Utilizing Technology in Grade One to Help With Literacy Learning

I have had access to several iPads and computer technology for almost ten months now and in that time a lot has changed in my classroom.  Technology - whether an iPad or a desktop computer - is  just a tool my students use to show and share their learning.  My planning revolves around learning out comes and not specific websites or  iPad apps.  Here are some  ways my students are using technology for their literacy learning but I want to be very clear that we also have literacy learning with out technology too. In my room it's about meeting my students individual needs in the best ways I know how.

The British Columbia Prescribed Learning Outcomes (PLOs) for Language Arts are broken into Oral Language, Reading and Viewing, and Writing and Representing. Technology helps my student meet these learning outcomes at their just right level.

Oral Language  (Speaking and Listening)

My students listen and talk a lot in my classroom.  To be honest I love listening to them share the thinking behind their learning.  They use voice recording apps such as Draw and Tell to take pictures of their non digital work and talk about it.  They use it for digital work too. My students love to add voice to a lot of what they do.  They often put this thinking up on their individual blogs for the world to see.

My students also add voice through the Educreations, Show Me, Screen Chomp,  Explain Everything, Croak.it, Voice Record Pro, Audio Boo, Tellagami, and Voice Thread.  What I love about these apps is that they provide my quieter students a comfortable setting  to share their learning in a private.  But what's even cooler is that many of these quiet students amaze me because they  are comfortable with adding these voice recording to their individual blogs for the entire world to hear.  They wouldn't do that with out technology.

We also use Skype/Google Hangout/Face Time for video conferencing to authentically practice our speaking and listening skills.  It provides my students with authentic opportunities where they can ask their questions, and answer those being asked of them.  They can discuss facts, and share ideas.  Video conferencing has played a huge part in our Oral Language learning.

Recently we had a conversation with Duck Duck Moose, the makers of the Draw and Tell App.  What was so powerful about this interaction is that Draw and Tell actually asked my students what they wanted to see added to their apps.  My students took this question very seriously and told them. But what was most powerful is that Duck Duck Moose listened.  They also asked my students to show them some of the projects they have created with their app and my students couldn't have been prouder. If that's not authentic speaking and listening what is?

Reading and Viewing

My class does a lot of reading with technology, whether it's reading a shared story projected onto the class screen, tweets that are directed to our class twitter account, reading blog posts, or moderating comments.  They read digital books and access Tumblebooks, Starfall, and National Geographic Young Explorers to name a few. They have books on iPads that track as they read, and others that are interactive.   My students also use voice recording apps to record, listen, and reflect on their oral reading.  They learn their sight words and word wall words with open ended apps such as Word Wizard, Touch Write, Draw Stars, Draw and Tell, and Glow Colouring.  They play with creating words using apps such as Chicktionary and  PopWords.  We also like closed drill and practiced apps such as Sight Word Bingo, and Sight Words Hangman.  We learn new words and read a lot both digitally and non digitally.

Skype has provided my students the opportunity to read 1:1 with a teacher in Saskatchewan. Skype provides my students with a genuine audience  who listens, and provides genuine feedback.

Technology also helps with reading by providing ways to document what is being read.  My students can respond to a piece of literature by discussing it on twitter, or through Today's Meet.  They can record important facts graphically using the Popplet app on the iPads too.

One of the benefits of having my students blog is that they are keen to read and respond to each others writing. They are also reading blog posts both in school and while OUT of school not because they have to but because they want to.  Relationships are growing through blogging and commenting, yet reading and viewing skills are also being reinforced in authentic, meaningful ways.

Writing and Representing

One of the biggest changes I've noticed with the increased access to technology in my classroom is that my students are writing way more than ever before.  I have been better able to provide them with  more choices for writing and they are thriving in all these choices.  Their blogs in particular, are their greatest personal collection of writing.   Technology has opened up my class to more ways to share their story.

My class's two favourite story writing apps are Book Creator and My Story.  They have used book creator a few times now, but most recently for a collaborative writing project with high school students. There are several reasons why I like this app for writing. It allows my students to create professional books, it allows my students to add voice to their stories, and it is easy to write collaboratively with this app.

My Story is another favourite iPad app for writing.  It allows my students to use their drawing, speaking, and writing skills to create personal books. They can be successful with this app no matter where their writing skills are.

My class  also uses Web 2.0 tools such as Voki and Storybird to write with.  They use basic word processing tools to create books.  My students use Skitch and Pic Collage to create visual stories.

Twitter has also allowed my students to write directly to someone that is important to them.  After reading a book called Boy + Bot written by Ame Dyckman, and then receiving a special treat from her, my students were keen and eager to tweet her to share their thoughts.

Recently my students used their personal blogs to thank Elizabeth Schoonmaker for sending us a copy of her book Square Cat.  While yes, we could have mailed her thank you notes, this was a much quicker and just as  meaningful way to let her know we were thankful.

One thing I must stress is that technology has NOT replaced the good teaching I do with out technology.  Literacy is a life long skill and so I , and will continue to, find different ways to best teach these skills.  I want my students to be authentic readers and writers who are keen and able to listen and share with others.  Technology has provided my students with so many more ways to do this.  How are you using technology to improve your literacy program?

What a YEAR!

As I look back on my year I can't believe how much has changed for me.  Here is my attempt to recap the journey I have taken professionally in the 2011-2012 school year.

• joined Twitter in July 2011 and now follow over 750 people, have over 775 following me, and have tweeted over 5,500 times not including my direct messaging (tons!)
• started this professional blog as a way to document and share some of my learning
• took part in many twitter educational chats including but not limited to #1stchat, #kinderchat, #edchat, #elemchat #gtchat, #storyappchat, #D5chat
• set up a class blog which ended up with 199 posts, 253 comments, and over 22,000 hits
• set up individual blogs for my grade one students who have now written over 750 posts and received over 1,600 comments
• completely changed my writing program to allow my students more choice with their writing and in the process created genuinely motivated writers
• completely changed my reading program to allow my students more choice with their reading and in the process created genuinely motivated readers
• changed my word work program to all my students more choice with their word work and in the process created self motivated learners
• dropped my traditional "calendar" routines and replaced it with math chat
• used the Mind Up, Fun Friends, and Fin's Friends social emotional programs to better meet my students social emotional needs
• learned and used many web 2.0 tools
• utilized  technology to better meet the individual needs of my students,  and to connect my class with the world
• set up a class twitter, youtube, and closed class facebook account
• was selected to a part of a special district literacy learning lab utilizing technology with early primary students
• helped write a successful Innovative Learning Design grant application
• created many videos and slide shows
• had my class Skype and Face Time with students in Illinois, Ontario. and Saskatchewan
• Skyped, Google Hung Out, and Face Time'd with teachers in Hong Kong, Illinois, Ontario (several), Saskatchewan, and Florida
• had my class read and comment on class blogs from around the world
• read and commented on many professional blogs from around the world
• participated in three global projects - Quad Blogging, Flat Classroom : Building Bridges K-2 Pilot Project April-May, and Bean Wiki with my class
• attended EdCampDelta, EdCampSurrey, and EdCampKinder in Las Vegas
• visited three schools and had several teachers both from my district and another district visit my classroom to learn and share
• met and connected with several Surrey School District teachers, administrators, and school district leaders ( I am far more known around the district this year than I have in any other time in my career)
• presented professional development workshops for my staff and my school district
• asked to present professional development workshops at three more schools at the beginning of the new school year, as well as for the Surrey Primary Teachers association
• wrote posts on Twitter, Tablet Computer Apps, and Digital Literacy for the International Reading Association
• sparked the use of KidBlog as a blogging platform for students in my school district, and beyond
• participated in webinars
• attended two workshops at Apple Canada Institute
• attended Surrey's Digital Dinner series
• attended two BC Primary teacher's conventions
• attended workshops led by Alec Couros, George Couros, Adrienne Gear (Reading Power), Gail Boushey and Joan Moser (Cafe), and Lilian Katz (Reggio)
• have read (or in the middle of reading) Mind Set by Carol Dweck, Drive by Daniel Pink, No More "I'm Done!" by Jennifer Jacobson, Personal Learning Networks by Richardson and Mancabelli, Teaching with Intention by Debbie Miller, Catching Reader's Before They Fall by Johnson and Keir,In Pictures and In Words by Ray, Writing Power by Adrienne Gear, Reading Power by Adrienne Gear, Reading Power Non Fiction by Adrienne Gear, Choice Words by Peter Johnston, The Daily 5 and The Cafe by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser, Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds by Lindsay and Davis, Math Exchanges by Kassia Omohundro Wedekind, Teaching with Tools Kids Really Use by Susan Brooks-Young, Making Thinking Visible by Ritchhart and Church and Morrison, Number Sense Routines by Jessica Shumway, One to One The Art of Conferring with Young Writers by Calkins and Hartman and White, The Passion-Driven Classroom by Maiers and Sandvold, Play by Lisa Murphy and the list continues...
• successfully completed 20 years of teaching and still love it as much, if not more than ever before

A special thank you to my #1stchat, #kinderchat, #sd36learn, #bclearns, #bced, and #elemchat friends. Without you I wonder how much of this would ever have happened.  An extra special thank you to Elisa Carlson (Director of Instruction, Surrey School District) for believing in me. Elisa will never really know how powerful that has been for me and I can't thank her enough.  And yes, of course, I need to thank Tia Henriksen, mother of one of my grade one students this year, former vice principal of mine, and friend because it was she who coaxed me into giving twitter a try.

What a year it has been. What have you accomplished this year? I'd love to hear.

Next up, goals for the 2012-2013 school year.

Never Let a "Label" Define A Student

I have been spending some time learning and sharing with the wonderful people over at #kinderchat.  While I don't teach kindergarten  I am constantly inspired by what they are doing with their little people. I love how they are keeping things developmentally appropriate for their students, yet they too are pushing the limits on what little people can do. I LOVE it.  Anyhow I love it so much that I have been following their blog and this summer they have created the Kinder Blog 2012 Challenge. Each week a topic will be posted and it is my job (and everyone else that's in the challenges job) to respond with a blog post.  Here is this week's topic.  

What did you learn this past (or, for our southern hemisphere friends, what ARE you learning this current) school year that you couldn’t have learned any other year, from any other students or colleagues or administrators or parents? What lessons did this particular year, this particular setting, these particular children bring into your life?
posted by @happycampergirl for #Kinderchat #Kinderblog2012 Challenge

So here goes...


I could say it was getting connected, or getting my students to blog but both of those had more to do with me learning through twitter, than actually learning from my students, or colleagues or administrators or parents. For me one big theme that stood out with this bunch of students is working towards a goal with out giving up, in other words perseverance.  I had several students with learning challenges yet not one of them ever complained about school being difficult.  And no I didn't make it "easy" for them.  The word "can't" was seen as a naughty word and was not used in our classroom.  Every one applied themselves  to the best of their ability day in and day out.  It was a little piece of heaven really because some of them really did have a lot to complain about.  But complaining didn't happen and instead they achieved so much.  

My student who struggled with letter sounds was keen to blog and share his story .  My highly anxious students were able to speak in front of the class. My limited English speakers took risks daily trying to improve their oral language skills.  They all wanted to be the best that they could be yet they wouldn't let their challenge get in their way.  But the one student that sticks out the most from this year, the one who stuck with it even though her challenge was so great,  was my selective mute.  She was a very special little girl.

For the sake of this blog post we'll call her Kayla (although that's not her real name).  Kayla suffers from pretty severe anxiety enough that she will not speak at school.  But Kayla came to school every day with a smile and always did her best.  Although Kayla never spoke she was a very popular member of our class.  She made her friends giggle, and would lend a helping hand when ever she could.  Kayla was, and is a very bright student.

But Kayla was afraid to write in her journal at school.  She kept a nightly home journal so we had writing to conference with.  She always took my suggestions to heart and her writing improved dramatically over the course of the school year.  Kayla was also an avid blogger.  Blogging truly gave her a voice when her anxiety kept it from her. Blogging allowed her to express herself freely for all the world to hear.  It also allowed her to communicate with her friends through the comments she left for them on their blogs.

But Kayla never let her anxiety stop her.  She knew  about our school's  Musical Theater program and  made sure that she was involved with it.  Did I mention that she was the only student in my class that got involved with it?  I'm very certain that she knew every word to the songs and that every night she practiced those songs until she could sing them perfectly.  And on the day of the performance Kayla was up on stage with the rest of the choir.  And she sang! (We'll no voice may have been heard but she moved her lips to the music which is HUGE for her).  

Kayla reminded me that I must never under estimate the desire of a child.  That even if there are obstacles along the way to achieving  goals,  goals can still be achieved.  Kayla had the strength to persevere and step out of her comfort level to get what she wanted.  She wanted to be on that stage singing her heart out, and she did.

Never let a "label" define a child.  Let the child define who they are.  My class this year, and particularly Kayla, reminded me of that over and over again.  I'm glad I listened.

Blogging With My Grade One Students

Whenever I get talking about my class one of the first things I'm happy to share is that my young students are blogging.  I owe the idea of having my students blog to Kathy Cassidy, a grade one teacher in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan that I have "friended" on Twitter.  While I have never met Kathy I have spent time reading her tweets and checking out her professional and class blogs.  Her class blog has a spot for class updates and a place for each child to have their own individual blog.  In September I checked out her students' blogs and I was impressed with what they were doing.  As someone always up for a challenge, I decided to give my students their own blogs too.

At first I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to do it, or more that my students wouldn't be able to do it.  I have several students new to Canada this year.  Many of my students speak a language other than English in their homes.  One of my students is a selective mute and does not speak or write at school.  Another student has extreme difficulty remembering letter names and sounds. Another is autistic.  I have a typical class in my school district with a variety of needs that need to be met. About 25% of my students do not have adequate access to the internet in their home  because they don't have a computer, or their computer does not work, or they do not have internet access.  So it wasn't going to be easy.

In all honesty it was tough getting started.  The link to our class blog where we have a link to our individual blogs was long.  But I really wanted them to go through our class blog because I wanted them to be aware of what was on it and how valuable it could be for them and their parents.  I think the first time we tried to find our own blogs it took nearly our entire time with the computers.  Nothing got published.  But I didn't give up.  I could see from Kathy's students' blogs how powerful they were.  With time we got better at logging into our individual blogs.  By Thanksgiving weekend (Oct 10, 2011) my students started submitting their first blogs to be published. I was ecstatic.

I also have a student that does not have permission to have her work published on the internet.  After a bit of searching on Kid Blog I discovered the publish privately setting.  I spoke with her mother and she was okay with her blog being published privately.  So now this one student is blogging too, her posts just aren't being published publicly.

As I write this post it makes me so proud to inform the world that my students have published 183 blog posts publicly and six privately, and have 34 sitting in draft mode.  My selective mute is an avid blogger.  My student that struggles with letters and their sounds is blogging.  My autistic student is blogging.  My limited English speakers are blogging.  EVERYONE in my class is blogging.  Many are blogging from home too - so far this school holiday I have published eight blogs written independently by students from home.

So why do I have them blog?

Blogging has provided my students with an authentic audience to write for.  I know some teachers feel the world is a scary place (and yes it can be) so they password protect the blogs that their children write.  I'm not one of those people.  My students know that what they write can be read by anyone who has internet access.  We've talked about how to blog responsibly and safely.  Many of my students smile knowing that anyone in the world can read their blogs.  Blogging gives them a voice.

Blogging has also helped them to get to know one another.  They have been encouraged to read each  others blog posts (see how I've snuck in authentic reading in there too) and comment on each others blog posts.   Speaking of comments they LOVE receiving comments.  I've made it my job to post a comment every time I publish one of their blog posts.  Yes, it takes time from me, but it's time well spent.  I've also utilized the private comment feature available on KidBlog to leave the specific feedback to help them improve for next time.

In addition each students' individual blog gives me a digital portfolio of their writing progression over time.  I am constantly reminding the children and their parents to go back and look at the older posts to see the change over time.  It's really quite incredible.

So what are some of the benefits I've seen from their blogging?

My students are writing.  Their writing is stronger, and they are much more eager to write.  They are authentic writers and they are telling their stories to the world.

My students' writing is getting read, and not just by me and their classmates.  They are receiving comments from parents, other teachers in our school, administrators both in our school and in our district, people higher up in our board office, and other students and teachers  around the world. Anyone who has taken the time to leave them a comment has taken the time to read their writing.

I have seen my new English language learners try to stretch their language learning with their blog posts.   My selective mute who is not yet comfortable enough to write in class is keen to blog from home and will even answer questions that are asked of her.  My student that struggles with letter names and sounds has gone from writing a string of letters (and then telling me what the letters say) to writing a sentence which can be read back to me.  The individual blogs have been a very powerful tool for everyone.

So where do I go from  here?

First off I want my students to remember to end their blogs with a question. By ending a blog post with a question you are inviting your audience to think about your question and hopefully make a comment to answer your question.

I also want my students to go more global with their commenting.  We follow some pretty great grade one classes and it would be wonderful for my students to read and comment on their blogs too.

I want to continue to encourage the parents of my students to comment more often on their children's blogs.

I want to teach my children more web based tools that they can embed into their individual blogs.

I want to continue to encourage my students to write longer, more detailed and meaningful posts.  I have many capable writers and it would be wonderful to see more of that excellent writing on their blogs.

I want my students to use their blogs to show all types of their learning. It can be a great place to store math, science, or socials learning too.

It's a good thing our school year is only one third over, we still have so much more to learn.

So if you've read this post this far you MUST be interested in reading and commenting on my students' blogs right? :-)  You can find them here.  I'm also curious to hear how your students use their individual blogs.  I know Kathy uses hers to have her students document all types of learning.  I'd love to hear suggestions of how I can better utilize our blogs.

My Students Are Blogging!

I can't tell you how excited I am right now.  This afternoon I logged onto my computer to see a request to approve a blog written by one of my students on our  kidblog .  I've set up a class kidblog so that every student has their own page to blog, password protected and all.  Not only did they blog from home, on a long weekend here in Canada, but they even added a family photo.  No sooner than I had posted a comment and approved her blog for the world to see, did I receive another e-mail letting me know that there was another blog to moderate from a second student.  Then, a few minutes later a third blog from a third student.

In the past I've had a class website through our district server, but this year I took the step even further by having a class blog.  Snooping around other class blogs I realized what I wanted even more was a place for my students to do their own blogging - whether they were at home or at school.  Two weeks ago I gave them their individual passwords, and I showed them their individual blogs.  This week we headed back to the lab to try and write on our blogs, but it was taking us forever to log on so I decided to use the time to go over internet and blogging safety. Don't worry we had already talked about it but I had a great video that I wanted to show them too.  I then snuck back into the lab after school and set up a quick link to our class blog so we would no longer have trouble getting to our blogs.  So this week, the plan was (is) to utilize all the computers we have access to in our school lab so that everyone could write their own first blog.  I figured after that everyone would start blogging from home.  We of course would (will) continue to blog from school too.

You can imagine how excited I am right now knowing that three of my students have already blogged from home.  And to make things even better, after I shared this exciting news with my PLN on twitter (I love you guys) each student received three additional comments from  amazing grade one teachers in other parts of the world.

My class schedule is set up so that my students have time in the day to do their own self directed writing. I know once they see the audience they have with their blogs  everyone else in the class will be excited to blog too.  Ideally I'd love to be able to offer a computer to anyone that would like one but my reality is I have one (possibly two) class computer(s) that they will be able to do their blogging on.  Not ideal of course, but we will make it work.

I  don't think I've ever been this excited to see my students after a long weekend.  I am so glad I'm doing this with my class. So very, very glad.