Inspired by Taini's math Voki!
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Model Educator and Teacher Blogs
As I explored the never ending ins and outs of the different blogs there were two that stuck out in my mind.
1. Tales From a K-1 Classroom: live, love. teach, share
and
2. Lessons from the Fourth Dimension
"Tales From a K-1 Classroom" looked as if I could have designed it! I'm pretty sure that's why I liked it so much, it was very visually appealing to me. I also liked how, Sara, the author (see, fate that I like her blog (; ) included resources for other teachers to use. Some blogs feel more like a place to post what their classes are doing, where Sara's blog also provided support/resources for others. The only this I was not I did not like were the many, many photos of her students. Maybe I am the minority on the subject but I would not want my child are part of a blog for the world to see, education blog or not.
Click to enter Tales From a K-1 Classroom
"Lessons from the Fourth Dimension" was another blog that also offered resources for teachers. The first post on the the page was a list of books recommended by the fifth grade students. I like that idea, students usually like recommendations better when they come from peers rather than teachers. The author also had a blog about tips to keep the school year running smoothly from the start. There were some good pointers from sub plans to starting a parent email chain. The author also included Animotos and digital stories that were created with her students. With these posts were the steps the students took to create these digital items and any trouble shooting tips for other teachers and students to be successful with similar projects. Thank you!
Click to enter Lesson from the Fourth Dimension
1. Tales From a K-1 Classroom: live, love. teach, share
and
2. Lessons from the Fourth Dimension
"Tales From a K-1 Classroom" looked as if I could have designed it! I'm pretty sure that's why I liked it so much, it was very visually appealing to me. I also liked how, Sara, the author (see, fate that I like her blog (; ) included resources for other teachers to use. Some blogs feel more like a place to post what their classes are doing, where Sara's blog also provided support/resources for others. The only this I was not I did not like were the many, many photos of her students. Maybe I am the minority on the subject but I would not want my child are part of a blog for the world to see, education blog or not.
Click to enter Tales From a K-1 Classroom
"Lessons from the Fourth Dimension" was another blog that also offered resources for teachers. The first post on the the page was a list of books recommended by the fifth grade students. I like that idea, students usually like recommendations better when they come from peers rather than teachers. The author also had a blog about tips to keep the school year running smoothly from the start. There were some good pointers from sub plans to starting a parent email chain. The author also included Animotos and digital stories that were created with her students. With these posts were the steps the students took to create these digital items and any trouble shooting tips for other teachers and students to be successful with similar projects. Thank you!
Click to enter Lesson from the Fourth Dimension
Diigo List: Blogs
My favorite blog by far was the one titled, "Why My Six-Year-Old Students Have Digital Portfolios: Getting Smart". At first glance I was intrigued but not sure if I like the idea that the "world" had access to these students' blogs. My first thought was privacy and safety from a parent point of view. As I entered and explored the class' actual blog I was happy to see that the children created digitally drawn images of themselves and that the children where heard but not seem in their videos. Some other class blogs had pictures of the children and honestly, I did not like that anyone had access to them.
I viewed some students "Responsibilities, Rules, and Relationships" postings and I liked how the students lead their own discussions but the teacher was able to dig deeper and pull more from the students as needed. While filming, the teacher had the students think more critically about their responsibilities, rules, and relationships. Well done!
The students' first blogs were similar to ours. Each child simply posted something. As the students were only in the first month of first grade the teacher translated what the text said. It is amazing to scroll through their work and see how far their academic ability has come; as well as their technology ability. Wow! They have surpassed my blogging abilities! Students have videos, texts, illustrations, StoryBird books and even audio of them reading. It is a great collection of work.
From the parent side, parents must love the opportunity to see what their children are learning through video clips and blog posts. From the student side, they must get so excited to see comments from their family encouraging their learning.
Want to be amazed too? Click the link below...
http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=1337
I viewed some students "Responsibilities, Rules, and Relationships" postings and I liked how the students lead their own discussions but the teacher was able to dig deeper and pull more from the students as needed. While filming, the teacher had the students think more critically about their responsibilities, rules, and relationships. Well done!
The students' first blogs were similar to ours. Each child simply posted something. As the students were only in the first month of first grade the teacher translated what the text said. It is amazing to scroll through their work and see how far their academic ability has come; as well as their technology ability. Wow! They have surpassed my blogging abilities! Students have videos, texts, illustrations, StoryBird books and even audio of them reading. It is a great collection of work.
From the parent side, parents must love the opportunity to see what their children are learning through video clips and blog posts. From the student side, they must get so excited to see comments from their family encouraging their learning.
Want to be amazed too? Click the link below...
http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=1337
New Literacies for New Times - Chapter 3
While reading this chapter I followed the link to "Internet Project: Preparing Students for New Literacies in a Global Village" from the Reading Journal. Here a question was posed, "How do we teach children to continuously become literate?" My thoughts exactly! We know that technology is always changing and we need to change and evolve with it. As adults this is hard enough. How do we stay ahead of it and in turn teach our student to evolve and keep up? The "Internet Project" is one suggested way. I searched through some of the web based projects involving webquests and websited to interact with Flat Stanley and Journey North. I think students would be excited to be part of each web based project.
You can find the article from Reading Online by clicking the link below.
http://www.readingonline.org/electronic/elec_index.asp?HREF=rt/3-01_column/index.html
The next heading introduced WebQuests. I am familiar with webquests as they were part of technology classes I took during my undergrad work. I particularly loved the link to the WebQuest page or WebQuest.org. Using the tab on the left side of the screen I clicked "Find WebQuests" and was able to search an online database for various WebQuests. I searched for Jan Brett WebQuests and was provided with numerous choices. I explored some that looked promising to use with my students. Many were still functional while others had many links that were no longer available. All in all I should be able to use at least a couple.
If you are in need of a WebQuest follow the link below to search for your topic!
http://questgarden.com/search/
You can find the article from Reading Online by clicking the link below.
http://www.readingonline.org/electronic/elec_index.asp?HREF=rt/3-01_column/index.html
The next heading introduced WebQuests. I am familiar with webquests as they were part of technology classes I took during my undergrad work. I particularly loved the link to the WebQuest page or WebQuest.org. Using the tab on the left side of the screen I clicked "Find WebQuests" and was able to search an online database for various WebQuests. I searched for Jan Brett WebQuests and was provided with numerous choices. I explored some that looked promising to use with my students. Many were still functional while others had many links that were no longer available. All in all I should be able to use at least a couple.
If you are in need of a WebQuest follow the link below to search for your topic!
http://questgarden.com/search/
Sunday, March 18, 2012
New Literacies for New Times - Chapter 1 and Storybird.com
With new technologies introduced with the use of the Internet in the 21st century there has been the creation of "new literacies". According to Leu, Leu, and Jone (2009) new literacies allow students to identify important questions, navigate complex
information networks to locate appropriate information, critically
evaluate that information, synthesize it to address those
questions, and then communicate the answers to others. The Internet has become a place where millions of people from all over the world are able to communicate and interact with each other. As educators, we need to prepare our students for the "work" they to can be part of using the Internet. International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) created The National Educational Technology Standards (NETS). NETS are the standards for what students, as well as teachers, need to know (knowledge) and be able to do (skills) in the digital age. NETS for students include standards for collaboration and communication, creativity, critical thinking, and digital citizenship. Standards for teachers include profession growth, digital age learning, as well as digital citizenship.
While exploring, I feel in love with Storybirds! After taking a tour of Storybird.com I created my own account for myself and my students to use in the classroom. Storybird is an interactive website where adults and children can create their own digital books for others to share. When creating a book, you can choose your artwork provided by different artists and the theme for your book. Then you add the images and type your own text onto each page. Once a book is finished you can view it on your computer, email it to others, and order a published paper copy of your book.
Storybirds is an amazing tool I can use with my students in my class. They can choose the artwork and make their own books to share with friends and family as digital versions and/or purchase a published copy of their books. How could students not see themselves as authors with Storybird?!
Follow the link below to enjoy my very first Storybird book!
http://storybird.com/books/happy-heart/?token=37b4np
While exploring, I feel in love with Storybirds! After taking a tour of Storybird.com I created my own account for myself and my students to use in the classroom. Storybird is an interactive website where adults and children can create their own digital books for others to share. When creating a book, you can choose your artwork provided by different artists and the theme for your book. Then you add the images and type your own text onto each page. Once a book is finished you can view it on your computer, email it to others, and order a published paper copy of your book.
Storybirds is an amazing tool I can use with my students in my class. They can choose the artwork and make their own books to share with friends and family as digital versions and/or purchase a published copy of their books. How could students not see themselves as authors with Storybird?!
Follow the link below to enjoy my very first Storybird book!
http://storybird.com/books/happy-heart/?token=37b4np
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
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