Do You Voice Thread?

Check out my lesson plan about the Underground Railroad using "Voice Thread."

https://www.getbackboard.com/view/3z6MfM8aB1

My Journey Doesn't End Here!!

Well, even though this is the last night of Teaching With Technology, my Web 2.0 journey certainly does not end here! We presented our projects tonight and I really learned so much from my classmates. Actually, I don't know what I am going to do with my free time when I am not in this class anymore!

For my project, I decided to research the programs Haiku, Yugma, and VYew. As any other virtual classroom, I found these programs very useful for collaborating with students, uploading lesson plans, hosting webinars, and giving students instant feedback. Let's face it, we live in a world of instant gratification. Elementary school is much different today than when I was there! I remember that it would take the teacher such a long time to give us feedback after taking a test or other assessment. Well, with Web 2.0 programs such as Haiku, Yugma and VYew, this doesn't have to be the case, nor will it be! You can set up your virtual classroom to give your students instant feedback through discussions, journals, and blogs. You can also give your students a secure and spam free place to post or send messages. As the teacher, you can write one student or the entire class. On Haiku, you can poll, drill, and examine what your students know. Then, you can sit back and let your computer do the grading! Also on Haiku, a resource library is coming soon! This is a place to share your content or use ready-made content supplied from third party providers.

Overall, I had a wonderful experience taking this class! I loved working with Dr. S. and my fellow peers. Web 2.0 provides us with SO MANY tools to use in the classroom, that the walls of isolation truly are being broken down! Remember, teachers do not have to be in this profession alone. There are so many tools that we can use to collaborate with each other....so let's take advantage of them!!! It would be a hug disservice to both ourselves and our students if we didn't!

Below is the link to my presentation on Slideboom:

http://www.slideboom.com/presentations/75800/Using-Haiku%2C-Yugma%2C-and-VYew

Virtual Classrooms

Virtual classrooms seem to be the way of the future! Recently, I read an article and wrote a review about how teachers feel isolated because they do not have time to reach beyond the four walls of their classrooms. With Web 2.0, these barriers of isolation are slowly being diminished. Now, teachers are able to share ideas with other teachers online, upload lesson plans, ask for advice, and receive feedback. Let's just face it, time is a teacher's worst enemy. As a fifth grade teacher, I know that I am constantly against the clock. However, Web 2.0 makes it so much easier for this professional dialogue to occur. Teachers should never have to be in their profession alone.
For my final project, I decided to look more into virtual classroom sites, such as Haiku, Yugma, and VYew. Honestly, I never knew that these sites existed! After researching them, I found that teachers can use these sites to upload lesson plans, post discussion forums, give students immediate feedback, host online classes with a live chat, and utilize an online gradebook. They actually remind me a lot of the Moodle site that we use for Teaching with Technology. Again, I think that these sites will help to break down the barriers of isolation that teachers are feeling. In this sense, this site will also foster a collaboration amongst students because they can work together on a similar project, give each other feedback, and provide each other support. I believe thaty Virtual classrooms are the way of the future, and it would be interesting to see more teachers incorporating these sites into their classrooms.

Ahhh...The Possibilities!

When I first discovered all that Web 2.0 had to offer, I was so excited! I am certainly learning more and more everyday....I want to use EVERYTHING I find, but I know I have to narrow down my choices to the ones that will be the most useful at this moment in time. For one of our assignments, we had to search through TONS of Web 2.0 tools and choose two of them that we would use in our classrooms (very tough choice!!!). One tool that I liked in particular was OpenZine. OpenZine is a tool that teachers can incorporate into the classroom for students to construct an online magazine. Once the magazine is created, students can post it on the site for others to view and comment on. They can also collaborate with peers and share ideas. I recently finished up a "Feature Article Study" with my students. They had to create a feature article in Writer's Workshop, and then they typed it on Microsoft Publisher. With OpenZine, they could have created a title and cover to their "magazine." Instead of having a traditional publishing celebration, we could have brought out the laptops, and students could have shared their work with each other using this OpenZine tool. The students would have LOVED this idea!
Another web 2.0 tool that I would incorporate into the classroom is DoInk. DoInk is a place to enjoy art and animation, and make your own. Students can draw and animate online, as well as collaborate to share work. I am currently finishing up a Civil War Inquiry Unit with my students. One of their final task options is to create a graphic novel. Many of my students want to choose this option, but they are worried about making the pictures. I believe that DoInk will allow children to be creative with drawing, in a non-intimidating way. Maybe next year I will utilize this program to make a virtual graphic novel! This would definitely engage them and raise their interest level a whole lot!
Our next assignment was to construct a lesson plan using a Web 2.0 tool. I decided to use the program "Voice Thread" to construct my lesson around. This program is a wonderful discussion tool because you can make a slide show and students can comment by either typing their response or recording it. I think it would be neat to have students make their own Voice Thread presentations, and then have them go on to other student's sites to comment. What a wonderful way to collaborate!

Web 2.0 Word Splash!!!

Check out my group's Web 2.0 word splash or word cloud that we created. These are all words that represent Web 2.0 and its endless possibilities!

Don't Be Fooled! Stay Informed!

Keeping students educated about Internet safety and Cyber Bullying is such an important piece of our job! What students don't know WILL hurt them! Making a lesson plan about these topics have really opened my eyes to the lack of awareness some students have. How are they expected to know the potential dangers of the Internet if no one every tells them? It is so easy for a student to get caught up in a situation where he/she wants to share personal information on the Internet just because everyone else is doing it. What many students do not understand is that what ever they post on the Internet can be viewed by anyone in the world! It is our responsibility as educators to make them aware of this, and the potential dangers that can be caused because of one wrong move. Also, many students may think it is "cool" to Cyber Bully another student by saying mean things, spreading rumors, or posting an inappropriate picture. Students need to understand that this is a serious offense that can turn into a potentially dangerous situation. The websites that Dr. S posted for us to view are wonderful resources for teachers to use in the classroom. Many of the websites are interactive games that include questions about Internet safety for students to complete. The more we talk to our students about the dangers of the Internet, the better their web experiences will be! Our children should not be afraid to explore the web, that is why we must keep them informed! Below are some of the sites:

Disney Online
Bad Guy Patrol!
Get Creative (video about Creative Commons)
i Keep Safe
IPL Teenspace
Cyber Citizen
Wired safety
Internet Detective Home

This is Not Goodbye!!

Well, this is my last blog entry for Literacy and Technology....however, it's not goodbye!! Technology is such a big part of my life, and now that I am aware of the Web 2.0 tools that I can use in my classroom, I will constantly be exploring to find the most useful ones! I have grown so much this semester, and I now feel more confident about incorporating technology into the classroom. There are so many interactive things you can do with technology to motivate and intrigue your students! Take blogging for example! Eventually, I would love to set up a blog for my students to be able to express their thoughts on. This collaborative tool will also help to promote literacy skills in the classroom. I plan on having my students make a podcast by the end of the school year for their Civil War Inquiry Project. It's so exciting to see the students ready to experiment with new tools in order to better their learning.
Overall, I enjoyed taking this class! Dr. S, you have taught me so much about the creative tools that are right at our fingertips!!! I didn't know about or understand half of them until now! This class has broadened my horizions as a teacher, and I am grateful for that! I would LOVE to learn more, so I am taking the course "Teaching with Technology" Summer I semester. Hopefully my "toolbox" will grow!
So again, it's not goodbye....It's actually a fresh start to a whole new approach of teaching!

Here is the link to my final project on using blogs in the classroom to improve literacy skills:
http://www.slideboom.com/presentations/63715/Using-Weblogs-in-K-12-Content-Area-Curriculum-to?pk=acd4-ff4d-a965-fb44-6648-6c4d-049e-de67

Grading Made Easy!

Teachers lead such busy lives, the last thing they want to do is sit down and manually figure out grades! That is why people have invented programs such as Engrade, which is an online gradebook. Overall, I found this program to be user friendly. I liked how easy it was to get started. Even though I teach, I made up a fake class for purposes of this assignment. First, I typed in the students' names and their ID numbers. Once I chose an assignment, the program gave me a choice of how I wanted to point value to be distrubuted. I decided to make all of my assignments out of 100%, but I like how you are given the option to do what ever point value you want to. This is great, especially for an elementary school setting where many of the assignments are not graded on a scale out of 100. I also thought it was great how the program automatically gives you an average for each student, plus an average for your whole class on that particular assignment. This program does not only do grades, but it gives you a calendar for assignment due dates, and there is a spot where a teacher can type in comments about a particular student. This makes it easier when report cards come around! Students are also able to see their progress on this site, which is always a positive. I believe students should never be left in the dark when it comes to their progress.
For my suggestions, I recommend that the students' last names show up in full on the screen. Some student's names are cut off because they are too long. Also, I feel that there should be separate boxes to type into when you are setting up your class list. Right now, you have to do your own spacing with the names and ID numbers. It would be more convenient if the site did this for you. For example, have a box to type in the student's first name, a box for the last name, and a box for the ID number. The appearance of the website could also be more colorful, or maybe you should be given a choice of the template you want to use. Right now the site's appearance is very boring.
It would definitely be useful for classroom teachers because it saves time when trying to figure out averages. Plus, it monitors a student's progress overtime so you can see growth. Lastly, the comments section will be a big help for teachers to jot down any observations about the students and it will especially be helpful during report card time. As I mentioned above, parents and students will benefit from this site because a student will be able to check his/her progress on a daily basis. Therefore, he/she can make appropriate improvements where necessary.

This online quiz was made using the program Studiyo. I decided to make this quiz based on a science unit that I do with my fifth grade students called Microworlds. I thought that this quiz was very easy to make, and it wasn't time consuming at all. It tracks your score as you take the quiz, and at the end it even gives you a grade! I love the way it is interactive, and I feel that students will love to take it because it tells you if you are correct or incorrect right away. I also like the option this program gives you to add media, such as videos and pictures.

Working Hand-in-Hand!

Collaboration really is the key to success! When I was initially asked to think about the difference between cooperative learning and collaboration, I was stumped! Was there really a difference? I always figured educators used these words interchangeably. Well, after doing a bit of research, I am now more aware of the differences between the two. They both rely on the same principal idea of working together to achieve a common goal, but collaboration seems to take the process a step further. With cooperative learning, students are given defined roles and the process id very goal driven. Collaboration actually focuses more on the process. In a collaborative setting, everyone is equal, and everyone gains process in social skills development. There definitely needs to be positive interdependence between the group members, otherwise communication would fail and it would be very difficult for the final goal to be accomplished. Collaboration takes place every day in our schools! I would not be the educator that I am today if I wasn't able to collaborate with my colleagues to plan lessons, share resources, and have professional dialogue. However, a person must want to collaborate in order to be successful at it. Being that there are no defined roles, educators must be able to feel comfortable enough to lean on each other to make our schools the best they can be for our children.

We talked a lot about collaboration during our whole group class meeting last Monday. Dr. S shared many wonderful collaborative project sites with us. My group researched a collaborative project called the Horizon Project on Wikispaces. This is a collaborative project between classrooms in diverse geographical locations. It's based off the Flat Classroom Project, which is a global hands-on working together project for middle and high school students. It is based off the book The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman. The project's main goal is to "flatten" or lower classroom walls so that instead of each class working in isolation, two or more classes are virtually joined to become one large classroom. This can be achieved through web 2.0 tools such as Wikispaces and Ning. I feel that this is an outstanding theory! Who do children learn best from? EACH OTHER! Why not allow them to collaborate and share ideas with each other?? Plus, it will also engage teachers in collaborative teaching, and hopefully eliminate some of the competitiveness that it out there!

A Journey Through The Underground Railroad

Can You Solve It?

Well, after a little bit of frustration, I was finally able to make my crossword puzzle in Microsoft Excel. It was actually a great learning experience because I never knew that you could even make a crossword puzzle using Excel! I feel that this is a great tool to show students how to use....especially when integrating technology in the classroom. When students see the true value of what a program like Excel can do, I believe that they will be more open to using it. It would be very boring, and almost pointless, to just simply teach Excel as a stand-along software. I bet many students would say, "So what??" However, if you teach students how to use excel to create study tools, such as crossword puzzles, they will be able to see the relevance. For example, if a teacher wants to review science vocabulary for a test, he/she could pose an assignment to have students make a crossoword puzzle using graph paper. Then, he/she could pull the students together and show them how a cross word puzzle is constructed using Excel. Usually, students are very excited to try a new task with technology, so the students could then have the opportunity to make their crossword in Excel. Not only are they learning how to use new software, they are studying for their test! I think using Excel to make crossword puzzles is a wonderful tool for learning content vocabulary because it gets the students engaged, and it allows them to use their creativity to think of "clues." Students have a better chance of understanding the words through this process, rather than copying down definitions. Another fun idea would be to have the students print out their crosswords and randomly pass them out to each other to try to complete! Again, this acts as another study guide...and I bet they will LOVE to solve their friend's puzzle!
I also made a crossword puzzle using ED Helper. This program was so easy to use, and it also created an answer key! Though learning how to create a crossword puzzle using Excel was a good experience, it was very time consuming. ED Helper was quick, and the program automatically formatted everything for you. With my busy day to day schedule, I would have to say that I would use a program such as ED Helper to make a crossword puzzle for my students.

Put on your Thinking Cap!

Have you ever been in a class where all the teacher does is lecture and have you memorize facts? I sure have! How boring! Speaking from personal experience, after a while I completely zoned out and didn't absorb anything of relevance. It's just human nature! Well, this is what many students are still experiencing today. This is why teachers need to keep up with the current trends and models of keeping students engaged in the classroom.
There are many teaching strategies that teachers can begin to incorporate into their daily lessons. Often enough, many teachers resort to the Behavioral Model because it involves the teacher talking and the students memorizing. It is the easiest model for many teachers, and this is what they are used to. The Inquiry Based Learning approach is the total opposite from what has been going on in traditional classrooms for years. Inquiry learning is a seeking for truth, information, and knowledge. Students seek information by questioning. With inquiry, students are able to find out more about a certain topic that interests them, rather than have to research something "just because the teacher said to." The inquiry process begins with gathering information and data by using the five senses. In a traditional classsroom, the most important goal was to have students memorize facts and data. With Inquiry Based Learning, students are understanding how to get and make sense of data, which is a life long skill. I read on one website that traditional learning focuses more on learning about things, while inquiry learning focuses more on learning things. This is so very true once you think about it. Inquiry enables students to develop useful problem-solving skills, as well as develop habits of mind that will be carried with them to guide learning and creative thinking.
The 5E Lesson Design is aligned with inquiry because students are exploring new ideas on a certain subject, in this case science. The teacher begins by engaging the students in order to capture their interest. Next, the students begin to explore. In this stage, students get directly involved with materials and activities. Students work together collaboratively, which enables them to share and communicate and the teacher acts as the facilitator. In the explanation stage, the student begins to put the abstract experience into a communicable form.
Communication occurs between everyone (peers, facilitator, learner himself). In further stages, students expand on concepts they have learned, make connections to other concepts, and apply their understandings to the world around them. This is what true inquiry is all about. If I were a principal in a school, I would definitely encourage my teachers to use this model in their classrooms because I want to see students make meaning of something that is real to them. This model allows students to go beyond their comfort zone and actually demonstrate a solid understanding of the concepts learned. This is what is going to make our future citizens critical thinkers and problem solvers.

Stretching the Mind

Last week was very interesting in which I had to "stretch" my mind! At first I wasn't sure why we were asked to make a mind map...but the more I thought about it, the more the assignment made sense to me. I rationalized it as this:
In life, we are constantly asked to make decisions based on some sort of problem or action. The mind map allows us to think about a certain concept in depth, branching out all the possibilities to make that concept work. Though I decided to make my first mind map about my life, I believe that Dr. S was trying to get us familiarized with the process of these decision making skills. Once you are familiar with the logical way of thinking, such as the mind map structure, you can use it in the future to help solve other problems or make important decisions in your life. I was glad I was given this opportunity!
After looking through all of the programs that Dr. S had given to us, I decided to use Inspiration to create my first mind map. To me, this looked as though it was the most user friendly. I downloaded the free 30 day trial, and I had a blast experimenting with the program's tools. There were a lot of neat graphics that I could use and I enjoyed the fact that I could add links and notes to my map. This enabled me to further describe parts of my map in detail. I think I got a bit carried away because my map turned out to be larger than I imagined! Oh well!
The next night, I wanted to experiment with a web based mind mapping tool. I decided to go with Gliffy. Believe it or not, I thought this program was easier to navigate than Inspiration. Like Inspiration, it had a lot of great graphics and designs that I could use to personalize my map. I feel like my map on Gliffy was more organized than my map on Inspiration. Another neat feature of Gliffy is that you could publish the mind map to the Internet. I like this feature because now I can give anyone the web address and they can access it!
I definitely believe that students should be exposed to mind mapping in the classroom. As I mentioned above, it will allow them to think critically, while also sharpening their decision making skills. It also enables visual learners to have a graphic to look at. For example, when integrated into the content areas, it can be used as an outline or a study guide. I believe the possibilities are endless with mind mapping!

Below is a link to my Mind Map created with Gliffy:
http://www.gliffy.com/publish/1624132/

Telling the Real Stuff From the Fluff

I believe that teaching students and teachers to evaluate websites is extremely beneficial. With today’s modern technology, anyone can literally post anything on the Internet. This may pose a dangerous situation, that is why we need to be aware of the “fluff” that is out there. I thought it was interesting to evaluate the three websites I chose using Kathy Schrock’s checklists. It really enabled me to pay attention to things I wouldn’t have normally noticed, such as the date the website was updated and the author of the site. This is so important because data is constantly being updated, and you want to be sure you are reading current information. Out of the three websites, I chose to evaluate one teacher website, Time for Kids, and two student websites, The Underground Railroad and Civil War for Kids. I plan on using both of these websites in my classroom. Though the teacher evaluation checklist was more intense than the elementary checklist, it really made me think about content and pedagogy. I especially like the section at the end of the elementary checklist that asks students to write a paragraph telling why the website is helpful (or not helpful) for a certain project they are researching. I would like to incorporate this checklist into my classroom because I believe it provides the opportunity for students to synthesize the content on the checklist and make an educated decision as to whether or not that website is suitable for their purpose.
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/eval.html

Digital, Digital, Digital!

We definitely live in a "Digital Tech Savvy" world! Monday night's class certainly proved this to be true. We had a great experience online, but it would have been even better if I had a microphone to communicate with the other class members! It was difficult typing my responses because you need to listen to the people who are already talking, read the responses that are popping up on the screen, and then formulate thoughts in your own head. It would be much easier if i could just talk through a microphone! Walmart here I come :)
I really enjoyed the fact that Dr. S had her webcam on! It made me feel at ease to be able to see her, as well as hear her! I guess this has something to do with me being a visual learner. Plus, it made me feel like I was actually in a class.
Well, our group chose the name "Digital Chicks" and our group motto is, "Changing technology one computer at a time!" (Very appropriate for this class!!) Digital literacy is very important for teachers today because it is a way for students to actually synthesize information, as well as apply newly acquired skills. Literacy is no longer just about reading and writing. Along with digital literacy, students need to be aware of information literacy, which means knowing how to find, analyze, and use information. Digital students of today's society need to be able to take reading and writing to a higher level because this is what they are going to be expected to do in many of their future careers.
One way teachers can be sure that they are preparing students for this digital age is to constantly incorporate the Six National Educational Technology Standards into their classrooms. We worked as a group on Monday to brainstorm various tools aligned with the standards that teachers can use to develop skills in the classroom. We came up with products such as clipart, wordart, Kidspiration, morning message on smartboard, and class webpages, webquests, wikis, and blogs, just to name a few. Teachers must make their classrooms and curriculums appropriate for the digital learner. I feel that most teachers are able to inspire student learning and creativity, but they do need to provide more digital age learning experiences and assessments in order to stay in tune with the "Net Generation."
Children of today are living in the Net Generation. They don't know life without the Internet or technology because this is what they have been exposed to from birth! At the end of the school day, I watch as the countless number of cell phones and i-pods come out of my fifth graders' book bags! I didn't get a cell phone until I was 16....and I just got an i-pod two years ago! Students of today are learning to become multi-taskers with technology. However, many schools are lagging behind and this is a problem. Some people believe that students cannot focus on more than one thing at a time. This is not at all the truth!! I see children multi-task everyday in the classroom, when given the proper opportunities to do so. I believe many schools out there aren't giving students a chance to take off with technology...and this scares me. How will they be prepared for what is ahead??
With Web 2.0, content is created, shared, remixed, repurposed, and passed along. It includes images, video, and multimedia. This is MUCH different from the "read only" Web 1.0. With Web 1.0, students were passive in their learning environment. It was based on teacher-centered instruction, and instruction was factual and knowledge based. The new and improved Web 2.0 is the read-write web! It focuses on a student-centered learning environment in which the collaborative exchange of information takes place. Authentic learning takes place with Web 2.0 because it engages students in active, inquiry based activities. Students are taught to be critical thinkers and decision makers. This is definitely how I want my students to approach their learning!

Dust off the Cobwebs!!

I found it very informative to review the different LoTi levels. Much of the content presented was an eye-opener! It is an interesting way to break down technology use in our schools (or lack there of...). Before reading the description of the level, I took a few minutes to reflect on the question posed in the beginning of each level and think about how it directly relates to my classroom and district. I actually ranked my district at a level "3". Many of the projects we do with our students are inquiry based in which students have to think of their own guiding questions for their research. Last year, my colleagues and I created a "Colonial America WebQuest" in which my students had to conduct research, draw conclusions based on the research, and create an electronic Colonial America Newspaper. This year, we are planning to do a unit on The Civil War in which students will have to construct guiding questions and conduct research based on the topics they are interested in researching. We are still thinking about a culminating project! Any ideas?
I think teachers need to "dust off those cobwebs" and start to experiment with the joys of technology. It may take time to get to level 3, but they need to start somewhere. I bet they will probably be very surpirsed of how much more engaged their students really are!

CHANGE Anyone??

No, I don't mean money! They say some things never change...this definitely is not the case with technology! Change is really the essence of education as we know it today! Over these past few days, I have spent A LOT of time exploring the various resources posted on Moodle. Every website I visited, every video I watched, and every article I read seemed to reinforce that technology is growing stronger day by day. After viewing the "Learning to Change..." video, I realized that technology is not a choice anymore. As the video states, a young child growing up in today's society is certainly living in the "now." He/she is in the world of texting, Facebook, and internet research. Instead of learning in a traditional classroom setting, much of what students learn in school is based around technology. This is a huge change for many educators.
I agree with the point the video raises of standardized testing not helping students to succeed in the future because many of these tests are just based on simple fact and recall. Where is the real world application of skills? How is a standardized test going to give students the skills needed to find, process, and synthesize information? Yes, testing is needed to assess whether or not a student has grasped an important concept, but the answer is simple. Students of today's world cannot become prepared for what is really out there unless they are constantly exposed to everything technology has to offer.
I also found the "Chapter One Power Point to be very interesting. Technology is definitely present in every aspect of daily living, and as the chapter explains, computers support communication beyond classroom walls. Our students of today really are "Digital." When I think of technology, communication is one of the first things I think of. Take this class for example. We, too, are "Digital" students using technology to communicate our ideas with one another in order to make meaning. As the "Differentiation Video" explains, the learning environment has changed from what it has been in the past. It is now a sharing of information...and one of the best ways to do that is through technology! Many students do know more about technology then their teachers. Sometimes I even find myself calling for a student when I can't figure out how to do something on the SmartBoard or on the computer!! And to tell you the truth, they usually solve the problem! They are constantly exposed to technology, so their minds are almost trained to think in that mode.
As educators, we must be willing to take "the leap" into the world of technology...even if it is out of our comfort zone. I belive it is time to make a change, and I am so excited to hear what my peers in this class are doing with technology in the classroom. Change isn't necessarily a bad thing-especially in this case! So, are you ready?

An Interesting "Leap" into Technology!

During this week I was able to finally take the "leap" into the world of blogging, websites, and wikis! Honestly speaking, I was overwhelmed at first...but I soon realized that these wonderful resources are a lot of fun to explore and set up! Now that I have begun to explore the various tools that will help me to creatively inform instruction in my classroom, I must begin to think about how these tools will help enhance my literacy instruction.