ESD Reads and Southwood Literacy Videos

Southwood Elementary is in the process of making videos featuring teachers and students as a part of our literacy community education and ESD Reads contribution.  We are excited to share our videos! In an attempt to centralize our video library, I set up a Southwood YouTube channel, which can be found here. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrLTBmle22NNjqwhN-1Bfaw?view_as=subscriber

However, if you follow the link.....well, you won't find any videos! At least not yet anyway. It turns out that YouTube will not upload mp4 files. I didn't know this! After a little research, I have learned that I need to go back to Movie Maker and resave our videos as MPEG files. Sometimes we just jump in and learn as we go!

I've never actually set up a YouTube channel before. I'm excited to take on the new challenge. I had to ask my 12 year old son about a few specifics, but he was happy to help. So glad to have an expert in the house! I think we are now on the road to Southwood Elementary YouTube fame!

Please follow our journey and don't forget to subscribe!!  ;-)

My "Make it Work" Moment

This week I was assigned the task of preparing videos for our school's board presentation.  Staff members sent me their videos so that I could edit them and add them to the presentation. This is something I've done before and thought the work wouldn't be too difficult.  Boy, was I wrong!

My plan was to use YouTube to edit the videos.  I've used it before and found it pretty easy...especially since the editing I needed to do was simple (I only needed to trim some videos, merge others and add a title page to each).  YouTube is not something I use on a regular basis so each time I open it, I have to refamiliarize myself with the tool.

I successfully uploaded the videos, but when I went to find the Creator Studio, I realized things were different since my last visit to YouTube.  After several minutes of trying to navigate the changes, I decided to ease my frustration and elicit the help of an expert...I asked Google (a frequent line of defense I use when there are technology questions)! 

My Google search led to a short video instructing me on how to merge videos.  The instructor was an elementary aged kid!  He clearly walked me through the steps, but when I got to the step for merging I realized the button I needed was missing.  Upon further research, I learned that YouTube recently changed it's editing tools and are launching a new Creator Studio January 2019...great, but that won't help me with the presentation due Monday, December 3!!

So...I downloaded the videos to my laptop and launched Windows Movie Maker...a reliable tool I've used MANY times before.  After several hours of work the videos were successfully edited, re-uploaded to YouTube and linked to our Google Slides presentation!

The moral of the story...when things don't go as planned make it work and take the steps to figure it out.  Ask for help, search Google and if all else fails, go back to the basics.  Now, let's cross our fingers and hope for a successful board presentation!

Tech is Messy!

Have you ever tried something new, something that seemed like it could be magical? You plan, you envision, you prepare. The day finally comes when you'll use this something new with your students...and the reality is far from the vision!  This happened recently in a first grade classroom I went into. I wanted to try Autodraw with them so they could record their thinking through pictures. I brought in a pile of new styluses, had the link set up in Classroom and a group of eager 6 year olds ready to learn something new!

We had lots of steps to get through first (logging onto the Chromebook with their login, not generic session, joining Google Classroom, clicking the link to Autodraw...) all before we could actually do the work. The kids were amazing! They were following directions and doing everything just right! Did I mention these 6 year olds were working in collaborative pairs? Not only did they have to follow the directions, but they had to make sure they were working together and sharing the Chromebook. Not an easy feet! But they were doing it and doing it better than I had anticipated!

Then came the actual assignment. After a quick demonstration of how Autodraw works, they were set to show their thinking. They needed to create a picture showing their favorite character or part of the class chapter book they were reading. The students instantly started talking with their partners to figure out what they were going to draw. Great ideas were flying around! AND THEN...they started to draw. This is where REALITY struck. The styluses that were meant to make drawing easier didn't work. Their fingers weren't sliding across the touch screens easy enough to create a fluid line. They were struggling to create a picture. They were getting frustrated---oh wait... perhaps it was me getting frustrated! They kept plugging away at it, trying to find better ways to get their drawing to look the way it should. The lesson didn't go as I had planned, however the students were really engaged and excited about trying something new! They never gave up! They didn't care how "messy" learning something new was. They were determined to draw their thinking.

As educators we can learn a lot about perseverance from a 6 year old! We need to remember to take a deep breath and keep trying! The mess is so worth the potential gains!

Tech is messy! We need to allow ourselves and our students to get messy in order to create an environment where they can create, collaborate and share their thinking

My Adventures in Logging on with Kindergartners!

 My Adventures in Logging on with Kindergartners!

The light blue half sheets are my student's login cards.
Their information is written large enough that they can
track where they are at with their finger.

I love using technology with my kindergarten students! I have a few programs I come back to yearly that I feel really benefit my students and add to the lessons I am teaching. I also enjoy introducing and experimenting with new things. My biggest problem has always been that daunting task of how do I teach these tiny 5 year olds, some who don't even know any letters or numbers, how to log on to our devices with their usernames and passwords? But that’s not all, then once they log onto to the device, they most likely have to log on to whatever program we are using too! By the time they finally get all logged on it's 30-45 minutes later and it's time to move onto something else. Plus, I have spent that whole time helping with issues or helping students find the letters on their keyboards and the rest of my class who aren't on computers has been doing something on their own without my support. Usually around January, like everything else in our magical kindergarten land, most students start to become independent at it and then the real fun begins, but now half the school year is gone and I am left wondering what more I could have done if I had had more time!

This year I wanted to make a change...

One student pausing to help a classmate troubleshoot his
problem! They figured it out without any assistance
from me and were back working within minutes.

I set a goal that all of my kids were going to be proficient at logging in by the end of September! To do this I met with my amazing friend who also happens to be our district technology support teacher to brainstorm some strategies. We came up with two simple things I would implement starting day one of school and let me tell you...IT WORKED! Not only could all of my students log on to their devices with zero assistance from me, but they also had learned how to get to our online math program and use it all in one short month. Then by the end of October my students had learned to completely manage our online reading program solo as well as some simple problem solving tools if some basic things went wrong with their device. Now, it is mid November and I am introducing Google Docs as a writing station when in years past this wasn't possible until March!

The secret to their success is so simple that anyone can do it!

1. Each of my students has their own laminated keyboard. Their morning work is to get out their login card, find and circle, in order each letter or number in their username and password with a Vis-a-Vis pen. If they have a letter or number occurring more that once they circle it again. Then I simply rinse them off in the sink and they have them to practice on the next day. This now takes them only about 3 minutes total and about half of my students have their full login information memorized already!

2. My amazing district tech support teacher mentioned above, spent one day pulling each of my students one at a time in the first week of school and walking them through the login process. She also gave them a few key tips that has helped them become tech issue problem solvers before asking me!

I’ve always tried to have the kids begin logging on for the first time in small groups. This meant they did a lot of waiting and I felt like I was being pulled in 6 different directions at once the entire time. One on one is definitely better and probably took less time in the long run.

Needless to say, I am very proud of my students and so excited for the all the extra time we have for new adventures in tech!

I'm Lori Tuttle and for the past 20 years I've been a fourth/fifth grade teacher in a small town at the base of Mt. Rainier named Enumclaw. I have a love of learning-especially messy learning-through projects and Disney STEAM trips. I spend most of my days along side some of the best kids around and go home to my husband, kids, and grandkids every night where I spend time searching for new and exciting things to do next. From piecing together Apple Macintosh computers and dot matrix printers with wires all over my room to my Interactive whiteboard and 1:1 Chromebooks connected to the far corners of the world, technology has always been at the forefront of my practice. If a new tech tip comes out I guarantee my students and I will be on it in a flash. I'm passionate about integrating technology that engages students and empowers them as learners and have loved the opportunities and collaboration offered to me in the Enumclaw School District as an ITL.

Marsha Henderson- Sunrise

My name is Marsha Henderson and I have been a teacher in the Enumclaw School District for 24+ years. My current position is teaching 5th grade at Sunrise Elementary. I grew up in Enumclaw and believe in giving back to a community that gave me so much. Empowering children to be confident leaders is something I take pride in. I am willing to expand and learn more innovative ways to teach with technology to enhance student learning.

Jen Larimore

My name is Jen Larimore and I am currently a kindergarten teacher at Westwood elementary in Enumclaw. I have been in this position for 6 years alternating between a K/1 and just Kindergarten classroom. I have found my passion is teaching Kindergarten and as of right now I plan on living in that world forever! Technology and playing around with new innovations have always been a personal love of mine. My newest goal is to expand my use of technology in my classroom in order to enrich learning experiences as well as engage, support and inspire my colleges in their own learning around this.