Mr. Clayton Here...
Augmented reality or AR has been in use in education for many years now as a resource for everything from project-based learning to literature. With the invention and craze of the Pokemon Go app augmented reality is now a huge part of mainstream culture and has become a part of the the new #MR or mixed reality (combining VR & AR) push of virtual reality (VR) and AR uses in education.
I have an obsession with VR edtech(check out my #ISTE2016 presentation Buncee or this link to a blog post about VR at ISTE) which led naturally to my interest in AR and MR. I am also a nerd and love video games, so I also got into the Pokemon Go craze.
Being an early adopter I naturally think of all technology in terms of how I can put it into motion in my classroom. Therefore, I talked to my twitter PLN and my wife (where I get all my best ideas) and we came up with these starter lessons.
These are just some simple examples to get you started on working with gamifying your lessons using Pokemon Go! If you have any other ideas on how to include this on lessons please comment below!! .......... and lastly for those early 90's cartoon watchers........ check out the awesomeness!! I can't believe that my teaching career has gone on for 5 years without Google Classroom. If you are a GAFE (Google Apps for Education) district or if you just enjoy using Google's apps for educational purposes, then you must try Google Classroom if you have not already. Go ahead... Click this link now... Ok now that it is a few days later and you now have stopped marveling at its awesomeness, let me talk about some of the cool features. Sorry... have you signed-in to your gmail account and logged-in to Google Classroom as a teacher yet? Have you then created a class by clicking the plus button? If not do so now... I can wait... Ok? Now as for the cool features, first, it is simple to get students logged in. Just send them to classroom.google.com on any web browser or have them download the app from any device, even from the Chrome Web Store for Chromebook users, and have them join as a student once they have logged in with their Gmail accounts. Then project/display your class code (or write it on that archaic device known as the whiteboard) and have the students join your class. Once they are logged in check out the 'Students' section to see a list of your students and click on the drop down at the top to change whether students can post or comment on the stream (picture below); for those highly efficient prankster students. The three sections at the top are for your main class page called the "Stream," the "Student" section which contains the student list where students can be contacted, and the "About" section where teachers can describe their class and post resources in the form of files from your Google Drive, attachments from your computer, weblinks, and even Youtube videos! Google Classroom is so important to everyday function in a 1:1 classroom and in any class that teaches 21st century skills. It is one place to assign work, have back channel class discussion, post fabulous (or mediocre, whatever works for you) student work, and add everything from the amazing interwebs! I can not survive as a teacher without Classroom. I need to post links on a constant basis because my students use their Chromebooks for just about every lesson I teach; therefore Google Classroom gives me a place to post links for my students with instructions on completing their tasks. It helps my non-readers/writers follow links with efficiency during direct instruction. Google Classroom would be infinitely helpful with K-3 1:1 classrooms that may have more difficulty having students type in a link into the address bar. Enjoy Classroom and everything it has to offer! Mr. Clayton Here... Introducing Class Story from ClassdojoClassDojo has already given us the most anticipated change in introducing its groups update to the world. Now the site is only becoming stronger in its quest to help teachers and students have a great experience all year long: ClassDojo gives you a story board for you to sound off on all year long that shares all of your class experiences with parents and students in a private (rather than social media) environment. Any time you feel like your class full of monsters is really rocking the school day, just snap a picture directly from the app on your phone and add a caption to show parents what awesome students they have. The info is saved to your ClassDojo teacher site for you and your connected parents to view all year. My class wall is going to be used for many things:
Mr. Clayton Here...
I am a proud Buncee Ambassador and I recently created this uses for Buncee EDU in a special education classroom for my wonderful contact, Chris. If you are a sped teacher or a teacher with a special education student in your classroom (many general education teachers are), please take a look:
Mr. Clayton Here...ClassDojo Intro (for the few educators that don't use it)I have used ClassDojo in my class for the past two years and my students adore it. ClassDojo is a 100%, completely free, classroom behavior management tool on all platforms that gives students points according to behaviors or whatsoever the a teacher can customize it for. Teachers can project class dojo, customize points, sounds and most everything else on the site to their liking. ClassDojo is also a parent messaging system, similar to Remind, in which parents can connect using a private code and message back and forth with the teacher. Once parents are connected they can also track student behavior progress. My Students love the monster and critter avatars provided by the site, which they can customize when they sign up for the student version, or they can use a picture or image from the web to represent their "dojo-self." They can also track their own behavior and point progress for personal use. This can be helpful for everyone that sets learning goals; ClassDojo sets up a system to assist with behavior goals, which could be monitored by the student throughout the week in order to increase focus. ClassDojo is used by thousands and classrooms around the world and is my one of my favorite edtech tools. And now it is getting better: Groups = better CollaborationClassDojo has added something amazing to their already amazing class tech tool, groups!! Now teachers can set up students into groups in order to coordinate an online seating chart and give group points!! Points can be given to the group as a separate point just for the group and/or one point can be given to the individuals within the group. As a special education teacher, groups are a very important part of my day and ClassDojo has just made behavior management in those groups ten times easier. In the common core classroom, collaborative grouping of students is key to success; therefore general education teachers will find groups to be a lifesaver. Think of how this could be used for Kahoot.it. Ok maybe competition wasn't the point, however ClassDojo groups will be a great addition to my classroom. Teamwork and collaboration are key components in creating a successful learning environment for students and ClassDojo is there simply to help teachers complete this task while keeping students engaged and focused. I believe this is a company that is out there to assist educators, parents and students have a better academic experience. I want to thank Jenna and the whole ClassDojo team for listening, responding and evolving an already awesome edtech tool!! For more tips on how to use ClassDojo in your classroom check out the Community page. For even more ideas search ClassDojo on Pinterest. PS: ClassDojo is planning on releasing another update in the coming weeks, so look out for another blog post... and have a great school year everybody! PPS: Look for my intro to ClassDojo during my session @ Miami Device in November; there will be SWAG!! We love our global visits with educational entities!!!
Mr. Clayton here...
Our virtual field trips have been amazing, to say the least. I have loved (probably more than more than my students) travelling to Switzerland, South Korea, the Mojave Desert, Malaysia, Komodo Island, Indonesia, Israel, Thailand and Cambodia via Google Hangouts, Connected Classrooms, GeoShow and my coding elective hangouts with CEO's. I love sharing and hope that you and your students can enjoy our trips as well. Check out our list on Youtube of the few recorded trips we have been on (more to come in the future): A Big thank you goes out to The foos, codemonkey, Geo Brandon and all of those that have made our awesome VFTs possible! Thank you for giving me your time!Mr. Clayton here...I have been building to this moment for so long... my first proposal has been accepted for a nationwide edtech conference!!! I finally get to share my passion for global teaching, virtual field trips and all the wonderful things that are out there for educators all over the world. The amazing group of educators and professional edtech trainers at Evolving Educators, LLC. have put together Tomorrow's Classrooms Today (#TCT15) in Philadelphia, PA. The conference is on June 26th, 2015, the day before ISTE 2015 (one of the largest national edtech conferences on the planet) begins its festivities. The conference is inexpensive and will be an amazing learning experience with a focus on:
"Bringing the concepts, ideas, and technology integrationneeded for tomorrow’s classrooms into our schools TODAY." Some of the biggest names in education professional development (Jerry Blumengarten and Richard Kiker) are speaking as well as educators from all over the world presenting topics such as blended learning, augmented reality, Google Classroom, game-based learning and technology integration in the classroom! Not only are the sessions going to be awesome there will be other surprises such as a makerspace for engineering education and a possible surprise presentation by myself. If you are going to be in the Philly area early for ISTE, please add this inaugural conference for implementing educational technology into your classroom to your schedule. Have you ever wanted to travel the world with your classroom, but don't have the money to do so? Well leave it up to Brandon at Learn Around the World and the dream job that he has as a travelling teacher/virtual field trip conductor/edshow host extraordinaire. Brandon has been working tirelessly to create a show that will bring the world to classrooms everywhere. He is going to Southeast Asia in his pilot program and any class that has signed up (free for teachers) can log-in and vote, or vote via social media, on the destination or site or cultural landmark (or even meal) that Geoshow will be broadcasting from next. Geoshow will be a truly interactive, multi-day lesson/virtual field trip/choose your own adventure in culture and history that can help students learn in ways that were never possible before its existence. All of the broadcasts will be added to the Geoshow Youtube channel for later viewing. Check out Geoshow's Indiegogo campaign to lend your support and if you are a Google+ member check out their community page. A big thank you goes out to Brandon and his efforts to make my teaching day more awesome. Thanks! |
AuthorMr. Clayton is the SDC teacher in room 15 and occasional tech coach/liberator at Puesta Del Sol Elementary School. Check out my paper and other sites:
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