The Pre-Service Teacher Blog

On To Student Teaching

2007-06-05T23:47:00.000-04:00

After 3 years I've finally finished my coursework, and I'm ready for 26 weeks of student teaching sometime in the next academic year. First, however, I have to take a couple of state competency tests on July 7th that will entirely eat a summer Saturday.

So, this summer will be about playing with my daughters, nieces, and nephews, preparing for tests and the fall, and staying up late making palm applications and other tech endeavors.

Its going to be a great summer!

My.Folio

2007-05-09T17:30:00.000-04:00

This is the cover I created for a portfolio I turned in last week. I used the mindmap creation site bubbl.us to create My.Resume, My.Philosophy, My.Learners, and My.KWL.Tech.Mind/Map and several other segments found in the portfolio. I augmented each of these bubbl.us creations with a more traditional format later on in the portfolio.

MashUp Page

2007-05-06T05:39:00.001-04:00

Here is the home of my pre-teaching mashup. I started it this morning so right now it only has a couple of audio tools on it and, unfortunately, I have a busy day today so I won't have much of a chance to work on it until tonight. This is just a prototype of something I hope to be able to use when I have a classroom and it won't be a "finished" product until I actually figure out the specific needs of the class.

Tony and Mike's Soft Reset Podcast

2007-05-05T13:22:00.000-04:00

This is a little late so I'll make the excuse that I was extremely busy and caught up in my schoolwork, but last month I had a great experience as a guest on the Soft Reset podcast hosted by Tony Vincent and Mike Curtis. I hope I was a decent guest who didn't say "UHHH" too much, repeat a point several times (my wife always points that trait out), and had good relevant information. As stated in the show notes, if anyone has any requests, questions about developing their own apps, or any of the software mentioned in the podcast feel free to contact me.

Fun with RSS in my classroom - Twitter and Tumblr

2007-05-03T16:45:00.000-04:00

Note: This is an adaptation from Tony's TonyVincent.Info. Tumblr is a really cool microblogging tool that allows you to update in content several ways, but a text message through a mobile device isn't one of them. That's where Twitter comes in. Tony's twitter/Tumblr setup allows him to update his tumblelog via twitter using a mobile device, and if you go to TonyVincent.Info you can see how he uses it.

I want to use Tumblr in a classroom as a class log, but there is real possibility that the site is blocked through the ISD server. There's a widget on the Tumblr site that allows Mac users to update their tumblelog without actually logging on and now I've found a pair of similar option for Windows' users. Except that these desktop tools, called TriQQr and Twitteroo, are for twitter, and that's where Tony's twitter/Tumblr RSS setup comes in handy. Soooo.....

In my classroom I want to have a PC or Mac that constantly runs either the Tumbler Widget or TriQQr/Twitteroo. Every so often I want a student (I have several ideas for procedures) to create an entry using these tools about what is going on in the classroom. I'd like to windup with about 10 entries a day from different students. I don't view the fact that students can't read the tumblelog at that time as a negative. In fact, I think it would be an incentive for the digital kids that I'm going to teach to go home and see what their peers are saying. In Addition, I will be able to update the tumblelog with some my information, and hopefully that will get the parents involved.

Anyways, I have this setup with Triqqr/Twitteroo and Twitter working. It can be viewed at here and I hope to start putting some more interesting info up shortly.

Update: Twitteroo is a little nicer, IMHO, than TriQQr.

Disposable E-mail

2007-04-29T05:45:00.000-04:00

Disposable e-mail helps you eliminate spam by giving sites that require registration a pseudo-fake email address.

There are a couple of basic different strategies for disposable e-mail,

1. the disposable e-mail account lasts for specific amount of time and you can use to complete a registration process or correspond with the site.
2. the disposable e-mail accounts forwards correspondence to your real email, and if spam starts getting forwarded you delete the disposable one (and you know who sells to spammers).

Many of them allow you to pick the address you provide, so you can do something like dalePalmGearRegistration@"Whatever the disposable email site uses"
Here is a pretty good list of sites that provide disposable e-mail accounts

Information like this will certainly be part of any Internet-safety unit I teach to students.

Pivot and Linerider

2007-04-23T08:26:00.000-04:00

I've been really enjoying these two fun, free animation programs

Similar to the freeware PalmOS application Boneman, Pivot is a downloaded program that allows the user to manipulate the bend points of a human stick figure. From what I've seen, you can also import background images.

Linerider is a web-based application. In Linerider the user creates a course that a character on a sled follows. You can make extremely dynamic course where the character does all sorts of flips and loops.

I really see all sorts of potential using these tools throughout a curriculum in the form of animated chains (food and life cycle), time-lines and sequences. Perhaps animate a Haiku or take a ride through some math facts.......

Here is a Pivot sample from a group of 3rd graders

and here is a very involved Linerider clip entitled "Jagged Peak Adventure"

There are quite a few tutorials on YouTube for creating really involved courses on YouTube. Just do a search for Linerider.

my favorite free, easy-to-use web2.0 tools

2007-04-21T23:04:00.000-04:00

There are some truely amazing, free web2.0 tools out there that I can use as soon as I start teaching (even if I'm subbing). All I'll need is an internet connection......

In addition to PBwiki and Google Docs and Spreadsheets (I know other w2 office tools are better but everyone's familiar with google) I really like:

bubbl.us which is an excellent mindmapping tool

and

myPodcast which offers space for your audio file and a blogger style webpage template in a couple of clicks of the mouse (Sweet for on the fly).

Here's an example of a mindmap I did with bubbl.us

The Official Palm Blog

2007-04-15T07:04:00.000-04:00

I've just added The Official Palm Blog to my RSS feeds. Paul Loeffler from Palm says the new blog will have a couple of posts every week, and it accepts comments. The first two posts combined have 120 comments and many are of the "very-grumpy-but-polite-customer" variety.

New Application

2007-04-09T08:48:00.000-04:00

An application I created over the weekend called SRC (Strategies for Reading Comprehension) can be downloaded from my download page. An instructional video has been created and is posted to TeacherTube, so I'll have that up and running shortly.

This application creates Templates for the KWL, KWL Plus, SQ3R, and 5W's on Palm OS-5 applications for students.

If anybody has any additional strategies they would like to see included, let me know in the comments section.

all web2.0 sites are cool

2007-04-06T22:29:00.000-04:00

I just found these.

MindMeister is a collaborative online mind mapping tool that allows simultaneous and collaborative editing.

tteach School 2.0.

Google Docs and Spreadsheets

2007-03-29T22:40:00.000-04:00

Pretty big week in on-line tools for me so far. First there was TeacherTube and now Google Docs and Spreadsheets (I refuse to link to Google stuff: you know how to find it ;-) ).

Google Docs has been around for a while, but its new to me. Its a fairly standard WYSIWYG doc editor, however, its on-line and multiple users in multiple locations can collaborate simultaneously on a document.

Sort-of gives me goosebumps and I know exactly how I want to use this Web2.0 tool in my classroom.

"Observe" for Anecdotal Records

2007-03-25T16:11:00.000-04:00

Here is a preview of my "OBSERVE" application that I'll be releasing as freeware in the next week or so.

Update 3-29-07: Observe available on D'apps.

TeacherTube Embed

2007-03-24T15:21:00.000-04:00

Tony Vincent's other site, tonyvincent.info/, pointed out a great free service called TeacherTube and I'm giving it a test run. The really cool thing, it gives you free storage and embed code for video's in a community that's dedicated for teachers and educational content.

The following video was created by a teacher demonstrating software, CamStudio, that I've been using for a few months.

UPDATE: I've got Video! (at least I see it!)

International: M-Class article from the UAE

2007-03-22T12:47:00.000-04:00

Just in from Google alerts.

Developing a new mobile-based electronic grade system for schools in UAE

Device Specific Errors, Simulators, and Pseudo-Simulated Palm Environment

2007-03-22T09:47:00.000-04:00

Device Specific Errors

It has come to my attention that the particular method I use to export-records-to-memo will cause a crash on the TX and and the Treo's. I'm implementing another export-to-memo option that works on all the Palm's OS5 device specific simulators and generic OS5 sim, and that developers who own these devices (TX, etc) say work.

I've made the advised corrections on my DD multiplication app and it works on Palm's TX Simulator. I'll get everything prepared and upload them to this site.

The device specific sims are found at a completely different website from the generic simulator, and I was unaware of them until Tuesday of this week. I had relied on the generic OS5 sim for all my testing.

Simulators

On another note, the generic simulators are free and can run off a USB flash drive. This enables me to easily run a presentation off of the location's native equipment without additional hookup and compatibility concerns. Additionally, the Sim can be run on top of a PowerPoint, which makes for a neat interactive presentation. In order to keep applications listed in the simulator simply add a file called " autoload " to the Simulator's file, and then add any application.pdb's you want to run in the ' autorun ' file. Here are the download locations for the free Simulators. You do need to register as a developer with palm (not a big deal) in order to download them. If anyone wants to do this but has questions on which files to download let me know and I'll help you out.

ACCESS Developer Network for the generic sim.

Palm Developer Network for the device specific sims (there's a little bit of wading around the site to find them).

"Pseudo-Simulated Palm Environments"

There's not a lot of Palm usage on campus so I have to be creative :-) .

Using the portability of the sims I've created a couple of small "Pseudo-Simulated Palm Environments" with some of my fellow EDU friends (Yes, I'm considered to be an amusing crackpot). We've loaded the files from my Flash Drive to their laptops and everyone was able to run and interact with palm software on a Sim. I'm hoping to do in one of my EDU classes this term using one the various campus labs should I have a willing instructor. Perhaps I may be able to use this method when I go for funding in an actual elementary school.

End of Term

2007-03-20T02:02:00.001-04:00

Well, I'm going into my final term prior to student teaching. Only two classes next term: Classroom Management and Methods. I'm really looking forward to the fall.

I still can help but wonder if I made the right choice in programs. I also looked into a MAC program which allows previous degree holders to attain their teacher certification and masters degree in a year. I decided that would be too fast paced for an active family life and besides I want to do the MSU Technology Masters Program anyway.

Here is my up-to-date transcript with the most recent classes appearing at the bottom. Notice the dip in my GPA from 3.98 to 3.93 when I discovered that I could do some programming.

---------------------------------------

DALE EHRHART

TRANSFER CREDIT INFORMATION

1996 C S MOTT COMM COLLEGE 12 HRS

2063 UNIV OF MICH 204 HRS

TOTAL HOURS TRANSFERED 216
---------------------------------------------------------
FALL 2004

EDU 200 INTRO PROF EDUC EXP 5 A 20.0

GEO 101 WESTERN GEOGRAPHY 4 A 16.0

HUM 355 MUSIC-CLASSROOM TCHR 2 A 8.0

PSY 111 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 4 A 16.0

ACADEMIC STANDING: PRESIDENT'S LIST

ATT ERN HNR PTS GPA HR GPA

CUR 15 15 60.0 15 4.00

CUM 15 231 60.0 15 4.00
------------------------------------------------------
WINTER 2005

EDU 312 EDUCATIONAL PSYCH 6 A 24.0

GEO 102 3RD WORLD GEOGRAPHY 4 A 16.0

MTH 211 LRN/TCH NUMBER CNCPT 5 A 20.0

ACADEMIC STANDING: PRESIDENT'S LIST

ATT ERN HNR PTS GPA HR GPA

CUR 15 15 60.0 15 4.00

CUM 30 246 120.0 30 4.00
------------------------------------------------------
SPRING 2005

EDU 330 THE EXCEPTIONAL LRNR 4 A 16.0

HIS 311 SOCIAL STUDIES FOUND 4 A 16.0

LIT 321 CHILDREN'S LIT/DRAMA 6 A 24.0

ACADEMIC STANDING: PRESIDENT'S LIST

ATT ERN HNR PTS GPA HR GPA

CUR 14 14 56.0 14 4.00

CUM 44 260 176.0 44 4.00
-------------------------------------------------------
FALL 2005

HIS 201 US HIST TO 1865 4 A 16.0

HIS 202 US HIST SINCE 1865 4 A 16.0

INF 131 INTERNET AND THE WWW 2 B+ 6.6

MTH 212 LRN/TCH GEO/STAT CON 4 A 16.0

ACADEMIC STANDING: DEAN'S LIST

ATT ERN HNR PTS GPA HR GPA

CUR 14 14 54.6 14 3.90

CUM 58 274 230.6 58 3.98
------------------------------------------------------
WINTER 2006

ECN 202 PRIN MICROECONOMICS 4 A 16.0

HIS 321 ANCIENT WORLD 4 A 16.0

INF 121 INTRO TO WINDOWS 2 A 8.0

INF 141A MICROSOFT POWERPOINT 2 A 8.0

ACADEMIC STANDING: PRESIDENT'S LIST

ATT ERN HNR PTS GPA HR GPA

CUR 12 12 48.0 12 4.00

CUM 70 286 278.6 70 3.98
------------------------------------------------------
SPRING 2006

EDU 321 THRY&PRIN READ INSTR 5 A 20.0

EDU 346 INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIA 4 A 16.0

SCI 351 SCI FND I:CHEM/LIFE 5 A 20.0

ACADEMIC STANDING: PRESIDENT'S LIST

ATT ERN HNR PTS GPA HR GPA

CUR 14 14 56.0 14 4.00

CUM 84 300 334.6 84 3.98
------------------------------------------------------
FALL 2006

EDU 421 READING CONTENT AREA 4 B 12.0

SCI 352 SCI FND II:AST/ES/PH 5 A- 18.5

ATT ERN HNR PTS GPA HR GPA

CUR 9 9 30.5 9 3.39

CUM 93 309 365.1 93 3.93
------------------------------------------------------
WINTER 2007

ENG 321 LANG ARTS/LING FOUND 4 A 16.0

HIS 411 EMERGING NATIONS 4 A 16.0

HIS 491 SR SEM:HIST/SOC STUD 6 A 24.0

HUM 351 ART-ELEM SCHOOL TCHR 2 A- 7.4

ACADEMIC STANDING: DEAN'S LIST

ATT ERN HNR PTS GPA HR GPA

CUR 16 16 63.4 16 3.96

CUM 109 325 428.5 109 3.93

......In The News

2007-02-08T10:06:00.000-05:00

Research about Handhelds from the UK's FutureLab can be downloaded from here
Learning with handheld technologies

This article from the Bedford Bulletin in Virginia writes about a school, Jefferson Forest Elementary, that will purchase a mobile lab of handhelds with a grant from a local organization.
Education Foundation funds technology

New App: SequenceM and Video

2007-01-29T12:14:00.000-05:00

This is the sequencing app I started to work on last term. I even had the opportunity to use an unfinished version in a class room with good results.

Features:
*collection of 20+ premade sequences-Download Here
*evaluation check button
*create new sequence
*beam application
*beam Record
*export to memo
*print sequence

Although I messed up the aspect ratio again, here is a video for some basic usage. If you are unable to view the video off my site his is the YouTube Link.

Giveaway of the Day

2007-01-20T05:59:00.000-05:00

Giveaway of the Day is a site that caught my attention just before the New Year. The site, in conjunction with the developer, makes a piece of windows commercial software free for the day. Giveaway of the Day also has an extensive freeware section where I found some pretty cool image morphing, image resizing, screen recording, and .avi splitting freeware.

Addition Update

2007-01-11T09:04:00.000-05:00

The list of apps that have the installer added help prevent beaming problems is:

Change Counter
Jumble
DD Multiplication (which has record keeping, IR Printing, and Export to Memo Capabilities)
Rounding
Subtraction
qNp MATH (which has record keeping, IR Printing, and Export to Memo Capabilities)
Addition

Over the summer I plan to add record keeping and IR printing capabilities to Change Counter, Addition, Subtraction, and others. This may involve a complete rewrite of apps like Addition and Subtraction to increase speed using strategies I learned after I had completed them.

A note on IR Printing: I'm using Palm Print software and an Actisys IR100MP print adapter. I'm looking at trying to develop my own IR printing run but so far that's way beyond my capabilities. It involves using Ir COMM programming and then interfacing it with your app and the different IR printers and Adapters. I'm pretty much at the bottom of steep mountain and looking up. Palm Print is fairly expensive. I believe one possibility for using it in the classroom and keeping the cost down is to created a relay procedure.

Relay Procedure:
1. Students create record on their handheld.
2. Student beams record from their to a dedicated printer handheld.
3. Student beams record on the dedicated printer handheld

Periodic Table of Visualization

2007-01-11T01:15:00.000-05:00

Christine Tomasino's latest post on efriendlylearning links to the Periodic Table of Visualization.

This one is definitely sidebar worthy.

The Beaming Issues......

2007-01-09T09:55:00.000-05:00

There have been a few reported problems with Mass Classroom Beamings of my applications. Over the next month I'll be implementing the same solution to my applications that I've already placed on Double Digit Multiplication, Jumble, and Rounding. My main goal is %100 prevention of "lib not found" messages from occuring at the start of a lesson. The downside is the addional weight of a file on the handheld. Fortuanately, memory has increased substantially on handhelds and this installer file can be deleted when it is no longer needed if space is an issue. The installer file icon disappears from the Palm Screen upon intial use of the application and can be beamed from within the application itself or from Palm's onboard screen page.

1-10-07 Subtraction has been updated. (please note that downloads for previous versions are being deleted.)

Today's new additions are the Change Counter Application which has had a level 3 Apply added to it and the new qNp MATH. The new scenario for Change Counter was requested in the LearninginHand forums over a year ago. qNp MATH is a basic math quizzer that allows for record keeping and IR Printing. I've been using this app tutoring in my daughter school. Kids love IR Printing.

I'll try to do an update a day, but this month will be particulary busy for me because of a double-paced class and the February 1st due-date of my portfolio and application for Student Teaching in the fall.

Double Digit Multiplication video

2007-01-05T00:14:00.000-05:00

I'm new to Youtube and Putfile and I'm really enjoying figuring them out. Hopefully, I get the aspect ratio right next time.

Here is the download for the application: Double Digit Multiplication Application .

Click on the highligted text to view the Video located on PUTFILE.com for the Double Digit Multiplication application if you are unable to veiw the video in the brower.

5 Things Response

2007-01-02T21:23:00.000-05:00

Tony Vincent has a fun request up on LearningInHand for fellow bloggers to post 5 little known facts about themselves on their websites. HMMMMM, I think this would be really fun to do in the classroom with kids and their handhelds at the beginning of the school year.

Anyways, here are mine.

1. My father was in the military and as I result I went to 13 different elementary schools in Virginia, Germany, and Michigan before I was in the 4th grade.

2. I was a blacksmith for 11 years, starting out at the ripe old age of 14.

3. After starting out studying architecture, I eventually wound up with a degree in Political Science

4. I've been a hopeless C-Span junkie for a very long time.

5. Like Tony, I have a fantastic 11 year old cat named Tucker. My wife and I got the name from the 90's song Tucker's Town by Hootie and the Blowfish.