Let's Talk Ed Tech

Tech Integration HUGE plan

2008-12-02T03:14:00.000-08:00

Technologically speaking, I hope to accomplish many things with my students. I wish to open their minds to the vast amount of technology that is available today and make it educational, meaningful, and exciting to use for each student. Technology is a vital part in every person's life and as a teacher I feel it is my responsibility to integrate technology into the everyday school life of my digitally native students. I will also maintain a very open mind and understand that as I am a digital immigrant my students might be able to teach me as much as I can teach them. I will also strive to stay up-to-date and informed about as many aspects of new technologies as possible. Thanks to my CEP 416 class I am ready and willing to try my hand at various technologies whereas before I may have been quite nervous.

To fully integrate technology into my classrooms, I will first need a working knowledge of all the technologies I am planning to use. I will also need equipment. I know that my students might not have access to some of the equipment necessary to complete our work with technology, so I will need to make equipment available to these students. I hope that my future school will have access to computers, microphones, digital cameras, and so forth. However, if it should happen that it does not, I will seek out grant funding or ask a large corporation to sponsor some of the equipment for our classroom. I am a great shopper and know that I will be able to find the very best deal on all of my future equipment.

Additionally, to accomplish my goals with my students I will need to develop and maintain an open environment in which the students feel comfortable with the technologies and are willing to try them. I will be sure to address the newness of technology and specifically the ones we may be using and how we will grow with these technologies. In other words, I will stress that we do not need to be perfect with technology right away, but that as we work with them we will learn and progress in our skills. I will be honest with my students about the fact that even I, their teacher, makes mistakes sometimes but that this can also be a great learning tool.

To assess whether or not I am succeeding in my goals of educating my students about and through technology, I will create assessment forms for the various parts of their assignments. I will also keep a running tabulation of their progress with the various technologies. For example, I will compare a student's first blog posting with one of their last in the year. I will also ask for student feedback about their own work as well as that of their peers. I believe that this form of assessment is crucial for the learning to be meaningful to the students. I also plan to observe and evaluate timeliness of the students using the technologies. Someone who is new and unfamiliar with a certain tool will not be able to create within it at the same speed as someone who has learned the ins and outs of the tool. Also, I will observe the students and their eagerness to use the technological tools I share with them for other assignments or projects, some of which may not even be school related. For instance, maybe the student would like to create a digital slideshow of flowers for their mother on her birthday.

To document the process of my work with the students I will share all of my planning and sample work pieces via my online portfolio. I will also elicit student, parent, and colleague responses to my work and post this as well. I will be sure to have the students use first names or initials so that I will not have a problem sharing their work. I will also keep a journal or a blog of my reflections to the work that is happening and document how I change and adjust to the needs of my students, the changing technologies, and various other influences.

The lesson I would like to do for this project is based on a second or third grade classroom and incorporates many technologies. The lesson will be a 3/4 to full year undertaking. The basis for the lesson is learning about world culture and history but also basing it on the students' personal backgrounds and heritages. Upon reflection of the idea, I realized that I am slightly taking a Montessori approach to the way the lesson is structured. I want to start talking with the students about where they come from and then expand from a small area like a city, to a state, country, and world and then throughout the ages in all of these contexts, or as many as possible. Within this I want the students to explore their own heritage and culture and use this information to help inform and teach their fellow students. Depending on what the students find and wish to share at various times will depend on which technology they will be using.

Each student will have a blog where they can keep track of their thoughts, ideas, questions, and found information. The students will be asked to blog at least once a week in the first few weeks. The amount required will change depending on how students are moving along with their projects. We will also have a classroom blog where students will be asked to share at specific integrals. Each student in the classroom will have viewing access to all of the blogs and I will ask them to read at least 2 of their classmates' blogs weekly and respond. I think this will be helpful for students to share information and work on their language skills as well. It stands a strong possibility that some of my students will share the same cultural heritage and will be able to use each other as resources.

I would like the final project of each student to be an audio and visual trip through time and space using google earth and google maps. However, this will vary slightly depending on what the student learns and is able to share with others. Each student will be asked, rather encouraged based on personal interest in topics, to explore their own heritage through time. Some of the topics that will be encouraged will be with music, food, family size, careers, educations, living arrangements, house styles, clothing styles, social activities, languages known or learned, immigration, prejudice faced, important accomplishments, arranged marriages, books read or written, name changes and why, as well as other topics the students might think of. The students will be asked to explore these various aspects and make comparisons through the ages based on their specific heritage.

To prepare for this project, I will meet with the parents prior to the school year starting and ask them some brief questions about their family heritage. I would like to do this electronically, but will do this on paper and incorporate technologies into the lives of the parents throughout the year also. I will be prepared if a student or parents are not aware of their heritage and ask that student to pick another culture they are interested in to study. If this should happen, I will encourage this student to select a culture that is not represented in our class so that the students can receive a rounded study of world cultures and history. I believe that through this project the students will desire to study other cultures beyond their own and this will make for lifelong meaningful learning.

For the final visual trip, the students will be asked to incorporate the various aspects of the cultures using tags, embedded images, videos, soundbites, and text. I don't want to give the students a list of items they must include right away because I want them to explore on their own and find interest in the various topics. I also want the students to use each other as a resource and borrow the ideas of their classmates in their research. The students will be asked to present findings at least 4 times throughout the year to their classmates. The first presentation I would like to allow the students to use a podcast for. I feel that the students might be hesitant of public speaking and I would like to slowly transition them into this important feature of education and life. Depending on which material the students are studying I will suggest many technological tools. For example, I will encourage the students to create a role-playing scenario of discrimination that they or their ancestors faced. I will have the students create either a digital story using images of themselves in situations with sound bites or a complete mini-movie of the reenactment. From this I will also have these students research ways to combat discrimination and blog about as well as share through another tool like a podcast with their classmates and parents. I will record all presentations so that we can share our work with our parents and fellow school mates and teachers.

I would also like to assist the students in using a social bookmarking tool like delicious to share resources with each other. Another resource I would like to introduce the students to is the idea of pen-pals. This would allow the student to gather true to life images and information of life in the area where her family originated. The pen-pals could be online or through snail-mail. I believe that online would be the most appropriate considering our integration of technology. This would allow me to introduce proper email and online chat programs and etiquette to the students. All in all, this project will be a huge undertaking and involve many technologies.

Lizzy World Heritage

2008-11-24T01:33:00.000-08:00

I just moved here from Boston, so when I get to do my map that will be my first stop. Boston was a cool place to live but we moved so my mom could have a better job. Has anyone else had to move because there parents needed work? I feel like I am the only one. It's kind of weird being the new kid, but everyone here is really nice and helped me make this place feel like home. When I first got here, some kids asked me why I talked funny. I didn't know I was talking funny, but Miss Fredell told me that sometimes where you live changes the way your voice or accent sounds. I have been trying not to have this accent, but she also told me that it's okay to be different and this accent might be a part of who I am. I think I want to find out what other accents or languages my family used to know or have.

~Lizzy

Bryan World Heritage Project

2008-11-24T01:20:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. My name is Bryan. I don't know a lot about my family. My mom grew up in fosters homes (those are where you live when you don't have parents) and my dad died when my mom was pregnant with me, so I didn't get to know him really. I do have two pictures of him though and I am named after him. I talked to Miss Fredell about this and I think I want to pretend that my family heritage is from Ghana in Africa. I think I might pretend that my great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather was captured and brought to America as a slave. Africa seems like a cool place to come from. The music there is so happy and they use colors in many cool ways. I also think some of the piercings they have are pretty cool too even though my mom says no piercings for my until I am 15. I also like that in Africa there are animals that don't live normally where we do. I can see some in a zoo but it will be cool to see where they are supposed to live.

~Bryan

Susan's Heritage and the World Project 2nd Post

2008-11-23T15:06:00.000-08:00

November 23, 2008

I found out that my family helped to establish the town of West Branch, Michigan. This is in up-north where lots of my family lives. Our name is on lots of roads, stores, schools, and other things there. My family there also has lots of farms. I think most of these farms have cows and land to plant. I know one of my uncles has a dairy farm, so he uses his cows to make milk. I have been there and seen this once before. I want to go back and ask questions to help with my project but my mom doesn't know when we can go there. I think it is SO COOL that my family started a town. My mom doesn't think that we are related to the Frankenmuth Raus directly. I think this means that they might be related but from forever and ever ago. Drats, no free candy. :-/ I also found out that he was a part of a "sit-down strike." I don't really know what this means, but maybe someone can help me or I can ask him when he has time. I want to know more about how he built cars. I wonder if I still have family in Germany. That might be a fun trip, but it's really far away.

~Susan

Susan's Heritage and the World Project Start

2008-11-21T22:01:00.000-08:00

November 21, 2008

I know some about where my family comes from. I want to ask my parents questions to help me start. I know that we have lots of family in up-north Michigan but I don't know what city. I think that our family came from Germany to start. I think this because my mom is always calling my grandpa a "grumpy old German." I know that in the town of Frankenmuth, Michigan, my family name of "Rau" is the name of stores. I wonder if I am related to those people. Maybe I could get some free candy if so. :-) My grandma takes lots and lots of pictures so I will be able to use some of those to remember my family that is not here no more.

~Susan

Little Betsy Bookworm & the Wormgerm

2008-11-14T16:03:00.000-08:00

Betsy Bookworm Story Lesson

These standards apply for grades K-1 in which students learn about basic hygiene.
EALR 2.0 – The student acquires the knowledge and skills necessary to maintain a healthy life: Recognize patterns of growth and development, reduce health risks and live safely.
Component 2.2 – Understanding the concept of control and prevention of disease.
Benchmark Indicator 2.2.1 – Identify and demonstrate skills that prevent and reduce the risk of contracting and transmitting communicable diseases.
Grade Level Expectations: Understand how to prevent or reduce the risk of contracting a Communicable Disease

Kindergarten: Demonstrate basic hygiene techniques to reduce illness (i.e., washing your hands, covering your mouth when you cough, not sharing combs. Prevention of tooth decay)
First Grade: Identify ways to prevent germ transmission and diseases (i.e., sharing food, hand washing, immunizations)

Teachers could use podcasting in the classroom in a variety of ways. The first use that comes to mind would be recording long lessons or lectures depending on the grade level. This would allow the students to go back and listen to the actual lesson again if they needed to. It would also allow the students to truly pay attention to the teacher and not worry as much as taking notes. This would also be beneficial to students who may miss a class. The teacher would not have to devote additional time during the day to "catch-up" these students.

Podcasting would also allow the teacher to record parts of lessons before the school day starts. These could be stationed around the room and the students could listen in using headphones. This would allow the teacher to be in more places at once and allow the students some options and freedom to choose which lesson they wanted to work on at which time. It would allow the teacher more time to work with individual students or groups on specific tasks or projects instead of always having to be in front of the classroom. Additionally, the students would be able to control the sound level. This would be very helpful for students that might have trouble hearing or focusing sounds when there is a great deal of surrounding noises.

Students would also be able to use podcasts like a weekly or even daily newsletter that parents, other classrooms, and teachers would be able to tune in to and hear what is going on. The students would be able to work in a variety of subject areas to accomplish this lesson. Students could also use podcasts to present works like bookreports or "Who am I?" projects. I can see this being helpful for students who are not quite ready to give live presentations. It would also provide the teacher a reference point in case something happened and she missed a section of the report. The teacher could also use this podcast as a frame of constructive feedback for presentation skills with the student. The teacher could listen with the student and give feedback about voice, emphasis, clarity, and so on. When the students do give live presentations to their classmates, these could be recorded as podcasts and could also be posted publicly for parents to actually hear what their students are doing in the classroom. Most teachers would love to have parental involvement daily in the classroom and even have parents present for their student's big report, but this is impossible for all parents to do. Students could also use podcasting for interview assignments outside of the classroom. They would be able to share the complete interview and not have to give just a synopsis of the information found.

Teachers would also be able to connect interior classroom learning with popular devices like the Ipod. The students could take their lessons with them everywhere and stay up-to-date with the classroom even over weekends and holiday breaks.

Lesson Source

PDF of Story

Podcast Stuff

2008-11-11T13:56:00.001-08:00

UGH! I have no idea what I am doing with this. :-/

Here is a link to the web based podcast though.
https://www.msu.edu/~fredellr/podcast/dreaming.mp3

[[http://educationaltechonologyexploratio.wikispaces.com/file/view/Dreaming.mp3|Dreaming.mp3]]

Digital Imagery

2008-11-10T07:48:00.000-08:00

Prior to our class about the use of digital images and appropriate accreditation for images, I would have suggested to the student to search using Google or Yahoo image searches and post the link to the site on which she found the image. Or, if there is a specific photographer or author to use that name. I would also highly recommend starting the image search within the document creator she is using. Most students tend to use Microsoft Word and this has a built in image function. If she was not able to find the images there I would suggest to use the same Microsoft image search to search through their online database. If she found images there I actually don't think I would be able to tell her how to give appropriate credit for them. I am not sure if you would need to.

After our class, I now know that you can still search for images using Google and Yahoo image searches, but you must look for the copyright licenses and seek to find creative commons licenses in order to appropriately use the images. I would recommend searching on flickrCC or CCSearch for images with CC licenses and walking her through how to use the labels for the licenses. I would also use the tutorials presented to us in class to show her how to use these images. I think that these tutorials were helpful to me and will be sure to bookmark them for future use with students.

Calendar & Unit Planning Using Online Resources

2008-11-10T00:06:00.000-08:00

For this part of our CEP416 assignment, I chose to teach about playmaking. This is the title of the tag I used in my delicious account to identify and collect these resources. You can find this here.

I collected and planned to use more than five resources during this unit. I explained some of their uses in the descriptions on my calendar pages. I will reiterate those here though. I planned the lesson to being on November 17.

For day one of the Unit I planned to have the students explore stories and elements of a story. We will begin by using this interactive website "http://www.learner.org/interactives/story/" to discuss the elements of a story based on the story of Cinderella. This website allows the students to interactively click through the story of Cinderella and make notes about the parts of the story. For each element of the story the students are "quizzed" on the parts and asked to select the correct parts. For example, the student is asked to select from a large group of characters which characters were in the story of Cinderella. Once they have finished their selections, they are told if they chose correctly or not.

After, we will discuss and possibly re-read some common stories (other fairy tales and stories we have been reading in class). When finished reading the stories we will analyze them and make note of each important part or element of the story. We will use this website: "http://www.eduplace.com/rdg/gen_act/pigs/story_mp.html" to help the students break down the story into the important parts. This is a link to an image of a worksheet called a story map. This can be printed out or the students can simply use the outlines and create their own version of the story map. This map allows the students to collect their information in a cohesive manner and visibly see which areas might need more work. For today's work they will be taking the stories we discussed and analyzing it to find each of the parts.

On day 2 of our unit, our class will write stories of our own creation. The students will be in 4 groups and create 4 individual stories. The groups will have to work together to create their stories. I will allow them to start from where ever they would like but I will suggest that they begin by brainstorming basic ideas for stories that they would like to write. They will again be given a blank story map but will be working in a different direction than they did yesterday. Today they will be starting their stories by filling out the map rather than analyzing an already written story.

To help us further develop the elements of our stories and characters, we will use this website "http://hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/engramja/elements.html" and this one "http://msansbach.edublogs.org/the-study-of-english/8-elements-of-character/". The first site will help the students by providing them with detailed descriptions and things to think about when working with each of their story elements. It gives the students a more concrete definition of the elements beyond the brainstorming and labeling that they did yesterday.

The second site will help the students to develop their characters in a fuller more rounder manner. By working with characterizations the students will be able to create a stronger story and ultimately a stronger script and performance. The site is actually a blog that asks a lot of questions that will help the students think through their process. At the end of the blog, the students are able to reply to the posting but I doubt the students will find the desire to do this.

On Day 3 of the unit, each group will present a dramatic reading of their story. I could not find a useful site to help the students with this aspect of the unit. However, using my experiences I will help the students work on voice projection, posture, and when and where to use emphasis when reading. I will also have the students provide suggestions for each other.

Also on this day, after their dramatic readings, each group will transform their stories into scripted pieces that they will perform. They will continue to work on the development of their stories and think about the structure of their scripted play using this website: "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dramatic_structure". This wiki site will help the students to see the parts of a play and think about how these might be similar and different to the parts of their stories. They will be able to use the information to determine if the order of the action in their story fits within the dramatic structure.

The students will also use this site: "http://homeworktips.about.com/od/homeworktopics/a/play.htm" This site depicts the parts of a script and a story and puts it into more kid-friendly terms. It also make emphasis on dialogue and how it can help tell a story much better. This site helps to define the difference between storyline and plotline using the basis of causality.

On Day 4 of this unit, the students will continue to edit their scripts and start rehearsing them. The groups will be given the option of performing through puppets and will be provided supplies and help to create these puppets. Some websites that we will use include: and . The first site listed here provides examples and patterns to make crafty puppets. The descriptions are geared more towards the teacher, but students can easily understand the directions and adapt them to the supplies available. The site provides a great amount of options that can help the students get their creative juices flowing. The second site is a huge resource for tons of puppets and patterns to make puppets. It also provides some stories that are performed well with puppets. The students will be able to see the many uses of puppets and encouraged to think about this form of production for future projects.

All of the students will work on expressionism through characterization. We will use these sites to help us with our work: http://www.dotolearn.com/games/facialexpressions/face.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_emotions. The first site is an interactive site on which the students can create animated characters to view various expressions and emotions. The students will be asked to then recreate these expressions on their own faces and view them using mirrors. The students will be asked to think about what their character will look like at different parts of their script. The second site provides a list of emotions. The students will be asked to incorporate a variety of emotions into their characters. The students will be able to use the two site collaboratively to make a visual representation of an emotion.

On this last day of our unit the groups will perform their pieces and will provide feedback for all of their classmates. Collaboratively the entire class will create a feedback form that will be used by all of the students to give a base analysis of the performance. They will each be asked to fill out a storymap for their classmates' performances to see if what the group performing read well or not. The students will be asked to think about all of the things that went into the creation of this performance to help provide the most in-depth feedback. To assist in the productivity and sensitivity involved with providing feedback we will use the following sites: http://home.earthlink.net/~hopefull/i-statem.htm and http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesArticle/id-622.html. The first site describes the "I" statement philosophy and how to use these statements. The students in my class should already be familiar with this form of feedback and use of the "I" statements in conflict resolution, but this site can serve as a reminder and as additional proof that others use the same approach. The second site is a "for dummies" approach to giving constructive feedback. Although I do not want my students to feel that I think they are dummies, the site provides a simple approach to giving feedback. With the popularity of these types of books and instructional methods, I believe that a disclaimer statement by myself before sending the students to this site will counteract any negative feelings about the use of this site.

Social Bookmarking

2008-11-08T22:40:00.001-08:00

Maps & Mashups -- Underground Railroad

2008-11-01T09:33:00.000-07:00

View Larger Map

I created this map using a variety of locations important to the study of the Underground Railroad, a very important piece of American History. This map would be appropriate to use in fifth to seventh grade and the students would be able to see how close and distant some of the stations on the railroad were from each other. They would also be able to follow the links provided in the tags to learn more about the history of the railroad and of each location added on the map. They would also be able to see where the historical museums were at to plan a visit.

With more time and detail, we would be able to use these maps to create an actual route for a slave escaping from the south to the north. The students, or myself the teacher, would be able to create a "trip" using a slave of their making and use some of the stations provided in this map to help them plan their journey. Once the trip has been created, we would present the trip to the rest of the class by pushing play and seeing the way in which the slave would have escaped. Using Google Earth and the map, we would be able to see what some of the terrain would have looked like for these freedom seekers.

Mapping

2008-10-21T14:55:00.000-07:00

View Larger Map

RSS Feeds - Montessori Education

2008-10-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

I have created this reader folder to help parents searching for information about Montessori schools and parents involved with these schools (gallery option #2). There were many sites I found to be helpful, but they did not contain the necessary RSS Feed subscription. I can also recommend some books to view with helpful information. Among the contents of the blogs and sites that I have included is information about day to day life with a Montessori child, tips and benefits for students with autism in the Montessori, what Montessori Education is all about, and activities seen within the classrooms. This information will be more useful to parents searching for information and not directly for teaching in the classrooms. I can personally use this reader feed to help me develop and explore new teaching methods and ideas for use in the classroom, especially considering Montessori education is a private and sometimes costly education and I will likely be teaching in a public school. Using the newest Montessori information and ideas as well as the public school curriculum I will be able to truly provide my students with the most thorough education.

Animoto

2008-10-07T15:04:00.001-07:00

Slide Show

2008-10-07T14:47:00.000-07:00

Photos and Creative Commons

2008-10-07T14:16:00.001-07:00

Attribution:
Image: 'Smarties: Inverted Double Spiral (-1,2)'
www.flickr.com/photos/24183489@N00/269616251
by: gadl
Released under a Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic
CC

Adding Google Reader

2008-09-16T14:33:00.000-07:00

I feel like such a nerd because I am getting so excited by being able to do these things!! They are pretty cool and I hope to use these all of these new gadgets to their fullest potential. I am now going to attempt to add my Google Reader as a Widget to this blog. Here goes nothing!

Did You Know that Shift Happens?

2008-09-02T15:00:00.000-07:00

Trial of Video

2008-09-02T14:55:00.000-07:00

I found this video to be quite entertaining! This youtube video actually landed these boys a contract with Taco Bell for their new 79, 89, 99 advertising scheme.

Mary-Alice & I

2008-09-02T14:51:00.001-07:00

I love this picture! I can't wait to go visit the bakery and watch them make the cakes!

First Post - Trial and Trial Again!

2008-09-02T14:26:00.000-07:00

Hello there!!! This is my first post for my CEP 416 Class - Education and Technology. I am going to play with templates, modes, settings, and anything else I can think of. So, please bare with me on this one and let me know what you think!

I can't think of anything substantial to write about at the moment so I will share some about myself. I absolutely LOVE the show "Ace of Cakes" on the Food Network. It is a show about 'extreme' cake decorating. The show centers around a Baltimore Bakery called Charm City Cakes. I dabble in baking and decorating and hope to continue to improve my skills. I find the show to be inspirational and entertaining. I was actually fortunate enough to meet the manager of the bakery and one of the stars of the show in the Spring of 2008. It was amazing! I actually mustered up the courage to ask if I could come and intern with them for the summer. I have a photo of myself and Mary-Alice, but cannot access it at the moment. I will add it in another post. This is a picture of one of the amazing cakes they have created. Yes, it is a fully edible cake that was made for the Harry Potter party.