Managing 40+ Students Per Class

It has been two weeks since school began.  I'm still focusing on learning names and personalities.  I am teaching four Spanish 1 classes each with 37 - 41 students.  Just making sure I don't trip has been an ongoing concern.

In terms of the flip, my students seem like great candidates.  Most are already very self-motivated and want to achieve.  They attend a "tech" school.  Many of them are pre-IB candidates.

However, we still lack wifi in our "tech" school.  Students who have phones with limitless data are about 6-11 per class.  With an average of 40 students and trying to maintain groups of 4, that means that not all groups will have a phone with data to do activities.  So I'm really excited about wifi, which was promised last December but will hopefully be in place this December.

Also - there have been quite a few students who say that their Internet is unreliable or unavailable (if I had less students this would be less of an issue).  I can make DVD's of any videos and other materials, but that takes time, planning and is expensive.   I put my Syllabus up via Explain Everything, and used this info from Crystal Kirch's Welcome Letter.  (with her permission).

I gave students 2 days to watch the Alphabet Song I made with Camtasia for Mac and PhotoBooth, but I am discouraged because quite a few could not watch it and thus could not take the quiz to make sure that they had watched it.  I've done other videos and things, but this is the only one I quizzed on.

Camtasia has been AMAZING and I've also been having fun with GoAnimate and Voki.

Our first day was pretty awesome - I was really nervous about it, but it went great.  I took the advice from "Teach Like a Pirate"'s  Dave Burgess and we made Play-doh creations.  I like for my student groups to have names of animals, so this is what they created:

Murciélago

They also created bears, sharks, narwhals, turtles, etc.

In terms of classroom management I'm using the Smart Seat app for iPhone for my seating charts, attendance and random "picking" of students.  It runs $5.99 but it really has done wonders for me the last year.  

I'm also going to go back to using ClassDojo for missing books, good participation, random "picking" and other behavior management.  

One of the best things I adopted for the Flip was Sophia.org.  However, our school's Internet does not like Sophia, so I am using MyBigCampus, which comes from our district's license.  Not as clean looking but it will do the job. 

So I'm wishing I had smaller class sizes, because it's easier to manage tech and difficult situations and students who "don't tech" when there are less students.  But I will persevere!

Wacom Bamboo Tablet

I purchased a Wacom Bamboo pen and tablet on Amazon recently.  Tried it out last night.  I recommend completing the tutorial that comes bundled in its software - super helpful as the pen has some special features.

For example, you can just hover 3-5 cm above the tablet to move the cursor. It does not need to actually touch the tablet.  Also, the pen can be modified for right-handed and left-handedness.  There is a button on the pen that can serve as a right-click and other functions as well.

I completed the tutorial and my 9-year-old did not, so he was more frustrated than I was in using the tablet to draw and play games.

Here is his first-ever creation using the "Mona Lisa" app:

The "Drag and Drop" feature is awesome.  Photos can be dragged into Office Docs, Gmail, or copied onto the Desktop.

My 7 year old and 9 year old fought for use of the tablet this morning, so I guess this tool is "kid-approved."  

Also - this is my first Blogger post from my iPhone...hope it turns out okay!

Here is the 7-year-old using the mouse instead of the tablet, but using Bamboo software. Yes, the tutorial is needed! 

Yes, that's a cord from the tablet to the MacBookPro.  There is a wireless converter, but it's an extra $40 or so, so I'll keep it on my Wish List.  

I hope to use the Tablet with Camtasia for tutorials.  I like iPad tutorials, but I have heard that students like to see their teachers talking instead of a disembodied voice.  I have noticed my own students are more attentive when I use Screencast-o-matic's video cam feature.

Knowmia for iPad has this feature but vids must be hosted on their site, and I prefer YouTube export like Explain Everything.  

One more week until school starts!  Yikes!