I finished!!! Yea.
I have learned some new tools like Google Apps and the form tool for creating surveys. Wall wisher was another tool that I think can easily be used in the classroom to post opinions, thoughts, answers, or questions. I was happy to have a refresher on Animoto. The kids love putting these short videos together. I am really excited about having the ipads in the classroom. They will be useful for many things.
I would like for my students to create blogs this year. I would like to use the blogs to post their learning and showcase projects they have completed so they can be shared with others. I'm not sure how I will manage it all ,but I will try and learn many things along the way. The kids will love making their own Voki. The sound part makes it more interesting.
I don't think my vision has changed. I have always enjoyed using technology to enhance learning. Now I have more tools to use. I will now spend time going back and taking a closer look as some of the tools. I need to have a better understanding of how Diigo works. I think this will be a great place to store all my bookmarks.
The unexpected outcome was the test at the end. I don't like test!!!!!
It always amazes me as to how much is out there. I will go back and take a look at the courses offered on Atomic Learning for help and suggestions. I still have so much to learn.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
Tool 10
Digital Citizenship is very important. Just like we teach our students to be good citizens in the real world the same should apply to technology. Students need to be aware there are people out there that are not very nice. They need to be told what to do if they get into this situation. Students should be taught the Cyber bullying happens. They need to know from the beginning never to give out any personal information. If they get into a site that does not look good. Get out of it!!!! They must look out for these bullies and report it as soon as possible. They must also make sure they are not doing any of the bullying. Students should also be taught that all information on the internet is not correct. They must use their brain and think about what they are reading. They must also find multiple sources to back up information. Just because you read something on the internet don't believe everything with out researching it more. Students should also be aware of what the Acceptable Use Policy for SBISD actually says. They need to read the document and understand there are consequences for violation of this policy. I like the Brain Pop on Digital Citizenship. I plan to show this to my students. G. Moore also presents a lesson(flip chart) to our students on this topic. We need to bring the topic up more than once. We should review with students throughout the year. We do not want them to start feeling too comfortable. Parents and students are required to sign the Acceptable Use Policy for SBISD. After going over the paper with students, I will encourage the kids to talk to their parents about the paper. If parents are willing they should also watch the Brain Pop clip.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Tool 9
1. Why do you think it is important to tie the technology to the objective?
We have so much to cover in a year. Technology should be our friend. Once an objective is taught, technology can be used to reinforce the objective taught. Technology needs to be used as a tool to enhance student learning. When technology is tied to an objective it helps the students learn and remember. It keeps them alert and wanting to do more. They never have a chance to get bored with learning.
2. Why should we hold students accountable for the stations/centers?
Students need to know they are not just playing. The stations/centers serve to review objectives taught or to explore and learn new things. After completing a technology activity, they need to be able to explain what they did and how it might have helped them. All time is very valuable and needs to be accounted for.
3. Visit 2 of the applicable links to interactive websites for your content/grade level. Which sites did you like. How could you use them as stations? How can you hold the students accountable for their time in these stations?
I visited several sites. I liked Tutpup because it was a way for students to compete in fun with educational games against other kids. Students tend to be very competitive and love a challenge. This site had many ways to compete on quick recall of facts. I can see our kids really getting into this. You must register for an account. Students could use this in a station to practice quick recall of their facts and then record who won the game. They must also tell what set of facts they practiced. They could come back to this site and see if they made improvements. Then record that information too.
I also liked Learninggamesforkids.com. This site had leveled math games. In fourth grade it included algebraic terms, data and statistics, geometry terms, and math terms. What a great way to review geometry terms. Geometry terms have to memorized and students sometimes fail to take the time to do it. This would be a fun way of reviewing the terms and helping to remember them. After using this site in a center, the students should write what they learned. This will reinforce those terms again.
I also noticed several of the sites given under tool 9 were set up to be used with white boards. What a wonderful way to introduce an objective.
4. List two to three apps you found for the iPod Touch/iPad that you can use in your classroom. What do you see that station looking like? How can you hold the students accountable for their time in these stations?
Wow! There is so much out there. I went to the Ed Tech site to look for approved apps and found many that I liked. It was nice to have a list of those that other educations liked. You can spend hours looking. I'm glad our district has a place to share findings. Here is what I liked:
ABC Cursive- Kids can trace cursive letters for practice. Somehow cursive handwriting gets left out. Kids want to learn and they usually learn the letters incorrectly. This is a wonderful app for forming cursive letters correctly. After using this app, students could write a short paragraph in cursive showing what they learned.
I found several with Everyday Mathematics.
Baseball is used to practice multiplication facts. It can be played with another player. This app walks you through what you need to do. It has a total of 3 innings and will create outs so the other person has a chance. They score is determined by how large the product is to the problem that was given. Lots of fun. Once again students get to compete with a classmate. Once finished they would need to write what they did and record who won.
Top It deals two cards to each player. Then each player must find their sum and compare their sum to a partner using greater than, less than or equal signs. Scores are given for the correct sum and the highest sum. Great way to practice two skill: adding and comparing.
Equivalent Fractions is played alone. You must compare fraction cards to find a set of equivalent fractions. Points are given when a pair of equivalent fractions is found. I like that students can move cards side by side to see if they have a match.
5. What about other ways to use the iPod Touch/iPad? Share another way you can see your students using the device as a station.
When looking around at many apps, I found a stopwatch. I thought this would be great for teachers to use when giving DRA. Sometimes our stopwatches on the clipboards did not work correctly.
I loaded many familiar games like: Uno, Hearts, Checkers, Solitaire, Farkle, Tic Tac Toe, Bowling, and Sudoku2 just for fun. They are games that keep the mind sharp and are fun to play.
I can also see students using the ipad as a research tool. They can use it to look up information and create products with it. I also found a Dictionary app. This will come in handy to look up words student don't know when reading. There are so many uses for an ipad in the classroom.
We have so much to cover in a year. Technology should be our friend. Once an objective is taught, technology can be used to reinforce the objective taught. Technology needs to be used as a tool to enhance student learning. When technology is tied to an objective it helps the students learn and remember. It keeps them alert and wanting to do more. They never have a chance to get bored with learning.
2. Why should we hold students accountable for the stations/centers?
Students need to know they are not just playing. The stations/centers serve to review objectives taught or to explore and learn new things. After completing a technology activity, they need to be able to explain what they did and how it might have helped them. All time is very valuable and needs to be accounted for.
3. Visit 2 of the applicable links to interactive websites for your content/grade level. Which sites did you like. How could you use them as stations? How can you hold the students accountable for their time in these stations?
I visited several sites. I liked Tutpup because it was a way for students to compete in fun with educational games against other kids. Students tend to be very competitive and love a challenge. This site had many ways to compete on quick recall of facts. I can see our kids really getting into this. You must register for an account. Students could use this in a station to practice quick recall of their facts and then record who won the game. They must also tell what set of facts they practiced. They could come back to this site and see if they made improvements. Then record that information too.
I also liked Learninggamesforkids.com. This site had leveled math games. In fourth grade it included algebraic terms, data and statistics, geometry terms, and math terms. What a great way to review geometry terms. Geometry terms have to memorized and students sometimes fail to take the time to do it. This would be a fun way of reviewing the terms and helping to remember them. After using this site in a center, the students should write what they learned. This will reinforce those terms again.
I also noticed several of the sites given under tool 9 were set up to be used with white boards. What a wonderful way to introduce an objective.
4. List two to three apps you found for the iPod Touch/iPad that you can use in your classroom. What do you see that station looking like? How can you hold the students accountable for their time in these stations?
Wow! There is so much out there. I went to the Ed Tech site to look for approved apps and found many that I liked. It was nice to have a list of those that other educations liked. You can spend hours looking. I'm glad our district has a place to share findings. Here is what I liked:
ABC Cursive- Kids can trace cursive letters for practice. Somehow cursive handwriting gets left out. Kids want to learn and they usually learn the letters incorrectly. This is a wonderful app for forming cursive letters correctly. After using this app, students could write a short paragraph in cursive showing what they learned.
I found several with Everyday Mathematics.
Baseball is used to practice multiplication facts. It can be played with another player. This app walks you through what you need to do. It has a total of 3 innings and will create outs so the other person has a chance. They score is determined by how large the product is to the problem that was given. Lots of fun. Once again students get to compete with a classmate. Once finished they would need to write what they did and record who won.
Top It deals two cards to each player. Then each player must find their sum and compare their sum to a partner using greater than, less than or equal signs. Scores are given for the correct sum and the highest sum. Great way to practice two skill: adding and comparing.
Equivalent Fractions is played alone. You must compare fraction cards to find a set of equivalent fractions. Points are given when a pair of equivalent fractions is found. I like that students can move cards side by side to see if they have a match.
5. What about other ways to use the iPod Touch/iPad? Share another way you can see your students using the device as a station.
When looking around at many apps, I found a stopwatch. I thought this would be great for teachers to use when giving DRA. Sometimes our stopwatches on the clipboards did not work correctly.
I loaded many familiar games like: Uno, Hearts, Checkers, Solitaire, Farkle, Tic Tac Toe, Bowling, and Sudoku2 just for fun. They are games that keep the mind sharp and are fun to play.
I can also see students using the ipad as a research tool. They can use it to look up information and create products with it. I also found a Dictionary app. This will come in handy to look up words student don't know when reading. There are so many uses for an ipad in the classroom.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tool 8
What I learned from the videos:
The Netbooks books have a SD card reader. Pictures from digital cameras can be downloaded easily.
Dell Webcam Central can snap pictures or make videos. It has a timer so all students could be included in a picture.
On the ipad you can make an app out of a web page you view often by adding it to home screen. You can take a picture of a web page by holding down the sleep (on/off) and home button at the same time. It will click and a picture has been taken.
There is an approved App list with suggestions on the educational technology web page.
I learned how to sync all the ipads to have the same information. I'm going to go back and look at itunes on my computer and make sure I have all the options selected. I should have watched the video before setting up my ipad.
Management:
This is very important. Kids love the new technology and will all want to use it. I like the idea of have students responsible for putting them up each afternoon and getting them out in the morning. I also like the idea of having students help others when there is a problem. I think rules for using the netbooks and ipads will need to be discussed before anyone is able to use them. A rotation will also need to be established so all students have a chance to use them. Once those rules are in place it should be smooth.
I am real excited about getting this new technology. I have had my own itouch for several years and have really enjoyed every part of it. Our classrooms will be turned around with the new devices. I'ts going to be a fun adventure!!!!!
The Netbooks books have a SD card reader. Pictures from digital cameras can be downloaded easily.
Dell Webcam Central can snap pictures or make videos. It has a timer so all students could be included in a picture.
On the ipad you can make an app out of a web page you view often by adding it to home screen. You can take a picture of a web page by holding down the sleep (on/off) and home button at the same time. It will click and a picture has been taken.
There is an approved App list with suggestions on the educational technology web page.
I learned how to sync all the ipads to have the same information. I'm going to go back and look at itunes on my computer and make sure I have all the options selected. I should have watched the video before setting up my ipad.
Management:
This is very important. Kids love the new technology and will all want to use it. I like the idea of have students responsible for putting them up each afternoon and getting them out in the morning. I also like the idea of having students help others when there is a problem. I think rules for using the netbooks and ipads will need to be discussed before anyone is able to use them. A rotation will also need to be established so all students have a chance to use them. Once those rules are in place it should be smooth.
I am real excited about getting this new technology. I have had my own itouch for several years and have really enjoyed every part of it. Our classrooms will be turned around with the new devices. I'ts going to be a fun adventure!!!!!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Tool 7
This tool has to do with extending beyond the classroom. There are many project ideas out there. I spent time viewing different ideas from Taking It Global, iearn, One World Classrooms, and Educational World. I also enjoyed listening to the video clip of challenges when you go outside your classroom.
Content Objective: TX Cities
Plan to Implement: School year 2011-2012 probably around October
What Tools you Plan to Use: Google Doc, Google Form, Wallwisher, Wordle, and Animoto
Description: Select 4 major cities in Texas for the class to research. Student will work on a city in groups. They will use diigo to research sites I have collected. Then use a Google Doc to collect data as a group on their particular city. Students will use the following tools to show what they have learned: Wordle and Animoto. The group will make questions on Google Form about their city for others to answer after seeing and hearing their presentation. Wallwisher will be used to pose questions others might have about their city. It would be great if another class would choose a different 4 cities to research and then share between the classes.
Content Objective: TX Cities
Plan to Implement: School year 2011-2012 probably around October
What Tools you Plan to Use: Google Doc, Google Form, Wallwisher, Wordle, and Animoto
Description: Select 4 major cities in Texas for the class to research. Student will work on a city in groups. They will use diigo to research sites I have collected. Then use a Google Doc to collect data as a group on their particular city. Students will use the following tools to show what they have learned: Wordle and Animoto. The group will make questions on Google Form about their city for others to answer after seeing and hearing their presentation. Wallwisher will be used to pose questions others might have about their city. It would be great if another class would choose a different 4 cities to research and then share between the classes.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Tool 6
Wallwisher
Wallwisher is very easy and I think the students would enjoy posting their comments under any given board on a sticky. They may even enjoy making a board themself for other to post on. I see this as a powerful tool. Once postings are made they could be shown on the activboard for all to view. It would be a fun way to get to know students at the beginning of the year.
Poll Everywhere: This was very easy to set up. However we have Activotes with our activboards and I think that is much easier. You then get instant results and everyone has an egg (activ vote). I don't see me using this tool that often since we already have something like this in place.
I signed up for a Diigo account. I watched a few videos on how it is used. I am a little overwhelmed now. I brought my favorites/bookmarks in Diigo. Not sure what I should do next. It looks like they are just listed like in Internet Explorer. I will need some time to work on this. I am really confused now. I'll have to come back to this site later.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Tool 5
After working for some time on my PC at home. I realized I had a problem even though I was using Google Chrome. It would not let me embed anything into my blog. I tried many things then decided to get out the school lap top and in no time I embedded my Wordle. I should have been using the school lap top from the beginning. I spent too much time playing with it on my PC. I guess I have an Outdated Google Chrome. I'm glad they re-imaged out lap tops before starting this project.
I had fun using Wordle. I used words from my recent trip to New York City. This could be use to see what students know before a unit of study and after a unit to see what they have learned. Very easy and does not take much time to create.
I then went to Animoto. I have not used this in a long time. It was easy too. I had to select only 12 pictures since we have the free version. I wanted to find music to New York New York but was not able to do so. I went to the internet to look for a free version of this song, but all I could find was the words. I'm sure there is a site to visit for free down loads. Guusje showed this to me several years ago, but I could not remember. If you don't use it you forget. Animoto seems to take a long time to publish your video. I decided to come type by blog while waiting for it to publish. I hope I will be able to embed it into my blog. This program could be used after studying a unit. I think the student would enjoy showing what they learned.
I love Big Huge Labs and have used them for several years. We made Texas City trading Cards and Texas Hero Trading Cards. The kids loved it. I like the fact that the number of words are limited. That way you know kids are having to put important facts in their own words. I have also use Magazine Covers. We made magazine covers for our Indian Reports. Once again kids had to come up with questions for the front cover and then make sure it was included in their report. If I remember correctly, students had to have an email address for the Magazine Covers. We made collages showing anything about Texas History. This was an end of unit project. The collages included people, TX Landmarks, and anything else we might have studied about TX History. The kids were very proud of their end product. The students had to log in with their email account to use this tool. Once we got past that part it was very easy. Tons of fun!!!!!
I had fun using Wordle. I used words from my recent trip to New York City. This could be use to see what students know before a unit of study and after a unit to see what they have learned. Very easy and does not take much time to create.
I then went to Animoto. I have not used this in a long time. It was easy too. I had to select only 12 pictures since we have the free version. I wanted to find music to New York New York but was not able to do so. I went to the internet to look for a free version of this song, but all I could find was the words. I'm sure there is a site to visit for free down loads. Guusje showed this to me several years ago, but I could not remember. If you don't use it you forget. Animoto seems to take a long time to publish your video. I decided to come type by blog while waiting for it to publish. I hope I will be able to embed it into my blog. This program could be used after studying a unit. I think the student would enjoy showing what they learned.
I love Big Huge Labs and have used them for several years. We made Texas City trading Cards and Texas Hero Trading Cards. The kids loved it. I like the fact that the number of words are limited. That way you know kids are having to put important facts in their own words. I have also use Magazine Covers. We made magazine covers for our Indian Reports. Once again kids had to come up with questions for the front cover and then make sure it was included in their report. If I remember correctly, students had to have an email address for the Magazine Covers. We made collages showing anything about Texas History. This was an end of unit project. The collages included people, TX Landmarks, and anything else we might have studied about TX History. The kids were very proud of their end product. The students had to log in with their email account to use this tool. Once we got past that part it was very easy. Tons of fun!!!!!
Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Tool 4
Google Apps has lots to offer. I especially like the Goggle Form on line question/survey tool. What a powerful tool to use with students!!! It could be used to gather information and the chart in out in a bar graph. The tool puts the information into a circle graph. Students would love to answer questions using this tool. I made a Travel Survey to practice. It seemed very easy. I'm not sure how to post it to this blog. I will try.
I also made a sample Google Doc. That was easy too. I like the fact that it can be sent to multiple people and each edit made will be sent to everyone. What a time saver. This could be used when teams are trying to plan or get information to everyone. Much faster than opening an attachment. Everyone can add info. or make changes until a final copy is composed. It saves your email from getting too clogged up.
I am not brave enough to give up my paper/pencil calendar, but like the idea of it. Maybe one day I will get brave enough to do so.
I also made a sample Google Doc. That was easy too. I like the fact that it can be sent to multiple people and each edit made will be sent to everyone. What a time saver. This could be used when teams are trying to plan or get information to everyone. Much faster than opening an attachment. Everyone can add info. or make changes until a final copy is composed. It saves your email from getting too clogged up.
I am not brave enough to give up my paper/pencil calendar, but like the idea of it. Maybe one day I will get brave enough to do so.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Tool 3
I spent lots of time viewing Teacher Tube, School Tube, Kids Tube. I found two videos that I might use at the beginning of school year. They are posted below. Cool! Place Value shows standard form of numbers, expanded form, and word form. It repeats with different numbers so you can get the idea of how to expand a number. The Scientific Method video show all the steps in conducting an experiment.
I then went to flickr to find a picture. I looked up New York city since I just returned from there and found a great picture of the skyline. I will post it for you to see too.
I learned that educators can use pictures for educational purposes without getting permission. This is good to know. We tend to copy pictures all the time.
I then went to flickr to find a picture. I looked up New York city since I just returned from there and found a great picture of the skyline. I will post it for you to see too.
I learned that educators can use pictures for educational purposes without getting permission. This is good to know. We tend to copy pictures all the time.
Tool 2
I like the idea of responding to people I know. When I took the 23 things I did not know any of the people. It seems easier to respond to the people I know. I learned from reading what other wrote. I decided I needed to go back at look at iauthor and ibook in classroom tools 2.0.
MJ gave the technology committee a short class on using delicious. I think I'm going to work on using delicious since I am more familiar with it. It is a great way to save your bookmarks and have them on any computer you might use. Diigo amazed me with what it could do, but I think I'll take baby steps for now.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Tool 1
After many hours I was able to find my blog from 23 things. Then I had to remember my password. Once I remembered my password I had to make some changes. I'm in and it is all working now!!!! Yea.
I made a Voki. This was new because voice could be added. I had to get some help from Guusje to save my Voki of my dog, Mia, because changes have been made since I last worked on my blog.
I made a Voki. This was new because voice could be added. I had to get some help from Guusje to save my Voki of my dog, Mia, because changes have been made since I last worked on my blog.
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