Diary of a Digital Learning Coach

Many of you readers may know and listen to the Coppell Digital Learning Podcast broadcast by my team.  I don't always cross post, but last week's episode is one of my favorites because it highlights some of our learners' views on creativity.   If you asked me as a child what creativity was, I would have probably said creating beautiful art, a skill that I definitely did not have.  My access to creativity was more limited then and definitely not often found in my classroom. Often my adult view is heavily influenced by what I experienced.   That's the reason I am choosing to post the episode with our learners today - to remind us that the classrooms of our past are not the classrooms of their present or future.   Our learners each had different views...but all gave me hope.   Please enjoy episode 20: Creativity linked here. As an extra this week, in the spirit of the "popping in" segment of our show, enjoy this little screens...

I recently came across a tweet that was talking about a great site for virtual manipulatives and more.  Toy Theater has been so much fun to test out and explore, I just had to share it with you! http://toytheater.com/category/teacher-tools/virtual-manipulatives/  I love the way these work on our Vivitek boards and iPads*.  Learners can easily drag and manipulate different math concepts.   Fraction Tiles on the Vivitek Board! Some of my favorites:  the number charts that let you color code and seek patterns in the numbers fraction tiles that can be adjusted and compared a perimeter and area grid that helps learners calculate and visualize  2 color counters and ten frames, rekenreks and pattern blocks galore The possibilities for classroom use seem endless.  I could see learners working with the site on their iPads, taking a screenshot and then using markup, Notability or Seesaw to annotate and explain their thinking....

Happy Spring Break, friends!!! Check out these awesome events coming up this March from your DLCs including some you can do in your PJs!

I have loved seeing our learners personalize and add to their digital portfolios over the last few weeks.  As Open House approaches, what better way to share our growth than through our Bulb sites?   My teammate, Megan Kozar , recently shared tips for sharing learner work: 1. Make sure the portfolio collection is visible to "Public" App Instructions ClassLink Instructions 2. Make sure artifacts are Published and there are not any blank pages floating around in the portfolio. 3.  Display the portfolio through Safari  or  create QR codes  Open the Safari App Navigate to bulbapp.com/___________ (student ID, abc####) DO NOT have students log-in to their Bulb Account (If they are logged-in, have them log-out so their portfolio can be viewed by a guest) What is your favorite thing learners have shared so far in Bulb?  Practice locating their work from the steps above and link it to me in the comments!