Goal Setting with Popplet

Popplet is an iPad app that creates quick and easy webs, mind maps, brainstorms and flow charts. There are minimal bells and whistles so students are not tempted to spend most of the creating time playing with settings and features, as can happen.

We decided to have the students write their goals for term two in Popplet, which we will be sharing with parents at student-led conferences. They can also show their parents how to create a poppet at the conference.

Popplet is a great app for visual learners, and unlike some computer programs that have similar features, it is quick and simple. We like using iPads for writing activities occasionally because it is very motivating for students, particularly if they find writing activities difficult or have written output challenges. As the students were working it was easy for us to do a quick visual check if students were understanding how to create categories and subcategories of their ideas. One student had popples (text boxes) all over her screen, completely unrelated to one another, with ideas randomly listed, so I was able to get her back on track without having her start all over again.

This student has included several photos to illustrate his goals and objectives. He should have had each objective
come from the main goal, rather than linking to each other.

At various points throughout the class I asked several students if I could show their popplet to the whole class using the projector. We discussed aspects that we liked and things that we noticed, which helped give ideas and suggestions to struggling students.

Goal Setting Project Criteria:

• student goals must be school related (can include fitness, organization, friendship, writing/reading, math, etc)
• all goals have to be one colour, and the sub-goals, or objectives, must be another colour
• take a photo of themselves using the iPad camera and import it into their popplet
• use the largest font for all popples so that it is easier to read when we print them (the medium and small fonts were almost unreadable when we printed them from email)

As can be seen with this poppet, the smaller font sizes are difficult to read. The drawing feature is illustrated
on the left side of the popplet,

Popplet features we like:

• students can change colours of each "popple" (box) to categorize their ideas
• they can include photos from the camera roll or take a photo using the in-app camera
• students can use the drawing feature to create doodles
• additional popples are created with a single tap to the grey circles on each popple
• the popples can be moved and resized at any point during the creating process

Now that our students have learned how to use Popplet we can use this in other content areas, such as for our study of Japan in Social Studies. 

WinterTech 2014

Tonight we presented at our district's WinterTech 2014 technology conference. There were a variety of sessions including using screen casting apps, twitter tips, using Book Creator, iMovie, and simple Smart Board creation for resource.

Our session was about how we use iPads in our intermediate classroom. 

We shared how we use a variety of apps and student samples for each, as well as tips and tricks that we've learned on our two year iPad journey. 

The apps we shared:

• Drawing Box
• Popplet Lite
• Doodle Buddy
• Skitch
• Haiku Deck
• Using and creating QR Codes
• Audioboo
• Book Creator
• Voice Thread
• 30 Hands
• NFB Pix Stop

Some take aways from our presentation:

• teach creative apps that can be used in many curricular areas
• start small: pick one app and have students become "app experts" by using the app in several subject areas
• don't overload on apps: maybe focus on three or four apps for the year
• avoid subject specific apps that are game focussed as they have a limited use (and we don't use iPads for "free time"- our iPad work is project and criteria based)
• don't give up when tech issues arise, as they always do
• ask for help: have a tech buddy or expert 

We plan on writing posts on all of the apps listed above, including student samples and extension of the ideas, we just need some time to do so. This is a very new blog and our heads are full of everything that we want to share!

iPad Class Instruction Essentials

When we embarked upon our technology journey, we realized very quickly that we would require a projector. There are numerous posts on the internet about how to use only one iPad in a classroom, but we knew that if we wanted the iPad to be in integral part of our teaching, and in fact change the way we teach, we would need a projector. We wanted the iPads to increase discussion and sharing and make our students' education be more collaborative and we needed a projector to not only model for our students but also for our students to share their ideas and amazing creativity.


There are two projectors at our school; one in the computer lab and one housed in the library on a moveable cart. We didn't want to be limited to specific times to use the projector, however, so together we purchased a projector for our exclusive classroom use. I imagine that some of the ways we use the projector is similar to some ways SmartBoards can be used in classrooms. Another option we could have used is Apple TV; however, with our resources the projector was the most cost effective option at the time. We also appreciate the portability of the projector.

Along with the projector we require adaptors for our iPads to connect to the projector. As Joanna's iPad is a slightly newer model to mine, we each have our own adapter.

Various Ways We Use the Projector:

• In discussions, if we need to fill in gaps in student background knowledge by researching a topic or image on the internet, we do not have to book the computer lab. We can find out immediately what we want to know. In our large school we only have one regularly scheduled computer lab block, which is not practical for this kind of inquiry. An example of this is when we were reading about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. We googled images of the garbage patch and its location. 
  

• Students can share their projects and work with the whole class easily. For a French project students took a photo of their labeled winter scene, and with their work projected to the screen, they read their phrases and sentences aloud to the class. 

• I have used the World Atlas app from National Geographic projected onto the screen to show the locations when doing current events, instead of the traditional globe that every classroom seems to have. To show the whole class a location using the globe I have to walk around the room and point with my finger. With the app projected for the whole class, I can manipulate the digital globe to find locations and everyone can follow along at one, which enables a richer discussion. 
  

• We use the projector to model how to use a new app, and then once students are working, we use it to share the unique ways they use the app with the rest of the class.

• I have shown on line videos related to current news events. For example, during Typhoon Haiyan I showed videos of the destruction caused by the typhoon on CBC.ca 

• When studying Connecting with Nature, a unit from the David Suzuki Foundation, we learned about the importance of pollinators and the threats they face. To bring pollinators to life for the students we watched a TED Talk by Louie Schwartzberg, The Hidden Beauty of Pollination. 
  

The ways to use a projector are really only limited by the imagination, and I can't see teaching now without the use of one.