To sum it all up....

  We had a great topic today in my graduate course: using issues in the news to help solve problems technologically. One example was the Chilean miners, when they were trapped underground for so long. I'd love to do a lesson where my students think of simple technological solutions for a complex real-life scenario. Then, we could discover how the problem was actually solved and compare and contrast it to what we had determined. This helps to teach that technology transcends computers, classrooms, and gadgets to having real-life applications. It's so exciting to think of discovery-based lessons like these that have broader implications for learning!

   Also, here's a great video about a project by Ramesh Raskoor, this amazing new imaging technology that has so many implications for our society, including taking videos of the body without an x-ray. This would be a great thing to share with your students about cutting-age technology! I hope we can inspire some curiosity! Thanks for reading!

The Benefits of Online Communication

  We are lucky to have so many methods of staying interconnected today, but with it comes so much responsibility. Some of the best methods for teachers, I think, are email, blogs, classroom websites, and secure networks for sharing information such as edmodo.com, scriblink.com, and various classroom management websites and collaborative websites. In evaluating some online communication tools, I found a great article at http://gigaom.com/collaboration/10-tools-to-improve-communication/, it encourages me to use my mobile more to communicate, and I love their shared to do list tool. If teachers shared their to do lists more, the world may be a better place! Well, at least a less stressful place for those of us in the education field. Now, whether I would skype with a class in France, it may be a little too new-age for my liking (not to mention the time difference), but at least I know how to do things like that and other online collaborative platforms.

  I was also wondering what the most popular methods of online communication were for teachers, and that was a little more difficult to find. However, I did find this chart about the preferences of teachers for educational technology needs in 2011:

Retrieved from http://www.emergingedtech.com 

Using online communication tools helps to fulfill an important NETS standard for teachers, and that is: 

# 3.    Model Digital Age Work and Learning
Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society.
a. Demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations
b. Collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation
c. Communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital age media and formats
d. Model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning

As teachers, we must  constantly set an example that we are on the cusp of technological developments so we can demonstrate a model digital age citizenship to our students. We can also help set a high standard for communications and improve our communities. By insisting on using technological methods for students and parents to keep up with school and class developments, we can encourage people to learn more about technology, and hopefully use it! To supplement this point, here's a great video I've found where Texas school teachers are pledging to go paperless. It's pretty progressive and totally cool if you ask me!

With some luck and maybe a few grants, I'm hoping my classroom's students will one day look more like this:

Retrieved from http://lenabug31.blogspot.com/2011/04/technology-in-schools-ipads-for.html

I think you'll find there are also tons of how-to videos online about how to better implement technology in your classroom! 

Security! Security! Security!

   It is our job to make sure our students have a safe environment for learning, and part of that, of course is our network safety. In the past I've loved using the Netsmartzkids.org website. They have great videos, games and activities for teaching internet safety. For example, here's the 'activity of the month' about the Olympics:

I guarantee your kids will love it! It's fun to do during brain breaks, etc. when you need something fun to do that's still educational and you help teach important safety values that kids need for life!

This subject draws to an end on a more serious note: how can we make our cyber-education a safer place for our students? Though my school's network seems really secure, you can never take too many precautions and here are some that I've found:

• Making sure firewalls are up-to-date and on every computer
• Checking filters on the web browser
• Setting safety controls (like parental controls)
• Password protect everything and anything possible
• Encrypt your passwords
• Setting privacy controls on the browser (block cookies, pop-ups, etc.)
• Never transmit any sensitive information over email

As teachers, we need to teach our students how to engage in safe cyber practices. Like, denying pop-ups and unauthenticated web pages, setting controls themselves, not transmitting information about themselves or others, and knowing when to ask for help from a trusted adult.

 

    Here's a screen shot of a Dreambox learning game for primary students. The directions are to place the flags at the appropriate intervals. If you go to the website, it will let you to choose a variety of levels and play as a teacher. It also explains how curriculum standards are co-aligned with each activity. Enjoy!

My Software Experiences: trials and error....

   I've used several software platforms in my classes by two of my most used were Kid's College and DreamBox Learning suites. Kid's College was purchased by my school to help keep track of students math and reading literacy progress after school. Students can choose teams, players and go back and forth between math and reading quiz-type questions. At the end of each set they get to play the sport they choose. Everything is monitored according to grade level, and the students love to view their scores next to their classmates (a little friendly competition and sportsmanship doesn't hurt either). Adminstrators can easily view reports and data on patterns or trends in students' scores and ability.

  Here's the link for Kid's College, although I'm not sure how much you can understand about it without having an account to log in with.... http://www.kclogin.com/main/go.php.

  Another platform I used frequently is the DreamBox Learning suite. Information is available at http://www.dreambox.com/, though it does require a desktop version for students on the school network, and your school as to have an account. This has lots of games aimed primarily at mathematics literacy for roughly K-2 grade levels. The kids love to play games and puzzle and complete activities. Again, student progress can be tracked and monitored by an administrator.

  I also noted some Kentucky Core Academic Standards (for first grade) learning targets which these games fulfill:

Language Arts:

RL.1.1. Ask and answer questions about key details in a text 

RL.1.4. Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses. 

RL.1.7. Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events. 

RF.1.1. Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence (e.g., first word, capitalization, ending       punctuation).

RF.1.3. Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words.

RF.1.4. Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.

RF.1.4. Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.

and,

Mathematics: 

1.OA.1. Use addition and subtraction within 20 to solve word problems involving situations of adding to, taking from, putting together, taking apart, and comparing, with unknowns in all positions, e.g., by using objects, drawings, and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem. 

1.OA.3. Apply properties of operations as strategies to add and subtract.² Examples: If 8 + 3 = 11 is known, then 3 + 8 = 11 is also known. (Commutative property of addition.) To add 2 + 6 + 4, the second two numbers can be added to make a ten, so 2 + 6 + 4 = 2 + 10 = 12. (Associative property of addition.)

1.OA.5. Relate counting to addition and subtraction (e.g., by counting on 2 to add 2).

... and several more....

 

    The things I like best about both of these are that they kids love to play them, they are educational, and they allow a teacher to track progress in compact data form and see areas of difficulty clearly and statistically. However, I have a major qualm with each program. First, with Kid's College the questions are more challenging, and instructions can be given when help is needed under each question, sometime scrap paper and pencil are needed. I find that rather than meeting these challenges and working through hard problems, students will just click any response to get to the game portions. That said, I have to really closely monitor each child to make sure they are actually doing the problems. Dreambox, on the other hand, is great except for that it relies heavily on painting and drawing and some sillier games. So again, I have to closely monitor the students to make sure they are staying on the more challenging portions of the program!

   So, in a nutshell, the computer lab may seem like a bit of a brain break for everyone. However, beware: students will try to get away with doing silly games if not closely monitored by the teacher! Good luck :)

Arts & Cognition

   This week in my master's program, we discussed the interesting topic of arts training and cognition posed by the neuroscientific data compiled by dana.org. There are some key causal examples of the arts being helpful in cognition. Music, for instance, can be extremely beneficial to long-term memory, geometric and numerical representations, reading acquisition, sequencing and more. I've always been a strong believer that the arts are crucial to developing a well-rounded adult, but there is some key evidence in neuroeducation that link arts training to neural benevolence. For example, a study that surveyed adults showed that those who self-reported aesthetic and art-appreciation were temporally more open individuals. So, let's put more of this in our classroom environment:

               Picasso, Pablo, 1921. "Still Life with Guitar," retrieved from http://www.pablo-ruiz-picasso.net/work-122.php.

and this,

and much more! The possibilities are endless :)

   I also ready an awesome article on promoting brain science literacy in the classroom. Studies show that children who are taught about brain science can develop better study skills and improved cognitive acquisition! This can be as easy as giving a lesson on optical illusions. For example, we can teach the cognitive processes associate with what the brain perceives, why it perceives what it does, and how it may be tricked by an optical illusion. So, ask your students, is it a rabbit or a duck? And why?

                                                                  Image retrieved from http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/games/illusions/illusion_07.htm

  

    Educators like me, you may also enjoy this TED talk on optical illusions and brain science, I think it's fascinating stuff and would love to share it with my students one day to help promote brain science literacy! 

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/beau_lotto_optical_illusions_show_how_we_see.html

Thanks for reading! :)

 
 

 

Second attempt at a webquest!

     This week I learned an important lesson: that not all webquests are created equal. I first used a teachnology.com webquest generator because it seemed easy to use for someone without a lot of experience. Unfortunately, when I went back to view my first webquest today, I noticed that all of the entries I had made were blank. I then proceeded to use the Quest Garden generator, which turned out to be much simpler than I had thought. I had some trouble inserting videos and adding images, so I just used hyperlinks, primarily for my first webquest. Eventually, I’d like to be able to insert more things like worksheet templates for my students to complete online. I also learned that webquests differ just using a blog or website to upload assignments. It’s a truly interactive step-by-step process. It allows the student to understand the task, explore it in processes the teacher has laid out, and finally to summarize the lesson and understand how they are scored on it. It challenges us as educators to keep up with our technological standards. Specifically, it goes along with the NETS teacher standard #2: Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments. Webquests allow teachers to easily create interactive lessons and assessments.

Here is the link to my Quest Garden webquest:

http://questgarden.com/147/02/8/120801082901/

    The goal of this webquest was to create something that I would probably be able to use in teaching K-2 curriculum. Since I don’t yet have a class (and therefore a curriculum), I wanted to create something generally applicable. I used the theme of ‘a day on the farm,’ to inspire curiosity in the inner-workings of various farms around the world. Since a lot of the kids at schools in my area grow up close to farms, I thought it would be interesting to have them explore farming from a scientific & social studies perspective. I also used tumblebookslibrary.com to incorporate some stories to help keep the subject matter cross-curricular. I decided to make the assignment involve creating an illustration about a student-imagined farm, based loosely on what the child has discovered in the webquest. Then, the student writes a 1-paragraph description of what they have depicted in their illustration. The evaluation section is generally based on a scale where students get the most points for using several examples, using good language, drawing broad or global conclusions and being creative and expressive. Less points are given for few examples, poor connections, poor grammar, and non-cohesive descriptions.

    In learning more about webquests, I’ve appreciated the degree of specificity that the program allows the teacher. You can be very detailed and up-front about the assignment, expectations, and guide the student through it’s completion, without having to hold his or her hand all of the way. The webquest also helps support the NETS standard for students, #1: Creativity and Innovation, in which students use ‘models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues.’ In the webquest I generated, students use prior knowledge and compare it to new and interactive media that helps broaden their view of farming, and hopefully, leads them to draw global conclusions.