Technology in the Classroom Day 2 Day 1-30-09

This week, our intern returned to begin her student teaching experience. The children and I are excited to have her back. I look forward to sharing the new technologies I have learned during her absence. First and foremost, I need to share with her the variety of ways that technology helps to run our classroom. Starting with our online attendance, we begin the day technologically. Throughout the day, we use the document camera (visualizer) and laptop to teach every lesson. With 9 special education students, it is crucial that we present material in many formats and always have hard copies of notes and assignments to assist them. We also utilize Internet sites that are interactive and engaging. In addition, video clips are accessed through unitedstreaming.com or Safari Montage. We often show DVD clips using our laptops that are shown through the LCD projector. For the months of January and February, it is our turn to use the Promethean Interactive whiteboard. This technology was new to me as well. I have used and been trained on the SMART brand Interactive whiteboards, but not this brand. I hope we can continue to put it to good use and learn new things about it together with the students. Another way we use technology each day is to record our grades on the SchoolMax online gradebook. I have used electronic gradebook programs for several years, but not one such as this. Being a new program countywide, it has its share of flaws. Here’s hoping for all of the quirks to be ironed out soon. Finally, we use technology through the use of our classroom website and email system. The class website is where we post news, links, homework assignments, and much more to keep parents and students up to date on classroom happenings. Our email system allows us to stay in constant communication with the families of our students at times which are most convenient for us. Email also provides us with written documentation of correspondence. This can come in quite handy during conferences and SIT meetings. Overall, there is much to cover in this area in order to prepare our intern for full takeover.

WIKI

01-30-09

Our team has discussed some ideas for the class WIKI. We have discussed having some students use the WIKI for letter recognition assignments. We thought the low group would benefit from these type of lessons. The high group could make analphabet PowerPoint. I am also thinking of using Kidspiration in the process as well. I will keep brainstorming.

technology

Today I witnessed an entire grade level doing lessons incorporating technology. The students were engaged and productive.

Parents and Data

I had a very interesting conversation with my principal the other day. In the course of discussing data utilization/inquiry, we got on the topic of how parents will soon be able to access our gradebooks at any time. At first blush, it feels a little big brother-ish, as though the parents will be checking up on us to make sure we are keeping up with our grading and such. During our conversation it occurred to me that it would be healthier to see this use of technology in a more positive way. Giving parents that access will allow them (require them?) to take a very active role in monitoring their students’ performance and helping to remediate as needed. When I think of this tool in that way it makes me feel more excited than worried.

Wiki thoughts

One thought for the wiki is having students add words starting with each letter of the alphabet. Or some sort of yes/no option. I don’t know how beneficial that would really be. Using this as a tool for assessments may be good…or having the higher kids work on a story map. Parent participation is a possibility. How much can we count on them to work on this at home though? These thoughts are very random, but they are a start. More to come.

Ideas Finally some ideas!!!

We have some great ideas for projects. I already have some artifacts just doing what it is I do in my room. However the discussion boards and such on Wiki continue to confound me as to their naturalistic application to the classroom. More thought will be needed for this to occur in a convincing way without being an add on…

Beating the Zaner-Bloser Blues! 1-23-09

This week, I've decided to write about and share some of the resources I have come across while searching the Internet for links related to our curriculum. One that has truly helped me out recently has been the Zaner-Bloser website: http://www.zaner-bloser.com/educator/products/handwriting/index.aspx?id=4296 . Our principal is very committed to teaching our students to write legibly in print and cursive so that they are able to express their thoughts and respond in writing proficiently with increased speed and hopefully, in more detail as writing will not be as "painstakingly" a task. I have purchased several font cds over the years, and downloaded many online to use to create papers to use during instruction in the cursive and manuscript handwriting. The fonts have always been close to the Zaner-Bloser style we use in the county, but there have been certain differences that always bothered me and caused me to have to white-out and over letters or words. This would often make me feel like just writing the documents myself like in the "old days". While I think that I have decent cursive handwriting, it takes me some time to write documents for the children because I am meticulous in my attempt to form the letters correctly. The style of cursive I learned as a child is quite different than the modern style we teach today. In fact, just a few years ago, Zaner-Bloser changed a few letters once more. Goodbye to the capital Q shaped like a 2, and hello to the O-shaped capital Q. This is one letter I can NEVER seem to get right on the first try! I also like to use the cursive font when typing notes or graphic organizers on the laptop during instruction. The problem is that I am constantly having to remind (or be reminded by) students that the computer is forming a letter “incorrectly” or not as we are being taught to form it. In an effort to avoid having to go through this on a daily basis, I went on yet another quest to find and download or purchase the EXACT Zaner-Bloser font style being currently used. I searched several sites, but always came upon a letter with an added loop or missing tail. The Q was incorrect or the undercurve was off. Finally, I ventured back to the Zaner-Bloser site to see if I could just purchase the entire curriculum on CD, hoping to be able to access the font then. To my great surprise, they currently offer grade-level specific templates that you can type into in cursive or manuscript. The templates are lined appropriately and can even be translated into Spanish!!! I was thrilled at the find and began to type in the week’s poetry lesson template into a blank page. When I got to the point I wanted to print and save, I came to a halt. It is with great disappointment that I realized that I could print, but could not save my work. I was left feeling a little gypped, cheated out of the ability to preserve this masterpiece of cursive perfection! Still, I went ahead and printed a set of 3 copies - one to copy and 2 to file, and continued on to a new blank page to type this week’s spelling words. I guess the saying is true that sometimes, you can’t have it all…

Blog Fog!

Blog Fog!

Today, I am sitting here at our Wiki session waking up from my personal haze of a world. Come to find out, I have been in what I will term a "BLOG FOG". At first, I believed we were required to start "blogging" following orientation. A week or so later, I added on post 2. Then, I read our follow-up email about setting up the Wiki and blogging profile with first posts. I misunderstood and took this as meaning the first post was all we had to do until our Jan. session. Here I thought I was ahead! To my surprise today, I am 2 blogs behind not counting this week. There is some serious blogging to do this weekend to catch up! :)

chats

Administrators could really use coaches like they have corporate settings. Having someone who has walked in your shoes follow you around for a day or two and give you constructive feedback would be so awesome. Having the chat feature available on email now gives us the opportunity for quick feedback and discussion.

01-23-09

We went to the STEP training, and I am trying to understand the process of making a WIKI space and blogging. I did get lost in the beginning of the class, but now I feel like I am starting to learn how to use the WIKI space. I am going to start thinking of ideas for the WIKI space. I am lucky that the Kindergarten Team is brainstorming too.

STEP Training/ Multimedia Inauguration

I REALLY enjoyed our STEP training last week. It was really cool to learn exactly how wikis work (more or less) and to learn how to include widgets. It is very cool to again feel more current with technology. The last time that happened what when I learned HTML as a grad student (or was that in undergrad….)

It was also cool this week to see the Presidential Inauguration covered both on TV and on the internet. We were monitoring both to get the latest news and it was pretty cool. The random texts were not so cool!

Blogging with no site!

Now that the blog site is no longer, I am converting to word here. After the STEP training, I have been thinking of a few ideas of what to work on with our Wiki. We will first have to determine which reading groups we are going to use for our student participation aspect. I am leaning towards the low or high…I think it may be more beneficial for the high group. This is a difficult process for kindergartners…since it seems to be difficult for me already. I am curious if there are any samples of wikis for early childhood classrooms.

TIME I NEED MORE TIME!!!

Where is the time to do this right? The kids are energized and ready to go, but with all the various pies my fingers are in I am running short on time! I have chosen a couple of kids who are quite tech savvy and idea rich to help create the projects and to help keep me focused…though how focused we can keep each other is anyones guess.

Wiki fun! yeah

Wikispaces, I think, will be fun learning. I can see the format serving us much better than blackboard did last year, however why do we need 2 pages? Well they are both created and linked together regardless, now I just ahve to figure out exactly what to do with them...any suggestions.

Photostories

The photostories have been widely used throughout the school. Thanks STEP team!!

Powering Up Conference Reflections

Powering Up Conference Reflections

Our Tech Team has spent the past several days preparing for our sharing of the information we have learned from the Powering Up Conference. So much information was shared at the sessions on the SMART board and the Keynote Speaker. Her presentation alone was worth the entire day! From Advanced PowerPoint projects to Google in the classroom and beyond, she has started us heading in the right direction as we navigate our way through the 21st century. The two other sessions were informative as well. Even though they were centered on preschool related projects, the tools and software were applicable to any elementary level classroom and many of the projects could be adapted to meet the needs of your students. Overall, I had a very worthwhile professional development experience and gained relevant and meaningful skills and information that we were able to share with our staff as well as our teams on a more personal level.

Tammy Worcester, Keynote Speaker has a website that is loaded with fantastic technology tips and resources. Check it out!

http://www.tammyworcester.com/Tips/Tammys_Technology_Tips_for_Teachers.html

TeacherTube - Who knew?

I was so excited to learn about TeacherTube during our training. What a great resource! I enjoy using YouTube to supplement lessons, but I'm always a little wary since I've definitely had things pop up on me that second graders shouldn't see. I found that TeacherTube didn't have a few of the clips that I use regularly, but I was excited to see some new resources. I love that it's by educators, for educators.

Wikispaces....why 2?

we just got to learn about wikispaces. My brief forays into investigating what they are and how they work show that this is a most positive venture, though the internet safety of the children remains a chief concern. I am not quite sure why there have to be 2 pages though. What is the reasoning behind this other than creating what in my opinion is something of redundant work but that is just me.

PTA

I met with our PTA President today. I was most impressed with her growth as a leader. There is no question as to her loyalty to our school. She has actually studied the position in the last two years. She is a wonderful parent volunteer model. I am also so excited that our PTA embraces technology and supports our school by purchasing technology for our teachers!

Reading on-line

Reading on-line

On our lovely day off this week, I caught up on a few things I had neglected because of time to fully look at my in box. One of those things was to read a magazine on-line. Big deal, right? Actually it was because this was like reading a book on-line. The pages turned, I could make it larger or smaller, or print a page. I don't think I will give up the real touch of a magazine. I am too kinesthetic for that, but it was a cool experience and sure saves in space.

I went on a search for information about Abraham Lincoln after reading a LONG/LARGE book on him. It got a lot of ideas from reading it and now I will be using primary sources, such as letters, photographs, and documents written in Lincoln's own hand. I searched the Library of Congress, the National Archives, and the Smithsonian's American History sites. There are some jewels. I will be using the resources from my search to create a bulletin board using Lincoln's life as a jump off point to talk about biographies and primary/secondary sources. I will also be using some of Lincoln's words throughout the month. I may use the digital video camera to record students reading his words.

This week I forwarded a list of resources for Black History month to the staff. Some of the links don't link when touched. I guess the sites weren't embedded correctly. I wonder why some worked and others didn't because if you put in the web address in alone, they work.

1/8/2009BauernschubMary Beth

Collegues help with success

Colleagues help with success

This week, I created a Power Point presentation with the help of teacher colleagues. Regina Stimson and I were to present our unit at The Walters Art Museum. We met on Saturday and reviewed all of the digital still photos and digital videos that I have taken throughout our unit. We discussed what the final product would look like and selected the images we liked. I started putting the video and photos in as we went along. I could run the video when the CD it was on was in the laptop. When I pulled out the CD, I got still images. Regina and I decided that we would put the CD in with the flashdrive so that it would run. Any images that we needed to insert later, I wrote a note on that slide and moved on.

Later, I tried to make a digital video movie using the same CD. The pieces I selected for this had problems. I was surprised that images that I took with no pauses or cuts, were coming out as if it was cut in several different sections. WHY??? It didn't happen last year with anything I took. Is it because it is a different camera? Anyway, NONE OF THE IMAGES THAT I CAPTURED AND "SAVED" ON MY FLASH DRIVE STAYED!!!!! There were big red "X's" in the space. I thought about what I did last year to prevent this from happening. I think what I did was move the video selections to the desktop and then I did the movie. I was planning to do this next.

Then I talked to Mr. Tanner about it and discussed my ideas about putting stuff on the desktop. He suggested that I copy the video selections to the flashdrive. I experimented with a video on a new slide and found that this worked for the Power Point quite well. I then went through and deleted, then reinserted video. Mr. Tanner helped also by scanning images onto a desktop on a computer. I was able to take those images and easily insert them into the Power Point. I was even tinkering with words and added a new slide taking images off The Walters site about two hours before we were to present.

Last night, Regina and I went to The Walters. We were FABULOUS!!! (Even though I had to lay on the floor to click and talk so people could see it.)
I sent out a list of very nice sites related to Lincoln from EDUHOUND. I hope at least one teacher will check it out.

1/8/2009BauernschubMary Beth

Welcome Back!

I hope everyone had a very restful winter vacation. Mine was great. I came a cross a blog that I think is relevant to our STEP experience. http://www.freetech4teachers.com/ has lots of links and resources on using technology in the classroom. I haven't had the chance to go through all of the information yet (there's a lot!), but it looks like there's some great stuff there. Enjoy!

Well, after a long winter break, we are back from the holidays. I am really looking forward to this Friday, and start putting all this together...give me a little depth to these posts.