Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Tool #11

Tool #11


The 11 Tools assignment has opened my eyes to the many areas of technology that I am completely new to.  I have found the flipped classroom to be the most interesting use of the technology available. Implementing this flipped classroom is a bit tricky.  The few times I have tried it rendered many students who came to class unprepared.  Since math builds daily upon itself, I found myself wondering if I should move on to a new lesson and leave those who did not watch the video without learning the lesson or stop and teach the lesson to the whole group.  With students not having internet accessible to the them all the time at home, it poses a problem to the flipped classroom concept.  I personally do not like to move on to another lesson if I know that several have not been exposed to the lesson. With this said, I continue to try the flipped classroom concept when the material allows itself.  

Tool #10

Tool #10


I think it is important for all students to understand the need to be good digital citizens. It is important that they are safe, that they are not internet bullies, and that they send only appropriate content when using their school issued email.

I would recommend the Texas School Safety Center to students and parents. It is easy to maneuver and the links provide good instructional materials for parents, students, and teachers. I would think that posting the link to this chart on my website would be a good idea for me to do. This way parents and students could access it easily.

Tool #9

Tool #9


I think it is important to tie technology to the objective so that the students can see how learning math fits into their real life.
We should hold students accountable for their stations/centers to teach responsibility when using classroom supplies/technology.

I like to use the online tutorials offered by our textbook. Professor Burger does a great job of quickly explaining the topic being taught. I encourage students to view his tutorials when they need a little extra explanation or if they miss class.

I like the app "Explain Everything" and "Iluminations". Explain Everything is a tool I can use to prepare a video lesson for the students to view at home and allowing me to have a flipped classroom. Illuminations is a good app for the students to go and get practice with certain concepts.

Tool #8

Tool #8

After watching the videos/tutorials, I learned that the netbooks have webcams that can take photos and videos.  I learned how these two functions operate and where these photos/videos are stored on the device.  I also learned many things about the iPads.  I learned how to set up an iTunes account through my school email, how to locate district approved apps, how to download those apps, and how to synch these apps from my laptop to my classroom iPads.  I learned how to set up the wifi on the iPads and noted the suggestion as to giving each iPad an identification name.

Managing these devices will involve having each device numbered or named.  I think having a sign-out/sign-in sheet that sits on top of the computer cart will be useful as the students check out and check in their devices.  This will assure some accountability for their use of the devices.  I think it is a good idea to have someone/s assigned to check the devices once they are returned to the cart and make sure they are turned in and plugged in.  This 'check-in' person/s could be assigned on a weekly basis and simply have their name listed on the board as the person assigned for this task.  

Tool #7

Tool #7

The first site that caught my attention was:
http://mathforum.org/class2class/
This site allows the reader to research Internet projects that other students have worked on or are currently working on. One such project listed directed me to:
http://www.mathtv.org/
which directed the reader to math problem solving videos and math games for all ages.  I clicked on the 7th grade level, since that is what I will be teaching, and found all sorts of options for the students.  They can find just about any math topic and watch a video showing step by step solutions with explanations of how and why the solution is reached. Or they can play a game relating to the same topic.  This would be a great tool for additional practice or as a tutorial to help a student clear up anything they might not have understood during the teacher's explanation. 

Since I am a new teacher and completing these Tools in the summer, I do not think I can collaborate with another classroom on a project.  I will say that I have already talked to one of my colleagues about having some sort of collaborative project for the upcoming school year.  We had discussed having the students do a project involving the stock market.  We talked about how we would implement this into our already packed curriculum and hope to find the time to fit it in.  We will need to decide whether students will pretend to buy stock or simply follow a particular stock.  We are not sure how we will go about doing this but the planning of it has been talked about. Since I am the 'new kid on the block', I would certainly count on my colleagues to suggest the tool which would work best for our collaborative project.   


Tool #6

Tool #6


I have just visited the wallwisher site and have created a wall.  I am working to find a way that this tool could be used in a 7th grade math class.  It was certainly easy to create the wall and post to the wall.  I am not certain how it would be with 160 sticky notes if all the students were required to post a comment or solution to a math problem.  I will investigate and see if I can find a math teacher who has successfully used this tool for their class.  My wallwisher wall can be found at
<iframe src="http://wallwisher.com/embed/pence7thmath" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="400px" style="border: 1px solid #999999"></iframe>


I just set up an Edmodo account.  I like the format and it looks pretty easy to use.  I have not completed the set up since I need to add students/groups to my account.  I have not students yet.  I know that students are already used to using Edmodo in subjects such as Language Arts so they would be able to use it if I were to find a way to work it into the math program.  





Friday, July 20, 2012

My Animoto Video

My Animoto Video

Tool #5

I have just made my very first video ever.  It may be only 30 seconds in length but it is done and it was easy and I really enjoyed doing it.  I am not sure how I can use this tool in my 7th grade math class but I certainly will look for opportunities to do so.  The Animoto tool is extremely easy to work with.  Luckily, I had an Instagram already set up and had pictures to choose from and were easily accessed.  If you would like to view my masterpiece, I have posted it to my blog titled My Animoto Video.


The other tool that I chose from this section was the Google Site.  From that, I chose Google Reader and selected various news feeds that interested me.  I might possibly get used to using this and reading about educational and technology ideas for the classroom.  I might also get some dinner ideas and some DIY ideas.  The possibilities are endless, right?






Sunday, July 15, 2012

Tool #4
I have enjoyed learning about the Google docs.  I am actually quite excited about playing with this and incorporating it into my classroom.  Since I am completing my 11 Tools during the summer without the rest of my school's staff, I shared my documents with my own children.  I sent them a document requesting them to respond to my question stated in the document.  Next, I created a two-question quiz and sent it to my children for them to answer and send back to me.  Since they are no longer SBISD students due to being in college, I am wondering if they will be able to respond since it may require an SBISD login.  Nonetheless, I learned how to create the quiz and I like it! I sent it to myself and will practice answering the quiz and submitting it.  I am hopeful to use this google doc tool in my classroom as an online assignment.  I will certainly explore this site more and see what else there is to discover.


On to Tool #5.
Tool #3
This tool has taken me a little longer to accomplish due to it having a lot of information that I am not familiar with. I think that I am most interested in knowing the copyright laws when using pictures or videos that I might use embedded into future flip charts and making sure I do not do anything that goes against these laws.  I will refer to this tool #3 copyright video in the future to guide me as to what is legal for me to use and how.  I am also interested in the dropbox.  I have this on my ipad and iphone but have yet to really grasp how to store things in it and access those things when I am on a different device other than my devices that easily access the dropbox.  I can see that this would be a useful tool for me to use with my students to store copies of homework worksheets or possibly hard copies of flip charts that were presented in class.  I shall try to explore the possibilities of the dropbox concept. 


As far as embedding a link into this blog, I will attempt to post some links that were recommended to me by another educator as interesting ones explaining a study done on the blended classroom and the flipped classroom.  Refer to the following links for some good reading on the subjects:  
http://blendmylearning.com/ 
http://fm.typepad.com/files/lessons-learned-from-a-blended-learning-pilot4.pdf ; http://www.innosightinstitute.org/innosight/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/The-Rise-of-K-12-Blended-Learning.pdf
I spent some time reading these reports and found them very interesting and wondered how I can incorporate some of this flipped classroom technique into my own classroom.  I can see it happening only in bits and pieces with the limited availability of technology in each classroom.  With that said, I hope to find a way to implement it into my classroom within this school year. It is a most interesting concept.  Thank you, Karen J, for directing me to these links.  

Monday, July 2, 2012

Tool #2

I have commented on others' blogs and 'shared my thoughts' and feel pretty good about it. I am one who will probably post comments, in the future, only if I can add something to the posted comment that would be beneficial for others to read.  I suppose I might be inclined to ask a question if further information would be helpful to me.  


I found an interesting social networking site that posted a very interested You Tube video that I plan to look at again.  The website was www.msteacher2.org.  In one of their posts, someone recommended watching a You Tube video called The Fillped Classroom by Aaron Sams.  It was very interesting and presents a challenge to me.  I am working through how I can flip my classroom as a middle school math teacher.  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aGuLuipTwg&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f6AuWuXG2g&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoNlL3Plx-g&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPSoZCMIqfg&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyDpsJ5nS74&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMfSLXluiSE&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f6AuWuXG2g&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNB09NPKF2o&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f6AuWuXG2g&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1MKpyVPilI&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icn8kMoH28Y&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1MKpyVPilI&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLB632EC24182B4D40
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlwXulNEA58
https://sites.google.com/site/fizzflippingmath8/
http://www.fi.ncsu.edu/project/fizz/pd/lecture
On to Tool #3.  I am on a roll.

Tool #1

I have done it.  I have created my blog and added a Voki. This was easier than I had thought it would be although I did have to seek help from others.  Thankfully, I am on my way to tool #2. Is it possible for me to complete these 11 tools before the beginning of the school year?  I sure hope so.