Foreign Restaurants

I just finished a lesson with my 8^th grade (1b) class.

I had the students use their devices and look up current restaurants and menus in Spain, Mexico, Argentina and Puerto Rico.  I had them denote dishes that were common in each country and then brainstorm why?  I encouraged them to consult the country’s individual maps and think of geographical differences and influences.  We then brought all of the results together and compared and contrasted the different foods that were found.  The students realized that many of their ideas about foods were stereotypical and often incorrect.

Cristi Sain

Spanish

Griffin MS

BYOD Jam Session

BYOD Jam Session...

Jam Session, Appy Hour, Show & Tell, Pair & Share, or whatever you want to call it...

Objective: Students share with you and their peers their favorite tech tools, website, apps, etc, that help them be more productive with your content. Students discuss how each tool helps them learn more and perform better in your class.

1. Invite your students to share their favorite tools, apps, or websites that help them in your class.
2. Give them a day or so to prepare.
3. Have the students, one at a time, show off their tool and explain how it has or is helping them with your class.
4. Keep a Google doc, today's meet, or some other way to document and share all of the tools shared in class. Make this available to students outside of class.
5. Allow students time to discuss the tools and download any apps that are shared in class.
6. Allow the activity enough freedom to explore different angles and perspectives of your course content, while steering toward tools that are productive, add value, and/or make your class fun.

This is a fantastic way to have your students find and discover great tools for learning about your classroom content.  If done properly, this activity will be engaging, fun, & informative.  You'll be surprised at some of the neat tools your students are using and how many of them you can probably use yourself.

We did this lesson with the 7th grade teachers and let them share any technology they used for work or play & it was a blast!  We'll probably do it again a few more times after the Christmas holiday. Our future jam sessions will will probably have specific themes creativity, communication, productivity, etc.

Art Class Blogs

Students in Crystal Peltzer's ceramics class at Liberty High School created blogs where they post pictures and descriptions of their art pieces.  Students take pictures of their artwork and write their blog posts using their phones, iPods, and laptops.  The blogs will then be the students' portfolios at the end of the year.  If students do not have their own device, cameras and two classroom computers are available.

Theatre Rehearsals

When working on duet acting scenes, students used their phones and voice recording apps to record their partner saying their lines. Then when they went home, they were able to rehearse on their own with all the benefits of meeting with their partner. This was especially helpful when we had a partner go on a weeklong vacation. It helped them stay on track and continue to make progress even though they were in different states!

Jenn Elder

Griffin Middle School

Theatre Arts Director

BYOD Traffic Light

Instead of an on/off switch - the BYOD Traffic Light

I have 2 8th grade science teachers who are using a BYOD “traffic light” instead of the “on/off switch”.
The traffic light is posted in the front of the room.
If it’s set to Red – there is absolutely no devices allowed that day (usually test days) – keep them in your pocket.
If it’s on Yellow – they can bring their devices and if the need arises, they can ask permission to use them (just so that the teacher knows what they are doing on them) or the teacher may ask them to look something up, etc.
If it’s set to Green, then if you got a device – get it out because we will definitely be using them.