Demotivational Poster

Couldn't help myself. :-)

 

 

After watching both these videos I had some mixed feelings. The original commercial left me feeling inspired that I am a part of MAET considering the message sent that education is technology. But, then I felt like the mashup makes a good point that it doesn't matter what tool you use to communicate a lecture--it's still a lecture. That's were we Ed Tech educators need to remember TPACK. It's our responsibility to promote creativity and networking by modifying tools within technology. I am excited to be a part of a group of people that is pushing forward to challenge ourselves to make the most of the resources available to us.

Content Connections: Abrams Planetarium WebQuest

Abrams Planetarium WebQuest

QuickFire Challenge: Through the Window

Our QuickFire Flickr

I had a great time putting together and participating in this QuickFire challenge. I love any lesson that incorporates creativity, especially by way of photography. I think that our group did a great job connecting the activity to an object (parts of speech) so that we could design an authentic learning activity. I like that we were able to go out and explore photography with up to date technology and out dated technology. Our finished products looked great!

Our QuickFire Photo Products!

Digital Citizenship Voicethread

My First Jing with Melissa

Personal Technology Plan

Personal Technology Plan: I envision being a technology advocate in my classroom in order to promote literacy and prepare 21st century learners.

My largest teaching interest is technological literacy and pushing all my students in their reading and writing, no matter what their level. I have some great resources I want to incorporate that are technology based. I am definitely going to incorporate kid blogging into my classroom. I specifically plan to use it as an extension in my literature circle groups. I could also see using blogging as a writing journal tool. This course, along with individuals within my PLN, inspired me to incorporate blogging into my classroom. I want to expand on digital audio books, which I feel is an excellent resource for struggling readers because it offers fluency exposure and practice. I plan to explore library programs that track library books in your class and allows student to provide feedback on books they recommend to their classmates. I am interested in developing a digital record of students’ literacy progress. I would also love to have a set of ipads in my classroom to use for literature centers.

Some of the ideas in my personal technology plan are already ideas developing in my classroom. For example, I recently set up a digital audio book library by uploading cds and renting out sets of library books. But, my school is moving forward to purchasing a subscription of a online audio book library, so I an anxious to incorporate this technological tool. I am also already track student reading progress with Accelerated Reader’s online system. But, my school does not have a program that offers tracking on each student according to all student assessments and assignments. I would be interested in piloting such a program so that teachers can better organize student data to promote efficient differentiated instruction. My school does not have any ipads, but I would be willing to look into grant writing and I know that my school would promote this technology. My school is willing to try new things and has many up to date technologies.

Partnership for 21st Century Skills

Congratulations! Your school/district is "21st Century" in its approach to education support systems. This means that, in general, over 75% of curriculum, assessments, instruction and professional development is focused on both core subject mastery and skills like critical thinking, problem solving, communication and collaboration. There is also a focus on themes like financial, civic and environmental literacy.

I agree with my school's highest scoring area: Education Support Systems. My school widely emphasizes on curriculum/objectives and making sure instruction and professional development directly relates to our school's standards. We also work to make sure our content is rigorous and taught to mastery. We are trained with resources that push critical thinking/problem solving, such as Delta Foss science kits. We also design workshop lessons, which promotes communication/collaboration between our students. Out of the possible 21st century skills, I agree that my school is doing an excellent job on Education Support Systems.

Blog SIG Group Presentation

Copy of SIG- Blogging with Students on Prezi

What is Mobile Learning?

We were given the task to create a representation of a technological idea without using technology to represent it. I chose to explore mobile learning. My model was a mobile structure that when deconstructed explored the benefits of mobile learning. The structure was built on wheels with Linkin Logs, the wheels represented mobile learning being transportable, while the Linkin Logs represented the connections made between people. The structure opened up and inside was a window and a door. The door represented the opportunities that will open to you if you are a mobile learner. The window represented the being able to see the world around you more clearly. There was also a latter that was symbolic of climbing to new heights in your learning. The latter led to a flag, which represented the success you will have if you allow yourself to be a mobile learner in the 21st century. I liked how this activity pushed me to think of mobile learning outside of the box.

My First Licensed Photograph

Photo Attribution:

Original Image: "Homework"

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5032/5866567301_26fb9b5235_m.jpg

By: Angela Marocco

Released under an Attribution Non-Commercial-No Derivative License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

Creative Commons Activity

I love this photograph! Dance is a passion of mine. I have properly cited and embedded it below! 

I incorporate images into my curriculum when students make projects such as brochures and science fair displays. I also incorporate images in presentations and newsletters. In the future, I plan on incorporating images into my classroom website and blogs. I also plan to have my students use images in their personal blogs. I am glad I now know how to properly cite and find creative common images.

Photo Attribution:

Original Image: "Untitled"

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2108/2513477206_7666bc0c98.jpg

By:dydcheung

Released under an Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/deed.en

Wordle

 

Reflections on Week One:

I have learned some great technological tools this week that I am very anxious to experiment with in my classroom. I am making a student blog site with kidblog.org as a part of our SIG. I am modifying literature circle assignments by putting them into the kidblog. The idea is that student literature circles will take turns, with our two classroom computers, posting their responses on the blog and commenting to one another. So, they will participate virtually on their assigned blogging day. I know my students will be excited about this, as it offers variety and will give the students something to look forward to during the week.

I have to admit that I was intitally frustrated with learning Twitter this week. I had a hard time adapting to the layout and lingo, such as "hashtag" and "retweet". But, now that I have familiar with the social network, I am excited to be able to use it as a professional social networking tool. I want to use twitter professionally and I think it set up in a way that allows that.

What I most excited about is blogging! I never imagined I would enjoy blogging. But, whenever we need to post to our blog I want to do it right away. I like that blogs are personal, both in content and design. I like that fellow students can comment on my work and I can also look at other student's work and comment. I like that I am tracking my development and resources along the way. It will be nice to later reference the old blog posts to see how my thinking has changed. 

The biggest thing I am taking away from week one of MAET is being a student again, rather than the teacher. I have forgotten what it's like to be the student, but I am glad I am being reminded of some feelings that my students go through. I have felt anxiety, doubt and vulnerability this week, which I dealt with by going to classmates and instructors. I am feeling like I am part of a safe learning environment. I am happy to be reminded of how important is it to foster a safe learning environment. I feel better prepared to support my students this fall now that I have again experienced being a student for the first time since I have played the "teacher" role.

Ideal for Night Blogging

Found these on my "This I Believe" photo hunt. MAETY1 students might benefit from a set...wonder if we can order in bulk...

Personal Growth Plan (First Draft)

Reflect on your teaching and educational technology learning experiences that preceded this program (undergrad, graduate, in-service, professional development, workshops, etc).

My undergrad teaching experiences covered a wide range of topics, but mostly focused on lesson design and implementation. Within lesson design, I had the opportunity to incorporate technology and was sometimes encouraged to. But I often struggled with time management of my coursework, so adding technology was not always my priority.

During my internship I was exposed to more of an enriched technology environment from my collaborating teacher. He was a technology “go to” person within our building and I found his practices inspiring. I worked with some updated technologies, such as a document camera and a classroom sound system. I used the document camera often during writer’s workshop to instantly share writing. Students were often very excited and motivated by this. I used the sound system in the classroom. I enjoyed this system and thought it made my voice well heard and helped students stay engaged.

The best experiences I have had with technology in the classroom have been in my first two years of teaching. I think is due to two reasons: resources and collaboration. I have been lucky enough to have a personal interactive white board, computers in my classroom, a sound system and access to other tools. I am also a part of the technology committee, so I have involved in technology initiatives as well. I have helped guide teachers with technology skills and have supported technology related efforts in the classroom, such as accelerated reader and audio books.

Reflect on this first week of classes and how it has changed any learning trajectories established in #1.

This first week of class has been a deep dive into technology education. But, I have pushed myself to embrace all the new tools and concepts and am feeling even more empowered than ever. Although I was feeling confident and aware due to my positive teaching experiences, I am realizing that I am even more empowered now. There are so many new tools I am learning to use for the classroom and to grow professionally. For example, I never realized networks such as twitter could be so resourceful when it comes to collaborating.

Create a personal growth plan for the remaining portion of the 2011 summer courses.

I want to continue developing my classroom blog and/or a classroom website. I think this could be a very useful school to home connection. I am excited to make an appealing webspace for my parents and students. Within my classroom blog I am looking to set up a good foundation of student blogging. I know I have more to learn about this and how I can expand my students to outside networks for comment sharing. I would also like to continue to be introduced to useful classroom tools.

Lay the foundation for a personal growth plan for the remaining portion of the MAET program (years 2 & 3) and the next five years of your career.

My goal for remaining portion of MAET is to develop a well rounded classroom webspace. I would also like to be exposed to additional tools such as interactive whiteboard software, ipads, etc. I am also hoping that I develop an even stronger online social network so that I can continue to benefit from collaboration.

In the next five years I hope I will be a very technology friendly teacher that incorporates technology opportunities on a daily basis.  Or, I hope to be a technology coordinator at a school. What I imagine my students doing is having opportunities to incorporate blogging into everyday activities. For example, I want my students to be able to blog within literature circles. This allows them a change of pace from the worksheets and puts the worksheets questions into a blog format. This not only allows comment opportunities between the students, but also allows the teacher to later see the student discussion about the books each groups are reading. I also envision my students benefiting from tools such as online audio books.  Traditional Audio books have helped my students a great deal and I am excited to explore the online audio book programs. I also want my students become more literate in their smart board skills. This would be useful so that they can design and display presentations of their own. I plan to keep myself up to date in technology by continuing to be an active member of my school’s technology committee. I also hope to take on a leadership role within the committee.

This I believe...

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

QR Code! Scan me!

 

I enjoyed making QR codes today in class! I would love to be able to share my contact information with parents at the beginning of each school year using a QR code. The only set back is the parents having a scanning tool available to them. You could print a QR code on a magnet for the parents to put on their fridge. I could also use a contact QR code on my classroom website. I think QR codes are neat, but the only drawback is not having all the resources available that QR codes require.

Which tool am I? (Quizmaker '09!)

I am Quizmaker '09! 

My Strengths

I can create graded or survey questions

I have 20 powerful question types to chose from

With me, you can simply fill out a pre-made form when making quizzes

I offer form view mode, a simply quiz design tool, where quizzes can be made in minutes and adding images is simple, there are no worries about resizing

I am versatile, as I can also offer a slide view mode if you want to be more custom when creating your quiz. In slide view I offer professionally designed themes, audio, image effects, transitions and animations.

I allow you to preview quiz to view what it will look like

I am the only quiz builder that enables switching between simple and complex design

My quizzes can provide feedback to support learners

With my branching feature learners can be directed to different slides depending on learners' answers

I also offer a randomize feature to avoid ever generating two quizzes that are the same

Weaknesses

A HUGE weakness of mine is that I am VERY costly after my free 30 day trial. Boooo!!!

I am traditionally designed for business use. 

I am a little bit time consuming to learn the program initially.

How can be you used/repurposed for an educational setting?

I can be used for formative/summative assessment use.

I automatically grade student responses.

I offer differentiated questioning opportunities with my branching feature.

I keep records of student answers and student use.

I allow students computer time.

Quizmaker relates to TPACK because you can easily make quizzes for any content area. As part of my pedagogy knowledge, I know that it is so important to have formative assessment in every lesson, in order to adjust instruction as needed. Quizmaker is a perfect tool to support formative assessment. It is also a technology related tool that requires some general technology knowledge, but is overall user friendly and applicable to TPACK.

Personal Learning Network

Personal Learning Network on Prezi

Creativity Activity Reflection

I enjoyed the creativity activities in class today. In particular, I really enjoyed the activity where we pulled a technology concept out of a bag and had to think of "multiple" uses for that technology. Angela and I pulled out RSS, which I found challenging, but inspiring, because I had to push my creative energy in order to think of a relatively new concept in a different way. My favorite new way of classifying RSS feeds was "Detective Resource". Sometimes I feel like a hard working detective when browsing the web, but RSS feeds makes it one step easier. :-)

My Dream Classroom

What's my learning style?

This survey's results are pretty spot on when thinking about myself as a learner. I love DANCE, therefore I agree that bodily-kinesthetic is one of my top learning style. I also enjoy being social and getting to know others, so it makes sense that my other top learning style is interpersonal. Lastly, I strive to have goals and I tend to be very reflective, so it makes sense that the results reveal that I am also an intrapersonal learner.

21st Century Skills

Below our my reflections and thoughts on 21st century skills pertaining to education.

How would you define 21^st century skills?

I define 21^st century skills as having the ability to adapt and adjust to the evolving world around you. Everyday, both adults and children are introduced to new concepts in our growing society. Having the courage to jump in and explore new technologies is a skill in itself. In the past a skill was defined by a pattern or specific series of events. Yet, in the 21^st century skills directly correlate to having an open mindset in order to allow yourself to adapt to the changes around you.

What is your role as a teacher in the student’s journey?

My role as a teacher is to provide students with guidance rather than manuals, so to speak. It’s our job to set up our students to be successful. This does mean keeping students adaptable and willing to be exposed to new technologies and advancements. One of our most important roles as educators is to make sure our students are technology literate to compete in the global economy.

How can you develop the skills it takes to help students?

Teachers can develop these skills by continuing their educations, as I am in the MAET program. But, it is also our responsibility to make the most of the resources available at our schools and the professional development offered to us. We, ourselves, are our best trainers in technology due to the fact that technology is constantly evolving. We will need to train ourselves at time and be willing to guide others along the way.

How can you apply this to your own school environment?

To apply these mindsets it’s important to be involved in technological initiatives and stay informed. It is also our responsibility to be driving forces in our schools in order to get our students the best resources and technology training.

What might be some of the roadblocks?

Some roadblocks include hesitant coworkers, students that are behind in technology skills, financial funds and simply the time required to invest in being a technology-enriched educator.

How can you apply these concepts in your MAET coursework?

I can apply many of these concepts as I embark on my MAET coursework. One of the most important concepts I need to embrace is change and the willingness to keep up with change. Although I may feel lost at times, it’s important for me to keep moving along so that I can be a part of the technology front within education. If I learn to overcome fears, I will be better equipped to prepare my students to embark on their technological journeys.

An introduction to me!

Tech User Survey

You are an Digital Collaborator

If you are a Digital Collaborator, you use information technology to work with and share your creations with others. You are enthusiastic about how ICTs help you connect with others and confident in your ability to manage digital devices and information. For you, the digital commons can be a camp, a lab, or a theater group – places to gather with others to develop something new.

I am not surprised that I am considered a Digital Collaborator. I am confident with digital devices and enjoy sharing with others online. But, interestingly enough, I don't find myself to be much of a personal sharer.  But, I am enthusiastic and eager to share my technology knowledge with others!

Integrated Technology/Social Media

I have integrated technology into my classroom in multiple ways the last two years. I have taught my students how to use our interactive white board. I have made assignments based on Microsoft word and publisher, such as “spelling” newsletters, presentations and brochures. I email a digital copy of our classroom newsletter to parents every week. I have also taught my students to successfully navigate accelerated reader tools on the internet. One resource is Accelerated Reader book finder, which gives the students ownership to research the books they are interested in reading or have already read (AR BookFinder). 

I took on an initiative to create a digital library for audio books to be available to my students. This helped motivate struggling readers and help to challenge high readers. My school recently purchased an audio book program, which makes offering audio books easier because Cd's do not need to be uploaded with this program. Check it out: Tumble Book Library (K-5) Tumble Readables (6-12) 

I have not integrated social media into my classroom. I think that resources such as glogster would be age appropriate for my third graders. I think this program, among others, offers an interactive/hands on way of creating profiles, presentations, etc. This would allow my students to grow as technology users and explore their creativity. Such resources especially help students that struggle with traditional paper and pencil assignments. I would be hesitant to explore using twitter in my classroom due to their young age. Yet, I am excited to start my own classroom blog as a school home connection resource. I think this would keep both students and parents informed on classroom updates, homework, projects, etc.