KHPS - Thing 5

Both lessons I would use from Thinkfinity include student interactive resources from Read Write Think.  The first is a persuasive writing map that helps students plan out a persuasive writing essay.  I actually use this already this year, and it really helped the students organize their thoughts.

Persuasive Writing Map

The second student interactive that I would use is a business letter/friendly letter maker.  This program guides you through all the steps in a business letter, and even allows you to print when you're done.  Business letters are so specific that this interactive allows students to easily abide by the correct format.

Business Letter/Friendly Letter Format

Student Websites and Blogs

I have begun a project with my class involving developing their own website.  I have found them to be highly motivated thus far.  I have scripted out exactly what pages they need, as well as how many blogs.  My class is blogging weekly on two things:  First, they all set a goal for themselves, so they blog on how the goal is coming along.  Second, they reflect on something they have learned throughout the week.  Thus far, the students are doing a really good job, and as I mentioned before, they are very engaged.  I intend to use these websites as an e-portfolio during spring conferences.  I currently use weebly for my student sites.  It isn't free, but it is relatively cheap (I think it's $40 per year).  There are, however, several free student blogging sites.  Edublog and Kidblog are two free sites for blogging.

Adaptive Learning

While reading Free Tech 4 Teachers, I came across a new blog that I intend to start following.  It is called Adaptive Learning and is written by Beth Crumpler.

The specific post that caught my attention was about sight word recognition and ELL students.  She found that many of her ELL students were struggling to practice their sight words at home because parents often didn't know how to pronounce them either.  She created audio files to go with all of the early sight words.  There is also a practice page that goes with each list of words.  The practice page goes right along with her audio.  To top it all off, it's FREE!  Please check it out, I think it could be a great resource for early elementary, especially for ELL kids.

The post is called: Sight Word Acquisition Book & Accompanying mp3 Files.

Math Chimp

Math Chimp is a website that has math games on it.  There are a lot of different math games out there on the web, and finding which ones connect to which standards is a fairly daunting task.  Math Chimp is split by grade level and math content.  From there you can find different games that connect directly to those topics.  Just one more site that makes a teacher's job just a little easier!

Notes.io

What is it?

Notes.io is a free note taking site.  Go to notes.io and start typing in your notes.  Then you can hit the "short" button & it creates a shortened url where you can access your notes.  At this point you can't save your notes, and once you shorten the url, you can't edit the notes either.  By looking around the site, I noticed a couple of features that are "coming soon".  Those features will allow you to e-mail notes, attach documents to notes, print and save notes.

How can I use it?

The first thing I thought of is the teacher taking notes to study for a test, then sharing the link with students.  You could also have students take their own notes (assuming they have their own devices) during class, then use them for when they get home.  Notes.io is a very simple website to maneuver, even for hesitant tech users.

The history of a flipped classroom

I think this infographic does a fantastic job explaining the history & rationale behind a flipped classroom.    I found it John Medici's blog.

Edmodo: A Social Networking Site for Students/Teachers

What is it?

Edmodo is one of the tools that I use most often with my class.  Edmodo looks very similar to facebook and works in essentially the same way...except that it is totally overseen by the teacher.  There are a lot of features on edmodo.  Such as:  posting discussions and assignments, posting grades, creating small groups & recording homework.  Added bonus:  it's free!

How can I use it?

There are a lot of things that I like about edmodo.  For starters, when the students send messages, they can only send them to the whole group (not to each other specifically) and the teacher can see everything.  Also, there is a parent code which allows the parents to see their child's grades and the discussion boards that their child is a part of.  In addition, the students have the potential to earn "badges" for a number of different things and this has proven to be highly motivating for the kids!  I am also flipping my math classroom (for more information about that, click here) and I use edmodo as a place to post the videos for my math class.

For a wealth of information about edmodo and how to use it in your classroom, visit Richard Byrne's blog freetech4teachers.  He has many, many, many resources to help you incorporate technology into your classroom!

Weebly

What is it?
Weebly is a very user friendly web site creator.  An added bonus...it's free!  Of course there is an upgrade option, but for general day-to-day use, the free site offers many great resources.  Weebly has great customer service as well.  If you are interested in creating a classroom website, this is where I would start.

How can I use it?
I actually have three different weebly sites that I have created.  The first is my classroom website that I use to post a classroom calendar, photos of what we've been working on in class, and interesting websites for students and parents.  You can also post videos (if you pay the premium fee).  I've used that feature to post tutorials on difficult math concepts.  I also have a classroom blog that I update instead of using a newsletter.  The second weebly site that I have is designed and created by students in the journalism club at our school.  They dubbed it the Alpine Advance.  Everything you see on this site the students created.  Finally, I created a weebly site as my final project for my Ed. Specialist Degree.  This site was used to show everything I'd learned throughout my courses.

As a teacher, you can also create student accounts.  I intend to utilize this option this year as a way for each child to have an e-portfolio.

Khan Academy

I am currently attempting a "flipped classroom" model.  In a flipped classroom model, my students watch my lecture as homework (the video is posted on our class Edmodo site), then come to class & do what used to be homework in the classroom.  One of the wonderful problems I'm running into is that students are finishing up the in-class homework quickly & are looking for extensions...this is where Khan Academy comes into play.

What is it?
Khan Academy is an on-line tool that has over 2,000 videos teaching a variety of content.  Most of Khan Academy focuses on math.  The creator of Khan Academy is a man named Salman Khan, and he recently did a TED Talks about Khan Academy, which I've embedded below.  Khan Academy utilizes something called a knowledge map.  The knowledge map begins with the most basic math (single digit addition).  The student must answer 10 questions correctly about a concept for the knowledge map to show proficiency, then it lights up with the next steps you could work on.  If you don't know how to solve a problem, there is an option to get hints, and also watch a video teaching the concept.

How could I use it? 
I intend to use Khan Academy as an extension once the children have mastered the content from the classroom.  An added bonus of Khan Academy is that as a teacher, you can sign up as a "coach".  If you're students sign you on as their coach, you can see where exactly they are, and if there are any areas that need to be addressed (these show up in red for your viewing).  There are a lot of other reports that are available to view as well.

There are some potential issues.
If your school blocks youtube, then the students will not be able to view the videos.  Also, the students need a google account to be able to log-on and save their progress.  If your school is a google school (as mine is) then that is not a problem.  Finally, the amount you can utilize Khan Academy is going to be determined by how much access you have to computers.  If you can only get to a computer lab once a week, then you're ability to utilize this program will be quite limited.

Google docs

What is it?
When I hear people speak of 21st Century learning, collaboration and technology are two major buzz words.  Google docs is one format that allows you to use technology to collaborate.  Google docs is a cloud based word processing program.  All you need to be able to utilize Google docs is a Google account...which is free.  There are a lot of features that I like, but some of my favorites are:  the ability to collaborate with other people on a document & not have to worry about having multiple versions of the document, the ability to comment on other people's documents, and the automatic save.  On a Google doc you never have to press save, as it saves automatically with every keystroke.  

How could I use it?
As a teacher, I use Google docs with my students.  My school is a Google school, meaning all the students have a Google account without needing an e-mail address.  This allows the students to be able to work on documents from wherever they are (home or school) and share them with me.  I can then utilize the "comments" option & give them feedback on how they can improve their writing.  

Google docs isn't just a place where you can make a document.  You can also make presentations (similar to Powerpoint), spreadsheets, and even quizzes for your class to take on-line.  There are a variety of templates you can choose from, and you have the ability to make your own template as well.    For more information about Google docs, please watch this video.

On-line Planbook

What is it?
PlanbookEdu is an on-line planbook that allows you to edit your plans from anywhere you have computer access.  You can choose your schedule type, so it works for all levels K-12.  It is also very simple to use.  You can use & edit the free version.  There is also a $25 per year cost that allows you to use a variety of other features.  Such as: printing your schedule, sharing your planbook with a colleague, attaching files to your plans and having the Common Core State Standards easily searchable within your lessons.

How could I use it?
As a teacher, changes in your weekly schedule happen...often.  It never fails that as soon as I have my schedule set, printed and beautiful I get notice that one of my specials has been changed.  PlanbookEdu allows you to quickly and easily make changes.  I also like the feature of attaching documents, as like most teachers, I do a lot of additional work at home.  In addition, the shared feature allows you to share plans with another teacher, so if you are so sick you cannot even make it to work to make plans...you still have a way to get your lessons to school.  Finally, even though we aren't using the CCSS yet, it is coming, and the feature that allows you to designate a standard to your lesson is very easy to navigate and use.

"How to Do Research" infographic

What is it?
In one of our "back to school" meetings we had recently, we were discussing the Common Core Standards.  Informational text is going to be a major focus, as well as creating independent thinkers.  Teachers, in general, tend to give too much information, and not require the kids to do as much thinking.  One of my collegues mentioned some of the steps to good research, which reminded me of this infographic I found recently.  It was created by the Kentucky Virtual Library.  It takes you (or better yet, the students) through the steps to doing research.  The part I like the most about this infographic is that it is completely interactive.  You can click on any of the steps and find more information about that stage of research.

How could I use it?
I envision directing my students to the site & having them explore it on there own.  Following the exploration, we would have a discussion around the different stages of research and their importance.  Depending on the age of the students, they might need a little more guidence.  I could see creating a note taking form for some kids...but is that just me wanting to guide them too much?

What is this blog all about?

One of the things I love about teaching, is learning about new technology and figuring out ways to tie it into my classroom.  That is the purpose of this blog.  It is written by a teacher and is meant to be used read by teachers.  I hope that your find this information helpful and applicable to your classroom!