Comparing/Contrasting Wikis

The first wiki I found was priestsic6.wikispaces.com. It is a 6^th grade class wiki. The wiki's set up is very easy to navigate. The teacher has a page for each subject area. When I looked at the Literacy page, it was all about poetry. What I found very neat was the fact that she gave the first 2 lines of a poem, then the student added 2 lines of their own. I love that she added pictures of her own classroom. All through the page you see students' works of poetry and literacy.

The second wiki I looked at was a collaborative storytelling wiki where students in grades 3 and 4 got creative and completed a story about a tennis ball (terrythetennisball.wikispaces.com). This wiki showed the creativeness of the students while still keeping them in the parameter of a specific assignment.

Both wikis had students adding onto a story/poem. It shows their creativity and allows them to work together collaboratively to reach a completed story/poem. The wiki about the tennis ball was for younger students. They didn't have full reign of how the story went. They clicked on certain options, then when it came time to add a line or conversation, they were able to add it. The wiki about poetry was for middle school students. They were to build on the previous person's lines to continue the poem.  

Tools of Technology

Through this Master's program on Educational Technology, we have learned about so many different tools to use with technology. With so many tools to choose from, it's hard to decide which one(s) to use. I find myself wanting to use all of them, but I know that wouldn't be good for me or my students right away. 

My school is going 1:1 this coming school year, and I could not be more excited, especially for our students. With that being said, I have decided I want to flip my 8th grade math classroom. So I've been looking for a tool that I can use to help make videos. I have used Animoto a few times for projects, and I love it. For myself, I want to use it to make video lessons for my students and parents to be able to watch at home. I tried this a few times this past year to test it out, and I got great feedback from students and parents. Parents loved it because they could see how we did things in class and could in turn help their child. Students loved it because sometimes they would get home and forget how to do a problem. They would turn on the video and get what we did in class. This provides a great segway into differentiated instruction. Students can work at their own pace with the videos. It also helps the lower students see things more than once.

Another way I would use Animoto in my classroom would be for students to complete projects/assignments for my class. They could make a video showing step by step how to solve a problem. 

One problem I would have with this is those students that don't have internet access at home. For them, I would give extra time to complete and offer extra hours before or after school for them to come in and get help or just have time to work with Wi-Fi.

What are your favorite video tools to use in the classroom? How else would you use Animoto in your classroom?

Being Literate in the 21st Century

As I watched this YouTube video on being literate in the 21st century, it really got me thinking about how literacy has changed since I was in school. I agree with some of the teachers in the video about the definitions of literacy. When I think about when I learned to read, I think about learning letters and sounds. We had big alphabet books (about 12x12). Each book was a different letter. We practiced tracing, writing, and picking pictures that started with that letter. Nowadays, I think about how my 3 years old does so much with technology. There are so many apps out there to help our kids read. How can we use these avenues to enhance our children's learning. 

Also while I was reading about blogging, the thought that it's really more about reading than writing struck me. I had never thought about that before, but it's so true. Before you begin writing a blog, you need to know the ins and outs of blogs you enjoy reading. It's a great way to get students reading and writing in a different manor. It's different than the routine of writing essays. It's a way to get their creative juices flowing and allows them to branch out a bit more. 

Being literate today is so much more than what it meant even just a few short years ago. As technology emerges, we as teachers need to keep up with those trends. It is our responsibility to teach our students in ways that they understand, and as they use technology more and more, why not use those avenues to get them to learn?

EDET 573 Intro

We're starting a new course for our MET program. It's hard to believe we are winding down this degree! I have learned so many new ways to use technology to help my students learn. With our school moving to 1:1  this year, I know these classes will be a huge benefit! As this class begins (Technology of Enhance Literacy), I am excited to learn ways to get my students reading and writing online. Being a math teacher, I also hope to learn and find ways I can enhance literacy in my classroom. I am excited to begin this journey!

Twitter Chat

I participated in the #flipclass chat. Since we are going 1:1 next year at the middle school, I wanted to see and learn what I could. I didn't get all of my questions answered, but I will continue to follow and participate to get more answers. The chat mainly centered around 3-4 people. It was good to hear what they are saying about their classrooms. The proctor asked some great questions. However, most of them pertained to only those who have already flipped their classrooms. It was still good to read about things that they would do differently and things they liked. Once I get into flipping my own class, it will be a lot easier to participate. I haven't followed anyone yet, but I have a couple in mind. I also want to keep following this chat and find others in my grade level/content area. Overall great experience for my first chat.

Web 2.0 for Educators

One tool that I've really started using educationally this year is Pinterest. Over the summer I started seeing the value that it has educationally. I absolutely love it. Somebody out there has already found or made a lesson that worked for them and are willing to share it with other teachers. I can do a search for a specific topic and find endless resources of activities and assignments and lessons. Last summer I began by doing a broad search for Common Core 7th grade math. I found people that had shared an entire unit. I firmly believe in the saying "Why reinvent the wheel?" If people are willing to share what they've found and made, then it must be of some value. I've only used this as a tool to use as a teacher, but I'm sure eventually someone will start pinning on how to use Pinterest in your classroom. Ay ideas?

Social Networking

Social Networking is a network of friends, colleagues, and other personal contacts. It is an online community with a common interest who use a website or other technologies to communicate with each other and share information, resources, etc. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/social+network)

I absolutely love getting to share ideas with other people. I follow Facebook pretty closely. I love being able to stay in touch with old friends and keep track of how they're doing. Over the course of the last year and a half, I am beginning to see how helpful they can be for teaching as well. I started Pinterest a couple of years ago, mainly to find great DIY projects for my home, and I have fallen in love with it. But just over the course of the summer, I have seen how helpful it can be in education as well. So many fellow teachers have created lessons or projects and want to share it with everyone. My philosophy is "Why reinvent the wheel?" If someone has put in all the leg work and is willing to share it with you, USE IT!!!!! I absolutely LOVE Pinterest. 

In the last 2 weeks, I have joined Google+. I really like that you can follow certain topics that interest you. They will pop up any postings on your home screen. You can also post text, pictures, videos, etc. I love the Hangouts and that you can have a personal chat with someone. What's also really cool is the video portion of Hangouts. I think this would be really cool to have a Video Hangout with others schools around the country or even world to show them how diverse we can be. You could also have students follow certain educational sites. I followed Khan Academy, and they are always posting math videos on their page. I could have different students, whether low or high, watch certain videos they post and comment or attempt some problems. It's a very neat way to incorporate a social networking site into education. The kids love it! 

Please share other things you like about Google+ as I am still learning, or any other social networking sites you love for education!