I chose to think back to why I wanted to be a teacher and wanted to discuss that on the video. I found that using a cell phone to create a digital story was easier than I expected, however having an Iphone certainly didn't hurt. I put my recordings into Imovie where I was able to edit the shots that I wanted to use, add text slides, and add a transition from one of my video recordings to another. All of my recordings came from the cell phone, and were pretty much complete, so it was easy to edit in Imovie. After viewing the video, I wish I had better lighting, but overall I thought my sound was okay. I got nervous on screen and at times just felt like I was having a conversation with the phone:)
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Creating a digital story using a cell phone...
I chose to think back to why I wanted to be a teacher and wanted to discuss that on the video. I found that using a cell phone to create a digital story was easier than I expected, however having an Iphone certainly didn't hurt. I put my recordings into Imovie where I was able to edit the shots that I wanted to use, add text slides, and add a transition from one of my video recordings to another. All of my recordings came from the cell phone, and were pretty much complete, so it was easy to edit in Imovie. After viewing the video, I wish I had better lighting, but overall I thought my sound was okay. I got nervous on screen and at times just felt like I was having a conversation with the phone:)
Friday, June 17, 2011
Interview: Miss Wilburn's experience with the use of cell phones in her classroom
For this cell phone project interview, I contacted various people and did not hear back from anyone. As of last night, I decided to post my assignment on Facebook, and to my surprise, a few of my "education" friends got back to me right away. I chuckled and thought to myself, "Ah, the speed and wonders of social networking." :)
I decided to conduct a conversation with one of my friends, Christina, who actually took this class in the past for her Master's Degree. Since then, she has stepped out and tried using cell phones in her classroom...it gave me some hope:) We started talking via Facebook, and then I just decided to email her my questions and then later call her to discuss her answers once she got back to me.
Christina teaches at Hempfield High School, and she is one of the technology leaders in her building. To begin our conversation, I wanted to make sure I covered all of the areas that we needed as well as a few other questions that I had. As of now, I am not one that supports the use of cell phones in education based on the fact that I teach 6th grade, but I am finding that the more I talk to people about it, and the more great ideas I hear about it, the better I begin to feel.
Here are the questions that I asked Christina, along with her responses...
1.What types of cell phone projects do you use in your classroom? She mentioned that she uses something called the "Poll Everywhere" system which is a question and answer forum. She also said that she used something called "Rained Out" which provides classroom updates. She mentioned that she has used "Rained Out" to help deliver cancellations to her team since she coaches. I coach as well so I thought this would be a great thing to use when sending messages to my team since most of the girls have their phones attached to their hip.
2. What made you first decide to venture into this area? Christina responded by saying, "I’m a technology leader in our school and all of the leaders have monthly meetings. 'Poll Everywhere' was presented to us by our technology coach. She frequently provides us with new tools and websites to use in the classroom. I thought this sounded like fun so I decided to give it a try. I heard about Rained Out at a technology conference and decided to give it a try."
3. Does your school have a policy or procedure on what teachers need to do if they want to start using a new technology in their classroom? Christina's response was, "Honestly, there is no specific policy in place. We have a lot of freedom to incorporate whatever we want, as long as we feel that it is beneficial to the students' learning. If there is anything that we find that we may be unsure of, we have technology coaches that we can ask to see if it is appropriate to use."
*I could relate to this situation because our district does not a problem with us trying new technologies...in fact, they want us to try new things that will engage the students, and they are more than willing to help us when we make those attempts.
4. Did you ask for permission first? I wasn't surprised with Christina's answer for this question (she said no) since the things she is using in her classrooms with cell phones was presented to her at a technology conference that she attended. Most teachers take those things shown to us and use them as often as possible knowing that they are already approved and safe.
5. What is/was the feedback from your students? Christina said, "Many of the students LOVED it! They thought it was so cool that they could take out their cell phones in class which is normally forbidden. 'Poll Everywhere' is very easy to use as well, which is nice because you are not running around like crazy answering tons of questions. Students also enjoy the classroom reminders that are sent via 'Rained Out.'"
6. Did you have to involve the parents of your students at all, and if so, what is/was their typical feedback? In this case, Christina said she did not involve the parents of her students. She mentioned that she felt that this was acceptable to use without permission since there was not any personal information being shared. The only thing she wanted to check into before doing the project was what students had texting plans. Most of her high school students knew the answer to this, but she said if someone did not have one, then she would encourage them to talk to their parents or she would then call their parents.
*I could see this as being an issue in my room since I teach 6th grade, as well as the fact that our policy does not permit cell phones. Our policy would need to be changed in order for me to use this type of technology. I feel as though most of my kids have phones, which also have texting, but I would probably first send home a letter describing what I was planning to do as well as talk to parents about the texting. The last thing I would want to do is make their bill go higher!
7. What do you do if not all students have cell phones? Based on the fact that Christina teaches high school, she said she typically reminds them at least 2-3 days prior to the activity about making sure they bring their cell phone to class. If they do not bring in a cell phone, she then pairs them up with one another. They are allowed to interact with one another, discuss what they think the answer is to the question, and then text it in.
8. What challenges did you face? Christina mentioned that "Poll Everywhere" is so easy to use so she really has not had many problems with this site. The only challenge she faced was not having all students bring in a cell phone, which is expected since high school students have a tendency to forget, or they may not own a phone. She said there are always ways around it though.
9. Do you have any advice you have for fellow teachers who want to do this...meaning using the two sites she used? Christina answered this question by saying, "Don’t be afraid! Take some time to learn the site, set up questions, and you’re practically good to go! It makes for a very fun and exciting class period!"
*I want to thank Christina for taking the time to answer my distress call on Facebook, and for taking the time to answer my questions. I felt that we had a great conversation and I was able to learn a lot about the simple things that you can do with cell phones in your classroom. I still have my opinions, but after talking to her, I felt more at ease and felt a little more confident in knowing that you at least have to give it a try to see how it works. I am curious to see what would come from me asking if I could try this with 6th graders, with the understanding that I would need to contact parents first. Christina and I discussed the questions that I mentioned above as well as a few other variations based on the different grade levels that we teach.
*I definitely would like to try to use the "Rained Out" site for coaching since it would alleviate trying to contact all the girls in case practice is canceled or changed, but I am still brainstorming ideas for the cell phones in the classroom. Like I mentioned before, I'm still hesitant about using cell phones, but talking to Christina definitely made me feel a little more at ease:)
I decided to conduct a conversation with one of my friends, Christina, who actually took this class in the past for her Master's Degree. Since then, she has stepped out and tried using cell phones in her classroom...it gave me some hope:) We started talking via Facebook, and then I just decided to email her my questions and then later call her to discuss her answers once she got back to me.
Christina teaches at Hempfield High School, and she is one of the technology leaders in her building. To begin our conversation, I wanted to make sure I covered all of the areas that we needed as well as a few other questions that I had. As of now, I am not one that supports the use of cell phones in education based on the fact that I teach 6th grade, but I am finding that the more I talk to people about it, and the more great ideas I hear about it, the better I begin to feel.
Here are the questions that I asked Christina, along with her responses...
1.What types of cell phone projects do you use in your classroom? She mentioned that she uses something called the "Poll Everywhere" system which is a question and answer forum. She also said that she used something called "Rained Out" which provides classroom updates. She mentioned that she has used "Rained Out" to help deliver cancellations to her team since she coaches. I coach as well so I thought this would be a great thing to use when sending messages to my team since most of the girls have their phones attached to their hip.
2. What made you first decide to venture into this area? Christina responded by saying, "I’m a technology leader in our school and all of the leaders have monthly meetings. 'Poll Everywhere' was presented to us by our technology coach. She frequently provides us with new tools and websites to use in the classroom. I thought this sounded like fun so I decided to give it a try. I heard about Rained Out at a technology conference and decided to give it a try."
3. Does your school have a policy or procedure on what teachers need to do if they want to start using a new technology in their classroom? Christina's response was, "Honestly, there is no specific policy in place. We have a lot of freedom to incorporate whatever we want, as long as we feel that it is beneficial to the students' learning. If there is anything that we find that we may be unsure of, we have technology coaches that we can ask to see if it is appropriate to use."
*I could relate to this situation because our district does not a problem with us trying new technologies...in fact, they want us to try new things that will engage the students, and they are more than willing to help us when we make those attempts.
4. Did you ask for permission first? I wasn't surprised with Christina's answer for this question (she said no) since the things she is using in her classrooms with cell phones was presented to her at a technology conference that she attended. Most teachers take those things shown to us and use them as often as possible knowing that they are already approved and safe.
5. What is/was the feedback from your students? Christina said, "Many of the students LOVED it! They thought it was so cool that they could take out their cell phones in class which is normally forbidden. 'Poll Everywhere' is very easy to use as well, which is nice because you are not running around like crazy answering tons of questions. Students also enjoy the classroom reminders that are sent via 'Rained Out.'"
6. Did you have to involve the parents of your students at all, and if so, what is/was their typical feedback? In this case, Christina said she did not involve the parents of her students. She mentioned that she felt that this was acceptable to use without permission since there was not any personal information being shared. The only thing she wanted to check into before doing the project was what students had texting plans. Most of her high school students knew the answer to this, but she said if someone did not have one, then she would encourage them to talk to their parents or she would then call their parents.
*I could see this as being an issue in my room since I teach 6th grade, as well as the fact that our policy does not permit cell phones. Our policy would need to be changed in order for me to use this type of technology. I feel as though most of my kids have phones, which also have texting, but I would probably first send home a letter describing what I was planning to do as well as talk to parents about the texting. The last thing I would want to do is make their bill go higher!
7. What do you do if not all students have cell phones? Based on the fact that Christina teaches high school, she said she typically reminds them at least 2-3 days prior to the activity about making sure they bring their cell phone to class. If they do not bring in a cell phone, she then pairs them up with one another. They are allowed to interact with one another, discuss what they think the answer is to the question, and then text it in.
8. What challenges did you face? Christina mentioned that "Poll Everywhere" is so easy to use so she really has not had many problems with this site. The only challenge she faced was not having all students bring in a cell phone, which is expected since high school students have a tendency to forget, or they may not own a phone. She said there are always ways around it though.
9. Do you have any advice you have for fellow teachers who want to do this...meaning using the two sites she used? Christina answered this question by saying, "Don’t be afraid! Take some time to learn the site, set up questions, and you’re practically good to go! It makes for a very fun and exciting class period!"
*I want to thank Christina for taking the time to answer my distress call on Facebook, and for taking the time to answer my questions. I felt that we had a great conversation and I was able to learn a lot about the simple things that you can do with cell phones in your classroom. I still have my opinions, but after talking to her, I felt more at ease and felt a little more confident in knowing that you at least have to give it a try to see how it works. I am curious to see what would come from me asking if I could try this with 6th graders, with the understanding that I would need to contact parents first. Christina and I discussed the questions that I mentioned above as well as a few other variations based on the different grade levels that we teach.
*I definitely would like to try to use the "Rained Out" site for coaching since it would alleviate trying to contact all the girls in case practice is canceled or changed, but I am still brainstorming ideas for the cell phones in the classroom. Like I mentioned before, I'm still hesitant about using cell phones, but talking to Christina definitely made me feel a little more at ease:)
Thursday, June 9, 2011
"JAM Session" on Bullying
Here we are! Enjoy...still working on getting the adds out. Our poll didn't work either:(
"JAM Session" on Bullying
Update...due to technical difficulties the JAM session will take place at 8.
Sorry for any confusion.
Sorry for any confusion.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
"JAM Session" on Bullying
Jess, Megan, and I will be hosting our own round table discussion on bullying in the elementary school at 7:15 EST on Thursday June 9, 2011. Please feel free to join us.
Stay tuned for details and links to our broadcast:)
Stay tuned for details and links to our broadcast:)
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Using Social Networking in the Classroom: Social Studies
I decided to integrate social networking into one of my Social Studies lessons that I teach. I decided to use Edmodo since it is a social networking site, very much like Facebook, but designed for educational use. It is a safe social networking site for students and teachers, which in my opinion, is crucial when using these tools in the classroom. I have heard of many success stories about using Edmodo in the classroom, so I thought I would give it a go. I started an Edmodo site and have been posting a few things to get started with the lesson, but I am still trying to find out how to change the name of the post to be a historical figure like they did in the examples, as well as adding a video. I added a Discovery Ed video to one of my posts by using a link.
Here is the link to the Edmodo site that I will plan to use for my Chapter 17 Lesson 4 social networking activity: http://www.edmodo.com/profile/1936045
This lesson is designed to be used with Chapter 17 in my Social Studies curriculum which is Africa South of the Sahara...specifically with Lesson 4 which is called "The Road to Independence". This lesson discusses South Africa's battle to gain it's independence from the United Kingdom, as well as the freedom from apartheid. It is assumed that all of the other three lessons in this chapter would have been taught already and the students will have a bit of background on the geography, economy, government, and culture of Africa South of the Sahara.
Chapter 17 Lesson 4 (using Social Networking):
Anticipatory Set:
The teacher will ask students to discuss why we celebrate the 4th of July in our country, and what types of things they do on this day? (The discussion should ultimately lead to the fact that we celebrate this day because it was the anniversary of our independence) The teacher will discuss that South Africa has a day of celebration from when they were granted their independence from the United Kingdom. The teacher will then break the news to students that the only people who can go to recess that day are those with green eyes. The teacher will see their reaction and begin a conversation about why this isn't fair. The teacher will bring up the fact that the color of someone's eyes shouldn't determine their rights...just like someone's skin color or race shouldn't determine their ability to vote or take away their right to equal rights. The teacher will ask the students to journal how this exercise made them feel, and how they would feel is this were really the case in our country...people having certain race based on color, etc.
Vocabulary:
The teacher will discuss this lesson's vocabulary with the students using a word splash activity that includes all of the chapter's vocabulary words...this will be done before reading any of the four lessons in the chapter. Students will have previously circled all of the words on the word splash in either red, green, or yellow...red being the words they don't know, yellow being words they have heard of before, and green being words they know. Students will specifically focus on the words racism, diversity, and apartheid during this lesson.
Essential Question & Objectives:
The teacher will pose the EQ to the students so that they recognize the objective of the lesson since the EQ is what they should be able to answer at the end of the lesson. Students will be able to answer the EQ, understand the meaning of apartheid and its' effects on South Africa based on the government and the non white population, and they will be able to use social networking to discuss topics related to apartheid.
EQ: 1. What factors strengthened the movement among Africans for independence?
2. How did opportunities for South African citizens to participate and
influence the political process change in the 1990's?
Guided Practice:
The teacher and students will read the lesson using a jigsaw...students will randomly be split into base groups and then they will decide who is reading each section of the lesson. Each student will read his or her category alone while the teacher circulates, and then the teacher will then move them into expert groups where they will discuss their particular section with others who read their section as well. Again, the teacher will be circulating and guiding them as they talk about what they read. Students will then report back to their base group to share the information they learned from the section they read.
Independent Practice:
Students will complete a follow up graphic organizer that involves cause and effect as well as a vocabulary study guide that helps to review the vocabulary terms for this lesson as well as the main concepts.
Social Networking:
Once we are done reading this lesson, students will be actively engaged in using the social networking site, Edmodo. They will be reading my posts on Edmodo based on the lesson we just studied, and they will be viewing a video from Discovery Education as an extension of our book. They will have assignments to complete in the form of a discussion, when they see that Nelson Mandela joined our group. Mr. Mandela will be posing a few questions about apartheid and students will need to leave their answers, as well as communicate with their peers using social networking. Their answer may require a little bit of research. A white police officer from South Africa will also be paying us a visit on Edmodo, and will clearly be showing his support of apartheid. Students will be asked to create a response for his questions as well. Students will be graded based on their fulfillment of the assignments on Edmodo, as well as their participation and interaction within our group on Edmodo.
Evaluation:
There will be a Lesson 4 Quiz and social networking evaluation based on student responses and comments to the posted question. Students must show that they have completed the assignments via Edmodo, and they will be graded based on their work as well as interaction with other students in our group. There will also be a Chapter 17 test that includes information on all four lessons. A study guide will be provided, and the review game "I Have, Who Has" will be played.
When the Chapter is finished and test is complete, students will watch the movie "The Color of Friendship" because it deals with apartheid. During the movie, students will keep a list of the things they see and hear in the movie that they recognized from studying about apartheid in our books.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Response from the Web 2.0 Tool that I emailed
I emailed the Web 2.0 tool, Wordle because I use it in my classroom when teaching character traits, as well as historical figures, and I even create these clouds as little gifts for my students and players (since I coach) when they have had a success:)
I contacted Jonathan Feinberg, who is the creator of Wordle, and I asked him if there was a way to get from the cloud creator page, back to the area where you enter your words before creating. Currently, once you create your cloud, and if you find any type of an error, there is no way to go back to the page where you typed in your words...they are gone. To avoid this issue, I have been telling my kids to copy all of their words into a word document before creating the cloud just in case they make a mistake. I think it would be wise for Wordle to somehow create something that saves the entries on the first page so kids don't have to worry about copying them into another document before creating their cloud.
After emailing this question, and explaining how I use Wordle, I received an email back from Jonathan within the hour, and this was his response:
"Sadly, no. It had never occurred to me that Wordle would be used in the way you describe; I'd assumed that people would copy some existing text and paste it into the Wordle box. I don't have much time to work on Wordle these days, so I'd have to say no. On the other hand, you could have the kids work in a text editor or word processor, then copy and paste the text from the primary document into Wordle when they're ready to visualize it. If you don't have anything like that installed, you could always use Editpad
After reading his response, I guess I was on the right track by having my kids copy their work into a separate word document. Unfortunately there does not seem to be a solution to my question since he doesn't have much time to work on Wordle these days, and he didn't anticipate someone using Wordle the way I had described.
Overall, I'm glad I took the time to email, and I am pleased with the speedy response from him. Even though it's not the answer I had hoped for, it was considerate of him to answer my question honestly, and it will not stop me from using Wordle in the future.
I contacted Jonathan Feinberg, who is the creator of Wordle, and I asked him if there was a way to get from the cloud creator page, back to the area where you enter your words before creating. Currently, once you create your cloud, and if you find any type of an error, there is no way to go back to the page where you typed in your words...they are gone. To avoid this issue, I have been telling my kids to copy all of their words into a word document before creating the cloud just in case they make a mistake. I think it would be wise for Wordle to somehow create something that saves the entries on the first page so kids don't have to worry about copying them into another document before creating their cloud.
After emailing this question, and explaining how I use Wordle, I received an email back from Jonathan within the hour, and this was his response:
"Sadly, no. It had never occurred to me that Wordle would be used in the way you describe; I'd assumed that people would copy some existing text and paste it into the Wordle box. I don't have much time to work on Wordle these days, so I'd have to say no. On the other hand, you could have the kids work in a text editor or word processor, then copy and paste the text from the primary document into Wordle when they're ready to visualize it. If you don't have anything like that installed, you could always use Editpad
After reading his response, I guess I was on the right track by having my kids copy their work into a separate word document. Unfortunately there does not seem to be a solution to my question since he doesn't have much time to work on Wordle these days, and he didn't anticipate someone using Wordle the way I had described.
Overall, I'm glad I took the time to email, and I am pleased with the speedy response from him. Even though it's not the answer I had hoped for, it was considerate of him to answer my question honestly, and it will not stop me from using Wordle in the future.
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