Good Morning,
When I really started using technology in my classroom I never really knew where to start using it for good authentic student engagement and creation. In my class technology was used for interventions, prescribed programs, testing etc. . but often I struggled with how to get my students to create. There were a couple of reason:
1) It was scary, I was letting my kids cut loose and I learned the hard way that unless I had a structured way to get them creating then I was spending a good amount of time telling students to get off unblock games.
2) I wasn't an expert. This was new to me and I knew if I didn't have a concrete plan my kids would be all over the place
My gateway to student engagement and creation was Google Earth. I was teaching a Middle School Social Studies at the time and as passionate as I was about the curriculum and my kids, a few of my students did not share this same enthusiasm. "Hey Sanchez, please put your head up" could have been the title of my lesson. I started researching and learning about Google Earth. I learned about it at a Social Studies conference and I thought that it was a good jumping off point.
Through self reflection and building relationship with my kids I learned that one of the main disconnects was that my students in my class did not have a concrete anchor with the standards. I was covering standards about Southwest Asia and Northern Africa and it discussed the Nile River, Atlas Mountains, and the Sahara Desert. Several of my students have never had the opportunity to leave our town. How in the world would they connect to something on another continent? We first used Google Earth to zoom in on our houses and apartment complexes. We then used Google Earth to fly over our school, checked out the athletic fields, and Sanford Stadium. Six Flags and McDonalds was a popular fly over BEFORE we crossed the Atlantic and checked out landforms in the Sahara Desert, the pyramids of Egypt and the Nile River and other regions that had to deal with our 7th grade standards. My kids were all about it. We were having deeper discussions about water rights and environmental impact of the Aswan High Dam instead of memorizing where it was because we were able to see and interact with the Dam. We were able to see in relationship of Athens where the Aswan dam and could look at some of the major dams in our state to see if we were facing some of the same issues as the people in Egypt AND I only had to say "Sanchez, keep your head up!" A few times during the unit.
I tell you this story because there are lots of GREAT already made lessons that were made for student engagement and creation. Google Applied Digital Skills is a collection of lessons, activities, and project based learning ideas for students and teachers. These are broken down by grade, subject, activity, and Google Tool. If you would like more information OR would like for me to meet with you or your team on one of the ideas I would love to talk to you!
