Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Tool #11
1. I love blogs now! I also love Big Labs. I will have students make an All About Me poster at the beginning of the year so I can start to know them and begin to build relationships. I will make one and share it first!
2. Having technology devices in my classroom will force me to think about how to incorporate them daily. The more I use them the more ideas I know I will come up with until it is just naturally part of my routine. I will also learn a lot from the kids. Creating something online that all of your classmates can see is more rewarding than a piece of paper that only your teacher sees.
3. I was equally surprised at how much I did and did not know. I am not as far behind as I thought but there is so much out there it is not possible to have seen and known it all. I am grateful to the district for providing us with so much online information. There are many resources and tools at my fingertips. I don't have to feel lost.
My school computer died. I am finishing this from my Mac at home. I wanted to take the self assessment on 21st Century skills from Atomic Learning but my computer would not allow it. When my Dell comes back to life I plan on doing that!
2. Having technology devices in my classroom will force me to think about how to incorporate them daily. The more I use them the more ideas I know I will come up with until it is just naturally part of my routine. I will also learn a lot from the kids. Creating something online that all of your classmates can see is more rewarding than a piece of paper that only your teacher sees.
3. I was equally surprised at how much I did and did not know. I am not as far behind as I thought but there is so much out there it is not possible to have seen and known it all. I am grateful to the district for providing us with so much online information. There are many resources and tools at my fingertips. I don't have to feel lost.
My school computer died. I am finishing this from my Mac at home. I wanted to take the self assessment on 21st Century skills from Atomic Learning but my computer would not allow it. When my Dell comes back to life I plan on doing that!
Tool #10
Wow I made it to 10! There are many things I want kids to know about Digital Citizenship but I will start them off with the basics and see what they know then we can move on from there.
1. First will be the benefits and risks of online talk. Learning from others is one of my great passions but it is pointed out that kids need to use "internal traffic lights" as it says in commonsense media.com. That is the inner voice you hear that may be telling you something is not right. If you think something is not right don't wait around, get off that site and stop communication.
Second part of security is protecting your personal information. Kids need to be taught how to think critically before giving out personal information and never sharing passwords. It can expose them and their families to identity theft and their media devices to viruses.
Third is that kids have large ongoing digital lives. They have constant access to it and interact with large numbers thru social media. When you open up to that kind of exposure you need to be selective and careful about what you share because once it is out there it can be seen by anyone.
2. A resource that I plan to use and mentioned above is commonsensemedia.org. It has great resources for students, teachers and parents. I will also use EdTech.
3. I will teach the idea of digital citizenship by first having students in groups brainstorm what they think it means and then share out. Once we do that we can separate ideas T-chart style into correct and incorrect or rewrite what they originally shared. They may want to share some personal experiences with the class. We can compare it to being a good citizen in general and see if there are any similarities. Then we can look at some things on commonsensemedia.org
4. I will share commonsensemedia.org with parents on my syllabus, during open house and on my Twitter account. It has many resources for them and is in Spanish and English.
1. First will be the benefits and risks of online talk. Learning from others is one of my great passions but it is pointed out that kids need to use "internal traffic lights" as it says in commonsense media.com. That is the inner voice you hear that may be telling you something is not right. If you think something is not right don't wait around, get off that site and stop communication.
Second part of security is protecting your personal information. Kids need to be taught how to think critically before giving out personal information and never sharing passwords. It can expose them and their families to identity theft and their media devices to viruses.
Third is that kids have large ongoing digital lives. They have constant access to it and interact with large numbers thru social media. When you open up to that kind of exposure you need to be selective and careful about what you share because once it is out there it can be seen by anyone.
2. A resource that I plan to use and mentioned above is commonsensemedia.org. It has great resources for students, teachers and parents. I will also use EdTech.
3. I will teach the idea of digital citizenship by first having students in groups brainstorm what they think it means and then share out. Once we do that we can separate ideas T-chart style into correct and incorrect or rewrite what they originally shared. They may want to share some personal experiences with the class. We can compare it to being a good citizen in general and see if there are any similarities. Then we can look at some things on commonsensemedia.org
4. I will share commonsensemedia.org with parents on my syllabus, during open house and on my Twitter account. It has many resources for them and is in Spanish and English.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Tool 9
1.I think it is important to tie technology to the objective because it encourages student thinking. The teacher is often the one giving all of the information. Using technology and having devices in the classroom readily available will take away having the teacher as the sole source of information. It opens up a whole world of knowledge to the students. It is not just taking place in the classroom.
2. Students need to be held accountable because there are many fun things to do on the computer and you can get lost and the whole class time will be over. Yes there are fun things to do on the computer but learning and collaboration must take the front seat to that. Hopefully students will think it is fun too! Students must be graded and tested on what they are learning. Accountability is a must.
3. Studyladder is AWESOME. It is full of student literacy activities as well as lesson plans.
Thinkfinity has excellent information for students. If they need to paraphrase something there is a page that explains to them exactly how to do that.
4. Story kit is a great app that allows students to rearrange stories and create their own new story.
Google books app offers access to over 2 million Google eBooks on your Ipad or Itouch. This would be a great classroom resource. Students all have different interests and it is impossible to have that many books available to them to serve all of their interests in the classroom. This will allow them more choices.
5. I would set up the Ipad as a station with a story starter on it. The students could pass it around and add to it. Then the story could be edited by them in the same way.
I would also put warm ups on it for kids to begin right away when they enter the room.
I could also have them text an answer to polleverywhere.com and use it as a class discussion.
2. Students need to be held accountable because there are many fun things to do on the computer and you can get lost and the whole class time will be over. Yes there are fun things to do on the computer but learning and collaboration must take the front seat to that. Hopefully students will think it is fun too! Students must be graded and tested on what they are learning. Accountability is a must.
3. Studyladder is AWESOME. It is full of student literacy activities as well as lesson plans.
Thinkfinity has excellent information for students. If they need to paraphrase something there is a page that explains to them exactly how to do that.
4. Story kit is a great app that allows students to rearrange stories and create their own new story.
Google books app offers access to over 2 million Google eBooks on your Ipad or Itouch. This would be a great classroom resource. Students all have different interests and it is impossible to have that many books available to them to serve all of their interests in the classroom. This will allow them more choices.
5. I would set up the Ipad as a station with a story starter on it. The students could pass it around and add to it. Then the story could be edited by them in the same way.
I would also put warm ups on it for kids to begin right away when they enter the room.
I could also have them text an answer to polleverywhere.com and use it as a class discussion.
Tool 8
I learned that Netbooks have a webcam.
I also learned that I need an ITunes account. I have always used it personally for music only. I now know that it has Podcasts, TV and movies.
I learned that students need to log in to all the Netbooks so that they do not need to use the same one every time they go to get one so that the login is quick for optimal use of time.
I will have a management system in place. I am sure it will be trial and error and greatly depends on the students I have. The list that was provided for us was very thorough. I plan to take from it. I definitely will have technicians who are in charge of setting up and putting away the devices.
I am most concerned with keeping the kids accountable for their work and managing their time. This is going to get better as I learn more about the devices and Tools next year.
I also learned that I need an ITunes account. I have always used it personally for music only. I now know that it has Podcasts, TV and movies.
I learned that students need to log in to all the Netbooks so that they do not need to use the same one every time they go to get one so that the login is quick for optimal use of time.
I will have a management system in place. I am sure it will be trial and error and greatly depends on the students I have. The list that was provided for us was very thorough. I plan to take from it. I definitely will have technicians who are in charge of setting up and putting away the devices.
I am most concerned with keeping the kids accountable for their work and managing their time. This is going to get better as I learn more about the devices and Tools next year.
Tool 7
Objective: NMS Students will collaborate with Yes Prep students to come up with rules and ideals for sharing a school so that there is harmony and collaboration.
I plan to implement this in the beginning of September. I will make contact with a Yes Prep teacher in August and begin making the plan with them.
The tools I plan to use are Google docs and Todays Meet. The Google docs will be for the actual rules the students want to implement and Todays Meet will be for sharing how we are working, collaborating and the ideas/problems we encounter during the class period.
Plan: The plan will include school rules, ideals and the overall feeling that the school should have based on our new partnership. If problems occur, how will we handle them?
I plan to implement this in the beginning of September. I will make contact with a Yes Prep teacher in August and begin making the plan with them.
The tools I plan to use are Google docs and Todays Meet. The Google docs will be for the actual rules the students want to implement and Todays Meet will be for sharing how we are working, collaborating and the ideas/problems we encounter during the class period.
Plan: The plan will include school rules, ideals and the overall feeling that the school should have based on our new partnership. If problems occur, how will we handle them?
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Tool 6
I set up an account in Today's Meet. It was very quick and easy. I love that you can share but it doesn't have to be orally in front of the class. Some students don't want to talk to the whole class and that prevents me from hearing their great ideas or them contributing to our class discussions. It can also be occurring in real time and I can see the feedback right then and there.
I tried Edmoto and could not make an account because I did not know my school code.
I then went to Poll Everywhere. This is an alternate to using Activotes I think. It was OK and very simple to make. It can only work if all students have a phone for texting. They don't always have one.
I tried Edmoto and could not make an account because I did not know my school code.
I then went to Poll Everywhere. This is an alternate to using Activotes I think. It was OK and very simple to make. It can only work if all students have a phone for texting. They don't always have one.
Tool 5
Making the magazine cover in Huge Labs was extremely easy. I did have to go back and edit it a few times to get the right picture and colors for the tag lines right. When I went to view the tutorial on Huge Labs it was blocked and said I had to disable safety mode.
This is a great way to introduce the guiding questions that go with each piece of content. The questions are given to the students at the beginning so they have the end in mind for what they will be learning this particular unit.
Adaptations by Amy Kirn
This is a great way to introduce the guiding questions that go with each piece of content. The questions are given to the students at the beginning so they have the end in mind for what they will be learning this particular unit.
I tried BookR and created a book on adaptations. This is great because science texts are often very long and technical. This allows me to create a book on a specific topic for students to make sure they learn the main idea of what is being taught. I can use the vocabulary, pictures and text I want.
Adaptations by Amy Kirn
Tool 3
As a science teacher I LOVE online videos and images. Many of the topics in science are things students cannot see directly or touch so it makes understanding the concept difficult. Using images and images with animation are great visuals in helping students grasp the concept of what they are learning. I use YouTube, Brain Pop and Discovery Ed almost daily. I love the fact that I can show only certain segments at different times in my lesson. Students don't want to sit through videos that are too long and have information that doesn't apply. The right part at the right time can really capture their attention.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Tool 4
Google docs/form can be used in the classroom for quizzes and tests. Students who have been absent can catch up with past work when it is available there. I can also share documents with teammates and the principal to show them what I am doing, share ideas and pass along information.
Tool 2
Personal networks are time consuming but very interesting. I was able to find a unit on hurricanes http://www.middleschoolscience.com/hurricane.htm at this site and it is a subject that I teach but don't have a lot of information on. It spurred me to continue looking at other teachers sites. I found some other things I have bookmarked to look at later.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Tool 1
I think the blog would be great to use with students who are maybe shy or not comfortable with sharing what they know in front of the class. This would become a voiceless sharing tool for the knowledge they have to share as well as questions they might have.
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