Top Five Tech Gadgets for the Classroom

Posted on March 4, 2017 by MrsLeonardo

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I presented at the Silicon Valley Computer Using Educators Teach Through Technology professional development today, so if you’re here by way of my “Best Tech Practices for Long Term English Language Learners” presentation…welcome!

The resources for my presentation can be found here. I talked about all of the ways I attempt to make sure my students are always speaking, listening, reading, and writing in the classroom. While preparing for today’s presentation, I realized that it would be good for me to share some of the gadgets I use in my classroom. I’m sharing my top five tech gadgets for my classroom. Let’s get started!

USB Microphones, $22 each

These microphones are a fairly recent purchase, and I’m so glad I decided to buy them. The mics are great for

Chromebooks, laptops, and other computers
students to record audio (discussion questions, group talking, think alouds)
Vocaroo, screencasts, and any other audio recording site

2. Lapel Microphones, $6.50 for Three

I purchased these lapel mics nearly two years ago for my students to record screencasts and lessons they created using Explain Everything. See students’ work here. Lapel mics can be used with and for

tablets (we use them for iPads).
individual recording.
Explain Everything, Educreations, Recap, and Voki.

3. Android Tablet, $54.99

This is another fairly new purchase. A parent and I are working with groups of girls to create apps for Technovation’s coding challenge. The girls use MIT’s App Inventor, and they need a way to test their apps. We received a grant from Philanthropic Ventures Foundation to purchase the devices, and I ended up purchasing two more for my classroom. Full disclosure: if you’re used to an iPad, it’ll take some time to get used to the tablet. But, hey! At $55 a pop, these little things aren’t too shabby. I’ve found them to be great for:

ScratchJr.
testing MIT App Inventor apps.
reading (ereaders/reading apps).
reading, writing, speaking, and listening centers for two to three students.

Click through to see the final two items! Continue reading →

Symetra Teacher Hero

Posted on October 17, 2016 by MrsLeonardo

Tyson, me, Mr. Brady (principal), and two 49ers cheerleaders at the assembly.

Something totally cool and awesome happened to me on September 28. I’m smiling right now just thinking about it! 🙂

Our entire school went out for an assembly during 6th period, and we were told a teacher would be honored by Symetra (an insurance company), the San Francisco 49ers, and Wells Fargo. Imagine my surprise when my name was called! I walked up on stage and was surrounded by two 49ers cheerleaders, fancy leaders from the companies, and was given a $1,000.00 check. WOW! I think the craziest thing was looking out and seeing all of my students from the current year, last year, and the year before.

When people ask me if I have kids, I usually say, “Yes. Over 500 of them.” It makes for a nice laugh. Yes, I consider all of my middle school students (past and present) MY kids! Here are a few of them at the assembly.

I’m a little shocked here. You’d think that after talking all day it’d be easy to speak in front of a crowd–nope. I was speechless!

In addition to the $1,000.00 check, I was whisked away to have my picture taken, I was given an autographed football, a personalized 49ers jersey, and two tickets to watch the 49ers play the Dallas Cowboys at Levi Stadium on October 2. Before the game another fellow teacher and I threw out 49er swag to the crowd, we got to take a tour of the 49ers museum, and we got to purchase 49ers gear at the merchandise store.

I bet you’re wondering how all of this happened, right? Well, an awesome parent of a student I had last year nominated me to be a teacher hero. I still can’t believe it. Teaching is hard work (that’s an understatement), and to be recognized in this fashion is such a tremendous honor. In fact, while reading what the parent wrote about me I cried!

Thank you to Mrs. Moore, Symetra, the 49ers, and Wells Fargo for making me feel better than $1,000.00. I enjoyed myself at the game, and my students and I are excited to figure out the best way to make sure the money given to use goes to something awesome to enhance our learning.

Heroes Facebook page

Heroes Instagram page

Heroes website

49ers website

Check out a few more pictures from the assembly and the game below.

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You get 49ers gear! You get 49ers gear! Everyone gets 49ers gear!

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Eeeek! This jersey made me absolutely giddy. My husband was excited, too. hahaha

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See? Told you I was excited!

What a great day at Levi Stadium!

Google Summit and Student Work

Posted on September 13, 2015 by MrsLeonardo

A couple of weeks ago, RCSD‘s staff development department sent out an email to all district teachers about an upcoming optional professional development day at Krause Center for Innovation. Redwood City Education Foundation was going to make it possible for at least 10 teachers to attend the mini Google Summit event; I went to the larger Google Summit event at Gunn High School in Palo Alto two years ago, so I knew I had to make sure to be at the KCI event. The catch? Teachers had to apply for a chance to go.

As soon as I got home from our staff meeting, I typed up my answers, submitted them, and waited. A few days later I got an email and it said, “CONGRATULATIONS! YOU GET TO GO TO GOOGLE SUMMIT!” Woohoo! I enjoy learning about new ways to enhance my teaching, so I was excited to learn about new computer applications, ways to better my workflow (and my students’ workflow), and how to enhance student learning through my current blended learning model.

Yesterday (Saturday) I spent the entire day at Krause Center for Innovation learning about ways to use Google Apps for Education in the classroom. In the next few days I plan to implement a few new strategies, and I’ll write about the new sites I learned about, too.

Thank you, Redwood City Education Foundation!

Last week I introduced students to answering text-dependent questions using evidence from the text. This seemed to be a difficult task for many students because they wanted to write their answers using their opinions and thoughts.

I had an evidenced based poster I created last year, but when I went to look for it on my computer, I couldn’t find it! I ended up finding this poster on Teachers Pay Teachers, and while it isn’t the best way for students to write with evidence, it helped many students last week.

This week I am sharing Carlos’s work. Carlos did a great job using evidence to answer text-dependent questions. On Friday students watched CNN Student News and typed answers to three questions answered in the newscast. Carlos did a great job answering question number three.

Carlos, thank you for your effort!

Materials You’ll Need for 6th Grade English Language Arts

Posted on August 14, 2015 by MrsLeonardo

Oh my goodness! It’s that time of year again; back to school we go! While I was at Target right after the 4th of July, I happened to see the employees setting up all of the back to school supplies. There’s just something about shiny new binders, crisp folders, clean paper, and the smell of a brand new box of Crayola crayons. Woohoo! (Can you see I went just a little bit crazy at Office Max last week?)

As you’re preparing for your classes, be sure to read the list of materials I’d like for you to make sure you have with you on a daily basis. You can check out materials list here. Enjoy what’s left of your summer!

Come to Open House

Posted on May 25, 2015 by MrsLeonardo

Can you believe the school year is almost over? I can’t; wow! As we quickly wrap up the school year, I would love to have you visit our classroom during Kennedy’s Open House. This is a great time to peek in and see what students have been working on this trimester. You can also stop in and meet 7th grade teachers.

I plan to have our classroom’s green screen set up, and students can show friends and family how to record a video using the DoInk Greenscreen app. Students will also showcase work in GoogleClassroom, StoryBoardThat, Pixton, and Explain Everything. Coding Club participants will also show apps and websites they’ve created using Code.org, Codecademy, Khan Academy, and Scratch.

I hope to see you Thursday!

How I Tricked My Students on April Fools’ Day

Posted on April 1, 2015 by MrsLeonardo

Today is April Fools’ Day, and I just knew my students were going to be bombarding me with all kinds of foolish things; I wanted to join in on the fun. I perused Pinterest for ideas, and came up with absolutely nothing.

I found a gibberish document somewhere online and modified it for my students. When they entered the classroom I explained I had bad news. Mr. Paliughi (our principal) wanted me to make sure all students took an ELA Placement test ASAP; I explained that I couldn’t help them and I couldn’t answer any questions. I suggested they all read the document closely, use all of the reading strategies they learned throughout the year, and support their answers with evidence.

Once they logged on to Google Classroom, they got this document:

They got to work. They took this “ELA Placement” test seriously. I got a few blank stares and a ton of confused faces, but nearly every student tried their best to take this “test”!

I finally told them to scroll down and click the link to turn in their test, and that directive was met with, “WHAT?! I’m not finished!”

Once they clicked the link and saw the image below, several students shouted, “ARE YOU SERIOUS?”

It took a few students to drag themselves from racing to finish their placement test to realize it was all a joke.

🙂 🙂

Sorry, guys and girls!

Join Kennedy Middle School’s Coding Club

Posted on January 3, 2015 by MrsLeonardo

I’m so excited about Kennedy Middle School’s first computer programming club! We’ll be using Google CS First lesson plans to learn how coding is used in music and sound, fashion and design, storytelling, game design, and art!

Our very first meeting will be on Tuesday, January 27 in room 530. The club will begin at 3:15.

Space is limited, so be sure to sign up with me ASAP!

6th Graders Participate in Hour of Code

Posted on December 11, 2014 by MrsLeonardo

All students that attended school today participated in Hour of Code! What a fun, fun day! Read more about Hour of Code here. Many students enjoyed creating interactive games and products using tools on Code.org and Khan Academy.

D. from period one was stoked to create his on video game that he published to the web.

L. from period three created this Flappy Bird game. Play here. Good luck!

H. from period five created her own nifty Flappy Bird game. Batman! So cool!

This was so cool to watch. K was struggling with his code and he had no idea what to do next. His table partner stepped in when I had no idea what to do, and both boys figured out the error in the code, and made their video game work. AWESOME!