Who Says You Can't be Creative Using an iPad

I created the front page newspaper article below using the Lifecards iOS app. When working with technology I prefer to use my laptop.  In order to truly experience technology through the lens of a student, I decided to try an activity using an app available only on an iPad.   

The  Lifecards app is very simple to use and I was able to complete the postcard in approximately 45 minutes.  I decided to write about an element because this is an activity I could assign my chemistry students.  Each student could select an element and provide information about its discovery, symbol mass, etc.

Using the  Lifecards and Seesaw apps an assignment typically given to chemistry students is modified and redefined through technology.   The assignment task has been modified since students will have a digital record of the element they studied and can create additional element postcards adding further information throughout the study of chemistry (such as electron configuration, oxidation numbers, ionization energy, etc.)  By the end of the chemistry course, each student could have a permanent digitized index of the chemical and physical properties of all 118 elements created by themselves and their classmates. The assignment task is also redefined if the postcards are placed in a digital portfolio using the Seesaw app (please see my Seesaw blog dated 3/8) and shared among the classes and globally through the Seesaw blog allowing the students' work to be published to an authentic audience.  

Using Seesaw to Create Digital Portfolios

 image source: Helen C Bartlett, PhD

I have always wanted to use student portfolios in my classroom. I was apprehensive of doing so because of  concerns about how to store over 150 portfolios stuffed with papers of student work.  Using the app Seesaw I created both a teacher and student account (I used my dog's name, Athena, for the student account).   I created a science fair folder for students to place their work for the Ventura County Science Fair.  I really enjoyed using Seesaw as a student, it was very easy to add to the folders created by the teacher.  Besides uploading files; photos and videos can be taken with one's device and added to the portfolio.  A drawing tool, adding links and notes are also options. On the app there could be improvement in the way the folders are organized.

Seesaw transforms traditional student portfolios because in addition to the options mentioned above, the app allows parents to have access to their students digital portfolio and students can leave verbal or recorded comments on their classmates portfolios.  The teacher can also use Seesaw Blogs to publicly post students' portfolios.  I would definitely use this app in my classroom.  My students begin working on their science fair projects in August and the final project is not due until March.  Seesaw is a great way for the students to organize everything related to their project and when we use class time to work on the project there will no longer be the issues of lost papers or left at home.

My Journey in Becoming a Connected Educator

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I have been an educator for over thirty years and retirement is on the not so distance horizon.  Since I want to end my teaching career with a bang I decided to take an online class through Cal State Channel Islands called Advanced Teaching with Technology.  The course is comprised of three challenges; the first involves becoming a connected educator.  As someone who did not grow up with technology (I owned my first PC at the age of 31), it scares me at times but I have decided to feel the fear and do it anyways!

On my journey of becoming a connected educator what has impacted me the most is how much I have learned in six weeks. At the start of each week, I feel overwhelmed but as I tackle each assignment I know I can complete the challenge because of all the resources available to me in each learning module.  Before I started this challenge my idea of a professional learning network (PLN) consisted of subscribing to journals, attending conferences and watching webinars.  I am doing things I never thought I would such as tweeting and blogging.

I always thought of Twitter as a form of social media for famous people and youth.  I did not realize the potential Twitter has as a means of developing a PLN.  I currently am following 83 people, have tweeted 36 times, participated in several Twitter chats and to my amazement I have 17 followers.  I look forward to Tweeting at the National Science Teachers Association Convention in Los Angeles on March 30 to April 2. #NSTA17

Following EdTech and others on Twitter has provided me with a resource to keep up to date with educational technology.  I have not participated in an EdTech chat but I intend to in the future.  I am also particularly enjoying following on Twitter the "Think Out Loud Club." The quote on their Twitter page,  "A group of learning technology evangelists sharing the pleasure and pain of technology," resonated with me because of my own technology fear.  

Professional Learning Network to Enhance Project Based Learning

In developing my PLN I am also using the Google extension Peartrees to curate resources and connect with other educators.  Via email, Pearltrees suggests collections based on my interests.  I am adding resources to Pearltrees including ones to support the project based learning (PBL) I will be incorporating in my chemistry class.  The first project will incorporate the book The Martian by Andy Weir followed by a project based on the research I did at UCSB the summer of 2016.  My students started the first PBL activity this week.  I have included a video on how being a connected educator will enhance PBL and have included images of the students collaborating on the project.

Becoming a connected educator enabled me to be part of a world-wide group of educators.  As the only chemistry teacher at my school, I no longer feel isolated because I have joined a wide group of educators.