Fine 'Tooning

with Toontastic

One of my favorite things about the iPads and the apps that have been developed for them is the opportunity for students to show what they know in new and creative ways. A great example of this is the app Toontastic.

Toontastic is a story-telling app. Its stand-out feature from other story-telling apps or software is that it provides the skeleton for the basic elements of a story – setting, conflict, resolution and conclusion. What happens is that when you open the app, you are invited to make a new cartoon. As you do so, the app displays a visual of this story arc. This encourages the author or cartooner to consider more than just how the story will start, but how the story will build and then be resolved. I love this aspect since we’ve all seen too many digital stories where the visuals are wonderful but the story-telling is lacking.

Another great aspect of Toontastic is that it is scaffolded in a way that a very young child could use it with very limited support (ask my 5-year-old about this). However, it is also sophisticated enough that a high school student can tailor the app to fit his or her creative ambitions (ask the ninth and tenth graders I worked with last week). The scaffolding happens this way: there are already scenes drawn for you and animated characters created that you can choose. For instance, you can select a pirate boat, desert island, and ocean scene with pirates, sharks and crabs. This is great for simple story telling, again, ask my son who has made endless stories about these pirates. Or, you can draw your own scene, tailor the animated characters or create your own characters. This is what the high schoolers I worked with did to describe the four agents of erosion. They amazed me with the sophisticated drawings they made or the creative decisions they made about designing their own characters that they could animate.

From an educator’s perspective, Toontastic gets five stars for student engagement. When I first introduced Toontastic, I made my own sample story. I had a good time creating it and laughing at myself as I showed it to the kids. They were amused, but what got them to the edge of their seats was when I showed them how I made the little movie. I could see their posture change as they realized they were going to be able to create their own movie using this app. Students would so much rather have the chance to make something original and imaginative than complete a worksheet or watch a dated movie clip.

In addition to the cartooning piece of Toontastic, students can also record their voice and add (pre-set) music to their films. This is one of my favorite aspects of Toontastic but one of the hardest sells for high school students. Some students did a great job with this, writing out what they were going to say, practicing and perfecting it until they were satisfied. Others shied away or avoided this aspect in any way they could manage. As I do more with Toontastic and high-schoolers I think I will do more to get them ready for recording their voices. I hope that in the future, we can create instructional cartoons that we would show to a younger grade level to teach a concept. I work with a number of bilingual students and it would be so great if they would make ‘Toons in their home language that could be used in classes with native speakers.

One other take-away from my first go ‘round with Toontastic had to do with saving work. Toontastic saves the settings each student creates and even the story they are working on, which is great. What is tough with iPads though is that when the next class sits down to use them, they can see all the previous classes’ work. Actually, seeing it I don’t mind at all, deleting it, I mind a lot. On our first day we had two different students delete other students work. I was devastated when I realized what had happen. Those first kids had worked so hard, only to have it gone by the end of the day. This helped me learn a few things:

1. Be sure to know which student is using which iPad – whether this is through a sign-out sheet, permanent assignment of iPads or another system, accountability breads responsibility
2. As soon as a student feels their ‘Toon is done, upload it to the Toontastic website. Toontastic has a website associated with their app where all the ‘Toons can be viewed. Once the ‘Toons are up there, only the teacher can delete them.
3. Be clear about expectations with the iPads. I feel we had done a good job talking about handling the equipment safely and staying on task, but I had not been specific about respecting other students’ work. I am now. *smile*

The other lesson learned is the same lesson I learn over and over again.

Be clear about expectations for the assignment

Our first try with Toontastic yielded really uneven results. I think that is definitely because there wasn’t a clear assignment sheet explaining what we were expecting. While the classes I was working with were small and we frequently reminded students of what they needed to do, a hard-copy assignment sheet laying out expectations, maybe as a checklist would have made a big difference. I swear, I will always require this of teachers I work with in the future.

I am less certain about the requirement to do a story board or rough draft before jumping into an app. These apps generate so much innovation, I’m wonder if a rough draft would limit the resourcefulness of the students. Students often thought of ways to show the content (agents of erosion, the rock cycle) that they probably wouldn’t have consider until they started using the app. Similarly, they might have had an idea in their storyboard that they couldn’t recreate in the app. I am still debating about this part of digital stories. I feel like more planning would make for better projects, but I’m not sure at what point this should happen. I’m wondering if you let the kids create for 20-30 minutes and then have a check-in point where partner’s review each other’s work and give suggestions. This has the added benefit of students getting ideas from each other and students practicing giving productive feedback.

So, as you can see, I’m still Fine ‘Tooning my work with Toontastic. I would love to hear from you what projects you’ve tried with this app! Or what suggestions you have about how to use it effectively in classrooms. Or, if you teach Kindergarten to Grade 5 and would like to collaborate, with my students teaching your students new concepts through Toontastic!

4tVirtual Con Adventures with Digital Reading/Writing Workshop

In addition to collaborating and presenting on The Global Classroom Project (Teachers Teaching Teachers About Global Projects) I was lucky enough to pull together four amazing Language Arts/English teachers to share their experiments and adventures with Digital Reading/Writing Workshop at the 4tVirtualCon. If you've read some of my other posts: Dude, Can You Please Edit and We Have Authentic Voices, you know that one of my passions is using digital tools to give students authentic opportunities to write and to reflect on what they've read. These four teachers are doing it and shared their ideas in this presentation.


I wanted to use this post to share their amazing work. They were all generous enough to also share some hand-outs they use and resources they found helpful. If you have additional resources or if you've blogged about similar topics, please comment here and add your own ideas, links or questions!


Here is a link to the slides from the presentation: http://www.slideshare.net/edtechdunny/dude-canyoupleaseeditss


Read more about "The Students Take Control: Virtual Literature Circles" here: http://elenagreertlpproject2012.weebly.com/index.html


Plus, read this article from Educational Leadership: http://www.educationalleadership-digital.com/educationalleadership/201009?pg=52&pm=2&u1=texterity#pg52 

Read and listen to middle and high school students publishing their work: http://authentic-voices.wikispaces.com/


Resources for trying out character blogs: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dyiohc9mix4u5or/MZOcLxZON_


Plus this great post from Read, Write, Think: http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/creating-character-blogs-1169.html 


Highly recommended reads:


The Digital Writing Workshop by Troy Hicks
Because Digital Writing Matters by National Writing Project, with Dànielle Nicole DeVoss, Elyse Eidman-Aadahl, and Troy Hicks


And, here is the link to our presentation:  https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2012-05-22.1458.M.86D4BB880224F640E9607ED9214AC7.vcr&sid=2009317

Teachers Teaching Teachers About Global Projects

What a great name for a virtual conference, TeachersTeaching Teachers about Technology! This conference title spoke to me immediately. This is exactly the kind of collaborative climate I try to create in my own work with teachers, and here was a virtual conference I could participate in that would expand the circle of teachers teaching each other to a national and global level. And, if you've read The Best Conference I Ever Attended Without Leaving My House, you know my love for online conferences. Here was a chance for me to give back by sharing a topic I'm passionate about! I quickly tweeted my #globalclassroom tweeps and asked who else would like to co-present about The Global ClassroomProject.

Two great colleagues jumped on it: @tdallen5 and @Elle_Gifted. We co-wrote the presentation over Google Docs, not the least deterred that we lived in three different states: Virginia, Illinois, and Mississipi. I also contacted some teachers I’m lucky enough to work with in my own school division (http://mskcherry.weebly.com/ and http://communicationandrelationships.weebly.com/) to see if they could participate as well and speak first-hand about their experiences with global learning projects. Despite calling @tdallen5 an hour earlier than she was expecting me once (darn those time zones!) and at least one teacher being thwarted from participating by state testing, we are set to present Tuesday, May 22^nd at 2:30pm EST. And, of course, none of that would have been possible without the help of @mgraffin who not only connected us in the first place, but proofed our presentation and helped us connect with even more resources!

In addition to loving the fact that putting together this presentation was in itself a global project, it was a great chance to reflect again on why I am so passionate about global projects. Listening this past Thursday to one teacher practicing online with the moderator (in Michigan), I was reminded how much we have to gain by letting students communicate with their peers around the world.

Communicating with others fosters self-reflection

• American students were stunned to learn that their friends and Hong Kong were planning to study over their winter vacation
• Two girls connected about how hard it is to change when you get headed down the wrong track

Students rise to the occasion when there is an authentic audience

• English Language Learners in the United States practiced their speeches over and over again to make sure that their friends in Hong Kong could understand them
• Students revised their “finished” writing when they knew students elsewhere would be reading and listening to their work

Teachers grow from global collaboration too

I am so grateful to Global Classroom Project for:

• helping me create a PLN where I can send out a tweet and end up presenting with peers across the country in a virtual conference
• providing a place where teachers can create their own project and connect with teachers across the world
• keeping me motivated and inspired to make global project a part of as many classrooms as I can

And, finally, for helping teacher teach teachers about global projects!

Video Games Could Save Schools

feel very lucky that this was published in Learning and Leading, May 2012
http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/201205#pg8

Do you know what is really compelling about a great video game? It is not the great graphics or the amazing sound effects or even the ability to do things you can’t do in real life. The really compelling feature of video games is their ability to give you a task to complete that is hard enough that you feel challenged but easy enough that you know you can do it. In addition, as you work towards that challenge you get constant feedback about how you are doing. And I don’t mean the computer is shouting back at you “Alllriiight!!!” or “Way to go dude!” but rather that at any moment, you can see your score, your time, your distance, and see how you compare to others in the game. And what’s more, the challenge you are completing is epic. It is part of a larger story, often part of the ubiquitous hero’s journey. In this journey, the choices are yours to make. Your decisions will make a difference and will contribute to events more important than your individual life.
Think about all that for a minute.

Photo By Ryan Somma

What if going to school felt the same way? What if when they arrived at school students knew they were about to be presented with a challenge that was difficult but achievable, a challenge that was significant to the world outside of the classroom walls, a challenge during which the student would consistently learn if he or she was on the right track, a challenge where students could make their own decisions and choices.

I think we would have students that love coming to school, have high engagement in their learning, and would be prepared for a future world of work and learning where they will need to solve difficult problems.

I have been lucky enough to work in some classrooms where teachers are trying to make the connections between video games and content learning. Several classrooms in my school division are currently using online, multiplayer, content area games. When you walk into the classrooms playing these games, you can feel the excitement in the air. It is loud as students shout encouragement back and forth. It is busy as students ask for help with problems they are unsure of. It is focused as students work on content area skills to conquer an online problem. Furthermore, playing video games, students are building their confidence in content areas. Whether it is simulating the challenges of being president in iCivics, or determining why the fish have left a national park in Quest Atlantis, working as a team to solve math problems to conquer a node in Dimension M or trying to help the American Revolution in Mission US, teachers report that students are engaged, persistent, and better problem solvers as a result of their experience playing games in schools.

We can do better than dismiss video games as violence-producing time-wasters. We need to stop thinking about video games as things that are sucking our students away from learning and instead find out what they are learning from playing video games. Then, we need to find more ways to make school like video games: self-directed, relevant, challenging and epic.

Who doesn't love a mystery?

I am dying to get a teacher that I work with to try Mystery Skype. The concept is simple but powerful. You link up with another class somewhere in the United States or in the World. You ask questions of the other class and provide clues about your own class until you can each guess where the other class is located. Poof! Fun, authentic, high-level application of geography skills.

I really can't emphasize what a great example this is of using technology in a way that transforms learning: Students will:

• develop excellent questioning and reasoning skills as they create questions to uncover clues about the mystery location
• practice communicating via 21st century tools (certainly Skype and can be expanded from there if the classes choose to stay in communication)
• learn about worlds beyond those of their classroom or school from those who actually live in those places rather than via textbooks or sanitized non-fiction readers
• have a chance to take on leadership roles as they prepare to answer questions about their own location

Photo by woodleywonderworks

Below are some ideas and instructions for getting going with Mystery Skype. I've pulled these together from lots of great blogs and teacher websites like the following:

Mrs. Yollis
Mrs. Pripp
6th Chat
Mystery State Skyping
Mr. Avery 
School Is Cool  (video)
Teaching Geography and Mystery Skype

I hope to keep adding to this post as I coerce teachers into, I mean, assist teachers with Mystery Skype. Please add your own comments, advice, warnings in the comments below. And if you have a blog or posting about Mystery Skype, please add your link. I'd love to be able to refer teachers to this post as a go-to spot for getting started with Mystery Skype.

STEP ONE Establishing Accounts:

To begin, if you don’t already have one, set up a Skype account for your class. It is free and easy! I found that when I was at school, I was blocked from setting up my account, but I could browse projects other teachers had posted. And I could set up my account easily from home.

BONUS STEP: It is not required, but it is recommended to have an educational Twitter account. If you don’t have one already, create one. Teachers often set up an account like “MrsDunbar” or “MrsD5th” You might find this a useful way to communicate with your Mystery Skype classes or with other professionals (you don’t have to follow the cast of Jersey Shore).

STEP TWO Connecting with other classrooms:

Sign up for Mystery Skype using one of the following links:

• Mystery State Project, 
• 6th Chat Mystery Skype (*this is not limited to 6th grade classes*)
• Or get on http://education.skype.com/ and search "mystery" to find even more classrooms ready to connect.
• Try out #mysteryskype on Twitter 

Or, make your own connections!

• If you know teachers in other regions, ask them if they’d be willing to Mystery Skype with you
• Ask colleagues, parents and students if they have contacts in other states, see if they want to Mystery Skype
• If you are on Twitter, you can also just tweet that you are looking for classrooms to Mystery Skype with

STEP THREE Preparation for the call:

The technology:
Find out what the procedures are for your school or school division. In my school division, teachers contact the Help Desk so that Skype can be unblocked for that day, time, and location. Our Help Desk will also provide a good web cam and microphone as well as hang around to make sure everything goes well. If you have a great tech department like ours, get them involved in the call too! They can give a clue or ask a question!

Your class:

• Be sure your students know about your our own region! Have different students research the geography, history, landmarks, weather and other aspects of our location that make your location unique. You want to make sure that your class can answer questions accurately.
• Brainstorm questions to ask the other class. Usually Mystery Skype projects use close ended questions. Help your class develop a list of Yes/No questions that will help them figure out the location of the other class.
• Give students roles for the time of the call. The links below have great ideas about how to do this.

The other class:
Try to communicate actively with the other class. Be sure that you are both clear about how the call is going to run, including if you are using Yes/No questions, who is going to go first, what roles your students have. Also be clear if the location will be revealed during the call or after the call. Don’t be afraid to say this is your first time, we educators need to take risks and support each other.

STEP FOUR Share how it went!

I am looking forward to sharing how the first Mystery Skype call goes. I have a couple of victims, I mean, teachers in mind that I am hoping are feeling brave enough to try this out. I will be sure to post here once that happens. In the meantime, I'd love to hear from more teachers how Mystery Skype enhances learning in their classrooms. You can share here too, or tweet about it, or write on your own blog, or share at a faculty meeting, or just share with the teacher across the hall!

Flattening your classroom and Flattening your own world

I have been having a great time reading Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds by Vicki Davis and Julie Lindsay. This book is an excellent resource for anyone considering global projects or for any teacher who is just interested in expanding their own classroom view. The book itself models a collaborative global project in every way imaginable. Here are some of the ways it does this:

Photo by Clive Darr

• Whenever a classroom project example is given, or a powerful quote from a teacher or expert is provided, the authors encourage the reader to follow that person on Twitter. I have loved this. There is really no better example of how flat our world is than just clicking the "Follow" button under someone's name. You now can follow their thoughts, find out who they are following, and even mention them in your own Tweets. 
• Along with the book are 15 Flat Classroom Challenges. These challenges encourage you to set up RSS like Google Reader (check!), start a blog (check!), join a collaborative network like Google Teacher Academy or Apple Distinguished Educators (check!), from there the challenges get more, well, um, challenging. But I love this idea. To encourage readers to take on the challenge, the authors suggest tweeting as you complete the challenges or posting on the Flat Classroom Ning. This helps make it all feel more like a fun scavenger hunt instead of homework. I love this idea so much I am considering how to make it a part of some of the local professional development I do.
• There is a virtual book group! I was so glad I checked Twitter at the moment an announcement about the book club came across my stream. The book club meets once a week for an hour via Blackboard Collaborate. Ben and Neil from Engaging Educators moderate and either Vicki or Julie (the authors) are always there. This is a great opportunity to share your own reflections while reading the book as well as to ask questions of amazing teachers that have been living and breathing global collaboration for years now.
• More! QR codes that link to student projects, Flat Classroom Diaries that give you glimpses into the personal stories behind different global projects, and a professional development toolkit that I haven't checked out yet.

There are many, many aspects of this book that I am finding inspiring, stimulating and thought-provoking and I hope to blog more about these in the future. For now I'd like to say that I am so thrilled to see a professional learning tool that really models what it values. If we want teachers to start to use technology in transforming ways, we need to do more to model professional learning experiences that mirror what teachers can be doing with students. That is what is knocking me out about this book. By encouraging teachers to tweet, blog, connect, comment and engage with this book, the authors are really showing what learning in the 21st century looks like. To quote Vicki Davis during our last book club, "Learning is not about consuming, it is about contributing and creating." Kudos to Julie and her for writing a book that doesn't just talk about that idea, but lives it. 

What does family mean to you? What does it mean to your students?

Families depend on each other a lot. They show each other how to handle problems and they show support to each other when help is needed. They show how to set goals and they care for one another...

"A day my sisters had to depend on me was on Mother's Day a couple years ago." (read more)

" The person I really depend on is my brother. I just want him to be around when I need him. My mom I really don’t depend on because I know she is going to be here regardless. But my brother…I depend on him because he needs to be here when something happens. I mean my mom can protect me but not like my brothers can or dad." (read more)

"One time that my family depended on me was when my grandfather was very sick because of his diabetes." (read more)

Above are three responses from students about what family means to them. Their Language Arts teacher provided the opening sentences but then the students took it from there. They wrote about times they helped their families, times their families helped them and times their families let them down. Each essay told a new story and shed new light on the nature of families. But the essay also shared commonalities: how connected we are with our families, how our actions impact on families and how our families' action impact us. Read more of the students essays here.

But what we want to know now is:

How similar are families around the world?

We have issued ourselves a challenge. Can we find students from 10 different countries to share with us what their families mean to them? By May 1st?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevecadman/134974908/

Will your classroom be one of them?

We would love that! If you are interested, leave me a comment here, contact me on Twitter @edtechdunny, or just go ahead and join our wiki. We can send you more information about how to add your essays to our wiki. But basically, if you can type up your essays, we can add them to our site! Let's give our students a chance to learn about families everywhere and to see a world bigger than their own.