What I'm Reading

These are the blogs that I am currently trying to keep up with......lots of good ideas......but I find it hard to keep up with all of the posts from these blogs!

Cool Cat Teacher Blog http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/

Edutopia http://www.edutopia.org/edutopia_rss.xml

Free Technology for Teachers http://www.freetech4teachers.com/

iLearn Technology http://ilearntechnology.com/

Uploads by TEDEducation http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsooa4yRKGN_zEE...

VoiceThread in the Classroom

My first experience in using Voicethread was to provide a book review of a young adult book selection for my M.A.T. course, Teaching Literacy in the Upper Elementary Grades.  (I reviewed The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.)  I had never used this kind of technology before, so I was a little unsure at first of exactly what I was doing or why.  But once I was signed in and had recorded my Voicethread I was hooked!  I loved it.  There's something kind of exhilarating about listening to your voice knowing that other people will be able to hear you too!  Okay, I admit it, I listened to my Voicethread about 5 times in a row after I made my first recording.  My little "inner ham" had come out, I felt like a star, so important.  I had made a Voicethread!

https://voicethread.com/share/3980487/

 But I also enjoyed listening to my classmate's Voicethreads as well.  It is such an intimate way to get to know what your classmates are thinking.  Everyone's voice came across so clear, like they were sitting right next to you.  (You could even hear a cat meow in one Voicethread.)  I also thought the assignment of providing a book review worked well as a Voicethread.  I immediately thought of ways I could use Voicethread...... 

My first thought was what a good idea VoiceThread would be to share pictures with my family (they live in other states) that I would provide narration, explaining what was happening in my life.  I thought it would be more fun than sending a Snapfish album or even making an Animoto clip.  I think this idea of making a "narrated photo album" would also work in the classroom.  Students could narrate pictures of a day in their class, pictures from their field trip to the zoo or art museum, directions on how to use a piece of classroom equipment or a narration of classroom procedures with pictures. 

I think using VoiceThread for a book review is perfect!  While you display an image of the cover of the book, a quote from the book or an illustration,  you can narrate a review of the book.  Having a library of Voicethread book reviews would be an interesting way to connect students to books.  Students that might not feel comfortable giving a book review in front of the class, might prefer making a VoiceThread book review.

I found some great ideas for uisng Voicethread in the classroom in a Slideshare presentation from Tom Barrett, (his blog is at edte.ch).  Here's the link:

http://www.slideshare.net/GrahamAttwell/26-interesting-waystousevoicethreadinthe-12639428

Some of my favorite ideas

I'm not familiar with De Bono's 6 hat thinking technique, but I love using this idea for students to take different points of view and record their thoughts on Voicethread from different perspectives.

What a great idea to incorporate art in the classroom.  It would be great to actually have the artwork to display in the classroom in conjunction with a Voicethread where students could comment on the art.

This idea for setting up Voicethread in the classroom as described in this slide may get around the issue of having children under 13 use Voicethread without having to have them set up their own account.

This idea sound like a engaging way to read a play, or write a play.

Great way to bring poetry to life!

This may be a better way for students to provide their observations and explanation of their understanding of a science experiment, especially good for students that struggle with writing.

 I think Voicethread works perfectly for describing a process.  Students could even use the doodlepen in their explanation.

These last two slides show just two of the many ways to use Voicethread for math assignments.  Story problems can easily be used with Voicethread.



I'm hoping to be able to use some of these ideas to incorporate Voicethread in the classroom.  I'm still unsure about the privacy issues for working with students under 13 with Voicethread and how teachers get around this.  It's such a great tool, I do hope I will be able to use it! 

NETS and TPACK

NOTE TO TEACHERS: When today’s kids sit in yesterday’s classrooms we are the ones WHO ARE FAILING.

From Bill Ferriter’s Power point “Teaching the iGeneration”

 

Notes on NETS
ISTE developed the NETS National Educational Technology Standards.  The NETS are the "standards for learning, teaching, and leading in the digital age and widely recognized and adopted worldwide."  www.iste.org/standards

International Society for Technology in Education

NETS for Students

1. Creativity and Innovation

2. Communication and Collaboration

3. Research and Information Fluency

4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making

5. Digital citizenship

6. Technology Operations and Concepts

 

NETS for Teachers

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

2. Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

3. Model Digital Age Work and Learning

4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility

5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership

 

 

NETS - currently NETS is petitioning the Obama administration to invest in classroom broadband connectivity to ensure that all students are ready for college and 21^st century careers.  Only 13 percent of U.S. schools have the broadband access they need to give them the same internet access as most Americans have at home, work or even in a coffee shop.  Network speed can vary in schools from building to building and classroom to classroom. NETS is encouraging everyone to sign the petition on their web site, https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition  for classroom broadband access.  They are also asking educators to test their internet speed to demonstrate the need to invest in upgrading school networks. http://www.schoolspeedtest.org/

 

 

Notes on TPACK

What it is.  Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) “a framework that identifies the knowledge teachers need to teach effectively with technology".  The TPACK framework extends Shulman’s idea of Pedagogical Content Knowledge.

 

Three primary forms of knowledge:

               Content (CK)

               Pedagogy (PK)

               Technology (TK)

Integrated – new knowledge formed at intersection

               Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK)

               Technological Content Knowledge (TCK)

               Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK)

              

Intersection of all knowledge types

               Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK)

 

Side Note: From the author Punya Mishra’s website I was introduced to ambigrams (words that can be read upright and upside-down, like a mirror image) and a ambigram website - http://www.flipscript.com/ambigram-generator.aspx  The Ambigram Generator

Examples:

 

 

 

From Bill Ferriter’s Power point “Teaching the iGeneration”

Solution Tree Author and Associate https://www.dropbox.com/s/7zkv2ec24ux7idz/TiG_SlidesV10.pdf

 

 

 

 

Thoughts and Notes on 21st Century Learning

Blog #2

Notes on 21^st Century/Shift Happens/Education Today and Tomorrow, Vision of K-12 Students/Growing up Digital/P21st Learning

Just some notes and thoughts on 21st Century Learning......

As an educator preparing students for the 21^stcentury is daunting but very exciting. Having the goals of the 21^st century student always in mind as a teacher forces a teacher to examine their curriculum, teaching methods and assessments in light of how they will best prepare their students for their role in the future. Much of academia is still aligned with preparing students for a world that no longer exists, a world where many people worked in manufacturing as either worker drones or managers. It was okay for teachers to present the material as is and be satisfied with a bell shaped curve results of their students. Now each student must be prepared to be able to actively engage, transform, collaborate, critique, consume, produce and lead to be able to survive in the 21^st century. I think this makes working in the field of education very challenging and exciting! The material I read from P21 encourages me to not just apply 21^stteaching practices to certain material, situations or students but to guide all of my teaching each and every day to all students.

China the largest English speaking country – Wow!

More honor students in China that total U.S. students?

 That's a sobering thought, we need to go full speed ahead in the U.S!

Is Technology a pro or con for students?

The world is changing so much faster than in any other time in history – you can hardly catch your breath!

 

Quotes I found interesting..

“Brains are rewarded not for staying on task but for jumping to the next thing,” Michael Rich, associate professor at Harvard Medical School – executive director of the Center on Media and Child Health in Boston.  “Kids brains wired differently.”

 

“Computers are often used for entertainment, not learning, particularly in low-income families”, Jacob L. Vigdor, economics professor at Duke University. Knowing this piece of information, does this change how students/teachers use technology in the classroom?  It appears you can’t just hand out I-pads or computers and expect them to be just used for learning.

 

A look at the “new social types… not the thespian and jock but the “texter and gamer, Facebook addict and YouTube potato”

Student Sam Cocker, “Facebook is amazing because it feels like you’re doing something and you’re not doing anything.  It’s the absence of doing something, but you feel gratified anyway.” 
“My attention span is getting worse.”

 

“Brains studies suggest to researchers that periods of rest are critical in allowing the brain to synthesize information, make connections between ideas and even develop the sense of self.”

University of California, San Francisco brain scientists  downtime is needed

“Downtime is to the brain what sleep is to the body” Dr. Rich Harvard Med School

 

Synopsis and Notes on P21 – Partnership for 21^st century skills

Summary: “Holistic view of 21^st century teaching and learning, with focus on 21^st century outcomes with innovative support systems to help students master the multi-dimensional abilities required of them in the 21^st century.”

 

What is P21? – a national organization that advocates for 21^st century readiness for every student.  Fusing the 3Rs with the 4Cs (Critical thinking and problem solving, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity and innovation)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 c’s  Creativity, Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration

 

Outcomes:

                    Mastery of core subjects & 21^st century themes

 

21^st century interdisciplinary themes

                    Global awareness

                    Financial, economic, business and entrepreneurial literacy

                    Civic Literacy

                    Health Literacy

                    Environmental Literacy

 

Learning and Innovation Skills

                    Creativity and Innovation

                    Critical thinking and Problem solving

                    Communication and collaboration

 

Information, Media and Technology Skills

                    Information Literacy

                    Media Literacy

                    ICT (Information, Communications and Technology) Literacy

 

Life and Career Skills

                    Flexibility and Adaptability

                    Initiative and Self-Direction

                    Social and Cross-Cultural Skills

                    Productivity and Accountability

                    Leadership and Responsibility

 

 

Thoughts on video spotlight “Going Places” – encourage thinking outside of the box, collaboration, creativity, recognition of strengths (in this illustration in the video the students’ ability to build something, ability to dream up ideas)  Link to video "Going Places"

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KMM387HNQk

 

 

Toolkit - Assessment – integrated projects that demonstrate multiple standards and skills (I loved the colorful, creative projects that demonstrated students’ knowledge and skills in a meaningful, multi-disciplinary outcome.)

 

From Dr. Chuck Cadle’s blog of Destination Imagination, Inc, a P21 member, May 9, 2013, “the 4Cs are important but the skills of perseverance, self-direct learning and courage are important to long-term success.”  I want to remember these: Perseverance, Self-Directed Learning, Courage!

 

 

 

 

First Try

 

 

 First Try....

This is the beginning of my first blog on blogging for my Meredith College M.A.T. course, "Power Tools for Educators".  I'm experimenting with blogging as a tool to use in elementary classrooms.  This course will hopefully make me more familiar and comfortable with using different types of technologies to enhance, enrich and extend teaching for all learners.    Blogging seems like a great tool to carry out some of Professor Bonk's "Learner Rights", such as "The right to share your learning-related discoveries and ideas with others for their prompt and candid feedback" and "The right to share content that you create as well as comment on or evaluate the educational resources that you find."  I'm a little cautious about how much "sharing" I want to to do about myself.  Sharing ideas is great but maintaining one's privacy is also very important to me. 

Here's the link to Professor Bonk's, of Indiana University, web site:  

http://php.indiana.edu/~cjbonk/

He'll be speaking at Meredith College on Wednesday, May 16, at 5pm, and I'm interested to hear him talk about the "open education movement" and how his "Learner Rights" can be applied to the elementary classroom. Some thoughts:

• I'm interested in how his book has been received in China.  It is difficult for my to see how a country that has so much control over the media and free speech would view Bonk's ideas about "rights", such as "The right to access any content you need at any time time you need it," as complementary with their policies.  Here's a country that confiscates your laptop at the airport upon arrival and gives you an "approved" lap top for your use during your stay.  Wouldn't they find much of what Bonk says oppositional about the open education movement and accessing any information for one's learning?
• In regards to Bonk's right  "to access any content you need at any time you need it," who does this apply to?  does this include children?  Should there be limits to what content children can access, or his he saying that children should have access to all content?
• Who should inappropriate resources be reported to as outlined in Bonk's Learner Responsibility #9, "The responsibility to report online educational resources that are inappropriate or potentially harmful (as well as the people who placed them there)".  What steps should be taken when people place inappropriate educational resources on the web?  How does this fit in with his "open education" philosphy?