Christmas in August!!

As I type, my fellow teachers are getting their i-touches and netbooks!  There's so much excitement and a bit of anxiety over these new devices.  Everything is brand new!  Each classroom teacher's box contains the devices, as well as microphones, cables and software.  It's pretty cool!

Post tools reflections...

My favorites tools were Jing and Screencast, Animoto and Google Docs.  I can foresee many uses for these tools.  As for my students, I want to use more videos in my instruction of reading strategies, and have kids practice different skills on the iTouch.  To showcase their learning, I would like them to create books on Bookr and comic strips on Bubblr.

My thinking about the learning that will take place in my classroom has been transformed.  As I mentioned throughout my posts, teaching is not just talking AT the kids, and it cannot take place in only one dimension, such as paper and pencil.  Technology has become a venue for what I've been calling "teachnology."  This term I've coined for my blog and posts means that technology has taken the teaching and learning in the classroom to new heights.  Whereas I was once reluctant to embrace technology because I didn't think myself tech savvy, I'm now experiencing a paradigm shift.  I feel learned and more confident in my skills.  There are now so many different ways to share information and therefore, to gain information.  We as educators are teaching by modeling how to gather and share information, while our students are gaining knowledge from us, each other and the WWW.

Surprising outcomes from the 11tools?  Certainly a few.  I appreciated how the course was online, and you could pace yourself however you wanted.  You could also choose how extensive you wanted your posts to be.  Having that flexibility make it manageable and more enjoyable.  I chose to make my posts elaborate for myself because I was learning so much!  I did enjoy all the learning, and was surprised at all the new things I had never heard of before.  I wanted to get the most out of these tools to increase my knowledge of "teachnology" as well as use the finished products in the future.  Nonetheless, it did take me numerous days and hours to complete the tools, and I'm thankful to summer vacation for that!

I'm proud to be finished with these 11 tools and to say, ' "Teachnology" is here to stay!'

Tool 11: "Attention, citizens of the digital world!"

Wow, after reading a few of these resources, I've become aware of how much this topic encompasses.  At first, I wanted to simply post that what my students need to know about digital citizenship regards etiquette, safety and a learning purpose (adapted off Cool Cat Teacher's chart).  While I think these are key, they act as umbrella categories with many more subtopics educators need to teach and share with students to prepare them for the digital world.

Etiquette:  teaching the concept of digital citizenship to elementary students might be a bit abstract.  I would start with something concrete, something they know, and connect the new learning to it.  For instance, starting in first grade (if not earlier) students learn about what makes a good citizen.  Among other things, good citizens show respect to people and property; they act responsibly and practice empathy.  In other words, they treat others as they would like to be treated.  I would connect this with digital citizenship.  In order to be a good digital citizen, anyone who uses the technology to interact with others must exercise the same principles - show respect, act responsibly and practice empathy.  I would use examples of how a person might be a good digital citizen or a bad one, and have students come up with their own examples.

Safety:  another key element in being part of the digital world, and of the physical world, is safety.  As much as we need to learn to look both ways before crossing the street, and develop good judgement and problem solving to not walk through a certain part of town at night, digital safety must be addressed.  As our students have powerful technology tools in their hands, our teaching of safety must be proactive, precautionary and current (we must be up-to-date on what can be harmful to students).

Purpose:  "teachnology's" purpose is to engage students in order to enhance learning.  I want my students to understand this purpose - that the digital world is accessible to them as a means through which they can wonder and discover new things about the world.  With the teaching/learning purpose at hand, teachers need to foster creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills so students have the tools they need when venturing the digital world independently.

As the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS•T) and Performance Indicators for Teachers encourages educators to promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility, let us remember that this is a lifelong learning process for students to be involved in year after year.

Tool 10: ilearn iblog ishare

It boggles my mind that technology has become so advanced.  In my lifetime, computers have evolved from a big and heavy box to an interactive touch screen that fits in my hand.

Because I do not own an "igadget," I borrowed my brother's iTouch.  At first, I couldn't image what elementary age students would use these for besides playing games.  However, the more I "played" with the free educational apps, the more I enjoyed myself.  I installed and explored: ABC Phonics, BrainPOP, BrainBox, BrainTap, Stars, Brainscape, the Italian and French 24/7 Tutor, and finally, the IQ Test.  My favorite ones for the classroom were BrainPOP, where you can view videos from different subjects (there's a great one on main idea), and Brainbox.  Brainbox was so neat!  It has different timed activities for math and language: fastmath (practice + - x facts), fifteen (put numbers 1-15 in order), sudoku, sequence (recall letters in alpha order), wordsort (tap words in alpha order), and wordbuilder (build as many words as you can with the letters given).  Kids can practice all these skills at the "tap" of a button.

My WOW moment happened as I learned how to use the iTouch - I realized that they can be a powerful tool in your classroom.  These mobile devices are easy to use, move around and has accessibility to many education apps.  To me, it portrays how "teachnology" has become something we need to embrace.  These "igadgets" are great to differentiate instruction as they meet different learning levels and styles, while adding a whole new dimension to teaching (what paper and pencil?).  It's "teachnology" in action!

P.S. for my personal use, I really enjoyed the free language tutors.  Ciao!  ;)

Tool 9: "jing's so swell, jing's so swell, jinging all the way..."

I have really enjoyed using Jing and Screencast to take pictures of my screen.  Jing took pictures of the different sites I visited, adding visuals to my posts.  This tool will be beneficial in the classroom when making a video or a print-out with pictorial directions for an activity students need to complete on the computer.  In addition, it will make the assessment of online participation easier since students can "jing" their score screen at the end of an assignment, activity or quiz.

I personally use Skype daily to talk to my parents, who are currently overseas.  It's been wonderful to video chat with them - see and hear them live (and for FREE!!).  It also allowed me to get a glimpse of where they live as they moved the camera around to capture their surroundings.  For the most part, the connection is good and the image and sound clear.  Although we're worlds apart, it's prevented distance from hindering our communication!

Skype can have a similar effect in the classroom.  Students have the opportunity to broaden their horizons by "traveling" to a new place or "meeting" a new person from a different part of the district, state, country or world.  They would be able to see and hear things that they might not otherwise have had a chance to experience.  Read-alouds, interviews, collaborative learning and research, mentoring, online pen pals or buddy reading are some of the other ways Skype could be utilized to enhance education.  Oh, the possibilities!

Tool 8: streaming knowledge

Videos are a great way to stream knowledge into the classroom - whether it be new knowledge (as an introduction to a new unit) or gained knowledge (a review at the middle or end of a unit or lesson).  Through videos' visual input, students develop a better perception of what they are learning and the world around them, while concepts they know are being reinforced.  Besides, kids just enjoy them!  :)

I started off looking for videos on TeacherTube and SchoolTube.  It was difficult to find results because my searches all involved reading intervention skills (reading strategies, word work, critical thinking).  I ended up using Blinkx which showed results from the 2 "Tube" sites, and a few more, but still nothing I could use with my students.  So I changed the topics I was searching.

I found this cute site by Scholastic called StudyJams.  It has math and science videos and interactive step-by-step tutorials.  I could use these for math intervention or to support a science article read in small group.  Here are some of the videos I previewed:

Fractions would be a great as an intro or review for 4th and 5th graders.

This one is called Aquatic Ecosystems and explains well the differences between freshwater and saltwater ecosystems.


Finally, I thought I would give YouTube a try, so I ran the same searches to see what I'd get.  To my surprise, I found several phonics videos that I can show my emergent readers!  YAY!!







The one below was cute but moved a bit too fast to show students - I would probably show a snippet each day I taught a new reading strategy for the kids to see it in action.

Reading Strategies: First Grade (first found on SchoolTube)

Tool 7: storytelling to learn

I used Photostory to make a movie called, "Where do WORDS come from?"  I was very excited to make this movie, considering the results I've seen from fellow bloggers.  Its content is very important and useful in teaching reading intervention strategies, especially when it comes to working with younger students.  I thought it would be easy to drop several pictures into a frame, but again I found myself struggling.  I ended up making each multiple-picture frame in Powerpoint first, saving it as a jpg so I could import it later on Photostory.  Long story short, I was a bit disheartened after working so hard because I felt that I was basically making a powerpoint slide.  Here's the result...

I would use this in the classroom for any presentation or project, whether individual or group work, where students can digitally display what they've learned.  It would be great for a simple video on American symbols, insects, or plants.