Behavior has become a huge issue at our school since we have essentially stopped giving consequences. This program looks like an easy way to track behavior and students will hopefully like it because it involves technology. Can't wait to use it.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Class Dojo
I was recently introduced to Class Dojo and am excited to start using it in my classroom, especially at this time of the year. Has anyone else used it? I'm not sure what the best way is to go about it. I like the idea of an app for the phone but I feel like that would drain my battery throughout the day. The option for letting you email parents updates is fantastic.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Video Editing?
This past week in class we learned about video editing. We had already learned about in camera editing and I had a lot of fun with that lesson. This week was a little different. My group had an easy time coming up with a PSA topic, treatment, and story board. We had fun recording our video and felt confident that it was good. Unfortunately once we uploaded it to the computer things began to fall apart. Laura, one of my group members, began editing the video while I looked up some music for our intro. Near the end whenever she edited a video the next video became deleted. After much time our professor finally said to just present what we had. It was okay but not great. Another groups video deleted completely!
So what did I learn. First, if you are going to use technology it's important to know whether it is compatible with your computer or not. We learned the hard way that it wasn't. Second, it is important to take a step back and breathe when working with technology. When you need it the most is usually when it doesn't work so always have a back up lesson, just in case. Three, video editing is much more challangeing than I thought and doesn't allow for a lot of collaboration during the editing. It was hard for more than one person to edit and so it fell on one person's shoulders.
Would I use this in my classroom? Maybe. The pros are having students synthesis the information they have researched into a 30 second clip. They have to take into consideration their audience, their purpose, and their style. The con would be the amount of time it would take them to complete the videos. As adults who were familiar with the process it took us 2 1/2 hours from start to finish. I would say at a minimum triple that for a classroom so 7 1/2 hours would probably be too much time to take up. Oh time, isn't it always the problem?
So what did I learn. First, if you are going to use technology it's important to know whether it is compatible with your computer or not. We learned the hard way that it wasn't. Second, it is important to take a step back and breathe when working with technology. When you need it the most is usually when it doesn't work so always have a back up lesson, just in case. Three, video editing is much more challangeing than I thought and doesn't allow for a lot of collaboration during the editing. It was hard for more than one person to edit and so it fell on one person's shoulders.
Would I use this in my classroom? Maybe. The pros are having students synthesis the information they have researched into a 30 second clip. They have to take into consideration their audience, their purpose, and their style. The con would be the amount of time it would take them to complete the videos. As adults who were familiar with the process it took us 2 1/2 hours from start to finish. I would say at a minimum triple that for a classroom so 7 1/2 hours would probably be too much time to take up. Oh time, isn't it always the problem?
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Edmodo...how I love thee!
Recently a colleague, Emily, introduced our students (we share, I teach them math, science, and social studies, she teaches them important things like how to read) to Edmodo. She had asked me about it but with grad school I didn't even have time to get back to her. Well, our students love it. What is Edmodo? It's similar to Blackboard but much friendlier to use. The layout makes it look like Facebook so it is important to talk to your students about the importance of academic discussions only when on Edmodo. Students do not have the ability to chat with each other on Edmodo so that alleviates one issue.
We have both been using it in different ways. Emily uses it as a place for students to have discussions about the books they are reading. I have decided to use it with science. As a trial run I have been posting a video each week about the science topic we are learning about. Students are expected to watch it and respond with scientific inquiry. The students who do not have access to the internet at home are able to look at it in class throughout the week when they have free time.
While Edmodo is not the answer to getting kids to do their homework it sure is a great incentive. The kids are excited and can't wait to see what video I post and they love to read each others comments and share their own thoughts. A rare day when students are excited to do their homework!
We have both been using it in different ways. Emily uses it as a place for students to have discussions about the books they are reading. I have decided to use it with science. As a trial run I have been posting a video each week about the science topic we are learning about. Students are expected to watch it and respond with scientific inquiry. The students who do not have access to the internet at home are able to look at it in class throughout the week when they have free time.
While Edmodo is not the answer to getting kids to do their homework it sure is a great incentive. The kids are excited and can't wait to see what video I post and they love to read each others comments and share their own thoughts. A rare day when students are excited to do their homework!
Web 1.0 to Web 2.0
This week my professor has asked us to take a lesson we created before using Web 1.0 and adding in a 2.0 feature. Interestingly enough I am currently teaching the rock cycle unit. Here is a summary of my original lesson:
Students from around
the globe will team up to identify different rocks found in their community. Join us in this collaborative project,
comparing rocks found around the world. The
focus of this project is to identify rocks in your community, decide which of the
three different types of rocks (sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic) they
are, and to compare them with other classroom findings around the world. All
students are welcome to participate, however, it is recommended for upper
elementary and middle school students. There
is no fee to participate, but before registering, please read the "Project
Instructions" page to become familiar with a checklist that displays all
of the expectations of participants.
In order to make this Web 2.0 I would have students use discussion boards to help one another identify rocks. They would be the experts in the classroom and when students submitted their rocks they would have to determine whether the students from around the world were correct or not. This would be a great way for them to continue their knowledge of the rock cycle and would allow them to collaborate about their scientific reasoning.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Podcasts?
This week we learned about podcasts in class and honestly I was not impressed. Perhaps it's because I am not an auditory learner but I found podcasts boring to listen to and a pain to create. While I can see some benefits to using podcasts in the classroom, such as students synthesizing what they have learned into a short presentation or allowing students to share their ideas with the world, I feel that there are better, less time consuming ways to sharing their ideas.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Wiki...wiki...what?
Wiki's have no place in the classroom, or at least that is what I thought until we read about them and discussed them in class. It turns out that wiki's are exactly what the classroom needs. A wiki allows all students to contribute to a common project. By using wikis everyone gets to participate at the level they are most comfortable with.
I am so excited about wikis that this weekend I have spent time setting up a wiki for my students (instead of working on grad school... hmm good thing it's a 3 day weekend). They are going to create a wiki that contains everything we have learned in science, this year and last year. By putting the students in charge and allowing them to combine what they know will empower them in their learning. I can't wait to see how this goes! If you want to see how it comes about click the link below (right now it's empty since I haven't started it in my class yet).
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Blogging in the Classroom
I'd like to start off with some honesty which is that I have not tried using blogs with my students...yet. I have a lot of great ideas but between grad school and trying to integrate the new curriculum my district has implemented it has been hard to fit everything in. However, if I had more time here are just a few ways I would use blogs within my classroom.
1. I would have students become scientists and have them use their blog as a place to record their findings and share with the world what they have found. This would allow them to read each others blogs too and see if other "scientists" are getting the same findings.
2. Students would each take on a character persona from the books they are reading in class. They would have to blog as that character and discuss daily life and make connections to the book they are reading.
3. My students could blog about the various aspects of MacArthur, informing the community about the exciting things that are going on at our school from the unique perspective of a student.
Blogging is a great way to get students writing and reading other students writing. Hopefully I will be able to get blogging in my classroom soon.
1. I would have students become scientists and have them use their blog as a place to record their findings and share with the world what they have found. This would allow them to read each others blogs too and see if other "scientists" are getting the same findings.
2. Students would each take on a character persona from the books they are reading in class. They would have to blog as that character and discuss daily life and make connections to the book they are reading.
3. My students could blog about the various aspects of MacArthur, informing the community about the exciting things that are going on at our school from the unique perspective of a student.
Blogging is a great way to get students writing and reading other students writing. Hopefully I will be able to get blogging in my classroom soon.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Engaging Students in Learning
As a 5th grade teacher I am constantly trying to find new ways to engage my students in learning. Through the IT program at George Mason University I have found that one of the best ways to do engage students is by creating authentic problems. An authentic problem allows students to "try on" different careers.
In order for an authentic problem to work well in the classroom it is important to think about a few things when planning a lesson. The first is to look at the curriculum and ask what profession would need to know this in the real world. For example if your students need to learn the parts of the flower your authentic problem could be the students acting as botanist. Once you've decided on your authentic problem you need to decide what the clear outcome will be, in this case students will be able to label the parts of a flower. It is also important to determine what thinking skills the students will use through out this lesson. For the botanist lesson students will need to analyze the flower and synthesize the information they have learned. The last thing you need to think about is what type of software skills the students will require in this lesson. As in the botanist lesson students will learn how to use a paint program to diagram their results. At the end of each authentic problem I make sure that there is an exit strategy. For the botanist lesson I arranged for students posters to be posted throughout the school to inform other students about the parts of a flower.
Since using authentic problems within my classroom I have noticed an increase in student participation and engagement. One of my students was overheard saying "Well since we are real scientist, if an experiment fails we have to design another one". Music to my ears!
In order for an authentic problem to work well in the classroom it is important to think about a few things when planning a lesson. The first is to look at the curriculum and ask what profession would need to know this in the real world. For example if your students need to learn the parts of the flower your authentic problem could be the students acting as botanist. Once you've decided on your authentic problem you need to decide what the clear outcome will be, in this case students will be able to label the parts of a flower. It is also important to determine what thinking skills the students will use through out this lesson. For the botanist lesson students will need to analyze the flower and synthesize the information they have learned. The last thing you need to think about is what type of software skills the students will require in this lesson. As in the botanist lesson students will learn how to use a paint program to diagram their results. At the end of each authentic problem I make sure that there is an exit strategy. For the botanist lesson I arranged for students posters to be posted throughout the school to inform other students about the parts of a flower.
Since using authentic problems within my classroom I have noticed an increase in student participation and engagement. One of my students was overheard saying "Well since we are real scientist, if an experiment fails we have to design another one". Music to my ears!
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