Tool # 11 :)

I am so happy we are getting these technology devices in our classrooms. There are so many things our students are going to be able to do and learn by incorporating these tools to our lessons. One of my favorite tools is Bookr. I have used this tool in the past (last year) and find out how easy it was for my first graders to use it and edit their books. I plan to use it during Language Arts when we work on topic writing  and on any other content area for them to write about what they have learned on a specific topic. I enjoyed learning how to create an Animoto and will definitely teach my students how to make one and show their learning just like Ms. Cliett mentioned before. I also liked Wordle; one way I will probably use it will be to teach students how to brainstorm, in a very fun way, on specific ideas.

It is just so exciting to see all the resources there are out there to help our kids get prepared for a technology world and at the same time helping them develop skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, showing them how the internet is a place full of wonders and things to learn and explore while teaching them how to use it wisely. Integrating these new devices and tools to our daily instruction and workstations will be one of the changes needed to be done, one step at a time.

I learned a lot working on the 11 tools. It is important for schools to go with the flow of technology changes just because this is our reality now, the world we are now living in; and even though completing the 11 tools training was time consuming because of the vast information there is about each tool and beyond, at the end it was not that hard. I am looking forward to start using my new acquired knowledge next year.

Tool # 10

Being a Good Citizen is something we all learn at a very young age. It starts at home with good manners, values, respect for others and rules to follow in and outside home and continues as children grow up. We, as educators, continue this pattern at school, we reinforce honesty, respect for other’s rights, property and being. Being a Good Digital Citizen is about the same, the difference is this one happens on a virtual environment. I would like to make sure my students understand and learn how to navigate safely in the internet by teaching them to never share their personal information, showing them that not everything they see or read in the internet might be true, and to always let an adult know if something is not looking good or is making them feel sad or scared, and most important, to be respectful to each other online, just like in real life.

Students need to internalize how to be a good digital citizen. Teaching this must not be a one day lesson but an ongoing one. The resources shown in tool # 10 are all very useful and interesting. I found two that I would definitely be using with my students and sharing with their parents. The first one is  Net Smartz Kids http://www.netsmartz.org/Parents, which is a resource  designed to introduce younger children to basic Internet safety concepts through interactions with animated characters. It has videos according to children’s age. You can download videos on internet safety basics for your class to watch, such as lessons in digital ethics, computer viruses and personal safety. There are also games and songs. This next link is a song about the rules you must follow when using the internet http://www.netsmartz.org/NetSmartzKids/KnowTheRules.  There are videos for parents and teachers as well. You can download other resources such as this safety pledge  (which I will be using) for your students to sign after learning about Internet safety http://cdn.netsmartz.org/pledges/IS_Rules_P_2010.pdf. Best of all, all this is also available in Spanish for our bilingual students!

The second resource I liked was CyberSmart Young Kids. It is a friendly site for kids to learn about this same topic with the help of “Hector and his friends”. The interactive videos on Hector’s World stories are fun and  age appropriate http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/Young%20Kids/Hectors%20World/Hectors%20World%20stories.aspx.

To engage parents and make them aware of the importance of reinforcing Good Digital Citizenship at home, I will share all the resources that are available for them as well. Open House, news letters from the team or teacher and conferences are some of the ways I plan to do so.

Tool # 9

Our students were born in the electronic era. Their world is a Technology World. All of these things are the tools they are going to use (and are using already) to interact with the rest of the world (i.e. E mail, eBooks, e files). We, as educators, are always thinking about the future of our students, building the foundation for their success, we need to start focusing in the technological advances and the way they can be beneficial to our students’ learning process.   Technology is a tool we should use to engage students to what they are learning, giving them the opportunity to practice and master the curriculum objectives

Adding this technology devices next year to the classroom will make centers even more attractive. It will bring variety to the way they learn and work on a specific objective. Students should definitely be held accountable for their work in a center/station. This way, as I stated earlier, they are responsible for staying on task, and practicing and mastering a specific objective. Having them turn in a product or reflection is a way the teachers can see progress too and work with the kids on their weaknesses.

I looked at some of the web sites and apps that are suggested in tool #9 and the SBISD data base. The ones that I visited are very interesting and will be very useful to complement the instruction given in the classroom. One of them is Tutpup, where students compete against students around the world on basic math and spelling. Once I got there, I tried the Math 101, where students practice their math facts and pick the level where they fill comfortable. There are 8 levels. I think for first graders levels 1 and 2 are the appropriate ones. As a teacher, you can create a class account and keep track on their progress.

The next web site I visited was Learning Games for Kids. It includes printable worksheets. In this one, there is a section where you can chose the content area you want to work with. I picked math (again), went to math games and selected first grade. If you look around in the screen, you will be able to see another section (IXL) with the grade levels. I selected first grade. There, you can see a list of skills first graders learn through the year and select the one matching your day’s objective.

One of the apps I liked was Coin Math. The students can practice identifying coins, counting coins, matching coins to the correct value, and even choosing the correct change to pay for a product. The other one was Story Kit, where students create an electronic story book by writing, editing, recording voice to “read” story, taking pictures to include in the story pages, etc. Is kind of like bookr, but here you can edit an already written story. You can see the product at any time because the ebook stays in the iPod touch.

Tool # 8

I learned a LOT of things today. I am so happy we have Atomic learning. I have been watching their tutorials; they are awesome and very specific. I highly recommend them. One of the things I learned was the that the Dells 2120 are very similar to our teacher’s laptops but smaller, with the difference that they have a camera where students can take pictures or record videos, even use them to collaborate with other students through Skype.

I learned how to navigate in iTunes, how to create an iTunes account and download apps. I also learned how to add those applications, music, videos to my iTunes and iPod. I already added some of my “children’s music” to iTunes. Very important, we will need to download applications and tools to our laptop first and then sync them to our classroom  iPods,  plus, we are going to have to name each iPod to keep track of what we are adding and where we are adding it. I am proud to say I already named my first iPod touch!

The most exciting thing I learned was to create icons or web clips for my favorite web sites and add them to my home screen.

As for classroom management, I think it is very important to set the rules and expectations with the children since the first day, so just like as we create our “constitution” in the classroom for rules and expectations on mutual respect  and appropriate behavior inside and outside the classroom , I will let the students brainstorm ideas for rules and expectations on how to use and respect our classroom’s property (devices). It is very important to let them know they are going to be held accountable for their products when using the technology devices.  I will model how to operate  each device, application and tool (one at a time)and practice, practice, practice, whole group then small groups. At the beginning , and once the rules and expectations are set, just like with the rest of the materials in the classroom, I will give them time to free explore the iPod touches and Netbooks. I will be designating my “classroom technicians” to help take out and put away the devices and trouble shoot problems. 

Tool # 7

It is truly amazing how technology has enriched, enhanced and grown teaching networks, giving educators tools, ideas, plans and much more, literally, to their fingertips. I looked at the web sites suggested on tool # 7 and found a lot of neat ideas to do in the classroom and extend to other classrooms as well. I already bookmarked (using Diigo :)   )some that I would like to try. There is a cute project in GlobalSchoolNet. org about writing letters to Santa. Here is the link if you would like to check it out: http://www.globalschoolnet.org/gsnsanta . I liked iEarn because you can narrow your search to title, keyword, subject, age level and language. In the Education World site there is a page named “the lesson plan of the day” which gives you a lot of good ideas and shows the grade level that is intended to. This is where I got the idea for this tool’s assignment (I will be adding value and repurposing, of course :) ).

LETTER BOOKS

a)Content Objective:
Students will create an online Letter (ABC) Book by collaborating with their peers and using a variety of tools in the classroom.

b) When would it be implemented?:
October  2011

c) Tools that will be used:
Bookr, Wallwisher, Blogger, Wordle.

d) Description of the project:
Students will be paired with their bilingual pair. They will draw a letter from a container and work with their partner on brainstorming a list of words that begging with the given letter. Using Wallwisher,  their peers and students from another grade level class would be able to add words to their list. Each pair will then create their Letter Book using Bookr and posting it in the classroom’s Blog. They can even create a Wordle using the words they selected after they finish their book.

Tool # 6

About Tool #6...I created a Poll using Poll everywhere. I like this tool because it is fast an easy to create. I think I will be using it in the classroom specially when studying the "graphing" unit (MATH) to collect information from the students and show them the bar graph afterwards.

I signed up for Diigo... I am still exploring it, but so far it looks like it is a good tool to organize and bookmark your "favorites" in one same space, which is a GOOD THING. I already added to my library some of my favorites from IE.

I also used the Wallwisher which is kind of like an online bulletin board. You can post an idea or a question on a specific topic and have the students post their answers or thoughts afterwards, just like when we use the sticky notes for the various lessons in the Primary Tool Kit, but ONLINE!! I do like it, I think it is a great tool that will get everybody participating and giving their opinion in the classroom.

Tool # 5

I explore most of the sites suggested for tool #5. I found each one of them pretty interesting and fun. I created a word cloud using Wordle, it was easy. I tried ABCya, which is a tool that creates word clouds as well, but I find this one more friendly for younger users. If you scroll down on this page (ABCya) you can click on your grade level and you will find a couple of kids computer games. They are good, most of them are math or LA. They can be used in a center. Creating word clouds can be used in the classroom in any content area (selecting a topic and brainstorming on key words, reading a story and writing names of characters, setting, details, etc.)
I also went ahead and created a couple of videos of my own using animoto. I really enjoyed this one, it has all you need to create your video: pictures, music and step by step instructions!!!! You can use your own pictures and music too. I think this is a fun way to introduce or review any topic.
I found Bookr, tikatok and story bird very similar regarding the objective of the tool which would be have the students create their own books. I created a book about insects using Bookr. I used this tool last year with my students and they really enjoyed it but we had problems saving/posting their book back then. Hopefully next year will be better since we are getting all this new technology!.