One Unruly Summer

Last spring, I joined the Unruly Splats influencer program and had the opportunity to try two Unruly Splats devices and the online platform. I was so excited and grateful to try such a unique device and platform.  

For so much of my educational work, when I can’t work with students, my now eight-year-old daughter is one of the best beta testers around. So this summer we spent a lot of time playing with our two Unruly Splats as I prepare for the coming school year. 

Full disclosure, both my husband and I have a computer science background and we play a lot of Proto-coding activities together.   She has done a little bit of block-based coding in the past. However, knowledge of code is not really a prerequisite for diving in with Unruly Splats.  

One of the best ways to get kids thinking about how they can code to solve problems is to use one of the preset activities. Slats platform includes a variety of preset games of different activity levels and for different numbers of spots. For example, there’s a Red Splat, Green Splat game that was one of the first games that my daughter and I tried. Before she and I looked at the app together we simply played the game as it is coded.  We had a good time with the game.  

We had a conversation about what parts of the game did she like and what ways could we make the game more fun.  Then we opened up the code in the app and took a look at it. The Unruly Splats app uses block-based coding similar to Scratch.

I allowed her time to look at the code, tinker, and test without intervention. We always say, “click and try without fear, there’s always an undo.”  It didn’t take long for her to discover that she could change the sound effects and the speed of the color changes. She wanted to incorporate different colors and wondered how she could do that.  After a short period of think time and tinkering, she had her enhancements in place and the new game was ready to play. 

We had such a great time and she felt so empowered playing a game she helped to modify and create. After that, we tried more of the presets like Run in Place and Thumb War. Our favorite game is currently Whack a Mole, although my daughter adjusted the points needed to win and sped up the rate at which the “moles” appear. It’s quite the workout.

Unruly Splats are truly something new in the educational technology world. One that incorporates computer science and active play. I’m also proud to say my district has signed on and will be trying Splats this year. 

As a mom and an educator, Splats impress me on so many levels. They are versatile, applicable to many age levels and levels of tech ability. In addition, with some lessons from Splats, or some of your own design, they can be used in multiple academic disciplines.  They are durable and built with kids in mind.  I was certain my daughter would break one during some of those Whack-a-Mole games, she didn’t. Most importantly, they are fun and educational.  Unruly Splats strike an excellent balance between motivating, productive screen time and active play. Using the coding in the app, users are able to see immediate real-life results of any changes they make.  This is an empowering venture into the iteration process and teaches a bit about the debugging process. I love that we can ask “what if” questions and test our ideas in a tangible way.   I really look forward to trying spots in new ways with students and teachers. I also look forward to some more of those awesome Whack a Mole games.  Let’s get Unruly! 

This post is sponsored by Unruly Studios. All opinions are my own. Visit unrulysplats.com to learn more.

The Game IS the Thing

 A recent conversation with a very good friend of mine inspired me to think about games in the classroom

in a new way.  She’s a veteran SPED teacher and currently serves as a Director of Student Support

Services.  Recently, however, she had been serving as temporary site administrator at a school for

students who have been designated emotionally disturbed..

Teacher burnout has always been a challenge at the school, and in one of her first walkthroughs, she observed a teacher struggling with the symptoms of burnout.  Taking the opportunity, “get into the classroom and work with kids,” and to provide some support and coaching.  She modeled how to organize learning centers: how they might increase engagement and reduce some of the negative behaviors. In addition to the centers, she also brought some games into the classroom. 

She told me she opted to stay and play a game with a few of the students. When it came time for her to leave, the students began to bargain with her: “If I’m good this week, will you come back and play this game again?” 

I asked what game she had played with them.

She quickly mumbled that they’d played Exploding Kittens, and kind of laughed, almost as if she was hoping I wouldn’t notice the specific game of choice.  I laughed and told her that I too had had occasion to play the same game with some of my students with some positive results. There was a tongue in cheek sheepishness surrounding both of our admissions.  The implication was clear between the two of us; both of us knew that many might argue that a game like Exploding Kittens is not educational and therefore, not appropriate to use with students.

Why on earth would a teacher choose to play such a game with students?!?!

Why indeed?

We spoke at great length about how our students had responded to the game. The kids, of course, love the game; it’s fun, funny, easy to learn, but it can also get intense.

Now, truthfully, I am an easy sell when it comes to play based or game based learning. People learn best when they are mentally engaged, social, and can make relevant connections between their learning and their lives. Games and play naturally create those optimal learning conditions. However, our conversation got me thinking about the power of a game itself as a vehicle for learning, regardless of what connections could be made to academic content.

In an age where human resource departments are often more interested in EQ over IQ, game-play helps to develop and improve executive functioning.  Through game strategy, students can develop much needed planning and organizational skills.  Healthy competition teaches tolerance and control over emotions. Nowadays, we talk a lot in education about Social Emotional Learning, Executive Function, and so-called Soft Skills.  Game-play, regardless of content, is a  powerful learning tool for these areas. A game, even a “non-educational” one like Exploding Kittens, can help develop turn-taking, patience, collaboration, critical thinking, communication, flexible thinking, valuing multiple perspectives, planning, coping, and memory.   The act of play is a powerful learning tool in and of itself.  And yes, when we layer in elements of curriculum and instruction that game-play can be leveraged to build even more learning.  But perhaps, sometimes, the game is the thing, and sometimes we just can play a game for its own sake and still reap some pretty heavy benefits. 

As a postscript to our conversation, she looked at me, smiled  and said, “I’ll have to get another copy of

the game, the kids needed to keep that one.” 

Hidden lessons of The Eduprotocols: The Fast and the Curious

 

     Anybody who follows me on Twitter probably knows that I love Eduprotocols as much as I love using GIFs. (You probably know that if you follow me in real life too.) One particular protocol, “The Fast and the Curious” resonated with me immediately.

 It was a “Now, why hadn’t I thought of that!”moment.

     Low entry point, high ceiling, shortened feedback loop, room for all students to grow and improve, it just made so much sense.

       If you are not familiar with the Fast and the Curious, others probably describe it better than I, but essentially:

1. Decide on content
2. Give a short quiz on the material prior to teaching
3. Provide immediate feedback
4. Teach the skills immediately following the quiz using the quiz as a blueprint for instruction
5.  Once you have done that, give the quiz again, and watch the average percent correct improve.
6. Give the quiz again the following day, and the next until students demonstrate proficiency.

      Since I began implementing Eduprotocols, I have observed  significant benefits from using “The Fast and the Curious” with my students. As I implemented the protocol over the first couple of weeks, I noticed that in addition to students genuinely mastering the content, there were other things being taught by simply engaging in the process. Yes, like some of the most engaging 21st century content, there is an Easter egg imbedded within The Fast and the Curious!

 ***SPOILER ALERT: What is the Easter egg?***

   
     First and foremost, no other lesson or activity in my classroom fostered a true growth mindset in my students quite like “The Fast and the Curious.” Each year, I show my classes the video, “Why You Need to Fail” by Daryl Sivers. I love that it gives concrete examples of the value of productive struggle, of iteration, of genuinely learning from failure. I strive to give my kids the understanding that what I'm really interested in is their growth, and that their talents and skills are not finite. Unfortunately, this mindset is often in direct conflict to what they’ve experienced in life and in school.  As educators, we show videos, make posters, we constantly model learning from failure, we read stories, make paper brains, and continually try to impress upon our students the "Power of Yet." Helping kids to truly embrace a growth mindset can be really challenging

     I noticed a shift in my entire class' overall mindsets when I began implementing Eduprotocols, specifically The Fast and the Curious. I realized that nothing drives home the students’ understanding of their capacity for growth and improvement than a real live, real time example. The students were receiving immediate feedback and witnessing their growth over the course of a single lesson and then even greater growth over a single week. It was like the students finally grasped what this crazy teacher really meant when she talked about growth mindset. We started tracking our overall progress on the white board. I was amazed by the level of motivation in my students. Seriously, what kid wants to take an online quiz? The Fast and the Curious brought us closer and helped make us a team in a powerful way. After a couple of weeks, I began to notice students helping other students review the material. I heard students ask, “Have you mastered your vocabulary?” and “Want to do some flashcards?” After each round, the room began to erupt in chants of “We’ve im-proved! We’ve im-proved!” Students were engaged in cooperative learning, on their own, without prompting from me. Some students even created a Google Sheet to track their growth and shared it with the class. Students began to use the "explore" button to create graphs and analyze their progress. My 4th graders were suddenly interested in data and the value of tracking it.

      We are at about 3 weeks into the current school year, and I am already beginning to hear statements like: “It's not about the leaderboard, it's about the progress” or “Hey, I’m improving!”or “I need to work on <skill>,  let’s do some flashcards.” Already, they are beginning to grasp that  we are not a one and done learning culture in our classroom and that we value process over product. For me, those lessons are the most important lessons learned when engaging with the Fast and the Curious.

Text Tips While You Tinkle Vol 1

Draftback: A 21st Century View of the Writing Process

Draftback is a Google extension that works with Google Docs and allows users to view all revisions made to a Doc for which they have editing rights in a video format.  I'm trying not to gush but this is a really cool extension.  It's like an instant replay for writing!

Better understanding their own writing process can help your students become more fluent and sound writers. Using Draftback, teachers and students can view and analyze the keystroke by keystroke evolution of any Google Doc from creation to submission. A user is able to see how often a draft was revised, who made the changes, and what type of changes were made. Students might use this to better understand their own writing  and revision practice or study the writing process of others.  Teachers can also use it to model effective writing and revision strategies.  The teacher or a peer may provide guidance on ways to improve writing while the student can take a more objective view of their written work.  In addition, teachers can share "work in progress" with parents or other teachers.  Draftback videos could also be incorporated in to Screencasts with student voice-over.

Draftback can also help investigate issues of plagiarism.  My students are still learning about fair use and academic honesty. I still get occasional instances of plagiarism, sometimes unintentional, in my 5th grade classroom.  Google Docs revision history can help students become more aware of their practices, including copy-pasting large amounts of text from an outside source.  Draftback video makes this practice even more evident.

My absolute favorite application for Draftback is as a powerful tool to evaluate and reflect on collaborative work. In addition to the video playback of all revisions, Draftback provides detailed analytics about all contributors.  The data report shows, who logged into the doc, when, for how long. and how many revisions they made. What a great opportunity for student self-reflection.

Imagine the power of evaluating not just the product but the process.  

Draftback is currently one of my favorite Google extensions to use in my classroom.   Check it out in the Google Chrome Store

5 Click & Use Tools

With a daily barrage of tasks coming our way, the thought of implementing another thing can be overwhelming. Here are 5 tools that are click & use. No need to create a login or input a class roster, these sites are ready to go.

Spinners
Unique, customizable spinners. Good for choosing a random class number, building math problems, and working with probability. You can program up to 4 spinners at a time.

Online Timers
Fun online timers to help keep students on task. With these colorful choices, students will definitely keep an eye on the clock.

Membeam Root Word of the Day
Explore root words in a visual way. Each word has its own interactive tree, podcast, and stunning visual. Let students explore or look at one word a day.

Multiplication SMARTboard Team Game
Two teams battling for math supremacy. A great way to tap into student competitiveness and practice math facts. And for once you aren't the only one manipulating the smartboard. 

Interactive Map
Explore and discover information about countries and territories around the world. Customize and label as you go. A great way to bring the world to your students.

Formative Gets a Facelift and It Looks Great

During one of yesterday's sessions, we got to check out the new Formative dashboard.  If you haven't tried Formative, it is a versatile, online assessment tool.  Teachers are able to create a variety of question types, administer tests, track progress and interact with students in real time.

In addition to an easier and more intuitive interface for assessment creation, they've added an exciting feature; users are now able to import classes directly from Google Classroom!  That's right, one click and your class is all set to use Formative.  Formative also works with Clever Instant Login,