Mr Hammerlund

"When I say go, do a 360 degree turn and count the number of blue objects you see", I ask my class of 19 First Graders. When everyone has reoriented to the front, I ask, "Without looking, how many yellow objects did you see?" "You said blue Mr. Hammerlund!" they all yelled. "Yes, but now I'm asking you about the yellow ones." How to Be Awesome at Your Job: A Podcast for People who Love Learning Improvement Tools for Happier Work, Career & Achieving How to Be a Better Leader by Being More Positive Brenda Bailey-Hughes  via @PodcastAddict This year I have a challenging class. Period. There is not a night that I don't go home exhausted. For the past few months I've been focused on looking for the bad - the negative; the bad behavior. All the while, I know I've been missing the good - good behavior, good learning, increasing skills, those students who are really trying. Those students I don't spend enough ...

*Another unfinished post I am just now publishing. The Grade 1 teacher came to me with a project to digitize the books the students had written. Since our Grade 1 classes are on Seesaw, we decided it would be best to make them publishable to there. I have a natural inclination to movies vs books when it comes to student work, so Bookcreator was a natural fit because books can be exported as video files. We did this project last year, so I knew it would be great. Last year I looked at this project through the lens of tech integration. This year, I was looking at it through the lens of the new ISTE Standards for Students . Specifically, under the standard for Creative Communicator, there is a substandard that reads: Students publish or present content that  customizes  the message and medium for their intended audiences. Book Creator is an easy way for students to narrate a video. It also gives them the option of different sizes for their books. Using Boo...

We started using Seesaw as a digital portfolio this year. And while it is great, my students have had issues remembering how to take pictures so I made the following infographic for them. Work in progress Make a copy for yourself here. Original

Part of my responsibilities when I was a technology coach was to conduct regular workshops on tech topics as a way to move the faculty forward in their knowledge and skills. Most of the time, the workshops were during the "lunch hour" (Although this period of time stretched out over two hours. Maybe lunch period would be more suitable?) They were also held after school quite a bit. These periods of time were chosen based on surveys given to teachers, and feedback received from teachers. At the beginning of the second year, I wondered what would happen if I moved the workshops I delivered the heart of the action, the faculty room. I wanted there to be people to be in the vicinity. The idea was to have people who thought they did not have the time for the workshops to at least get ideas or tips in passing.

This post was started all the way back in 2013. I saw it in my drafts column, and having had a conversation with my wife about this very subject, decided it was time to come back and finish my thoughts. I came across a share on Google+ by +Jay Atwood that was linked to a blog post called Should We Block Google Translate?  by Jen Roberts . The other day I was having this same conversation with my wife. I argued they should be able to use it. But, the results are not very good. Yes, so tell them that. Then tell them they have to work with a partner to make the translation better afterward. I really don't have another reason other than that. Google Translate is a tool people actually use, so why not let students use it to see its limitations. As Jen says in her post, even with a calculator you need to know the math before you can use it to solve a complex problem. With Google Translate, I see it more as an opportunity to solve the problem collaboratively. Below i...

Google Classroom is the most popular way to share files with students. I was excited to finally be able to use this tool when I was teaching MYP Design at my last school. The interface of Classroom is very easy to use. It is a great way to share files, assignments, and information with students. I ran into issues with Classroom when I did not specify how I wanted assignments turned in. Once I received an assignment that most students submitted as a GSlide or GDoc, as a series of pictures. It was frustrating, so I went looking at alternatives. The above method was what my teaching partner used. Basically ... The teacher creates a folder for the class in the teachers Drive.  The teacher then has students create folders for the class in their own Drives. Students should label their folders with their names. For their own organization, they should also put the class title in the folder name. The student then shares the folder he/she created back with the teacher. The ...

This is our most recent Travelling Tale.  This time ran more smoothly than before - to be expected, but it was much better. Here is a write-up about the experience . 

Should I develop this idea further? #watercolour pic.twitter.com/mk5sbBsHNa — M J Forster (@Matt_Forster) November 1, 2017 I came across the above Tweet this morning. At first, I was thinking about how this artist was using Twitter to elicit feedback on his idea. I thought it was a good way to use the platform and one that I try to use myself. Then I wondered who might be giving him feedback. The next thought that appeared in my head was about my own class. I recently introduced a "Seed Journal" to my students for ideas they want to keep, but don't have time to write during our Writing Workshop time. I wonder how this Tweet would work as a provocation for when it would be time to drop ideas or develop them further. I imagine my line of questioning might go something like this ... Take a look at this image, what do you see?  This artist's comment says he is wondering if he should give up on this idea, or develop it further.  Have you ever felt like...