Month: February 2014

Edmodo

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          edLet’s start! Visit: www.edmodo.com

Something that is a huge desire for me is a strong connection with parents and a way of seamless communication.  I really like the idea of a class blog, and Edmodo is a class blog on steroids.  I have seen something similar at New Albany called a “portal” and each teacher is required to have one.  I love Edmodo because parents can log on and view the class schedule, an about the teacher, upcoming projects and activities, and so much more. 

It is a great resource for teachers to have and parents/guardians to use.  Parents and guardians can go to see the class schedule if they were wondering when lunch is, maybe they wanted to plan a birthday surprise lunch for their child. Edmodo also lets the me (the teacher) personalize my page in themes, fonts, and colors to create a cool, easy to read “blog” to keep parents and guardians in the know.

I would use Edmodo to:

  • Extend my parental involvement
  • Show upcoming classroom events (maybe to help rally some volunteers)
  • Update parents and guardians on books we have read and projects/presentations we have done
  • Keep a class blog
  • Update with newsletters for the month

Is Edmodo right for me?

I have yet to find anything wrong with Edmodo.  If my school/district does not provide a district wide classroom blog (or “portal” as New Albany does) I will definitely use Edmodo in my classroom to keep parents and guardians updated and let them become one with our classroom. 

 

Image from: https://www.google.com/search?q=edmodo&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=SRcOU7XNCcvpqAGu14DACA&sqi=2&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAg&biw=1188&bih=511#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=eNnP0dtAqnjHMM%253A%3BcTj8MptObqx56M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fblogs.bend.k12.or.us%252Finstructionaltechnology%252Ffiles%252F2012%252F08%252Fedmodo.png%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fblogs.bend.k12.or.us%252Finstructionaltechnology%252Fedmodo-for-teachers-2%252F%3B596%3B335

 

IPad & Apps

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Apps can be downloaded from the Google Play Store or the App Store through an iPad or other tablet device.
I have been in classrooms where to school has a set of iPads that the classroom teacher can rent out for an extend period of time.  I have used iPads with the entire class to help with student differentiation and even generate math word problems for a group to work through and solve collaboratively. 
There are tons of great apps out there for students to use such as Science 360, 123, Interactive Telling Time, FlipCards, but I want to talk about the iXL Math app. With the iXL Math app you can have students find the app, and then it is very quick to select categories of math for them.  This really does help differentiate a lesson.  I have used it and it is very quick to maneuver through.  In about 2 minutes you can get each and EVERY student at the level they should be on and it is discrete, so no one knows where the other is and can’t compare themselves to others.  What else I did was pair and group students together and have them work together on one iPad. What this let me do:
  • Have a class of students working at their own paces on math concepts (we used it a lot with money).
  • Work together and individually
  • Use media, having fun, and not a worksheet
  • The students also could work around the room and bring their iPad to me or show me as I came around if they had questions or wanted to share a concept.
  • I could also extend off of the problems presented in this app for deeper thinking, and move the students to higher or lower levels depending if additional support was needed or not.
The iPads and apps are also great because countless  subjects have apps available for download in the app store.  Also many apps are free with others very reasonable in price.

Assessment & Review:

Apps can be used for assessment, review, or as a part of a lesson activity.  There are thousands of apps for download and for any content area and lesson. Just search your app store or Google Play storeand find some great apps!

 

Pinterest

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“Pin it” at www.pinterest.com or on your smart phone/tablet using the

Pinterest app!

 

Hands on! That’s my favorite type of projects and learning experiences. I love creating hands on projects. Let me give you a quick run down of a lesson I will do with my class one day…

It all starts with me announcing “Today we are making bouncy balls!!!” From there it is just applause, cheers, and happy tears from my classroom of excited and ready students. At least that’s how it plays out in my head. So the standard for this lesson may not be what you think; it is measuring (Kindergarten Ohio Standard IXL; units of measurement length, weight, volume, and time).

Now where does Pinterest come into use? With this lesson I would use Pinterest to find a safe, simple bouncy ball recipe.  The students would then measure out the ingredients to create their own ball.  The week would focus on measuring where each day we would create something by measuring out ingredients. Pinterest has many great recipes and ideas.  With this website and app their are endless possibilities and ideas. So go ahead and “pin” some of those lesson ideas.

pinit

 Assessments!

With pinterest you can find assessment ideas, lesson ideas, and tools to use in the classrooom. In my example of the measuring week/lesson my assessment woul have been creating the bouncy ball which was a “recipe” that I found on Pinterest. So go find some lessons, activities, assessments, and other ideas!

 

Image from: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Pinterest+Logo&Form=IRTRRL

 

Instagram

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I am new to this app called “Instagram”…I don’t know if anyone else has heard of it or not. I have been pondering this concept of having a class Instagram.  With an Instagram name like “Mr. Toy’s 3rd Grade” I could create a private, monitored Instagram account. insta  With this the parents and family members of students as well as students and teachers could “follow” my classroom account and see the projects the class has created throughout the school year.  On this account the class would decide to post pictures of certain projects, art work, class books, class pet(s), etc.  Their faces or names would not be shown EVER. I would be the only to have access to post pictures, and the privacy settings would all be turned on, but the students family members who would follow the page could see what the class is up to, what projects we are working on, the progressions of projects, and the great books we have been reading.

Assessment

When it comes to assessment, I would upload pictures of assessments (projects, pictures of presentations, ect) but I would not use Instagram as an assessment. This would be used as amother media tool to keep parents, family, and other teachers even more connected with the classroom. Image from: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=instagram&FORM=HDRSC2#view=detail&id=00B825644B7A01372EBFF0C88254DF57A21924E8&selectedIndex=1

ITunes!

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Let’s get some music going with iTunes at www.itunes.com or using your apple device!

So I’ve been thinking about what I want my classroom and classroom community to be like as I’m sure many of us have been. It’s exciting to think about our own classrooms and the kind of teachers we want to be. I know the following:
1. I do not want a boring classroom.

2. I do not want a boring classroom.

3. I do not want a boring classroom.

I thought about how can we as a class have some (constructed) fun to help with student-moral in between lessons and during certain time. I got it! I will use iTunes to create different playlists throughout the day.  With iTunes I can create several playlists with pre-listened music so I know exactly what song is going to be coming on and that it is censored and safe for student ears. 

These playlists can be used throughout the day for a 30 second dance party for a quick “brain break”, classical music during reading and writing, and even using songs to give a certain amount of time to clean up at the end of the day, “Ok we get one song to have this room clean. GO!” This is another form of media that will get kids focused and having fun.

Assessment…with iTunes?

Using iTunes in my classroom there would be no assessment for it. This post was created to show how I would use iTunes.  I think it is great to have soft music when students are reading or writing.  I have seen it help with focus and it helps keep the students quiet and on task.

Storyboard That

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Start Your Storyboard at: www.storyboardthat.com

Storyboard That is a great tool to use with many different subjects and standards. Some ideas I thought I will use it for are sequencing, re-telling, and story elements; I will even use it to have the students study illustrations and creating their own story board to let their illustrations extend the text of their written stories.  Here’s one of my storyboards:

 story

With Storyboard That I would create a story on the storyboard, but mine wouldn’t be in order. Then I would have the printed version of the storyboard where the students would then sequence the story in the correct order.  

I would even have the class use the storyboard to re-tell a story that they read or was read aloud.  From here I could look with them at their storyboards and see what is missing, what is done perfect, and do any events need changed around. 

 

Storyboard That is great because the images are pre-generated, it is simple to navigate and change the storyboard cells, and it is creative and lets the students customize the characters provided.

Assessment:

When it comes to assessment I would use Storyboard That as my assessment tool. I would use it to have students visually ratel a story (as rebelling is a standard), predict the end of a story, or illustrate a story. I would also use this website to create models of my expectations for my students to turn to for help.

 

 

Check it out for yourself! http://www.storyboardthat.com/

Virtual Fieldtrips

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Visit some pandas here: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/webcams/giant-panda.cfm

Aching to get out of the classroom? Wanting to extend a lesson? Want to get your students experiencing a topic first hand? Let’s take a virtual fieldtrip!

Imagine a class of 23 first graders learning about how living conditions support living things (Grade 1, Level 1, Life Science). Now lets imagine their excitement getting to watch a panda in the environment supported by the Smithsonian Institution.  We can use the “Panda Cam” to observe the pandas.  This can lead to discussions about what we see, what the pandas have to survive, and how their lives would be different if their living conditions were changed.

pandas

There are several (adorable) pandas that the whole class would be enthusiastic to watch.  This would allow us to bring the pandas to our classroom via smartboard, if able, and let the students minds open watching the pandas live as they go about their day.

Some questions I would use with the “Panda Cam”:

1. What do we see? Describe the environment.

2. What does this tell us pandas need to survive?
3. What would happen if they didn’t have _________?
4. What would happen if the envionrment was dirty?

Assessments

I would use the “Panda Cam” and other live feed cameras to create observational notes, spark open ended questions, and the answers to several questions throughout the lesson to contribute to assessments.  The live feed cameras are great to observe the animal, the habitat/enviornment, and how it is all connected. 

Resources:

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/webcams/giant-panda.cfm

Remind101

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Media Literacy & MY Classroom:

Remind101

Remind101 is a website at www.remind101.com, and once here it works with your phone after the profile is created, but it still works intertwined with the website.

One day when I have my OWN classroom I want to have open and effortless communication about assignments and homework.  How can I do this? Remind101 is my answer. With some research into this I’ve found it is only a few easy steps to get started.

Step 1.) Create a code.  Here you go to the Remind101 website and create your unique class code. This is what will be linked to your specific class.

Step 2.) Share the code with parents and guardians of your students.  They then send a text message to the Remind101 phone number with the class’ unique class code that I (the teacher) would have set up.

Step 3.) Now they are subscribed to the class reminders and notifications.

Step 4.) Send out the messages. This is done from the computer and you choose the messages/reminders to be sent.  Type them up and send them, schedule for when they can be sent.

This website shows only the names of the parents and students, not their phone numbers.  You can choose who receives the messages by clicking their name and not viewing their number.  The best part though….THE TEACHER’S PHONE NUMBER IS NOT VIEWABLE EITHER!  This is a safe way to keep up with those daily reminders.  All of the messages are saved on the teacher’s page and you can see the list of students and parents/guardians who receive the messages.

This is something I am definitely going to give a shot to help improve my communication with parents and guardians and send out freindly reminders.  If you want more information these websites were very helpful:

http://www.kleinspiration.com/2011/08/remind101-text-your-students-and.html

https://www.remind101.com/

Assessment:

Remind101 is not an assessment, but is connected because it helps remind parents/guardians and students of assessments coming up. Remind101 is another great tool to help improve communication and reach out for the students beyond the classroom setting. It’s a great way to use media to send out those helpful reminders.