. Imagine if a department (all English teachers in 9th grade) worked together to create these resources. Then we as teachers could really be guides on the side instead of the sage on the stage. We can spend time in providing formative feedback to students in one-on-one and small groups instead of being infront of the room “teaching”. When students experience a learning gap, we can refer them to a specific technology application that focuses on that learning gap. We can give more help to those who need one-on-one feedback.

Let’s use technology to help us better guide students in their learning.

Having students assess classroom teaching and learning

We all think that we are good teachers and that we have great lessons. However, last year I did a study on the difference between students’ and faculty eportfolio perceptions and it struck me how different they were. It reminded me that when I taught in public schools, I would have my students assess each unit in terms of how well the various classroom activities helped them in doing well in the standard. I was alway shocked at that special activity that I thought was the perfect learning activity did not strike the students that way; the rated it as one of the lowest. I also included the open ended “What do you think would help you to learn this standard better?” question and I was amazed at their great suggestions which I incorporated into the next time I taught the unit.

The students can do your unit report card in an online system that will instantly give you the information by categories. Instant feedback on your teaching!

Are you willing to grow based on our students’ assessment of the unit? Students can be the best in-class professional development we can have!

Student Talk or Assessments To Verify Standards-Based Learning

A Social Studies friend complained that he showed his students the important geography of a country via pictures, maps and movies and his students, as a class, could orally say the geography. They could talk about the impact on the country. However, when he gave the students a map and asked them to label the geography and comment on its impact on the country, they could they not do it (average score of 45). He said that he realized his students could verbally talk their way through content but still not be able to really do it. He became aware that each student may be able to answer a single question but still may not understand the answers to several questions. He decided that to build frequent “reality” checks (assessments) into his class so that they students would have to demonstrate the learning. He began to use maps, outlines, charts, drawings, concept maps, etc. instead of relying on the verbal answers of his students. He found out that he could quickly assess the students’ learning in a comprehensive and in-depth manner. He could verify their actual learning instead of their verbal footwork. He created these assessments from the unit final.

What do you rely on- student talk or assessments?

Lesson Planning Based Only On the Standard or on Activities

I tried two different approaches to lesson planning. In the first, I thought of the topic and wrote the activities. In the second, I wrote the standard (or “be able to” and “understand” class goals for the class standards) and then selected my activities. When I looked at my activities from this first lesson planning way and checked to see if they directly lead to the day’s learning goal, I found that many were not critical. They were interesting, fun, and somewhat related to the standard.

However, when I used the second approach in which I wrote the standard first, the “be able to” and “understand” goals, and then selected an activity, I found myself creating activities that more directly lead to student success in the standard. Once I wrote an activity, I would ask myself “How well does this help the students be successful in this standard?” I found my activities to be much more targeted. In addition, my technology use changed to only doing things that purposely helped the students to be successful. I verified each activity against the test of “Will this activity help the students to do well on the day’s assessment of the standard?” If I answered “No”, then I would write the activity so that they could demonstrate their new learning.

So how do you write your lesson plans?

A New Class Schedule Format – Standards Based

This year I am using a different format for the class calendar/schedule that I give to the students. At the top I list the major outcome/standard/proficiency for whole course. I list each class. I no longer list the day’s topic for each class. Instead I list what they will “be able to…” and what they will “understand” by the end of each class. I list a major assessment for the day. Then I list the homework for the next class. I have found that students usually first look at the assessment so that they know what they are responsible for. Then they look back at the “be able to”and “understand” column. They know how they will be assessed and they know what they are to learn or be able to do. They have a global view of the class and a specific view of the class. I can assess if they have been successful and they can assess if they have been successful.

What does your class calendar look like?

Standards-Based Sponge Activities

We use sponge activities to fill in time between activities or at the end of the period. How different would the students’ learning be if we used standards-based sponge activities? In an English Language Arts (ELA) class, the teacher could have a list of standards-based activities (similar to the state exam or covering district specified parts of the standards that are not covered on the state exam). She might:

Have students listen to a digitally recorded brief debate, take a side, and list their reasons to support it (New York State ELA Standard 1 Information).

Have students list their ten most common activities during their vacation, one per line, and then add an adverb to each line to create a poem (New York State ELA Standard 2 Personal Expression).

Have students list all the literature that they have read so far that has a certain theme such as love, man’s inhumanity to man, being true to one’s self, etc. (New York State ELA Standard 3 Theme Critical Analysis of Literature ).

Have a student pick a topic and list different people in the family and community (young children, same age, parent, grandparent, and civic leader) and students tell something about the topic to each different person in a way in which he/she would understand it ( (New York State ELA Standard Four Social Interactions-Various Audiences).

We can have these activities in a word processed document of sponge activities that we call up and pick the one to fit the time. When we project these activities for the students to see, they have all the structure they need to do them successfully. Not only do we fill up time but more important, we advance their learning in the standards!

How do you support the standards through sponge activities with technology?

© Harry Grover Tuttle, 2007

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Modifying Technology-Infused Activities to be Standards-Based and Assessed

As I look back at some of my lesson plans I realize that I was English-focused or literature-focused and not standards focused. My students did many projects/activities that fit their multiple intelligence about the general literature but these projects/activities were not focused on the state English standards.

For example, I had them do Internet research and create posters/PowerPoints about Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men for these topics:
California in the 30s
Soledad, California
Farming in the 30s
Barley
Migrant workers
Working papers
Films in the 30s
They were learning about the time period of the literature but there is no state assessment question on time periods.

However,
If I changed the assignment to compare John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men to one of these pieces of literature that we have already read in a poster/PowerPoint essay
Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club
Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Angela Johnson’s Toning the Sweep
Cervantes’ Don Quixote
Then they would be practice state assessment questions. They would be using technology in a way that lead to standards and to state assessments.

How do you help your students reach the standards and the specific state assessments for those standards through technology?

© Harry Grover Tuttle, 2007

World, 21st Century Skills and the Classroom

Time (Dec. 18, 2006) “How to Build a Student for the 21st Century” by Claudia Wallis and Sonja Steptoe, pgs 50-56.

What is not a 21st Century Skill activity: memorizing all the rivers in South America

What is a 21st Century Skills activity: “After reading about Nike’s efforts to develop a more environmentally friendly sneaker, students have to choose a consumer product, analyze and explain its environmental impact and then develop a plan for re-engineering it to reduce pollution costs without sacrificing its commercial appeal.” (p. 54)

What is the difference between USA curriculums and other countries whose students outperform USA students? Their curriculums focus on key concepts taught in depth. They focus on “portable skills” -critical thinking, making connections between ideas and knowing how to keep on learning. USA curriculums focus on a succession of forgettable details.(p. 54).

How “in line with the way the modern world works” is your class? (p. 56)

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