MSU Portfolio-Catrin Barber-Aspiring Tech Coach

Wicked Problem Project-Final!

noreply@blogger.com (Catrin Barber CEP 810) — Wed, 7 Mar 2012 02:06:00 -0800

The problem:
Our math program is supplemental at best, is based on too much experiential learning, and not enough variety. Grade 5 students are looking at a transition that can be very difficult with the perceived simplicity of the lesson we currently teach when they start to use the 6th grade curriculum which is much more problem driven.
The solution:
Explore technology, specifically online programs that can assist in the differentiation of math. The programs should be teacher friendly, interesting for students and easy to monitor. For this I explored: Mathletics, Khan Academy and Gizmo.
What are the major interactions with TPACK that make my solution so promising?
The content in these online math programs is presented in a variety of ways. The students can start with a problem, move to a lesson (in a variety of formats), watch a video, learn from a tutorial or even play a game to enhance any concept. Through these online videos, lessons, tutorials, inter-actives and games the students are able to manipulate and visualize mathematics in a way that enhances their understanding a specific content.

Here is the presentation of my Wicked Problem Project. I very much enjoyed this project and am still able to implement these changes on a daily basis in my classroom.

Part D-Findings and implications

noreply@blogger.com (Catrin Barber CEP 810) — Tue, 6 Mar 2012 23:08:00 -0800

Findings and Implications....
Here I will sum up what I found while researching and experimenting on 18 very willing fifth graders with various online math programs. My implementation varied. For each program I assigned it as a component of homework. On the Friday when the homework is due we discussed the program during snack time. Some groups of students were put on more focused activities, whether it be for the advanced students to push them forward, or the students who needed an intervention with a specific skill. I am extremely luck y to work in a forward thinking school with a 1 to 1 laptop program for grade 5, it makes this research much easier and the students are skilled enough to easily move from one program to another.
1. Variety is KEY to keep the fifth grade mind. The program with the best amount of variety is by FAR-Mathletics. This program hold the students interest with several components including: avatars (which can be changed with rewards from lessons and activities and games), interactive lessons, helpful videos, avatar tutors and Challenge Days.
2. Unfortunately price plays a part in these programs, with the exception of Khan Academy. Luckily our school has an underused full school account with Mathletics, of which now I have become the local expert, especially as today is World math Day- they are SO into this! I applied for funding for Gizmo's but the quote came back far too much, even for a single teacher license. We did get to experience the Gizmo's on a free trial and they are seriously great. It is not a full program, more of a supplement, but I still sue it for science demo's (I have 4 more days left!!).
3. Novelty plays a huge part in this. Mr. Nussbaum (used mostly as a supplement) and Mathletics both have a good amount of novelty, Khan academy is very basic, although the map used to chart a students progress is very impressive, even to the fifth grade mind.
4. Teacher usability makes buy in for an entire program much more successful. Mathletics is a bit fussy when you first start working with it, once you have assigned lessons, checked the lesson, resassigned if not done well and played with the results package it becomes quite intuitive. Khan's Academy still baffles me with the goal setting. I have seen in places (blogs or help guides) that teachers (called coaches) can assign goals for students, but I have yet to have done it. I tried to guide my own students thorough goal setting, but half of them could not do it. I ended up assigning specific homework (ie: Do lessons on Khan's Academy for 40 minutes during the week, 4 of the lessons must contain the word decimal"). There is no way to check up on Mr. Nussbaum, so this remained an in class activity.
5. There are a plethora of excellent programs out there. I further explored iXL.com which is a great resource. I specifically recommend this to parents with students who need extra skills based learning for math. Lure of the Labyrinth is an excellent game to introduce pre-algebra skills. I already have one student who has mastered almost all the levels (he is in the hospital with a burst appendix, so he reports in on a daily basis with new mastered levels and how to's!). I will definitely be using this at the end of the year so perhaps some motivated students will play into summer (we also have a competitive advanced program that the kids need to test into for 6th grade, so math is a big thing here!).

Group Leadership Project

noreply@blogger.com (Catrin Barber CEP 810) — Sun, 4 Mar 2012 09:17:00 -0800

Here it is!

And here are the three questions:
What tool did your group use to deliver the PD tutorial? Why?
We used Camtasia. We figured that showing the exact process of the basics of Toondoo was better if it was animated and talked through thoroughly while it was happening.
What did you learn during the development process of the final product?
I learned that a good script/storyboard can get you through the final project much easier then "winging it". Camtasia is a tricky product, I was lucky to have had experience from it as I used it for my STAIR project. I learned that recording in chunks makes it much easier to edit when you need to at the end.
What would you do differently if you had to develop a similar product again?
I think I would have left more time for editing. Because of a few mishaps with a group member I picked up the slack and had to run with it. Our group was clear on expectations and times that we wanted/needed rough drafts produced but when group members do not meet the expectations I think it is much better to have a back up plan. I would definitely have a back up plan just in case. I love working with groups, but it also has its downfalls..

Miscellaneous Math Encounters

noreply@blogger.com (Catrin Barber CEP 810) — Fri, 2 Mar 2012 00:41:00 -0800

While researching I came upon some wonderful resources that are useful for all sorts of reasons.The first one I came across was Lure of Labyrinth. This is a great game (what kid does not like a game?) that is based on Pre-Algebra principles.

Students play a variety of games that have to do with patterns, proportions, fractions, ratios...it is endless.As the students become more involved the games get harder and levels higher. Not to mention that the whole game has a plot (to free imprisoned pets). I gave this to my high flying group and they were stuck to it like glue, one of my students went home and played all weekend desperate to solve the many puzzles.

IXL is another math site that I have introduced to parents who have needed a digital tutor for basic math skills. It is easy and fairly inexpensive to sign up a child and the parents can easily monitor their progress and time spent. I spoke with some of the lower grade teachers who use it more often and they really like the way it moves through the basics. I had a few students play it but they were bored by it fairly quickly. I do still recommend it to parents for the basics, it has helped some of my students catch up on some skills they should have had before entering fifth grade.

And last but not least, one of my very favorites... Mr. Nussbaum!

I use this a lot for reinforcing skills. It is very easy to find both games and tools on Mr. Nussbaum's site. He has so many different ways of teaching skills and concepts, he is really like an old friend....

Professional Learning Plan

noreply@blogger.com (Catrin Barber CEP 810) — Fri, 2 Mar 2012 00:15:00 -0800

Thursday at Noon.
So.... This is due in four days and I made this really COOL looking Glogster on my Glogster EDU account and logged in after spending a few hours on it and BAM-it was gone. So here I am at my desk contemplating angry emails sent towards the Glogster people....
This here is a lesson in technology. A nasty lesson that we sometimes learn. I remember pressing the save button, I remember choosing save as a draft, but it is gone.... SO, I start again. Hold this space for the next draft. I think I am not going to use Glogster.
On to Prezi....

Professional Learning Plan CEP 812 Catie Barber on Prezi

Here are some Guiding Questions about what I have learned.

What were some online resources that you found helpful?

I absolutely ADORE Cool Tools for Schools! This website I constantly go back to in order to find specific online resources for my class. My students use it to and I have incorporated lots of them into my constantly updated Literature Circle Blog...And from this class: Free Visual Tools... pure awesomeness...

What online communities were helpful?

I find it really hard to keep up with online communities. i enjoyed getting to know MERLOT, but during 811 when submitting I found the whole process really laborious.. So I can't say I will be all over that. I do keep up with Edutopia a lot, I enjoy the writing and the articles there. For awhile I am going to be really happy to go back to reading the nytimes.com on a daily basis and catching up with new apps for my four year old...

What strategies do I find helpful for trying a new technology?

I find it very helpful to just play. I like to play with things, find out how they work, I rarely look towards a tutorial at first, rather I play and then find answers to my specific problems. I tend to dive right into technology, sometimes this is not good and I have learned not to jump in with my students, I need to be proficient first, although a lot of times it is my students who come in a say "Mrs. B., have you ever seen THIS??"

How does working with others support you in your own learning?

I enjoyed working with my group. it was fun to actually get to know a few people rather than just know them as "posts". I have found too that even though our project is over we are now still emailing each other to check our work, or just to be funny! That said, if people do not participate in groups then it is really a burden on everyone else. If it is required stuff then get it done! Ranting and Raving over with...

How will you use this experience to support your own life long learning of technology?

It never stops, does it? I will sue all these things and more, to be honest I am going to miss all this good learning time, I won't miss the stress much, but I loved the lesson, I will try and keep up on different communities. Teaching in such a technology rich school does keep me on my toes and (fingers crossed) I may just be the next technology integrator... who knows? Anything is possible!

Part C-Implementation

noreply@blogger.com (Catrin Barber CEP 810) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 00:19:00 -0800

Below you will find my podcast about how I am feeling with the project I accomplished. I feel like this project has been a great exploration and it has proved to me that the resources out there are not scary or overwhelming an htat the enthusiasm it being the students are well worth the little bumps....
Wicked problem project (mp3)
I am going to record some of my students and how they feel about Mathletics and Khans Academy.
Here is the Poll Everywhere about which one they like the best:

As you can see Mr. Nussbaum is in first (probably because the games are so enchanting!!) and Mathletics is number 2. I don't think we used Gizmo enough, to be fair. Khan Academy is great, but it is not as flexible as Mathletics.

WWP Part C- Mathletics

noreply@blogger.com (Catrin Barber CEP 810) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 01:43:00 -0800

The third installment for my Wicked Problem project is..... Mathletics!
This tool has been purchased by our school for every student in it. I have used parts of it but I had not delved deeper into it until this project and I was completely surprised at the versatility it brought.
First of all there is a live Mathletics game that my students adore. When they play it it has several levels, level 1 starts out very easy (but I discovered I can turn off levels and push the kids beyond addition and subtraction!).
How does it work?
You can sign up your class, or school or as a family or individual. Then you get access as a teacher and can assign different lessons. The assignments always appear first on the students board. you can also create your own courses, so you can find all the lessons to begin your fractions unit so when you assign the students all the lessons are in one area. These courses are saved under a name of your choice so you can continue using them over the years.

What do I like about Mathletics:

You can create groups for your students if you want to level them which is perfect for my class because I have some real high flyers.
You can choose courses from all over the world, one day you might choose the Japanese curriculum and the next California which exposes the students to many different styles of teaching. I think the more styles and methods the students get, the more likely they are to find a way they understand.
The students create their avatar and get points to purchase outfits, backgrounds, etc. This is great novelty for them and they really enjoy it.
The Live Matheltics game is great, when the kids start playing there is a world map that moves around pointing to different countries, they are then paired with one or several students from anywhere in the world and they play against them. you should hear the shouts "I have a guy from South Africa!" I have a guy from Qatar!".
There are a variety of reports that you can print for your students as well as certificates when they have high achievements.
For each lesson the students do there are a variety of ways they can access help and there is always a movie with demonstration problems if they are stuck.
They have lots of workbooks that can be printed out in pdf for extra work or reinforcement.

Some of the odd things:

It is hard to get to know this program, there are tutorials but one has to mess around and play with it before you really get (and I am not exactly sure I am there yet!).
The search engine for finding lessons can be clumsy.
A few more standardized tests would be great for practice, i hate to teach to the test but getting kids used to testing is important.

In summation:

This is a wonderful program, the best I have seen so far. it has just about everything you need as a teacher and the positives are far more than the negatives. The students very much enjoyed their homework and I have very little accessing their results. This is an excellent tool to help reinforce mathematics,especially if the curriculum you are using is sparse.

Data Visualization Lab

noreply@blogger.com (Catrin Barber CEP 810) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 04:26:00 -0800

For this lab I explored tools from this website that were new to me. I found some fun new tools and had a great time exploring them.

The first and most fun was Audioboo. This site really takes the hassle of publishing a podcast and makes it take about two seconds. Once you sign up for an account then you simply start making recordings. I downloaded the app for my iPhone and made the following recording in about five minutes. Grandma is going to be just a wee bit excited about this one!

Here is sample of an Audioboo of my son Brodi singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider :).

The second site I explored was called Open Clip Art. The reason behind this was to show my students. they too often rely on Google Images to find images for projects despite my constant reminders to use sources that allow for free use. This Is a great site, however it is not completely kid friendly. on the very first page there are a few new pictures that use the f-word as the title. Unfortunately this would cause for major hilarity, shock and perhaps even peats of the bad words.... So unless the edit language I don't recommend giving this to elementary students. Otherwise it has a lot of incredible clip art to use, so for teachers it is a great way to find interesting and free clip art!

The third site I explored was 1001 fonts...

This is a massive site chock full of fonts. The reason I went to this site was that I honestly did not know how to install a font onto my computer. Well this site makes it incredibly easy, and all of a sudden I was going crazy installing fonts left and right. My classroom newsletter looked like I had hired a printing firm.

Part B-Storyboard and script

noreply@blogger.com (Catrin Barber CEP 810) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 04:15:00 -0800

Hello!

Things have been just slightly hectic in my life... First I get kicked out of my class for notnpaing tuition on time because MSU did not give me waiver for some insurance they require you to buy even thoug I am fully insured by my full time teaching job... Then my friend gives birth, but her husband is away, so I was surrogate daddy during labor, needless to say I am now officially convinced that adopted was the best route for me, and I am a god mother! Now I have taken the train to meet the family in the Polish mountains for a ski holiday (a place called Szczyrk, try saying that...) and I brought my iPad but am having a pickle of a time getting it to work with Google docs. So, here is my storyboard, I am linking this to my partner Jenns website where you will be able to view it. I think it is pretty great! Now when we make the tutorial it will be easy peasy (as my four year old likes to say)... I just got back from a morning ski and it is time to relax a bit before hitting up the spa...

Here is the link to Jenn'S fabulous post where you can view the entire storyboard.

Cell Phones in the Classroom

noreply@blogger.com (Catrin Barber CEP 810) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 01:04:00 -0800

Eeek! What a subject! I am completely bamboozled while I try to read through the lab in our CEP812 class. Cell phones in 5th grade would be a distraction... Hands down (at least in my room). Our school has a strict policy for elementary students that cell phones stay in the locker (mostly this is prevent them from losing them....). the one time I have used cell phoens is as timers. I know that sounds odd but sometimes when we need to time something then I pull out my iPhone and the kids run and get their cells.

That said, I move onto other portable devices.

KINDLES! Yeah! Our school has a wonderful reading program called Golden Dragon, where they read a specific amount of books and get to go to a great party. All the books they pick are incredible, but the added twist was this year they could check out Kindles! With parent permission my 5th graders have excitedly received an email and been able to go pick up their Kindle from the library that is filled with all the Golden Dragon books! Amazing! What was even better was how many of them came back from Christmas break with their very own Kindle... From this teachers point of view, anything we can do to have them read more and feel excited about it, then let's do it!

We also have "Playaway's" in the library which are little mp3 players that contain one book for the kids to listen to. This is particularly popular with the ELL population at our school.
iPads are all around our school now. We just got a new iPad cart which is great, I have yet to check it out as the list to do so is incredibly long and my kids all have their own lap top, so I don't want to get overly greedy, but that guilt will pass soon!!
Flip cameras are great. My kids love to post movies they make and we have a great video project called "Day int he Life" where the kids make movies of one day int heir life and then edit them using Movie Maker. it is a beloved 5th grade project that may get thrown out as we are heading towards the Common Core and it is hard to battle to fit the project into our new standards... pity... Flip cameras are very easy to use, the one problem I tend to have with them is the sound can be not great. But we are getting quite adept at voice overs...
I am planning on trying to use Poll Everywhere with my kids next week. I was thinking of asking them which program they like the best of the ones we are trying for my Wicked Problem Project.

Part A- Brainstorm Session

noreply@blogger.com (Catrin Barber CEP 810) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 01:16:00 -0800

Here are the meeting parts for our first group project. I am not, unfortunately, featured in the meeting as I am way love here in Poland, and the rest of my group is in the US. First impressions is that I am working with excellent people(Jen and Dilly)! Thanks to both of them for being so SUPER flexible!!!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Here are my thoughts after I listened to all three of the sessions (3 as they used Skype and Jing and Jing is limited to 30 minutes).

I am so glad you picked ToonDoo!! What fun!!!
Toondoo is totally free which is awesome! My kids have done a few projects which are fun (just Toons) and they have really liked it. I did want to check out the book part as the Toons seemed sort of short.... Which was a bit limited..
I do have a pro-version of Camtasia so I think I could put together a bunch of Jings if we wanted to split up ToonDoo into chunks and each take a chunk. Then we Jing that part and I can stitch them together into one movie.....Just a thought...
An intial "chunking" of ToonDoo (not necessarily in order)... Looks like this: 1). Toons (how to create cartoons-this is easy, my fifth graders showed me to day although there are lots of little pieces), 2). Books (a lot like Toons but I think you can have MORE, you do need to make Toons first then put them into the books), 3). The Basics of ToonDoo (how to sign up, the profile, Tools, the help Wiki) 4). Traitr a place to make characters 5). ImagineR- a place to edit and play with uploaded photos or images 6). doodleR- A place to draw.
I am great at Prezi and I am getting really good at Camtasia, so assign me whatever you need :)
I have been playing with ToonDoo, one downfall is the loading time...But making cartoons is EASY and fun! The tools are really good, once you are in it is EASY!
We are meeting again on Wednesday for a follow up.
Here is a link to one of my literature circles blogs where they used ToonDoo to describe scenes from their book. Feel free to comment on them as a friend of mine :) They would dig that!

Some tutorials I found:

A Teachers Guide to Toondoo- a WordPress blog that introduces the basics...

A good pdf for a reference on the basics

Under Ten Minutes-very cool! In a nice British Accent :) This is a great example of what our presentation could look like!

Surveys and survey results

noreply@blogger.com (Catrin Barber CEP 810) — Wed, 8 Feb 2012 01:31:00 -0800

For one of our assignments in CEP812 we were to use online survey tools to gather information about technology use. I chose to use Survey Monkey. I sent the survey to the 5th grade here at American School of Warsaw. Approximately 46 students took the survey (which can be seen here) and here are the results (I am not showing all the results, just the ones I found interesting AND I apologize for the size, because I am not a paying member of Survey Monkey I had to crunch the numbers using Excel, maybe they should think about giving teachers some sort of free services like a lot of the other great internet tools out there). I changed some of the questions on the survey as we have a one to one laptop program at this school.

In this questions you can see that mostly the kids learn new things at school (67%) or at home (27%). so perhaps the one to one program is working after all....

How often do you use a computer to....... In the everyday category the winners were 1). Sending and receiving emails (48.9&) and 2). finding information on the internet (60%). Was this surprising? Nope. In the 5th grade we are currently researching persuasive topics using our school databases, but we often "google" our questions, anything from converting km to mi to "Are crickets incomplete or complete metamorphosis?". And email is big here too. My students communicate with me via email if they are sick, if they have a question about the homework, I send them links, Google docs, surveys.... What was surprising was that 30% of my fifth graders never used Facebook, I assumed many more were on it.

I liked this question.How well are you able to: In the "Really Good" category there were a lot of winners: send and receive email (56.5%), finding information on the internet (34.8%)and ..... playing computer games (30.4%)! What was interesting however, was what they did not feel they could confidently do (marked with a "Not Very Good" or "OK"), perhaps we need to brush up on these items: creating videos, working with spreadsheets/databases, editing their papers and creating a Powerpoint. I know for a fact that I am guilty of shunning the Powerpoint, much preferring the newer methods of Prezi, Slideshare, or VoiceThread. We discussed this in our team meeting and found it funny that we had veered away from the standard forms of presentation and relied much more heavily upon internet resources or just plain pure speeches (we do a huge speech unit). Should we change? Up for debate.

When you are using a computer (instead of paper and pencil) to do your school work do you: the most interesting item from this was "Get more confused when using a computer to" a whopping 58.7% picked sometimes. I expected less from my students, but here is the proof in the pudding, these little netbooks still confuse the issue sometimes.....

Part B-Application of TPACK

noreply@blogger.com (Catrin Barber CEP 810) — Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:06:00 -0800

What is the TP knowledge for the solution?

How does technology support the solution to my problem of differentiation in math teaching in my classroom? I think the question is, how doesn't it help? A typical math lesson in grade 5 here looks like this: 5-15 minute lesson (whole class, generally on the interactive white board), 1-2 pages of math problems (during this time the students work on their own with myself and my assistant rotating around the room looking for students who are not understanding), during this time I have three or four students who finish in about 3 minutes so they move on to a packet of work (at the present a pre-algebra packet), the rest of the students either take the whole time until the end of the period or they finish sporadically. So what do I do with the middle and high group? I let them loos onto interactive online activities that let them move at their own pace, and can be checked for progress... Insert:technology!

What is the TC knowledge for the solution?

How does the technology make the content more intellectually accessible? The content in these online math programs is presented in many ways. In general they start with a lesson, the lesson gives the students problems along the way that keep the students interested (novelty), if at any time the student feels confused or unsure the help is there in the form of tutorials, videos or simplified problems. Thus the presentation of the content is very user friendly for self-pacing.

What is the PC knowledge for the students?

How will my students experience the content given the instructional strategies? The problem that I run into with math is pacing. Just naturally some students are faster at math than others. It's not a problem, we usually move everyone through the standards and in general they receive what they need in order to move on to the next level. The higher level students need a boost up in order to keep them motivated, but I need this to happen while giving me the time to also get the students who are falling behind a helping hand. The content on the programs that I have been researching run at a self-pacing level allowing students to discover the content at a pace they can handle. For some that means flying, for others it may mean dabbling... The content is presented in a way that the students are allowed the freedom to interact with it and stay motivated because they pace themselves.

WWP Part C-Research 2- Khan's Academy

noreply@blogger.com (Catrin Barber CEP 810) — Fri, 3 Feb 2012 01:07:00 -0800

I started using this site a few years ago with all the incredible videos explaining math. Then I attended a math share alike conference a few months back and one of the teachers showed the "Coaching" part of Khan's Academy so it is time to give it a whirl... Here is an article from Wired Magazine about Salman Khan that explains all about how he got started and what the site is all about.

First impressions:

The video tutoring is great, it is chunked into small enough pieces so the students will not get bored and not have too much to learn in one session.
The log ins are connected with Facebook and Gmail (which works for us as we are a Google School!).
The Knowledge Map is incredible (see picture below). Students can easily go through and follow a path or they can choose lessons as they want.
The coaching is easy to use, students can signup for a coach using their email, with my 5th graders it took about 5 minutes to get everyone logged and signed up with me as their coach!
We will be experimenting with the coaching this week

The Knowledge Map:

Implementation notes:

All students with the exception of one (who has a hard time following directions, so she forgot to log into her Gmail before going onto Khan) were able to sign me up as their coach. I was easily able to check whether or not the students were there and what they had accomplished. It was very telling to see what the kids accomplished in 30 minutes, some watched videos, some did lessons, some even tried trigonometry (without success, but it is pretty cute).

WWP Part C-Wicked Problem-Research....

noreply@blogger.com (Catrin Barber CEP 810) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 01:25:00 -0800

I have started digging around and have come up with three separate categories:

1. Teacher Resources- mostly teacher driven items, such as interactives, resources for the whiteboard, ect.

2. Student Resources- games

3. Student Resources- systems that allow students to learn and grow individually, exploration.

Here is one of the first ones I looked at (that's Melissa White for your incredible wiki!).

Gizmo's from Explore Learning.

First impressions-wow! Very cool interactive activities. I decide to jump right in and invite my kids to use one of the Science labs (I want to concentrate on math, but this was just too appropriate) so I assigned them the Germination Lab. This was an excellent example of a controlled experiment where the kids could choose factors affecting germination (light, water, heat and different types of seeds) and then experiment by themselves or with the pdf document.

The sign in for students was very easy, I sent them an email with the log in link and a code to get to the specific class, they created a log in using their school email and they arrive at the lesson. Here is where it got messy (which admittedly happens a lot with our little net-books which have what we call "problem magnets" on them), only a few of them had the upgrade needed so only a few of them could do the interactive by themselves. I quickly adjusted and we went through the interactive on the active board together, which turned out to be a lot of fun!

Immediate thoughts:

It is not clearly posted how much this would cost, so asking for funding would prove difficult. If you want to find out you contact them, someone contacts you, they give you prices and blah blah blah... A lot of work..... (Update on pricing 2/3- This was the quote we received, it is WAY too expensive for us to get this... bummer, because it is GREAT, the price fits something we would use on a daily or weekly basis but after experimenting with these lessons this would probably be used two or three times monthly... ) The quote: Definitely. The site license covers all teachers and students at the school for a full year for $7 per student, with a minimum total of $2,995 (all prices are US dollars). A department license would cover all teachers in either math or science and their students for $4.25 per student, with a $1,995 minimum total. Our Teacher Plus Students licenses cover one teacher and all of their students for $799 per teacher, but the rate drops to $599 per teacher if you have at least three teacher subscriptions.

Our online training is $75 per teacher and is mostly self paced. We do include a weekly web conference with our trainer to ask specific questions and provide feedback, but the bulk of that is done in the US, so the times aren't what I would call "Warsaw friendly" (nor would the phone bill!). But what we would do is make sure that one of our trainers is available to you to answer any questions that you have.
The tech issues will have to be dealt with, so I will try and have my students do another one...My computer was able to play the interactive day 1, but day 2 I needed another update... This can cause confusion with students, especially elementary students.
It would be worth it for the school to have access, especially with the Activeboards. I will send an email with a link to the librarian who is in charge of databases, it could be a possible addition.....

Implementation thoughts (Feb 8,2012):

This week I assigned the students a fractions lab. It consisted of 4 pages that they completed along with the interactive. The interactive was really interesting looking. I reviewed the Gizmo and the sheets with the students on Monday. We logged in and made sure that they could access the Gizmo. All this went exceedingly well. However that night I received a few emails from my kids. All of them were asking "Do I have to use the Gizmo if I can just do the math on paper?". Perhaps this is too easy? Looking for a harder one for next week....

Next... Khan's Academy...

Part A-Description of a Need-Wicked Problem Project

noreply@blogger.com (Catrin Barber CEP 810) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:11:00 -0800

The problem:
At my current school we use a very experiential mathematics curriculum (Investigations by TERC) which is perfect for the younger grades, but not as comprehensive for the upper elementary grades. The curriculum is based on a lot of games, group activities and not a lot of actual pencil and paper. It is a great program, however, the transfer from elementary to Middle School, especially in math, can be traumatic for some students as they use a more conventional curriculum. It is not only the transition between schools, it also the fact that the curriculum comes with no resources for implementing any sort of differentiation within the math class for either high or low students. It also does not provide any sort of extra work in case students are struggling with a certain process. While I am at it, I certainly would not mind making math fun by adding some gaming into the equation (see the Ted videos embedded at the end of this post.)
How will technology help?
In general right now we differentiate using the copy machine. We make copies, and then more copies, we assign extra work, give homework, and gather small groups. However I believe with technology it would make a big difference to my different levels of student. I believe especially it would be great to come up with some self study programs for the higher level students who are motivated to continue their mathematics on their own. If I can find some internet based games, programs and/or downloadable programs that can be individualized and teach higher level skills to allow the students to take their futures into their own hands.
What is the scope?

I am hoping to find, review and test at least four different programs for the students. The time the students spend on each program will depend on the scope of the program (Does it focus on one mathematical principle or many?) I will have my students who finish their math early use it, and I will assign as homework for a few students instead of the regular math homework.
Relevant research and resources

I will be using several resources. Aside from general internet searches I will use our Professional Development Library (Mathematics Teacher Magazine), Cool Tools for Schools and our school belongs to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) where I can research their databases.
I plan on adding a web page to my current classroom website that will contain the listing of the resources for the students. I also plan to poll my students when they are using a specific program to see what they like about it and what they do not so I can compare the different tools that I find.

Indicators of a successful project

A recommendation for my fifth grade team and a list of resources that can aid us with implementing a better program for differentiation in math. What will it look like? At first just a website, hopefully ranked by my students, that lists resources as they are found and contains a precise descritption for the user before they choose which resource they will use (if they have not been assigned).

A Funny Thing Happened to Me and Introduction

noreply@blogger.com (Catrin Barber CEP 810) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:40:00 -0800

It's time to start CEP812! My last class before my certification. Yeah!
In order to introduce ourselves we had to tell a funny story about technology.
You can hear it here!
And here is my Video Introduction. I used Prezi and then Jing!

Final Reflection CEP 811

noreply@blogger.com (Catrin Barber CEP 810) — Thu, 8 Dec 2011 02:59:00 -0800

Christmas time is just around the corner and I sit reflecting on my last few months in this class, snow falling in the courtyard behind me...

I feel that I am an experienced teacher who uses tech as much as possible in my classroom. When I took this job I was very excited to be the first year in a lap top program for 5th graders. It was a year of innovation and integration, but also confusion, experimentation and defeat. When I enrolled in the MSU program I was searching for a way to have more control over how we use technology and where it is appropriate. And I am learning up a storm!

I see technology as a way of creating choice and differentiation in my classroom. There are so many different ways to express oneself using technology, from super simple to complex and eye catching, there is something for every style of learner. I have one student who was my techno-phobe until he made his first Prezi, now he is my Prezi expert and willing to share his know how to anyone who will put up with his lengthy explanations of Prezi's wonders! It was interesting to learn of the pedagogy behind why technology helps us meet our needs for differentiation and feel reassured that some of the practices that I put into place automatically are, in fact, best practice (for example allowing choice of medium for presentations, novelty, humor).

By learning Camtasia studio (which was a struggle, but worth it!) I created my first tutorial for Google Calendar which I sent home as homework with my students. By the end of a week I had each student set up with a Google Calendar, they had shared it with me and they were eager for more! I put them onto the Labs part of Calendar and soon each had customized their calendar and was exclaiming the benefits of different tools. Because of this STAIR I was able to minimize the amount of class time used to set up the Google Calendar and allow the students the freedom to I do notice that sometimes technology lessons can suck time from my classroom, one students computer freezes and the whole lesson goes crazy! Or the internet goes down..... All of these little problems make it hard to focus on technology when we also have large amounts of curriculum to get through.

My personal goals for the next semester are to create some more Camtasia Studio lessons for my students and to perhaps, teach them how to (although I am considering using Jing as it is free and a little more user friendly). I would like my students to come up with some ways to introduce next years 5th graders into the wonderful world of their computers, perhaps by having them create tutorials of the basics for 5th grade.

Session 6 and Merlot

noreply@blogger.com (Catrin Barber CEP 810) — Thu, 1 Dec 2011 05:17:00 -0800

My battle with Camedia went into full swing yesterday as I tried my very hardest to upload my STAIR project to Filezilla and then post it to Merlot.... But, I can now report to you that after several tutorial videos, some Oreos and a latte, we have a successful posting! You can check it out my STAIR project here..... I had to post only the first lesson. My intention with this STAIR plan was to make several short lessons about Google Calendar. I will be posting my second lesson soon.

Now onto Session 6 and my feelings about Online Learning.

Before I get to the assignment I wanted to mention that I attended a seminar about the Flipped Classroom by Justin Reich at my school. I have been thinking a lot about the flipped classroom, and although I did not have a name for what I have been practicing in my classroom for math, it now has a name. I use Khan's Academy coaching and Mathletics in my classroom to introduce and sometimes teach math subjects to my students. So in that sense, online learning is a high priority for me, and it comes quite naturally.

Here is the assignment:

Look at the Michigan Online Learning Guide.

Talk about how you could use one of the technologies that qualify as an online experience with your students.

What content could this help you teach?
What type of pedagogical strategies might you use with your students?
What technologies do you think would be harder to use with your students? Why?

The first thing I noticed about the METS was that they were specified for grades 6-12, good thing I am in Grade 5... But, I did spend some time reading through and wondering why the lower grades were not included in this learning guide. Time to move on.

I enjoy blogging in the classroom, so I focused on that subject wondering if I could apply it further in my classroom. . I started out using a blog as a way to communicate with my parents; pictures, short updates, and some examples of exemplar work. I quickly gave up the blog and moved to Weebly. But last year I went back to blogging when we became a Google School because Blogger was so accessible with the students use of Gmail. Currently I use Blogger as a device for literature circles. My students are broken into small groups to read books of their choice and then blog about the book. There are rather loose roles that they take to produce their reactions to the books. What I like about blogging is the ease of use with the students and the ability to use multi-media quickly and attractively. Before I use the blogs for literature circles I use journalism, but when I introduce the blogging the level of excitement is far more tangible. The students excitedly want to know how to share it with their parents, how to add videos, and always ask, is it really live?

I might use Electronic Portfolios. Why? We introduced last year the student led conference. I was manipulated into having station which I painfully created for the students to rotate through with their parents, but none of it felt comfortable for me, and for several of my more verbose parents. So, I began thinking about electronic portfolios. The students could have chosen works in several categories to highlight and show their parents. Everything would be in one place. We could include reactions to writing filmed on the FLIP cameras, math quizzes (in pdf.), embedded blogs, writing.... I have been looking lately at mediums, my top choice currently is Weebly.

What would I not use? RSS Feed. I personally love mine, but a ten year olds RSS feed would scare me just a bit. Think of what they would put on there! I have no more to say about that.

Wiki Me!

noreply@blogger.com (Catrin Barber CEP 810) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 01:48:00 -0800

I'm back! I just attended a three day job alike conference at the International School of Budapest! My head is swimming with new ideas. But it is back to work on CEP 811!

So for this section I have created a Wiki and flooded it with media, although I had a hard time with this because I like to keep my cyber-spaces neat and clean. It is a work in progress.

I was supposed to edit my schools Wikispace, but it gave me the "stop here" warning below. I guess the firewall at my school does not allow that sort of fooling around. And kudos to Wikispaces for keeping everything safe in their world.

You will also find a screen shot of what I shared on MSU's MACUL space. I recently completed a project with my fifth graders on Voicethread so I replied to a topic about that.

Universal Design for Learning

noreply@blogger.com (Catrin Barber CEP 810) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 05:26:00 -0800

For our 811 class we were asked to use the Universal Design Checklist and compare it to a lesson we created int he first session. The lesson I have been creating is a lesson designed for Grade 5 students to learn to use Google Calendar as a way to schedule homework, assignments and social events. Below you will see the attached .pdf's of the checklist (although we could save it electronically I found it easier to print it and hand write it while watching and participating in the session tutorials.). You will also find the new lesson plans, the highlighted areas being the parts that I added or changed after implementing the UDL approach. Here is a link to my checklist, the lesson plan and the lesson plan with highlighted changes.

Webquest Evaluation

noreply@blogger.com (Catrin Barber CEP 810) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 01:10:00 -0800

Here is my Webquest evaluation for CEP 811.

This WebQuest called "Frankencreature!" is a lesson that creatively gets students to delve into the subject of adaptation by creating their own animal. It is intended for students from grades 6-8. The goals of “Frankencreature” are to explore adaptation and habitat from a different point of view. Instead of studying an existing animal, the students create their own creature, describe it’s habitat and describe how it interacts with other species specific to their habitat.

The creator of this website has used a sense of humor to keep the kids motivated. She has cleverly used “maniacal laughter” to put the students into the role of the ‘mad scientist” , a role that many students will enjoy. She has also allowed the students choice, which I find extremely effective. They are allowed to choose how they will present their creature which allows students to choose a presentation style they feel comfortable with. The task is easily and obviously labeled with 4 main topics (which are reflected in the assessment piece at the end). During the process section she has used a variety of PowerPoint’s, videos and links to teach and review the various topics she wants included in the “FrankenCreatures”. Students can browse through these resources as much or as little as they would like.

This Webquest has taken advantage of technology with its vast array of resources. It makes it easy for the students to find resources for the parts of the product that they are not as familiar with. It also allows them to choose which medium they will use to create their project. I do believe it would be more technological if the author had suggestions to use Glogster, Prezi, Voicethread or other online tools which are captivating to today’s student. I believe handing this out to students on paper would decrease its effectiveness by not having the immediacy of answers to questions via the web links and videos.

Unfortunately this Webquest needs a tune-up. Many of the links are broken. Her “super cool video” about cuttlefish no longer exists on the page, many of the web pages no longer exist and some are not as engaging as promised. Another criticism would be that although she shared it with the world, there are many parts where she has asked the students to check specifically with her, not generically just to their teacher.

My suggestions for improvement would be as follows:

1. Include an exemplar form a student.

2. Update the weblinks and videos.

3. Take the authors name out of the scripts and change to fit with any generic teacher.

4. Add mediums for the product (i.e.: Glogster, Prezi, Voicethread)

I really enjoyed this Webquest and it gave me many ideas as to what I would like to do with our final unit project for our Adaptation Unit.

MERLOT Evaluation

noreply@blogger.com (Catrin Barber CEP 810) — Thu, 3 Nov 2011 02:26:00 -0700

Here I will evaluate a lesson I found on MERLOT. I chose a lesson on WebQuests by Bernie Dodge as I have used several Webquests with my students and am interested in their usefulness and how to create my own.

Quality of Content:

This is a webpage that contains many different resources to learn to create a Webquest, find and use already created Webquests, search for Webquests, share Webquests, and read about Webquests. There are many resources provided within this site, from communities to solve problems, to instructional videos to PowerPoint templates. The community section contains a Ning, a Yahoo Chat room, and a Forum to share and problem solve about Webquests. It is a comprehensive website all about Webquests.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching-Learning Tool:

Webquests are an excellent tool for teaching students not only content but technology. They provide students with up to date material and an interesting, action-packed way to learning the content.
Instructors: Teachers and Instructors can use this website to learn how to develope Webquests easily using a variety of resources (templates, online tools-both paid and unpaid, videos) as well as using the shared Webquests as complete ready-to-use tools.

Students: Students of all ages (although probably starting with upper elementary) can use the tools to create Webquests and use the already created Webquests that are easily found with the search engine.

This website is targeted for all users and is focused upon Webquests.

Ease of Use:

The main page has a side bar that continues througout the site. It lists the following: Home, Find Webquests, Create Webquests, Share Webquests, Useful Resources, Community, Research, Bookshelf, News. This side bar makes it very easy to navigate through the site and return quickly to home. There is a lack of advertisement which makes it safe for students. Also the graphics and pictures are kept to a minimum making it easy to load and easy to find information without distraction. Under the Create Webquests there is an easy to use graphic that compares the online resources (and their costs, if any) that makes it easy to choose which way to go. There are also the basic PowerPoint templates for teachers or students who want to keep it simple.

Now up! CEP 811

noreply@blogger.com (Catrin Barber CEP 810) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 02:26:00 -0700

Well I started again! So I am back in MSU and a new class-CEP 811. You can see my first project below:

Goal-directed Instructional Design Plan - Google Calendar and the 5th Grader

Author - Catrin Barber

A problem or a need – there must be a problem of practice or an educational need that should be addressed during the lesson.

To balance weekly homework schedule with their lives at home, after school and with friends. Students need a consistent way to record their assignments, use reminders and have someone “look over their shoulder” while maintaining their independence.

A real-world performance – how the learning objective fit into a real-world activity or need.

The learning objectives will provide the students with a basis for a real world organizational skill and walk them through the process. It will help them focus their work schedule and balance their social schedule while keeping parents or guardians informed.

An instructional objective – the objectives are based on the final outcome, activity or test. These objectives will each be different for the four types of knowledge; performing skills, recalling facts, identifying examples of concepts, and applying principles.
The objectives for this lesson are based on a real world need for students to organize their time in and out of school using technology.
Students will be able to use Google Calendar to create a schedule of their homework by due date and budget their time on assignments that are longer than one evening.
Students will have the option to use Tasks, Labs, and Share in order to enhance their experience with their calendar.
Students will share their calendar with their parents and teacher.
Students will use ASW school calendars for important school events.

A set of essential content – the basic ideas and skills that will allow the learner to complete the task or understand the content.

As a Google School the students already have access to Gmail and thus Google Calendar. They will learn in successive lessons how to input assignments, holidays, social engagements and other reminders. How to set the email or alarm reminders and how to enter tasks into the list function if they prefer to keep track of things to do on a list maker. All of the students will use their netbooks (provided by the school) and their ASW School Accounts.

An evaluation consisting of a test or observation – an assessment, observation or product showing that the objectives can be accomplished in the real-world setting.

Students will share their filled calendars with their teacher and parent and give a demonstration to the class on their favorite Google Calendar feature.

A method to help participants learn – the method to deliver the content; a lesson.

A series of mini lessons followed by exploration.

Motivation:
Meaningfullness – content and activities must have meaning for the learner

This is a life long organizational skill and will be very useful for their future in Middle and High School.

Pleasant consequences – the effects that achieving the goal will have on the learner

Assignments will be turned in on time, not forgotten.

Novelty – an attention-getting, humorous or curious manner that relates to the useful information in your lesson

Labs is fun and has lots of interesting ways to make calendars more novel. (Ie: icons and cartoons in your calendar for specific events)

Socialization - a strong motivator for student learning

Students will be sharing in class while they are creating their calendars and they will demonstrate their favorite part.

Audience – For what audience are you designing this lesson? Consider the following:
Age

10/Grade 5

Skill level (including technology skills)
Technology-skilled (1 to 1 program)

Prerequisite knowledge (including technology background)

These students are familiar and can readily use Gmail and Google Docs.

Technology Needs – the computers, software, programs (such as Angel or other CMS’s) printers, equipment, Internet access, time in the computer lab will be needed to successfully complete your technology-rich lesson.
Students are all assigned a netbook for the school year, school has assigned GMail accounts.

Personal Learning Reflection

noreply@blogger.com (Catrin Barber CEP 810) — Tue, 7 Jun 2011 01:13:00 -0700

This post is a reflection on what I have learned in MSU's technology class CEP 810.

The best thing for me during this class was that it gave me the time and space to look at how I am teaching with technology and reflect on where I have been and where I am going. Often I find myself moving forward at great speeds, treading water and galloping through units of teaching. The reflection that this class gave me allowed me to see what is working in my classroom and what I am not doing to the best of my ability. It also gave me so very many excellent examples and ideas from my peers as to exemplar teaching and lessons. Ben Bailey sent me a copy of his Google doc entitles Break Them In. I spent hours thinking up great projects with his list of ideas- priceless!!

I have a real love/hate relationship with the internet. My husband says I am addicted to Facebook which makes me feel like a 16 year old... This class made me join Twitter and that sure took me out of my comfort zone. For some odd reason I found myself making fun of Twitter without really knowing what it really is. Now that I know what a flexible tool it is, I am fully impressed (although officially not addicted). I enjoyed how the class made me look at different ways of filtering information through the internet, I tried so many incredible forums, feeds, social networking sites and collaborative sites. I have found several where I was very comfortable (Google Reader) and a few that push me to think outside of the box (Twitter).

Our SIG presentation was not only a lesson in podcasting but a lesson in collaboration with unseen people. At first I was a little frustrated by the communication lines but our group soon embraced Google Docs and we started to really fly! The SIG proposal was decided while I was sleeping and I have to say at first I was frustrated that podcasting was chosen. I had no interested it podcasting. I am a gamer, a video expert, a lover of all things that move fast. But it gave me a chance to learn, not to be the expert, to be the learner. And I learned, played with podcasts, attempting to embed things I never knew existed and had a great time learning from a group of experts. This group project exemplified good teaching, excellent integration and incredible collaboration. In this lesson I was able to partially meet one of my goals, that of using collaboration tools effectively. This assignment put me on the side of the collaborator, not just the assigner of work. Now that I see that side and have experienced a few of the frustrations and successes of working in a group I am better able to teach digital collaboration.

New goals are hard for me at this time of year. We are taking things off the walls, looking towards summer, saying goodbye to friends and students.... But I will keep going, keep improving, keep looking for new ways to express myself in technology and keep teaching and inspiring the best I can.