Ed tech Newsletter - June

I am invading your inbox once again to share my ed tech newsletter. A few months ago, I came across an interesting experiment involving change. It is called the Monkey Experiment or Paradox and it goes something like this. Start with a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the other monkeys with cold water. After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result - all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, and the other monkeys will try to prevent it. Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be hurt. Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked. After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys has ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana. Why not? Because as far as they know that's the way it's always been done round here.  From http://themonkeyparadox.blogspot.com.ar/ The moment I heard this story, hundreds of thoughts rushed to my head. It is definitely easier to remain on known territory, but it is also true that life is full of changes, especially life nowadays. As far as technology is concerned, we are constantly bombarded with new tools, new sites, new apps. The moment we figure out how to properly use the new app we've recently downloaded on our phone, a new update comes out and we need to start all over again. Easy? No. Frustrating? Incredibly. But we can look on the bright side and understand that every new thing we learn is creating new neurological pathways, thus keeping our brains young - and updated. That is the purpose of this bi-weekly newsletter. To share with you what I've discovered and learnt: new trends, new apps, new tools that will help you navigate the tricky waters of an invariably changing technological world. Are you in?

“Change is the only constant in life” - Heraclitus

The Power of Connection

I have been fairly active on social media for some time. Whether on Facebook, Twitter or Google+ (my two favorite ways of building my PLN), I'd always made sure I check posts and keep up with the latest. But I kept having this feeling I was taking the back seat and not really participating actively. Well, that has definitely changed.

Early this year, I posted a question on a Google+ Community and immediately got all kinds of solutions to my problem. It still amazes me how many people are willing to give you a hand, even though they have no clue who you are. One of those teachers who replied was Reinhard, a German Science teacher. A couple of weeks later, he sent me a message, connecting me to a fellow Argentine teacher who was presenting in an ARTESOL conference in Buenos Aires. We ended up meeting for coffee thanks to someone we've never met on the other side of the Atlantic. 

Fast forward two weeks and I'm taking part of my first Mystery Hangout, where I got to talk to people in the UAE, Oman, India, Argentina, Germany, the US. Mind blowing. 

Once you start, there's no going back. Reinhard invited me to a second Hangout with a US teacher form Ohio who was doing a PD meeting and trying to introduce Mystery Hangouts to her colleagues. You can check out Sebastian's Slideshare of the Hangout here. 

Teaching can be quite lonely at times and the Internet provides you with the possibility of reaching out to like-minded educators. Educators from which you can learn. And who can also learn from you. 

June Workshop: GAFE (Google Apps for Education)

This year, I'm starting a series of monthly ed tech workshops.

The first one is starting soon! Couldn't be more excited.

Anne Frank - Project

I worked with my Grade 7 students on a project on Anne Frank. Very few of them even knew who she was, so it was a great opportunity to introduce this incredible story to them. We started the project in September.

In order to introduce the topic and work on their comprehension skills, I showed them a short animated clip with her story. This got many of them excited about Anne's life, since I clipped the video up until her family was captured by the Nazi. Later on, they worked on a passage to be completed with information from the video. 

The next step was a group project. I really needed them to work in groups, since they have to share their laptops. They were to do some research on different aspects of the story: the secret annex, the people who lived there, the helpers, and the Nazi. 

I provided links with information on these topics on Edmodo and they had to answer a guide that would allow them to create a presentation. My main aim was for them to be able to get the gist and pour on a presentation. Each group prepared a presentation on Google Slides and then they presented it to their classmates on the IWB, thus working on fluency, pronunciation and speaking skills. 

To finish the project, we booked a visit to Anne Frank's Museum. They got to see some memorabilia, and got to tour a re-creation of the Secret Annex.

Then they created own 'museum' with whatever caught their attention. They had to choose what surprised them the most, or something that represented Anne and her story, and portray it in any way they desired: a picture, a quote, a short passage. We created a crafty display and shared it with the rest of the class. 

I'm a Google Educator!

Attending the GAFE Summit got me more than expected. The experience per se was phenomenal but not long after, I got an email offering a scholarship for the Google Educator exams.

And so, after some weeks of studying and falling asleep by the computer, I can proudly say I'm a Google Educator!

World Cup Scavenger Hunt - 7th grade

Practically all of my students are football fans and the World Cup was just too big to pass up. Even my 7th graders who are usually not so keen on football had a hard time escaping the craziness that swept the country. Hey! Even I had a hard time doing so!

So with that in mind I decided to include it in my lesson plan.

First, I created an online scavenger hunt using Google Docs. I divided them in groups and provided them with questions to Google (eg Which country won the first World Cup? How many World Cups did Argentina play? Which country won the most World Cups?) Each team had to find out the information and complete it in the shared document which was being projected on the Interactive Whiteboard. The team that got all the answers correct first, would win.


Pros and cons of the activity


Pros:

With this activity, students were able to develop search skills. I noticed some of them were totally clueless as to how to conduct a proper search. I helped them out by directing them to verified sites or choosing more appropriate search words.

By working in groups, it allowed them to compensate for whatever they were lacking: comprehension skills, search skills, use of the computers. Most of the times, they would call me for help and end up helping one another instead while I 'supervised'


Cons:

Using a single shared document (and having it projected on the IWB) proved to be an excellent opportunity to tackle some issues. One of the fastest teams participating in the scavenger hunt, decided to get the upper hand by deleting other teams' responses. So it was the perfect opportunity to discuss some digital citizenship elements, such as proper online conduct and respect for other people's work.

Given the competitive nature of the activity, English was definitely not the language used for communication (not even for the search itself) I was not terribly worried about that, because when the time came to share the results, English had to be spoken.


All in all, it was a great activity. It paved the way for the World Cup Project I have in mind for them.

GAFE Summit

This just keeps getting better and better!

I was fortunate enough to attend Argentina's first GAFE Summit. Organized and led by EdTechTeam, the one-day workshop focused on how to incorporate Google products in our lessons. Presenters Juan de Luca and Stephanie Cerda did an extraordinary job and I'm glad I was a part of it.