I believe family, learning, & adventure are vital for a happy life. When I combine all three... Trifecta! I love to travel anywhere, anytime I can. Travel provides opportunity for people to make new friends, visit amazing places, & see the world through other lenses. This blog looks at my learning and teaching with a digital perspective. I hope my experiences & ideas come across clearly through the posts of my work as a Digital Literacy & Computer Science teacher & coach.
Students were busy this week as they transitioned between three projects. First they wrapped up their Scratch presentations which they worked on for over almost two weeks. Visit last weeks post to see the new additions. This unit covered many things, research, citing sources, file management and wrapped up with awesome Scratch stories. Next they worked on establishing classroom rules and procedures. They are the experts after all. They know what is needed for a positive engaging classroom environment. Now they are building a Digiform avatar masterpiece while they learn some lesser known Google Slides, or Google Docs, features. Check the YouTube playlist to learn more.
Their avatars, will become characters in an upcoming comic project where the fifth graders reflect more on our Classroom Constitution, which is still in the works. The sixth grade students will use their avatars with Scratch projects. They will have the option to build character costume changes for their Sprites, if they choose, and have the time to do so.
Hybrid students will continue working on these creations in remote classes next week while remote students will work asynchronously using the video tutorials posted here. This isn't a typical week as we have parent conferences after school and the hybrid students will be remote.
If you want to see some examples or peruse the video tutorials to learn more about the tools they will utilize, give it a try. Simply click the head to learn how to make a head and ears for your Digiform avatar or to learn more about arranging the objects (layers) so that these objects are stacked the way they should be. Need help with boots, or interested about the polyline tool, click the boots. How about a quick review on making eyes, click one of the eyes. Click the possibilities to see some examples of how you can use your Digiforms for other projects. For a direct link to the playlist for all of the parts, click the computer. Have fun finding the clickable ghost links to learn more.
We are wrapping up our name research Scratch project. Students are learning how to save, rename and access files in Scratch, conduct research and cite their sources. What a learning curve for some of them. They are so used to files saving automatically that this can be a bit of a struggle at first. Luckily are getting lots of practice with this project.
Here is the first round of projects that were captured while students practiced screen sharing with Zoom to show off their masterpieces. We will finish up classroom presentations next week. So check back for the second round of videos.
Students researched names, some chose their own, others the names of their favorite actor, scientist, YouTuber, etc. Yup, it says YouTuber. They seemed to enjoy learning about the origins of their names, their popularity, and other interesting facts like, "one who makes wagons" or "he who has a crooked nose." They really enjoyed viewing each others projects and garnering new ideas to explore in Scratch. The research and file organization, that will take some time. It isn't as exciting as coding in Scratch but it is necessary and will help them in other classes.
The criteria for sharing their work:
I needed their permission.
I will only share projects using a first name only, unless it was a famous or historical figure.
Check out their amazing work below.
On Wednesday we celebrated National CS Education Week and the birthdays of Grace Hopper and Ada Lovelace. It isn't a coincidence. National CS Education Week always falls during the week of Grade Hoppers birthday, December 9.
Students chose an activity of interest to explore from the Hour of Code website. When they were done, they shared about the experience with a Google Form exit ticket.
This week students completed research and took notes about their name or a name of their own choosing like Sybil Ludington. Really now, that was my name of choice but those who chose names other than their own did come up with some interesting options. We also practiced searching for and saving images using both the right click "save image as" or with hot key shortcuts to take screenshot of interactive graphs. Of course either method requires citing your sources which we also reviewed.
Another element of this project is practicing file management and organization. Although I love tools like Google Classroom as learning management systems can help to keep our work organized and us to connect on each specific assignment, but most of the work happens in the background so the students have no need to think about how it works. With the final portion of this project, coding a Scratch project, students have to download, rename and then upload their file to Google Classroom. Whenever they need to save their changes, they complete this process changing the file name to reflect the new "version." that they have saved, just like updates to apps on phones. It was great to see them make this connection as they repeat and practice this step.
Take a peek at the steps of the project and what we are doing here.
Watch the corresponding how to videos on my YouTube playlist.
We hope to share these projects next week. They will use the design process to write and debug their code over the next few days. Stay tuned.
This week hybrid students created simple Scratch projects as they practiced file management, organization and some starter block coding. Check out some of the work they shared in the video recording below.
Ms. Dee and I are excited to join you this second quarter of 20-21. We have a lot of fun projects planned for you this term. Stay tuned each week to see what is happening in class. You can bookmark this page or launch my link from my weekly email.
I work with three different groups of students each day who after this week will not be on the same page. I teach 2 fully remote classes that I see on alternating days and Ms. Dee joins me during the two 5th and 6th grade hybrid courses.There are a handful of similar activities that we will complete but the primary focus in both classes is digital literacy and computer science. Each quarter kicks off with some getting to know you activities and review of expectations. Each day begins with a "Do Now" to get the kids started.
Grade 5 - Exploration into Coding and Educational Tech - is a course that offers a broad exploration of computer programming and education technology. This course has a considerable range of content; but typically will include the introduction of block coding, file management, video tools, and other computer technologies as they relate to industry applications.
Grade 6 - Coding and robotics is a hands-on course designed to introduce the basic concepts of computer programming, robotics, and the design process. This course has a considerable range of content; but typically will include an introduction to binary code, algorithmic thinking, block and text based coding, video tools, and other computer technologies as they relate to industry applications.
Don't forget to bookmark this page so you can come back to see what we are doing in school.
Fifth grade hybrid students finished up the term with their Scratch parade.
It is epic! The avatars they made earlier in the term look great marching across the GDRMS campus. Check it out on scratch.mit.edu below or click here to watch the video.
B block
H Block
Grade 5 remote students finished up their comics. Below are links to some that they shared.
Grade 6 explore a few a choice activity using the Root Simbots. Students used the marker tool to write words and initials, snowflakes, flowers, and other geometric shapes.
With just a few days left of the term students are wrapping up their final projects, which will be posted next week. Students of remote learning are finishing up their comics so I will share them next week. Grade 5 hybrid students are exploring Scratch and will share current projects next week as well. Grade 6 hybrid students will continue to explore Root Sim as well. Until then here are some highlights from this week.
Fifth grade Hybrid students started to explore Scratch while they animated a word, PRIDE. PRIDE is what we strive for at GDRMS: Positivity, Respect, Integrity, Determination, and Empathy! To see their work, watch the video below.
Sixth grade Hybrid students are coding Root Sim, a web-based simulator they used to create musical compositions. They had options in choosing their musical piece as well as coding level. The most popular song for most students, particularly those new to "reading" music was, well I suppose I shan't tell you as that would spoil the surprise. There were also quite a few students with prior musical knowledge who really stepped it up a notch. I'm impressed with all their work. To hear their work watch the video below. See if you can, name that tune! You could also give Root a try yourself using the guide and student codes below the video.
When asked if this project was worth doing with future sixth graders, students said:
yes, because its fun
yes because it is easy and fun
mhm YEAH
yes it will teach them music notes and how root works
i like the light show
yes because it is fun
I think they would because you can learn a lot about music and coding
yes because it is very fun
They might like it because root is fun but the music making is awful
I think this would be very enthralling for other students because it is so fun making music and doing coding too!
yes, cuz we learn music is good
i liked it and yes you should do it with more people
it was fun to hear the final product
I think it is worth doing for future 6th graders
i liked and you should do it with other classes
It was fun And I think other kids will like this project
It Was Pretty Goooooooood
music I say do it another time!!!!
This was a fun project, although, it did take longer than it should have.
It has music and coding combined together which I think more people would like
I liked that I could choose any song that I wanted. I think it is worth it to do this with the other classes
Today is World Kindness Day! To celebrate, classes that had completed prior works had a chance to review some coding concepts in Scratch. For some this was a review, others learned new blocks that they had not used before. Take a peek at the video below to see how they like to show kindness.
We have just a few days left of the term. You will be missed. I hope you remember all that you have learned and more importantly use what you have learned to help you with future endeavors!
With just a couple weeks left in the quarter we just got started with our coding activities. My remote students will continue to explore coding activities on asynchronous days with Code.org, one of my favorite online coding platforms. Thanks Hadi Partovi! Speaking of Hadi, I had the privilege to meet him at the White House as part of the 100 Teachers Meeting in Washington DC. I was one of 8 lucky teachers from Massachusetts nominated to attend this event with other educators from around the United States.
Hybrid fifth grade students have just wrapped up their FAB Comics to show off their avatars and the articles in our FAB Constitution. They are spectacular! I am so proud of the work they have done. You should be too! Go to slide 5 in the presentation below to see some of their amazing work! Remote fifth graders are midway through their comic project so stay tuned to see their work which will appear on slide 6 early next week.
Next up for the fifth grade hybrid students is Scratch. A web-based block coding platform that the kids love! To kick off our Scratch exploration, students will animate the word "PRIDE." We are focusing on PRIDE, to show our school spirit and the promotion of:
Without official Scratch accounts, students will practice uploading, downloading, file naming conventions, and they will learn about a new file type, .sb3 as they upload the "latest version" of their program so that they can download it the next day to continue their work as they complete this projects. Check out the Scratch tutorials to learn more or to try some activities of your own.
My sixth graders, Ms. Dee, & I began to explore robotics last week. After an interactive Pear Deck activity to gauge prior knowledge about robots, coding, and what they wondered about robotics we started exploring coding through a series of music making activities.
Before accessing the Root Simbot simulator, we completed an unplugged Code Break activity to get familiar with the Root Robot interface, https://code.irobot.com/#/. I recreated the activities with Slides in a digital format to allow students to drag and drop responses. Honing our skills while saving some trees.
UDL is built into these activities from a musical and coding perspective, providing an opportunity for students to appropriately challenge themselves. There are 3 levels to choose from with the Root interface so anyone from a novice to an expert can participate. Level 1 is for beginners, early readers, or non-English language learners. Level 2 is a hybrid model with combined visual and text blocks Level 3, the most complex, is completely text based. The beauty of Root's level three option is that like the other levels, it is also drag and drop so syntax errors are not an issue helping students focus on computational thinking and process. This coupled with musical notation and I am expecting a wide variety of final projects.
Root has several sensors and the ability to play musical notes spanning 8 octaves so I was excited to get started with a version of "Name That Tune." This began with guided activities to get students comfortable with the music notation key I created. As not every student plays an instrument or reads music a simple song coupled with the level 1 visual block interface was just what they needed to get started. Like the option to chose a coding level, students later had the option to complete a musical compositions of their choosing. They could reference my Music and Coding Wakelet board for some something simple or try something more complicated if they have the skill sets to do so. I can't wait to hear what they come up with. Some of my musicians are pushing the boundaries. Ican't wait to hear "We Will Rock You" by Queen which is on the list.
This week students continued their work with Google Slides as they explored some of amazing features it offers. They will use their new skills and avatar to create and publish a digital story. For a quick preview of their avatars or to see some new editions, and there will be more, see my post on "Google Slide Features." Although the fifth and sixth graders told stories in different ways their engagement and creativity soared. This is why we teach!
While making their avatars, students explored toolbar buttons, menu bar dropdown lists, tried a few right-clicks and utilized some shortcut keys. There are many means to the same end. Check out the graphic below to see the objects and the tools that we explored.
Short descriptions of some of the favorites are included here:
Zoom for narrowing in on small details or to see the big picture.
Paint Format, a hidden gem lets you copy the properties of one object (a shape or text) and apply them to another of the same kind.
So many Shapes, the rectangle oval, trapezoid, callouts and donut shapes. Spoiler alert! You can enter text directly into any shape. You DO NOT need to place a text box over the shape. Word Art yes, text, not necessary.
Line button. It takes some practice but the curve and polyline tools are a big hit! My goodness they are creative.
Crop (and Mask) to manipulate the image sizes using gutters to make them fit like a true comic.
Fill Color & Borders were helpful for our avatars when making hair, tie-dyes, and other materials.
What We Learned, a Summary, and Some Examples
(Number 9 on slide 4 is my favorite... well, it's up there anyway. Gosh they are cute!)
Breaking it Down
To help my remote students keep track of their Code.org exit ticket entries, I had to roll up my sleeves and dive into a new tool that I started to explore last spring, Data Studio. Their Data Studio report link can be found in our Google Classroom. Connected directly to their school gmail account, this report shows a log of any submitted exit tickets for the Code.org asynchronous activities. This link ONLY WORKS for the students in my classes when they use their school accounts.
Remote students have just started working on their avatars. We are making great progress but have a ways to go. Stayed tuned and check back to see new additions to our avatar poster in the coming week. Next up students will work on their comics.
My hybrid students continued work in Google Slides, fine tuning their avatars before they set to work on their short stories.
In fifth grade students used their Google Slide Avatars to create comics with a focus on our FAB Classroom Constitution. My Founding Students developed and discussed ideas instrumental in writing our 3 articles. Ask them about these 3 simple but powerful ideals.
Although the comics are still a work in progress they look fantastic and I can't wait to share them with you! #Ah-mazing #LooksProfessional! #FutureGraphicNovelist
In sixth gradestudents dreamed about a place that they might go if there were no restrictions, e.g. school, money, health, etc. Their job was to create a 1 page comic to share this location and why it was special. In addition to some specific requirements, they needed one image with a citation that included key details like their search word(s) and the direct link to their chosen image. This was an extension of our discussion on copyright and the need to credit someone else's work if not their own and used in a school project.
Today we started to talk about coding and robotics. We will dive deeper into this topic next week when we explore the Root robot simulator. We are really excited!
This week students were reminded to check Google Classroom and School Brains to review their grades. They were reminded that they can always resubmit works to improve on their learning and their grade. Lastly, we reviewed turning work into Google Classroom.
My remote students have started using Code.org for asynchronous activities. These activities are self-paced so students should not feel pressured to keep up with everyone else but are expected to work on these activities on asynchronous days when we do not Zoom together. In addition to these Code.org activities they should always complete the Google form exit ticket EVERY time they finish that days work. Since classes run for 44 minutes, they should work on this activities for about 35-40 minutes so that they have time to complete their exit ticket. The exit ticket is
1) a chance for them to explain what they think they learned for the day
2) part of their grade and should be completed every asynchronous day.
My hybrid students completed Google Slide Avatars this week. Remote students are just getting started with their avatars and will continue working on them next week. In this exercise students explored Google Slides in a different way, learned many of the unused features that Google apps offers, explored different image file types, practiced adding work to an assignment in Google Classroom and made awesome PNG avatars. If you want to make an avatar of your own, take a peek at my instructional video below.
In fifth grade these avatars will be used to make comics about our FAB Constitution. A project that they will be working on for the next 1-2 weeks. We used Pear Deck to review the tools we will be using in Google Slides, the expectations for their comics, and to review past projects so students could provide compliments and suggestions while considered ways they will make their own comics. I'm really excited to see what they come up with.
In sixth grade students were tasked with thinking about a place that they would like to go if they could with no barriers, e.g. money, school, Covid, etc. We also talked about copyright and the Educational Fair Use Act. Next, they will use their avatars to transport themselves to these destinations after the use search tools to find the perfect picture, cite their source, and add their avatar. Some ideas they share were Japan, Disney, a beach, and more. I'm excited to see where they decide to go!
Here are the avatars that have been shared so far. This is a work in progress so please check back often to see any new additions.
Students worked with a new screen capturing tool called Screencastify while they created a video "How to" to show how to make a new folder in Google Drive. In addition to making the video, students will have a digital folder to organize their work for our class and hopefully their other classes as well. Already, they are sharing new ideas and even additional screencasts for other tech tips to help each other in school.
Some highlights:
helping other people understand how to do stuff without needing to say the same thing to everyone over and over again
I think that I will be able to explain some thing better because you can show your screen to explain your theory.
Show people how to Zoom for Fridays
Stay tuned for new videos in the future. To get started, you can try B (bold), I (italics), and N (new folder.) After this assignment students were invited to create other videos to add to our ABC's of Technology slideshow. Videos may only display when students are logged in with their school account.
A big area of focus for students this week was to dissect our Word Cloud data to learn more about each others ideas. During our discussions students learned that data can be represented in many ways, like the frequency of words, pictures, etc. Data is not just numbers and something we share whenever we post anything online. Students in each class took turns to identify the "big words" or should I say "big ideas" that resulted from their work. There was also discussion about how literal computers are as we noticed that some words appeared two or more times. This was the result of different spelling or case sensitivity. In the Word Cloud we also noticed that groups of words didn't stay together. To show them how a Word Cloud might look differently I grouped their words together using underscores between the groups of words instead of spaces. I also used all lower case letters before sharing a modified version of the same data. View this version which was added to the group Word Cloud share posted last week in "My Classroom, My Learning."
FAB Constitution
Next up for students was to review their ideas and work before they signed our FAB Constitution. Using their ideas some work from a Responsive Classroom course, I created our FAB Constitution. Keeping it short, simple and to the point, students can easily connect what they do in class with a positive learning environment. They own it! They wrote it! They enforce it! :)
Once we reviewed our Word Cloud responses, my "Founding Students" reviewed the preamble, and considered their contributions as they related to the 3 FABulous articles I suggested. Students had a chance to speak up again if they felt their voice wasn't heard. Once we agreed, students signed their constitution using a signature script that my very talented friend and fellow digital learning coach Zak Kolar created.
Remote Learning Rules
Another visual to show some online rules for learning.
This week we utilized a variety of tools as students worked in groups and independently to build our Classroom Constitution. Their goal was to discuss and identify what makes a positive learning environment.
Their initial work started in groups of 3-5 students using a Google Jamboard with color coded digital stickies to share their ideas. See copies of two examples here. Grade 5 & Grade 6. These examples are not all inclusive but they do provide an overview of what some groups of students identified as being important. You may have noticed that frames 6 & 7 share their ideas to help us teachers and parents to support their learning.
After some time building these informative works of art, students completed a Google Form to self reflect on the ideas so they could share what was most important to them.
The next step in the process was using their responses to build Word Clouds. This gave us a chance to have fun with a new tech tool while they learned a little bit about graphical representations of word frequency which they will continue to reflect on as they build their constitution.
Each student was assigned one question. They used the responses for that question to build their word cloud. We used a website called wordcoulds.com. Below are a couple examples from each question. They really had fun exploring this tool and making it their own.
Students wrapped up these activities with a Flipgrid post to tell me why classroom rules are important. Stay tuned for the big reveal of our Classroom Constitution next week in my post, "Building Classroom Community."
Zoom time. Below are two slideshows that I created, one for hosts (teachers) and the other for participants (students.) Students navigated the file using ghost hyperlinks embedded on each slide, usually on the menu bar at the bottom. The "ghost links," think the movie, "The Net" with Sandra Bullock, are hidden links that transport you to other web based locations. In this case they are hyperlinks within the same Google Slide. This exercise allowed me to introduce Zoom features and settings while students worked to complete a scavenger hunt.
Some of their takeaways include:
Learning how to share screens, using the touch up feature, changing skin tone for reactions, testing the audio and speaker settings, keyboard shortcuts, controls and features differ on different devices, how to Zoom better, there are multiple ways to do the same thing ((un(mute)) and more.
Some questions:
Will I ever use screen share? Yes, everyone will have an opportunity to share their screen to present and show off their work.
Why can't I use the virtual backdrop? Like all of the features in Zoom, the device you use will affect which features are available. It has to do with a lot of variables, memory, refresh rate, etc. Virtual backgrounds don't work on our Chromebooks.
Where is the reaction button on Zoom? You will find it on the tool bar at the bottom of the screen. Depending on which device you use, you will have a different number of reaction button options.
How do you change your name on Zoom? Your name will default to the user who is logged into Zoom at that time. You can change it in settings by logging into Zoom.us and modifying your profile, or you can try the rename feature. Hover over your name in the Participants window for the rename or More pop-up "window." You should find the option there if it is set up as an option in Settings.
What is the keyboard shortcut, also known as hot key shortcut for closing your window? It depends on the device but is likely (Control + w) on most devices and (Command + w) on a MAC.
Students
Presenters
Your Data Says a Thousand Words. Even before remote learning became a reality, many did not think twice about sharing a picture or a video unknowingly giving away personal data and identifiers. The big shares these days are images and videos. What I want my student to know is that they need to be aware of what they share and who they share it with. The objective of this exercise is for students to recognize what they are sharing online when they share images, video, and conferencing tools.
The start of every school year causes both excitement and anxiety, especially this year. After wrapping up my first week, I'm feeling overwhelmed yet confident in the fact that I know we can do this. It WILL look differently but yes, we can! By we, I mean teachers, students, administrators, and families. It takes a village!
We want our students to be independent learners, good problem solvers, and responsible global citizens, because they have to be. We will have a lot of opportunity to fine tune these skills, because we have to. It will take time especially at the beginning of the school year as we learn new routines and tools for learning both hybrid or remote. I am working remotely with a substitute, who is AWESOME, for 4 of my hybrid classes. In addition to these classes I teach 2 remote classes on a 2 day rotation. On day 1, remote group A meets with me virtually and remote group B completes asynchronous activities. On day 2 these classes switch. Each Friday, everyone is remote. Hybrid students meet remotely and my remote class, depending on the rotation day, completes an asynchronous activity.
To kick off my classes we started working with a handful of tech tools as we focused on getting to know each other, Zoom, Google Classroom, Jamboard, AnswerGarden, and Flipgrid. This will be the focus of my classes for at least the first two weeks of school before we dive into content. Lucky for me I teach digital literacy and computer science so everything we do is related.
We started with a quick review of safety. They could relate to wearing masks when we talked about seeing your breath in the winter when it is cold outside. Even though we can't see if now, it is still there and we need to keep each other safe. Next we jumped into one of my new favorite tools, Jamboard. The goals were to
1) learn about tech tools the kids are familiar with or using and
2) to show them a tool that we will utilize and talk about how they might use it for other classes. Like brainstorming and entrance tickets to identify prior knowledge!
Students shared ideas using the prompt "What’s your favorite APP or program tool?" as they considered tools that might be used for learning. This is what they shared. As students will work remotely at least one day a week, Jamboard could be a great collaboration tool for them to use if working in groups with friends. Below is a screen capture from one of my classes.
The next activity was to find out "What are you excited to learn about in this class?" which we talked about after reviewing the course description. To do this I used a word cloud generator called AnswerGarden. Students enter their 20 character or less response in the text box and in real time the word cloud is built. Below is an example. We talk about the frequency of responses as they relate to the size of the words and how literal computers are, "coding robotics" is different from "coding robots."
To learn more about each other we are working on two activities for sharing and learning more about each other. The first is FlipGrid. Where do I begin? This engaging tool has a lot to offer, and it's fun. For this activity, students record a short video to introduce themselves then find and respond to 2 different friends to either tell them something they have in common or to ask a question about something they shared. It's a great way to get to know something about all of our friends at school.
Some things I learned about my students:
I have budding authors in one of my fifth grade classrooms. Yes, they are already writing books.
There are many video game players as well as aspiring NHL and pro soccer players. A few want to travel to Europe, some to open bakeries. :)
There are lots of Stranger Things and Roblox fans. Of course I was excited that one of my girls wants to be the greatest coder in the world.
And we can't forget about those pets that we love so dearly or the aspiring musicians.
Many kudos to the moms, dads, siblings, and others that so many look up to.
There are many more I could share but the biggest joy from this activity was how the kids connected with each other using this digital platform.
On deck! "What's in a Name?" Another getting to know each other activity. Students will research and discuss their names with family and create a short presentation to tell us about their name. Unless they are "first of my name," then how cool is that! A trailblazer. In UDL fashion they have options for sharing when they present on Monday, September 28. I found this idea in one of my books "Virtual Team Building Book." If you have other ideas for name related themes or questions, please share them in the comments section below.
Students shared so many amazing things about their names. We even had a few "first born of her/his name." In fact in some students found that their names are name days in other countries. I deemed yesterday, October 1, the name day for one of the kids as they didn't see their name on that list. Some shared stories from their families about why they were given their name, others enjoyed looking at the popularity of their name in different countries or at different times in history. My favorite was the meaning of their names. We had everything from "crooked nose" to "ruler of the house" to "peace maker" and "gift."
Lastly, I'm looking for ways to share tips and tricks for some of the tools we are using as questions come up in my communities. If you have a favorite trouble shooting tip or suggestion for any tools, I'd love to hear about them. Come back to see any newly incorporated ideas as this is a continuous work in progress. This was created using the Google Slides Master feature. Click the binder tabs to go to different sections. To advance the pages, simply click anywhere on each slide.
Although this was the most challenging of the games to setup, it was so doable. With some minor tweaks to the setup, we had a blast.
The Game
Balderdash is a word game in which the main player reads and spells a word aloud to the group. This word is an uncommon word that most likely have never heard. Everyone writes the word down on a piece of paper. The paper should be roughly the same size, color, etc. Any variation in the paper or color of the ink might give away a clue to the other players. The "player" writes the correct definition down on their slip of paper and everyone else makes up a definition to write on their slip of paper. Next, the "player" reads all of the definitions first to themself and then aloud to the group. Everyone has a turn guessing what they think is the correct definition. Points are awarded for various things: guessing correctly, having someone guess your definition, and being very close to the actual definition which does happen from time to time. With an online platform modifications must be made. The main mode of communication during game play is email or messaging. With friends and family, we text each other to share our definitions. Everyone messages the current player who can read and type them into the chat window once they collect them all. With students I use our school gmail accounts. This gives them a chance to use email and ask questions. It really doesn't matter what conferencing tool you use. So long as it is secure. Set-Up
Before the game begins, I email a list of 3-5 unusual words with their respective definitions to each player. In this case, I can only moderate the game, as I already know all the answers. A workaround this could be people using the cards from their own Balderdash game at home. There are a couple workarounds that come to mind. First, people could use Balderdash cards if they have the game at home. Second, they could go old school and play the way I learned this game, with a dictionary finding their own unique words. Either option gives everyone a chance to play. Reflections
I was pleasantly surprised at how well this worked and can't wait to do it again!
What's Next
So far we have had fun playing a variety of games. I can't wait to try something new and share it with you! If you have any ideas for other remote games or questions, shoot me an email or comment below. Got game?
Another fun night of games this time with family from California, Colorado, Maine, New Jersey and Massachusetts. It was great to see everyone, especially the two newest additions to the family. Pictionary was a great choice for connecting virtually, mentally, and emotionally while drawing pictures and guessing each others “creations.” We navigated this new way of playing virtually with ease and decided that next week we will play Balderdash. This was definitely a worthy experience. I love my family and friends and a good challenge. Exploring and learning new ways to bring fun, educational games to my family, friends, and students has been a real treat. I hope you will give it a try.
The Games
Pictionary is a board game where players earn various levels of points for their team by guessing what someone else is drawing under a time limit and sometimes with competition. In the board game players roll the die to identify their draw word using the number rolled as it corresponds to a word from a card in the deck. There are two options for drawing based on the identified word. If it is an “All Play” one person from each team draws the same word giving both teams a chance at the point. If not, that team gets control and draws only for their team. An “All Play” is indicated by a special symbol next to the word on the card. As points are earned and the die is rolled players move across the board in the hopes to reach the finish line first.
Turn this into a game of Charades by acting out instead of drawing. Watch this Youtube video to learn more about playing charades. Try my themed story spinners for the book, TV show, and movie categories. Here are two additional topic, animals and kids movies. Use the "Single Name" button at the top, not the spinner, to hide the list of options.
Drawing instrument (pen, marker, iPad, tablet or phone, etc.
Drawing surface (paper, whiteboard, chalkboard, iPad, etc.
Timer (the one in your board game, YouTube, phone app, etc.
Conferencing tool (Meet, Hangouts, FaceTime, Zoom, etc.
Messaging or email (To share words with players if you are acting as the moderator. With students I always use school based communication, gmail and Meet for conferencing.
Calendar invite with log in detail
List of players with email for play order and online communication if needed
Student Setup
I begin by creating an event in my calendar as well as a Google Sheet with dates, times and a certain number of slots for students to sign up. The number of slots per game depends on the game we are playing but I usually run sessions for 10-15 players. Students and parents are sent an email with a link to this sheet, the name of the game, and directions for signups. At this time conferencing tools are a bit on overload and they are trying to patch and create features that currently do not exist, I invite students 5 minutes before game play begins. Hopefully by the time you read this, issues will be patched. When students arrive they will be greeted with a “Be Right With You” sign of some sort and some Bossa Nova Jazz music.
As the moderator, I begin with a review of the game play, etiquette, and bringing an awareness to them of what they are sharing on the camera. A picture says a 1,000 words and the images in the background could give away personal details. We talk about the materials they need to play and they take a minute to prepare before we begin. The more games we play the more prepared they are the next time.
I can have a turn drawing but I cannot guess as I send the words to my students. Rather than having each student use an online spinner, I use email to send them their words. You could do this with any players, but I use this method with my students to practice using email. Before the session begins, I prepare a bunch of draft emails which include student emails for that game which I pull from the Google Sheet signups. Each draft includes a unique word from my word list typed in the subject line. This helps me to prepare and gives them a chance to utilize email, a tool I find most middle schoolers are not familiar with. It makes sense, they use their phones to communicate with just about everything but email, e.g. text, Snapchat, Musically, etc. I’m not endorsing these tools, just mentioning some that I know some students use. Although I think it is important to speak to them in their own language I choose to use our school email accounts. They will be taking over soon with a host of tools that may not have been invented yet but for now, I keep it simple, keep them safe. It is my responsibility as an educator to communicate with my students in a professional manner which is why I stick to school policies and use our G. Suite accounts for email (gmail), conferencing (Meet), and all other communications.
Non-Student Setup
When working with adults I share the spinner tool and trust that everyone can manage selecting their own words. This eliminates the need to email words to the players and lets me fully participate in the game. Players are invited with my calendar app that includes the link to our conference.
Players
If players are signing up as individuals, we just take turns drawing while everyone else guesses with the chat window. It is always an all play. The moderator or the other players can watch the chat window for the correct guess.
If players are signing up as partners or families, each team takes turns drawing. The team gets to draw until the timer ends giving them a chance to guess first. If they don’t get it other teams race to answer first using the chat window. I don’t use all play for this setup but could with a more practiced group and if there was a dedicated moderator to watch the chat. I have found with any of the online games that I play one must be flexible and creative.
Score
Someone can keep score on a sheet of paper which they can share after each turn by showing the new score after each play with their camera. When I keep score, I award a point to the artist and the person who gets it right first. It is a team effort after all. Usually when I play with my students, I don’t keep score, we just have fun and support each other.
Reflections
The biggest challenges during game play are the microphones and how they trigger the video conferencing tool, and sending the words in a timely manner which I spoke of above in the “Student Setup” section. I’ll explain the microphones now. In my experience the "squeaky wheel" gets the mic. Whomever is talking, or usually shouting when playing Pictionary, is the person that the conferencing tool focuses on and the video that generally populates on the screen. As you can imagine, if everyone is talking at the same time, it is challenging to stay focused on the “drawer.” The screen keeps changing like Whack-a-Mole unless you can pin or lock that person's screen. This pin or lock screen feature is available on some conferencing tools. For this reason, I have found that participants must mute their microphones unless it is their turn which I explain as soon as the kids log on. Just like a traditional classroom, we need to take turns. That said instead of shouting responses they must type them into the chat. This clearly lets the moderator know who has the correct response, first.
As I continued to play I realized that I needed to build my own lists to include vocabulary that I expected my students would be familiar with which is why I jumped to one of my favorite tools, Flippity.net's Random Name Generator (RNG). This tool, like most of Flippity's tools can be used in ways not initially intended. In this case I used it for topics and themes appropriate for my students. Truth be told, while players were entering their guesses into the chat window, they gave me ideas for my existing lists. I have one RNG for kids movies, another for animals and I am continuing to build new lists everyday.
Different conferencing tools come with different opportunities and challenges. When I play this game with adults I use my free version of Zoom. One benefit of Zoom is the white board tool which any participant can use to draw on their computer. If you have ever tried to draw on a track pad it can be challenging to say the least. My advice is to use the index finger of your non-dominant hand to "click" and hold while you use your index finger on your dominant hand to actually draw. This takes a little getting used to but is much better than trying to click, and drag and draw with one finger. At least from my experience. Another benefit of Zoom, from a moderator perspective, is the private chat option. I can easily use RNG to select the next clue and share it with the next participant using the private message feature. Hangouts and Meet do not have a private chat option.
With Hangouts or Meet, you cannot send private messages so you need an alternative method to send the words to your participants. Currently, I use email to send words and phrases to the participants. This does add a little extra time but I have found ways to expedite this.
I do not endorse these tools, they are merely suggestions. You must find what works best for you and your setup.
What’s Next
As I continue to explore everyday board games in an online environment I will share my experiences in this blog. If you have any ideas or questions, reach out. I would love to hear from you.
