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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Using Technology to Teach Social Studies

I've heard students say that they don't like history because it's boring.  Let's face it, listening to historical facts and figures doesn't appeal to everyone.  I need to find a way to make history exciting and real to students.  One way to do this is to actual *show* them where events took place and how areas have changed over time.  Insert:  Google Earth.  This is a remarkable tool.  You can look at maps of how the colonies looked during the American Revolution and look at battle sites from the Civil War.  How awesome is that?

I saw this lesson that teaches students many different aspect of social students.  It's called The Amazing Race.  Each group represents a region of the United States and is responsible for researching political, economic, land form, and vegetation regions within their region.  The group will create a digital poster and post an "artifact" to the class wiki about the regions.  The groups then present their findings to another class.  One way to create a digital poster is to use Glogster.   I plan on doing a post on Glogster a little later on.

I'm sure there are a ton more ways to incorporate technology when teaching social studies.  When I find new ways I'll be sure to post about it!

Monday, October 28, 2013

Using Technology to Teach Math

I've decided to focus this week on using technology to enhance lessons for particular subjects.  Today we're going to take a look at math because I am teaching my formal lesson for my math internship this morning.  Wish me luck!

Anyway, a requirement for the internship lesson plans is the integration of technology.  While looking for online activities I came across the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics website Illuminations.  You can search for lessons that align with Common Core.  I liked looking through lessons because it really got the gears going in my head.

The activities section has some really great online activities for students.  I think I would use this for enrichment to give students extra practice.

Calculation Nation is a section of online games where students can challenge other students from all across the world.  It is free though students would have to register to play.  The games are designed for upper elementary through middle school students.

I am bookmarking Illuminations because I can see myself using it in the future.  Students can play the games and do the activities at home.  It would be awesome practice when students have been out of school for a while for breaks....yeah, yeah, hopeful thinking, I know!

Friday, October 25, 2013

Book Trailers

Let me just start by saying I LOVE TeacherTube!  It's YouTube just for education.  I can spend a lot of time watching videos and I find it is a huge source of inspiration.  While I was perusing TeacherTube today I came across this book trailer for Pete the Cat made by an elementary class.  I thought it was a good way to introduce new books to students.  Then I found this trailer, and this one, annnnd this one.  (P.S. I am very partial to the Harry Potter series.  Those books taught me to love reading.  I can go back to them again and again.  After all this time?  Always.)

So I got to thinking:  What if students made book trailers of the books they've read in order to persuade their classmates to read the books?  It wouldn't be a book report so no need to put a ton of detail in.  In fact, that would defeat the purpose; the creator of the trailer wants to draw the audience in so that the audience can't wait to check the book out.  I found this site that talks about the main items to include in a book trailer.  It would be very important to review this with students.  I would say that the trailers should be one to two minutes, maximum.

Most computers have movie making software already installed so students can make this at home or the school classroom or library.  Remember that post about Evernote?  That would be a great place to save images and music students want to include.

Wouldn't it be fun to have a book trailer "party" where the class watches everyone's book trailers?  A screening party, if you will.  Oh, I will definitely be using this in my classroom regardless of the grade I teach.  If the students are old enough they can create their own trailers; for younger students we could do a whole class collaboration.

Time for me to go watch more book trailers...


Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Wonderopolis

I just found out about Wonderopolis the other day.



Each day a new "wonder" is posted.  This wonder can be about anything, from what the smallest state is to where last names come from.  There is a video along with each post that relates to the topic.  There is also an explanation of the posted wonder and words that may be unknown to students are underlined.  If you run your mouse over the underlined word a definition will pop up.  Comments are encouraged.  From what I've seen there is one class who comments every day.  They will comment on what they thought about the wonder, a connection to their life, a prediction, a WWOTD, which I believe is "Wonder Word of the Day" where the student will list a word and definition they learned in the post.  If you click on "Explore Wonders" on the right side you can find all the wonders that have been posted.  There is even a search area to find wonders that align with Common Core for grades and subjects.

I have been in classes where the teacher will post a brain buster of the day and I think this is a great alternative.  I think Wonderopolis would be a fantastic tool for morning work or even to have students search for topics for a project.

This is a site I can see myself using in the future.  I believe students will enjoy it and it is meaningful to their education.

Monday, October 21, 2013

Edublogs

I've tossed around the idea of having students write their own blogs.  I like the idea of students sharing their writing but I definitely want to make sure that's it is safe for students to use.  I came across Edublogs on Pinterest.



I was really impressed by the student blogs that I read and it seems to be a safe website.  The teacher can set up the bare bones of the students' blogs and choose the privacy settings.  You can choose if the blogs can be viewed by anyone or if a password is needed to view the blog.

I thought blogs would be a great idea for students to post about books they are reading and comment and discuss on their classmates' blogs.  It's also a fantastic way for students to communicate with other students across the country and world.  Parents can also view the posts to see what their children are working on in school.

I'm not sure if I would introduce blogs right away when I start teaching, but I would like to get to the place where I feel comfortable incorporating blogs into the lessons and activities because students, I think, will respond well and really engage when they know they'll be publishing their information online.



Friday, October 18, 2013

Evernote

My instructor recently shared Evernote with the class.  I've used Evernote before for compiling recipes (before I had Pinterest :) but not much beyond that.  It's so helpful that you can access the information from your computer, iPhone, and iPad.  This would be useful for saving information and not having to worry about backing it up.  I started thinking about how I could use Evernote in the classroom.  I really like the idea of creating portfolios of students' work, but I want to be able to give work back and don't want to organize a ton of paper.  With Evernote I can scan work in and keep each student's work in their own notebook.  One paper problem solved.  I want to be continually assessing my lessons and adapting and improving them along the way.  With Evernote I can take pictures of whiteboards or anchor charts and the program can identify handwriting and make it searchable.  Amazing!  I'm finding so many awesome uses for Evernote I'll have to keep a list of it in Evernote!  Needless to say I am going to use this tool.  I just need to get more practice with it and find out all what it's capable of.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

LearnBoost

I recently stumbled upon LearnBoost while googling gradebooks.  I like that once you input grades the software will give you statistics on students so you can see if your students are meeting short-term and long-term goals.  Teachers can also give access to parents and students so they can see their student's personal grades but access can be revoked if need be.  Attendance can be recorded and it's easy to review throughout the year.  There's also a lesson plan section where teachers can attach Common Core Standards to the plans.  Overall I'm really impressed with this application.  If I am teaching in a school that does not have a system for everyone to use I would definitely consider using LearnBoost.  The best part?  It's 100% free!

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Technology in the Elementary Classroom

I started this blog a year ago and haven't done anything with it so I decided to reboot it for my Technology in the Classroom class at Fort Hays State University.  The topics for the final projects were left up to the students so I've decided to explore technology for teachers, students, and parents and post my findings in a blog.  I've seen where teachers will use blogs instead of newsletters to keep parents up to date and students use blogs for writing and can connect to students across the world.  Each post will be a different application I've found that I can use in the classroom.  I'll highlight the features and give a review to whether or not I can use it when I start teaching.  By the time I do start teaching I should have quite the catalog of apps to choose from.

To explain the theme of the blog:  I have always loved Alice in Wonderland so Christi at Design by Christi (and author of a fabulous teacher blog!) designed the theme for me.  I love it!  I hope to start blogging more (and about more than just tech) when I am actually teaching, which will (hopefully!) be in just under a year and a half.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or suggestions....I'm always looking for advice!