Tool 11- DONE!

1.  What are your favorite tools you now have in your personal technology toolbox? Briefly describe a particular activity that you will plan for your students using at least one of these new tools.

Answer: I would like to embed some more videos into my website for students to re-teach concepts. That way when I have multiple students coming in for help on multiple things, I can expedite this quicker. For example, I could be working 1:1 with one student, another student could be reviewing for a test via videos on the I Pad, and another student could be downloading their missing assignments and printing them out from another. Technology can help expedite this otherwise overwhelming process.

2.  How have you transformed your thinking about the learning that will take place in your classroom? How has your vision for your classroom changed? Are you going to need to make any changes to your classroom to accommodate the 21st Century learner?

Answer: There will be more prep time but less delivery time b/c students will be self directed. But, the nature of children with learning disabilities will necessitate some very guided practice with the technology.

3.  Were there any unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

Answer: I got some good ideas. I would have liked a different format.

Tool #10

For your Tool #10 assignment:

In YOUR blog post:

1.    Discuss at least three things you would want to make sure your students understand about being good digital citizens.

Answer: After reading some of the various posts on Vicki Davis’ Cool Cat Teacher Blog, I think it is important for students to understand the concept that everything out there on the internet is not valid information. Schools are faced with training students and providing that “anchor” in the sea of digital information out there. I would like them to have a tangible way to determine credibility for sources. I also would like them to use discretion when they are posting anything on the internet. Anyone who has watched the news during the past decade has seen high profile celebrities and the like get into trouble for inappropriate comments on a Tweet or other modes of communication.

2.    Share at least one of the resources mentioned above or on the Ed Tech website that you plan to use instructionally.

Again, I liked the information presented on Vicki Davis’ Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

3.    Explain briefly how you would "teach" the idea of digital citizenship to your students.

Answer:  I would “Teach” the ideas of digital citizenship by addressing this at the beginning of the semester and before each assignment involving internet usage for reinforcement. At the onset of the school year, I would engage students in a classroom discussion about how to handle possible scenarios.  Also,  a class we could  create our own digital contract which would consist of a set of rules that meet the district guidelines.

4.    Explain briefly how you plan to share the idea of digital citizenship with your parents.

Answer: I would send parents a letter and perhaps a permission slip for student internet usage. I think the District will have to establish a uniform protocol for this.

Tool #9

1.      Why do you think it is important to tie the technology to the objective?

Answer: I think it is vitally important to tie technology to the ultimate learning objective to make sure the skills and knowledge you want the students to gain are achieved rather that just focusing on being engaged in a media outlet, otherwise they could all sit at home and play on the Internet or watch TV.

2.      Why should we hold students accountable for the stations/centers?

Answer To ensure that each student is engaged and learning. I Liked the suggestion for students to sign something for each center. But they should be leaving a response that proves that they engaged in the activity in each center. I regularly teach using Learning Centers or Circuits, and this technology is welcome.

3.    Visit 2 of the applicable links to interactive websites for your content/grade level. Which sites did you like. How could you use them as stations? How can you hold the students accountable for their time in these stations?

Answer _ I really liked Thinkfinity. It has a cartoon maker as well, so you could include a cartoon a previous student pl aced up there and another student could come behind them and put it on paper using quotations rules. That way they are accountable for the Grammar I want them to learn with this technology. Also, if you move the students from center to center after a brief time, they will get busy and complete the assignment.

4.    List two to three apps you found for the iPod Touch/iPad that you can use in your classroom. What do you see that station looking like? How can you hold the students accountable for their time in these stations?

Answer: The camera/video App would be a cool way fro students to present information. To hold them accountable, I would give a grade to a group video.

5.    What about other ways to use the iPod Touch/iPad? Share another way you can see your students using the device as a station.

Answer:  As a station -- each station could be set up with a different grammar rule commas, end punctuation etc. and the students would rotate through the app at the station.  An initial group could gather info and pose questions for subsequent groups to answer based on what they can find on the internet Safari App or they students could leave a non-example for the subsequent students to complete and correct and so on. .

Tool #8- Taking a Look at the Tools

1.    After watching the videos/tutorials, list two to three things you learned about the device(s) that will be in your classroom this fall.

I watched the video on the Netbooks and learned about the importance of keeping the netbooks from overheating and (I’m a little embarrassed to admit)… how to tell if the caps lock is on or off. . Also, I watched the videos and went to two separate trainings on the I Pad, one for Memorial and one for Special Education. The I pad is a great device. It is part camera, part video camcorder, part internet device, psrt media device. There are so many apps that I plan to explore over the Summer and incorporate into my lessons next year.  

2.    How do you plan to manage the device(s) in your classroom? Do you have ideas/suggestions that others may find useful?

The netbooks will great for student learning centers and also be useful for an expert student group presentation, as they can be directly connected to a webcam. Another use would be the research capabilities in co-teach classes. I am very excited to have this as an educational tool.

Tool 7- Reaching Outside Your Classroom

For your Tool 7 assignment, create a post and respond to the following:

1.    After visiting the resources above, design a collaborative project with another classroom.

Answer: I chose to design a research project for World Geography collaborating with another Special Education teacher offering support  in another class period.

2.    Post the following about the project:

a.    Content objective : TSW learn to work collaboratively to compile research for a research paper across other class periods to help develop and share resources for students receiving Special Education support across periods.

b.    When you plan to implement In the late Spring

c.What tool(s) you plan to use : Global SchoolNet's Project Registry - Site where you can find other people's project as well as post information about your own, Poll everywhere.com to plan a pre-writing strategy, and Google Docs to share and collaborate on the actual research paper itself.

c.    A brief description of the project (plan - two or three sentences) Send a call for collaboration e-mail message to the Autism team to allow student receiving Special Education services through Co-Teach and those students in another period of the same course to share research on a country in World Geography. This will cut down on the research time and students will have more materials to work with. 2) Students will share their research through Global School Net, they will vote for a prewriting strategy using Poll everywhere, and they will each contribute a portion of the research essay and share it using Google Docs. 

Tool #6 Promoting Discussion Using Web Tools:

1.  1.    Choose at least two of the tools from the above list. Create an account for each (if required) .

Answer: I created an account for Wallwisher and Poll Everywhere

2.    Use each of the tools you choose to create a sample of how you would use it in your classroom.

3.    Embed the sample (preferred) or link to the URL.

Answer : Here’s my wallwisher page http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/STiIlWMMJU

It is a brainstorming activity for a STAAR open-ended response, which allows for students to brainstorm as a class.

Here’s my Poll Everywhere poll question: http://www.polleverywhere.com/multiple_choice_polls/ODYzNDE4NzU

It is a poll of the best methodology for attacking Personal Narrative Essays. This is good to use when several genres of writing are presented to students, and they have the task of choosing the BEST method of pre-writing.

4.    Share your thoughts on how you see the tools being integrated into your classroom. How do you see them encouraging participation?

Answer Wallwisher would be good for helping organize during pre-writing. It has the ability for students to add pictures and comment- so It would be a great way to share windowpanes vocabulary activities in any curriculum. Poll Everywhere could be used as I have in my example as a poll for best methodology for pre-writing, polling for the correct answer in any subject, taking a vote for activities as a very student centered Anticipatory Set – like the choose your own adventure books, or as a prediction strategy for pre-reading novels, etc. 

Tool 5: Publishing

Tool 5 Assignment:

1. Use at least two of the tools above to create products. Think about your content. Create a “set” for one of your lessons! Or, consider providing the site as a choice for your students to create products. Make a model for a student created product.
2. Then, embed both products in your blog or link to the products from your blog.

Answer: for #1-2 I created two products with Makebeliefscomiox.com and the storybird.com website. I really liked the story bird website.

Here is an example of a MakeBeliefscomix.com cartoon based on The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

To access it hit this link:http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/?comix_id=396247059C660285

Here is a  story about taking the daunting TAKS test created on Storybird.com:

To access it hit this link:

 http://storybird.com/books/eqnswpxdeq/edit/

3. Describe for your readers how you think each tool can be incorporated into your classroom - how you could see the tool being used by you instructionally and your students to demonstrate their understanding of a concept or topic in your classroom.

Answer to #3: The cartoon function can be a fun way to ask students to write specific types of sentences. Also, you could use it to teach or practice dialogue. The students could write out the previously text “bubbled” conversation between the 2 cartoon characters using correct punctuation.

The Storybird site would be a wonderful practice for students for the plot graph. They could utilize it to identify sections of it on another students writing. The page function I think would help the students become clear with sections of plot. The directions also told of a way to create a Persuasive poster. This could be utilized in nay non-fiction unit, no matter the level.