Madness into Mastery

Project Summary

When our district decided to do a one-to-one conversion at the elementary with iPads, I was not hesitant and wanted to learn how to use this tool to enhance teaching and learning. I knew that there would be many successes and struggles throughout the process. One struggle that really bothered me was that children seemed to stop reading so that they could get on their iPads to play a Bloxel game. When we decided to tell our children that they could not get on Bloxels and play, they would then sneak onto Bloxels. I then decided that maybe I needed to turn this lemon into lemonade, educate myself about it, and find a way to incorporate something they love into something educational. That was my inspiration for my Polaris Project. I decided that I would use Bloxels to increase engagement in social studies. This is a class where engagement usually isn't a huge issue, but when we learn about the westward expansion of the U.S , they only seem interested in the gold rush. I also want them to be empathetic to the struggles during the westward movement. The children used their knowledge of the movement westward to design their own Oregon Trail game. Not only did this increase engagement and academic learning, the children were able to collaborate and be creators.

Slide Deck

Melinda Webster - Polaris Project Digital Notebook

Personal Reflection

In order to be a competent, exceptional teacher, one must remain a learner and be relevant. From this project, I learned that teachers must be willing to be flexible and be willing to change. I need to continue to look at my students' interests and capitalize on these to increase student engagement which in turn, increases student learning. As a teacher, I like to be in control of all of the teaching. However, this is not going to foster creativity and innovation. Children must be given a license to learn.

During the course of this project, I was astounded by the excitement in the classroom. I had a parent E-mail asking me asking what time I was doing Bloxels that day and if I could switch the time because her child had to leave for an appointment. The children stayed on task and created unique characters. Children started asking other groups questions if they needed help instead of having me be the point person. Many children started to explore the program on a deeper level by trying to answer questions.

This was such a success in my classroom! There were some hiccups along the way. Some children had lost their entire project when we had district updates. I now know that children should screen record there work each day in case it is lost, or we should get parent permission to create an account. When I assess, I need to create a checklist rubric for them. I thought their planning notebook would suffice for this, but I think it needed more. I also, think that when children share the projects with the class, everyone should complete a peer assessment.

Student Notebook

Bloxel Project Student Planning Notebook.pptx

Screen Recording

Photos

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