Class 5 -- April 21 -- Final Session

Present: Pam Wirtz, Lori Shinners, Nicki Dahms, Maggie Ferree, Shane Radosevich, Kristin Warner, Sarah Dupee, and Lynn Syverson.

Absent: Chris Thompson and Kristin Olson.

Guest: Eileen Depka, Assistant Superintendent for Educational Services.

Sarah Dupee facilitated this session which was held in Kristin Warner's room. The first topic was a 3-2-1 Activity — three things participants learned, two ideas for further integration, and one suggestion for making the course better next time.

Three things we learned included:

1. Incredible value of meeting, sharing, and discussing with colleagues
2. New method of professional development through collegial study group
3. Validation that we are all struggling to find the time to create Notebook lessons
4. Good refresher and learning experience even for the most seasoned SB person
5. Feel we've become better/rejuvenated teachers having rethought what we do as we work to develop lessons utilizing the SB and Notebook
6. "Awesome" support potential for visual learners
7. How to capture existing files, web sites, graphics, etc.
8. Creating more interactive lessons
9. Converting music and then inserting as links
10. Fostering student independence/responsibility in tracking progress (Maggie's notebook -- variations)
11. Scanning overheads into Notebook
12. Using the gallery
13. Pinning pages and dual display
14. Random number generator for "picking" students
15. Linking sites, music, files
16. Using SynchronEyes in the lab with Notebook transfers to students
17. Learning from what others are doing in EDM in order to plan SB use for next year
18. You don't have to be a "techie" to succeed
19. Infinite cloner use
20. Lunch and attendance -- student completed
21. Many classroom management tools including the timers

Two ideas for further integration included:

1. Creating units verses lessons
2. Use for assessment
3. Focus on interactive aspects
4. Use for differentiation
5. Consider room setup to maximum positive outcomes
6. Organize files by theme
7. Use for center-based work
8. Further explore the Lesson toolkit
9. Explore the Recorder
10. Explore Video Player, especially with United Streaming subscription
11. Find time to explore resources
12. Further develop writing units

One suggestion for making the course better include:

1. Arrange classes around parts/tools of Notebook
2. Continue to have clear focus for each class (like this time)
3. Move class between rooms to experience different setups, etc.
4. Arrange classes around individual topics
5. Have grade level specific classes

Eileen thanked the group for sharing and offered her support of ongoing professional development focused on SB and Notebook within the curriculum, including CEUs. We reviewed the collegial study concept and emphasized it is participant-focused from approval request through facilitation. More information is expected on the process next Fall from Administration, but we can all be thinking now.

The group shared what they had tried new with Math based on the previous class and Sarah shared an Earth Day set of timely Notebook files through Scholastic. Pam also shared how she had incorporated the two fraction Flash files Lynn had shared into the study of note values. Lynn thanked the group for sharing files to be used the following day as examples at the Burleigh introductory trainings.

Thanks for all the great energy and sharing -- have a great 4th quarter!

Class 4 -- April 7, 2008

Present: Chris Thompson, Kristin Olson, Pam Wirtz, Lori Shinners, Nicki Dahms, Maggie Ferree, Shane Radosevich, Kristin Warner, Sarah Dupee, and Lynn Syverson. (and special guest, Kate)

Congratulations to Shane and Lauren on the birth of their new son, Aiden!

Kristin Olson facilitated this session. A group discussion ensued regarding student behavior variances from year to year, room to room, grade to grade, etc resulting in suggestions of additional modifications to SMARTBoard use. What works for one may not for another.

Sharing of "New Things I Tried Since Last Time" in Writing

• Pam adapted Magee's writing process Notebook (NB) for the song writing process allowing students to drag their name to the appropriate step as they work.


• Kristin O and Sarah also adapted Magee's NB idea for their writing process.


• Nicki also added Magge's idea to her process NB. Nicki shared her NB lesson designed for the study of onomatopoeia and alliteration.


• Consensus -- Magee's process NB idea was a hit!


• Kristin O and Sarah also shared their NB transition music concept -- the students love it, know what to do and when to be done.

Weekly Topic — Integrating the SMARTBoard into Math

• Kristin W shared lessons using the blank 100's grid and the random number generator, skip counting using the dice, sorting "virtual cards" she created into strategy columns, and an interesting (!!) commutative property demonstration that matches what the students do and involves turning the paper upside down. Kristin also said she printed out her NB lesson for a sub using the handout option so she could easily write instructions for each slide.


• Lori shared her lesson using manipulatives onscreen to study 100's and also demonstrated the interactive flash card.


• Pam shared her NB files featuring rhythm, note values, and meter. She also discovered a virtual sticky note in the gallery!


• Nicki shared her library books word problem, use of the spinner for comparing (< = > choice), and subtraction/regrouping using virtual manipulatives.


• Shane shared many NB lessons he had created for his EDM curriculum including links to the Student Reference Book online (he's one of the piloting teachers for online) to use the EDM explanation videos, virtual manipulatives, and examples. Shane shared that having the SMARTBoard and using SMART Notebook has allowed him to organize the vast resources used in EDM resulting in less time teacher time needed and more student work/support time. He shared a great math game website -- believe it's http://www.primarygames.co.uk/.


• Magee also shared a great interactive math game site http://rainforestmaths.com/.


• Lynn shared a sample fraction lesson from Hong Kong featured on PDTOGO podcast and two fraction flash files. In addition, she had a sample of a student using one of the flash files with the SMART Recorder to demonstrate/explain the process for finding his solution. This could be another way to give student ownership to learning and/or provide support for students missing class. An additional use might be to record a skill demonstration (i.e. handwriting) and play it in a loop so the students can refer back while you work with individual students.

The next session, 4/21. Chris will not be with us, but Eileen Depka, Assistant Superintendent for Education Services, will join the first part. This is our final gathering and our agenda will be:

• 3-2-1 Activity — Bring three things participants learned, two ideas for further integration, and one suggestion for making the course better next time.


• Implement one Math lesson and reflect on what did or did not work in its delivery (journal and 2‑minute demonstration of lesson for class).


• Discuss possible/existing uses of SMARTBoard in Science/Social Studies.

Chris has asked our reflection logs be emailed to him and he will recommend credit be given. (either Alverno or HR Department)

Class 3 — March 17, 2008

Present: Chris Thompson, Kristin Olson, Pam Wirtz, Lori Shinners, Nicki Dahms, Maggie Ferree, Shane Radosevich, Kristin Warner, and Lynn Syverson.

Absent: Rachelle Russell and Sarah Dupee.

Chris shared three updates:

1. Rachelle won't be able to continue with the group at this time.
2. Kyle has mocked up the lunch count with IC. Nutrition Services will convert their choices into a database that can be pulled into the lunch count. This means instead of "choice1" it will say "hamburgers", etc. Chris asked for feedback about the description and pictures. The group felt that having the description as a column header would be best and to leave off the item picture.
3. The district librarians have subscribed to Discovery Education Streaming (United Streaming), a great digital resource. Info will be coming from our building librarians.

As Rachelle was absent, the group shared facilitation responsibilities. (NOTE: future facilitators are Kristin O 4/7 and Sarah 4/21)

Sharing of "New Things I Tried Since Last Time" in Reading

• Pam shared notebook pages focused on "reading" music notation. Students name the notes in many different activities including words spelled by notes and notes "spelled" by words. She also incorporated the random number generator for taking turns.
• Lori shared her spinner activities and a new timely one based on Dr. Seuss books.
• Nicki tried Lori's Digging for Facts successfully.
• Maggie's class enjoyed a lesson using Brain Pop Jr. for Character Analysis.
• Kristin O tried Shane's Reading Status activity. She noted some changes she would make in future sessions based on her students. Kristin also shared information about Digital Wisconsin.
• Discussion followed regarding how reading is different using the SMARTBoard and SMARTNotebook. Consensus seemed to include student interaction with the lesson and the ease of incorporating many mini-lessons (less paper, running around).

Weekly Topic — Integrating the SMARTBoard into Writing

• Kristin W talked about how this had really changed in her 1st grade classroom with the advent of the SMARTBoard. She demonstrated use in shared writing which they can revisit later in the year easily, the importance of her "paper" matching the students' papers, scanning of student work as examples/samples for the group, the Sensory Hand, and scanning types of letters from The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters for examples at the board.
• Shane demonstrated how he uses SB and SNB with his Units of Study, a gallery interactive called Writing Concrete Poetry, and a limerick generator. (not sure of the site he used, but I tried this one tonight http://www.jjjwebdevelopment.com/306sites/limgen/)
• Kristin O does a Status of Class for writing based on Shanes Reading Status activity. Suggestions were given to add a key and infinite clone the key items. She and Sarah also scan examples of going from your notes to a written paragraph and an Expository Rubric which they use to go through a sample showing how it's applied using the highlighter tool. They also use it to help students identify main topics.
• Lori has been using it for her word studies. She also experimented with using dual page from last week to have her organizer on one side and writing on the other.
• Nicki shared doing word lists and demonstrated her KidConnection journal where the children highlight important things to remember to include in their journals fostering information inclusion as well as independence. She also shared My Idea Page, the author mentor technique explorations with each lesson using a different color text, shared writing, group editing of scanned samples, and scanning samples of student work.
• Maggie shared her work with Units of Study and demonstrated her SNB page for the writing process where students move their name block to the appropriate step and continue their work. This makes management easier and helps her see who's next for teacher editing.

Lynn walked through some of the links/resources she had emailed to group members earlier including a Jeopardy template SNB file, videos, websites, and podcasts. See the links in the right-hand column for links.

Members asked for the EdCompass subscription link (free) which is SMART's Educator newsletter. The link is posted in the right-hand column.

The 4/7 (3 weeks instead of 2) topic is Math and our assignment is the usual:

• Implement one writing strategy and reflect on its implementation in your journal. (may be a Word document, blog, whatever)
• Journal reflecting upon current integration into Math

Class 2 — March 3, 2008

Present: Chris Thompson, Kristin Olson, Sarah Dupee, Pam Wirtz, Lori Shinners, Nicki Dahms, Maggie Ferree, Shane Radosevich, and Lynn Syverson.

Absent: Rachelle Russell, Kristin Warner

Chris shared input from the Waukesha Collegial Study folks recommending group participants seek feedback from colleagues on their SMARTBoard lessons (i.e. IRT, RRT, grade level). This feedback can add power to our collegial study work.

Nicki facilitated the meeting. (NOTE: future facilitators are Rachelle 3/17, Kristin O 4/7, and Sarah 4/21)

Sharing of "New Things I Tried Since Last Time"

• Lori — implemented the lunch roster using an infinte cloner "X" instead of writing/erasing. This worked well with the exception of some printing problems which have been worked out. She also shared a new spinner activity she developed with input from her son.
• Shane — shared that his lunch roster was pdf-ed from Infinite Campus and also uses an infinite cloner symbol which he changes around for interest. He also shared his Reading Status Notebook that all students fill in with their info and then he chooses a couple to do oral sharing. (NOTE: Shane has heard the WCTC Math folks took down their boards and put them in a closet as their formula/equation lines didn't fit on the width; Chris will look into whether and how we could obtain them.) Discussion arose and demo ensued of using the SMART Control Panel to reset pen settings (width/color) to new defaults. Shane also uses Notebook with EDM with dual page display showing the answer (for self-correcting) and the Math Message. This fosters student independence.
• Maggie — added lines to her lunch roster and that seemed to help her students visually track to the correct boxes. She shared her new Place Value Chart tracking the days of school in multiple ways. Using the timer in the counting up mode works well with her students during Mad Minutes where they can then record the time on their papers themselves (limit of 3 minutes).
• Pam — converted and inserted some of her 400 CDs' tracks right into her Notebooks so she doesn't have to run across the room anymore to find one track.
• Nicki — used the dual page display and pinned her lunch count which allows her to change her Welcome Work page easily day to day.
• Sarah & Kristin O — used the number generator. They continue to use the Airliner Slate with their students (they love it) and have submitted an EEF proposal to purchase 3 for their classroom. The group provided feedback on their room configuration options/thoughts (Notebook diagram) and discussion ensued.

Weekly Topic — Integrating the SMARTBoard into Reading

• Lori — disappointed with SMART lesson resources she found so she created her own Digging for Facts which she shared with the group.
• Shane — has printed the Comprehension Tool Kit items into SMARTNotebook (SNB) and also does his Extra Text lessons using SNB. He plans to create "post-it notes" (probably colored rectangles) for the students to use on the board.
• Sarah & Kristin O — scanned overhead templates for Point of View lessons, etc. using the Lanier copier's scan/email function. At this point the group chose to adjourn to the workroom for a demo by Sarah. The steps are listed at the end of this blog entry. After returning to the classroom, Sarah demo'd for the group using SNB's screen capture (camera in the toolbar) to select/send what she wanted to SNB.
• Nicki — uses interactive Read Alouds, Brain Pop, Brain Pop Jr., and Fountas & Pinnell materials with her students utilizing the SMARTBoard.

The 3/17 topic is Writing and our assignment is the usual:

• Implement one reading strategy and reflect on its implementation in your journal. (may be a Word document, blog, whatever)
• Journal reflecting upon current integration into Writing.

Please send any corrections or additions to Lynn Syverson .

Lanier Copier Steps

1. Press Scanner button on left
2. Select Manual (unless you have been setup and see your name), type your email address (XXXXXXXX@elmbrookschools.org), and press OK.
3. Select a sender name (doesn't really matter)
4. Click File Name and type a name for the file
5. Select either PDF or TIFF (I found the tiff to be easier as you can just insert it as a graphic object rather than having to do the screen capture of the PDF mentioned earlier)
6. Select either Multi or Single — if you want all the sheets in the feeder to be one attachment then choose Multi, if you want each page a separate attachment then choose Single)
7. Click OK
8. Click the regular big START button! (Hopefully, these are the correct/complete steps)

Class 1 — February 18, 2008

Present: Chris Thompson, Rachelle Russell, Kristin Olson, Sarah Dupee, Pam Wirtz, Lori Shinners, Nicki Dahms, Maggie Ferree, Kristin Warner, and Lynn Syverson

Absent: Dan Gebauer, Shane Radosevich

Chris agreed to facilitate in order to get us started. We began with introductions followed by a review of the class topics, Know and Be Able to Do items, course requirements, and the Scope and Sequence of the classes (handout provided) that includes information on assignments. After a short discussion it was agreed to follow the original five class model and omit Social Studies at this time which then cancels the May class. Classes will be held from 4:15-6:15 Mondays 2/18, 3/3, 3/17, 4/7, and 4/21 in Rachelle Russell's classroom at Brookfield Elementary. Although the group is not instructor led, participants felt it would be helpful to have a point person for each class to include time keeping and refocusing as needed. Lynn volunteered to take notes.

The topic for today was the Impact of the SMARTBoard on Classroom Management. Participants shared their current practices and notebook files focusing on management issues.

• Kristin W. shared her start of the day file which includes attendance/lunch count, date, money in the bank, days in school, monthly weather graphing, concluding with a music link used during transition time while students are doing their jobs and getting ready for the next focus.
• Maggie shared that she also uses the attendance/lunch count page and the monthly weather graphing. In addition she shared pages she has created focusing on time, money, and 100's.
• Pam shared her strategies for organizing the many files she has created for her general music classes — grade level and class date. Also, she demonstrated an assessment for High/Low and a Jeopardy game she created.
• Lori shared some activities she uses in her classroom.
• Rachelle showed us the random number generator from the Gallery and said she uses it when it's time to select students (i.e. computer time, learning center) instead of popsicle sticks. She said it's easy, the kids like it, and there are no arguments!
• Sarah and Kristin O. (job share) demonstrated how they use it for their daily assignment notebook. The notebook works especially well for students who may be absent, out of the classroom (i.e. lessons), have difficulty writing, or whose parents desire a teacher copy as they can print out copies for them. They also shared dual page display and "pinning" the left page so it remains static as you go through the additional pages of a file. They use dual page display at the start of the day to have the attendance/lunch count onscreen along with the daily math message.

Conversation and more sharing followed on these topics:

• Attendance/Lunch Count — Chris explained that they will be writing a program this summer for elementary which will allow us to do attendance/lunch count directly in Infinite Campus next year. This will eliminate not only printing and sending to the office, but also the expressed challenges of accidental erasure or marker alignment issues with the current SMARTNotebook file many are using.
• Airliner Slate — Kristin O. and Sarah have just begun using a Slate in their classroom. It's working very well with their 4th graders, although the stylus is a challenge with hand/eye coordination. They are corresponding with Kelly Kluck (Tonawanda) as she used it 1st semester. Chris noted that they are also testing a Slate at the high school level. Discussion ensued regarding EEF grant possibilities or other funding to secure additional Slates.
• Modeling organization — Kristin W. noted that although she had not intentionally planned it, she realizes how she is teaching the importance organization to her 1st graders as she verbalizes what she is doing (i.e. navigating the server tree structure when saving and opening files, ease of finding things when you're organized).
• Copier Usage — participants generally felt they were doing less duplicating, especially overheads.

The group closed with quick review of the 3/3 topic (Reading) and assignment:

• Implement one classroom management strategy and reflect on its implementation in your journal. (may be a Word document, blog, whatever)
• Journal reflecting upon current integration into Reading.

Please send any corrections or additions to Lynn Syverson .