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. 

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.

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?

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.

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. 



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.