Your Vote Counts!

I love making my classroom as "hands-on" and "real-world" as possible. Learning should never be limited to the classroom, and students must be taught early in their lives that every aspect of life is a learning opportunity.

With the 2016 Presidential Election season in high gear, it is a key real-world event to bring into the classroom. While many current students cannot vote in this elections, they will be eligible to vote in the next election (2020). I teach eighth graders, so all of my students will be able to vote in the 2020 election. Now is the time to teach their generation the importance of voting and how to understand the issues America is facing. 

With the end of the year approaching, I created a unit centered around the 2016 presidential election where students can hone their debate and communication skills and continue practicing researching and writing. My students sunk their teeth in on day one, and they haven't let go! I have been pleasantly surprised at the number of students who have gone home to continue class discussions with their families and brought back more information and influences. It has sparked heated discussions between thirteen to fourteen year olds! 

We are gearing up for fishbowl debates on Education, Energy & Oil, Foreign Policy, Gun Control, Health Care, Immigration, Social Security, War & Peace, and Welfare & Poverty this week. The unit is for sale on Teachers Pay Teachers (check it out!). 

Dolphin Tank

We are the Dolphins (Fear the Fin!), so we decided to hold Dolphin Tank projects this year. Similar to the hit show Shark Tank, our students create a product, project, or service and present their idea to the community during Fine Arts Night. The winning group continues on to have their project funded using a crowd funding site.

This year the theme of Dolphin Tank was service learning. Students worked in groups of 3-4 to create something beneficial for our community. Project ideas ranged from products, like sunscreen machines (we are a beach community), to services, like a giving tree (year-round go to the fire department and submit a need then community members can pick your item to buy and leave at the giving tree for you to pick up), to projects, like hygiene bags for the homeless. They were extremely creative, and we were all very proud. (All 8th grade students completed a Dolphin Tank service learning project.)

I created an interactive center to help students prepare for and work through the Dolphin Tank unit:

Students presented their Dolphin Tank project through their ELA class. The top 3 groups from the entire eighth grade were selected to present at Fine Arts Night. Fine Arts Night includes a performance by the band and theatre students as well as an Art Show. It is always a wonderful night to show off the great things happening at our school! Especially since parents aren't as involved at the middle school level as they are at the elementary level. 

Our winning presentation group can be watched by clicking here.

This group has already spoken to many community members and started a Kick Starter. They are well on their way to making their project a reality.

I plan to post a Dolphin Tank bundle to my TPT store within the next few weeks! Keep your eyes open for this wonderful project! It can be used for realistic projects (like we did) or imaginary invention type projects.

Celly VS Remind - Classroom Communication

For the past several years, I have used Remind in my classroom, but at the GRITC conference I was introduced to Celly. They both offer a great resource for connecting with students outside of class time, but they have different features. What is the best fit for your classroom? Let's have a look!

The below information is what I have found through online articles and using the sites myself. If you have additional or different information, please share! I am still learning.

Remind

I'm starting with Remind because it is my tried and true platform. 

Remind started as a one-way text/email service, but they have recently added a chat feature. The one-way messaging is a great way to get a message out quickly without having to reveal your phone number, worrying about replies, or typing in emails one by one. I've enjoyed using this to remind students and parents about due dates, field trips, and upcoming events. 

The new chat feature opens the floor for one-to-one communication. Teachers initiate a chat session with a student (or if you change your settings, students can initiate the chat), and they can essentially email each other via Remind. I don't find this feature useful to me as I already have my school email address forwarded to my iPhone, and I can reply quickly from there when I am available. 

Students and parents sign up for Remind by texting a class code to a specific number or sending an email to the class code email address. No account is needed and sign up takes only a few seconds. This is very useful as creating an account takes time and no one needs another password to remember. Remind also has an app students/parents can download and messages can be read from there.

You can also schedule Remind messages to go out (I typically schedule a set of messages for the week on Monday) and add attachments to the message.

Celly

Celly is very new to me. We used it at GRITC, and I enjoyed it! I played around a lot, joined a few education topic cells, and began reading reviews. 

With Celly, you create "cells" or groups. Students join the cell, and everyone in the cell can chat together. Collaboration is key to a successful classroom! Celly also offers private chats for one-to-one communication. 

There are three cell types in Celly:

1. "Curator" - The cell creator (teacher) receives all messages privately first - then he/she decides if the message needs to be sent to the whole group or left private. (This is my favorite for classroom use.)
2. "Open" - All messages are sent to the entire group.
3. "Alert Only" - Only the cell creator can send messages - no one can reply. (Great for large groups where replies would be overwhelming.)

Celly provides a joining guide for parents and students.  It can be accessed through the website, app, or text messages. If you use the website or app, you must create an account. You do not need an account to use the text feature.

Celly also offers options to send attachments, photos, and POLLS! I love the idea of the poll feature. You can also schedule messages.

This program will be wonderful for classroom collaboration. Students can answer each other's questions (as I approve the message), make comments on readings and homework, and see that everyone needs to ask a question sometimes!

Pros/Cons

Remind - Pros

• No account needed for sign up
• One-way messaging feature is fast, simple
• Schedule messages
• Add attachments

Celly - Pros

• COLLABORATION
• Different cell types for different situations
• Mass messages can still be sent to the class
• Add attachments/photos
• Send polls

Remind - Cons

• "Chat" is the equivalent to email (I don't need another place to check)
• No Polls (without app)
• Lacking collaboration

Celly - Cons

• I have not experienced the text feature yet, but I feel it may be overwhelming if you are a part of several cells and receiving texts for all messages.
• Creating an account to use the app/website can take time and may deter parents from signing up.

Both programs offer great resources for the classroom! This year I am going to venture out with Celly and see where it takes us. I can still send mass messages like Remind, but it also opens the floor for collaboration and students to ask questions that can benefit the entire class at once. 

What about you? Do you use Remind? Do you use Celly? Are you thinking of switching from one to the other? I want to hear about it!