Techie Teacher

If This Then That

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Otto) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:00:00 +0000

I was recently asked to write and maintain our Poudre School District Instructional Technology social media, including a Blog, Facebook Page & Twitter account. I am very excited to take this task on! One of the things I'd like to do is repost the content from the district blog into my own personal blog, Facebook page, and Twitter accounts. Unfortunately, I can only do this automatically from the blog to a single account, and as there are Facebook and Twitter accounts I'll be using for our department, this means my own accounts are left out in the cold. The good news is, I recently discovered a website called IfThisThenThat, which allows you to automate these types of tasks pretty easily. You can create If-Then statements to automatically repost information, such as If a particular user Tweets something Then post it to my Facebook page. There are lots of different sites you can connect to, which is very useful!

The only downside is that you can't connect anything directly to Blogger or Yahoo Groups, but you can use RSS feeds, which helps somewhat. SO, I am now testing this website out! We'll see if this blog post will go automatically to my Twitter & Facebook accounts.

Update: My blog reposted perfectly to Twitter & Linked in, but not to my Facebook page. I emailed their tech support and got a prompt response, so we'll see if it's something I did wrong or if it's an issue on their end...

If you know of any other sites that can do similar things, I'd love to hear about them!

Evaluating Websites

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Otto) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 18:13:00 +0000

Each Friday, I spend time at the media center of a local high school making myself available to teachers who may need tech help. About a month ago, I was speaking with the school’s librarian and learned that their media center only has one set of encyclopedias available to students. She explained that over the last few years, more and more students have been turning to the Internet for their research needs; very few use the library as a resource for this purpose. As a “techie,” this was no surprise to me, however, I can’t help but wonder how many teachers take the time to help their students learn how to identify a credible Internet source vs. a biased or hoax site.

Coincidentally, several weeks after my conversation with the librarian, my teammate and I were visiting a middle school in the district and were recruited to teach a lesson on website evaluation. We learned that many teachers are not comfortable with this topic and often don’t consciously know what tactics they use to evaluate a website themselves. So, in the hopes that you may find the lesson useful as well, below is the lesson plan, complete with resources, that we created on this topic!

Accept No Excuses!

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Otto) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 21:37:00 +0000

Our school district recently deployed laptops to all freshmen at two different high schools. In order to help support our teachers successfully use the laptops, our team of TechTrainers has been spending lots of time in the buildings helping students and teachers with their new laptops.

While visiting a teacher's classroom, I heard her telling students that their work was due electronically by 7:30 the next morning. She told them that she would not accept late work for any reason, so they better not leave things to the last minute, lest their Internet connection crash or some other disaster strike. I asked her later what she would do if she received a corrupted document. In that case, she told me, she would allow the student to fix the issue and resubmit the assignment. Seems fair, right?

Teachers, Students & Social Networking

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Otto) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 04:32:00 +0000

Today I read an article that really bothered me on a topic that I know is very controversial in Education and tends to be a hot button issue. The state of Missouri is trying to pass the Amy Hestir Student Protection Act, which in section 162.069.4, would "prohibit teachers from establishing, maintaining or using a 'non-work-related Internet site which allows exclusive access with a current or former student'” (MediaShift, 2011). Although the purpose of this act is noble, to protect children from sexual predators, I take issue with this section, as does Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem. Judge Beetem issued an injunction order as this act may infringe on teacher's First Amendment rights to free speech. The act is worded somewhat vaguely and could be interpreted in such a way as to prohibit teachers from having any type of account that would allow for private communication with students. In other words, teachers could be prohibited from having a Facebook account, email account, etc., regardless of how they use it. For more details on this Act and the injunction, check out PBS's MediaShift article.

This Act was written because "lawmakers fear that allowing teachers to communicate privately with students on the Internet may lead to improper relationships, and possibly sexual abuse." Obviously, the potential infringement of this Act on free speech is frightening, but I personally am appalled that teachers may be prevented from communicating with students outside of school and school topics.

Christmas, 2002: My 6th grade teacher, her husband, and me at my house.

Poudre School District Goes Tech Wild!

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Otto) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 02:29:00 +0000

Last week I started my new job with Poudre School District, and as predicted, I'm learning tons! One of my main assignments this year is to help the 9th grade core teachers in PSD learn to teach in a one-to-one environment. Every Freshman in the district will be getting a laptop this year to use at school and at home. They will be disseminated to one HS a quarter, and the first set of laptops deploys (hopefully) September 21. There is much to do before then, including training all the very nervous teachers about how to use the laptops in their lessons. In the meantime, I've been learning lots about the district, and I've picked up a few cool tools & tricks from my new coworkers.

Laptops (and a few desktops) sitting in the warehouse,
waiting for deployment...and that's not even all of them!

New Adventures

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Otto) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 03:21:00 +0000

Wow, this has been a busy summer for me! I finished my principal licensure classes, got married in Mexico (hence the name change to Anna Otto), took the PLACE exam for principals, honeymooned in Poland & Italy, AND got a new job!

iTeach with iPad, Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Otto) — Tue, 24 May 2011 05:57:00 +0000

Recently I posted about my first impressions of the iPad for education and in general. As you may recall, I was underwhelmed. At the time, it seemed to have more down sides than up. I won't rehash that post here, but feel free to check out that post to see details.

Since then, I attended an iPad and iPod in Education Seminar presented by Apple. To be honest, I went to the training with a fair bit of skepticism. Because this seminar was put on by Apple, I expected it to be an obviously biased presentation on the power of these tools in education, little more than a sales pitch. And while yes, there was some pitching, I have to admit that I was won over by the potential of tablets and became much more fond of the iPad I've been piloting.

Two things increased my enthusiasm for the potential of tablets in education. The first was the data that the presenter shared with us from Canby School District. Students used iPods/iPads in a variety of ways. Some simply using them to record and listen to themselves reading passages or spent a few minutes during transitions playing math games. The data showed amazing increases in test scores in both reading and math. These increases could be seen in all students- migrant, ELL, students with disabilities, etc. Another study in Escondido School District showed similar results. This data is exciting and very encouraging. Could it really be that easy to improve student achievement?? Maybe....I'd love to see more studies reproduce these results.

The second thing that started to win me over was a quick tour of some of the apps that are available for education. The reading apps alone are phenomenal, albeit perhaps still too expensive for many schools. For example, there's an app called Milly, Molly and the Bike Ride by Kiwa Media. This is essentially a picture book that allows for self-guided learning. While reading the book, students can choose to have the text read to them while the app highlights each word as it is read, swipe over a single word to hear its pronunciation and have it spelled out loud, and swipe over a series of words to just hear that selection read aloud. The book can be translated into several different languages as well, which is clearly great for ESL students of all ages. You can also go to what is essentially coloring book mode and color in all the pictures for the book yourself. (Though this is potentially a distraction for some students.) Best of all, you can record yourself reading the book and have that be what's played back to you next time. As seen in the research above, this is a great way to improve fluency. Kiwa Media produces many different books in this format. Most seem to be about $5.

Shakespeare in Bits: Romeo and Juliet by Mindconnex Learning Ltd. is similar but for higher level readers. This app will also read aloud to students, but will highlight paragraphs instead of single words. You can click on difficult words to have them defined as well as the phrases that confounded all of us in high school English class. There's a common language summary of the story (think Cliff Notes), as well as sections about the history of the period and character charts to help keep it all straight. There are also animated clips that can help students comprehend what they are reading and several other cool features.

There are lots of great math apps as well, though we spent less time on these. Some of them were Math Bingo by ABCya.com, Number Line by Todd Bowden, and NineGaps by QuadionTechnologies. We also talked about Science apps briefly, but spent even less time on those.

Overall, I now have a much more positive outlook on the iPad in the classroom. The potential for kids in core classes is great. Elementary students especially would benefit from having an iPad or iPod at their disposal, as would ESL and Special Ed. students.

Again, this training was put on by Apple. No one mentioned Droid tablets, of course. I am still a huge Droid fan and would love to see what educational apps are available for their tablets and phones. Without a side by side comparison, it's impossible to judge which one would be the better choice for the classroom. Hopefully next year we can have Google come out and offer a presentation as well!

Claymation

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Otto) — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 03:03:00 +0000

This year I'm teaching a new class, an advanced technology class for 7th graders. In our district, we do not have curriculum for technology classes, so I get to create all the projects my students will work on. I love coming up with new ideas, so I was very excited to have the opportunity to plan for a new class. This class has the added challenge of being marketed as "advanced" but does not have any prerequisites, so my students may come to me with very little computer experience. As a result, I decided to come up with projects that ultimately require a lot of different skills, but are broken down into mini-assignments to be more manageable for my students.

My favorite assignment for this class involves Claymation. Through this project, students learn how to use Microsoft Word, Windows Movie Maker, wikis, discussion boards, digital cameras, tripods, and microphones to record sounds on the computer. The students have really enjoyed this project and have created some great little movies. Below is the lesson plan for this project and the steps that were taken to make it a success. Many ideas and components of this project were found online. If you Google "Claymation Lesson Plan" you will find a wealth of resources. Other parts were borrowed from another great tech teacher and former co-worker, Sandy Wilder.

A claymation monster made by one of my students.

iTeach with iPad

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Otto) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 23:09:00 +0000

As iPads gain in popularity, those in education are looking at ways that the iPad may improve teaching and learning in the classroom. Our superintendent has placed iPads in the hands of several district employees to see if our district might want to add these tools to our arsenal of instructional materials.

I was given an iPad to test out several months ago, and thus far, I must say I have mixed reviews.

When I first received the iPad I was excited to try it out and see how it could help in my classroom. Honestly, I had debated getting one for personal use as well, so this was a great opportunity to take one for a test drive. I hit my first obstacle when I learned that the wireless network in our school reaches everywhere, it seems, except my classroom. Although the district is working to remedy this issue, this severely limits how I had hoped to use this tool in my teaching. As a result, I started researching apps that could be purchased that would accomplish the same tasks I'd hoped to try in my classroom via the Internet.

Alas, although the marketplace is flooded with tons of tools, games, and other apps, it seems that there are not many good tools when it comes to teacher productivity. There are lots of educational apps that would be great for kids to use if each child had an iPad at his/her disposal, but virtually none that are helpful when there's only one iPad in the room. Additionally, many of the educational apps I have discovered seem to be geared toward a younger audience than middle school, so even in a perfect world where each child has an iPad, there aren't many apps that would be useful in a middle school tech classroom that is already equipped with computers for student use.

Another downside I've discovered is that although the size of the iPad is nice in terms of screen real estate, carrying it around in the classroom as you navigate from one child to the next is a bit cumbersome. If it was just a bit more narrow and a bit lighter, it would be much more comfortable to carry one handed...

Other disappointments for me have included the Safari browser. Many websites do not display properly or in their entirety through Safari, and websites with Flash don't run at all, as you can't use Flash with Safari. In fact, I am typing this blog on the iPad, and most of the editing tool are not available. Worse, if I hadn't typed my blogs on a laptop in the past, I would not even realize that tools are missing. When I first got the iPad and discovered the limitations of Safari, I tried to find another browser such as Firefox or even Explorer, but at the time, neither were available for the iPad.

The lack of a USB port is also problematic. I'm currently out of state and traveling with my jump drive that has a password storage program on it with all my passwords, but I can't access it. This limits my access to the App store, as it always prompts for your password to download apps or updates. So I find myself locked out of the App store, among other things.

On the upside, iPad is super handy for traveling otherwise. It is lightweight as compared to a laptop, and powers on very quickly, giving you instant access to apps and Internet when you want it. It's also very pleasant to use in terms of user interface, which is great especially if you intend to have students use the iPad in the classroom, as they will learn to use it in no time whatsoever. Although I must admit I don't love typing and editing text on it. I'm sure that I have not yet learned all the tricks, but scrolling, navigating to certain parts in the document, and just typing in general are all frustrating.

At the end of January, those of us who have been given an iPad to experiment with will be getting together to share ideas and ways that we've found to use the iPad in education, so I am very much looking forward to that. It will be interesting to see what other educators think of it thus far. I hope that before then I'll have wireless access in my classroom so that I may take full advantage of the tools iPad has to offer.

I am also working with some friends to create an app that will hopefully provide an assessment and productivity tool for teachers to use in the classroom, though I am sworn to secrecy on the details until we release the first version. :)

Overall, I would currently give the iPad about a "C" both as a classroom tool and as a personal tool...but my opinion is in no way fully formed. Certainly, it could be a fantastic tool if purchased as a class set, and obviously potentially cheaper than a standard computer lab or laptop cart. If and when textbooks become accessible on iPads, then iPads could easily become invaluable.

I am eager to learn more classroom application ideas from my fellow educators and even more excited to see how the app I am creating with friends will turn out. I am sure I will have more to say about the iPad then!

Love & Letters

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Otto) — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 03:54:00 +0000

Wow, where does the time go? I was just sent a gentle reminder that it's been a while since my last blog post, and lo and behold, it's been over 2 months. Shameful! In my defense, I have been a bit preoccupied--new school year, new University classes, and....a new fiance. :) Who knew wedding planning was so time consuming?

One item on my recent to-do list was to find a nice frame for the engagement photos we had taken recently. While exploring one of the local stores, I came across a series of Letter Art posters that inspired me to create a new lesson for my desktop publishing students. Usually, I steal, modify, and combine existing lesson ideas, but I'm proud to say that this one is all mine! It doesn't take very long to complete (3-5 days, depending on your class and how creative you want to be), but the kids love it and learn lots of great skills. They get to use digital cameras and learn about macro mode, edit and enhance their photos in online photo-editing programs, and use MS PowerPoint to arrange, crop, and color tint their projects.

Droid Apps for Education

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Otto) — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 03:06:00 +0000

This past weekend, after months of research and waiting, I bought myself a new cell phone--though "cell phone" is really quite the understatement. This is really a handheld playground that happens to also be a phone. I have been with Verizon since I first owned a cell phone and was debating between their Droid Incredible, or switching to AT&T and getting the iPhone.

I have a phenomenal old plan with Verizon and their reception in my area is far superior to AT&Ts, but I couldn't help but drool over the iPhone. However, after much research and talking to people who have owned both phones, I decided to stick with my carrier and get the Droid.

Boy, am I happy! So far, this phone is amazing. It's extremely user friendly and there are tons of great free apps online. Two of my favorites that have educational uses are Google Skymaps and Trippo Mondo by Cellictica.

SNL MySpace Skit

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Otto) — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:06:00 +0000

As I was cleaning out my email, I came across a fun resource for teaching Internet safety. It's a Saturday Night Live skit with Andy Samberg and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. In the skit, Andy is teaching a class on how to use MySpace. The students include Julia and several Internet predators, who ask a variety of questions that illustrate that people may not be who they say they are online. It's probably best for middle school or high school students. Definitely worth checking out!

(I found the clip below at Hulu. They like to put ads in front of their videos, but the resolution is better than I've found at other sources...)

Animoto

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Otto) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 23:46:00 +0000

One of my friends once shared with me a photo slideshow she had created. She had spent hours putting it together through Windows MovieMaker and was thrilled about the final effect-the transitions, the music and the overall look of it. I only wish she had come to me before she started this project!
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Word Cloud

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Otto) — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 04:39:00 +0000

I've been preparing a series of blog posts inspired by the ISTE conference I recently attended in Denver. However, I just learned of a fantastic site that I just can't wait to share!
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Summer Travel

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Otto) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 20:41:00 +0000

Teachers- Have you ever noticed how you’re more busy in the summer than during the school year? Suddenly I have all this time on my hands to catch up on doctor appointments, vet visits for my greyhound (that's Bongo in the photo!), house projects, classes to take, etc., etc., etc. I actually seem to work longer and harder than I do during the year! Crazy! But generally, when you think of summer, you think: summer vacation! And everyone loves vacations!!

Kids certainly love vacations, and many of them have not had the opportunity to travel very far from home. As a result, they really get into the following two projects.
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Edu 2.0 & Glogster

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Otto) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 06:31:00 +0000

This quarter I decided to start my 8th grade Internet class with a new project. Our district recently started using an online learning management system called Edu 2.0. Using this system, teachers and students can post and retrieve lessons and assignments online. They can communicate with one another via email and chat, hold discussions through forums and discussion assignments, collaborate, and much, much more. And best of all, it's free! I decided to dive right in and have my students complete their new assignment directly through this website.
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Free Software Series, Part 3: Photo Editing Software

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Otto) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 04:02:00 +0000

We are in the last week of our 3rd quarter, which means I have my students for 4 more days before I welcome my next group. This time, I've found myself in that precarious no man's land that elective teachers dread. My desktop publishing class has finished its final project and have no time to complete a new one before grades are due. What do I do with my class this last week that will be productive, but not overly time consuming and not require grading? I decided to have some fun with photos this week.
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Busy, Busy, Busy!

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Otto) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:51:00 +0000

Wow, I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since my last post! I've been so swamped lately that my one post a week goal has gone by the wayside. I recently started taking classes to earn an administrator licence and have also been helping my roommate buy a house (I'm a real estate agent on the side). I've hardly had a minute free, but I'm hoping to get a new post up tomorrow night. I can do it; I know I can!

So check back tomorrow for my next post on free and useful software!

Free Software Series, Part 2: Video Downloading Software

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Otto) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 02:42:00 +0000

One of my coworkers came to me a week or so ago, frustrated because he wanted to show a YouTube video to his art class but wasn't able to, since our district blocks YouTube access. As you probably know, YouTube videos can't be downloaded through the site, and TeacherTube, which lets you download their videos, doesn't always have the ones that are needed. I promised him I would do some research into freeware that lets you download YouTube and other videos to your computer. So Nate (our art teacher), this one's for you!
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Free Software Series, Part 1: Keyboarding

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Otto) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 01:39:00 +0000

Oh budget cuts, how I loathe thee. We recently learned that our district would not be getting as much money from the state this year as expected, and so, our budgets have been slashed. Any money left in our classroom budgets is gone (and I had plenty!). Any outstanding receipts will most likely not be reimbursed (there goes $200!!) We have been given 3 reams, yes a measly 1500 pieces of paper, for copies, which is expected to last us until the end of the year. God forbid the copier jam! Thank goodness I have the lowest copy count in the school, thanks to the nature of my job, though I pity our poor language arts teachers--1500 pieces of paper/170 students a day = very few assignments will be printed out anymore. Hope those kids can hand-copy at a reasonable pace! So for those of us in the same boat, or with limited budgets to begin with, I thought I'd focus on free software available online, either as downloads, or Web2.0.

This week, I'll be taking a look at keyboarding software. If you've ever shopped for keyboarding software, you know that the well-known programs are not cheap. And while it would be nice to be able to spend several thousand $$ on networked, kid-friendly typing software, that's not always possible. So below is a list of some of the better typing practice resources I've found online, from keyboarding tutorials to typing games.
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Internet Safety

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Otto) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 03:38:00 +0000

Internet Safety and responsible use of technology will always be a hot topic in schools. Internet predators are not going away, and it seems that "stranger danger" is not the only dark side of technology. Kids are commonly the perpetrators of harm, against others as well as themselves, thanks to Cyberbullying and Sexting.

One in five U.S. teenagers received unwanted sexual solicitations online (Crimes Against Children Research Center).
Cyberbullying has touched three-fourths of American teenagers according to a 2008 UCLA survey.
20% of teenagers have sent or posted nude or semi-nude pictures or videos of themselves and 39% of teens had sent or posted sexually suggestive messages (The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy).

It's unfortunate, but as with so many things in life, we must take the good with the bad., but we don't have to take it lying down. So this week, as I kick off my Internet safety lessons with my students, I thought I'd share some of my favorite sites and resources.
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Screen Recording Software

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Otto) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 03:47:00 +0000

My latest teaching goal is to create short video tutorials for my students on the various skills I'm teaching in class. That way, if they're absent or need a reminder of what to do, they can just watch one of my little videos. So this week, I researched free screen recording software looking for something that works well and is easy to use. I'm hoping to be able to install this software on all the computers in my lab, so I can also use it as an assessment tool and perhaps even have my more advanced students create the various tutorials I need.

Below is a list of five free screen recording program that I tested with a short review of each. Each program was highly rated on CNET or referenced on many of the websites I visited while looking for these programs.

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Sub Friendly Lesson Plans

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Otto) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 03:21:00 +0000

This week has been a tough week for me. My grandmother, who I'm extremely close to, passed away on Wednesday. Her health had been declining for quite some time, however, after having a wonderful visit with her on Saturday, I never expected that the next day she would slip into unconsciousness and remain that way until finally passing away on Wednesday. I learned of her condition after school on Monday and immediately rushed over to her nursing home to be with her. I took the rest of the week off to keep her company and then to be with my family after she passed.

As I had not anticipated being out from work for so long (or at all really), I was not at a good point in my projects for a sub to step in and take over. Of course, most of my classes finished their work my first day out. As I did not know what type of computer skills my sub would have, or even if I would get the same one each day, I needed to write lesson plans that were simple enough for a non tech-savvy person to lead, yet still entertaining and worthwhile for my students.

Naturally, I turned to the Internet to search for project ideas, but found very few simple projects that I could use. Computer education is a tough subject to need a sub in, as it's quite common to have someone step in who can barely turn on a computer. So what's a teacher to do?
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Disposable Emails

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Otto) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 08:48:00 +0000

One of my biggest challenges this year has involved email. My school district does not currently give students access to email. They can't access webmail sites like Yahoo, Google, etc., and the district does not provide district email for the students. This has proven problematic for a couple of reasons.

The biggest one is that 4 of my teaching standards involve students using email. Alas, I have not found a way around this. It'll be tough to teach kids how to email without email!

A byproduct of not having email access has also been that it's difficult for me to use Web 2.0 sites with my students, as many of them require that new accounts be created with existing email addresses. Luckily, I found a solution to this second problem.
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Game Design

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Otto) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 06:53:00 +0000

One of my new projects this year is a game design unit in which students program their own Frogger-type Game. We use a software program called AgentSheets, which allows students to program in a "drag and drop" programming type environment, providing an easy introduction to programming without the need to teach 7th graders a programming language. You can use the software to create any type of game. You can check out some of the games my latest group created here.

I learned of this software when I taught in Boulder. The Boulder Valley School District was participating in a University of Colorado study lead by Alex Repenning, the creator of AgentSheets. I had the unique opportunity to be paid to attend a week-long class during the summer, gain graduate credits, and use the software for free with my class in exchange for participating in this study.
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