Using Edmodo in Fourth Through Eighth Grade

Last spring I tested Edmodo with the students. We have been using it in the fourth through eighth grade since September. There are so many things I like about it. Someone asked me last year why they might want to use it if they were already a Google Apps for Education school. I've been thinking about this question.

Teaching Students About Formal vs. Informal Spaces

There are many views on how formal a teacher chooses to keep the Edmodo space. At this point, I am insisting on proper capitalization, punctuation and avoiding texting short cuts. I've spoken with the different classes about the difference between how we choose to speak in formal situations such as in the classroom and informal situations like a backyard picnic. 

I shared the fact that people look at us differently in different situations. We need to become savvy about this in online spaces, too. I do not have the students using the Edmodo page like a Facebook wall. For my purposes, it fills up the screen with too many off-task messages.

Three Types of Assignments and Why

I have had three different types of assignments, so far.

Uploaded File

The first type is a project that has work that will be handed in and graded such as a word processing task completed in Open Office. I use Open Office to teach the students a variety of skills. Some examples include using tabs to set up a heading, checking for proper spacing between words and after punctuation, and handing in a well proofread document. I am finding great benefits to handing in the assignment through Edmodo. When I get home, I am able to download the document and save it with a different name. I use the highlighter tool to highlight mistakes of the same type in like colors. Then I use the same highlighter color and provides notes to the student on specific ways to improve.

Next, I upload my new version of the file on a comment back to the student in Edmodo assignment. I ask them to download the attached file. Read all the notes in the revised word processing document and think about one thing they can do to improve their work next time. In Edmodo, they type how they will improve next time as another comment. The next time they do a word processing assignment, I send them to their note in Edmodo to remind themselves what they planned to do to improve their skills.

Reply as a Comment

The second type of task is a project where the students do some research and provide answers to me in comments on the assignment. I have used this method in project work when my students researched partner schools in a collaboration. 

We are working on the Progressive Story wiki with four other schools. As an assignment, I asked the students to look at the school web sites for our partner schools and find one thing that is the same about both of our schools, one thing that is different between our schools, and one interesting thing about the other school.


Once they find their facts, they turn in the information as a comment on the assignment.

Check Point

The third type of task is a check point in the middle of a larger project. My eighth grade students are creating a presentation in Google Docs with a partner. The process involves finding and bookmarking images, importing images into the presentation, and writing speaker notes. I've added these three check points as Edmodo assignments. When a student completes one part of the assignment, they "turn in" that assignment with a comment that they have bookmarked all images, imported and added link backs to the images, or finished their speaker notes. In a glance, I can open Edmodo and see where each student is in the process.

Wrap Up

There are probably more things I can share. For now, this is a good recap of some of the aspects of Edmodo that are working for me in the computer lab.

Purposeful Work in Preschool

This year I am delighted to have the preschool three and four year old classes visiting my room. They are coming to do whole group and individual work on the computers. It's going to be an exciting new look at student learning from my perspective. I want to begin tracking our projects.

Finding Resources

The classroom teacher and I began thinking about the types of learning that the PreK3 students are doing in class. They are working on colors and shapes. I searched using Google's Advanced Search. My search terms were preschool shapes because I wanted both the word preschool and shapes on the page I would find. Under the File Type drop down list, I selected Shockwave Flash (.swf). A few hits down the list I came across an adorable game called Purpy's Shapes.

Here is an interesting aside: When I searched using the Advanced Search option and chose the link, I only get the game filling the whole browser screen. If I go directly to the sheppardsoftware.com web page, I still get the game, but it is surrounded by advertising. This makes the web page so much better for preschool children.


Once I knew that Sheppard Software had a great game, I went directly to their web site to investigate other flash games for preschool. I found Bloople's Colors. 

Whole Group Work - PreK3

The classroom teacher and I introduced the activity on the interactive whiteboard. We read the words on the screen and taught the children how to use the pen to select and drag items on the screen. They enjoyed the activity. I told the students we would work on my "big computer" this week and that they would return to work on the "little computers" next week. We started with Bloople's Colors.

Individual Work - PreK3

When the students returned, they learned how to sit on their bottoms on the chairs with wheels. I had them all raise their left hand and explained that they would need to press the left side of the mouse (the same side they had raised their hand) to make the mouse work. Most students had no problem. About a quarter of the three year old students needed extra help. To make life simple, I went to those computers and disabled the secondary mouse button. They will build those skills over the course of the year.

Whole Group Work - PreK4

The four year old students were working on patterns. Rather than using Kid Pix or Tux Paint to build patterns, I decided to use Kidspiration. The screen is much less cluttered and I felt they would be more likely to concentrate on the task rather than trying to draw.


As a whole group, I taught the students one step at a time how to use the Kidspiration program through increasingly more difficult patterns. I have the entire lesson on my lesson wiki.


Individual Work - PreK4
We followed up the group work one week later with individual work on the lab computers. The only thing I forgot to do was switch the icons to the bottom of the page to match the set up I used on the interactive whiteboard. They adapted quickly and had so much fun with their patterns.

Next Steps

It looks like the PreK3 and PreK4 students and teachers are enjoying their work in the computer lab. I will post more ideas as we continue through the year. I'm so excited to work with this age group!

Sharing Time

I am starting up a new wiki called Sharing Time. It is a based on a wiki that I have been using for the last three years called Time Zone Experiences. The previous wiki was originally set up by Lisa Parisi and Christine Southard. I'm moving to the new wiki because I want to take the project in a different direction. I still like the original premise, but thought I'd start anew. With Lisa's blessing, I'm looking forward to seeing where the project goes from here on Sharing Time.

Looking for Partners

The project is intended to help students and teachers work on several ISTE NETS standards and learn about time zones through comparing their school day with school days of other classes and students around the world.


The project begins within the walls of a school. Students do some research on their own into:
1) Why we have time zones
2) The name of our time for our school
3) Where in the world is the home of Greenwich Mean Time
4) How many hours ahead or behind GMT is the school


Currently, my fifth grade students are researching on their own and sharing their answers with me through a comment to an assignment posted in Edmodo.


Next I will break the two classes of fifth grade students into podcast teams.

Sharing Our Day

The podcast teams are going to write scripts about something that goes on during a time period of the school day. We will write about subject and specials classes and post the podcasts to the wiki.


My hope is to have several other classes in different time zones join with their own creative work to explain their time zones. It will be up to each individual school to decide how they would like to share their day. Some might choose to use Voki, others might use Voicethread, still others may choose a different tool such as drawings.


Once the sharing begins to happen, the teachers leading the projects can choose to set up a Skype session, Edmodo group, or other means to get the students sharing and asking questions about that part of the world.

Would You Like to Try This Project?

Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. I will be working on this project throughout the year until May 2012. If international partners outside the United States join us the project can continue until September 2012 when I will begin the project anew for our school year.


Sign up via the form on my wiki by either following this link or clicking the Join Us link on the left side of the wiki. I look forward to Sharing Time with you and your students.

Edmodo and the New School Year

This year I am starting to use Edmodo for grades four through eight. I used it for the first technology class of the year. I wanted to share some insights and ideas to keep in mind for next year.

Our Own Domain

I attended about five hours of the 2011 EdmodoCon online conference. It was a great way to learn more about how other educators are using the program. One feature is the ability to reserve a domain name for your school. It allows the administrator(s) to get analytic information about the use of Edmodo and communicate across the teachers and students at the school or district level.

The students are learning to type ourschoolname.edmodo.com to go to the web site. I am enjoying the comments students are leaving in the evening in response to feedback I have given them about the first project.

Basics of Edmodo

Many of the fifth, seventh, and eighth grade students tested Edmodo with me last May. We did not really scratch the surface of the program and there are new features that were released. My first assignment was similar across all grade levels. The students:
* Answered a poll question - unique to each grade depending on the feedback I was interested in receiving
* Shared their favorite mode of learning and a future career goal which is an option on their profile
* Searched the calendar to find the date that the first trimester ends
* Sent me a direct message with the date
* Clicked the "Turn In" link and sent me an "all finished" message

It's great to be able to send the students quick feedback on their work.

Submitting an Assignment File

My next task is to teach the students how to submit their work files through Edmodo. I wanted a simple task for fourth and fifth grade. I realized that their profile could use an avatar. I decided to see if I could give them a template through Kid Pix. It is a program they easily use.


I created a square that is outlined in black and filled with yellow. I put the Kid Pix file in my resource wiki in case someone else finds it useful. It needs to be downloaded and placed in the Shared - Idea Machine folder. I created a Grade4-5 sub folder to store the Avatar.kpx file.

To use the file in Kid Pix Deluxe 4 for Schools, the students click on the Idea Machine. Next, they double click the Grade4-5 folder, then double click the Avatar.kpx file.

I know many teachers use Tux Paint, too. I created a Tux Paint file and put it on my resource wiki. This file is a black outline with a transparent center since that is what is required by Tux Paint to allow a student to have their work to display on top of the template. If the template is white, the drawings and stamps hide under the template. On an OS X iMac, this is not a simple task. You have to know the following trick. Go to the Tux Paint application icon and right click (control click). Choose Show Package Contents from the menu. Open the Contents folder, navigate to the Resources folder, then the starters folder. This is where templates are placed; in this case, the Avatar.png file.


Students would click the New icon then scroll down the list until they see the black outline of a square.


The students enjoyed designing an avatar. We did not finish the task today. During our next class, the students will flatten any stickers and words, save the file, then submit the file to Edmodo.


There will be a follow-up assignment to save the image as a JPEG file. They will learn to use the settings link in Edmodo and browse for the image. In Kid Pix, I will place a shortcut to the Shared Users folder on the desktop for ease of locating the file. Kid Pix really buries the folder on the hard drive.


I'm looking forward to seeing all the colorful avatars in Edmodo next week.

My Brilliant Son

This week I started to prepare an idea for the bulletin boards in my room. There are so many apps that my sons and I use for the iTouch that I have not had an opportunity to share at school. My first thought was to photograph the iTouch with the app running when my brilliant oldest son came to my rescue. This makes twice in two weeks that my children have taken what I taught them, made it their own, and taught me something.

No Mom, Don't Take a Photo

Michael asked what I didn't just do a screen capture of the app I wanted. He showed me how to lightly tap the home button at the bottom of the iTouch while lightly tapping the power button at the top edge of the device. The screen flashed and the image was captured.

The resolution was fantastic. On his new iTouch the resolution is 533x800 pixels. The resolution on the iTouch I inherited from him (purchased in 2009) is 320x480 pixels. I brought them into Word and they look great!

Where Are the Photos?

My son showed me that the photos were in the Photo app on the iTouch. I figured that I would sync the iTouch and grab them off the iMac desktop. He asked me, "how about the Bump app?" I remembered hearing about the app on the Tech Chick Tips podcast. I didn't think of the app because I thought it was just used to swap contact information, but you can swap files, too.

It was fun to use the app, but my son said I was way too enthusiastic. He thought I was going to break the iTouch devices. Apparently, you just have to bump hands while holding the device.

I Guess I Still Have to Sync the iTouch

My son showed me how I could use the Photo app and just click the send icon on the bottom right corner of the screen. I emailed the images to myself and was set to create my bulletin board. I'll put photos of the finished boards up with this post as soon as I get the board together this week.

The Apps I'll Suggest to Students

Edmodo - Free - We'll be using it in computer class this year.
Flashcard Touch - $4.99 - I bought it for my sons so they can use their Quizlet card decks to study on the iTouch. My son told me he found out the card decks have to be public on Quizlet to use them on Flashcard Touch.
Grades 2 - Free - My son is excited about this one because you can plug in the weights as wells as the grades.
Mild Elements - Free - A periodic table with links to Wikipedia articles about the elements.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary - Free - He feels it is a valuable dictionary.
Convertbot - $1.99 - My son got this free through the "Free App a Day" and likes it for its ability to convert length, data size, currency, area, volume, time, temperature, speed, and mass between various units.
WolframAlpha - $1.99 - I think I purchased this one for my sons. I believe it has so many different uses and is a very versatile app.
YouVersion Bible - Free - Since my son is at a Jesuit school, the bible is indispensable. He found a version (among the many in the app) that matches his school bible.
Dragon Dictation - Free - A great app to record (and have typed) a quick memo.
Children's Bible - Free - I haven't looked too closely, but I wanted some apps for the youngest students
Evernote - Free - I may mention this site to the eighth grade students as they get ready to leave for high school, so I thought I'd include it on the board.
24/7 Tutor: Spanish - Free - I wanted an app for the Spanish language taught in our school. This was free, I played around with it, and found it to be useful.
Starfall - ??? - The students really enjoy the Starfall.com ABCs.I found that they have a couple of apps. When I tried to download them at the iTunes store, I received a message that they were not available in the United States. I sent them a message and got a quick reply that the should be available through the U.S. app store shortly. I'll certainly add those apps to my board once I can download them.


There may be other apps that I will include on the board over time, but this gives me a great start and a fresh bulletin board for the new school year.