healthybitsbitesandmore

January 28, 2013 · 2:12 am

The Beauty of Autumn Through the Eyes of a Child

We set out one afternoon before fall break to take in the beauty of the autumn colors. Our weather was changing fast, and we needed to get outside and snap some pictures before all of the leaves ended up on the ground. Because we did not have a fancy tablet cover for our Nexus 7 tablets yet, taking them outside at this point was something that we were a bit nervous about doing. Our technology teacher, Beth Mossholder, came to class with a solution…Rubber bands! You heard it right. We could do this inexpensively and make it work! Each child was given a rubber band and instructed to attach it to the tablet and slip their non-writing hand through the rubber band on the back of the Nexus 7. It worked beautifully! It was quick and secure, so we could venture outside the classroom and begin our autumn photo safari around the school grounds. As they made their way outside, I could hear conversations about what they would take pictures of, how they were going to do it, and how they would help each other. We were ready for our adventure!

Three Simple Steps For a Successful Autumn Photo Safari

1. Add a rubber band and you are instantly ready to take pictures almost hands-free.

2. Head outside to capture the beauty of autumn with a Nexus 7 tablet.

3. Share photos with the teacher.

I have to say that the camera on the Nexus 7 tablet did a great job and did not disappoint anyone. Even though this tablet just has a front facing camera, a student discovered that by holding it over your shoulder or off to the side, you could see the picture that you were taking. It is not as good as having the addition of a rear facing camera, but it worked and they got some really good pictures!

We headed back inside and they got a lesson from one of their peers as she showed them a different way to view their pictures. (I love how they are actually listening!)

Autumn through the eyes of a child and a Nexus 7 tablet! I do believe that their photo safari was a success!

A Cup of Tea, Vera Bradley, and Bookmarks!

I love tea and Vera Bradley. While enjoying a cup of tea in my new Vera Bradley cup from my dear friend, Kalen, I got an idea to make some bookmarks for my students. (They are always asking for bookmarks which means they are reading!) Along with my new cup, I also received a packet of cards that had every pattern of Vera Bradley over the last 30 years. I realized that these cute cards could be made into beautiful bookmarks! I am all for re-purposing and reusing…I get that from my Grandma Freking. She would take a gift that was made from leftovers or bits-and-pieces over something new from the store. She was a true farmer’s wife from back in the day!

So, I started out with this…

I just cut them in half to make all of these beautiful bookmarks!

I even went so far as to use the box they came in to make more.

I have plans for these two little end-flaps…Bill is going to make me a small designer notepad. I will share in a later post. You will want one or two!

After I was done, this was all that was left to throw away…Pretty amazing! Grandma would be so proud of me ♥!

My 65+ bookmarks with cute little sayings on some of them, too.

Now I just need to curl up with a good book! I think I will be keeping a few of these for myself….

“Oh, No!” Moments and Charging Multiple Tablets

We have had our share of memorable moments since receiving our Nexus 7 tablets. Things like charging multiple tablets and having non-homeroom students also using the tablets was now on my list of daily things to manage. It was going to be so easy…

I did not think too much about it, at first, because I thought it would be one of those easy tasks that did not take a lot of effort. When the tablets needed to be charged, I would just plug them in. It all seemed so simple. I suddenly found myself wondering how was I going to do this, and where on earth do I put them in my already crowded classroom? The minor problem came when I realized that I did not have enough power strips on hand. I called my teammate, Beth, and asked if she had some that I could use. Thank goodness for the IT department for having a secret stash of odds and ends for technological emergencies! With her spares, I had enough to set up charging stations all over my classroom on any horizontal or vertical surface that was available.

Before I could actually start plugging them in and charging them, my next task was to remove each charger from its box and take off the plastic bags and ties. After I got the USB cables plugged into the charging units, the tablets were finally ready to be charged. As I started this task, my college-aged son, Stephen, stopped by my classroom to lend me a hand. He helped me find a few more open outlets for the power strips, and we got them all plugged in and charging in less than 10 minutes. They were scattered all over my classroom, but each tablet had a home to charge. My “Oh, no!” moment was no more!

I had mentioned in an earlier post that it was important that I have identification names and numbers on all of the tablets. This was done to prevent major “Oh, no!” moments. Since my school does ability grouping for math and reading, my class decided that we should share our tablets with the other second graders who have me as their math and reading teacher. Doing this has allowed me to put the Nexus 7’s into the hands of close to 75 second grade students! This kind gesture made the other second grade classes very happy. By assigning each guest student a specific tablet, I have made all of them accountable for using them. This, along with adding LanSchool to each tablet, has made the students very aware of computer security. It also prevents 25 students from asking me all at the same time as to which one they should use!

A funny moment happened one day when I heard an “Oh, no!” from one of my homeroom students when she was looking at her photos in her photo gallery. She brought her tablet over to me to see. One of the guest students assigned to her tablet had been exploring the camera feature while using her tablet and snapped a self-portrait. My homeroom student remarked, “Well, it is okay, Mrs. Stewart. She took a really good picture and now you don’t need to show her how to use the camera. She will be an expert pretty soon.“ All I could do was smile! This is the kind of moment that makes this teacher pretty darn happy.

I will be showcasing some of the work the students have done out in the field using their tablets and the camera to show their creative “wow” moments in a future post. You will be amazed at what they did with just a few minutes of instruction on using the camera feature and being set free on their photo safari in and around our school. They took some amazing pictures!

Fresh Out-of-the-Box

My students could not wait to use their new tablets, but there was some work that had to be done before that much-anticipated moment! I needed to catalog the tablets and assign a number to each one. This was easy as every student has a classroom identification number. I made a label with last names and ID numbers. I took a photo of each box with their last name and number. This allowed me to store the boxes and remember which tablet belonged with which box. I then attached the labels to the back of the Nexus 7 tablets. After attaching the label to the tablet, I took a simple colored dot with the ID number written on it and attached that to the box. (This was cheaper than using label tape!) Beth and I also opted to leave the clear plastic film on the tablets to help protect the screens for as long as possible. We shall see how long this packaging film lasts as our screen protector!

They were now ready to be turned on and used, as there was about enough battery life to get them started. Since the students had already set-up their Google accounts the week before, it was a simple step to just have them turn on their tablets and enter their information. It was that easy, and trust me, if a second grader can do it, anyone can! Oh, there were a few who had to try it a few times, but it really was easier than I thought it was going to be.

We knew that this was going to be an exciting afternoon for them after this was all done. Beth and I knew that as soon as everyone was logged on and ready, we had to let them take the tablets for a test drive. The first place all of my second graders wanted to visit was Google Earth! It was a simple and easy first task. Most of them wanted to find where they lived. (Thank goodness they all knew their addresses otherwise this would have been a very LONG afternoon!) After they found their neighborhoods and located their houses, they decided to visit different countries. They went to the world map in our classroom and found the places they wanted to see. By the end of the class period, every continent had been visited. I think the most exciting moment that I captured was when two students found out that they could visit Paris! Their reaction says it all!

Other reactions on their travels for the afternoon…

Beth and I explored along with the students as they visited more places of interest.

This was a great first lesson with our new Nexus 7′s. Just another happy day in Mrs. Stewart’s second grade!

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Tagged as Education, Google Earth, Nexus 7 Tablets, technology

October 10, 2012 · 10:53 pm

They Arrived!

Who knew that I would be so blessed to begin this year with the exciting task of teaching my students with a classroom set of Nexus 7 tablets? They have finally arrived, and I can’t believe how my second grade students have embraced this new piece of technology into their day. I never doubted them, but I was so surprised as to how they handled them and took over to help each other out when it came to turning them on for the first time to adding new apps. There does not seem to be a learning curve whatsoever! I, too, have become quite proficient in taking on the job as novice technology instructor when my dear friend and colleague, Beth Mossholder, is not teaching our technology class every Thursday. We are all happily taking on new responsibilities and roles since we received the Nexus 7 tablets from the Ed Tech Team.

The day they arrived has to probably be one of the most exciting days so far for my second graders, as well as for myself and Beth. The important phone call finally came from the office that the UPS truck and deliveryman had arrived. I announced it to the class that the Nexus 7′s were finally at school. We had been tracking them closely as they made their stops at various checkpoints from Tennessee to Colorado thanks to UPS and their online tracking system!

I quickly got the students to line up; how I did that I will never know! I went two doors down from my classroom to get Beth as my second graders followed me like little ducklings all in a row. We started to hurry down the long hallway when hurrying turned into something similar to running. The chatter of happy voices disturbing every classroom along the way was priceless! Little faces peered out from behind classroom doors as we made our way to the school office. We arrived and saw someone patiently waiting for us!

As we all know, these guys are pretty busy, so a photo opportunity was costing him some precious delivery time. He was a good sport through it all, and the kids and I thanked him for delivering our much-anticipated tablets!