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Hi.

Welcome to my blog! I am a teacher who loves to bring my creativity to the classroom! I believe in fostering a love of learning, creating a positive classroom community, STEM intergration, teaching with technology, and giving students choice!

Creation Station

Creation Station

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The Creation Station is an extension of our classroom Maker Space. It is a special place in our classroom where students create meaningful and relevant digital content to showcase their learning. Today I'm going to focus on how we use this center as a math center in our 2nd grade classroom.

 Students visit the Creation Station each day during guided math. Their centers last for 10 minutes. A Creation Station project can be done individually, in pairs, or as a group. I usually opt for individual when there are enough devices for students to use or pairs. Working in a group of four can be a bit tough in 2nd grade with only one device! :-)

Some tools to keep at a Creation Station include: iPads, headphones, splitters (the white and blue things, which let more than one headphone listen when you plug it into an iPad), and a task card for students to follow!

Students follow this design model when working. Planning, Practicing, Producing, and then Sharing! A project typically takes a couple of days to complete. Students who finish quickly have the option of working on the same task, but creating a different video. They can also redesign their video and make corrections.

Students write down what they will say for their video on a spare post-it note or index card. 

Students write down what they will say for their video on a spare post-it note or index card. 

Students practice reading what they will say a couple of times before creating their video.

Students practice reading what they will say a couple of times before creating their video.

Students create their video using an app on our classroom iPads. Some popular (and mostly free) apps we use are: Pic Collage, Chatterkid, iMovie, and Educreations. We are looking into Videolicious too! 

Students create their video using an app on our classroom iPads. Some popular (and mostly free) apps we use are: Pic Collage, Chatterkid, iMovie, and Educreations. We are looking into Videolicious too! 

How do students know what to create? They are given a task card to use. This visual helps my students see what their current project is as well as what app they use to create with. 

How do students know what to create? They are given a task card to use. This visual helps my students see what their current project is as well as what app they use to create with. 

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The purpose of creating content videos is to allow students to share their meaningful work beyond our classroom. They create "How To" and "All About" videos in order to help teach others around the globe. 

Here are is the criteria I give my second graders. The video must be appropriate, because the creator is acting as a teacher. I emphasize that my students are creating this to teach others! When recording, students should have a clear voice that can be easily heard. There should also be limited background noise.

How can you help your students go from consumers to producers of technology?

Flexible Seating: The Why

Flexible Seating: The Why