Today, I messed up. I tried something new and although it seemed to be going smoothly at first, it didn't end as well. I had my students use Educreations to record their learning on 3D shapes. I split my class into groups of two and with iPads in hand, we went out into the school on a shape hunt looking for 3D figures. We took lots of pictures and they were being so creative in where these objects could be found. Once we went back to class, I thought we'd put these pictures into Educreations and create a short little movie. We have used Educreations the past few weeks sharing their made structures and explaining how they built them. (Side note: our school has recently gotten 20 iPads to share - so using iPads is still a very new thing for us!) I thought that since we've had success with this app before, it would be a great app for them to use today. My Grade Ones were importing their pictures, creating a title page and were totally focused and completely learning by labelling and discussing their 3D figures. They were just about to get to the audio part when we realized the bell was about the ring and it was time for home!
OH NO!
1 group finished and were able to save.
Another group began their audio, but was interrupted by some noisy kids in hall getting ready for home. Turns out, you can't re-record...
The rest of the groups were not quite done and needed some more time another day, but it turns out, you can't save a draft...
These iPads are not ours - they are the schools. Other classes use them and have them signed out for the next few days. Educreations may be used by other classes, so I had to save what they did have done, even though it was not complete. It was a sad moment for me to realize their hard work of a final product was not possible from today's work.
It's not always about the product, it's about the process. I've been saying this to myself lately as our class is working through inquiry. I needed to remind myself of this as the realization of my mistake. Did my students find, discuss, compare and label 3D figures? ABSOLUTELY. It was hands on, engaging and purposeful. Some of my students didn't even realize they were doing MATH! The process was a success. The product? Not so much.
I am so proud of my Grade Ones and the things they are capable of - even if I can't share their learning with the world. At least this time. I've been told from a great twitter friend (@slfirstgrade ) that 30hands app is great for this. You can re-record audio and save draft files. When it's finished, it saves in your photo roll so easy to embed too!
Sometimes the best learning happens when you fail.
Jenni, I loved this post because not only did you reflect on what went well and what didn't, but you shared something that you could do the next time. I tell my students all the time that failure can be great if we learn from it. It's the learning that matters, and you did that!
ReplyDeleteI remember when you tweeted about Educreations, and I didn't realize you couldn't save your work either. I use this app all the time, so this was good advice indeed! Your mistake helped me out too -- thank you!
Aviva
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