Scenario

According to ISTE NETS Standards for technology, students should be able to demonstrate creativity and innovation. I think there are two main resources students can use to demonstrate this standard in the classroom. One is the use of amimoto which is a site for uploading images to turn into a video. An idea I have for my own Secondary Education English classroom would be to do a jigsaw technique where students are broken up into groups and they read and compile information about one thing in the chapter and then other groups do this for the other parts of the chapter. Then they teach it to their classmates. I believe animoto would be a great way for them to do this! Here is an example of what my English animoto:

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Going along with this, I think it would be really cool if at the beginning of the year when the students and I are discussing classroom rules, we created an animoto video with those rules in it! This could be shared with all students easily and it would incorporate the students in the developing of the classroom rules which I think is important to do. The students and I would find photos online that apply or take screen captures of text that states the rule to create this project.

Another main resource that could be used in the classroom is voicethread. Voicethread is a great way for students to do research and then present that research in a fun, technological way. Voicethread requires you to find images, place captions of text explaining the images, and then further explaining them by recording yourself. This recording is similiar to telling it in a story-like manner which makes the research much more personable and interesting. I would like to use voicethread in my classroom by having students research a historical event important in a novel we are reading and then do a voicethread on it. They could do this with a group or individually because of how simple it is to do! Here is an example of a voicethread I did for Constitution Hall in Lecompton, Kansas.

My Wow Moment

I think my 'wow' moment this semester was the fact that so many students are striving to learn based on the use of technology! I am the type of person who LOVES to read books and write with a pen and paper, but so many students are not excited about that traditional way of learning. This is primarily because they are growing up in a world where you cannot communicate a certain way without using technology. I grew up in the write in your diary stage still a little bit, and then transitioned into online technology as a middle and high school student. These students are literally using technology at the age of 2 or 3! Like I said, I am a more traditional learning and would prefer to do things by hand most often, but I refuse to be that teacher who will not accept the change in technology. I want my students to learn the best way they can however that is. I want my students to be cultured though so that they use both books and technology though, so I plan to have them do projects that are have both in them. Here are some pictures that are proof of the importance of technology in today's student's lives.

Google Image Link

Google Image

Google Image

Podcast Favorites

The podcasts that I listened to and reflected upon were really neat and helpful. It was amazing that so many educators get together and speak about the important things that go along with education. The majority of the podcasts were about incorporating technology which was interesting because these educators had so many great resources and ideas on how to do that. My favorite podcast was by the Tech Chick Tips called Sparking their Creativity. This podcast gave so many resources that would help me in my classroom as a teacher, but also as me being a college student still! I really thought the resource webnote would be something my students would love. It is a site where students can take notes on. I remember even as a middle school and high school student myself, students bringing their internet-less computers so classes just so they could take notes on the computer rather than write them. I think even more students would want to do this now. So, I think I will offer my students to do this because it may be contribute to better learning and test scores. Another resource the Tech Chick's talked about was Quizlet. This is a resource for creating flashcards and it seems to be a lot more efficient than creating them by hand. I think students would enjoy this since they can use a computer to create them and to study them. Here are some screen captures of these wonderful resources!

Semester Favorites

I enjoyed learning about all of the different resources we, as teachers, can use for our classrooms. There were so many and I hope I am able to find them when I log in to delicious so that I can make use of all the great resources! The number one part of the semester was learning about Prezi. I truly have always hated PowerPoint because of how limited it is. I feel very strongly about providing images and videos for students to relate to, but PowerPoint made it very difficult to do this well. I still need to mess with Prezi more, but I plan to use it for sure when I'm a teacher rather than PowerPoint. Here is a screen capture of what Prezi kind of looks like:

Another extremely fun project we did this semester was Animoto. I am truly considering getting a subscription so that I can make longer videos. I would use this in my classroom to grab student's attentions, but also teach them how they can make these. I think they would love to use animoto for a project. I think students should participate in technological projects as well as paper and pen projects so this could be one of them. Here is a screen capture of what different features you can have in the background of your video.

Twitter Reflection

I enjoy twitter quite a bit. I don't get on it as much as I get on facebook, but I think I will start using it more as I become more familiar with it. I have actually found that the educators I'm following have some really cool stuff to use. I think I may use them as a resource when I become a teacher for lessons. The things these educators have on their pages are even better than what google can provide. I think twitter could be used in the classroom for announcements also. It's a fast way to communicate to everyone.

Challenge-based/Prezi Reflection

I absolutely LOVE Prezi! Compared to PowerPoint, I am vote Prezi. I really think it is much more efficient and I think it would engage students so much more. Even I was much more engaged when we did our class presentations on Prezi, so I know students would be. I like how everything can be easily added and modified when it's put into Prezi. You can change the size of things and rearrange the order which is something that cannot necessarily be done the same way in PowerPoint. I am making it a personal goal to use Prezi for presenting information at least once when I become a teacher. Hopefully it turns into something I use quite often!

Using Comics Reflection

I really enjoyed creating the online comic from toondoo. It was kind of difficult at first to figure out how to work all of the tools. I kind of had to settle for some of the things I wrote with the pencil tool because I tried repeatedly to do make it perfect and more readable but it still didn't work. Although some of the tools were difficult to use, I think students would love this! I don't think I would use it as a teacher as much as I would allow the students to use it for projects and other things.

Podcast Reflection #12

The tech chicks are so helpful! This podcast gave many resources for teachers to use to stay organized and to use in the classroom for free. They talked about the use of videos for both teachers to show and for students to create. There were a few sites they mentioned that are free for teachers to use which is what I’m all about. There are lots of resources I would love to use but we all know how limited a teacher’s budget is so free resources are the best. This podcast also talked about using tutorial videos for students to watch instead of or in conjunction with giving directions for things. This would be a perfect example of accommodating students who may need visual and/ or auditory directions. Another great thing about tutorial videos is one can stop, rewind, fast-forward, etc. as much as they need!

Podcast Reflection #11

This podcast was an interview with a teacher in Australia who uses technology in her classroom very often. This teacher spoke about digital story-telling and how she has been able to use it in her classroom. Not only does digital story-telling help engage all types of students because of its non-traditional story-telling, but for students who have trouble reading written words it helps them understand the story. She also said that kids who come to her school from other speaking countries find digital story-telling beneficial because they can better understand what is going on than if they were to have to read stories in a language not of their own. I thought a lot about this and realized how great it would be or those students who were in need of these types of modifications. I plan to use digital story-telling for students in my classroom who have trouble reading whether because they are from a different country or not.

Podcast Reflection #10

I have always heard of websites you can use that will save videos to your computer so that you can just open them up off of your computer rather than having to go to the actual videos website. For example, if a teacher wanted to use lots of videos from YouTube, they could use a certain website or software to be able to save those videos to their computer. One of the software’s talked about in this podcast is MPEG Streamclip. This software also allows people to trim videos so that they are shorter. This would be beneficial because sometimes videos I have found are way too long to actually use in the class and then you have to worry about starting and stopping the video where you want it to be at. Another benefit is that some schools block YouTube or other video sites, so by using this software you can save the videos to your computer and be able to use them.

Podcast Reflection #9

This podcast, EdTechTalk, spoke about twitter and how some schools are making teachers use twitter. Dave Cormier said that schools are literally forcing their teachers to do use twitter and I definitely do not agree with that. I am not against twitter and I do check my twitter every so often, but I do not see how or why teachers would really make use of it. I would be extremely curious to hear why schools truly believe every single teacher should use twitter and to see if they know stuff about twitter that I don’t. I don’t see how teachers using twitter would be that beneficial to students. I could see teachers using it as reminders for students but that it about it.

Podcast Reflection 8: Learning Today

As I listened to the podcast, Learning in Hand, it made me wonder how long doing projects on apps would take and how much they might cost for the iPhone. I thought the idea of driving questions was a good idea for projects, but not all students learn well that way so it’d be important to allow for students to do their project a different way. I don’t know how I feel about project based learning because not all students learn well and can perform well based on projects. I think some project learning can be very beneficial, but I think it’s important to have many other learning opportunities rather than just projects. This teacher talked about rubistar.4teachers.org and I really want to try this site out sometime. I think it’s important to incorporate your students input in their rubric so this site would be great to use.

Classroom 2.0 Reflection

Classroom 2.0 is an amazing social network for teachers to get ideas from! I think it's important to have these sites for teachers because we are constantly trying to engage students by changing things up and making everything much more interesting for them. Teachers get the best ideas when they feed off of eachother! In Classroom 2.0, I went to 4teachers.org and I found a lot of great use under the family tools section. The first link I looked at was the pbl checklist which is a site that allows you to plug in information based on the subject area and grade level for evaluation sheets or rubrics. The second site I looked at was classroom architect which gives you a blank grid to work with and you can place parts of your classroom on it to completely construct it! What a great way to really see the best environment your students will learn in.

EduTecher Reflection

My first impression from EduTecher was that is doesn't have as many resources as many of the other teacher sites that are out there. After searching around, though, I did find some sources that may be beneficial. I noticed that this site is very specifically for those who are willing to use technology. One site that I think I would use for my class one day is 21centurylit.org because it focuses on skills students will need to be sucessful in school and in the workplace. I think this will be great for literature classes because it obviously is relating school work to work in the real world and that is something students will actually pay attention to. At 4shared.com teachers can file share to students so that space issues do not arise on one computer and so that you don't have to deal with a flashdrive. I like this site because I've always liked my computer files to be organized and easy to find so I think this would be a great way for students to access them and for both the teacher and student to find them easily when they need them. The last site I really enjoyed was 4freephotos.com and it would be great to find and post pictures up for students. Sometimes searching google images is not very accurate and it's touchy on what subject you search so this site will be great for finding pictures that apply to that topic you are trying to show. EduTecher made me extremely excited and I can't wait to really dig into it that summer before I start my first year of teaching to make use of its great resources!

Kansas Education Portal Reflection

I love how universal Kan Ed is! In one of my Block I classes we just recently talked about how important it is to incorporate general learning topics into your lessons, for example how to properly interview for a job. I went to from Kan Ed and found the most specific links for interviewing for a job! Some examples of different links available are: preparing for an interview, sample interview questions, and dress for success. I think I will find netTrecker extremely useful in my teaching years.

On the acutal Kan Ed site there are things like National Geographic Picture of the Day, Daily History, NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day, etc. which I think would be a very neat way to start off class and begin lessons. This is pertinent information since it's history and going on presently, and could be very interesting to students.

The database seems like a great resource for students to use. It is targeted at middle school or junior high students and would be a great database for them to use for research. I never knew about databases until my freshman year of college so I think it would be beneficial for students in middle school and high school to have access to these reliable database resources.

Wordle Reflection

I had a lot of fun working with wordle! I realized this could be a fun way to grab student's attentions to start a lesson off or something in the beginning of class. I think students themselves would love to participate in doing a wordle as well. I imagined doing one of these on the first day of school about themselves so that everyone got to know eachother!

Podcast Reflection 7: K12 Online

March 3, 2011

When listening to Engaging Our Youngest Minds on K12 Online, I was very inspired by what was said. I never considered that learning should be passionate and the school setting has never given this impression before. It is the educator who needs to help bring out that passion that we all know students have in the classroom. I believe if teachers really tried to envelop passion in students, they would see such improvements in both academics and behavior.

Podcast Reflection 6: Learning in Hand

March 3, 2011

As I listened to the podcast, Learning in Hand, it made me wonder how long doing projects on apps would take and how much they might cost for the iPhone. I thought the idea of driving questions was a good idea for projects, but not all students learn well that way so it’d be important to allow for students to do their project a different way. I don’t know how I feel about project based learning because not all students learn well and can perform well based on projects. I think some project learning can be very beneficial, but I think it’s important to have many other learning opportunities rather than just projects. This teacher talked about rubistar.4teachers.org and I really want to try this site out sometime. I think it’s important to incorporate your students input in their rubric so this site would be great to use.

Podcast Reflection 5: Speed of Creativity

February 28, 2011

I listened to the podcast “Tags Are Ways to See Things” on Moving at the Speed of Creativity by Wesley A. Fryer. This podcast was very interesting to me because before I clicked on it, I had no idea what they meant by tags. I wanted to find out so I listened and realized how great of ideas these people have. I think the collaboration of students and teachers online are great ways of learning, but the lack of tagging on sites is making everything much less credible and a lot harder to find. Wesley said that tagging requires schema or knowledge and I believe that a lot of people don’t tag because they can easily upload something without having any background knowledge to provide with it and still get hits. By adding that knowledge to whatever is posted online, is what helps people most and is what really matters. The idea of art snacks was brought up also and I loved the point made. The lady said that students and teachers should be collaborating online like for example, having ten minute art lessons that incorporate other subject curriculum at the same time. She made a great point against those who say that students might curse or say inappropriate things if they are allowed to post online. She asked if they closed school when one student cursed in the hallway and of course the answer is no.

Podcast Reflection 4: Tech Chick Tips

February 17, 2011

I listened to the Tech Chick Tips- Sparking their Creativity podcast today. This podcast gave a list of many different websites sources for students to use. The first site that stood out to me was mediacollege.com because it was for students interested in broadcasting and media, and it had tutorial to show how to use certain things on the website. For example, it shows you how to work an iPad, use a camera, apply digital enhancing, etc. This would be a great way to get students to use their media interest and experience to be creative! Webnote.com was the next link talked about and although it is a simple site, I found it to be effective for students who would rather take notes on their computer by typing rather than by writing in a notebook. It allows you to type any notes you want and to bring them up on your computer as a ‘sticky note’. There is no login so other people can add to your notes which could be both beneficial or not. Quizlet.com is a flashcard site with three different modes. The first is familiar mode for students to review the information and use memorization as a study method. The second is learn mode for students to actually quiz themselves and keep track of their score and answers. The third is test mode that gives tests and quizzes in different forms of questions to actually prove your knowledge of the topic. These sites all seemed very helpful and were all free to use!

Podcast Reflection 3: Ed Tech Talk

Feb. 10, 2011

When I listened to the EdTech Talk podcast, I was actually pretty shocked. These educators were talking about how they teach in both North America and in Australia. They said they make use of laptops, iPads, and even cell phones for their classrooms. In fact, cell phones are expected to be brought and used in class. The educators continued to say that they insist on not having a ‘traditional’ school. I am all for technology in the classroom, but when listening I found it hard to envision these types of things happening in the Kansas schools I will be teaching in. I know many of them are using laptops and sometimes iPads, but I cannot ever see them telling students they are required to bring and use their cell phones. It’s interesting how different countries and cultures allow for different things in the classroom.

Reflection: Animoto in my Classroom

Using Animoto is a fun way to incorporate a lesson for students that is much more engaging. When creating my educational Animoto I saw a lot of potential and opportunity to continue using it for my future classroom. I enjoyed making the video and I was amazed at how simple it was to make! I would be interested in figuring out how to apply power points or other use of text in these videos for more instructional material. The thirty second limit is a little bit hard to work with, but for a simple lesson it would be beneficial.

Podcast Reflection 2: CDK's Education Technology Place

I watched a youtube video on CDK’s Education Technology Place about needing teachers to learn about new ways of technology especially in the classroom. This was kind of eye opening for me. I consider myself a little bit ‘old fashioned’, but I am becoming more and more accepting to technology. The story about the girl who had her notes on her laptop but could only use a note card for the test was interesting to me. I understand why some teachers wouldn’t allow that considering there’s no way to monitor that the internet isn’t being used to find answers, but in a general sense it made me realize that as a teacher I need to accommodate to students who may be more apt to use technology as a way of studying.

Reflection 1: Technology Bits, Bytes, & Nibbles

While browsing the blog, Technology Bits, Bytes, & Nibbles, I read a chart called Upgrade Your Lesson- 21^st Century Skills. One of the topics was ‘Communicate’. This listed different ways of communicating as a teacher in the 21^st Century. It sparked an idea in my mind about how much more parents might be involved if they were able to meet with their children’s parents via Skype, or another online resource. I feel like some parents might be reluctant to use online resources only because older people are still having a hard time adjusting to technology. But I do believe by offering more opportunities for parents to meet with teachers, some parents will take up the offer. For example, it would be neat to set up parent-teacher conferences via Skype. This way if the conference times for the school conflict with a parents schedule they have the possibility to talk with the teacher over the internet.

I also read an article about a Tennessee school requiring iPads for fourth through twelfth graders. This is incredibly insane to me, because I knew this would be happening eventually but I didn’t think so soon. The article says both students and teachers will use these iPads at school and at home. I think this could work out really well. I feel like the reason people are reluctant to iPads or use of other technology is because they don’t have use to it for enough time to learn on it, but I think that this Tennessee school may benefit a lot by having teachers  and students using them at school and at home. They will be on the same page because they’ll be using them in both settings.