One of the main motivators for me to take this class was the fact that I'm getting a classroom set of Chromebooks this school year, and I wanted to be sure that I had some ideas of ways to use them within my classroom to enhance my students' learning. Mission accomplished! Though it was sometimes frustrating and time consuming (Google branching form... Ugh), I did learn a lot and was able to explore several tools that I really liked and foresee incorporating into my instruction. I think Kahoot! is going to be an excellent tool to engage my students while also using it as a quick assessment tool. I would also like to try using Socrative, though it's not quite as intuitive to me as Kahoot. After being part of a Webinar to understand Pear Deck enough to complete the associated Tech Nerd Camp Activity, I ended up being pretty proud of the Pear Deck presentation I made and do anticipate using it during my Spanish class (since I spent so much stinkin' time on it!). I will continue to use Google Forms as I have in the past, but now I'll be able to include more bells and whistles than before I took this class. And I'll be able to use Flubaroo!!! HOORAY! (Very excited for this!!). I just need to be careful not to overwhelm myself as I often have a tendency to do...!
Some of the tools we explored during this class I was "introduced" to during the year at various times, though it was basically a colleague giving a brief tuitorial during a staff meeting or something like that - a fire hose of information thrown at us without giving us much chance to actually explore and work with the tools. One such tools was Google Classroom. I was introduced to it during some professional development day, did a wee bit of exploration during the session, then attempted one menial task in my own classroom using it, never got any responses from students in my class, and then promptly gave up and never went back to it. However, now that I was forced to face my Google Classroom fears, I would like to try it again, though I'm not sure at what capacity I'll use it. I can say that I don't think I'll be creating many Google branching forms in the near future as that was much too time consuming and frustrating for my liking.
In terms of collaboration, I did end up liking the blog format, which was a surprise to me. I liked being able to read other people's posts, and getting ideas and tips from them. That was actually super helpful. I don't, however, think I'll make blogging a part of my normal classroom communication.
So, again, I'm thankful that I decided to take this course even though the Activities often took longer than I anticipated/desired. I learned a lot and my students will (hopefully) reap the benefits!
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Activity 9: Digital Citizenship
Scenario 2
Mr. Kirk is excited to use Google Apps for Education with his third grade students. He jumps in with both feet and his classes are off and running. Because he started so quickly, he never thought about putting policies and procedures in place. After a few weeks, students are spending more time off task than on. They are creating and sharing Docs as a way to bully each other, adding inappropriate comments in Google Classroom, and deleting or changing other students' work. Mr. Kirk doesn't know what to do, so he suspends all technology use in his class, abandoning it completely and any of its benefits.
Mr. Kirk is dealing with the ethical issues of cyber-bullying and inappropriate digital citizenship, as well as a class of students who are not using their class time to work, but instead to goof off. To prevent this from happening, Mr. Kirk should have created a code of conduct before beginning any work with technology. This way, students would know how to work ethically with technology, and they would know that following this code of conduct was an expectation, not a suggestion. Also, Mr. Kirk should have made students aware of consequences if they didn't adhere to the code of conduct - and follow through with these consequences if necessary. The consequences should be logical, while not taking away all use of technology if at all possible.
In the case of Mr. Kirk, I would suggest he temporarily take a break from technology while he goes over a code of conduct, with appropriate consequences, with his class. After this, he should "start over"/"rewind" the class' work with technology, while implementing and adhering to the code of conduct. Finally, Mr. Kirk should remind his students that there are many people (including their parents, teachers, and administrators) who are able to view what they post in Google Classroom, as well as other places on the Internet, and that they need to be very careful about what they post and share on forums such as these.
A situation similar to this happened to a student from my homeroom last year, not in a class I was teaching, but outside of school hours. There were many mean words and comments, causing many hurt feelings. Parents, teachers and administrators got involved, accounts were suspended and had to be earned back, and valuable lessons were learned.
Scenario 4
Mrs. Janeway decided to have her middle school students create digital projects then use Snagit to create video presentations of their projects. Mrs. Janeway discovered in the computer lab while her eighth grade students were creating their accounts that Snagit required parental permission for students under 13. This didn't pose a problem for her eighth graders, but Mrs. Janeway panicked because the following period she planned to do the same activity with her sixth graders.
By not having parental permission for her sixth-grade students to use Snagit, yet letting them use it anyways, Mrs. Janeway would not have been in compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protections Act (COPPA). Not only could this cause problems for Mrs. Janeway as a teacher, but it could also potentially cause problems for her school and the entire district. If she stopped at this point and did not continue with her original plan of having her sixth-graders use Snagit, then I don't think that anyone's safety or well-being would be in jeopardy. Mrs. Janeway would, however, have to quickly come up with an alternative class activity that she could use that didn't involve getting parental permission.
Though it can be time-consuming and a pain, it is important and necessary to check the terms of service and/or privacy policy of websites and tools that you desire to use in your classroom. If you know a few sites and tools that you anticipate using with your class during the school year, you could make up an "umbrella" parental permission form listing these sites and tools and have parents sign it at the beginning of the year before technology is used. A bit of extra time up front can save a lot of time and frustration on the tail end.
The only personal connection that I have to this incident is that, prior to this tech nerd camp, I didn't realize that there could be restrictions on some of the sites and tools that I may use during class. I also didn't know where I could find these restrictions and that there were different "tiers" of restrictions. Now I am aware of such things and the importance of checking these sites' privacy policy before using them with my class.
How can the Mounds View Resources help to implement high quality instructional practices with technology?
The Mounds View Resources give nice, clear guidelines for determining if a website or tool would be valuable for use in a classroom, as well as a procedure to check for restrictions for usage by our students while in our classrooms.
I also think it'd be valuable to have more specific training on how to safely and effectively use technology within our classrooms - perhaps a Tech coach? Prior to doing this activity, I didn't realize the restrictions that there could possibly be on some of the sites I use within my own class. I'm sure most other teachers in my building are in a similar position.
Finally, I think it'd be helpful to have some sort of template for a Code of Conduct that we could use and tweak to suit our needs for our classes. It's always easier to start from something (like a template) rather than starting from scratch. I'd love to have some sort of template letter that I could tweak to send home to parents at the beginning of the school year listing some of the most often used sites for our classes and requesting parental permission.
What is 1 procedure that you can implement in your class and what is one that you would like to implement in your whole PLC or whole building?
I am excited to try out the hand signals that Ryan talked about in his video linked on the Activity 10 page. I think that'll be a useful classroom management procedure to help me determine priority of needs. I also like the idea of have students who finish early "verify" other students' work so that students are not kept waiting to know if they're on the right track with their work.
Mr. Kirk is excited to use Google Apps for Education with his third grade students. He jumps in with both feet and his classes are off and running. Because he started so quickly, he never thought about putting policies and procedures in place. After a few weeks, students are spending more time off task than on. They are creating and sharing Docs as a way to bully each other, adding inappropriate comments in Google Classroom, and deleting or changing other students' work. Mr. Kirk doesn't know what to do, so he suspends all technology use in his class, abandoning it completely and any of its benefits.
Mr. Kirk is dealing with the ethical issues of cyber-bullying and inappropriate digital citizenship, as well as a class of students who are not using their class time to work, but instead to goof off. To prevent this from happening, Mr. Kirk should have created a code of conduct before beginning any work with technology. This way, students would know how to work ethically with technology, and they would know that following this code of conduct was an expectation, not a suggestion. Also, Mr. Kirk should have made students aware of consequences if they didn't adhere to the code of conduct - and follow through with these consequences if necessary. The consequences should be logical, while not taking away all use of technology if at all possible.
In the case of Mr. Kirk, I would suggest he temporarily take a break from technology while he goes over a code of conduct, with appropriate consequences, with his class. After this, he should "start over"/"rewind" the class' work with technology, while implementing and adhering to the code of conduct. Finally, Mr. Kirk should remind his students that there are many people (including their parents, teachers, and administrators) who are able to view what they post in Google Classroom, as well as other places on the Internet, and that they need to be very careful about what they post and share on forums such as these.
A situation similar to this happened to a student from my homeroom last year, not in a class I was teaching, but outside of school hours. There were many mean words and comments, causing many hurt feelings. Parents, teachers and administrators got involved, accounts were suspended and had to be earned back, and valuable lessons were learned.
Scenario 4
Mrs. Janeway decided to have her middle school students create digital projects then use Snagit to create video presentations of their projects. Mrs. Janeway discovered in the computer lab while her eighth grade students were creating their accounts that Snagit required parental permission for students under 13. This didn't pose a problem for her eighth graders, but Mrs. Janeway panicked because the following period she planned to do the same activity with her sixth graders.
By not having parental permission for her sixth-grade students to use Snagit, yet letting them use it anyways, Mrs. Janeway would not have been in compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protections Act (COPPA). Not only could this cause problems for Mrs. Janeway as a teacher, but it could also potentially cause problems for her school and the entire district. If she stopped at this point and did not continue with her original plan of having her sixth-graders use Snagit, then I don't think that anyone's safety or well-being would be in jeopardy. Mrs. Janeway would, however, have to quickly come up with an alternative class activity that she could use that didn't involve getting parental permission.
Though it can be time-consuming and a pain, it is important and necessary to check the terms of service and/or privacy policy of websites and tools that you desire to use in your classroom. If you know a few sites and tools that you anticipate using with your class during the school year, you could make up an "umbrella" parental permission form listing these sites and tools and have parents sign it at the beginning of the year before technology is used. A bit of extra time up front can save a lot of time and frustration on the tail end.
The only personal connection that I have to this incident is that, prior to this tech nerd camp, I didn't realize that there could be restrictions on some of the sites and tools that I may use during class. I also didn't know where I could find these restrictions and that there were different "tiers" of restrictions. Now I am aware of such things and the importance of checking these sites' privacy policy before using them with my class.
How can the Mounds View Resources help to implement high quality instructional practices with technology?
The Mounds View Resources give nice, clear guidelines for determining if a website or tool would be valuable for use in a classroom, as well as a procedure to check for restrictions for usage by our students while in our classrooms.
I also think it'd be valuable to have more specific training on how to safely and effectively use technology within our classrooms - perhaps a Tech coach? Prior to doing this activity, I didn't realize the restrictions that there could possibly be on some of the sites I use within my own class. I'm sure most other teachers in my building are in a similar position.
Finally, I think it'd be helpful to have some sort of template for a Code of Conduct that we could use and tweak to suit our needs for our classes. It's always easier to start from something (like a template) rather than starting from scratch. I'd love to have some sort of template letter that I could tweak to send home to parents at the beginning of the school year listing some of the most often used sites for our classes and requesting parental permission.
What is 1 procedure that you can implement in your class and what is one that you would like to implement in your whole PLC or whole building?
I am excited to try out the hand signals that Ryan talked about in his video linked on the Activity 10 page. I think that'll be a useful classroom management procedure to help me determine priority of needs. I also like the idea of have students who finish early "verify" other students' work so that students are not kept waiting to know if they're on the right track with their work.
I'm also going to be certain to talk about procedures and proper usage of technology in the classroom (forming a Code of Conduct), as well as consequences if these are not followed, before students will be allowed to use our Chromebooks. Hopefully this can eliminate issues that may otherwise occur. I will also be sure to send home some sort of letter at the beginning of the year requesting parental permission for websites and tools which we will use frequently throughout the year. These are things that I think would be very beneficial to develop as a PLC since we will all have Chromebooks, and will be using them frequently as instructional tools. I also like the idea of making a Code of Conduct poster to hang within the classroom. This would be a great visual for students, as well as for guest teachers that we may have during the year.
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Activity 10: Endgame Collaboration
As a group of 4th grade teachers from Island Lake and Valentine Hills, we chose to create a branching Google Form centered on Figurative Language. We included examples of three different ways to assess students' knowledge of figurative language (Google form, Kahoot!, and Pear Deck), as well as videos on how to use/access each of these tools.
Hopefully this will be useful!
Figurative Language Assessments
Hopefully this will be useful!
Figurative Language Assessments
Friday, August 14, 2015
Activity 8: Assessment Part 2
While I used Google Forms a few times last year, I made them pretty basic with just several different types of questions. I had never made a form with more than one page, nor with a video. Perhaps now that I know these features exist, and more importantly- how to use them, I can utilize them in forms I do this upcoming school year.
Figurative Language Form
As for Flubaroo -- LOVE IT!!! (x 1,000) How my life would have been changed last year had I known the power of Flubaroo! One of the reasons I gave up using Google forms last year was because it was hard, and very time consuming, to grade and give feedback to students/the class about their work. Now that I realize what Flubaroo can do and how to use it, it will be so much easier to quickly see which of my students understand the material, and which need more guidance - as well as guidance in which specific topics/areas/ideas. It will allow me to get a very clear - and very quick!- picture of where my students are with learning nearly any given concept. I can honestly say Flubaroo is a complete game-changer and has restored my desire to use Google forms in my classroom again.
Trees google form
Prior to this activity, I didn't know even what a branching form was. I can see how branching forms would be wonderful for differentiating instruction within a classroom, allowing students who have shown mastery of the material to continue progressing at a different rate than students who demonstrate a need for more explanation and practice of the same material. However, creating the branching form was SO time-consuming and frustrating, that I highly doubt that I would ever have enoughpatience time to actually make and use one within my classroom. I'm glad I had the opportunity to make a branching form, though it very well may be my last one (at least for a while... Never say never!).
Expanded Notation Branching Form
Figurative Language Form
As for Flubaroo -- LOVE IT!!! (x 1,000) How my life would have been changed last year had I known the power of Flubaroo! One of the reasons I gave up using Google forms last year was because it was hard, and very time consuming, to grade and give feedback to students/the class about their work. Now that I realize what Flubaroo can do and how to use it, it will be so much easier to quickly see which of my students understand the material, and which need more guidance - as well as guidance in which specific topics/areas/ideas. It will allow me to get a very clear - and very quick!- picture of where my students are with learning nearly any given concept. I can honestly say Flubaroo is a complete game-changer and has restored my desire to use Google forms in my classroom again.
Trees google form
Prior to this activity, I didn't know even what a branching form was. I can see how branching forms would be wonderful for differentiating instruction within a classroom, allowing students who have shown mastery of the material to continue progressing at a different rate than students who demonstrate a need for more explanation and practice of the same material. However, creating the branching form was SO time-consuming and frustrating, that I highly doubt that I would ever have enough
Expanded Notation Branching Form
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Activity 7: Assessment/Polling & Data Gathering: Part 1
Like several other things that tools/applications that we've worked with in previous activities, I'd been introduced to Kahoot! earlier this year, but never actually had the patience chance to try it during the year. After having explored it more during this activity, I think I'm really going to like using it in the classroom and I think the students will LOVE it! I can envision using it in Math, Literacy, and Spanish. Here are two Kahoot!s that I found, and edited to fit my needs for the first unit I teach in Spanish each year.
Colores
Saludos y Despedidas
Socrative seems cool so far, but not as intuitive for me as Kahoot. There are several features I really like about it, however. I love that you can print out a pdf of the quiz the students took online. Also, being able to group students based on their answers/results they gave within Socrative could come in very handy. I also like that it creates a chart with each question and codes the answers given by each student as correct/incorrect. This could potentially be a game changer when it comes to grading and forming small need-based focus groups!
I do have a few questions about Socrative, though. After I create a quiz, I don't fully understand how students will actually access the quiz and take it. Also, can I create a bunch of quizzes and exit slips ahead of time, and then just access them when I need them? Or do they become live as soon as I've completed them? Somehow, I both the quiz and exit slip became "live" immediately after I created them. Not quite sure how that happened..... does this automatically happen, or did I click something? Also, could this tool be used to have students take a quiz outside of class, like at home? If so, how does that work? The same way that they'd access a quiz in class? Does the room code change for every quiz, or is it always the same? How do I let students know what the code is for the quiz (especially if I want them to take it outside of class)?
So, all in all, I think Kahoot ans Socrative will be fun and engaging ways to assess my students this upcoming year. Hopefully, they'll also save me some grading time - after I explore and understand Socrative a bit more...
To access the student version of the Socrative quiz, go here: https://b.socrative.com/login/student/
The room code is: RKQRYRND
If you want a copy of it: SOC-16915906
Colores
Saludos y Despedidas
Socrative seems cool so far, but not as intuitive for me as Kahoot. There are several features I really like about it, however. I love that you can print out a pdf of the quiz the students took online. Also, being able to group students based on their answers/results they gave within Socrative could come in very handy. I also like that it creates a chart with each question and codes the answers given by each student as correct/incorrect. This could potentially be a game changer when it comes to grading and forming small need-based focus groups!
I do have a few questions about Socrative, though. After I create a quiz, I don't fully understand how students will actually access the quiz and take it. Also, can I create a bunch of quizzes and exit slips ahead of time, and then just access them when I need them? Or do they become live as soon as I've completed them? Somehow, I both the quiz and exit slip became "live" immediately after I created them. Not quite sure how that happened..... does this automatically happen, or did I click something? Also, could this tool be used to have students take a quiz outside of class, like at home? If so, how does that work? The same way that they'd access a quiz in class? Does the room code change for every quiz, or is it always the same? How do I let students know what the code is for the quiz (especially if I want them to take it outside of class)?
So, all in all, I think Kahoot ans Socrative will be fun and engaging ways to assess my students this upcoming year. Hopefully, they'll also save me some grading time - after I explore and understand Socrative a bit more...
To access the student version of the Socrative quiz, go here: https://b.socrative.com/login/student/
The room code is: RKQRYRND
If you want a copy of it: SOC-16915906
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Activity 6: Google Classroom
I wish I could say that I've been able to use Google Classroom in the past and have loved it. However, even though I had a few tutorials last year on how to use it (primarily from other teachers within our building who were familiar with it), I didn't really use it at all. I attempted to, I promise! I tried to set my literacy class up in Classroom, but I don't think I properly learned how to do establish it, and it never took off. Then, I gave up as I didn't have time to figure it out and it was just easier to assign things the old-fashioned way.
There were a few other challenges that prevented me from seriously attempting to use Google Classroom last year. One was that many of my students didn't have internet access at home, and therefore couldn't do the online assignments. You may be thinking to yourself, "Then just have them do the assignments in class when they have access to the internet!" However, I only had 10 Chromebooks, so it was very difficult (logistially) for all the students to get ample time to complete an assignment within a class period.
I'm very excited to try Google Classroom this year now that I'll have an entire class set of Chromebooks at my disposal. I can envision it being especially viable for Literacy - in so many different ways! I especially like that it will cut down on paper and the much overused, "I lost my homework/assignment" excuse. Also, it will hopefully help keep me (and my desk!) a bit more organized without so many papers floating about. When I have a bit more time I'm looking forward to exploring Doctopus and Goobric as ways to easily grade Classroom assignments. I'd also love to find some ways to utilize Classroom with my math class. However, I fear this may be a bit more challenging due to the numeric nature of mathematics.
One step at a time!
You can join my classroom with: ad1mak
There were a few other challenges that prevented me from seriously attempting to use Google Classroom last year. One was that many of my students didn't have internet access at home, and therefore couldn't do the online assignments. You may be thinking to yourself, "Then just have them do the assignments in class when they have access to the internet!" However, I only had 10 Chromebooks, so it was very difficult (logistially) for all the students to get ample time to complete an assignment within a class period.
I'm very excited to try Google Classroom this year now that I'll have an entire class set of Chromebooks at my disposal. I can envision it being especially viable for Literacy - in so many different ways! I especially like that it will cut down on paper and the much overused, "I lost my homework/assignment" excuse. Also, it will hopefully help keep me (and my desk!) a bit more organized without so many papers floating about. When I have a bit more time I'm looking forward to exploring Doctopus and Goobric as ways to easily grade Classroom assignments. I'd also love to find some ways to utilize Classroom with my math class. However, I fear this may be a bit more challenging due to the numeric nature of mathematics.
One step at a time!
You can join my classroom with: ad1mak
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Activity 5: Apps, Add-ons, and Extensions
Goodness there are a lot of add-ons, extensions and apps out there! It's a bit like Pinterest in that you can easily get sucked in to browsing and exploring everything and then all of a sudden, it's a long time later and you're feeling overwhelmed by all that you've seen. I'll just need to remember that I don't have to find everything I want today and that I can come back any other time if I need to add something to my arsenal.
Apps: We use it in Math, so the IXL app will be useful to have. My math students sometimes play online math games to practice concepts we're working on in class, so Hooda Math Games could be a fun one for them to use. When we work on Fractions, I'll be interested to try Fraction Wall by Visnos to see if it helps solidify the concept of comparing fractions for my students. Socrative is another app that I'm interested to try this upcoming school year. Perhaps it could help me save some time grading??
I've already got the Quizlet and NewsELA apps, so now I'll just have to make use of them in the upcoming year!
Movenote may be just the thing I've been looking for to help me "teach" Spanish lessons to the 4th graders while I'm on maternity leave for several weeks this fall.
Add-ons: I think Thesaurus is going to be handy for both me and my students -especially when we talk about synonyms and antonyms, and create our graveyard of "dead words".
Extensions: I wish I'd known about Pocket a long time ago! I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to read an article, but had to go somewhere, or got tired or something where I couldn't finish reading the article, and then had to e-mail myself the link so I could finish reading it later. It'll especially be useful when I find something at school that I want to work on at home. Pickpocket will help me organize and easily read the things that I've saved with Pocket. So excited to use these!!
Stickynote may help eliminate the seemingly hundreds of post-its that routinely hang around my desk area...
One question - please comment if you can add any insight.... Once you add an extension/add-on/app, is it possible to delete or get rid of them if you no longer want them? If so, how do you do that?
Goodness there are a lot of add-ons, extensions and apps out there! It's a bit like Pinterest in that you can easily get sucked in to browsing and exploring everything and then all of a sudden, it's a long time later and you're feeling overwhelmed by all that you've seen. I'll just need to remember that I don't have to find everything I want today and that I can come back any other time if I need to add something to my arsenal.
Apps: We use it in Math, so the IXL app will be useful to have. My math students sometimes play online math games to practice concepts we're working on in class, so Hooda Math Games could be a fun one for them to use. When we work on Fractions, I'll be interested to try Fraction Wall by Visnos to see if it helps solidify the concept of comparing fractions for my students. Socrative is another app that I'm interested to try this upcoming school year. Perhaps it could help me save some time grading??
I've already got the Quizlet and NewsELA apps, so now I'll just have to make use of them in the upcoming year!
Movenote may be just the thing I've been looking for to help me "teach" Spanish lessons to the 4th graders while I'm on maternity leave for several weeks this fall.
Add-ons: I think Thesaurus is going to be handy for both me and my students -especially when we talk about synonyms and antonyms, and create our graveyard of "dead words".
Extensions: I wish I'd known about Pocket a long time ago! I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to read an article, but had to go somewhere, or got tired or something where I couldn't finish reading the article, and then had to e-mail myself the link so I could finish reading it later. It'll especially be useful when I find something at school that I want to work on at home. Pickpocket will help me organize and easily read the things that I've saved with Pocket. So excited to use these!!
Stickynote may help eliminate the seemingly hundreds of post-its that routinely hang around my desk area...
One question - please comment if you can add any insight.... Once you add an extension/add-on/app, is it possible to delete or get rid of them if you no longer want them? If so, how do you do that?
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Activity 4: Google Suite
I use Google Suite in several different ways in my instruction. One of the ways I most often use the Google Suite is to share documents, forms, etc. with my teammates and other staff in the building. It is really nice to have the ability to share ideas/resources with people and have them be saved directly into my drive rather than getting lost in my e-mail (when I forget to save them).
I also sometimes use the suite to create a Google form to use for assessing my students on a particular topic. I like that I can see their responses right away, and they like using technology to take an assessment.
Using a Google spreadsheet as a running document is another way I use the Suite in my instruction. In math, I add a slide each day with a new story problem on it that we solve at the beginning of class that day. By keeping it as a running document, I can see the history of the problems we've done throughout the year, and also reuse it from year to year. I also have another running document that I use during literacy class to keep the students informed about what we'll be doing during class that day, their tasks during our literacy station rotations, and to organize and let the students know about the actual literacy rotations.
Using cloud computing in a classroom could be useful in many ways. Most importantly, students would be able to access their documents from anywhere, at any time. NO EXCUSES! Also, by sharing these documents with me (or another instructor), I will be able to give them feedback that they can easily incorporate into their work. If I send students a document, but only give them viewing rights - not editing or commenting, they will not be able to delete it or change anything I've written (or that they've written previously). This will help keep them honest. Using digital documents such as the ones in the Google Suite will allow me to be able to read their assignments, regardless of their handwriting ability (I've had students in the past who have a wealth of knowledge but such illegible handwriting that it was challenging to know what they did actually know/learn/understand). Likewise, students will be able to read MY writing/comments and will not be able to say, "I couldn't read it, blah, blah, blah".
Pros:
The ability to view documents at the same time (such as during a meeting) as other people with whom the document is shared, so that everyone is on the same page (pun intended!).
Documents, etc. are automatically saved
I can access things from my drive anytime, from anywhere
Can provide digital feedback to students/colleagues in a document they've shared with me (and given me the proper commenting/editing rights)
Easily maintain the history of a document (more difficult to delete documents).
When you open up or view a document that someone has shared with you, it's automatically added to your drive.
The search/key word function (when you've forgotten the name of a document) is very useful!
Cons:
Your drive can get very disorganized, very easily. You must be intentional about forming folders, etc. and keeping your drive organized.
It can be difficult to find a document if you don't know where it's stored or what you may have named it (once upon a time when you last used it.......)
Though the documents, presentations, etc. look very similar to those in the Office suite, not all of the formatting carries over to the Google suite. For those of us who are very familiar with the Office suite, this can be SUPER frustrating.
This is a document that I use with my math students during our multiplication and division units. I use it to reinforce the interconnectedness of multiplication and division, and also to give them practice using one of the methods we teach for organizing data and solving story problems.
Multiplication and Division Story Problems
I use Google Suite in several different ways in my instruction. One of the ways I most often use the Google Suite is to share documents, forms, etc. with my teammates and other staff in the building. It is really nice to have the ability to share ideas/resources with people and have them be saved directly into my drive rather than getting lost in my e-mail (when I forget to save them).
I also sometimes use the suite to create a Google form to use for assessing my students on a particular topic. I like that I can see their responses right away, and they like using technology to take an assessment.
Using a Google spreadsheet as a running document is another way I use the Suite in my instruction. In math, I add a slide each day with a new story problem on it that we solve at the beginning of class that day. By keeping it as a running document, I can see the history of the problems we've done throughout the year, and also reuse it from year to year. I also have another running document that I use during literacy class to keep the students informed about what we'll be doing during class that day, their tasks during our literacy station rotations, and to organize and let the students know about the actual literacy rotations.
Using cloud computing in a classroom could be useful in many ways. Most importantly, students would be able to access their documents from anywhere, at any time. NO EXCUSES! Also, by sharing these documents with me (or another instructor), I will be able to give them feedback that they can easily incorporate into their work. If I send students a document, but only give them viewing rights - not editing or commenting, they will not be able to delete it or change anything I've written (or that they've written previously). This will help keep them honest. Using digital documents such as the ones in the Google Suite will allow me to be able to read their assignments, regardless of their handwriting ability (I've had students in the past who have a wealth of knowledge but such illegible handwriting that it was challenging to know what they did actually know/learn/understand). Likewise, students will be able to read MY writing/comments and will not be able to say, "I couldn't read it, blah, blah, blah".
Pros:
The ability to view documents at the same time (such as during a meeting) as other people with whom the document is shared, so that everyone is on the same page (pun intended!).
Documents, etc. are automatically saved
I can access things from my drive anytime, from anywhere
Can provide digital feedback to students/colleagues in a document they've shared with me (and given me the proper commenting/editing rights)
Easily maintain the history of a document (more difficult to delete documents).
When you open up or view a document that someone has shared with you, it's automatically added to your drive.
The search/key word function (when you've forgotten the name of a document) is very useful!
Cons:
Your drive can get very disorganized, very easily. You must be intentional about forming folders, etc. and keeping your drive organized.
It can be difficult to find a document if you don't know where it's stored or what you may have named it (once upon a time when you last used it.......)
Though the documents, presentations, etc. look very similar to those in the Office suite, not all of the formatting carries over to the Google suite. For those of us who are very familiar with the Office suite, this can be SUPER frustrating.
This is a document that I use with my math students during our multiplication and division units. I use it to reinforce the interconnectedness of multiplication and division, and also to give them practice using one of the methods we teach for organizing data and solving story problems.
Multiplication and Division Story Problems
Monday, July 13, 2015
Activity 3: Part 2
This will be a good resource for students and parents to review concepts at home that we've worked on in class. Of course, if they've forgotten how to do something we learned in class, or want to learn how to do it (parents), they will be able to view the instruction on the screencast. Also, by viewing a screencast created by me, the language will be consistent with what I use to teach the concepts initially in class, thus helping to reinforce these concepts.
I also think screencasts will be helpful as I teach Spanish to my fourth graders. They will be able to hear my voice pronouncing the words that they are viewing on the screen. They will also able to use screencasts to practice their own pronunciation, and I could have them complete Spanish homework and projects, including speaking portions, from home (or another location), thus allowing me to hear them speak Spanish since i don't always have enough time during class to hear everyone speaking.
This will be a good resource for students and parents to review concepts at home that we've worked on in class. Of course, if they've forgotten how to do something we learned in class, or want to learn how to do it (parents), they will be able to view the instruction on the screencast. Also, by viewing a screencast created by me, the language will be consistent with what I use to teach the concepts initially in class, thus helping to reinforce these concepts.
I also think screencasts will be helpful as I teach Spanish to my fourth graders. They will be able to hear my voice pronouncing the words that they are viewing on the screen. They will also able to use screencasts to practice their own pronunciation, and I could have them complete Spanish homework and projects, including speaking portions, from home (or another location), thus allowing me to hear them speak Spanish since i don't always have enough time during class to hear everyone speaking.
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Activity 3: Part 1
Hooray! I finally did my screencast (using Screencastify)! To be honest, I was really dreading it, as it seemed to me that it was going to be very confusing and frustrating, and I really just wanted to pretend that if I ignored it completely, it would somehow magically get done by itself. And enter reality...I finally faced the fact that it wasn't going to record itself so I'd better at least attempt it. And it was surprisingly easy! Yes, I did run in to a few hangups - like when I had to change screens - but I just deleted the screencast that wasn't good, and made another one. I think this could be a very helpful tool and am looking forward to playing around more with it.
Here's the link to my screencast on how to find my Valentine Hills website. With this screencast, I hope the days will be done when I have to explain a million times how to find my website...!
Hooray! I finally did my screencast (using Screencastify)! To be honest, I was really dreading it, as it seemed to me that it was going to be very confusing and frustrating, and I really just wanted to pretend that if I ignored it completely, it would somehow magically get done by itself. And enter reality...I finally faced the fact that it wasn't going to record itself so I'd better at least attempt it. And it was surprisingly easy! Yes, I did run in to a few hangups - like when I had to change screens - but I just deleted the screencast that wasn't good, and made another one. I think this could be a very helpful tool and am looking forward to playing around more with it.
Here's the link to my screencast on how to find my Valentine Hills website. With this screencast, I hope the days will be done when I have to explain a million times how to find my website...!
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Activity 2: Engagement
This is the first time I've used Pear Deck and, after the initial frustration of trying to figure out how to create a presentation, I really grew to like it! To understand it better, I participated in a short interactive webinar given by someone at Pear Deck and I found this to be very helpful. In fact, it gave me enough guidance that I was able to figure out how to finish my presentation! Yea!
I decided to create a basic Spanish presentation that could be used during the introductory unit that I teach at the beginning of the school year: Los Saludos, Nombres, Emociones y Despedidas (Greetings, Names, Emotions and Farewells). I chose to create this particular presentation for a very specific reason, and I do plan on using it (or at least attempting to do so!). I will be taking a bit of time off at the beginning of the school year as maternity leave to spend with my newborn son. I teach Spanish to my 4th graders as my Unit class, and my maternity substitute teacher does not speak Spanish. Thus, I need to find a way to teach the students Spanish without being there myself to lead the instruction. I decided to try Pear Deck to see if it would be a viable option to help me accomplish this task. I'm hopeful that it'll be a great option to help me teach while being away from the classroom.
Here's what I came up with:
Los Saludos, Nombres, Emociones y Despedidas
Enjoy!
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
There are many ways that blogging could be effectively used within the classroom, but for me, one of the most valuable is as an informal communication tool between teacher and students and parents. Using a blog to communicate announcements, assignments, calendars, and many other pieces of information would allow my students and their parents to quickly view this information in a quick, simple manner.
I foresee blogging to be especially helpful in Math during our multi-digit multiplication and long division units. The way we teach these skills to our students is incredibly different from how most parents learned the same skills. Thus, many parents become frustrated when they don't understand the way their child is being taught the skills, and that they are not able to assist their child on their homework or answer their questions when they get stuck. I could use my blog to link a video, such as the ones below, or a website that could help parents understand how we teach concepts such as multi-digit multiplication and long division.
I foresee blogging to be especially helpful in Math during our multi-digit multiplication and long division units. The way we teach these skills to our students is incredibly different from how most parents learned the same skills. Thus, many parents become frustrated when they don't understand the way their child is being taught the skills, and that they are not able to assist their child on their homework or answer their questions when they get stuck. I could use my blog to link a video, such as the ones below, or a website that could help parents understand how we teach concepts such as multi-digit multiplication and long division.
Unit 5: Multiplication of multi-digit numbers
~ Partial Products
**Video for reteaching/extra support
~Area Model
**Video for reteaching/extra support
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
- What motivated you to become a tech nerd this summer?
As a part of Phase 2 for Chromebooks, I want to learn how to best utilize my Chromebooks within my classroom. When I get the Chromebooks, I want my students to use them to enhance their learning experiences, not simply to do meaningless activities on the Internet just to be "using" the Chromebooks. Also, the rest of my team is also participating in Tech Nerd Camp this summer and I want to be sure that we are able to share experiences and ideas for technology to use with our students.
- What you hope to learn about in Tech Nerd Camp 2.0?
I know there are many, many different tools, applications and extensions that can be very useful to enhance my instruction, and I want to learn how to use these tools in a practical, everyday way, that will be understandable and beneficial to my students.
- How would you describe your current comfort level with technology? What tools do you use already in your classroom (if any)?
I am moderately comfortable with technology - it depends on what type of technology. Within my classroom, I currently use (on a minimal level) a Smartboard and a Doc camera, . I have 10 Chromebooks, which I can use on a limited basis with my class. I sometimes use Google Forms and quizlet.
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