Virtual Field Trip

        Once again we feel so lucky to have the opportunity to use another new piece of technology, our Google Chromebooks, which help hook us up to our Google Drives. No surprise, the students of Sixth Grade City have jumped right in and become experts.
       If you haven't heard about what we are doing yet, each student now has access to their Google Drive, which we have been using to complete interactive assignments, share them easily with each other, and submit for easy grading and feedback. This is a web based drive, so students can start an assignment at school and easily continue it while it at home or anywhere they have access to the internet! Students will have this account throughout their whole time as a Hillsboro student.
       This past week we have taken advantage of our iPads, Google Drives, and Chromebooks (technology overload!) to go on the longest field trip of our lives…a virtual field trip that will follow the path of our main character of latest novel study, Esperanza, as she immigrates from Mexico to California. In order to do this we are using Google Earth to explore the journey she takes. It has been so engaging to actually explore the setting of the story, the city of Aguascalientes. Through the Google Lit Trip we are taking, we have also been able to read about the history of the Mexican Revolution, watch videos about Quincieneras, and even learn and review some Spanish words.

      

                            

                            

                             

                             

     After exploring Google Earth and reading the story, students are then logging into their Google Drives to answer comprehension question about what they have learned. Through this interactive document, the students are able to compose their answers, cite evidence from the text, and then share their documents with myself or others to encourage further discussion about the questions. So far the work I have seen demonstrates great critical thinking and shows their deep understanding of the story and the historical background that accompanies it.

                             

     I decided to ask the students what they thought about our adventures with technology this year, and everyone was more than willing to share their excitement. Hearing their responses continues to fill me with excitement, as well as fuel me to find new and exciting ways to incorporate technology into our daily lessons. Check out their thoughtful answers in the following video.

    I have truly appreciated the great attitudes and responsibility all the students have shown when

trying new technology. I don't want to think about how close we are to the end of the year, because we have so many more exciting things we can accomplish. Maybe with our Google Drives we can all continue to collaborate throughout the summer to keep our skills fresh and ready for 7th grade. Online Google Drive Summer book club anyone?