I spent this past week in lovely Calais. While we weren't literally unplugged, connectivity issues lent a bit of a "post-apocalyptic" feel to the first half of the week (minus the mayhem - everyone was making the best of it). No Google Drive access, no internet, no network, no printing, no cell phone coverage, etc...
Since my essential tools for working as I travel from school to school are my Chromebook, iPhone and a set of manipulatives, this was a challenge. It forced us to go "old school," and highlighted the power of good manipulatives - especially when there's no power!
By the end of the week, all systems (with the exception of cell service) were back up and running, and there is a lot of good stuff to share out...
When I left EMES, fifth grade students were working to get to the communications level on long division (blog post: Math Coaching at EMES: The Sequel). As you would expect, students were in different places with some ready to communicate and apply and others needing more conceptual work.
Tech Assisted Communication
Students have been using videos to practice the communication piece and document their learning as they became ready. Fearlessly, one teacher used a cell phone to record the videos and enlisted the media specialist/technology guru to upload it to Teachertube.
Here is one student's video. Kindly, she was willing to share it with all of us. I love it for so many reasons, but especially because of how proud of herself she looks. If you can't see the video below, click on this link: http://bit.ly/1GrotF5.
Meanwhile, what to do with the students who have the communication piece down???
