Vision

I am working to develop a vision of how my school year will pan out. Each group of first graders is different, my team of first grade teachers has changed a bit and our school will be under the guidance of a new principal. For the second year in a row.

Over the course of this summer, just 3 weeks in, I am overflowing with ideas and need to put them down somewhere before I forget them. 
Caution, braindump in process.*


Twitter--I can connect with educators & authors and build my tribe AND connect my class with the world. Twitter chats have already rocked my world.

Padlet/Popplet--I can use these in so many ways. I may create some of my class webs, charts, thinking etc. here so I can print them out as a pdf for everyone to have a copy or for reference to share digitally. I can create one that has images and previewed links to sites and articles for students to begin research within an inquiry. I know my students will come up with so many more ways to use this that I can't even think of now.

Google Apps for Education--I need to explore and learn more. My students have google logins and I want them to become familiar with a few things they can do.

iMovie/Sonic Pics/30 Hands/Explain Everything--There are a ton of apps out there like this that I need to play with and figure out what works best. For now I picture my students using these for digital storytelling and explaining their thinking in math.

Seesaw or Keynote--Have the students cultivate a portfolio of learning to include photos, videos, notes, drawings, and links. This would be great to share with parents, and eventually they could share their learning with their families.

Lego Movie Maker/Stop Motion Studio--I am thinking of delving in with a bit of stop motion movie making, but that may be a year 2 or 3 dream. Baby steps.

Mystery Skype--I MUST do this! We learn a bit about maps in 1st (and sit on a USA rug so they are familiar with the names of states) and I think this would make it more meaningful for the children and would be an amazing way to amplify their learning. They are so ego centric and do not realize how different the world outside their classroom and town is. I want to show them. 

Recording Studio--I want to set one up in the classroom and have students document their thinking in math, their reading fluency, and give them another outlet to have a voice with the greater world.

Blogging--I am thinking of working with the class to build up their digital citizenship by working on a blog. I am not sure what platform to use (Kidblog?) or how we would go about posting. As a class? Give individuals turns?

Book Creator--sometimes the act of publishing the paper book doesn't come to fruition in my room. Perhaps a digital book would work.

I was reading a great blog post [who knows where in the rabbit hole!] about innovators and how they accomplished what they did, and basically they knew what they believed in, stood strong, and worked HARD. This is what I need to do as I prepare for the school year and beyond.


*I would also LOVE for you to add to the braindump by commenting with any ideas or suggestions for how else we can amplify our students learning and inquiry this year!