When I was in the classroom, I often used BrainPOP videos as a hook or review, but never built a lesson around the BrainPOP video. It was often a very passive experience. I recently completed the Certified BrainPOP Educator training and learned of so many strategies for active viewing, building background knowledge, making connections, and applying new learning. One of my favorite features is Make-a-Map. I found that being able to watch the video and create a concept map in the same window made my viewing much more active and intentional. I enjoyed the keywords and images already loaded into the platform. If students are in a 1:1 environment, I love this activity for making meaning of the content they're watching with the flexibility of re-watching and rewinding. If not in a 1:1 environment, I can see the whole class or small groups of students working collaboratively to process the video learning together. The teacher can also provide templates as a way to differentiate for the needs of various ability levels. More than anything, I love the BrainPOP creative tools and playful assessments that can be used to give students choice in showing their mastery of content. Traditional assessments tend to be one moment in time and although we've adopted ideas like retakes and standards based grading, the motivator is often a grade rather than learning. I believe the motivation is more intrinsic and authentic when the assessment is playful and students get the choice to improve.
BrainPOP videos are often used as a great supplement to the lesson. I now have resources and knowledge to build the lesson around the BrainPOP videos. A great place to start to learn all that this platform has to offer is BrainPOP 101. You'll get great explanations and demos of how BrainPOP can impact teaching and learning — beyond a movie and a quiz. In addition, BrainPOP Educators has wonderful resources for lesson planning and professional development to get you up and running in no time!
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Ms. Roberts, an 8th Grade GT Language Arts teacher, reached out to me about a different way to introduce the dystopian literature genre before her students started their next round of literature circles.
Because I'm such a fan girl of Amanda Sandoval and and her awesome HyperDocs, I immediately knew I wanted to use Google Slides to create a HyperDoc. This lesson includes students brainstorming a perfect society, defining key terms, identifying types of dystopian control, listing traits of dystopian literature, a compare and contrast drag-and-drop activity, research, and reflection. You can grab a copy here! Becoming a Google for Education Certified Trainer has been on my to-do list for two years. I finally submitted my application on February 12, 2020. The Google for Education Teacher Center provided excellent materials to prepare for the Level 1, Level 2, and Trainer tests. The application video is definitely what held me up for so long. So, in case that video is what's holding you back, I thought I'd share mine here. The requirements are a three minute video where the first minute is an introduction of yourself and the last two minutes are a screencast showcasing a Google tool. The long wait is over. Today, I received the email that I am officially a Google for Education Certified Trainer. As a Google Certified Trainer, I hope to stand out as a leader and expand my impact. With access to the powerful training resources from Google and the community of trainers, I’ll be able to better support educators as we redefine learning with technology.
Have you pursed Google certifications? If not, what's holding you back? I'm so excited to team up with Polly Simpkins to offer a book study. Blended Learning in Action by Catlin Tucker demonstrates the advantages a blended model has over traditional instruction when technology is used to engage students both inside the classroom and online. Based on conversations with teachers who were interested in the Blended Learning in Action Book Study and some who had participated in online course about blended learning, I learned that what was missing in their training was actually experiencing blended learning from the perspective of a student. For this reason, we planned the book study to not be just online, or just in-person discussion, but a blended experience. We kicked off the book study with this short video! Our first in-person meeting is planned using a station rotation model. We'll open the meeting with a poll about the challenges teachers face in the classroom, then work through station of how to access the digital eBook, defining blended learning, and discussing what makes a good book study experience. We will close the meeting with a card mapping activity to break down the flow of the lesson. Teachers will walk away with their own set of Blended Learning Icon Cards to aid in planning blended lessons for their own classrooms.
Future meeting models will be determined based on the needs and preferences of participants. I hope to model a different structure each time we meet, giving participants a chance to experience the model and digest the book we're reading. Have you read Blended Learning in Action or have experience with blended models in your own classroom? I'd love to hear about it. |
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