Mother's Day is coming up and Maria Meyer (2nd grade at Elda) had a wonderful project idea. She wanted the students to do something special for their mothers. We sat down together and came up with the idea to make a movie of the class talking about their moms. We decided to use iMovie and the built in camera on the computer. Each student took his/her turn recording (well, I ran the computer) a message to mom. The clips are all saved in the same 'event' and will be put together to make a movie. Mrs. Meyer's class is hosting a special event for Mother's Day and the movie will be shown on the projector.
So far, this has been a great experience for the students. They get so excited to see themselves on the computer! They also have really enjoyed watching the clips being replayed back for them. Each student composed a message and either read it out loud or memorized it for the videos. This is a great project for moms but even a better experience for the students! They have learned a lot from watching themselves read on camera!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Poll Everywhere
Poll Everywhere is a great, free website that lets you create questions and have your audience respond. It is web based so you need access to the internet, however your audience has a little more flexibility. They can vote online via computer or other hand-held device (iPod Touch, etc) or they can text in their answers from cell phones. It is a quick, easy way to get some audience participation and feedback. You can create multiple questions for multiple surveys. If you are familiar with Turning Point it is a similar concept. There are advantages with using Turning Point over Poll Everywhere, however it is free and you don't need to check out additional equipment. Poll Everywhere questions are great for getting quick feedback from your class that you don't need to track. It could be a nice way to keep your students on their toes to always be listening. They will never know when you will ask them to vote in their responses on your questions!
Turning Point will track your answers (who answered what) and export them into Excel. You also have all the equipment you need on the cart in your building and don't need internet access for it to work. If you are using the polls for a quiz or grade Turning Point is still the way to go. However, if you want a quick survey from the audience Poll Everywhere is a nice alternative! If your students are already in the computer lab you can have them vote right from the computers. Or, if you are working with older students that have cell phones (or adults) they can text the answer in! Of course, you would want to let your participants know that their cell phone service providers will charge them for sending a text just as they normally would. Lets face it though, for better or worse many teens already have texting plans and it won't cost any extra to send a text to Poll Everywhere.
If you want to check it out, go to:
http://www.polleverywhere.com/
I have some handouts from our last SOITA Tele-Tech Tuesday presentation that I would be happy to share with you. You will need to set up a username and password to use the site. You will be able to save your surveys and copy/paste your old questions to make new ones! Let me know if you have any questions.
Turning Point will track your answers (who answered what) and export them into Excel. You also have all the equipment you need on the cart in your building and don't need internet access for it to work. If you are using the polls for a quiz or grade Turning Point is still the way to go. However, if you want a quick survey from the audience Poll Everywhere is a nice alternative! If your students are already in the computer lab you can have them vote right from the computers. Or, if you are working with older students that have cell phones (or adults) they can text the answer in! Of course, you would want to let your participants know that their cell phone service providers will charge them for sending a text just as they normally would. Lets face it though, for better or worse many teens already have texting plans and it won't cost any extra to send a text to Poll Everywhere.
If you want to check it out, go to:
http://www.polleverywhere.com/
I have some handouts from our last SOITA Tele-Tech Tuesday presentation that I would be happy to share with you. You will need to set up a username and password to use the site. You will be able to save your surveys and copy/paste your old questions to make new ones! Let me know if you have any questions.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Unlock your You Tube Potential...Carefully!
You Tube offers countless educational videos that make great additions to your lessons! You just need to know how to access them. If you work in Ross (or probably any other school district) you may have noticed that You Tube is blocked. There is a good reason for that. As many educational and appropriate videos as there are, there are just as many inappropriate videos and content as well! So, to make sure students don't wander onto something they shouldn't be watching most districts block all the videos. However, there are ways teachers can still utilize the appropriate content in their classrooms.
In a recent post, 'iPod Touch for Teaching' I mentioned converting a You Tube video to a file and putting it in your iTunes library. That is great if you have an iPod that can handle video. If you don't, there is still hope! There are free websites available that will convert You Tube videos into actual files (mp4). From there, you can save them on a flash drive or any other device. Once the video is converted you can play it in Quick Time (which most of your school computers most likely already have). The nice thing about Quick Time is there are no unpredictable advertisements or video suggestions of "What you might also like" that may not be appropriate to show in school! Quick Time is free software and works on Macs and PCs. If you work in the Ross District, please ask your tech staff in your building before you download anything! If you are working from home try:
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/
One website that offers file converting is ZAMZAR. You just need the URL of the You Tube video you want to work with. If you would like step by step directions please contact me. I received my handouts from a SOITA professional development for the iPod Touch and am happy to share! Just make sure you view the entire video before you decide to use it in your classroom. You Tube is uncensored so you need to make sure the video you want to use is educational and appropriate for your grade level.
Check out:
http://www.zamzar.com/
Note: You Tube is still blocked by the district. If you are planning on searching and converting You Tube videos you will need to do it from home or somewhere other then the school district.
Don't forget that if you are a Ross teacher you also have access to Discovery Education (formally United Streaming). There are thousands of media clips, movies and resources that are all appropriate for education. Chances are good that if there is a video on You Tube you you want to use with your students you can find something similar on Discovery Education. Plus, you have much better options to search with to find what you need. If you are not already using the subscription it's not too late! Contact me (or your building tech staff) to get the passcode you will need to set up your account.
Go to the link below to get started:
http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/
In a recent post, 'iPod Touch for Teaching' I mentioned converting a You Tube video to a file and putting it in your iTunes library. That is great if you have an iPod that can handle video. If you don't, there is still hope! There are free websites available that will convert You Tube videos into actual files (mp4). From there, you can save them on a flash drive or any other device. Once the video is converted you can play it in Quick Time (which most of your school computers most likely already have). The nice thing about Quick Time is there are no unpredictable advertisements or video suggestions of "What you might also like" that may not be appropriate to show in school! Quick Time is free software and works on Macs and PCs. If you work in the Ross District, please ask your tech staff in your building before you download anything! If you are working from home try:
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/
One website that offers file converting is ZAMZAR. You just need the URL of the You Tube video you want to work with. If you would like step by step directions please contact me. I received my handouts from a SOITA professional development for the iPod Touch and am happy to share! Just make sure you view the entire video before you decide to use it in your classroom. You Tube is uncensored so you need to make sure the video you want to use is educational and appropriate for your grade level.
Check out:
http://www.zamzar.com/
Note: You Tube is still blocked by the district. If you are planning on searching and converting You Tube videos you will need to do it from home or somewhere other then the school district.
Don't forget that if you are a Ross teacher you also have access to Discovery Education (formally United Streaming). There are thousands of media clips, movies and resources that are all appropriate for education. Chances are good that if there is a video on You Tube you you want to use with your students you can find something similar on Discovery Education. Plus, you have much better options to search with to find what you need. If you are not already using the subscription it's not too late! Contact me (or your building tech staff) to get the passcode you will need to set up your account.
Go to the link below to get started:
http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/
Friday, March 26, 2010
Google Docs for Grant Writing
I am working with two grant writing teams right now and using Google Docs for both. Using Google Docs to share the documents will make editing and collaborating so much easier and more efficient! The days of emailing ideas and attachments, then merging documents together are gone! Now, all the members of the team can work on their part from anywhere, at any time and add directly to the shared documents. We can easily distribute resources to the entire team just by uploading (or creating them) into the cloud (Google Docs) and sharing them. This makes organization for each individual easier too. All of your documents are in one place versus spread out through your email, computer hard drive and possibly flash drives. All you need is internet access, a Google account and a project and you are ready to go!
Step 1: Create your Google account (you just need an email address)
Click here to get started!
Step 2: Create a document to start your project
Step 3: Select your document, Click 'Share', then 'Invite People'. You can email invitations from here to anyone you would like to share your document with. You can choose if you want them to be able to edit your document or just view it. (Allowing them to edit will make it possible for multiple people to work on the same document, even at the same time!)
Step 4: Get to work on your project!
Google docs is great for working as a team or on your own. You can use it to back up files, organize and access from anywhere online. You can upload any file type now. Store your pictures, movies, PDFs, or any other file type in your own cloud space!
Upload from and save to your desktop
Edit anytime, from anywhere
Pick who can access your documents
Share changes in real time
Files are stored securely online
It's free
Resources: Google Docs
Step 1: Create your Google account (you just need an email address)
Click here to get started!
Step 2: Create a document to start your project
Step 3: Select your document, Click 'Share', then 'Invite People'. You can email invitations from here to anyone you would like to share your document with. You can choose if you want them to be able to edit your document or just view it. (Allowing them to edit will make it possible for multiple people to work on the same document, even at the same time!)
Step 4: Get to work on your project!
Google docs is great for working as a team or on your own. You can use it to back up files, organize and access from anywhere online. You can upload any file type now. Store your pictures, movies, PDFs, or any other file type in your own cloud space!
Benefits of using Google Docs:
Create and share your work online
Monday, March 15, 2010
iPod Touch for Teaching
I was fortunate enough to go to an iPod Touch training last week. It was fantastic! Not only was the actual training (SOITA-all the resources listed below are from the SOITA workshop) well worth my time but I also learned how helpful these little gadgets can be in education! Teachers can use them to teach, students can use them to learn and teams can use them to work together faster and more efficiently. There are a lot more options then I had first thought to enhance learning and teaching. Some are completely free and some cost a small amount of money. Here are just a few examples:
You Tube Educational Videos: Tired of getting blocked for appropriate, educational videos? Well, now you can convert a You Tube video to a file, save it in your iTunes library and push it out to your iPod (or your students' iPods). Once it is in your iTunes library and on your iPod you don't need internet access to view it. Students can view it from home or you can connect your iPod to a projector and play it for the class. Yes, that's right. You can connect your iPod touch to a projector.
Present with your iPod Touch: You just need the right cord and you can connect it to a projector to show your whole class, at a staff meeting, etc.
Podcasting: You can create your own podcasts for your students to listen to (try recording your lecture!)or download any of the existing podcasts for your topic. There are a ton of podcasts that are great for students are are free!
iTunes U: iTunes U is a free resource bank for educational videos and podcasts housed in the iTunes store. There are a TON of great resources there!
Books: You can download books right onto your iPod Touch (text and audio). There are several free audio book websites out there as well as places you can get free (or almost free) books in text form. Check out:
http://storynory.com/
http://librivox.org/
iTunes Store/Applications/Stanza App/Project Gutenberg
Student Response Systems: If you have wifi in your classrooms your students can use their iPod Touches to vote in answers to questions that you create. Check out:
http://www.polleverywhere.com/
Educational Applications: There are so many! To start, you can use your calculator app. The iPod Touch comes with a standard and scientific calculator. If you go to the iTunes Store and search Applications y0u will find countless options from flash cards, books, the periodic table, math formulas, and so much more!
Share Documents: You can download applications to share your files with other teachers and/or students over wifi. The application will give you a URL to go to where you can upload your files. From there, you can share the URL with anyone you want so they can go there and download the files.
The beauty of so much of the available content is that once you download it to your iPod, you can access it anywhere. You don't need internet access. This is great for those students who don't have internet at home.
Worried about security once your students take the iPod home? You can set restrictions and choose what a user has access to by password protecting individual functions/applications.
This is also a great tool to help you stay organized. You can sync your calendar and email, keep all of your notes in it and manage resources all from one device. There are many more wonderful features for this handy gadget. I just mentioned a few above to get you started. Good luck and have fun!
You Tube Educational Videos: Tired of getting blocked for appropriate, educational videos? Well, now you can convert a You Tube video to a file, save it in your iTunes library and push it out to your iPod (or your students' iPods). Once it is in your iTunes library and on your iPod you don't need internet access to view it. Students can view it from home or you can connect your iPod to a projector and play it for the class. Yes, that's right. You can connect your iPod touch to a projector.
Present with your iPod Touch: You just need the right cord and you can connect it to a projector to show your whole class, at a staff meeting, etc.
Podcasting: You can create your own podcasts for your students to listen to (try recording your lecture!)or download any of the existing podcasts for your topic. There are a ton of podcasts that are great for students are are free!
iTunes U: iTunes U is a free resource bank for educational videos and podcasts housed in the iTunes store. There are a TON of great resources there!
Books: You can download books right onto your iPod Touch (text and audio). There are several free audio book websites out there as well as places you can get free (or almost free) books in text form. Check out:
http://storynory.com/
http://librivox.org/
iTunes Store/Applications/Stanza App/Project Gutenberg
Student Response Systems: If you have wifi in your classrooms your students can use their iPod Touches to vote in answers to questions that you create. Check out:
http://www.polleverywhere.com/
Educational Applications: There are so many! To start, you can use your calculator app. The iPod Touch comes with a standard and scientific calculator. If you go to the iTunes Store and search Applications y0u will find countless options from flash cards, books, the periodic table, math formulas, and so much more!
Share Documents: You can download applications to share your files with other teachers and/or students over wifi. The application will give you a URL to go to where you can upload your files. From there, you can share the URL with anyone you want so they can go there and download the files.
The beauty of so much of the available content is that once you download it to your iPod, you can access it anywhere. You don't need internet access. This is great for those students who don't have internet at home.
Worried about security once your students take the iPod home? You can set restrictions and choose what a user has access to by password protecting individual functions/applications.
This is also a great tool to help you stay organized. You can sync your calendar and email, keep all of your notes in it and manage resources all from one device. There are many more wonderful features for this handy gadget. I just mentioned a few above to get you started. Good luck and have fun!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Google Apps-So many great features!
I attended a training at SOITA last week to learn about Google Apps (free programs from Google). There are so many apps to use and they are all free!
Here are a few of Google's most popular apps:
Just a few highlights:
Calendar:
The Calendar lets you manage your events online. Plus, you can share your calendar with others and control what they are able to do. You can share everything, meaning they can add events. This is great if you are collaborating with other teachers (or family and friends for a personal calendar). You can also create multiple calendars (Personal, Work, etc) and choose which ones to make public or private and who you want to invite.
Docs:
I love that you can save your documents in 'the cloud' so you can get to them from any computer online. Flash drives work great but Google Docs is free and always available! They added a new feature now so you can upload any file type (rather then just .doc, .ppt, and .xls).
Picasa:
My two favorite features of Picasa are the Web Albums and the collage feature. The web albums allow you to save your pics online so you can view them from anywhere as well as link them to blog posts or other websites.
The collage feature makes it so easy to create collages with your favorite pictures!
My favorite thing about all of it is that you only need one username and password to access all of the different Google accounts. I don't know about you, but I have trouble keeping all those logins straight! Feel free to ask me questions! I am happy to share what I learned!
Here are a few of Google's most popular apps:
- Gmail: email with features that help you stay more organized
- Calendar: online calendar integrated with email
- Docs: save and share documents with others via 'the cloud' (save your docs online to be available from any computer online)
- Picasa: Picture management software
- iGoogle: customized home page
- Google Earth-satellite and street views of land and ocean-satellite views of solar system
Just a few highlights:
Calendar:
The Calendar lets you manage your events online. Plus, you can share your calendar with others and control what they are able to do. You can share everything, meaning they can add events. This is great if you are collaborating with other teachers (or family and friends for a personal calendar). You can also create multiple calendars (Personal, Work, etc) and choose which ones to make public or private and who you want to invite.
Docs:
I love that you can save your documents in 'the cloud' so you can get to them from any computer online. Flash drives work great but Google Docs is free and always available! They added a new feature now so you can upload any file type (rather then just .doc, .ppt, and .xls).
Picasa:
My two favorite features of Picasa are the Web Albums and the collage feature. The web albums allow you to save your pics online so you can view them from anywhere as well as link them to blog posts or other websites.
The collage feature makes it so easy to create collages with your favorite pictures!
My favorite thing about all of it is that you only need one username and password to access all of the different Google accounts. I don't know about you, but I have trouble keeping all those logins straight! Feel free to ask me questions! I am happy to share what I learned!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Eno-Great Interactive Whiteboard!
On Tuesday we had a full day of interactive whiteboard presentations to try and find a district standard to move forward with. A lot of teachers are getting grants to purchase interactive whiteboards for classrooms, which is great news! The district is also hoping to purchase a few more for classrooms. The idea is to have one brand throughout the district moving forward. The consistency should make the learning curve faster for students since they won't have to learn a new board in each classroom. Teachers will be able to work together easier since they will all be using the same equipment and software and tech support will be faster as well since there is only one board to learn!
There were 4 companies that presented their products to the group and one stood out above all the others. It was the Eno board made by PolyVision. It is a new product and has only been on the market about a year. There are a few features that make it stand out among the rest. One is the ease of use. The board is simple, quick to learn and smooth to switch from tool to tool. This will make learning how to use it fast and easy. The educational software that goes with the board is also simple. There are tons of great interactive tools to engage and teach students included. The Eno board is also a dry erase board. Teachers no longer have to give up that space on their walls! The board is magnetic, works with dry erase markers and is interactive. Plus, if you have an extra stylus you can have two students using the board at the same time! Or, they can use the markers and you can have as many students write on the board as you have markers!
There were a few other key features about the product and company that we liked as well. Just a few include the precision of the stylus, the professional development offered and the product warranties. The board is very precise so no more clicking two and three times to select the item you want. The group still has a few questions to look into before any official decisions are made. However, the Eno seems like a great product and is definitely worth checking out!
For more information, visit the website:
http://www.polyvision.com/tabid/155/objectid/70/default.aspx
There were 4 companies that presented their products to the group and one stood out above all the others. It was the Eno board made by PolyVision. It is a new product and has only been on the market about a year. There are a few features that make it stand out among the rest. One is the ease of use. The board is simple, quick to learn and smooth to switch from tool to tool. This will make learning how to use it fast and easy. The educational software that goes with the board is also simple. There are tons of great interactive tools to engage and teach students included. The Eno board is also a dry erase board. Teachers no longer have to give up that space on their walls! The board is magnetic, works with dry erase markers and is interactive. Plus, if you have an extra stylus you can have two students using the board at the same time! Or, they can use the markers and you can have as many students write on the board as you have markers!
There were a few other key features about the product and company that we liked as well. Just a few include the precision of the stylus, the professional development offered and the product warranties. The board is very precise so no more clicking two and three times to select the item you want. The group still has a few questions to look into before any official decisions are made. However, the Eno seems like a great product and is definitely worth checking out!
For more information, visit the website:
http://www.polyvision.com/tabid/155/objectid/70/default.aspx
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