We're going on a trip, a Google Lit Trip, Zooming through the internet

Hopefully as you were reading the title you had the theme song to "Little Einsteins" pop into your head. If you didn't I linked to it on YouTube. I chose that title based because for this blog post I want to talk about a new twist on book reports and a way to make history come alive for kids. It is called a Google Lit Trip. In a nutshell a google lit trip is where you use google earth to show a journey from one point to another. As I learned about them while doing my Google certified educator work (something I highly recommend all teachers do by the way) I couldn't stop thinking about the many ways they could be used to jazz up everyday assignments in education.

For awhile now it has been pounded home that we need to start integrating technology into the work we do as educators. We need to move away from the traditional book reports, worksheets, PowerPoint presentations, etc. that we did as kids. However I get it there are a million excuses one can give as to why we don't (I have addressed this in pas blog posts). Yet doing a Google lit trip is probably the easiest way you can integrate technology into formative assessment. Yes it does require a computer and internet access but the beauty is that most students already have or can quickly pick up the skills to do one in no time. Most kids these days have played around with Google Earth and/or Google Maps and are familiar enough with search for places and navigating the tool. Also most are pretty familiar with searching the internet for information or at the very least you can teach them this valuable skill.  The only other skill/thing you may need show/teach them is how to pin locations and add info and pictures to that pin as well as share their lit trip. Although I can tell you from experience that is pretty easy to do and once they get understand how to do it they can do it with ease. The hardest part will be getting them to add info to their trip rather than search for places on Google Earth. In fact it is so easy to learn I will cover the basics in this blog post as well as include a screencast I use with my students.

There are 3 main parts to a Google Lit Trip:

1. What is your Lit Trip about
1. Historical figure's journey (Harriet Tubman's journey on the underground railroad)
2. Following the journey of a book character (Beremiz Samir's journey in the book "The Man who Counted")
3. Tracing the timeline of events (Civil Rights Movement)
2. Where are you going on your Lit Trip
1. Countries
2. States
3. Cities
3. What Info to include about each place on your Lit Trip
1. Facts
2. Pictures
3. Opinions
4. How will you share your Lit Trip
1. Link
2. email
3. Presentation

Once you know the answers to these questions it is time to start making your Lit Trip. To start I have kids plan out the places they are going and the information they are going to include in their lit trip. I have them do this on a google doc as an outline but it could be easily done using a spreadsheet to help organize info for students that need more structure. I have students include links to information they researched on the web as well as pictures they are going to use to include as references. Once this is done students then go to the Google Earth  website and launch it. After it is done launching then have them go to the projects link and start a new project. They can create a project or open a saved project from drive. It is important to have them give their project a title to make it easier to find later on. Now the fun begins. Using the outline students then start adding new features for the places they are visiting. They can add places or search for places once they have a place located they place a pin and then edit it to add in the info you want them to include. Once done they then move on to the next place and so on till they have added all their places. Along the way or afterwards they can add a line showing the route to each place. When they are all done and it is time to share their project either as a link or via email. When others want to watch their trip they simply open it up and click on present. Another option which I really like is to do it as a screencast. Students can open a screencasting app or extension (I have students use screencastify) and start recording then open their Lit Trip and narrate their journey. They can then save and share that as well. I really like this idea as it gives them practice not only sharing info verbally but also in a safe online format which is an essential employability skill.

There are websites out there that you can go and search for pre-made lit trips as well as have them made for you (which I include in the links below) but I think it is is more important to have kids develop their own. I also am including links to a screencast I use with students to show them how to create one as well as my podcast on this topic. I would love to hear and/or see how you are using Lit Trips in your classrooms with your students.

As all ways: Go Forth and Do Great Things!

Links: 
Podcast
Google Lit Trips site
Making a Lit Trip screencast

The Power of Projects

I have been writing for awhile now about my journey in education and sharing my thoughts and experiences. I am by no means and expert and struggle with the term master educator when people sometimes refer to me as such. I prefer the term life long learner. I am always learning new things especially from those new to the profession who have the gift of being shown the latest research in educational practice. It is also nice to see them come into the profession fresh and excited to teach. I am learning to check myself as a veteran teacher in telling them things to avoid and things to try as was done for me. I want to encourage them to try out what they know and see what works for them. I am doing this with a new member of my staff who is new to my department and school. I am also trying to learn from what they are doing and trying out rather than "showing them the ropes." I am also trying to learn from a fellow teacher who is what I could consider to be in the middle of their career. I am hoping to glean from both teachers more about their knowledge and mastery of having students do projects.

Every year when asked what kids will be doing in my class I tell people that we are changing it up from years past because I like to "drive my principal nuts" (he loves this by the way as I know he is watching/listening). This year was no different as I decided to delve into my past as a middle school student and bring back the experience of "shop" class. We started out the year learning about classroom procedures and then a month on the engineering process. After that I gave students a menu of projects they could work on and turned them loose. My expectation is that complete 1 project a month for a total of 3 projects. This is on-top of the 20% time project I have students work on throughout the semester. I was a little nervous in starting this endeavor as I though 1 project a month would be too much. However what I am finding is quite the opposite that 1 project a month may be too little. Also I am finding that when I give students the ability to work not constrained by a set "curriculum" their creativity start to flow a bit more. It is this creativity that I hope to stoke more and see what they may come up with down the road. I will admit I am struggling to keep up with the demand of sending projects to 3d print, vinyl creations to cut out, and feedback to give but I am managing.

In the managing of projects this is where I could use some help. In the past I have had students work on 1 project and all the same project usually through a set curriculum. It was easy for me to manage and students did ok but quickly got bored as they completed the steps ahead of others or were so far behind felt they couldn't catch up. As mentioned before I am the one trying to play catch up but in a presently surprised way. This is where I hope to learn more from our new teachers and those with experience in managing students working on multiple projects. 

Use this link to listen to a podcast version of this blog post.
The music in the podcast is protected under creative commons licensing. Attribution information is below:
Music from https://filmmusic.io
"Fearless First" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)