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.