Summer PD

I had so many amazing opportunities this summer to hear fantastic speakers from across U.S.  From iDesign Coppell, to the Visioning Conference, all the way to Chicago for the Ed Tech Teacher Summit, I felt the need to share some of the great things I learned.  They all seemed to have the same underlying message - pedagogy and individualized learning.  Here is a list of some of quotes or thoughts (or sort of close to quotes) from my favorite speakers of the summer...

George Couros - Change is an opportunity to do something amazing! I really liked the small group discussion about the importance of blogging.  I have blogged for a couple of years but never been consistent and my blog is breaking all kinds of blogging "rules".  I will get around to fixing those one day.  I also liked his comment, which I have said myself, "If you can google the answer to a question on your test, then your test sucks."  I also enjoyed the lawn service that decided to mow the grass outside the auditorium while he was trying to talk :)

Kevin Honeycutt - Emotion and background alter learning -- know your kids.  I loved his passion for education and the importance of individualized education for all students.  You never know what your kids experienced before they walked in your room.  Treat them all with respect.  I also loved the validation of the feeling of isolation when you are a risk taker.  

Diane Ratvitch - She was awesome!  I love her questioning of WHY.  Why do we still do things the same way?  Why do we let Pearson decide what our kids should know? Who is going to the first educator to finally say enough is enough?  Time to stop talking and start doing.

Yong Zhao - No one ask you to bore a kid.  Are you teaching compliance or creativity?  I especially appreciated that he was such an experienced speaker that his presentation was pretty much just jumping around in his camera roll and winging it. I like the concept of stop looking at where students are deficient or what needs remediating and look at ways to enhance their strengths.

Will Richardson - Change isn't optional.  One of my favorite analogies he mentioned...we don't give our kids the same medicine we took when we were kids.  We don't still use mercury thermometers even though they would still work.  Why is school different? Things change and we need to stop pretending school is an exception to the change rule.  After his keynote, I did want to go up and invite him to my school, because there are a lot of teachers that are doing it right.

Jenny Magiera - Possibly my favorite speaker of the summer because she is an actual teacher in the classroom doing amazing things.  What she has done in the Chicago school system is outstanding.  My favorite from her..."Watching Khan Academy videos is like watching Ben Stein watch paint dry.  Sal Khan doesn't know my kids...I do.  I know how to help them be successful."   Stop telling our kids to put a bubble in their mouth or SHHHHH...give them a voice and an audience.



There were so many more - Wes Fryer on publishing, Carl Hooker and his zombies, and Patrick Larkin who really should train principals across the country if he doesn't already. So appreciative of my district for providing and allowing me to learn so much this summer!

Block and Filter

Today my seven year old got bored. (Summer problems...)  He asked me to air-drop him some pictures of our new puppy Molly so he could make a movie about her.  After about 40 minutes of hearing him laughing, getting frustrated, asking a few questions...this is what he created. Warning...he made it "super creepy" to scare me.

Hand a teacher an iPad and they need app specific training and worry they won't know how to help kids be successful with them.  Hand a 7 year old an iPad and you get "The Molly-Nator".

My observations?
This kid knows what it means to air drop something. He took pictures and edited them in iPhoto and Photobooth.  He also asked me to upload it to YouTube so everyone else could watch it.  He asked if I could tweet it to his awesome kindergarten and 1st grade teachers so they could see his new puppy.

So instead of blocking YouTube from schools or fighting to keep iPads out of kids hands in schools because of the fear of what they may do with them, think about the world we are living in.  Our kids have technology at their fingertips. Their world is different than the one we grew up in. So instead of fighting it, help them learn how to use it responsibly before they leave your somewhat safe environment.

E.O. Wilson's Life on Earth

About a year and a half ago, I stumbled across an iBook that restored my faith in books. E. O. Wilson's Life on Earth is more than just a textbook, its an interactive experience unlike anything I had seen before.  Chapter 17 sold me...it contained an interactive diagram of the heart that explained how blood flows. Seems pretty simple actually, but to take the typical flat diagram of the heart and make it clickable...it really made the traditional textbook seem beyond outdated.

The E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation has finished the book that covers all concepts taught in biology.

1.  Its free. Yes, the entire 7 book collection - FREE.  A textbook better than anything currently being published and for no charge.  The bar has been set high for textbook publishers.

2. They are building an iTunes U course in connection with the book - also for free.  This course provides teachers with innovative lesson plans and activities.  This course is encouraging the sharing of student products and incorporates citizen science lessons.  Free, interactive, and contributing...what else could you ask for?

3. The books are in 7 different units that can be downloaded separately.  This will prevent too much space from being used on the iPad -- only download what you need when you need it.

From http://eowilsonfoundation.org/blog/ 

I am so appreciative of the Foundation for all their work on these outstanding resources. 

iBook Author

My culminating project this year for Anatomy was to have my students use iBooks Author to create class books on topics of their choice.  I figured I would need to teach myself how to use iBooks Author in case they had questions so I wrote a short book.  I wasn't planning on publishing it, but it was actually kind of fun so I finished it.  

I shared 7 projects that we did in class this year, the rubrics, and some student examples. You can download iPads in Life Science from iBooks .     

My students created books on topics from how to have a healthy pregnancy to how to not gain the freshman 15 when they go off to college next year.  They had 1-2 editors for the class book and other students were assigned jobs as page writers, illustrators, design and layout, etc.  Based on their reflections after publication, next year if I repeat this project, I will have smaller groups and more clearly defined job roles so the work is more evenly distributed.  

Here are some examples:

Gabby's Book - My Developing Baby
This book covers how babies develop during the three trimesters and how to make sure you have a healthy pregnancy.  They drew all the images in this book on their iPad.

Emma's Book - College 101
This book covers how to stay healthy your first year of college and avoid gaining the "freshman fifteen".

Stacey's book - How To Handle Your Pregnancy
Tips on a healthy pregnancy.

Coding in Science

One option for my final project in Anatomy and Physiology was to actually code for this App-E-Feat contest.  I had all students come up with ideas for this contest, but the coding was optional.   I was surprised at how many students chose coding for their project, as there were easier options.   I was actually more surprised by how many of them did not want to submit their final product to the contest because they wanted to continue working on it over the summer to try to develop it themselves. Watching them learn to code was really amazing and I was really impressed with how quickly they learned it.

I have not shared the apps for the students who are still working, as they wanted to keep them private until they are ready - but the ideas are so outstanding!  Others however, were fine to share their apps and enter the contest, so here are a few of their ideas in our class portfolio.

Class Portfolio - There is an App for That?

Special thanks to Gail Ross-McBride for sharing this contest!

Redefine Your Classroom

After attending BLC13 last summer, I wrote this post about Design Thinking that explained how I tried to implement what I learned from Alan November and No Tosh.  After allowing my students to design the classroom and curriculum for an entire school year, these are my thoughts...

Ask students what they want to learn and fit your curriculum around their interests.  

Do a survey during the first week of school and find ways to tie into what they actually want to learn in your class.  When we feel our thoughts and interests are respected, we listen and learn more.  Here is what I got when I just said, “What do you want to learn this year in Anatomy and Physiology?"          Google Moderator - Anatomy 2013

      Take what they want to learn and ask how we can impact the community or society?

      What can we do with our knowledge to benefit others?  How can we make our society better?

      Give them choices on how to show their knowledge. 

      Let them be creative and innovative instead of telling them what to do.   When you limit them to one app or one final product, you take away their ability to be creative.  Our world needs more innovate problem solvers, so why not start in school?  Give them a problem to solve, ask them to support their work with knowledge, and let them develop a plan to solve the problem in anyway they see fit.  When you remove the guidelines, they will exceed your expectations.

     Bring in experts more knowledgeable than you.  

     Use community professionals or Skype in the Classroom to find people to help your students learn.  Allow students to collaborate with other students around the world to gain insight and feedback.  See this example from Mental Health in 60 Seconds. 

      Publish their work in a global setting.  

 Your class can build a course in iTunes U, co-author an iBook using Book Creator or  iBook Author, or create a class YouTube Channel.  Have student teams compete for publication, teach them how to research, and show them fair use of images and information.  See this example of a student run MOOC in iTunes U called Health Without Borders.  This project is completely student designed, student created, and student managed.  Our high school class in Texas is teaching over 33,000 students from around the world.

How can you redefine your classroom?

Mental Health in 60 Seconds

One of the big topics my class wanted to learn this year had to do with mental illness.  Many questions were asked in the interest survey about depression, anxiety, and psychiatric conditions.  While none of these topics are in my course objectives, the actions of neurotransmitters and brain chemistry are.  Here are a couple of their thoughts:

So here is how the project went:

1.    What do you want to learn about Mental Health?  Students performed a gallery walk and anonymously asked questions about the conditions they felt were most common in their age group. 

2.   How can we take what we have learned and impact society?  Students discussed various ways to remove the stigma of mental health conditions in society.  They felt if they could create media and publish it, they could attempt to remove the negative perception of some of these conditions.

3.   How will you create this?  Students were given the opportunity to create their product in anyway they felt would be effective.  We decided on a PSA style approach and called our project Mental Health in 60 Seconds.

4.   I found a licensed psychologist on Skype in the Classroom, Dr. Fu, who will speak to my class via Skype on nationwide trends in mental health.  My students will compose a list of questions they have prior to the Skype call and we will do a basic Q&A with someone more knowledgeable than us.  We are also going to join the TEDMED Google Hangout on Mental Health on May 6!

5.   How will we share what we create?  We are creating an online portfolio of the best projects submitted.  Students will compete for the most creative, scientifically accurate, and impactful PSA to be published to this website.  The website will be linked to our Anatomy iTunes U course, which has an audience of over 113,000 subscribers.  Maybe their work will truly impact someone with one of these conditions.  Maybe their work will provide empathy in society and help remove stigmas associated with mental health.

So what did they learn? They had to research using scientific journals and find current scientific information to support their claims.  They had to understanding how neurotransmitters worked and the structure of the synapse.  They had to understand the various areas of the brain and the functioning of neurons.  While these are my state objectives, they learned much more than this.  They learned guidelines for publishing work online, empathy for others, and how to create a concise, collaborative product with a group.  They also learned how to be culturally sensitive, since our course is international.  They were engaged during the entire process, since in reality, this project was their idea in the first place, not an assignment given by a teacher. 

Check out our portfolio of student created PSA's, Mental Health in 60 Seconds

Stop Motion Neurology

This will be the third year I have done this project, which is unusual for me.  I typically get bored quickly and continually change up what I do from year to year.  But for some reason, this activity really sticks with the students and they have a lot of fun.  I got this message from a college sophomore that took my class her senior year, so obviously the activity is effective at teaching the concept.

State objective -- To understand the structure and function of a neuron and explain how neurons communicate

Project -- Demonstrate Neuron Structure and Function with stop motion animation using leftover Halloween candy and neon expo markers, or any other supplies available.  Here is the rubric we used.

Apps -- I suggested iMotion HD, Explain Everything, iMovie, but allowed students to really use any apps they wanted to create their tutorial.

Time frame -- 3 class days
     Day 1 to capture images with iMotion HD, or any stop motion app
     Day 2 to import into Explain Everything to voice over
     Day 3 to import into iMovie to edit and add effects, titles, etc

I only have 2 iPad tripods, so the other groups had to get creative.  Here are a couple of my favorite homemade tripods.  Best use of textbooks I have seen this year! :)

My favorite part of this assignment really is how much fun they have with it.  It is something outside of the normal routine, and while they are using technology, they aren't focused on it. The technology is just there to capture what they are doing on the table with candy and neon Expo markers.

Here are a couple of final products.  Shout out to Greg Kulowiec for the awesome session at Ed Tech Teacher's iPad Summit for the great ideas on App Smashing.  I gave students extra points on this assignment if their final product included other apps that weren't mentioned above.

 Video credit to Zeba, Sravya, and Sharon

Video credit to Gabby, Belle, Sumika, Joyce, and Jinny

ps...I didn't teach them any of this. There was no prior instruction at all.  After the project, we watch a few anonymous videos that were created during other class periods and evaluate for accuracy.  I am always impressed with how quickly they can point out an error in the process.

Feeling Opinionated

Testing season is approaching.  It doesn't really affect me that much, since I teach a senior level elective course, but it bothers me to see our kids over tested and stressing out about their grades.  

Fifty question, multiple choice, scantron tests with one correct answer and a number grade at the end. This in NO way measures the qualities that are so important in our society - compassion, empathy, resilience, curiosity, or resourcefulness.   

Think about it...as an adult, when is the last time you took a multiple choice test with only one correct answer?  However, how many times each day are you presented with a problem that you must solve? And when you solve these problems, you use all available resources and people, correct?  Everything involves collaboration, problem solving, and working together.  Life requires you to look at specific problems or challenges and develop a plan of action.  

For example, your administration tells you to incorporate the SAMR model into your classroom lesson design.  What do you do?  Google SAMR and ask a friend or someone that may know more about it to help or give you suggestions.  Try the lesson, reflect on it, and make adjustments for next time.  You didn’t get a grade on that, right?  There was not one right way to do this.

Maybe my biggest concern isn’t necessarily the testing itself, although that is a problem, maybe I am more concerned with the grading.  This is what I question:

     Student gets a 10 question quiz to see if a skill has been mastered. 

     Student receives a 50 on the quiz - he obviously doesn’t understand. 

     The 50 goes in the gradebook. 

In some cases, the student wants to know why he made a 50 and will actually ask some friends or the educator how they solved the problem.  Some kids just don’t care that they received a 50 and thats the end of it. And really, why does every kid have to take the same quiz in the first place?

What if, instead of that 50 going in the gradebook as a finalized grade, what if that same student can come back and show you that he can solve those problems now and understands what he did wrong. Should that 50 stand?  What does that grade even represent...the fact that he didn’t know what you wanted him to know on the day you wanted him to know it? 

How do we individualize education while being forced to put a number grade in for each kid?  And these same kids are competing for college and careers based somewhat on their GPA. Those grades are important to them, but what do they truly represent? 

I can help my kids learn how to think, problem solve, and be resourceful, but my state mandated curriculum wants me to teach them facts and vocabulary.  The state wants me to assign each of them a numerical grade at the end of the school year that represents what they have learned. What if my kids have learned outstanding collaboration skills, the ability to communicate their needs professionally, and the ability to look at a problem in an innovative way, but haven't memorized the biological properties of the excretory system?

What about a student that goes from doing absolutely nothing and not submitting any work at all to the one that is excited about designing a lab to test an idea he thought of in class?  While this student might not be an A student, should we not be measuring the growth of the individual instead of where he is compared to someone else?

I am really not complaining here, just thinking out loud.  I love my school and being in the classroom with 150 students who motivate me everyday to think outside the box.  I really want a system that works for them, but I don’t know what that might look like.  It would be cool if all my kids would show up each day to do something fantastic just because they wanted to, not because they wanted to maintain their GPA.

Health Without Borders - The Immune System

Check out our latest lesson on the Immune System in Health Without Borders, a student created MOOC in iTunes U.  Our course currently has close to 30,000 subscribers from around the world.  So far we have heard from Cambodia, Venezuela, Ukraine, and Australia, not to mention all the schools in the U.S. 

We would love to have you join us in our global classroom.   

This course is being developed by high school students in Coppell, Texas.

Our target audience is 3rd - 5th grade, but all are welcome!

Health Without Borders-A Healthy Body and The Immune System

All resources, links, and apps are found in iTunes U Health Without Borders.  All you need to do is subscribe to our course to access everything.  Click the section called Healthy Body for this lesson. If you do not have an iPad or iPhone for access to iTunes U, contact me at jdeinhammer@coppellisd.com for other ways to participate.

INTRODUCTION: Blogger Challenge!

Take a health challenge with your class.  How can you prevent the spread of infectious disease in your community?  How can you prevent getting sick?  Challenge your friends and family to make a change to create a healthier society.  What will you do?  At the conclusion of the challenge, have each student (depending on their age) write a brief reflection of what they did and what they thought about it.  Take the best student responses and post them to our blog and we will respond to your students.  You can post as many responses as you would like or students can post themselves.  Click here for a direct link to our class BLOG.

EXPLORE:  The Immune System and Germ Spread

Try this demonstration by Scholastic to show your class how quickly germs spread around the room and school.  Its messy...but fun! :)

LEARN:  Tutorials, books, presentations!

Use the READ and WATCH section in iTunes U to access student developed tutorials and teaching materials.

DESIGN:  Can you change your environment for the better?  

Use the DESIGN section in iTunes U to have your students design a wellness campaign for your school. Your students could create promotional material for their plan and share with us!  

REVIEW:  Fun apps and websites

Use the provided fun apps and websites to review the immune system and healthy lifestyles choices. The Adventures of Doc Flu is our favorite app this time!

SKYPE:  Want to talk to us?

We would love your feedback on the lesson.  What did you learn? What questions do you still have?  We would also love to discuss how your society is different than ours in Texas!!  Skype name: jdeinhammer

P.S...its all free :)

Take pictures and share them with us on Twitter using #chsAP or @jdeinhammer!

Student Blogs

For the last four years, my students have taken six weeks challenges to improve their health, such as eat healthy, give up sodas, visit farmers market, run or walk a fun run, etc.  They take what we are learning in Anatomy and Physiology and connect it to their own life.  

I created a blog that explained the various suggested challenges and students reflected on the challenge via a comment on my blog.  I have no idea why I did it this way...and just recently realized how much more sense it makes for them to create their own blogs instead of commenting on a class one.  

Starting this week, my class will be creating their own blogs, using any format or platform they choose. I am going to recommend blogger, wordpress, or one I heard about at TCEA called bulb, although any digital platform would be fine.  They can still choose a challenge that shows how they take what they learn in class and apply it to their life. The process is the same, but now instead of them all commenting on a class blog, they have each created a digital portfolio of their senior year in high school, at least for anatomy class. 

Here are our current six weeks challenges.  These are recommendations and I am always open to students suggesting other ways to demonstrate the connection between class and life. I love giving them options and letting them choose what sounds most interesting to them.  Instead of a worksheet on food choices, how about visiting the local farmers market and talking with farmers, or instead of doing a cookbook lab that has them all calculate their heart rate after walking up the stairs, how about encouraging them to participate in a local fun run?

I think I say this in every post, but giving students choices on how to learn and what to learn makes a huge difference in what they gain from being in your classroom.  

Here are some of my favorite student portfolios ... all shared with permission :)

Lexi - Senior Year Blog
Jodi - Portfolio of Senior Year
Joyce - Choe Blog

Design Thinking

Allowing my students to design our course this year has increased motivation, learning, and engagement in my classroom.  Not only are students processing information in a new way, but they are given the choice of what to learn and how to learn it.  We take the topics they are interested in and find ways to benefit society with our knowledge.  What my students have accomplished this year really is beyond any expectations.   From a student developed online course in health concepts that has over 27,000 subscribers world-wide, to creating a challenge to improve the health of our community, students are innovating, creating, and asking questions that I cannot answer.  I love the daily challenge it has provided me.  Giving up control of the classroom allows voice and choice from everyone in the room. --Real projects with real outcomes--

Here is my presentation for mini-CAST on Design Thinking in the Science Classroom.