Digital stickers are so much fun – but how do you keep them?
The old fashioned way, with a digital twist – in a digital STICKER BOOK!
How to use in Seesaw:
Create a folder named ‘STICKER BOOK’
2. Upload a sticker book PNG image to your library (click on the big GREEN + sign and Assign Activity)
3. Assign to your class and put into the ‘STICKER BOOK’ folder, with instructions for your students to personalise their sticker book by adding their name.
4. It will show in your students’ ACTIVITIES when they log in.
5. Important: Once students have opened and SAVED their sticker book it will appear for you to approve.
6. Now, as other work is approved, you can add a sticker to individual student’s sticker books. edit by clicking on the three dots, add a digital sticker, and save.
Digital stickers are in my Top 5 cool things to come out of distance learning!
Not only are digital stickers a way of staying connected and building relationship with our students, but they are also a huge money saver for teachers! You can use them again, and again, and again.
Another awesome thing about digital stickers is if there is a particular sticker that is a favourite (there is always one!), then you don’t have to skimp on handing it out! Nobody wants disappointed faces! Hooray!
So how do you use DIGITAL STICKERS? Well, they can be added to any piece of digital work that can be edited! So if you use Google Classroom, you simply edit the student’s submitted work and add a sticker!
I use digital stickers in my Seesaw classroom. You can see below some work that a student has completed.
To add a digital sticker to Seesaw:
Click on the three dots at the bottom-right of the student work screen.
2. Select EDIT ITEM
3. Select the CAMERA icon
4. Find your purchased digital stickers in your computer files. Digital stickers come as .PNG files, so they have a transparent background – select the .PNG file/sticker that you want to use and click OPEN.
5. You digital sticker will then be inserted to the student’s work file. You may need to resize the sticker.
6. You can also add a text box so that you can add a comment about the student’s work!
7. Finally click on the green tick icon at the top right of the screen. Now your student can see your comment and their new digital sticker! Some students like to ‘collect’ stickers and put them in a digital ‘sticker book’.
So that’s how you add DIGITAL stickers to student work. It’s as easy as inserting an image into a PowerPoint, but goes a long way towards student engagement and excitement when learning online.
Alright, I’ll be the first to admit that playdough club isn’t a real club. I’m not even sure WHY we call it playdough club.
What I DO know is that playdough club is a fantastic way to foster parental involvement, and save yourself time. It’s also systems like this that make parents exclaim, “WOW. Brady’s teacher is SO organised!” They will think you are a total teaching ROCK STAR!
So WHAT is playdough club and HOW does it work?
Playdough club asks your parents to volunteer to make your class playdough. Playdough is hugely creative, manipulative, exciting and so useful in all areas of the curriculum. Sadly, batches don’t last that long when 20-30 little hands are playing with it day in, day out. That’s where your parents come in!
Simply hang my free printable on your class noticeboard, or email a copy of the pdf home, to introduce the club. Then ask parents to volunteer a date they would be happy to make the dough for. You could choose a calendar date, or week of term. Parents who can’t come in to sign up can email you their preferred date for you to write on the form – heck they can even send in STORE-BOUGHT playdough!
Once you have your volunteers, organise a schedule and send home your thank you notes, which include an awesome recipe.
Put a reminder of who is scheduled for the following week in your weekly newsletter, and watch the playdough roll in!
I like to store my dough in Chinese food containers, and in the fridge if you are lucky enough to have one (In Australia we are sometimes lucky to have a small fridge in our building block, not just in the staffroom.).
You can ask for a combination of colours and write this on the top of your note, or just let parents choose.
Bump It Up Walls are not just a trendy concept; they are a fantastic tool to make learning visible and interactive in your classroom. In this blog post, let’s explore how Bump It Up Walls can revolutionise your teaching approach, create a dynamic learning environment, and empower your students.
The Research Behind Bump It Up Walls
Wondering what the research says about Bump It Up Walls? We were also wondering this, so we dug a little deeper and found some links to research. You can read about the links to evidence supporting the effectiveness of this tool in enhancing student learning in this post. You’ll discover how Bump It Up Walls contribute to clearer learning intentions and serve as a valuable ‘third teacher’ in the classroom, especially when you’re occupied with other students.
Setting Up Your Bump It Up Wall: Simple and Effective Tips
Curious about how to set up a Bump It Up Wall in your classroom? Check out our post , which includes practical tips and easy-to-follow steps. From finding or creating levelled examples to setting up the display, learn the ropes of creating an engaging and informative Bump It Up Wall that resonates with your students.
Using Bump It Up Walls
So, one the display is up, how do I use Bump It Up Walls in the classroom? Read our tips (with links to further reading) to learn how!
1. Find good work samples
At the beginning of each unit, I look for worked examples to use as levelled texts on my Bump It Up Wall display. I may also write them myself if I can’t find good examples or past student work to display.
While writing them myself is more time consuming, it also gives me a deeper understanding of the task. If you have the time, give it a go. If you don’t have time to write your own samples, download some of ours.
Co-constructing is also important (and we’ll cover that later), but immersion in good quality texts is key. Showing students ‘what a good one looks like’ helps you to teach to the ‘A’ and establish high standards from the get-go!
Bump It Up Wall using Teachie Tings Clipart
2. Complete a pre-test and introduce the Bump It Up Wall concept to students
At the beginning of a unit, normally the end of week one, I will collect a student (pre-test) work sample from each of my students. I like to use this as a base line of where the students were at before the unit begins. However, students will need to at least be familiar with the text type or genre that they are writing to complete the pre-test.
Once the sample is created, I will introduce the bump it up wall, learning intentions, and the work samples. I deconstruct each work sample as a whole class, and we also deconstruct, annotate and analyse lots of different examples to identify success criteria and WAGOLL (What a good one looks like).
3. Introducing feedback
In week two, I mark and return each student’s pre-test sample, along with some feedback. Normally feedback is verbal and I will help them to write one thing that they can improve on a post-it note. They can refer back to it later or add it to our Learning Wall.
Then, I ask students to determine where they currently sit on the bump it up wall (which worked example best represents their current ability?). They can label themselves using tags I have created with their names on, or anonymously with a picture they have drawn (and their name on the back for my reference).
Co-constructing success critieria
3. Moving through the learning cycle
Once the sample is collected and the Learning Intention, initial Success Criteria and the Bump It Up Wall are introduced, I begin teaching my unit!
Throughout the teaching and learning cycle, I reference the bump it up wall and encourage students to see how they can improve their writing. The language we use remains the same, students know where they need to go and HOW to get there – it’s powerful stuff!
We also co-construct success criteria and example texts together. Once success criteria are decided on and added to our wall, they become the foundation of our student checklist – a more robust means of giving students feedback.
Personally, I’ve also found that bump it up walls keep my teaching on track.
MUST DO: I conduct almost weekly check-ins with my students where I collect a work sample (for narratives this may be a weekly story they have written or just one paragraph such as the conclusion) and give either written or verbal feedback, with a goal slip that they keep on their desk.
Sometimes our weekly goal is a WHOLE CLASS GOAL, such as sentence boundary punctuation, and sometimes it is very individual (e.g. letter reversal). This comes down to knowing your class and individual needs.
4. Bump It Up Walls in Assessments
I often leave the entire wall up during assessments (negotiate this with your teaching team), allowing students to reference the wall if need be.
You can see how it empowers students to refer back to the wall for guidance and reinforcement during crucial evaluation moments
In Conclusion: Bump It Up Walls as Classroom Allies
In conclusion, Bump It Up Walls aren’t just decorations; they are dynamic allies in your teaching arsenal and my number 1 tool to improve student success in the classroom. It’s not just a wall; it’s a pathway to visible, engaging, and impactful learning.
2. Select EDIT ITEM
