The final tool! I have learned so much throughout this training. I am really looking forward to getting my technology and beginning to implement ideas. I really like studyladder.com, word clouds, and Skype. I am really excited about implementing my lesson from tool #7 and collaborating with the Middle School AIM class. I also plan to have my students create a word cloud using words from their Science unit of study.
My thinking about learning has changed dramatically. One of the first things I think of now is how I can integrate technology into my lesson plans and how I can use technology to meet my lesson objectives. I have also allowed my students to make more mistakes when learning to use technology. I have overcome my fear of them breaking or hurting the equipment and I am allowing them to access technology more independently.
I thought I knew an adequate about technology before starting 11 tools and I am surprised by how much I learned going through this program and how much I still need to learn.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
Tool # 10
Teaching digital citizenship to AIM students will involve incorporating our social skills lessons and using what we have learned about navigating the social world to navigate the digital world. The number one thing that I want to teach my students is to come to an adult and tell them if they encounter something that they feel uncomfortable about online. I also will teach my students that they are never allowed to give their personal information to someone they do not know online. I also feel that it is important to teach my students about online etiquette and the importance of being nice and respectful even when you are not interacting with someone face to face.
I really like the Hector's World videos on Cybersmart. http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/Young%20Kids/Hectors%20World.aspx I plan to use the videos about protecting your personal information online from this site to supplement my instruction on the topic. I also like the Brainpop video about digital citizenship. My students respond well to Brainpop and I like the supplemental materials that go with the video.
I will teach digital citizenship to my students during our social skills lessons. I will use what we have already learned and help the students generalize the concepts into the digital world. I will supplement lessons with videos such as the ones mentioned above. We will discuss what to do when we encounter a situation in which we do not feel comfortable. We will also discuss what to do if someone asks you for personal information.
I will talk to the parents of the students in my classroom about discussing digital citizenship with their children at home as well. I will share some of the websites that I am using with the students to help facilitate discussion at home.
I really like the Hector's World videos on Cybersmart. http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/Young%20Kids/Hectors%20World.aspx I plan to use the videos about protecting your personal information online from this site to supplement my instruction on the topic. I also like the Brainpop video about digital citizenship. My students respond well to Brainpop and I like the supplemental materials that go with the video.
I will teach digital citizenship to my students during our social skills lessons. I will use what we have already learned and help the students generalize the concepts into the digital world. I will supplement lessons with videos such as the ones mentioned above. We will discuss what to do when we encounter a situation in which we do not feel comfortable. We will also discuss what to do if someone asks you for personal information.
I will talk to the parents of the students in my classroom about discussing digital citizenship with their children at home as well. I will share some of the websites that I am using with the students to help facilitate discussion at home.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Tool # 9
1. It is important to create congruence between your objective and the technology you use to make sure students are able to demonstrate understanding of the objective.
2. Students should be held accountable for what they are working on in centers so that the time they spend in centers is meaningful and learning is taking place.
3. I explored several of the sites listed on the 11 tools blog. I really liked Studdyladder.com and Tenmarks.com. I like that you can set up classes on each of them and customize learning for your students based on their needs.
On Studyladder.com you set up a class and choose activities for your class based on their needs. You are able to create a class with any number of students. There are many math, and literacy activities as well as some science, art, music, health and other topics. It is set up by grade level, but each grade level is assigned a color. I really like that feature because it allows me to assign activities based on the needs of the students without worrying about assigning activities that are typically for a lower grade level. The students then log on to their personal site and work on the activities that have been assigned by the teacher. I like that it gives the student some control over their learning since they get to choose what to do in what order, but the skills are controlled by the teacher.
Tenmarks.com is another site that you can set up a class (or classes) and then assign activities for students. In order to make a class on this site you have to have at least 5 students. The nice thing about this site is that you can individualize instruction and activities based on individual student needs by assigning activities to individual students instead of the entire class. Tenmarks.come is only for math instruction. It has many math topics or "tracks" that you can customize based on the grade level of the students. On this site you can only work on the "tracks" for the grade level you specify when you add your class.
4. It was fun to explore all of the apps. It is wonderful that you can search by grade level and subject. I searched for apps for my 5th grade math group since I am able to do more center work with them. Some apps I found for my students are:
Flashcards + - an app that allows you to create your own flash cards or choose flashcards from a variety
of sets. I could use this in a center to help the students study for upcoming quizzes in all subject areas, or
to study math facts.
Math Ninja Free - an app where you try to defend your tree house from a hungry tomato and his robot
army using math facts. The nice thing about this app is that you can turn on what types of facts you
would like students to work on. I would also use this in a center as independent work on math facts.
5. I would also use the ipod touch and the ipad with students for research, note taking, to dictate ideas for stories without writing, to organize homework and assignments and their due dates.
Flashcards + - an app that allows you to create your own flash cards or choose flashcards from a variety
of sets. I could use this in a center to help the students study for upcoming quizzes in all subject areas, or
to study math facts.
Math Ninja Free - an app where you try to defend your tree house from a hungry tomato and his robot
army using math facts. The nice thing about this app is that you can turn on what types of facts you
would like students to work on. I would also use this in a center as independent work on math facts.
5. I would also use the ipod touch and the ipad with students for research, note taking, to dictate ideas for stories without writing, to organize homework and assignments and their due dates.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Tool # 8
This tool was all about the wonderful devices we will be receiving in our classroom. I am so excited about all of the new devices! Here are 3 things I learned when watching the videos:
1. I learned that apps need to be downloaded to the teacher laptop first and then synced to each device.
2. I learned how to make a web page act like an app by making a webclip and adding it to my screen.
3. I learned how to access the Spring Branch list of approved apps.
I plan to teach appropriate use to my students in small groups before allowing them to independently use the devices. I will also set up rules for using the devices at school and discuss how school use is different from the way you use the devices at home. I will reinforce correct use of the devices frequently in the beginning.
1. I learned that apps need to be downloaded to the teacher laptop first and then synced to each device.
2. I learned how to make a web page act like an app by making a webclip and adding it to my screen.
3. I learned how to access the Spring Branch list of approved apps.
I plan to teach appropriate use to my students in small groups before allowing them to independently use the devices. I will also set up rules for using the devices at school and discuss how school use is different from the way you use the devices at home. I will reinforce correct use of the devices frequently in the beginning.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Tool # 7
Objective: The 5th grade AIM students will be able to collaborate with middle school AIM students to develop social stories to create awareness of the middle school environment and facilitate the transition between the Elementary AIM and Middle School AIM programs.
Implementation: I will begin to implement this plan when we return from Winter break in January.
Tools: I will use Skype for communication between the 2 classes. We will share videos of social stories and what to expect in middle school via Youtube.com.
Description: In January we will begin talking via Skype with the Middle School AIM classroom in our district. The students will get to know peers in the grade level above them through communication via Skype. The Middle School students will share their experiences with the transition to Middle School. They will talk to the 5th graders about what to expect when they transition. The Middle school students will make video social stories about some of their experiences in Middle School and the videos will be shared through Youtube.com. My 5th grade students will also make videos about themselves to share with the Middle School students and teachers.
Implementation: I will begin to implement this plan when we return from Winter break in January.
Tools: I will use Skype for communication between the 2 classes. We will share videos of social stories and what to expect in middle school via Youtube.com.
Description: In January we will begin talking via Skype with the Middle School AIM classroom in our district. The students will get to know peers in the grade level above them through communication via Skype. The Middle School students will share their experiences with the transition to Middle School. They will talk to the 5th graders about what to expect when they transition. The Middle school students will make video social stories about some of their experiences in Middle School and the videos will be shared through Youtube.com. My 5th grade students will also make videos about themselves to share with the Middle School students and teachers.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Tool #6
I see many opportunities for using Wallwisher.com in my classroom. I have been trying to find an independent activity for my students during a transition that is a little chaotic. This would be a great tool! It will be even better when I get my Activ Board! I would love to put a social topic that pertains to what we have been learning in our social skills group on a wallwisher wall and have the students respond to the question when they walk in the room to ease the transition. Here is my wall:
Tool #6
Skype
I love Skype. I use it frequently to communicate with my family that live in other cities and states. It is so fun to watch my nieces and nephew grow up and watch my kids interact with their cousins through the computer. I think that Skype has helped my kids form a stronger bond with their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins since they are able to see them frequently even though they are separated by miles. It was really amazing when my Mother in Law was in China and we were able to talk to her via Skype for free. The only thing that was difficult was figuring out a good time to talk.
Skype can be used in so many ways in the classroom. You can conduct a virtual interview with community helpers when you are studying community helpers in your classroom. You can have parents that are unable to come and read to the class during the day take a few minutes to read to the class via Skype. You can find a class in another state or even country and become virtual pen pals. There are so many possibilities!
I really like the Skype in the classroom page. I enjoyed browsing through the various projects that teachers have posted on Skype in the classroom. There are many great ideas of projects that can bridge gaps between various populations of learners.
I love Skype. I use it frequently to communicate with my family that live in other cities and states. It is so fun to watch my nieces and nephew grow up and watch my kids interact with their cousins through the computer. I think that Skype has helped my kids form a stronger bond with their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins since they are able to see them frequently even though they are separated by miles. It was really amazing when my Mother in Law was in China and we were able to talk to her via Skype for free. The only thing that was difficult was figuring out a good time to talk.
Skype can be used in so many ways in the classroom. You can conduct a virtual interview with community helpers when you are studying community helpers in your classroom. You can have parents that are unable to come and read to the class during the day take a few minutes to read to the class via Skype. You can find a class in another state or even country and become virtual pen pals. There are so many possibilities!
I really like the Skype in the classroom page. I enjoyed browsing through the various projects that teachers have posted on Skype in the classroom. There are many great ideas of projects that can bridge gaps between various populations of learners.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Tool #6
Today I tried poll everywhere. It is so simple to use and can be used for so many things. I like that it is stored online and so students can access it at different times and over time which is a feature that is helpful to me since I have students coming in and out of the classroom at various times throughout the day. I ended up creating an account so that I could save my poll. This can be use for academics or various other things. It is also so simple that students would be able to create their own polls as well. I created a poll for my students of their favorite free time activity in the classroom.
Create interactive meetings at Poll Everywhere
Monday, November 7, 2011
Word Clouds
I really like the idea of using word clouds with my students. I think they are a great tool for describing themselves and also to use for academics. I think it would be fun to have them use a word cloud for demonstrating the main idea and supporting details of a story. I think that adding the main idea more than one time is something very concrete that would help solidify the concept for my students. The only thing that I didn't like is that you can't go back and edit once you have put in your text. I would recommend having students type their words into a word processor and save them so they can be modified more easily. I tried wordle and abcya and I found that abcya was simpler and I feel that it would be more user friendly for the population of students that I serve. Here is my simple word cloud using http://www.abcya.com/word_clouds.htm.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Tool #5
I played around with Stupeflix tonight. It was really easy to use. Before uploading pictures I didn't realize that the site only provides you a 1 minute video for free. After uploading a few pictures I quickly realized how little time 1 minute really is (especially when it comes to pictures of my beautiful family)! I used photos of Addie for this video just so I could learn the program.
It would be fun for my students to use Stupeflix to document a field trip or a VOE program. They could also use pictures from home to write a short story using photos about a trip they took with their family. There are many options for using Stupeflix. The only limitation I found was with the 1 minute limit for free videos.
Now for the video...ENJOY!!
It would be fun for my students to use Stupeflix to document a field trip or a VOE program. They could also use pictures from home to write a short story using photos about a trip they took with their family. There are many options for using Stupeflix. The only limitation I found was with the 1 minute limit for free videos.
Now for the video...ENJOY!!
Monday, October 24, 2011
Tool #4
I am really excited about Google Docs. It makes so much sense to me! I decided to upload my schedule as it is always a work in progress...I gave access to my 2 paras and all the teachers that work with my students. This way they can add any changes in their schedule to the document and they will also have access to the most current schedule if they ever have a question about who will be supporting the students in their classroom at what time.
I think that my students would respond very well to Google Docs because it is simple to use and it makes so much more sense to store documents on the internet than in a folder they can only access from school. I am really looking forward to teaching my students the benefits of Google Docs!
I am looking forward to exploring more of the Google Apps. So far I like what I have seen!
I think that my students would respond very well to Google Docs because it is simple to use and it makes so much more sense to store documents on the internet than in a folder they can only access from school. I am really looking forward to teaching my students the benefits of Google Docs!
I am looking forward to exploring more of the Google Apps. So far I like what I have seen!
Tool #3 Fair Use and Copyright Laws and Picasa Web
I didn't realize that fair use was based on context and situation. Since the description of fair use is somewhat open ended, I would rather err on the side of caution when using material that I am not sure is copyrighted or not. I will teach my students to do the same.
I enjoyed browsing through the web albums on Picasa Web. I really liked the feature called "Where in the World". I enjoyed playing with it. I need to look more into the parameters of the feature to figure out if you can customize the pictures and have the students match pictures of major landmarks to their location on the map. I look forward to exploring Picasa Web more since I have never used it before.
I enjoyed browsing through the web albums on Picasa Web. I really liked the feature called "Where in the World". I enjoyed playing with it. I need to look more into the parameters of the feature to figure out if you can customize the pictures and have the students match pictures of major landmarks to their location on the map. I look forward to exploring Picasa Web more since I have never used it before.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Tool # 3
I use Youtube.com a ton to support lessons. I find so many wonderful videos. I didn't even know about teachertube, schooltube or kidstube. I am glad to have those resources as well!
Here is a video about matter (solids, liquids, gas):
Here is a cute song about raising your hand:
My students love this rounding rap!
I will have to finish numbers 3 and 4 at a later date...I am all out of time for today! I could spend all day looking up videos.
Here is a video about matter (solids, liquids, gas):
Here is a cute song about raising your hand:
My students love this rounding rap!
I will have to finish numbers 3 and 4 at a later date...I am all out of time for today! I could spend all day looking up videos.
Tool 2
This tool took me longer than expected. I ran into some bumps along the road with logging in. I created this blog before starting 11 tools and I didn't realize that registering it using my gmail account would prove to be a big hassle! It took me a while to figure out how to sync my accounts so that I can use both my gmail account as well as my school email. Now I am set up!
I am really excited about developing a PLN. I have always wanted to figure out google reader. I am excited to start using it. It seems to be just what I was looking for to organize the best of the web (according to me!)
I feel pretty confident in commenting on blogs. I have background in posting in various online communities, so it doesn't bother me. I do often struggle with a fear that I have shared too much, but I am becoming more and more comfortable with my online presence. I am really ready to start using this blog as a tool for my classroom. I have many big ideas and as the year has gone on, my ideas have gotten bigger. Hopefully I can implement them soon!!
My current obsession is www.Pinterest.com I am very surprised by how many wonderful teaching ideas I have gotten by searching for education, following my colleagues, searching for Autism education or just browsing the main Pinterest board. This is also a great way to find blogs!!
I am really excited about developing a PLN. I have always wanted to figure out google reader. I am excited to start using it. It seems to be just what I was looking for to organize the best of the web (according to me!)
I feel pretty confident in commenting on blogs. I have background in posting in various online communities, so it doesn't bother me. I do often struggle with a fear that I have shared too much, but I am becoming more and more comfortable with my online presence. I am really ready to start using this blog as a tool for my classroom. I have many big ideas and as the year has gone on, my ideas have gotten bigger. Hopefully I can implement them soon!!
My current obsession is www.Pinterest.com I am very surprised by how many wonderful teaching ideas I have gotten by searching for education, following my colleagues, searching for Autism education or just browsing the main Pinterest board. This is also a great way to find blogs!!
Monday, September 19, 2011
First Post - Creating a voki
Finally I am setting up a classroom blog! It has been on my mind for a while now and I am glad to be pushed to start one...even if it is required. I am really excited to implement some of the ideas I have had in my mind for a while now. Setting up a blog was pretty easy! I am looking forward to customizing my blog and making it what I want it to be. Creating a voki was painless. I am not too excited to have the voki on my page, but I think that it is a fun tool to use with students! All and all it was a pretty simple task! I am really looking forward to my new venture as a blogger!
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