Lesson 4 in Review

This weeks focus has been on the use of PowerPoints in the classroom.  First I want to take the moment to discuss the technology explorations from this weeks assignments and then I'll discuss a PowerPoint I have created and used in the classroom.

Technology Exploration 11:

Comic Life and iSpeech were both reviewed for this technology exploration.  Comic Life is a program that allows you to create comics, picture albums and more. I found this program to be great for a classroom setting and could see this being used as an opportunity for students to create their own customized comic. Not only would it be fun, but it would provide them with an opportunity to work on their writing and illustration skills.  I would recommend that teachers use the free trial to see if it is something they would actually utilize this product in their classroom before purchasing.

iSpeech is a program that allows you to upload documents and then listen to them as they are read aloud.  As good as this product sounds and may seem I found the voices used to read the documents to be rather robotic sounding.  Also, it would be best to use one of the upgraded versions due to the limited amount of information you can type into the text box or upload with the basic edition.

Technology Exploration 12:

VoiceThread and VoiceThread 4 Education were the two sites reviewed for this technology exploration.  VoiceThread is a multimedia program that allows you to show a slide show with images, videos and documents that allow people to leave comments and information.  This is a great tool for collaboration purposes within the school you work or with a school in a different country.  I found this to be a great resource for teachers and thought it could be easily implemented into any subject area.

VoiceThread 4 Education is a wiki that provides a place for classroom partners to provide their contact information for collaboration purposes.  It is also a place to collect examples of VoiceThreads that have been used in the classroom.  It is a great resource for teachers if they are considering using VoiceThread in their classroom.

Technology Exploration 13:

Storybirds and Scribblar were the two resources reviewed for technology exploration 13.  Storybird is a site that provides teachers with the ability to create their own stories that are art-inspired.  I found it to be a great resource to get students interested in writing.

Scribblar is a program that uses whiteboards, image upload and download ability, text chat with the user list and more.  I found this site to be confusing and didn't understand what I could do with this site.  I tried the free demo but didn't see that it helped explain the possible uses for this program.  It was not a resource I cared much for.

Technology Exploration 14: 

The two sites that were explored for this tech. exploration were Xtranormal and Virtual Manipulatives.  Xtranormal is a place to make your stories come to life. I found it to be interesting and would let educators know if they plan on using it to make sure they have plenty of time to explore all the capabilities of the program before trying to use it in the classroom.

Virtual Manipulatives is a great resource for teachers, providing math manipulatives that can be incorporated into any grade level K-12.  This is a resource every teacher needs to have bookmarked for use with students struggling and to use as an interactive resource with students.

We were asked to create a PowerPoint presentation and mine was created for Kindergarten age students about rhyming words/pictures.  I used this as part of a unit on rhyming words this past year.  It was presented to them as a pre/post test and a review to help teach rhyming words, see what the students already knew, and to see that they understood the concept of rhyming words.  I placed two pictures with the word typed underneath the picture on each slide and asked students if they rhymed.

Students were directed to use the TurningPoint clickers to answer the question by pressing A for true or B for false.  We did practice these steps before and the students had to be given a visual to know where to point their clicker for it to work.  I am proud of the automatic feedback I received from using this PowerPoint because I could see which students understood the concept and which students were still struggling.  This then allowed me to work with individual students on the concept as needed. 

I would modify the presentation and use it later in the year when my students are better readers and change from using pictures and words to just using words.  I would do this to see that students understand the concept of word endings and how that correlates with  rhyming.

My students loved the presentation and found it as more of a game than a test.  They loved playing with it and each day that we used the clickers as a review they would ask if they could get the remotes out and play the game again.

Lesson 3 in Review

Once again, this class has provided many useful resources for educators through the technology explorations we have explored. These resources are great for the use in any classroom. Here are this weeks technology explorations in review.

Technology Exploration 7:
The two websites that were reviewed for this technology exploration include: www.gpat.org and www.zoho.com. GPAT is an assistive technology site.  It provides useful information for teachers and educators about the types of assistive technology that are available for student use.  It also provided information about the IDEAS Conference. Some simple assistive technologies include pencil grips and large handled cups.  There are many aids that students can have access to if the teacher knows about them and if the technology would benefit them and fit into their IEP. Zoho is a site used to create charts and graphs to display data. It can be used within a school setting or in a small business setting.


Technology Exploration 8:
The two website that were reviewed for this tech. exploration include: www.4teachers.org/tools/ and dimio.altervista.org/eng/. With the site 4teachers.org, we were to select three tools to explore. I chose to explore Quiz Star, Casa Notes and Web Poster Wizard.  Each of these were useful tools that can easily be used in the classroom and are a great resource for educators.  The second website was designed as a text to speech program.  It is supposed to function as an automatic speech recognition tool, but the program would not download properly to my computer and therefore caused issues.


Technology Exploration 9:
The website explored in tech. exploration 9 was http://fullmeasure.co.uk/powertalk/.  It was a great resource and would be easy to incorporate into the classroom.  Power Talk is a program that speaks texts that are on presentation slides.  Great resource


Technology Exploration 10:
The websites explored in tech. exploration 10 include: http://www.webquest.org and http://readthewords.com. The WebQuest site provides links to different WebQuests.  The ReadTheWords.com site is another text to speech technology that provides users with the ability to generate audio files from written materials.


Now onto the documents I've used with my after school students.  This summer we are planning a mini-camp and field trip.  I have created a postcard for my students and their parents.  At first there were pictures that made the post card visually appealing, but it was a little distracting. There was too much going on with the pictures behind the text and it was distracting to try to read. It was also lengthy and needed to be shortened to get the message across in a quick but effective manner.  

I have since recreated the postcard to make it more effective.  This is what it looks like now.

Front of post card, discussing the topics for our mini-camp.

Back of post card, letter to parents discussing the field trip.

I removed the pictures from behind the text and made them smaller and to the side of the texts. i also added a solid color for the background and a contrasting color for the title to make it stand out.

















The parent letter was written with a small picture to the lower right corner and the title of the camp written over top of the picture.  The letter quickly lets the parents know what students should do to prepare for the trip (i.e. wearing tennis shoes, jeans, and bringing a light jacket).


The postcard is now much more effective and less distracting than the first version.


That's this weeks lesson in review.

Lesson 2 in Review

This week has been filled with lots of information on wikis, databases and spreadsheets and the use of each in the classroom.  

Tech Exploration 4:

Technology Exploration 4 was about concept map tools that can be used in the classroom.  The two I looked at and tried were Xmind and Bubbl.us. Both of these sites were great resources for teachers to use in the classroom.  Xmind is a program where you can customize and design your own concept map and then have it uploaded to share with co-workers.  It was very easy to navigate through the site and there was a video to introduce the program to new users. Bubbl.us was another great site for teachers to make and use concept maps in the classroom.

Tech Exploration 5:

Technology Exploration 5 was about Animoto, which is a site where you can create videos using your photos.  You can create videos using your own photos to show what you've been doing in the classroom, or you can use photos from image library and make educational videos to teach students about different topics in education. It was a great site as well for teachers or students to use.

Tech Exploration 6:

Technology Exploration 6 was about Google Docs and PhotoPeach.  Google Docs is a place for teachers and students to create, edit , share and store documents online.  PhotoPeach is a site that allows you to create custom slideshows, and share the shows you create.

Now on to my internet search for spreadsheets and database uses in the classroom.  While doing my internet search I stumbled across the website:

http://classclatter.blogspot.com/2011/05/spreadsheets-and-databases-in-classroom.html

This blog tells about the uses of spreadsheets and databases in the classroom.  It also provides two other websites that are useful links for teachers. These links are: 1.)http://juliannbetker.efoliomn.com/spreadsheets
 and 2.) http://www.amphi.com/~psteffen/excel.html.  The first link provides examples of uses of spreadsheets and databases in the classroom and the second link redirects you to a website that offers further links to other sites about integrating spreadsheets into the classroom.

I used the first link to see how spreadsheets were being used in the classroom and found there are some interesting ways to use spreadsheets in the classroom. When I think of spreadsheets, I usually think of math, but this site tells how spreadsheets are being used in Language Arts which surprised me.  It tells how spreadsheets can be used to make vocabulary lists, study guides and crossword puzzles.  It can also be used to make a timeline.


While student teaching, I used spreadsheets to keep track of students grades (pre- and post-test grades), progress with certain subject areas, and for tracking their involvement in the classroom.  I used spreadsheets to help me keep track of who was answering questions in class and who participated in class discussions.  I also used spreadsheets to keep track of students that were struggling with math, as we had begun a new math program at the elementary school and my fifth graders were having a hard time with it.  I never used spreadsheets much with my students other than for my personal use of tracking their class involvement.  Spreadsheets are such a useful tool for teachers and students.

Lesson 1 in Review

This week has been filled with learning about technology and the resources that are available to teachers. I learned about everything you could do with the website http://pbworks.com/education and how you could create your own workspace. This was a great site for storing links to websites that can be useful resources for future use in the classroom.

One thing I will use immediately in my classroom is the www.tumblebooks.com website.  This is a great site for my students to be exposed to other books we don't have access to.  I will introduce this to the students that I work with and show them on the SMART Board how to operate the website.  I see the challenges with my students not having the understanding on how to find books that are appropriate for their reading level, but this can be overcome by giving them visual directions that can be left at the computer for them to follow each time they log on to use the programs. I can write out step by step directions with visual cues, like click on sort by and click on sort by reading level. Then direct them from there where to find books in their level. Working with students from three different grade levels will require each student having their own set of directions for finding books for their level, but adapting directions will not be difficult to do.

Tech Exploration 1: Wiki

With tech exploration one, I found that with PBworks, teachers can publish notes, PowerPoints, schedules, and policies in their workspace. This website also helps keep parents involved on the teachers workspace, allowing them to communicate easily with the teacher as needed.

This site is also a great way for classes to branch out and learn about other cultures by connecting with other classes from around the world. I like how this site operates and would recommend it to other educators.

Tech Exploration 2: E-Books

Like I mentioned above, tumblebooks is a great website for the classroom. It does cost a fee to have this site in the classroom, but it is a great source for reading materials, literacy games, books in Spanish and English, and lesson plans for the teacher. It is also a site I would recommend to other educators if they are willing to spend the money for it and the time to discuss with students how to maneuver around the site.

Tech Exploration 3: Pod Casts

Mr. Langhorst's Classroom Website (www.liberty.k12.mo.us/~elanghorst/) is a great example of pod casts being used in the classroom. The site is set up in an easy to maneuver manner and seems to be well organized, although it is designed for 8th grade American History so it does not pertain to my classroom as an elementary teacher.

This lesson was filled with great resources that I will be sure to use in my classroom.