11/08/08
Hmmm... I was so positive I could keep this up during the school year. I don't know what happened. I don't want to taradiddle (make excuses) but I do have over 30 students. They, of course, are wonderful, but I can't seem to get my arms around grading, testing, planning, etc.
Anyway, about knocking down these walls. I have started using my Wiki to have students publish their work. They are very proud. I am, too.
Plus, I have been pretty good about keeping up my wiki introduction page that is told from the classroom's point of view. It is a weekly summary of what happened in our classroom the past week. It is a good place for parents and grandparents to go to find out what's happening.
I'm excited because my technology class is a go for our District. I didn't get notified that it had been approved so thank goodness someone who registered for it contacted me. If she hadn't, I wouldn't have been here on the 15th and the registrants would have been unhappy.
I also got my schedule for teaching for the Bureau of Education and Research. I head to Seattle adn Phoenix in January and Cherry Hills and Newark in February. Hopefully by then I'll have more kid examples of using the different tech. tools.
I do have some exciting news. I was given the opportunity to test drive some of the new alphasmarts - NEO2's. They are pretty sharp. They are wireless. Students can take Accelerated Reader tests on them and do all of the other stuff of which past alphasmarts were capable. Now if I can just get OIT to load the software :-)
More to come.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Web 2.0 Tool Handbook off to the Publisher!
It has been a really busy week as I have been busy taking a few classes, getting my classroom ready, analyzing my students' state test results, and most importantly if I'm looking at a time crunch, finishing my handbook for my new seminar with the Bureau of Education and Research. I will be presenting this seminar in Phoenix and Seattle in January and then Cherry Hills and Newark, NJ in February. Now that the handbook is completed, I get to breathe a bit and then begin organizing the actual presentation of the seminar. The seminar is all about how to use Web 2.0 tools in the classroom.
My latest find is called, "Elluminate." I realize it has been out there a while; however, they now have a Three Room Suite you can use for free. I can easily see how I could use this to hook up with two other classrooms across town, the state, the country, or the world. It is pretty intuitive to use and has a lot of great features for taking polls, surveys, and even identifying whether someone agrees or disagrees with your comment. I like the "Raising Your Hand" feature the best.
I have run into a bit of glitch that may put a kabosh on all the Web 2.0 ideas I have for my classroom this fall. I'll need to have a meeting with my principal and with someone from our District's OIT Department to get permission to put some of the web-based softwares on my school computer. This is always a bit difficult and usually involves a number of steps and pleas. Wish me luck.
I definitely want to put the following on my classroom computer: Jing, CamStudio, Audacity, and Videora. They all will allow me to do some podcasting, vodcasting, and screencasting.
Right now, I have been experimenting with a blog with my future students. I sent them a snail mail card with information about my blog: Studentsinroom 118.pbwiki.com. They call me to get the key for access. They can view information about their summer homework, tomorrow's barbecue details, and participate in a "comments" forum that allows them to share what they have been up to this summer. So far, just a few have tried it, but they seem to be quite successful.
It is now getting late, so it is off to bed. Tomorrow I get to get back to my geneology family study as I have had to put it on hold to finish my handbook. Thank goodness for Ancestry.com!
My latest find is called, "Elluminate." I realize it has been out there a while; however, they now have a Three Room Suite you can use for free. I can easily see how I could use this to hook up with two other classrooms across town, the state, the country, or the world. It is pretty intuitive to use and has a lot of great features for taking polls, surveys, and even identifying whether someone agrees or disagrees with your comment. I like the "Raising Your Hand" feature the best.
I have run into a bit of glitch that may put a kabosh on all the Web 2.0 ideas I have for my classroom this fall. I'll need to have a meeting with my principal and with someone from our District's OIT Department to get permission to put some of the web-based softwares on my school computer. This is always a bit difficult and usually involves a number of steps and pleas. Wish me luck.
I definitely want to put the following on my classroom computer: Jing, CamStudio, Audacity, and Videora. They all will allow me to do some podcasting, vodcasting, and screencasting.
Right now, I have been experimenting with a blog with my future students. I sent them a snail mail card with information about my blog: Studentsinroom 118.pbwiki.com. They call me to get the key for access. They can view information about their summer homework, tomorrow's barbecue details, and participate in a "comments" forum that allows them to share what they have been up to this summer. So far, just a few have tried it, but they seem to be quite successful.
It is now getting late, so it is off to bed. Tomorrow I get to get back to my geneology family study as I have had to put it on hold to finish my handbook. Thank goodness for Ancestry.com!
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
WEB 2.0 tools I have found and love!
Ugh! I have been so busy that I forgot to blog. Sorry... I have been working on my handbook that I will use for my technology seminars. It is a lot of work but I love it. The main problem is that I keep getting sucked into the new technology opportunities and get lost in cyberspace only to resurface with dinner not made, laundry not folded, and a starving dog staring at me lovingly. (Isn't a pet's unconditional love great)
Anyway, things I have found include:
Jing - a great tool for taking a screenshot of something on your desktop. The best part is that you can select what you want in the shot, then you can add arrows, text boxes and highlights. It has been a lifesaver for creating my handbook. http://www.jingproject.com/
Voicethread - a tool for having online conversations and discussions. The Voicethread can hold a video or picture, then you can narrate text that is recording. Then others can provide feedback or add to your voicethread. Check it out: http://voicethread.com/#b409
Bibme - a site on the web where you enter the name of the book, magazine, website url, etc. then it gives you the bibliography entry - It has saved me a ton of time and helped me cite my sources legally and easily. Giving credit where credit is due has never been easier. http://www.bibme.org/
There is much more, but I have to get back to my handbook!
Anyway, things I have found include:
Jing - a great tool for taking a screenshot of something on your desktop. The best part is that you can select what you want in the shot, then you can add arrows, text boxes and highlights. It has been a lifesaver for creating my handbook. http://www.jingproject.com/
Voicethread - a tool for having online conversations and discussions. The Voicethread can hold a video or picture, then you can narrate text that is recording. Then others can provide feedback or add to your voicethread. Check it out: http://voicethread.com/#b409
Bibme - a site on the web where you enter the name of the book, magazine, website url, etc. then it gives you the bibliography entry - It has saved me a ton of time and helped me cite my sources legally and easily. Giving credit where credit is due has never been easier. http://www.bibme.org/
There is much more, but I have to get back to my handbook!
Sunday, June 22, 2008
What is out there is just amazing!
I have spent the past week buried in the internet. It is a good thing that my son is out of town as I have been pretty focused on learning the new Web 2.0 tools and not much else.
I am really excited by the tools I am finding that can be easily used in my classroom and are free! Just last night as I was reading more about podcasting, I came upon a link to a free recording/editing software called Audacity. It is terrific. I don't know much about how to edit different tracks, download free shareware musics, etc., but with the help of this software and some website guidance, I was able to create my own recording. My next step is to see if the OIT staff for our school district will allow podcasts. I viewed a number of ways a podcast can be used in classrooms including daily news reports, research project reports, poetry presentations, readers theater, and much more. The exciting part about podcasts is that they are then accessible to grandparents or relatives anywhere. I think that is a great way to keep or reattach extended families spread out across the United States or the world. I'll be working on podcasting for the next few weeks.
Maybe I'll have an URL you can visit to see my early attempt by the next time I write. Have a great Sunday!
I am really excited by the tools I am finding that can be easily used in my classroom and are free! Just last night as I was reading more about podcasting, I came upon a link to a free recording/editing software called Audacity. It is terrific. I don't know much about how to edit different tracks, download free shareware musics, etc., but with the help of this software and some website guidance, I was able to create my own recording. My next step is to see if the OIT staff for our school district will allow podcasts. I viewed a number of ways a podcast can be used in classrooms including daily news reports, research project reports, poetry presentations, readers theater, and much more. The exciting part about podcasts is that they are then accessible to grandparents or relatives anywhere. I think that is a great way to keep or reattach extended families spread out across the United States or the world. I'll be working on podcasting for the next few weeks.
Maybe I'll have an URL you can visit to see my early attempt by the next time I write. Have a great Sunday!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Summer rest is over - time to think about next fall!
June 11, 2008
It is summer time. School is out for my students - 5th graders; however, I am already finished resting and starting to wonder and worry about how to do my best work with my students next fall. As a user of different technology tools in my classroom, I get curious about what's out there that I can realistically (both financially and managerially) bring into my classroom to become a part of our learning atmosphere.
I've had some successes - eChalk with a dropbox for homework had glimmers of success, using the tv to view computer-based software or websites worked pretty well, and I'm a huge fan of Tom Snyder-based software that is interactive, motivating, and linked so well with standards.
Of course, failure has happened, too. The procedure we follow in our district takes time to get software approved and then loaded on our classroom computers so the FASTT Math software I had personally purchased one spring was not available for student use until late into the following fall of the next school year, the virtual fish tank was highly entertaining but I had more trouble than I thought I would linking it to my Mixtures and Solutions science unit, and some of the Youtube poetry slam sites I used had trouble streaming which puts a damper on things in any classroom.
This summer, I am spending my time learning Web 2.0 tools on my own and then trying to see how I can bring them into the classroom. I have determined that these factors will help guide my energies: Is the Web 2.0 tool: reasonably priced - preferably free? ...easily manageable as I have a lot of mandated testing to do and reports to fill out...safe for my students....able to enhance what I already do in the class?
(I'm already excited as a techie who works at our local hospital told me that they had figured out a way, with a California teacher guy's free shareware, a Wii remote control, and an infrared pen, to create a digitized whiteboard screen. I get to see a demonstration later this week so more on that later.)
So that is the focus of this summer blog - What I find out about Web 2.0 tools and how I can adapt them to the real life setting of a pubic school elementary school. If you have ideas, feel free to comment. Let's share and steal ideas so that all of our students get the most out of what is out there.
from the land of blogsphere,
kas
It is summer time. School is out for my students - 5th graders; however, I am already finished resting and starting to wonder and worry about how to do my best work with my students next fall. As a user of different technology tools in my classroom, I get curious about what's out there that I can realistically (both financially and managerially) bring into my classroom to become a part of our learning atmosphere.
I've had some successes - eChalk with a dropbox for homework had glimmers of success, using the tv to view computer-based software or websites worked pretty well, and I'm a huge fan of Tom Snyder-based software that is interactive, motivating, and linked so well with standards.
Of course, failure has happened, too. The procedure we follow in our district takes time to get software approved and then loaded on our classroom computers so the FASTT Math software I had personally purchased one spring was not available for student use until late into the following fall of the next school year, the virtual fish tank was highly entertaining but I had more trouble than I thought I would linking it to my Mixtures and Solutions science unit, and some of the Youtube poetry slam sites I used had trouble streaming which puts a damper on things in any classroom.
This summer, I am spending my time learning Web 2.0 tools on my own and then trying to see how I can bring them into the classroom. I have determined that these factors will help guide my energies: Is the Web 2.0 tool: reasonably priced - preferably free? ...easily manageable as I have a lot of mandated testing to do and reports to fill out...safe for my students....able to enhance what I already do in the class?
(I'm already excited as a techie who works at our local hospital told me that they had figured out a way, with a California teacher guy's free shareware, a Wii remote control, and an infrared pen, to create a digitized whiteboard screen. I get to see a demonstration later this week so more on that later.)
So that is the focus of this summer blog - What I find out about Web 2.0 tools and how I can adapt them to the real life setting of a pubic school elementary school. If you have ideas, feel free to comment. Let's share and steal ideas so that all of our students get the most out of what is out there.
from the land of blogsphere,
kas
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)