Lesson Plan

What Does the Sun DO Up There!?!

My Final Three Technologies!

ReadOutLoud Screen Reader:

ReadOutLoud is software that basically looks like any browser that one might be familiar with: Chrome, Safari, Firefox.   The advantage to ReadOutLoud over other screen readers is that it doesn’t only read text out loud, but it has a bouncing ball that highlights the words as the computer is reading them.  This helps younger readers track the words and keep their focus on the text.  The student can click and unclick the icon to stop the reading.  The speed is alterable and it has other fun features as well, such as a bibliographer, an outline creator, and if you are a Bookshare member, the software can read those books as well. 

iPad Apps: Dragon

You talk and it types: Dragon is an easy-to-use voice recognition application.  A student can just push the record button, speak, hit the stop button, and the words magically appear immediately.  You can then e-mail the recorded speech to yourself or copy it into the iPad app, Pages to edit and use in that framework.

Livescribe Pen:

Livescribe is a digital pen that is awesome for note taking.  It can be for students who missed a class because classmates can share the information that they wrote down with a peer.  The pen creates a digital copy of everything that is written by hand with the ink, and it simultaneously records audio.  Once a student uploads the information onto a computer, the information becomes searchable and the student can look through their past notes.  The Livescribe pen also has a calculator and a paper piano that can play the piano once one is drawn.   

Breezin' Thru Theory

From my Kindergarten until I graduated high school, I played the violin, the baritone, the piano, and sang in chorus/choir.  My love of music and math combined in a passion for music theory where I took classes at the local university to further develop my understanding of the intersection of the two subjects.  

I thought I would look around the web to see where music education and technology are meeting up and stumbled upon Breezin' Thru' Theory.  Breezin' Thru is a series of educational tools for different subjects, but the theory one is especially interesting because I think with interactive tools and power-point like presentations, theory becomes much more accessible than just with worksheets and music instructors having to verbally explain everything.  


The breezin' thru curriculum has four parts:
See it, Hear it: these are listened to online to better explain components of music theory
Mad Dash Drills: instant scoring is available for these speed tests that students can do and use to compete against each other
Composer's Corner: Students can use their knowledge to start the composition process of music theory
Summative Tests: A simple way to measure progress.


Music theory and composition requires a lot of trial and error if it is to be done with pencil and paper.  I would erase so frequently that my papers would be littered with holes.  If there is a technological way to practice composing, I think the best part about this would be editing with ease. 

StudyBlue

I found out about StudyBlue through an awesome blog: http://awesomeeducationtechnology.wordpress.com/.  It's a blog where a teacher is totally open to using technology in her class...even Cellphones.  I don't know where others went to high school, but where I went, this would be totally Taboo.


StudyBlue is a really progressive online study tool.  It's made by students for students where students can make online flashcards, but it doesn't stop there.  There's a mobil app that you can download to your phone, you can set reminders to make yourself study, and there's resources for teachers too.  Teachers can make flashcards for their students to study online or on their cellphones on the go.  The program keeps track of your progress so you can basically constantly quiz your students before a big test.  There's a large search engine where you can look up information for high school and college level classes. The best part is that it's free!  


There are almost 2,000,000 cards added weekly!  As a flashcard maniac, this is something I would have loved to have this in high school. 

Google Hangouts

So I figured I'd write a post about Google Hangouts because I (along with the entire class) am going to have to experiment with it this evening.  Google Hangouts is a sleeker and more useful video chat program than anything I've used previously, including Skype, FaceTime, and Google video chat (through the chat on my e-mail).

It's pretty easy to use.  To start, I'm pretty sure you need a Google+ account.  At the bottom of the screen are you and the other people you are "hangin'" with.  You then can choose plenty of things to put in the main screen in the middle of the hangout.  Options include: your face, one of the hangers' faces, your current screen (along with mouse movements), a youtube video.  You can share pretty much anything.  I see this as a revolutionary way to hold a conference call or meeting.  I see this being used in a classroom setting where students need to communicate or work on a project from home, but can't necessarily find the time to meet up, or I can see this as a really fun way to make a mock business meeting situation. 


Students could cluster in small groups around the classroom and pretend they are in other countries and communicate kind of like a United Nations.  It would be a great way to informally assess a social studies class.  






I hope it goes well when we try and use it this evening!

The Water Cycle

The Water Cycle
by: alliesarah

Reddit

So, I'm not posting this to reveal that I am a huge internet nerd and use Reddit all that often.  I don't, but it is helpful and very similar to Yahoo Answers.  It's tagline is the "front page of the internet," and it's full of information, people asking dumb questions, people asking great questions, and you can absorb some quick snippits of news while you're at it.
I think people primarily use it to vent, but that can be useful for teachers as well.  You can post your questions to subreddits, and somehow, people see your questions and answer you.

Kid/Inspiration

Inspiration/Kidspiration is a great software that lets you make really appealing graphic organizers.  The controls are a little tricky to get the hang of, but once you do, you can make a great tool to help kids with the strategic part of learning, that is, having a way to memorize and/or remember information.

I made a graphic organizer using kidspiration to help kids learn about their shapes!

Understanding By Design: A Rough Draft

Check it out!

Rosetta Stone

I'm pretty sure that most people have heard of Rosetta Stone, but it wasn't until I took an ESL class here at Marymount that I realized that Rosetta Stone could be used in an educational setting.  It can be used to supplement a foreign language class for an english speaking student, or English language learners can use it to learn English and help with adjusting to the US.  From what I've heard...I've never actually practiced using Rosetta Stone, it supposedly helps individuals learn a language in a natural way, similarly to the way they learned their first language. 

Storyline Online

All kids, but especially the little ones, love being read to.  They so quickly get wrapped up in a great story.  One website/technology that I love is called Storyline Online.  Celebrities are shown in videos reading loved books.  Examples include:  Rainbow Fish, Harry the Dirty Dog, and The Polar Express.


I had a particularly awesome moment using storyline online.  James Earl Jones reads the book To Be a Drum.  His booming voice is perfect for narration.  The best part was at the end of the video, I had the kids guess what other characters the actor had played.  When they found out he was the voice behind Mufasa and Darth Vader, they LOVED it! 

BrainPOP!

BrainPOP!  is an animated educational site that has videos of all sorts to play for your students.  I've seen it used in special education and ESL settings.  There is basically a plethora of videos in every subject and they are entertaining, informative, and age-appropriate.

Delicious.com

I am a huge fan of organization and beautiful things.  Naturally, I am so drawn to pinterest.com and it's my all time favorite website.  However, Delicious.com could rival pinterest any day.  Especially for students to have a space where they can remember things that helped them learn, or inspired them, I would love to use this in a high school classroom. 

Students can make different stacks of articles they read, make bucket lists, and pretty much compile striking information on the internet that is important to them. 

GeoGebra

Before I changed my major in college to Psychology and decided to get my elementary teaching certification, I was planning on majoring in math.  I love math and I always have, and now that love has translated into a love of teaching math to my little ones.  I love thinking about the various ways that they will try and solve problems and I love trying to understand why some students struggle with math and why it comes easy to others.  Especially for older students, when computations are more difficult, I think it's wonderful that there's a free software that blossoming mathematicians can use online. 

GeoGebra has a ton of tools that students can use while learning various branches of math.  There are interactive graphics, algebra, and spreadsheets.

Bubbl.us

We are all familiar with graphic organizers and the benefits they have on students who learn differently and appreciate the uses of technology.

Bubblus is a beautiful website that displays really colorful mind maps online.  Students and teachers can use it to make complex webs. I like how easy the website is to navigate and how simple the overall look is.  All grades can probably use this tool to make maps.  You can choose the colors and different formats of the bubbles.  Here is an example of a Bubbl.us map:

My Attempt at a Site

Tentative Lesson Plan?

I love teaching kids geometry, especially SHAPES!  I think there are also many technological opportunities that come about with that kind of lesson.


A few things that kids can do with technology and shapes are:
-take pictures of shapes around the classroom/school grounds
-build (maybe even with SketchUp)
-make a virtual poster for each shape with flags,buildings, and facts about that shape

Quizlet

Online flashcards=genius. 

Quizlet.com is a brilliant website where flashcards rule.  Primarily it has been used for learning languages, but not basically anything can become a flashing opportunity.  If you are an organized, control-freak, you can create your own flashcards, or you can simply search to see if the particular subject you're interested in has been created already.  The subjects even include SAT preparation. 

TED

If you're looking for that perfect motivational speech to show to your Senior class graduates when they have an acute case of "senioritis," try finding one on TED to inspire them for the college road ahead. 

TED: Ideas Worth Spreading (www.ted.com) is a collection of riveting speeches and talks given by great orators from around the world.  It operates similarly to any other video viewing website like Youtube, but I like how the videos can be organized by emotion.  Students and teachers can find videos that persuasive, courageous, ingenious, fascinating, inspiring, beautiful, funny, or informative.  Even without one of these intended outcomes, I think this can be a good tool to discuss with kids what makes a great presentation.  It would be excellent in a public speaking class, but helpful, really, to any class where kids have to get up in front of an audience.  

Glogster EDU

Remember the amount of effort that you, and perhaps your parents, put into creating dramatic posters for various projects and science fair events?  This can become a thing of the past with the creation of online posters.

GlogsterEDU is a tool that students and teachers can use to display a multitude of information about a particular subject.  They can put videos, pictures, words, links, or just about anything to a giant digital poster and then present it to their classmates.

Pin me!

Here is a simple QR code that is linked to my Pinterest account (ALSO a great tool for teachers)

My Corner of the PLN World

I have a twitter.  I mainly use it to update friends on the small silly moments that occur in my day-to-day life, some of which involve the classroom.  I use it primarily for entertainment and keeping up with local businesses.  I had never given much thought to how Twitter could be used as a personal learning network until reading Shelly Terrell's blog.  It turns out that Twitter can be used for many educational and professional opportunities.  


I think that if I were to create a professional Twitter to enhance my teaching and classroom..yes, shocking...my personal and professional worlds DO need space..that I would start by making a name like 1stgradepioneer, since I'm a new teacher.  I would try and research great people to follow and maybe tweet @ them, so they can follow me and see questions that I might have that arise while I'm teaching.  Come to think of it, my teacher twitter might be primarily questions, as I'm not sure my wisdom has quite reached a helpful level to others...but hey!  You never know!


One of the interesting things about our society...I'm not sure if it's a good or a bad thing, is that it can be hard to have an original idea.  However, in this case, I would be super glad to probably not be the first teacher to grab a Twitter account.  With this in mind, I would Google great teachers that already have twitters to follow.  I'm sure there are already PLNs out there that I could attach myself too.


I like organization and I like keeping my apps and different profiles on the internet to a minimum, so it's helpful that I already have a twitter and wouldn't need yet another tab on my toolbar to keep all my websites visible.  

Evernote

An important learning strategy to teach students is to keep track of one's thinking and learning processes.  Meta-cognition is imperative to becoming a great learner.  Note taking is a simple skill that helps with meta-cognition.  But how can students keep notes of all the websites they might visit trying to find sources for a research paper?

Enter Evernote.  Essentially, a student can browse the internet for information, sources, articles, pictures, etc., and store all the cool stuff they find on this app.  They can even save audio selections.  A really cool feature is that the information is then stored on their laptops, iPhones, iPads, etc., due to cloud technology.  If students are making a historical timeline together in groups, they can also share all of the notes they collect.  If they are going on a class field trip, they can store maps, itineraries and, if perhaps they are visiting a forest, animal facts and information.

Survey Monkey

Sometimes, especially in the older years, kids are very shy and apprehensive about honesty about touchy subjects like bullying and social situations.  Here's an example of a way that teachers can get honest opinions from students. 

Survey Monkey

Survey Monkey has been around for 15 years now!  One can make a survey in any subject area and share it through e-mail or through a website, etc.  Students can make surveys if they are giving a presentation and want to "poll" the class.  Teachers can use surveys as a fun way to quiz students or to collect information students might not want to share elsewhere. 

A simple educational survey.

Wordle

Some students are extremely visual.  A great way to differentiate instruction and really draw students in is to get their eyes engaged on something other than straight text or boring worksheets.  Making a really fun visual for them to synthesize information is a great tool.

Essentially, Wordle takes a bunch of words and groups them together in a visually appealing graphic that gives more attention to the most frequent words and less attention to less used words.  This could be a great tool if the students are doing a character description and they want to see the general profile of a story character that the students came up with on their own. 

Here is a great example of a wordle for Mr. Darcy from the beloved Pride and Prejudice.  

Helpful Shortcuts

Have you ever seen a very computer-savvy individual zoom their fingers across the keyboards, rarely utilizing their mouse at all?  They have memorized and practiced using a variety of keyboard shortcuts that make working on a computer way more efficient.  I am a Mac user, so here is a short list of Mac shortcuts that I find helpful and use on a daily basis:

Command-A: Selects all items in the front Finder window

Option-Command-A: Deselects all items

Command-C: Copy

Command-E: Eject

Command-F: Find

Command-I: Get info

Command-M: Minimize window

Option-Command-M: Minimize all windows

Command-O: Open selected items

Command-T: Add to sidebar

Shift-Command-T: Add to favorites

Command-V: Paste

Command-W: Close window

Option-Command-W: Close all windows

Command-Z: Undo/Redo

Command-1: View as icon

Command-2: View as list

Command-3: View as columns

Command-4: View as cover flow

Happy Shortcutting!


source: 

Storybird

It's no secret that some kids just LOVE technology.  A dozing student may suddenly perk up at the sight of an iPad.  Also, if you've noticed, the learning curve is much less steep for younger people.  It's as if they can trial-and-error at such a fast speed that they've picked up the functionality of a piece of technology in no time.  Here is an example of a technological tool that I found particularly entertaining.  It can probably enhance most classroom experiences.

Storybird

Storybird is a "Collaborative Storytelling Tool," according to their website.  It is a way to make a story as a group, where anyone can contribute to the plot of the story or the illustrations.  It can be shared, watched, or played with and works best for kids ages 3-13 (although anyone can enjoy the tool).  

For the text, anyone in your classroom can contribute their own thoughts and words.  Pictures are found in a wide variety on the site itself.  Students can choose who they wish to collaborate with and when they publish a story, it is automatically stored in the class' account.

Here is an example of a Storybird I made.  It was extremely easy to make and the illustrations were very fun to pick out.  Check it out!

Learning to Teach with Technology: A Love Story.

Class 1: Welcome!

I created this class to coincide with a graduate class I am taking this summer at Marymount University.  It will be highlighting the things I learn and explore in regard to technology in the classroom.  Enjoy.