We are excited to announce that we have been able to reschedule the February TLP-C for March 19, 2015. Please use the link below to access this presentation.
Link to TLP-C Weebly in the Classroom on March 19th 4-5pm
More information about this presentation can be found in our post Dynamic Projects with Weebly.
Please join us next Thursday, February 26th from 4-5pm EST/-5 GMT (click here to find out when the event is in your time zone) for a presentation by 
Jacci Erney of Tucker Elementary School. Jacci is a 4th grade teacher who has lots of great ideas about how to use Weebly in the classroom. Use this link below to access our talk. (Link will be live 30 minutes prior to the start of the session on February 26th)
Link to TLP-C Weebly in the Classroom
In this session we will review what Weebly is, how it works and how to create student accounts. We will share some student project examples and discuss the pros and cons of using this website creation services for school projects. Whether you have never heard of Weebly before or use it every day, we hope you can join us to ask questions, share ideas and contribute your thoughts.
Thank you to Kristin Orwig for sharing her adventures of blogging with Kindergarteners. Kristin gave us a great overview of how and why she introduced blogging to her class. If you missed our live session, you can still watch the recording!
Recording of TLP-C Blogging in Primary Grades – January 2015
This was a wonderful introduction to how blogging can be used to give students a chance to share their voices with the world. Kristin shared that she wanted to introduce her students to becoming digital citizens by making their writing public and by learning to comment with each other. She was also interested in having them consider authentic audiences when they wrote. She found that her students loved blogging and she was able to see their writing growth through the blog.
Kristin learned a lot as she began blogging with her kids. Below are some tips she would like to pass along to you:
We also had a great discussion about how to expand blogging across more elementary classrooms and secondary classes as well. Some ideas were:
If you have more ideas about how to incorporate blogging in your classes, please share here!
Join us Thursday, January 22nd from 4-5pm EST (click here to find out when the event is in your time zone) to learn more about blogging in the primary grades. Kristin Orwig, kindergarten teacher at William Ramsay Elementary School will be sharing her adventures with getting our youngest learners writing online. Use this link below to access our talk. (Link will be live 30 minutes prior to the start of the session on January 22nd)
Link to TLP-C Blogging in Primary Grades
Don’t teach the little ones? Still join us, you will be amazed to learn what these kids can do and how blogging changed how they thought of themselves as writers. You’ll find inspiration in hearing their stories.
Already having your kids blogging? Please join us and share your own experiences and ideas. TLP-C is a group of teachers learning together and we are thrilled when our participants have stories to share.
A huge thank you to Caroline Doughty for launching our first 2014-2015 session of TLP-C this week. We had a lively crowd that was enthused about trying out app smashing in their classrooms. If you missed our live session, check out the recording:
Recording of TLP-C App Smashing September 25, 2014
If you are tuning in for the 
first time, the first 20 minutes or so cover what TLP-C is, our goals and protocols and a brief overview of Blackboard Collaborate. Caroline’s section will start about 22 minutes in.
Caroline began by defining App Smashing. Basically, app smashing is any time you are using more than one app together! Caroline then explored why she thinks it is an effective strategy in the classroom. She emphasized the critical thinking involved as well as the creativity that was unleashed in her students. What was also really interesting was that she also found it to be a great way to increase oral fluency and to track the progress of her English Language Learners. Apps that were used early in the school year could be smashed with those used later on and the progress in students pronunciation, word usage and sentence structure was marked. What a powerful form of assessment!
Caroline shared some of her favorite ways to app smash. Those included using PicCollage to take a photo of a blank clock and to add the time. Students then opened Tellagami and imported the PicCollaged clock to explain how they knew the time. We loved how Caroline structured these activities so that they were differentiated (different clocks) and provided time for students to see each other’s examples. She found students learned so much about the mathematical skill of time telling as well as about app smashing when they had time to see their classmate’s smashed apps.
Some other apps that Caroline has smashed, or that you might want to try smashing, include:
The possibilities are endless. And the more students are exposed to using different apps, the more they will want to use them together. Kids love smashing – why not let them app smash!!
We hope you get a chance to watch/listen to the recording. Leave us a comment below if you’ve app smashed or if you have more questions about how to smash!
Our next live session will be Thursday, October 30th from 4-5pm EST (click here to find out when it will be in your time zone)
We are so excited about our first TLP-C of this school year. We will be hosting 2nd grade teacher, Caroline Doughty from George Mason Elementary School. Caroline has a great session planned where she will talk about App-Smashing. Join us this Thursday, September 25 from 4-5pm EST (to find out when we are live in your time zone, click here). To join us live use this link (will only work from 4-5pm 9/25/14) Can’t make it live? The recording will be posted here on this blog shortly after the live broadcast. Watch this space.
So, what is app-smashing, you are wondering? Well, it’s as simple, and as complicated as you’d like it to be. In its basics, it is using two apps at once. A student might draw a diagram using a image making app like PicCollage and then insert that diagram into a Tellagami or another app that allows them to explain the diagram. Lost? Come join us and hear Caroline explain it and see the products her 2nd graders have made. Don’t have access to iPads at your school? Get inspired to see how they can be used as learning tools or how these same lessons can be used with Web 2.0 tools. Have experience with app-smashing? Please join us to share your expertise, tips, ideas and advice.
Our next live session of TLP-C is coming up on Thursday, February 20th from 4-5pm EST (Click here to find out when the event is in your timezone!). The topic will be Mystery Calls, also known as Mystery Skype or Mystery Location. Anyone is welcome to join the session. Just click on this link at the date and time above to join us:
Click Here: TLP-C Sessions #6 – Mystery Calls
Kyle Dunbar, middle school Technology Integration Specialist, will be presenting this time, sharing her ideas and experiences conducting Mystery Calls with 5th and 6th graders. Simply put a Mystery Call is when one class “calls” another, usually through video conferencing software, and tries to figure out where the other class is. This is a super-engaging way to get students more familiar with map and geography skills, to promote higher level thinking skills and to build empathy and understanding by connecting with schools in other places.
Join us to learn more about how to conduct Mystery Calls or to share your own experiences with connecting with other classrooms. Kyle will discuss:
If you can imagine a class full of students intently studying maps, refining Google searches, writing and rewriting questions and clarifying responses, you can imagine what a Mystery Call classroom looks like. Come learn about how to make it happen in your class – or share what strategies you’ve tried!
Last week’s session of TLP-C was another great one. Sandra Rojas Story, English Language Learner teacher shared amazing examples of digital storytelling from her students. If you didn’t get a chance to attend this session live, please listen to the recording by clicking below. You won’t regret it! (You might want to skip the first 25 minutes though – we started the recording a little early *smile*)
Recording of TLP-C Digital Storytelling with English Language Learners – January 26th
Sandra began the session by reviewing what digital storytelling is and why you should use it with students. Sandra teaches in a juvenile detention facility and works with students from a number of different backgrounds. It was great to consider both how this is a very important digital tool for her students as well as for students in all educational settings. Many of us liked how she shared both the idea of the teacher creating digital stories to use to introduce topics as well as having students make their own digital stories.
Sandra also discussed the process for creating digital stories. She included that she often asks students to complete a storyboard before they actually use the technology to make the story. Many teachers were excited about the idea of storyboards and agreed that this was an important step that they sometimes skip. Here are some links to storyboard templates you might find useful:
Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling
Ohio State University Toolkit for Digital Storytelling
As Sandra told her stories about digital stories, we all had fun playing around with some of the tools she has tried or recommends. Watch the recording to hear her thoughts about the advantages and disadvantages of each. She also shared some very moving student examples with us. You will be amazed with what her students have accomplished.
Here are the links to some of the top digital story tools mentioned:
Weebly for Education – even though Weebly is a website builder, students can use it to curate videos and tell a story that way.
Haiku Deck – this tool makes gorgeous presentations and has pre-selected images for you based on the text you are entering. (Great tutorial for this tool created by a 4th grader: http://www.youtu
be.com/watch?v=Fbs4luORHts)
Go Animate for Schools – create cartoons that speak! Be sure to use the site for schools. There is a cost to use with a classroom.
Powtoon – allows you to create animated presentations. Really engaging presentation.
Animoto for Classrooms – create very engaging videos from still images. Students can add music from the Animoto music bank. Be sure to check out the free account for teachers.
Storybird for Teachers – author beautiful virtual books. You must use their artwork which is both limiting and inspiring.
Digital Vaults – very powerful tool for history or government classes. Extensive access to primary sources.
And, of course, don’t forget the ol’ standbys of Photostory and PowerPoint. These can both be used very effectively for digital stories.
Many of Sandra’s students’ project can be viewed on her website: http://digitalstorywithesolstudents.weeb
ly.com/index.html Here you will see many examples of the tools mentioned above as well as read her thoughts about the power of using digital tools with English Language Learners.
An ongoing theme of the session was definitely that students find digital stories highly engaging. They are a terrific way to get students interested in a topic, practicing their written and oral language skills and learning how to use technology to create something instead of just consuming something. Sandra also discussed how motivated students were when they knew that others were going to see their digital stories either face-to-face or virtually.
Thank you Sandra for a great session and for all the teachers that shared tips and ideas in the chat. Our next TLP-C will be on doing Mystery Video Calls on Thursday, February 20th from 4-6pm EST (-5 GMT). We hope you can join us then!