Tech Integration Projects Atomic Learning

I found 2 really good tech integration projects.

The first project was a language arts project using Comic Life. I've never used Comic Life before, so I'm unfamiliar with the software. I watched 2 different lessons on Comic Life and I think you could easily use it with language arts. They showed color books in which they made comic books showing pictures of different colors. I was thinking you could do a great adjective lesson and have an adjective on each page with pictures showing that adjective. This software allows you to export it to the internet where it can be displayed.

The second project I looked at was a math project using Excel. It comes from the book, "How Big is a Foot?". It's funny because I just read this book to my students yesterday. This is a book about measurement. The teacher would make a cut-out of herself/himself and the students would use their feet to make measurements in order to create a bed for the teacher. The students would record their measurements in Excel and see how inaccurate the measurements would be because their feet are all different sizes. They would then use actual measrements and input that data into Excel. Very cute lesson.

Jing-Screen Shot

I mentioned "Ning" in one of my previous posts. Ning is a great networking tool that you could use with your class or with other colleagues. I used Jing to show you a screen shot of the site. It's very user friendly.

Posting a Jing Video To Your Blog

Here is a video to show you how to post a jing video on your blog. Let me know if you have any questions.

Jing....in the classroom

Here is an example of how to use Jing in your classroom.

Jing: What is a Voicethread?

Below is a Jing on Voicethread. It's super cool and FREE!

New Technology...Check These Out...They're Free!

It is truly amazing to see all of the new technologies that are constantly arriving! A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of hearing Alan November. He spoke in our district and then I had a small group session the following day. He spoke on the importance of global collaboration and how we need to be teaching our students to be global learners. He showed us examples of why and how we need to be web literate and teach our students to be web literate. We need to show our students how to judge whether or not a site is a "good" site. They need to know how to search and find accurate information. Sites like www.archive.org has a wayback machine that can take you through the entire history of a site (my boyfriend was intrigued by this and has used it on several law cases that he is working on). He also showed us how to narrow searches with site: " " you can limit your searches with country codes and other domains like .edu, .gov, .ac, etc.

Here are a few other things that I learned about that you may want to check out. They are great tools that you can use in your classroom and your students will LOVE them.

• Jing (free download) - www.jingprojects.com Jing allows you to create tutorials. It records your computer screen while you are narrating. This is perfect when teaching concepts such as addition with regrouping, 2 digit multiplication, or other "step required" concepts. I have also let me students dod alternative homework assignments and create their own jing homework showing me that they truly understand the concept.
• Voicethread (free registry) - www.voicethread.com Voicethread allows students to upload a picture and explain something through narration, text, and/or drawing. Other students can then comment and give feedback. I am going to do this with my students and have them explain the different moon phases. This is a great teaching/learning tool.
• Ning (free registry) - www.ning.com - Ning is a networking tool. Our district has Moodle, so I probably won't use it. However, it is a great way for teachers to network and collaborate. You can share videos, links, etc. If your school doesn't have a networking software, this would be a great one to use...and it's free!

I am excited as technology continues to grow and change. In my classroom we are using more and more technology to enhance our learning. One thing I have to remind myself is curriculum should drive the instruction with technology integration NOT technology drive the instruction.

Topic 20 - EDU 6384

For my first online course, I really liked EDU 6384. It was hard for me to get organized in the beginning, but as the course went on, I feel like I got in a routine. Sometimes I really enjoy working by myself, so it was easy for me to reflect and work on my own time.

I found the content in the book to be very interesting and there are some things that I can definitely take back to my classroom. The ones I'm most excited about are blogging, webquests, and the Monster Exchange (which we started this week).

I am glad that I am taking these technology courses because I want to be equipped to teach my students. The more I read about current trends, the more I realize I have to learn! I thought I was ahead of times with my Promethean Board and laptops, but there is so much more out there. AND, there is so much more integration that I can be doing across the curriculum.

The biggest issues for me with taking an online course was the communication. When I was struggling with an assignment, it was hard for me to figure out the problems. The database, for example, was really hard for me and I spent A LOT of time trying to learn how to do it on my own. I guess you have to problem solve, as you do in any stressful situation, but I do miss having the weekly interaction with a professor to talk to with issues such as these.

On a different note, I have to share about my latest technology! I came back from specials yesterday and I had a wonderful present on my desk...a flip camera! In case you don't know what a flip camera is, it basically records video (very easily and user friendly) and it has a usb import/export which easily downloads to your computer. Kids can easily use them.

I have already started dreaming of the endless possibilities my students will have to use these cool cameras. They can interview each other, they can record scavenger hunts, they can perform, and so much more. I am not sure what I am going to have them do first.

We are currently studying VOICE in our writing as well as character point of view and I'm going to read different versions of the Three Little Pigs. We are going to discuss the story from the different character's point of view. I am thinking that I will have my kids create their own "Three Little ____ and the Big Bad ____" story and have them record their character's point of view using the flip camera. My kids love, LOVE, love drama, so I think this might be a fun little project for them.

As I've previously mentioned, my kids have created their own websites, and this video feed could easily be uploaded to their own websites.

I think these cameras would also be really cool for when we study biographies. My students could pretend to be various people and they could interview each other and answer questions about history.

I am very excited about my new flip camera! Every teacher at my school got one...Christmas came early at Bradfield!

Technology is AMAZING!!!