2010 OTEN conference.

So here is my Yodio from the OTEN conference.  I had some mixed feelings about it, but you will have to listen to it if you want to know how I felt. :-).

I mention a couple of programs to use for concept maps.  VUE is one of them which is really cool.  The other one is called Webspiration, which is also pretty darn cool.  I really suggest you take a look at one or both of them if you can see yourself using and creating concept maps in your classroom!

assignment 6.

After reading through the Oregon standards related to technology in the classroom, it seems as if they are promoting educational uses of technology for students.  The government realizes that technology is now part of our everyday routines, and they find it important for students to be able to use technology.  It is our job as educators to make sure that students can do basic things related to technology (word processing, researching skills, etc.).  They also want students to understand the importance of digital citizenship and responsibility.  In other words, we need to make sure that students are using technology in an appropriate manner as to not harm others.

In order to make sure that my students reach these standards, I could require all essays to be typed and to have at least one source be a digital source.  This requires students to be able to navigate on the Internet as well as use a word processor.  I could promote digital citizenship and responsibility by teaching my students correct ways of using the Internet and all of the tools it offers.  I could also explain to them what could happen if they choose not to be responsible while using technology.

screentoaster-assignment 4

Record your screencast online

For my screentoaster assignment, I made a google presentation.  I talked about why Google Documents is a good thing to incorporate in to your classroom.  I also talked about a few of the negatives to Google Documents.  At the end of my presentation, I showed the ease at which you can add photos or imbed a link to your presentation.  Also how to change the backdrops of each slide.  The one thing that I noticed was that 3-5 minutes goes by super fast.

here is a my screentoaster video.

sadly, screentoaster.com has gone offline, therefore trying to view my video is pretty much impossible at this point.  after a minor crisis, i was reassured that since it has already been assessed, there really is no crisis.  i did, however, learn my lesson from this.  technology is a great resource, but it is also very unpredictable, especially when it comes to resources on the internet.  i now know that i should back up everything i do.  in the case of my screentoaster video, i should have downloaded the video, which would have eliminated this crisis all together..

spread sheet assignment.

The first sheet you see is just my practice sheet where I worked with numbers and formulas to get myself familiar with Google sheets.  The second is the chart that I used to graph all of those numbers.  Again, it was just to get myself familiar with the program and everything that I would need to use for the assignment.

The chart with all of the students should be the next sheet.  This has all of the students listed by their averaged scored of Tests 6-10.  The students with the lowest scores are at the top, and then it goes in chronological order to the bottom.  The row below all of the students is the average score for each test.  A few rows below the last chart is the average score for every score on tests 6-10.

The next sheet is a table of all the students whose average is below the average of all the scores for the tests.  In other words, every students who has an average below 191.92 is listed on this sheet.  This spread sheet is helpful when looking at the growth of students over the last 5 tests.  When analyzing the students that have not achieved the class average, it is important to look at their scores and see if they have gotten better scores on each test they take.  If their scores have been raised every time, then you know that they are making progress and that your teaching methods are making sense to them.  If they are not raising their score every time, then you know that you have to adjust your methods with them.

The last sheet is just a bar graph of all of the students who fall below the class average.  It is charting their score on each test.  This is a good way to visually see the trends of each student.

click to go to my actual spread sheet!

my favorite web 2.0 tools.

i believe that web 2.0 means using the internet to use applications that were formally not available on the internet such as word processing and presentations.


dropbox
dropbox is basically an online hard drive that enables you to store files on the web as well as share files with other people without having to be on the same network.  it is also an easy way to sync data between differnet computers (mac vs. pc).  dropbox could be used to increase productivity among my students because it makes it easier for them to access their documents from multiple computers.  they could do work at home as well as at school or the public library.  this also applies to me as a teacher.  i am able to work on documents such as lesson plans while i am at home and still be able to access them when i am in my classroom.

screen toaster
screen toaster is an online way for you to record what is on your computer screen.  it is very easy to use.  all you have to do is go to the website, open your document (presentation, word document, pictures, etc.), press record, go through each slide and outside sources, then hit stop recording.  you have the option of viewing what you have recorded, saving it, or uploading it somewhere such as youtube.  this application is an easy way of making presentation or documents available to a large audience.  students can record their presentations and any outside sources that go with their presentation and upload it to youtube.  that way every other student in your class has access to their document.

google presentation.

my tool was the presentation function on google.  it works almost exactly like powerpoint, in that you can make slide show presentations.  i think google presentations might enhance education in many ways.  you can make the presentation public so your students can access it outside of class.  you can easily view it from other classrooms or rooms in the school.  you can also share the presentation with other teachers within your department and teachers across the country.  your students can also easily work on group projects without having to physically get together outside of class.

it was fairly easy for me to learn google presentations.  i use powerpoint often, and it works very similar to powerpoint.  i contributed to my group's presentation by making the first slide and inserting the picture.  i also made the "enhancing the classroom" slide.

see our presentation!

blogging in the classroom.

blogging can be an effective tool in education.  there are many ways in which it can be used both inside the classroom and as a tool for students at home.  here are just a few ways that i could possibly see myself using a blog as an educator...

1. having a blog is a good place to put lesson plans for the day and what was discussed in class as well as homework assignments.  this is useful because sometimes when students are at home doing homework, they more not remember in detail what they did in a certain class.  having access to a blog to see what was covered and what is expected of them before next class is beneficial.  students can also leave comments on each post if they have questions.  that way both you as the teacher and their fellow peers can answer the question.

2. a teacher's blog can also be the place in which online discussions take place among students.  this way all the students have access to discussions and can see what all of their classmates are saying in one place.  it also saves the teacher time because all the posts are in one spot.  he/she would not have to look in a bunch of different places to see who has/has not participated in the discussion.

i also looked at some social studies teachers' blogs.  these are the ones that i liked the best.  this one is more for teachers and lesson planning. This blog is a great resource for how to structure a blog for your students to use to post assignments and sources. This is another great example of using blogging as a place to post lesson plans.

those are just a couple examples of the many ways in which blogging can be a useful tool in educational systems.