For PhotoPeach I created a short summer slideshow:
Abby's Summer on PhotoPeach
This was really a neat tool and SOOOOO easy to use. I could easily see this used to display student work at open house or even use in digital story telling within the classroom. I also could see it used with science for content like habitats or even living/nonliving.
Reflections
1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
I think my favorite discoveries included Zoho docs (so much easier for me to use than Google docs in some ways), PhotoPeach and blogging! I have always wanted to blog but never thought I had that much interesting to really blog about. This is making me realize that blogging in the classroom and using it as a tool to extend my teaching to my students outside of the traditional day is definitely possible and will be fun. Blogging is not necessarily personal, it can be a wonderful tool to use professionally as well.
2. How has this type of program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
I think it has definitely helped me to add to my toolbox and I like that it is in one place that I can go back to and reference if need be or even add to. I also feel like it helped me realized that learning doesn't have to be huge involved projects. By breaking down each learning exercise into smaller bites, I as a student can go deeper and spend more time focusing and developing my expertise in that particular area. I think this is an important concept to remember when we are teaching our students in the classroom.
3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I think one of the biggest unexpected outcomes is that now that everything is so "connected" it is a lot easier to use these different tools than I realized. By being able to share resources across multiple applications I can use my phone in a lot of ways in the classroom and then easily make that content available to students and/or parents.
4. What could I do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
To be honest, I can't think of one thing that I would change. I felt like it was paced exceptionally well, I thought the activities were nicely organized with wonderful resources and links to support our learning. I thought the activities themselves were challenging and fun to complete. Overall, I think this program has been wonderful and I hope someday to be able to share something like this with either my campus or team.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Thing 15 - Skype and Things Like Skype
I am very familiar with Skype as I use it at least once or twice a month to communicate with my brother in Hawaii. I also use it quite often with my parents as they live in Arkansas. It was really interesting to read through some of the different ideas and ways to use Skype in the classroom. We had a student move out of state two years ago and we used Skype to communicate with him. The kids not only enjoyed seeing and talking with him, but they moved to Michigan so when early fall/winter came around the kids were truly amazed at the difference between our weather here in Texas vs. Michigan which we had talked about, but I don't think they really understood until they saw all of the snow.
I think the article that I found most interesting was the article on 50 different ways to use Skype in the classroom. I liked that they not only had ways for children to use and be involved with the technology, but it also listed several wonderful ideas for professional use as well parent/school communication. I also spent some time exploring Skype in the classroom. What a wonderful resource! The search feature was super easy and I could pinpoint specific age and subject matter very quickly. We have just finished a unit on community, and there was a 1st grade class looking to Skype with other elementary classes to compare and contrast their communities. That would have been a wonderful real life connection that the kids could have made to really help them to understand the differences between urban and rural areas. It seems really easy to post as well as connect with others around the globe who want to collaborate. I know there was another website that I would reference in years past, but now that I have found Skype for educators, I think this will be my first place to look for collaborations (and possibly create some of my own : ) ). My goal before the end of the year is to try and at least Skype with another educator somewhere in the world at least once.
I think the article that I found most interesting was the article on 50 different ways to use Skype in the classroom. I liked that they not only had ways for children to use and be involved with the technology, but it also listed several wonderful ideas for professional use as well parent/school communication. I also spent some time exploring Skype in the classroom. What a wonderful resource! The search feature was super easy and I could pinpoint specific age and subject matter very quickly. We have just finished a unit on community, and there was a 1st grade class looking to Skype with other elementary classes to compare and contrast their communities. That would have been a wonderful real life connection that the kids could have made to really help them to understand the differences between urban and rural areas. It seems really easy to post as well as connect with others around the globe who want to collaborate. I know there was another website that I would reference in years past, but now that I have found Skype for educators, I think this will be my first place to look for collaborations (and possibly create some of my own : ) ). My goal before the end of the year is to try and at least Skype with another educator somewhere in the world at least once.
Thing 14 - Podcast and Bookmarking
iTunes/Texas U
I found a really cool resource that I really look forward to using this year in second grade. I found a program on elementary reading strategies in the K-2 classroom. It takes all of the strategies: synthesizing, making connections, comprehending information, inferring, questioning and visualizing and not only discusses each but shows examples of how how they look at the different grade levels. For someone who is brand new to the 2nd grade classroom and my focus is ELA instruction (we are blocked) this is a tremendous resource to guide me through this year. Here is the link for anyone interested:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/reading-strategies/id394013354?mt=10
Bookmarking
I for the most part have historically used Delicious as my primary bookmarking site. I actually downloaded the bookmark to my toolbar and I have to say that it is much easier to just click on the icon on the toolbar when I am on a certain site. I find when I have to cut and paste between two windows, it is a little more challenging and I am less likely to bookmark using Delicious. I am assuming I can add this tool to the toolbar at school.
The other bookmark resource that I have really started using more is Evernote. While I know Evernote may not be a pure bookmarking site like Delicious, I find that it is easy to create notebooks and within those notebooks specific tags to make it easy organize and find resources easily. I like the fact that you can take notes within the specific note and notebook and it really does make it one stop shop for everything personal and professional. While my Evertnote tags and bookmarks may not necessarily be public, you can share your notes/notebooks with others making it a nice collaboration tool as well.
I found a really cool resource that I really look forward to using this year in second grade. I found a program on elementary reading strategies in the K-2 classroom. It takes all of the strategies: synthesizing, making connections, comprehending information, inferring, questioning and visualizing and not only discusses each but shows examples of how how they look at the different grade levels. For someone who is brand new to the 2nd grade classroom and my focus is ELA instruction (we are blocked) this is a tremendous resource to guide me through this year. Here is the link for anyone interested:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/reading-strategies/id394013354?mt=10
Bookmarking
I for the most part have historically used Delicious as my primary bookmarking site. I actually downloaded the bookmark to my toolbar and I have to say that it is much easier to just click on the icon on the toolbar when I am on a certain site. I find when I have to cut and paste between two windows, it is a little more challenging and I am less likely to bookmark using Delicious. I am assuming I can add this tool to the toolbar at school.
The other bookmark resource that I have really started using more is Evernote. While I know Evernote may not be a pure bookmarking site like Delicious, I find that it is easy to create notebooks and within those notebooks specific tags to make it easy organize and find resources easily. I like the fact that you can take notes within the specific note and notebook and it really does make it one stop shop for everything personal and professional. While my Evertnote tags and bookmarks may not necessarily be public, you can share your notes/notebooks with others making it a nice collaboration tool as well.
Thing 13 - Using YouTube
I uploaded a video from my daughter's Spanish class. I was a little worried about how difficult it would be to get it off my phone, however, with the direct link/upload to YouTube, it was super fast and convenient. In terms of class, given the ease of transferring something from my iPhone, I could possibly do short videos showing techniques or lessons on topics that we are covering in class and then upload for parent's to access. This could be a really good tool that the kids could access from home, especially those who might be struggling.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Thing 12 - Discovering YouTube
I have come to really appreciate YouTube throughout this Masters Program as I have used it quite often in previous activities and projects. I think I was somewhat aware of YouTube, but I did not quite realize all of the videos that are available and the various applications of these videos both professionally and personally. I also have run into more resources to use in the classroom, which up until about a month ago, we were unable to access at school. Now that our district is allowing teachers to access and use content form YouTube, I am finding a lot of really interesting and engaging material that otherwise would not be available to me. I chose the following clip because in second grade, we have several historical figures that we are required to teach the kids which are not in our textbooks, nor do we have readily available materials. The Navajo Code Talkers were some of these citizens. I was amazed at how much the children truly enjoyed watching it, and they requested several times to watch it again.
I think one of the challenges I find in using YouTube, however, is when I do search for certain topics, I get a lot of "hits", however, many of them are unusable or inappropriate. I wish there was a more specific or detailed search that might make it easier to filter out certain videos or find what I am specifically looking for more quickly.
I think one of the challenges I find in using YouTube, however, is when I do search for certain topics, I get a lot of "hits", however, many of them are unusable or inappropriate. I wish there was a more specific or detailed search that might make it easier to filter out certain videos or find what I am specifically looking for more quickly.
Thing 11 - Web 2.0 Tools
From the first list, I chose Planboard to explore. I liked the idea of being able to create the plans online and then actually sending a link of the final plans to colleges to access. You can type in plans, but you also have the option to upload documents as well as embed hyper links. We have several programs that we incorporate a lot in our lessons (brainpop jr. and Pebble Go are two examples) and it would be nice to have the direct link for teachers to click on. It looks like you can also import specific state standards so they are referenced in case that is something that one's campus requires in regards to their lesson plans. I did find the sight to be somewhat difficult to navigate and I could never find the lesson plan "circle" that was present when I first logged in. You also can search for other teacher's lesson plans, however, when I tried to search 2nd grade social studies there were few resources and the list was a little difficult to decipher. I wish they had a more detailed search option to help narrow in on grade specific plans. This is something I think I will experiment with over the next few weeks to see if it will help with lesson planning this year.
The other Web 2.0 tool hat I thought was really cool was PowToon. We create PowerPoints throughout the year to go with curriculum units and what a cool tool to use to change up from regular old PowerPoints. I also think it is a more engaging tool to use with colleagues during in-services and trainings.
The other Web 2.0 tool hat I thought was really cool was PowToon. We create PowerPoints throughout the year to go with curriculum units and what a cool tool to use to change up from regular old PowerPoints. I also think it is a more engaging tool to use with colleagues during in-services and trainings.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Thing 10 - Online Productivity Tools
I really liked Zoho docs. I found that for me, it was MUCH easier to navigate and use than Google docs. I created a preliminary spreadsheet for our faculty fund and it was just like using MS Excel. I also like the idea that other members can access the document and make changes to the file. I was thinking that this might also be a good alternative to Dropbox since you can actually create files within Zoho. I will have to see if it is easier to share the document with one of my colleagues compared to Dropbox. I have had some trouble sharing documents through Dropbox in the past as they seem to be confused with the sign-in process. I could see where this would be wonderful tool to use a team to be able to save and work on planning documents, but the plus to how we currently do it is that we can actually log on from anywhere. I really enjoyed experimenting with this!
As a side note, I did download the file as a HTML, however, I could not figure out how to upload it to blogger. Any suggestions?
As a side note, I did download the file as a HTML, however, I could not figure out how to upload it to blogger. Any suggestions?
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