tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48272133395776737132024-03-13T13:53:27.895-05:00Tech Review Web 2.0 for SchoolsBrendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851321965073197018noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4827213339577673713.post-26286752390478391542015-06-05T13:18:00.001-05:002015-06-05T13:18:11.009-05:00Parental Engagement and Homework<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5KhvQAJDkVo" width="459"></iframe>Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851321965073197018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4827213339577673713.post-36826763908554346012015-06-04T03:00:00.000-05:002015-06-04T03:00:01.030-05:00Lest Week in Tech - Technology Innovation This is one of my <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/09/16/cnnheroes.penaflorida.update/">favorite teachers</a>, and this <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/01/world/asia/floating-schools-in-bangladesh.html">boat school</a> is an innovative solution to a seasonal problem. One might wonder why we don't have these innovative schools in America. Probably the same reason we don't go out back and teach in the dirt with sticks. we just don't have to. Schools are designed to maximize the teaching we do. Could there be a better design, possibly, but not for the teaching we do currently.
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Technology is thought of as a <a href="http://www.claytonchristensen.com/key-concepts/">disrupter</a> in education because it comes into the design we already have and makes it possible to change. Many people see this change as computers teaching students. it isn't.
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For about 100 years there has been a belief among behaviorists that if we could build a smart enough machine, that <a href="http://hackeducation.com/2015/02/10/skinners-box/">it could take the place of a teacher</a>. Many believe and have believed that computers will fill that role.
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Tools like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLATO_%28computer_system%29">Plato</a> have been around for about 40 years and they haven't disrupted schools. Actually, it has been assimilated. Massive online courses were going to disrupt education. The year of the MOOC was 2012. It was the ultimate school choice. It hasn’t disrupted higher education. Instead is seems to be <a href="http://diverseeducation.com/article/53683/">morphing into a college prep</a> for connected students, at least in America. It has been assimilated and is <a href="https://www.edx.org/high-school-initiative">coming to high school</a>.
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The reason these tools have not disrupted education is because they don't actually make any changes in education. When we look at technology in education if we are looking at completely upending our entire system we are looking for too much. The change, the disruption, is more subtle.
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The real disruption with technology in education is the ability to transform traditional education. The R in <a href="https://sites.google.com/a/msad60.org/technology-is-learning/samr-model">SAMR</a>. The "goal directed transformation" in the <a href="http://www.azk12.org/tim/">Arizona Technology Integration Matrix</a>. Some would go so far as to say it is a transfer of power from teacher to student. I would say it is taking the responsibility of learning off of the shoulders of the teacher and putting it squarely onto the shoulders of the students.
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edit - I realize the title might be a bit misleading as this post was written to be a follow up to a notification to the teachers I work with that my position has been eliminated. Thus my last week in tech with them <br />
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4827213339577673713.post-64749335127982851012015-05-22T10:32:00.002-05:002015-05-22T10:35:41.184-05:00My Week in Tech - Success Story<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Good Advice</h2>
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"Learn a new skill, take a break." Advice from the longest-serving teacher in her building. "Kids need a bit of down time to process the skill they just learned, don’t force them to practice over and over until they hate it."
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="Romeo"></a>The Freshman English class is almost finished with Romeo and Juliet. From my 30 minutes in the class it seems the students have done:
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<li>Active reading</li>
<li>Guided questions,</li>
<li>Discussions (online and offline)</li>
<li>A movie,</li>
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Can we cover this play from any different angle? Maybe they need a Google survey? Seriously, they were better at decoding Shakespeare than me.
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="Tools"></a>I created a list of tech tools to use in the classroom, I know it seems long, but it is barely a fraction of the stuff created for teachers. Please, take a look.
<a href="https://sites.google.com/a/rbchs.com/technology-integration/teacher-tools">https://sites.google.com/a/rbchs.com/technology-integration/teacher-tools</a>
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Success story</h1>
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Almost three years ago when I started this job. One of my first mistakes was telling a teacher she was using technology wrong. The next day her principal called and gave me an earful.
Luckily for me, she asked for some help putting spelling words on the web. We talked about options and ended up meeting every week after school talking technology and education.
Each week she had a list of questions and we usually never got past the third question, getting sidetracked not by the technology, but by how it integrates with teaching. She is now the proud owner of a grade level website designed to enhance learning. More importantly she is more comfortable trying new things in her classroom.
This week she introduced a tech tool to her building staff. She didn’t teach the tool, she taught a lesson using the tool.<br />
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<a href="http://www.philosophywithoutahome.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/20150520_082237.jpg"><img alt="Picture of computer, laminated card, and worksheet" class="size-medium wp-image-1784" src="http://www.philosophywithoutahome.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/20150520_082237-300x169.jpg" height="169" width="300" /></a> </div>
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I love the combination of tools to meet all needs
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Way back when she was asking the computer to teach, afraid to interact too much with a tool she didn't understand. Today she teaches using technology. Is she a computer expert and able to fix your computer? No, she is a teacher who uses technology as a tool.
I seem to have a bit of dust in my eye now. Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend.</div>
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Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851321965073197018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4827213339577673713.post-79954416164601183432015-05-08T12:50:00.002-05:002015-05-08T12:50:46.621-05:00My Week in Tech Integration - Discussion<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Classroom Action</h2>
The school year is coming quickly to an end. I’m trying to get some summer thoughts moving. One of the things I want to do is get an idea of how comfortable teachers are with the actual <a href="https://docs.google.com/a/rbchs.com/document/d/1LwbFGqIGqs20J6o3NTW8Bff_W_LJx63dapUZmFimj7E/edit?usp=drive_web">tech skills</a> you need as a classroom teacher. I’ll probably send out a survey soon, I’m waiting for the boss to approve it.<br />
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The other thing I need to do is get an idea of what sort of PD you might want to come to over the summer and when best to present them. Please let me know in the comments or via email, but I also have this on my survey.<br />
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I was watching some students take a practice test earlier this week. They were using technology (phones mostly because they were juniors and seniors and didn’t have Chromebooks). What if we combined <a href="http://padlet.com/">Padlet </a>(Middle school teachers had a lot of fun learning and playing with this tool, 6<a href="http://padlet.com/bmurphy7/cx7tkvxk0mvb">th grade</a>, <a href="http://padlet.com/bmurphy7/cikflzhefrbh">7th grade</a>, <a href="http://padlet.com/bmurphy7/rpc4q58ln8l3">Exploratory</a>) with a phone or screen capture tools on a computer, to solve the practice problems and post them to a Padlet for discussion.<br />
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The discussion should not be about who is right, but how elegant is the solution? Why would you choose one method of solving the problem over an other? Etc….
A lot of the stuff I saw on the internet this week had this theme of a debate or discussion.
For an example, using math debate in classroom<br />
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<a href="http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/mtc13.pd.math.deb/encouraging-debate/">http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/mtc13.pd.math.deb/encouraging-debate/</a><br />
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I remember a blog post years ago about using bell ringers to create a debate. The teacher would collect bell ringers on index cards and grab one that was wrong (not telling who it was of course) and put it on the overhead and discuss why or what thinking could have led to the wrong answer and how to correct it.
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Today without an overhead I might ask students to put the answer on a Padlet or document camera anonymously and then pick one to discuss.
I’m seeing more and more centers, maybe I just wasn’t paying attention before. The devices are one of the centers.
See this one girl. She is concentrating intensely. This activity is writing practice so no you can’t substitute with technology.</div>
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<a href="http://www.philosophywithoutahome.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/20150506_112825-e1431100598541.jpg"><img alt="Concentration" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1776" src="http://www.philosophywithoutahome.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/20150506_112825-e1431100598541-226x300.jpg" height="300" width="226" /></a> </div>
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These other kids, not so much. </div>
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<a href="http://www.philosophywithoutahome.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/20150506_112835-e1431100703516.jpg"><img alt="Practice" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1777" src="http://www.philosophywithoutahome.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/20150506_112835-e1431100703516-300x292.jpg" height="292" width="300" /></a> </div>
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This is a good lesson, that is why I choose to feature it. It is great to bring in leveled work for practice, but we can do intense creation on the computer as well. Yes there is a tech hurdle. We can work through it, we should work through it. If we never ask our students to do intense creative work on the computer we are short-changing our students and ourselves as teachers.
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<b>From the Web</b></h2>
We think we know how we learn, but there is a lot of undiscovered territory out there.<br />
One thing we do is attempt to find patterns so we can do things automatically, without thinking. Like riding a bike.
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What if you changed what it means to ride a bike?</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MFzDaBzBlL0" width="560"></iframe>
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As I was watching this a 3rd grader says, “I saw you watching Smarter Everyday. … I’m subscribed” Be warned you'll have to be smart if she's in your classroom next year.<br />
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It turns out that there is an #etcoaches chat. I’ll have to try to <a href="http://www.iste.org/connect/event-detail/2014/08/26/default-calendar/-etcoaches-august-twitter-chat" target="_blank">participate next month</a>. here is the storify from last week. <a href="https://storify.com/ruckus2/etcoaches-april-2015-chat">https://storify.com/ruckus2/etcoaches-april-2015-chat</a>
I really wanted to point out a few highlights.
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<ol>
<li>Most coaches estimate that only 5% to 15% of our teachers actually implement what we introduce.</li>
<li>While superficially introducing a lot of apps in a short period of time is popular, no one thinks it is a good strategy. Instead we need to carve out time to let teachers play and practice using apps in actual lessons. Then we need time for the coach to follow-up, and create individual goals for each teacher.</li>
<li><a href="http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/resources/trudacot">Trudacot </a>is a great way to look at your current lesson and determine how well technology (or learning) is integrated.</li>
</ol>
Finally, <a href="https://educationonair.withgoogle.com/live/2015-may/watch" target="_blank">Google Education on Air</a>, two full days of speakers on education. An all-star cast including, Michelle Obama, Michael Fullan, LeVar Burton, and others.</div>
Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851321965073197018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4827213339577673713.post-69037188565021492152015-04-25T18:12:00.000-05:002015-04-25T18:13:09.378-05:00My Week in Tech - Formative Assessment<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: white;">Several teachers have been using <a data-mce-href="https://www.frontrowed.com/" href="https://www.frontrowed.com/" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; text-decoration: none;">https://www.frontrowed.com/</a> during RTI. A great way to get that math practice in while working with a small group.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.philosophywithoutahome.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/20150422_090405.jpg" href="http://www.philosophywithoutahome.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/20150422_090405.jpg" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; text-decoration: none;"></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">All of these researched based help usually say something like students who put in 75 minutes a day have shown improvement in math. Well if you practice 75 minutes a day on math of course you are going to get better. That isn't to say the program is not useful, just that it is not trans-formative. It is a tried and true practice with just a bit of an edge because the work adapts to the level of the student instantaneously.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">There are of course many similar programs out there, depending on what you want at a teacher could determine the tool you use. However, all should have at least some way to sign in and track the students, so that we know if they are actually learning or not.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">Put your favorite tool in the comments or go to this <a data-mce-href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Sv-3QmWd3IWayMErD94W0mw0iFvfHK0vLFrfFCC9rT4/viewform" href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Sv-3QmWd3IWayMErD94W0mw0iFvfHK0vLFrfFCC9rT4/viewform" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; text-decoration: none;">survey </a>and put it there. Some of my favorites are:</span></div>
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<a data-mce-href="https://www.mangahigh.com/en-us/" href="https://www.mangahigh.com/en-us/" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: white;">mangahigh.com</span></a></div>
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<a data-mce-href="https://www.khanacademy.org/" href="https://www.khanacademy.org/" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: white;">https://www.khanacademy.org/</span></a></div>
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<b style="font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.7;"><span style="color: white;">Presentations to students - getting interactive</span></b></h3>
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<span style="color: white;">Wouldn't it be nice to integrate formative assessment into your regular teaching? I know it’s easy a quick half sheet of paper and boom an exit slip. But then you have to grade everything and what if they didn't understand the first thing you said and so were lost for the entire class period.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">Some folks will create a quick Google form (like the one above, you can add videos as well) then use something like <a data-mce-href="http://www.flubaroo.com" href="http://www.flubaroo.com/" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">flubaroo </a>to automatically grade it. The problem is that is still separating the discussion from the assessment.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">Enter the web app <a data-mce-href="https://www.blendspace.com/" href="https://www.blendspace.com/" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; text-decoration: none;">Blendspace</a>. It is a product one of the elementary teachers showed me Wednesday. It is a very simple way to add content and make quick multiple choice quizzes. Students don’t need an email to sign up so it is appropriate for the elementary crowd.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">However, the questions are limited to multiple choice and sometimes you want students to be able to write or draw and answer. So here is a list of a few similar tools. <a data-mce-href="http://www.nearpod.com/" href="http://www.nearpod.com/" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; text-decoration: none;">Nearpod</a>, <a data-mce-href="https://www.peardeck.com/" href="https://www.peardeck.com/" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; text-decoration: none;">PearDeck</a>, <a data-mce-href="http://www.socrative.com/" href="http://www.socrative.com/" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; text-decoration: none;">Socrative</a>, <a data-mce-href="https://smarttech.com/Support/Browse+Support/Product+Index/Hardware+Products/SMART+Response+Hardware+Models/PE" href="https://smarttech.com/Support/Browse+Support/Product+Index/Hardware+Products/SMART+Response+Hardware+Models/PE" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; text-decoration: none;">SmartBoard clickers</a>, <a data-mce-href="https://classflow.com/" href="https://classflow.com/" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; text-decoration: none;">Classflow</a>, and <a data-mce-href="https://juno.jupitered.com/" href="https://juno.jupitered.com/" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; text-decoration: none;">Junoed</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">Of course the middle school teachers noticed the <a data-mce-href="https://www.educreations.com/" href="https://www.educreations.com/" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; text-decoration: none;">educreations </a>app. Similar to the <a data-mce-href="http://www.showme.com/" href="http://www.showme.com/" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; text-decoration: none;">Show Me</a> app and the <a data-mce-href="http://doceri.com/" href="http://doceri.com/" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; text-decoration: none;">Doceri </a>app (more of a presentation tool). All of these are iPad apps which require an iPad and a way to get the iPad onto your projector, which can be done with <a data-mce-href="http://www.airserver.com/" href="http://www.airserver.com/" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; text-decoration: none;">Air Server</a>.</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.7;"><span style="color: white;">Stuff from the web</span></b></h3>
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<span style="color: white;">Portfolio defense to graduate high school </span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">https://youtu.be/DUyqdku1iSE</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">From Envision academy charter schools. <a data-mce-href="http://www.envisionschools.org/" href="http://www.envisionschools.org/" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; text-decoration: none;">http://www.envisionschools.org/</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">Cool blog I found two great posts.</span></div>
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<a data-mce-href="https://anethicalisland.wordpress.com/2015/03/20/how-do-you-choose-good-online-sources/" href="https://anethicalisland.wordpress.com/2015/03/20/how-do-you-choose-good-online-sources/" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: white;">https://anethicalisland.wordpress.com/2015/03/20/how-do-you-choose-good-online-sources/</span></a></div>
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<a data-mce-href="https://anethicalisland.wordpress.com/2014/11/07/personalize-my-learning-please/" href="https://anethicalisland.wordpress.com/2014/11/07/personalize-my-learning-please/" style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: white;">https://anethicalisland.wordpress.com/2014/11/07/personalize-my-learning-please/</span></a></div>
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<span style="color: white;">Most people will like and probably use the first one right away, but the second one is great for technology. When you start asking “How do I create curriculum with multiple ways to learn the same content?” My mind goes immediately to technology. I might share one way to learn content in class and then offer a couple of youtube videos on my web site for further help. So when students don’t quite get what I explained in class they don't have to rewatch my same lecture a million times and hope it finally sinks in, they can watch alternative explanations and hopefully one of those sticks.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">Cool kindergarten classroom </span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/J5jwEyDaR-0" width="560"></iframe></span></div>
Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851321965073197018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4827213339577673713.post-3547040286557451132015-04-22T13:02:00.000-05:002015-04-22T13:02:36.151-05:00Maine Township High School Visit<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A visit to Maine Township High Schools. This was an interesting visit with myself and several staff members from Downers Grove. Maine Township has three high schools of over 2,000 students each. Each high school is startlingly different in its mix of students.<br />
We started the morning early in the administration office. Dr. Thiele, the Assistant Superintendent of Technology and Learning, was happy to answer questions. As it turns out their students are required to pay for books. Two years ago when chromebooks really hit the market a lot of textbooks were up for renewal. The choice seems simple in hindsight, though they took their time and made sure to ask all stakeholders what they thought. Instead of buying new expensive physical textbooks they bought cheaper digital versions and chromebooks.<br />
Those first version chromebooks were pretty fragile, but they changed plans right away and dropped the neoprene sleeves to buy durable cases for the devices. As a result their incidents of broken machines stayed low.<br />
I was happy to spend most of my day with the technology manager from Maine West, Neil Charlet. The structure of the department was very impressive. I won’t explain the entire technology department structure because I didn't get into that, but the single school structure was strong. The technology manager seemed to be the bridge between technology and education.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Entrance of the Chrome Depot at Maine West" class="wp-image-1763 size-medium" src="http://www.philosophywithoutahome.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Chrome-Depot-4-300x225.png" height="225" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="300" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There he is way in the back</td></tr>
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Under him were the tech support crew who managed the trouble tickets and the chrome depot (we’ll get into that later). He also worked very closely with the instructional coaches. Instructional coaches aren't tech people, they are half time teachers and half time coaches. While it wasn't a requirement to be a tech person, they were all 21st century teachers and were comfortable incorporating technology into their lessons. There was about one coach per 40 teachers, plus one per department who is a full time as a teacher, but worked extra as an instructional coach. Instructional coaches meet with all teachers three times formally and as often as people needed informally.<br />
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<strong><strong><a href="http://www.philosophywithoutahome.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Chrome-Depot-5.png"><img alt="Chrome Depot 5" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1762" src="http://www.philosophywithoutahome.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Chrome-Depot-5-300x225.png" height="225" width="300" /></a></strong></strong> </div>
Mr. Charlet met with the coaches to plan out the big technology instruction during the year. These would be the monthly in depth trainings on one particular project. These trainings would last half a day and teachers would get subs to free them up for learning. Then on Tuesdays he does a tech lunch n’ learn. Teaching a tool for use in the classroom.<br />
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<strong><strong><a href="http://www.philosophywithoutahome.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Chrome-Depot-2.png"><img alt="Chrome Depot 2" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1765" src="http://www.philosophywithoutahome.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Chrome-Depot-2-300x225.png" height="225" width="300" /></a></strong></strong></div>
The Chrome Depot is a cool looking (Thanks Mr. Charlet for the pictures), repair center for the chromebooks. There is one staff member assigned to manage the Depot, but the students do most of the work. If someone is having trouble with their chromebook they can stop in the Depot at anytime. If the problem can’t be fixed in 5 minutes they can check out a loaner chromebook (through the library system so it is as simple as checking out a book). The student crew can then examine and fix the chromebook, this is also the same system they use if the chromebook battery is dead, you get a loaner for a few hours and the staff charges your chromebook. No questions asked, at least most of the time.<br />
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<a href="http://www.philosophywithoutahome.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Chrome-Depot-1-1.png"><img alt="Chrome Depot 1 (1)" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1766" src="http://www.philosophywithoutahome.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Chrome-Depot-1-1-300x225.png" height="225" width="300" /></a></div>
This process also works well if the student has a broken chromebook, but needs to save up a bit of money to do repairs. Parts are fairly cheap and they don’t charge for labor, but sometimes a student needs to check out a loaner chromebook for a short period of time until they save up enough to pay for necessary repairs. Students do not get to take loaners home so there is an incentive to get their own device repaired.<br />
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<strong><strong><a href="http://www.philosophywithoutahome.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Chrome-Depot-3.png"><img alt="Chrome Depot 3" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1764" src="http://www.philosophywithoutahome.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Chrome-Depot-3-300x225.png" height="225" width="300" /></a></strong></strong> </div>
I also met with three teachers during the day. I asked again and again how they got their teachers so on board with the program. I guess it really boiled down to support and expectations. They did mention that the many of the biggests resistors before they started the program are now it’s biggest defenders.<br />
According to the <a href="http://tinyurl.com/D207visit">site D 207 has created</a> for information about their program teachers had a strong preparation in instruction before going chromebook in their classrooms.<br />
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<b>Teacher Readiness:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>7 years already of GAFE</li>
<li>4 formal 1-2 hr training sessions leading up to the rollout</li>
<li>4 Instructional Coaches per building</li>
<li>1 Instructional Coach per department</li>
<li>Continued iTech sessions and weekly lunch n learns</li>
<li><a href="https://docs.google.com/a/maine207.org/document/d/1gtQs4YKxZH8PVz9pX_l_S-4BgVKhZC0VRY7qcBY0zfA/edit">Strategies for Designing and Achieving High Impact Instruction in a 1-1 Computing Environment</a></li>
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Overall I was impressed with the structure and support represented by Maine Township’s program. It seems to me the hardware and infrastructure, though complicated, is actually the easy part. The hard part it getting support to the teachers in such a manner that they don’t feel over burdened and are willing to make the necessary changes in their classrooms. Once they start doing that, it seems they become a programs biggest supporters.
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Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851321965073197018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4827213339577673713.post-20404750361119431862015-04-17T10:16:00.001-05:002015-04-17T10:50:21.568-05:00This Week in Tech - Writing and GamesLast Friday I visited a Maine Township High School. I didn't have time to write about my week. I'll put a reflection on what I learned there early next week. Today some classroom stuff from last week and this.
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<b>Writing</b></h2>
Working with letters and fluency in writing seems to be the theme. Not long drawn out essays, but the very beginning. How do our interactions with letters and numbers influence our learning.
I love how this kindergarten teacher not only organizes her ipads by letter, but she went through the trouble of making individual backgrounds for each ipad.<br />
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<a href="http://www.philosophywithoutahome.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/20150407_090804-e1429280353573.jpg"><img alt="the letter N" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1756" src="http://www.philosophywithoutahome.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/20150407_090804-e1429280353573-169x300.jpg" height="300" width="169" /></a>
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Then there is this student working with numbers in three different ways - at the same time.<br />
<br /> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DfnZxKXiqR8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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I’ve seen a couple of teachers teaching handwriting. Wouldn't it be nice to bring it back on a computer? <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-your-own-font-FOR-FREE/" target="_blank">Here’s how</a> Might be a fun project for extension or fun way to practice handwriting.
If you name everyone's personal font on a classroom computer they could write reports in their own handwriting.
Finally, of course there is a long essay, but wait it isn’t. These older students were making alphabet books. A letter with a sentence and a picture, researched online and written on a Word document.<br />
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<strong><strong><a href="http://www.philosophywithoutahome.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/judge-20150415_142034.jpg"><img alt="Collaborative working" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1757" src="http://www.philosophywithoutahome.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/judge-20150415_142034-300x169.jpg" height="169" width="300" /></a></strong></strong></div>
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<b>Stuff from the web:</b></h2>
Game based learning. At first it meant answering questions in some sort of competitive electronic worksheet. We still see it a lot. It isn't learning, it’s practice. Ask your kids how to cheat, if there is learning going on that’s what they learn. The nice thing is it is possible to pretest students and track their scores so they are at least working on problems in their wheelhouse.
Next, we had a game reward system. Level up and stuff. Learning is more like a scavenger hunt. Fun, but can easily devolve into just another reward system. With prepackaged tasks and such it still doesn’t have much student input. On the other hand people are taking into account easier entry points and motivation. Think Angry Birds, a game with no instructions but gets harder and adds new challenges along the way. Now if we could harness that process for teaching multiplication or something that would be awesome.
Perhaps, Angry Birds led us to games that are intentionally made to feel more like games and less like academics. Problem based learning for the gamer set. Included with these games are commercial games that were not created for the education market, but have found a niche, like minecraft. The difficulty here is connecting to formal learning.
Games built for the educational market start with a standard and try to teach. It often makes the learning boring. Consumer games start with a story, they know they have to hook a person and make them want to come back. Their problem is connecting to formal learning usually doesn't happen, at least without help.
Just like technology in general, it isn’t about what technology you use, but how you use it. There is a place for educational games that teach to standards, or more correctly let students practice. On the other hand there is also a place for games that allow students to explore and play in less formal ways. There is no one right way to use technology or games in the classroom.<br />
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<strong><strong>Three great articles on games in the classroom </strong></strong><br />
<a href="http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/04/07/students-choose-learn-063/3/">http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/04/07/students-choose-learn-063/3/</a><br />
<a href="https://synapse.pub/empowering-high-schoolers-to-build-from-the-perspective-of-a-high-schooler-84ace316e472?section=published">https://synapse.pub/empowering-high-schoolers-to-build-from-the-perspective-of-a-high-schooler-84ace316e472?section=published</a><br />
<a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/03/30/three-awesome-educational-games-hiding-in-plain-sight/">http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/03/30/three-awesome-educational-games-hiding-in-plain-sight/</a>
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<h2>
<b>Speaking of projects vs practice</b></h2>
The work for some projects takes less time than the actual creation of the vehicle to present it. This often happens in school. Sometimes by design. The time spent working and the organization helps students understand the connections between the different parts. A visual and tactical clue of how things are connected. So why is it in the technology world we don’t expect students to create. Instead we spoon feed them information and practice. Think of technology as the Swiss Army Knife of classroom tools. You can cut, paste, copy, color, write, share, or just about anything you can do hands on. Stop trying to figure out the tech and start trying to figure out how to make something.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4827213339577673713.post-43160535251201817672015-04-06T10:05:00.000-05:002015-04-06T10:41:55.200-05:00My Week in Tech Integration 4/3/2015<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I love when teachers change school from, "maybe someday I'll be able to do that", to "I can do that, I might even be able to do better". </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Some of the art teachers in the district use <a href="https://www.artsonia.com/">Art Sonia</a> (<i>artwork created from kids around the world can be shared and enjoyed by everyone</i></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">).</span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> It can be a lot of extra work, but also has some advantages. Here we see one of our great art teaches showing students how to connect clay together. </span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Qp7lo2-N0w/VSKNArG9c8I/AAAAAAAABrw/0nTcz7MYT2o/s1600/clay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Qp7lo2-N0w/VSKNArG9c8I/AAAAAAAABrw/0nTcz7MYT2o/s1600/clay.jpg" height="177" width="320" /></a></div>
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Last year when doing a similar project she would show students pictures of clay gargoyles to stimulate ideas. This year she also searched <a href="http://www.artsonia.com/search/exhibits.asp?t=gargoyle" target="_blank">gargoyles on ArtSonia</a> and used shared student work with her students. The conversation changed from, "I'll probably never make a gargoyle in real life", to "I can make something like that."</div>
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The skills learned in Art are of course transferable. The facility to use pens and other tools in art help us to concentrate more on what we are writing and less on how to write. As we practice coloring, drawing, writing letters, words, and finally sentences all of these skills combine to form writing. A higher level skills that allows us to think. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XGs2Lw1ZdoU/VSKRrpxyRkI/AAAAAAAABr8/a85s6UTi3-k/s1600/tate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XGs2Lw1ZdoU/VSKRrpxyRkI/AAAAAAAABr8/a85s6UTi3-k/s1600/tate.jpg" height="152" width="320" /></a></div>
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While everyone knows that art is useful in education, it is very hard to quantify just how important, The science of learning is slowly evolving. The research is slow and often disregarded as lacking in rigor. </div>
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The gold standard in research is generally considered a double blind study or a large and representative population. Think of a large drug study where thousands of volunteers of various ages and backgrounds who all have the same ailment. Half the people take the drug being tested and half take a placebo and nobody knows who gets what until after the test is completed. The results are carefully considered and written about, then completely different groups do a similar studies. Finally, if they all get the same or similar results we can say this drug works. </div>
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Education is not like that. No two teachers are the same, even if they are asked to read a script exactly the same there are so many variables, like; class size, testing schedules, home life, nutrition, personality, mix of students, etc... that the results almost always end up as inconclusive or a very small effect, over time. At least that has been my impression as I periodically check in on the <a href="http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/aboutus.aspx" target="_blank">What Works Clearinghouse</a>. </div>
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That doesn't stop research of course. Lately (past 10 years or so) there seems to have been more of a push to look at underlying human functions and design learning based on that <a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/08/25/how-does-the-brain-learn-best-smart-studying-strategies/" target="_blank">"brain" research. </a>This isn't new really, B. F skinner built and sold learning machines in the late 50's and early 60's and he wasn't the first to think of it. According to <a href="http://hackeducation.com/2015/02/10/skinners-box/" target="_blank">Audrey Watters</a> many of the technology revolutionaries today are just repeating these past mistakes. </div>
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All that being said and done, there are some generalities we can say about effective teaching. </div>
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<li>When students care about an activity they do better. </li>
<li>When we create we are more involved and tend to learn more</li>
<li>We put more effort when we know our peers are going to be looking at our work</li>
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<li>Parents and teachers don't count</li>
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<li>There is a zone of proximal development ( <span style="color: #0000ee; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 15.8719997406006px;"><u>Lev Vygotsky </u></span></span>).<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.innovativelearning.com/educational_psychology/development/zone-proximal-development.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.innovativelearning.com/educational_psychology/development/zone-proximal-development.png" height="151" width="200" /></a></div>
If the activity is too easy we don't learn anything, but if it is too hard we give up before getting the chance to learn. </li>
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<li>This has less to do with the material and more to do with how it is presented and supported. We regularly present <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Starts%C2%99-Moby-Dick-Series/dp/1402766440" target="_blank">language arts</a>, <a href="http://billnye.com/" target="_blank">science</a>, and sometimes <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/03/5-year-olds-can-learn-calculus/284124/" target="_blank">math </a>at appropriate levels for students.</li>
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What does this mean in the classroom? Here are three examples from this week. </div>
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Some student work I found on the copier. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zg5ncv9o9Pc/VSKgBd473DI/AAAAAAAABsM/fLxE5WgjviU/s1600/qr%2Bcode.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zg5ncv9o9Pc/VSKgBd473DI/AAAAAAAABsM/fLxE5WgjviU/s1600/qr%2Bcode.jpg" height="320" width="208" /></a></div>
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When students ask about us, and they always do, don't be afraid to share. I have no picture, but I walked into a classroom on Wednesday and the teacher was cutting up grapefruit she brought back from Florida, which led to a quick impromptu lesson on fractions. </div>
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Use technology to help create not practice. On Thursday at the middle school we talked about using <a href="https://docs.google.com/a/rbchs.com/presentation/d/15Dcvk6kHi04PnsIkBbw4u0UpqbPrxsL_z-8rD0lZTN8/edit#slide=id.p" target="_blank">Google Presentation</a> to create vocabulary lists. </div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Try this method of creating flashcards. (Can be individual, small group, or whole class)</span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Students create one slide with the word</span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Students create a second slide with a picture and definition</span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Put a cool transition between the slides</span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Put a cool transition before the definition comes up (so the picture is kind of like a clue)</span></div>
</li>
</span></ol>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-689708b1-8f36-eb4d-c29d-9ffb5d9564b9">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Students can search the web for the picture or they could use Google Draw to create the picture, or even draw the picture by hand and upload it to the slide.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After this activity is done students who need extra practice can be asked to upload the best definitions and pictures to your favorite flashcard web 2.0 tool. So that everyone can use them to study and quiz each other. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-689708b1-8f39-2f90-b4fb-8ef3a2103463"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-689708b1-8f39-2f90-b4fb-8ef3a2103463"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Online flashcards</span></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-689708b1-8f39-2f90-b4fb-8ef3a2103463">
</span>
<br />
<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-689708b1-8f39-2f90-b4fb-8ef3a2103463">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<a href="https://www.studyblue.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.studyblue.com/</span></a></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<a href="http://quizlet.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://quizlet.com/</span></a></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.cram.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.cram.com/</span></a></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<a href="https://www.memrise.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.memrise.com/</span></a></div>
</li>
</span></ul>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-689708b1-8f39-2f90-b4fb-8ef3a2103463">
</span></div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4827213339577673713.post-5898617153688318162015-03-26T12:00:00.000-05:002015-03-26T12:08:45.789-05:00My Week in Tech Integration - Spring Break<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It is Spring Break in our school district so no visiting classrooms for me. Instead I’m preparing presentations and researching.<br /><br />I read this <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/03/the-deconstruction-of-the-k-12-teacher/388631/" target="_blank">article </a>and thought it would be a thought provoker for teachers coming back to school. It is long and a bit rough at first, I think the author missed the opportunity to truly define why we need good teachers in the digital age, but with some help perhaps we can get there. <br /><br />The Deconstruction of the K-12 Teacher — The Atlantic (My annotated version<a href="https://diigo.com/07gohq" target="_blank"> https://diigo.com/07gohq</a>)<br /><br />I’ll start with the end, <i>“There is a profound difference between a local expert teacher using the Internet and all its resources to supplement and improve his or her lessons, and a teacher facilitating the educational plans of massive organizations.”</i><br /><br />Often tech companies and privateers try to hype the cost savings, which is code for getting rid of expensive teachers. What they fail to realize is it has been possible to record the best teachers and deliver the recording to students for well over 50 years. It has also been possible to have students take quizzes and tests on that material. I myself took a telecourse for credit at community college way back in 1986. The newness isn’t the delivery of content or grading of tests, it’s the ability of teacher to be there with the content.<br /><br />[Teachers are] <i>“shifting from content expert to curriculum facilitator”</i>, but not really. Yes we can bring content in from the best, most interesting teachers, but that doesn’t mean we sit back and manage behavior in the classroom. The best classroom teacher can now switch from the time consuming task of delivering content or grading tests, to working with small groups or individuals. Helping students make sense of the content.<br /><br /><i>“Teachers like me are uploading onto the web tens of thousands of lesson plans and videos that are then being consolidated and curated by various organizations”</i> This is a good thing. The more we share our lessons, the less for profit companies can charge fees for decent lesson plans. Skip Teachers Pay Teachers and go to a union shop like <a href="http://www.sharemylesson.com/teaching-resources/">http://www.sharemylesson.com/teaching-resources/</a><br /><br />Next the author shares some great examples of how edtech companies are taking the labor out of preparing for teaching. It is almost like the traditional teaching job is being split into two or even four jobs, curriculum/subject matter expert and presentation/facilitator. As long as we don’t try to change the job of teacher into reader of scripts or security guard who forces students to sit still and be quiet during the canned lesson it is alright.<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i> <a href="http://listencurrent.com/" target="_blank"> Listen Current</a>, a website that curates the best of public radio, including current events, and offers the three- to five-minute clips alongside a full set of lesson plans and worksheets.</i><br /><br /><i> I found <a href="https://www.edmodo.com/" target="_blank">Edmodo</a>. … I signed up just to see what it was all about. Within five minutes, I found a great lesson…</i><br /><br /><i> <a href="http://www.activateinstruction.org/about/" target="_blank">Activate Instruction</a> is already creating a free and open online tool that is "similar to Wikipedia" and will "help put resources and curriculum in one place that any teacher can use."</i><br /><br /><i> "I don’t ever write my own lesson plans anymore.” ... the materials are usually inexpensive or free; are extremely well made; and often include worksheets, videos, assessments, and links to other resources. Time and money savers. I don’t have to write the lessons and I don’t have to let a textbook dictate my lessons. I can even get rid of textbooks if I find enough lessons with resources.</i></blockquote>
<br />His conclusion, that I shared earlier, mirrors mine.<br /><br /><i>There is a profound difference between a local expert teacher using the Internet and all its resources to supplement and improve his or her lessons, and a teacher facilitating the educational plans of massive organizations.</i><br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Bonus - tech tools for use in the classroom</h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />Stolen from <a href="http://www.twitter.com/RyanLSchaaf" target="_blank">Ryan Schaaf</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.teachthought.com/technology/smart-tools-for-digital-exit-slips/">http://www.teachthought.com/technology/smart-tools-for-digital-exit-slips/</a><br /></div>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li> <a href="http://www.google.com/forms/about/" target="_blank">Google Forms</a></li>
<li> <a href="http://www.socrative.com/" target="_blank">Socrative</a></li>
<li> <a href="https://www.plickers.com/" target="_blank">Plickers</a></li>
<li> <a href="https://twitter.com/" target="_blank">Twitter</a></li>
<li> <a href="http://letsgeddit.com/" target="_blank">Geddit</a></li>
<li> <a href="http://www.polleverywhere.com/" target="_blank">PollEverywhere</a></li>
<li> <a href="http://exitticket.org/" target="_blank">ExitTicket</a></li>
<li> <a href="https://voicethread.com/" target="_blank">VoiceThread</a></li>
<li> <a href="http://blog.linoit.com/" target="_blank">lino</a></li>
<li> <a href="https://padlet.com/" target="_blank">Padlet</a></li>
</ol>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851321965073197018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4827213339577673713.post-49364501383527625492015-03-20T11:54:00.000-05:002015-03-20T11:54:18.414-05:00My Week in Tech Integration 3/20/15<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">I get to see less and
less each week, I think because I get busier with individual teachers. a
special thank you to Mrs. Kallieras for inviting me to teach a couple of fun
lessons on Scratch.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Kids teach each other</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">It </span><span style="font-size: 15.3333330154419px;">doesn't</span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"> matter
whether I’m in a high school classroom or middle school, or even elementary
school. Kids are always leaning over and helping each other quietly. </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ADKu5sQJCsw/VQxMoIUz28I/AAAAAAAAquM/h1r9mXDTyvM/s1600/20150318_113521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ADKu5sQJCsw/VQxMoIUz28I/AAAAAAAAquM/h1r9mXDTyvM/s1600/20150318_113521.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">I spent some one on one
time with an English teacher and we discussed some google add-ons, apps,
extensions that might be useful in her classroom </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">English</span></u><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/easybib-bibliography-crea/dnhomniofbmbomomggjpkakilbbgfkhc?hl=en"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">easybib</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://draftback.com/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">draftback</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/kaizena-mini/kfcmpbkmmdlcnepmeojihblcllopielg?hl=en"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">kaizena</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://prowritingaid.com/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Pro-writing
aid</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">My draftback video </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ANSqyv8Cg9A" width="560"></iframe>
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<b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Classroom practice</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">I also spent some time
talking about </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://classroom.google.com/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Google Classroom</span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> and </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://www.haikulearning.com/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">HaikuLearning</span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">. Some topics I think I will be spending a lot
more time on in the coming weeks. As more technology enters the classroom
and teachers find more innovative ways of using that technology we need the
tools that support us. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kV1iPKtyDXU/VQxMnb1tUAI/AAAAAAAAquI/JNW5Qc9TIfM/s1600/20150318_115350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kV1iPKtyDXU/VQxMnb1tUAI/AAAAAAAAquI/JNW5Qc9TIfM/s1600/20150318_115350.jpg" height="197" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Google Classroom is
great for assigning and collecting work, but is kind of limited after that. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8DwvIlY7mu8" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">HaikuLearning, is a true learning management system. It allows us to transform our classrooms in ways that allows teachers to differentiate, extend, and </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.3333330154419px;">re-mediate</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> as needed.</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2BYXBC8WQ5k" width="420"></iframe>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Nothing of course is a
single silver bullet to fix everything, but knowing what the tools are and what
they can do is the first step. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851321965073197018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4827213339577673713.post-50790381796484854202015-03-13T11:00:00.001-05:002015-03-13T11:26:09.071-05:00My Week in Tech Integration 3/13/2015<h3 dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 8pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.0799999237061px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Question of the day</span></span></h3>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 8pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.0799999237061px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Question of the day - What would you do for a student who consistently failed to do work in school or homework, yet always had a good excuse?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.0799999237061px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Please answer in the comments. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.0799999237061px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></h3>
<h3 dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 8pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.0799999237061px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> State Projects</span></span></h3>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 8pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.0799999237061px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Students in 4th grade had some fun projects last week, but they weren't finished in time to share.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I listened to a few classroom discussions over the last couple of weeks. It was interesting seeing how students and teachers naturally pulled information from outside of class to relate to the books. A few high school students even discussed with former students, which led me to wonder what would happen if online discussions were opened up to former students or across classes?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">This leads me into this great article on <a href="http://bit.ly/1FYj2Ks">5 Highly Effective Teaching Practices</a>, from edutopia. </span></span><br />
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<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Teacher Clarity</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Classroom Discussion</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Feedback</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Formative Assessment</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Metacognitive Strategies</span></li>
</ol>
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When we talk about technology in the classroom, we aren’t talking about replacing the teacher or the content with a shiny electronic device. What we are talking about is taking these effective practices and making them possible. </div>
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<h3>
How Technology Helps with Effective Teaching Practices</h3>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Teacher Clarity<o:p></o:p></div>
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Learning goals and explicit criteria for success are not
just posted on the classroom whiteboard, but live on the classroom page where
students and parents can refer back to it over the corse of the unit. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Classroom Discussion<o:p></o:p></div>
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How can we extend the discussion beyond the classroom? Open
the discussion across classrooms? Create smaller discussions, small groups can
keep a record of what they discussed. Small groups can share with each other
final points. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Feedback<o:p></o:p></div>
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Teachers can leave voice or written feedback on google
documents. Teachers can read and comment on online discussions. Self grading
quizzes are very common across several platforms. It is even possible to create
video quizzes. There are of course hundreds of computer learning programs that
will tell students if they are right or wrong, but useful feedback is teacher
driven and usually personal. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Formative Assessment<o:p></o:p></div>
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Quick self graded quizzes, Kahoot, electronic check ins,
anything that replaces the 30 half sheets of paper we used to grade. When
reviewing answers for a test create a poll for each study guide question and
submit live on the projector and discuss each question. Gauging understanding
with Socrative or a quick poll. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->5.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Meta Cognitive Strategies<o:p></o:p></div>
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When we find ways to put more of our content online on a
learning management system what is to stop students from working ahead,
especially if the learning goals and criteria for success are clear? If
students continue to move beyond the class it becomes easy to allow them to
create an individualized learning objectives. When they create this within the
learning management system it becomes possible for teachers and parents to
monitor progress. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="line-height: 25.8335990905762px;"><br /></span></h3>
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<span style="line-height: 25.8335990905762px;">The Case Against Technology in the Classroom</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I both agree and disagree with this article. I agree that teaching students to use technology is not the purpose of technology in schools. I disagree that technology is not a useful tool. It is all nice for wealthy tech leaders to fixate on social aspects of learning especially when the kids they are socializing with are the kids of other silicon valley tech leaders, but for the rest of us technology, used correctly, can eliminate barriers of distance and time. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.0799999237061px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Resources from Teachers and Classrooms</span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Girls and code <a href="https://www.madewithcode.com/%C2%A0">https://www.madewithcode.com/ </a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Google drawings <a href="http://ditchthattextbook.com/2015/02/19/15-free-google-drawings-graphic-organizers-and-how-to-make-your-own/">graphic organizers</a>. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> <a href="http://socrative.com/">socrative </a>- A great way collect students thoughts. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/googl-url-shortener/iblijlcdoidgdpfknkckljiocdbnlagk">URL shortner</a> Shortens long URLs and makes a quick QR code. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Are you looking for EdTech stuff? A great resource is <a href="https://edshelf.com/">edshelf</a>.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Rubistar - for creating rubrics <a href="http://rubistar.4teachers.org/">http://rubistar.4teachers.org/ </a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Videos </span></span></h3>
<div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8DwvIlY7mu8" width="560"></iframe>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pZjGfEKCDfQ" width="560"></iframe>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">StoryTime </span></span><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vfcrQBBFYxA" width="420"></iframe>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Can you imagine doing this in LA class to get the elements of a story. </span></span></div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4827213339577673713.post-49420681590111085102015-03-06T11:28:00.000-06:002015-03-13T11:25:23.489-05:00My Week in Tech Integration 3/6/2015I spent a lot of time in extracurricular classrooms this week, one teacher spent the first 5 or 10 minutes of class just asking students about what they were doing what they accomplished in other classes and clubs. Obviously she did it a lot because they were ready and willing to share and some of the comments were updates from previous weeks. When they got to work though it was all business.<br />
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Posture was mentioned a couple of times lately. I love how some of the elementary classrooms have big rubber bands under some desks so kids aren’t constantly tapping their feet. And last week at the ICE conference a participant brought up the <a href="http://www.alexandertechnique.com/">Alexander Technique</a> for Musicians and how slouching actually takes more energy than sitting up straight. Because if you relax you just fall to the floor.<br />
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I read <a href="http://hackeducation.com/2015/02/19/the-history-of-the-future-of-education/">The History of the Future of Education</a> from Audrey Watters<br />
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My thought for the day. What is the difference between an overhead projector and an SMARTboard?<br />
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I used to use <a href="http://remind.com/">remind.com</a> in my classroom and I know a few teachers at the high school also use it. It is a great tool for communication with students and parents. We know it’s working when students are complaining that some teachers use it too much. If you have students who are constantly missing assignments being able to send a group text to students and their parents without sharing phone numbers is awesome. Plus you can schedule texts for an optimum time. I always sent mine around dinner time.<br />
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Do you know about the <a href="https://www.camscanner.com/user/download">Camscanner </a>app? Some teachers like everything to be electronic so they can annotate and keep a copy in their google drive or Haiku dropbox. Some students prefer to write by hand. Camscanner allows you to take a picture of a piece of paper and turn it into a PDF and upload it to your Google Drive. Now that the first draft is written and feedback given the second draft can be typed. <br />
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I’ve been showing off <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=learning+management+system&oq=learning+management+system&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i65j0l4.5840j0j4&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8">Learning Management Systems</a> to the middle school teachers. No one has said it is required, but I have always thought it was an invaluable tool for putting responsibility for learning onto the shoulders of the students. And as we are almost one to one in the middle school I would almost consider it necessary.<br />
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The power of a LMS in the classroom is not for the low students, or for the recalcitrant students, it is for the smartest and hardest working students. The student who takes decent notes, does all assignments, and has decent grades. The student who could be moving faster and works independently, but waits patiently for the entire class. This isn’t even a gifted student, just an average student with a good work ethic.<br />
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When this type of student is given an LMS they can work at their own pace, usually slightly faster than average, and still take time to explore topics of greater interest. When they get stuck they won’t be so far ahead that they are stuck alone and have to wait weeks for the rest of the class to catch up. Maybe even a regular conference with the teacher will be all they need, because certainly they won’t spend months working alone, maybe just one unit they are more independent than another. At any rate the teacher is checking progress reports and formative assignments regularly so they know what the student is doing and how well they are progressing.<br />
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Meanwhile the teacher still teaches class as normal, but has time to work with smaller groups of students. They in turn move faster because they have more teacher time and more individual instruction.<br />
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How does it work?<br />
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Students who show evidence of independent learning can do more in the classroom on their own leaving the teacher more time to work with students who are not as independent. Formative assessments like self grading practice quizzes or video quizzes with <a href="http://www.educanon.com/">educannon </a>or <a href="http://ed.ted.com/">EdTed </a>can be assigned for homework, or as bell ringers. This quick formative assessment shows they have a strong grasp of the concept and then can choose to do some independent or small group work in the classroom. While the teacher can spend more time with other students. It becomes possible for students to move at their own pace and/or get more in depth learning on a concept without extreme burden on the teacher.<br />
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An LMS can help with that recalcitrant student also. If your content is online it removes the excuse of “I was absent” or “I missed that lesson”. If the homework is online students can never forget it. If the discussion is online (at least partially) everyone can participate. If parents have accounts they can always stay up to date with what is happening in class. If alternative content (youtube, Kahn Academy, LearnZillion, Alex, etc...) is made available students can choose to learn in the way most suitable to them. Shared notes and other resources can be attached to each unit. As they say you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink, but we can take away excuses.<br />
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Finally, an LMS is great for the future. Digital projects and portfolios can be linked to students and brought with them to high school. The classroom walls are in effect removed. Students can learn when they are most comfortable learning, they can come back and revisit (ok they won’t), they can..., well it’s a tool, it won’t create utopia in your classroom, but it can help.<br />
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We looked at four learning management systems. They are:<br />
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<a href="https://www.haikulearning.com/">HaikuLearning </a>is great and several teachers use the free version. Some teachers even ask why we all aren’t using it.<br />
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<a href="https://classroom.google.com/">Google Classroom</a> is free. To be honest it isn’t a classroom. It is more like a place to assign and collect work. It syncs great with Google Drive (obviously) and can be used in conjunction with another LMS just for assignments.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/K26iyyQMp_g" width="560"></iframe>
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<a href="https://www.schoology.com/learning-management-system.php">Schoology</a> is kind of like the facebook interface. It has it’s own calendar. you can create courses and groups, send messages, and add resources. The app center allows you to bring in web 2.0 functionality into your classroom. Like Backchannel Chat, or TurnItIn. There may be an extra cost for some apps.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uqc1xE2H9Wg" width="560"></iframe>
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<a href="https://www.edmodo.com/">Edomodo </a>is very similar to Schoology. It is free and you can add apps, many of which are extra. You can also easily create quizzes and add resources. It also possible to connect to google Drive.<br />
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<h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 8pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fun in the classroom</span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Counting with counters and the iPad</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img alt="Counting.jpg" height="208px;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/rDa0pQTl5O10M5lvOtHsb7W1LmZqXWElDsPKw_KfzCeNUBp2izTGHNi_9bKKII9FQfBS31xJKxn5desSXrfxeRgiUywFfL0_8iUGWnqTGrEBteT4wcvA10JQYC1Dc6ocZa8Frrw" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="370px;" /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A mystery of missing chocolates.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img alt="choco.jpg" height="504px;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/0XIfkQ2uWxVKt3ZX7npFUv7Ufa14sjYpDaTReC00NhG0J2ba1vcAQOk04QuZA2BB6a4ccwvCNr2RCf-MUhsLan8Wi8LliYAIuuHSaOj0PxCPYpLhdoPOlBFSyb-Hb0On0vPGUmo" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="312px;" /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More counting, which bag has more? Put your guesses in the comments. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img alt="equal.jpg" height="229px;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/GKs8zZituMTd0v1zanLlEcZKR_bKotaZMSmcEBV0J1ZU5wBKt5kAODyALJzKC4UmfrFqVKKNlutzTFfMRrMjyTMgiWRrX_tcHxw7i0PG3vlSxLbH1mTEZwoEjIcl4Hyi5-J5ZbY" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="407px;" /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Smartboard being used for attendance</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img alt="Smartboard.jpg" height="530px;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/cxwFODisEPwiImI42R3RSG_Bgin6CgPKr7zfjXBrKq85iIlAaQhGG_yQD2tIB_nR0r4rmcgXgaNpBvh3vHc_VtZeoas_g3R38L1XVLgA-d5RNMpfcsFD9akCysMPfJNVNEL5VzM" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="462px;" /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Students gathering information online</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img alt="statesymbols.jpg" height="138px;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/EwK5Yydi4pKlv2L3T6xHHqXOOLxcV4lybFHMNXz5oN-fl4xXPd33sClRHhejnnhcqSIQVjFYuuQNFcohv7gHWNplzyBwXPz6VKMiEzkZbTGSGv16qEuYtqGnJE0WakeIhNgwy2U" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="244px;" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img alt="statesymbols.jpg" height="135px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/XcKMrMTNII_qMlWn5-MZ3A-xNfagqGb7bKtFQnmdF2_tK2DK5raT5ZCYXU2nUu1VbLrZMwgaV0RZpPxub6EbfsiNjlMsZ1G57L_0-gPP-MwqfiKHNS9lKhlXYDiYQe2KqrtKHMU" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="238px;" /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And some students playing with static electricity</span></div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4827213339577673713.post-32658804802856907452015-02-27T10:00:00.000-06:002015-02-27T10:08:21.375-06:00My Week as Tech Integration 2/27/15<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eB_Z1dQlCoU/VPCRSp_IcuI/AAAAAAAAqJw/hfh-RuVFG_M/s1600/2nd.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
I was asked to do a bit of research on online comic creation sites.<br />
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My first thought was to share the <a href="https://chroniclevitae.com/news/361-the-amazing-adventures-of-the-comic-book-dissertator?cid=VTKT1" target="_blank">comic book dissertation</a>. Comic book readers have always bristled at the idea that comics are not a true literary form. This just steps up the quality to the nth degree. I grew up reading comics, but I was never as serious as most comic book lovers. I just liked the stories. I hated that they just never seemed to stop. No purpose, no end etc….I watch the movies that come out now, but I don’t get too worked up about them, the stories aren't as good, more snark and less human frailty. The life lessons like “With great power comes great responsibility” Uncle Ben from Spiderman are lost.<br />
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Using comics in class.<br />
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PIXTON<br />
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Pixton is usually recommended as the cadillac of interactive comic sites. It does seem to have more options than the rest. <a href="http://www.pixton.com/comic/sbjamh97">http://www.pixton.com/comic/sbjamh97</a> This comic took me about five minutes to create from scratch.<br />
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When you click the pencil button on the top right <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ErrOeCOYIvc/VPCQ926lE7I/AAAAAAAAqJg/OeF0hbRXdyY/s1600/1st.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ErrOeCOYIvc/VPCQ926lE7I/AAAAAAAAqJg/OeF0hbRXdyY/s1600/1st.png" /></a></div>
you are taken to a page where you can create a comic or a character. If you create a character it walks you through the process with almost no words necessary, even non-readers can do it.<br />
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If you choose create a comic you are immediately given the choice between beginner and advanced. I choose beginner. The beginner process allows you to choose from stock backgrounds, characters, and speech bubbles. The advanced process gives you a blank slate, but allows you to add backgrounds and props just a bit at a time. Unless creating the scenery and characters are important I would stick with the choice of beginner.<br />
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I did not examine the pricing structures. For a one off assignment this seems to work fine and allows you to send a link of your work to the teacher. Plus you have a range of privacy options which is great.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eB_Z1dQlCoU/VPCRSp_IcuI/AAAAAAAAqJw/hfh-RuVFG_M/s1600/2nd.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eB_Z1dQlCoU/VPCRSp_IcuI/AAAAAAAAqJw/hfh-RuVFG_M/s1600/2nd.png" height="126" width="320" /></a></div>
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MAKEBELIEFSCOMIX<br />
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I liked makebelievfscomics, very basic and easy to get started. It took me even less time to make this comic. h<a href="ttp://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/?comix_id=23207637C1547204">ttp://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/?comix_id=23207637C1547204</a><br />
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With makebelievefscomix (easy to misspell) you don’t even have to sign in to create a comic. Head to the <a href="http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/" target="_blank">comix creation page</a> and get started. You have only the basic three panel scheme and you cannot create personalized characters, but for young kids this is the choice. Literally everything for creation is on one page. Click next and you can review, print, and email.<br />
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STORYBIRD<br />
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<a href="http://storybird.com/" target="_blank">Storybird</a>, is not a comic creator, but a book and poem creator. I like it because it allows you to choose great art and then write a story. Or if you like you can upload your own picture prompt. It took me about 15 minutes to create this picture book. <a href="http://storybird.com/books/dancing-before-the-sun/?token=rbkaj6m3w3" target="_blank">http://storybird.com/books/dancing-before-the-sun/?token=rbkaj6m3w3 </a>It is also easy to share, plus commenting with moderation is built in.<br />
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As a teacher you can easily create a classroom and add assignments for students (free). Students can write a poem, a short picture book, or a long form chapter book. As a teacher you can choose the type of book they write for their assignment, you can add some pictures or art for a prompt, and set due dates.<br />
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GOOGLE DOCS<br />
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It is very easy to forget about Google Docs. Opening a blank document it is easy to insert a drawing (which can be a picture with a textbox overlayed). If we create a table and add these drawings into the cells we have a simple comic strip with text boxes instead of thought clouds. The pictures can be a simple hand drawing that we take a picture of with our phones and upload to Google Drive, they can be pictures from the internet, or even snapshots from our webcams.<br />
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ICE 2015<br />
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<a href="http://iceberg.org/" target="_blank">ICE </a>is the Illinois Computing Educators annual conference. We are lucky to have such a large and vibrant community of technology educators in Illinois. They also love to share in the knowledge, the notes from almost everyone at ICE2015 can be found <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/ice15resources/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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Effective Presentations for 21st Century School Leaders<br />
I spent two days this week at the ICE conference in St. Charles, IL. My first all day session was <a href="http://presentations4administrators.wikispaces.com/Storytelling" target="_blank">Presentations for Administrators</a>. Lot’s of good suggestions. (shared notes)<br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>When watching a video open a back channel like t<a href="http://odaysmeet.com/">odaysmeet.com</a> and have students discuss the video while watching.</li>
<li>All presentations should probably start on paper using basic creative writing 101 skills. Tell a story don’t read bullet points from a slide.</li>
<li>Seven Tips for Storytelling</li>
</ul>
<ol style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">
<li>Stories are about people.</li>
<li>Let your characters speak for themselves. </li>
<li>Audiences bore easily. Make people wonder what will happen next, always throw up obstacles.</li>
<li>Stories stir up emotions.</li>
<li>Stories don’t tell: they show.</li>
<li>Stories have at least one “moment of truth.”</li>
<li>Stories have a clear meaning.</li>
<li>Finish with a STAR moment (Something To Always Remember) Nancy Duarte</li>
</ol>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>A good presentation will kind of look like this</li>
</ul>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1IpcwvcxORI/VPCRSvYmpqI/AAAAAAAAqJs/2rBIV7RaE7o/s1600/3rd.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1IpcwvcxORI/VPCRSvYmpqI/AAAAAAAAqJs/2rBIV7RaE7o/s1600/3rd.png" height="152" width="320" /></a></div>
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Tuesday was three distinct activities. A half day program on Google for students with mild to severe disability, a few short speakers, and <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/edcampiceafterdark/" target="_blank">EdCampAfterDark</a>.<br />
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I tried to put some of these practices into my presentation on helping students make better presentations.
<iframe src="https://www.haikudeck.com/e/Y0eiCNgPk0/?isUrlHashEnabled=false&isPreviewEnabled=false&isHeaderVisible=false" width="640" height="541" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0"></iframe>
<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;"><a title="A new tool Presentation" href="https://www.haikudeck.com/p/Y0eiCNgPk0/a-new-tool?utm_campaign=embed&utm_source=webapp&utm_medium=text-link">A new tool</a> - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires</span>
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Google for Students with Mild to Severe Disabilities<br />
I love these Special Ed programs because most of the tools can be used in the regular classroom, they just don’t have to be used. (<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NbmFIdsD8cC63EL_Kh_dtWgIHjKR3N2u7M9aBrMHCAA/edit" target="_blank">shared notes</a>)<br />
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Speech to text<br />
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Nothing on the market today seems to match the accuracy and functionality of Dragon Dictation software. If however, you have a chromebook or don’t want to pay there are still options.<br />
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<li><a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/readwrite-for-google/inoeonmfapjbbkmdafoankkfajkcphgd?hl=en-US" target="_blank">Read&Write</a> for Google Docs (<a href="http://blog.texthelp.com/2014/05/readwrite-google-now-free-teachers/" target="_blank">free for a year</a> subscription for teachers)</li>
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<li>Previously we pushed out a speech to text chrome extensions to D2 called <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/speakit/pgeolalilifpodheeocdmbhehgnkkbak?hl=en-US" target="_blank">SpeakIt</a>. You may have noticed it reads a webpage when you highlight the words. Read&Write is much more advanced.</li>
<li>Read&write also helps convert text to speech and predicts the next word when writing.</li>
</ul>
<li><a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dictanote-speech-recogniz/aomjekmpappghadlogpigifkghlmebjk" target="_blank">Dictanote </a>A speech to text writer. Also recognizes foreign languages. This program and most like it probably uses the same speech to text engine as when you talk to your phone. It isn’t great or fast, but works pretty well. This also means it can tap into google Translate and allows you to speak in any languages they have (a lot).</li>
<li>Use <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hellosign-online-signatur/kajjckmbclbffbpecfbiecehkfgopppd" target="_blank">Hello sign </a>to have parents sign forgotten field trip forms etc.. up to 3 per month free.</li>
<li><a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/kissflow-workflow-for-goo/jjnckcfibpdbifgemnaldejkidkfieec" target="_blank">Workflows </a>When working on a building it might be nice to add workflows so everyone knows who is doing what and who needs to sign off on what.</li>
<li>Using a single google doc for repetitive notes. Create a table of contents at the top, use bookmarks or headings to create links to days. I’ve put my<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v8pSaun1NchKREafFU1GQlUURxrv3IpTMm35TqIWA74/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank"> blog post drafts</a> on a Google doc on this manner so you can see.</li>
<ul>
<li>If you use headings 4thor insert > bookmarks you can create hyperlinks within a google Document. Then you can insert>table of contents to create a quick hyperlinked table of contents anywhere in your document. Or add the hyperlinks one at a time to the top.</li>
<li>This is great if you have regular meetings on the same subject or student. Instead of creating dozens of documents and maybe losing one everything is there and easily found.</li>
</ul>
<li><a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tools-for-google-maps/eljpanecjjlonmoiofelcmkkpojcalcb" target="_blank">Distance measurements</a> on maps or <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/on-the-go-map/khikjfodkmljkjceokgjanhabkiomlgp" target="_blank">Map a work-out</a></li>
<li>You can add several flags on a map and ask students to measure distance, create directions etc….</li>
<li>Adding pictures to Google forms and spreadsheets. When you click insert > image on a google form or spreadsheet you can search online or your computer and add a picture. This can be great for students who make grocery lists and need pictures.</li>
</ul>
EdCampAfterDark<br />
I used my new better presentation skills to create a quick presentation on HaikuDeck about <a href="https://www.haikudeck.com/p/Y0eiCNgPk0/a-new-tool" target="_blank">HaikuDeck</a>. A great little web and iPad tool to break out of the worst PowerPoint mistake (too many words on a slide).<br />
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THINGS FOUND ON THE WEB<br />
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DOE clarifies student privacy policies<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/deo2F19DK_o/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/deo2F19DK_o?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deo2F19DK_o">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deo2F19DK_o</a><br />
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3:36 using websites and parental consent in class.<br />
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6:30 using free apps - This site may help with terms of service <a href="https://tosdr.org/">https://tosdr.org/</a><br />
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The official government website on student privacy <a href="http://ptac.ed.gov/">http://ptac.ed.gov/</a>. </div>
Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851321965073197018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4827213339577673713.post-38245218047834087842015-02-20T10:59:00.002-06:002015-02-20T10:59:52.687-06:00This week in technology integration - 2/20/2015<br />
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I spend too much time in my office, trying to solve the worlds problems. I am going to do my best to stick to my schedule of one day a week in each building visiting classrooms, then on Fridays reflect. Classroom stuff first then some resources down below.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Classrooms Around Town</h3>
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Smartboards are great for organizing class during
transitions. Many teachers have a list of names, especially in the morning and let students move themselves from absent to present or to hot or cold lunch. Even
kindergartners can often do this activity. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://exchangedownloads.smarttech.com/public/content/61/6105a2fe-faee-4892-88f1-0921c9e462d6/previews/small/0001.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://exchangedownloads.smarttech.com/public/content/61/6105a2fe-faee-4892-88f1-0921c9e462d6/previews/small/0001.png" /></a></div>
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Daily Agendas are also a great way to keep students informed and involved in the school day - <a href="http://exchange.smarttech.com/search.html?q=%22Daily%20Agenda%22">http://exchange.smarttech.com/search.html?q=%22Daily%20Agenda%22</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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In one class I visited, a teacher asked a volunteer to read a
book while she was getting the next lesson ready. I thought, students
love to hear their teacher reading a book, why not record yourself reading a
book and post if for your students? Copyrighted books should not be posted online,
but anything written before 1930 is fair game. In the case of needing a few
minutes of time you could record yourself reading and save it on your google
drive for play in the classroom. This is fair use and perfectly legal. </div>
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About 5 years ago I recorded a Dr.Seuss book for my kids. I had fun finding
images for this book and recording myself reading.I wonder if the kids would like to do this too?<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="331" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/9612338" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<a href="https://vimeo.com/9612338">Dr. Seuss</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user900276">Brendan Murphy</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
<a href="https://vimeo.com/9612338"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">https://vimeo.com/9612338</span></span></a><br />
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That reading took me an afternoon of playing around with MovieMaker and finding images, but today I would just create a powerpoint or Google presentation and do a screen recording. I am checking with <a href="http://www.seussville.com/faq/general_ques.php">seussville.com</a> to see
if Dr. Seuss books allow this type of recording. I think they might. <o:p></o:p></div>
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A teacher took just a few seconds before turning off her
document camera to pan around the room. Kids waved and danced as they showed up
on camera. <o:p></o:p><br />
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Math fluency and speed in computation is not the same thing.
However, competition can often be a way to practice math facts until they are
automatic. Live <a href="http://youtu.be/-8TMRRQOO-4">mathletics</a> and games
on <a href="http://www.ixl.com/">ixl.com</a> (free daily practice usually 15
questions), <a href="http://www.mathplayground.com/">mathplayground.com</a> or <a href="http://www.arcademics.com/games/">arcademics.com</a> can be fun. <o:p></o:p><br />
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Some of the hardest days teaching can be reviewing study
guides, or walking the whole class through instructions to make sure everyone
understands exactly what they are supposed to do. It always takes three times
as long as it should and even then there are those one or two students who just
don’t seem to get it. I wonder if we could flip these lessons. A ten minute
video going through the review questions or a podcast? Could this be a job for
a star student? Maybe, during the year students can earn the right to be the
homework instruction star? They can record the instruction video or audio and
post it to the class youtube channel or something.<o:p></o:p><br />
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I sometimes see teachers writing homework assignments on a word document projected on the wall and asking students to copy to their assignment notebooks. What if I did this on a Google Document then clicked File -> Publish to the Web? It becomes a webpage that automatically updates itself as I put the next day’s homework on top. I can send the link home to parents through skyward everyday (just resend the same message everyday) I can publish the link on my classroom or department web page. I can even embed the page into an existing webpage.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u0Y4aiUswtQ" width="560"></iframe><br /></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Things Found on the Web</h3>
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Anytime we try to convey information to the entire class
students have questions. Some are shy and don’t want to raise their hands, some
don’t think of the question until too late, and other times the answer to the
question is coming up if they just hold on.
That’s why I think it can be useful to have a backchannel up and
running, especially during these review or instruction settings. Questions can
be put on the backchannel and even sometimes answered by other students without
slowing down the pace of the class. <a href="https://tackk.com/backchannel1"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">https://tackk.com/backchannel1</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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The ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education)
is attempting to create <a href="http://nets-implementation.iste.wikispaces.net/Student+Friendly+Standard+Names">child friendly translations</a> to the NETS-S (national
educational technology standards for students) standards. What do you think? <o:p></o:p><br />
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Stuck trying to create a new lesson try this: Search for publicly shared Docs. Just type site:docs.google.com "Example Topic" into Google Search. See how it is <a href="http://bit.ly/1AcUH36">done here</a>. (Quotes will force google to search for the exact words, but are not required. Try with or without for different results.)<br />
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Taking <a href="http://kulowiectech.blogspot.com/2015/02/hybrid-sketchnotes-paper-ipads.html?m=1">notes on paper</a> and reviewing them, enhancing them and then sharing digitally. This is pretty advanced and might be best for high achieving high school students.<br />
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A different way to <a href="https://diigo.com/07chdz">learn vocabulary</a>. <br />
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8 apps to turn your ipad into an <a href="http://www.whiteboardblog.co.uk/2015/02/8-apps-turn-ipad-interactive-whiteboard/">interactive whiteboard</a>. You may not have $2,000 for a Smartboard, but can you get $400 for an iPad? I wonder how well they work on the <a href="https://www.google.com/nexus/">$300 Google Nexus</a>?<br />
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<a href="ttp://div1edtech.blogspot.ca/2014/04/surveys-with-grade-twos-as-part-of-our.html">Surveys for grade 2</a> using forms. Teaching questioning skills as well as math skills as they examine the results.<br />
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If you only read one thing, then read this post.<br />
Tech Integration - "<a href="https://diigo.com/07ckhe">There is No App for Good Teaching</a>"<br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4827213339577673713.post-53604151821324725922015-02-13T13:41:00.000-06:002015-02-13T13:41:31.522-06:00Ask the Right Questions<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>When bringing technology into the classroom, how do you know you’re asking the wrong questions?</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Can you help me find an app that will teach ...?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What kind of tech should I have in my classroom?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How do I use this in my classroom?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Can you show me how to use this?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How do I find time for this?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How do I fit this into my lesson?</span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>When your questions have to do with bringing something extra or replacing expert knowledge of teaching. </b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Instead ask:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What do I want my student to learn?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What ways to I want to present the content?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How will students prove they have gained understanding?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How will I give feedback to my students?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How will students make corrections and resubmit? (iterate)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Excuses</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CCSS doesn't leave time for this.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have so much more content to cover. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The kids are/will be off task.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Students just know how to play, not learn.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Texting, slang, etc... is not real speaking writing.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The technology/wifi/site doesn't always work.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Students wont get enough practice.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They cheat on tests/quizzes.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don’t know how to do it. I don’t have time to learn.</span></blockquote>
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4827213339577673713.post-87386030149017908932014-11-14T14:23:00.001-06:002014-11-14T14:23:44.883-06:00Classroom Visits<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">Today was a great day to visit in classrooms. </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mwEKOxQFZ90/VGZeJHqNp6I/AAAAAAAABkU/jeVi_8vxYfU/s1600/IMAG1837.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mwEKOxQFZ90/VGZeJHqNp6I/AAAAAAAABkU/jeVi_8vxYfU/s1600/IMAG1837.jpg" height="181" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As we move into a digital culture we learn that student know how to play with technology, but they have to be taught how to use technology, For example, there is more to search than just asking questions in Google. Learning to search is part of the </span><a href="https://webmaker.org/en-US/resources/literacy/weblit-Search" style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mozilla web literacy standards</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Up in 8th grade Science it is CSI week again. Totally awesome interactive presentations that include writing, audience participation, and great acting skills. </span><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxDc2PiXXi3-iAh7NO3BfygT6jjj2CPsg7ve3uUBPoj2iom7zWYhLf4O5mIqmzfuneStJ4DmXgUXLaUS4Mm1w' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Using movies and a presentation software (usually PowerPoint or Google Slides) the students Created and solved a mystery al a the popular show CSI. Showing how Science not only teaches the basic Sciencey skills, but can also include writing and drama as well. </div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">Later Mr. Hepner exploded from his room and into the library. His students were so into their Veteran’s Day projects that they have continued to work on them over the last three days. This student was using a picture from the netbook as a model for her hand drawn art. The group next to her were adding music to a presentation, while still others didn't even have computers. </span></span></div>
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What I love, as a Tech Integration Specialist, is how all of these lessons included technology, but only one had one to one computers. Even then the students were often discussing what was happening on their screens with their partners. </div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4827213339577673713.post-28330733143705761382014-10-27T09:07:00.000-05:002014-10-27T09:12:00.222-05:00Using Ted-Ed in Your Classroom<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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At first I was just going to send out <a href="http://ed.ted.com/periodic-videos">this Ted-Ed Lesson</a> for the Science teachers in the district, but then thought better of it. (Be careful before you start watching they are very engaging shorts for each element.)<br />
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Then I realized it has been a while since I have shared the Ted-Ed resources. I love how they have created a simple resource that can so quickly and easily be used to engage students, and even make them think. <a href="http://ed.ted.com/featured/WAvfFeGw">like this one</a>.<br />
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The concept is simple start with a video and then ask some questions, all in four or less steps.<br />
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Like the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0AjIqyKM9d7ZYdEhtR3BJMmdBWnM2YWxWYVM1UWowTEE&toomany=true">Dan Meyer's three-act lessons</a> (<a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkLk45wwjYBudG9LeXRad0lHM0E0VFRyOEtRckVvM1E#gid=0">More from Andrew Stadel here</a>) the technology (videos, online discussions) isn't there to teach or assess it is just there to spark curiosity. </div>
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The best part of Ted-Ed is the ability to take any video, either a current Ted-Ed, a youtube you found, or something your created yourself, and quickly add your own questions and discussions. I've created a <a href="http://ed.ted.com/on/F2SqFxV4">quick example (it took all of 15 minutes)</a> just to show you what you could make for your classroom. So if you have a few minutes, watch my lesson and then start the discussion, here or there, it doesn't matter.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4827213339577673713.post-513999867150534882014-10-03T12:45:00.000-05:002014-10-03T13:12:09.001-05:00Connected ArtIn case you forgot (or just didn't know) October is <a href="http://connectededucatormonth2014.sched.org/">Connected Educator month</a>.<br />
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At the middle school Mrs. Lauer has taken the challenge and connected to an online community of Art educators. <a href="http://theartofeducation.ning.com/">http://theartofeducation.ning.com/</a><br />
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Nings were a very popular place for educators to connect and share for many years, right up until the point when they decided to start charging to host the communities. On the other hand if a ning community is still going then you can be pretty sure the people running the thing are going to make it valuable to you.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Eyfo2bM2rag/VC7ey9n9HEI/AAAAAAAABhw/Cuj9BY5deZ0/s1600/jodi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Eyfo2bM2rag/VC7ey9n9HEI/AAAAAAAABhw/Cuj9BY5deZ0/s1600/jodi.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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So cudos to Mrs. Lauer for joining the ranks of the connected educators. The rest of us can follow along as she goes from a <a href="https://secure.flickr.com/photos/125434756@N02/">new blank flickr account</a> (Staff are encouraged to follow this professional account) to one full of students examples like this one.<br />
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<a href="https://secure.flickr.com/photos/suzanne_tiedemann/collections/72157626708058663/">https://secure.flickr.com/photos/suzanne_tiedemann/collections/72157626708058663/</a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4827213339577673713.post-48069484288251324662014-09-10T09:44:00.000-05:002014-09-10T09:44:31.305-05:00Maker Party - AppMaker<h2 style="text-align: center;">
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Yesterday evening the school district again hosted a #teachtehweb <a href="https://events.webmaker.org/events/4808">Maker Party</a>. As they did last year Mozilla, NWP, and several other non-profits are promoting <a href="https://party.webmaker.org/">digital literacy around the world</a>. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JNIT_qXhJx4/VBBY9ibCgaI/AAAAAAAABgI/es9idqJRWpY/s1600/IMAG1631.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JNIT_qXhJx4/VBBY9ibCgaI/AAAAAAAABgI/es9idqJRWpY/s1600/IMAG1631.jpg" height="181" width="320" /></a></div>
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We started the evening asking why apps such as Flappy Bird might ask for things like location data? It was quickly decided that while it doesn't seem harmful (if they are using the information to provide more targeted adds) it is certainly a bit uncomfortable having so much information about ourselves being passed around. We realized that free apps aren't actually free, we are paying for them by selling information about ourselves. If an app is free to you, that means you are the product being sold to someone else. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QngYQx9wP-A/VBBY9szqwuI/AAAAAAAABgY/eXf8744WjkI/s1600/IMAG1632.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QngYQx9wP-A/VBBY9szqwuI/AAAAAAAABgY/eXf8744WjkI/s1600/IMAG1632.jpg" height="181" width="320" /></a></div>
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If we want to play games on a tablet or phone it would be nice if we could create the games ourselves. How could we do that? We would look at two app building programs Mozilla Appmaker and AppInventor from MIT.<br />
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We started by creating a simple <a href="http://bit.ly/webmaker_counterapp">counter app</a>. Add a button and every time you click the button it counts. Some of the participants modified the app to use pictures of cats inside the button, some added a second button to count down, and some added automatic counters. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hvM_TXDYcvE/VBBY9oNfUbI/AAAAAAAABgM/etdwPKU5V9I/s1600/IMAG1633.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hvM_TXDYcvE/VBBY9oNfUbI/AAAAAAAABgM/etdwPKU5V9I/s1600/IMAG1633.jpg" height="181" width="320" /></a></div>
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With our first app created I passed out some <a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/mofousers/jess/mdkit/mobiletemplate.pdf">paper planning</a> sheets. However, most were busy creating apps already and didn't want to step back and start planning. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ezwgq1vyRRY/VBBY-eJ_pXI/AAAAAAAABgQ/lYn5n-r-cDg/s1600/IMAG1634.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ezwgq1vyRRY/VBBY-eJ_pXI/AAAAAAAABgQ/lYn5n-r-cDg/s1600/IMAG1634.jpg" height="181" width="320" /></a></div>
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Fifteen minutes before the end I stopped everyone and asked they to take a tour around the room to see what everyone else had created. </div>
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Some had created musical instruments that would play when tapped. Others created video players that would play favorite youtube videos when a button was pressed. </div>
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Especially, nice was the way parents worked with their children to create, but the kids did most of the heavy lifting and were the creative force behind the app being created. </div>
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After our tour of each other's work we took a quick look at <a href="http://appinventor.mit.edu/explore/">AppInventor from MIT</a>. This is an actual programming system for Android. Appmaker from Mozilla is a bit easier and allows students to create an app quickly. AppInventor will allow the kids to create something at home and actually put it on the phone or tablets. Eventually, if they want they can also share their apps with their friends. Hopefully they won't create a messaging app that they will then use in school. <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6oC3eLb6mqA/VBBY_sdUGiI/AAAAAAAABg4/MuMuICUaUuU/s1600/IMAG1638.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6oC3eLb6mqA/VBBY_sdUGiI/AAAAAAAABg4/MuMuICUaUuU/s1600/IMAG1638.jpg" height="181" width="320" /></a></div>
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We ended the day talking a bit about <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2fxkgr/i_am_dave_steer_director_of_advocacy_at_mozilla/">net-neutrality</a> and the implications around the world. </div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4827213339577673713.post-30254506606264898022014-05-15T08:00:00.003-05:002014-05-15T08:00:54.660-05:00Growing a RainforestBiomes in Science are always a fun time. Students love to create intricate worlds to explore. It's even better when the world they create is big enough to walk through.<br />
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</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4827213339577673713.post-53230764391499053932014-04-30T12:10:00.001-05:002014-04-30T12:10:25.983-05:00The Research Project on Animals. <div class="tr_bq">
When I was a kid, and dinosaurs roamed the earth, the project was: “500 words on your saber tooth tiger.” We had a set of encyclopedias at home; most of those reports were copied directly from there. Honestly, I always wondered why I didn't get caught for plagiarism. </div>
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When I was teaching I discovered the <a href="http://www.dailyteachingtools.com/free-graphic-organizers-w.html" target="_blank">hamburger writing guide</a> and variants. My students and I learned a bit about writing together. <br />
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Today with technology the possibilities have expanded even more.<br />
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<li>Research done <a href="http://192.34.29.219/">online</a></li>
<li>Skype/<a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/hangouts">Hangout</a> with animal expert or zoo</li>
<li>Create <a href="http://youtu.be/W9DUbC5o2Uc">movies</a> or <a href="http://youtu.be/Y3umfuC_oFk">animations</a> instead of written report</li>
<li>Powerpoint, <a href="http://prezi.com/gwz0nzq4bpct/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share">Prezi</a>, or similar presentation</li>
<li>Blog posts</li>
<li><a href="http://www.classroom20.com/forum/topics/examples-of-collaborative">Collaborative wiki</a> projects</li>
<li>Collaborative writing in<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Tdfk2UvIXxwZOoluLh6o1kN1CrKHWbXcmUIsDKRHTEI/edit"> Google Docs</a> or Etherpad</li>
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All of these choices still stem from the original idea, and meet concepts, or Standards in different ways.<br />
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Today the teachers choose, what is<a href="http://gettingsmart.com/2013/07/the-samr-ladder-through-the-lens-of-21st-century-skills/#tl-4e47e266" target="_blank"> a good first step, </a>into easing the students into 21st century work. A nice familiar paper outline, supplemented with the option to research online. The biggest and most exciting, difference I saw was the teachers embedding a quick lesson on <a href="http://shellyterrell.com/2013/12/27/are-your-students-digitally-literate-10-resources/#.Ur9-ei2TvJQ.twitter" target="_blank">digital literacy</a>, reminding students to use quality sources during their research. “Remember, don’t just Google your animal. Start with a library Destiny search.”<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GCpgx-Uhfnc/U2EtaiCxTsI/AAAAAAAABcE/lqD_XsRfn7U/s1600/students+working.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GCpgx-Uhfnc/U2EtaiCxTsI/AAAAAAAABcE/lqD_XsRfn7U/s1600/students+working.png" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Students using a variety of tools to research animals</td></tr>
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<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4827213339577673713.post-34550811883871052982014-04-28T12:28:00.003-05:002014-04-28T12:30:52.206-05:00Technology Integration in the Elementary School<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I think this just about sums it up. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QVrzt7yL4XE/U16PgKU1d1I/AAAAAAAAg-k/mHHA3iOrMBg/s1600/theater.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QVrzt7yL4XE/U16PgKU1d1I/AAAAAAAAg-k/mHHA3iOrMBg/s1600/theater.jpg" height="640" width="412" /></a></div>
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Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851321965073197018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4827213339577673713.post-25909312757406241862014-04-11T13:55:00.000-05:002014-04-14T07:10:53.796-05:00Poetry and MathI love going to visit elementary schools, they do so many cool things and the kids are just so much fun. They aren't shy that is for sure, I had several kids volunteer to show me what they learned today.<br />
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The teacher here has her children working on half a dozen different exercises at the same time. As the students finish their pencil and paper work they can read a book, order numbers, create math sentences, or use a variety of iPad apps.<br />
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In the old days, when I was a kid, if we finished our work we either read a book quietly or did the "extra" worksheet. Differentiation on skills was just not that personal.<br />
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I think we all know that apps are great at adding the sounds and visual elements that make learning more exciting for the students. <a href="http://youtu.be/6-QuYYtRUpo" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #1b7fcc; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/6-QuYYtRUpo</a><br />
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The can read words with the teacher <a href="http://youtu.be/1vGRX8Rl4ek" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #1b7fcc; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/1vGRX8Rl4ek</a><br />
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Read a story independently <a href="http://youtu.be/dJTPQHEYTKM" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #1b7fcc; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/dJTPQHEYTKM</a><br />
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She can quickly change levels for the student <a href="http://youtu.be/1QhnXWXKPZ0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #1b7fcc; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/1QhnXWXKPZ0</a></div>
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The self check with computers is also one of the big bonuses. </div>
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Tech tools are great, but students still need to touch and make contact with objects. Apps are great for bringing leveled content to students. This allows them to practice a skill at the appropriate level. But sometimes we just need open ended play to learn and explore. It also helps when two students of different levels work together, they can teach and learn from each other. <a href="http://youtu.be/W9DUbC5o2Uc" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #1b7fcc; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/W9DUbC5o2Uc</a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dhW8U3ZDI2g/U0bcnNS77BI/AAAAAAAABao/fvtzzCfCe_c/s1600/classroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dhW8U3ZDI2g/U0bcnNS77BI/AAAAAAAABao/fvtzzCfCe_c/s1600/classroom.jpg" height="181" width="320" /></a>The students in this class have the option to use technology after they had finished some writing (one student actually was writing his poem in Word) This allowed students to transition from one activity to another at different times without disrupting the entire class. I like how the teacher didn't have students put away their electronic tools, they just closed the covers and left them on their desks because they would be going back to work on them soon enough. It isn't just a wasting time activity until the real teaching begins, it's a powerful learning tool that for a moment does not need to be used.<br />
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The activity may not seem like it included technology, but now that it is recorded and on youtube students can see how well they did and reflect or comment. <a href="http://youtu.be/-M9ilIEwWcE" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #1b7fcc; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.333333015441895px; line-height: 14.300000190734863px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/-M9ilIEwWcE</a><br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4827213339577673713.post-89518923964844040172014-04-07T14:03:00.001-05:002014-04-07T14:03:26.579-05:00Presentation tools<h2>
Examples of presentation tools</h2>
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Powtoons</h3>
http://youtu.be/Y3umfuC_oFk?t=23s<br />
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<a href="http://glogster.com/" target="_blank">Glogster</a></h3>
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LIke an online bulletin board only more versatile. glogster allows you to add pictures, voice, video, and text over a background of your choosing. A great way to ease students and teachers from traditional to virtual. </div>
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<a href="http://dendari.edu.glogster.com/introduction-to-abraham-maslow/">http://dendari.edu.glogster.com/introduction-to-abraham-maslow/</a><br />
<a href="http://dendari.edu.glogster.com/digital-citizenship/">http://dendari.edu.glogster.com/digital-citizenship/</a><br />
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<a href="http://voicethread.com/" target="_blank">VoiceThread</a></h3>
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Great for classroom discussions and presentation. Start with a visual prompt and ask students to respond or give students and topic and ask them to present using their own pictures. </div>
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<a href="https://voicethread.com/?#u955405.b1225685.i6606885">https://voicethread.com/?#u955405.b1225685.i6606885</a><br />
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<a href="http://haikudeck.com/" target="_blank">Haiku Deck</a></h3>
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This is basically powerpoint and just works on the iPad and the web, but it solves the two most common problems in student presentations - too many bullet points, and stolen or uncited pictures. Each slide limits you to a title and one line or text, it them suggests pictures based on the text. all the pictures supplied by HaikuDeck have the citation already embedded. </div>
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<a href="http://www.haikudeck.com/p/U58iexoexX/title">http://www.haikudeck.com/p/U58iexoexX/title</a><br />
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<a href="http://smore.com/" target="_blank">Smore</a></h3>
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Create flyers for any occasion and share them easily. Printing is also an option. </div>
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<a href="https://www.smore.com/1ffx">https://www.smore.com/1ffx</a><br />
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<a href="http://narrable.com/" target="_blank">Narrable</a></h3>
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Tell a story with your pictures. You can record a voice comment on each picture. </div>
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<a href="https://narrable.com/app#narrables/rsi1v6">https://narrable.com/app#narrables/rsi1v6</a><br />
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<a href="http://prezi.com/" target="_blank">Prezi</a></h3>
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The original non-linear power point replacement. The movement around the screen can give your presentation a deeper meaning or it can make everyone seasick. </div>
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<a href="http://prezi.com/anqr19uyxr2l/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy">http://prezi.com/anqr19uyxr2l/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy</a><br />
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<a href="http://slidespeech.com/" target="_blank">SlideSpeech</a></h3>
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Slide speech reads your speaker notes for each slide giving your presentation a voice of its own. It also helps keep presentations short and to the point. </div>
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<a href="http://slidespeech.com/s/gielhRyaen/">http://slidespeech.com/s/gielhRyaen/</a><br />
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4827213339577673713.post-30323603834568808512014-04-04T07:04:00.000-05:002014-04-10T13:27:54.469-05:00Whats happening in school<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Just some of the fun happening in the local schools.<br />
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In Kindergarten students are learning to <a href="http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/K/OA/" target="_blank">add and subtract to ten</a> by having a snowball fight.<br />
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Some of the 5th graders are having math <a href="http://www.nctm.org/news/content.aspx?id=35384" target="_blank">discussions</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ngA-N2Fwpa8/Uz2GUl5rovI/AAAAAAAABaI/8mBQK6BvBnQ/s3200/IMAG0861.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ngA-N2Fwpa8/Uz2GUl5rovI/AAAAAAAABaI/8mBQK6BvBnQ/s3200/IMAG0861.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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Eighth graders are <a href="https://www.evernote.com/shard/s2/sh/fc5bb5b8-92fe-4396-a181-ce0df0d21cf4/91ef462f476191f3f5b792e0a0664c99" target="_blank">deconstructing their first Science Splash program and making changes</a> before the next presentation. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GHEaUi_Grac/Uz2G3XbaX4I/AAAAAAAABaQ/a7f_V_FxFuM/s3200/IMAG0760.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GHEaUi_Grac/Uz2G3XbaX4I/AAAAAAAABaQ/a7f_V_FxFuM/s3200/IMAG0760.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0