Last Thoughts

This class truly surprised me! If I am honest, I will admit that I was not looking forward to this class at all. I thought I would not be able to use much of the material in my teaching and remained skeptical for a few weeks. Now that the class is almost over, I have to admit that I truly enjoyed it. I learned many new tools such as Animoto, Voki, VoiceThread, blogger, Kidblog, and Wordle. I enjoyed blogging every week and would like to keep it up going forward. I think it would be a great way for collaboration and research among teachers. I would also like to set up Kidblog in my classroom next year to get my students blogging. I think they would benefit from this context of writing. I would also like to use more Animoto with the students. When we finish a text set or unit, I believe the students would enjoy and benefit from being involved in the planning and producing of more videos.
Here is a Wordle I created with some words that reflect what I took away from Technology and Literacy.

 

3-D Coloring Pages

I recently discovered an app called ColAR. It is an app that brings 2-D coloring pages to life through the iPad. You go to their website, print the coloring pages, have studens color, and then use the app to bring the image "to life". I did not realize some coloring pages cost money and was limited to the free sets. Here are a few pictures and videos of my students enjoying the apps. They absolutely loved it!

 

I would recommend reading the blog Tiny Toes for a more comprehensive look at ColAR. Enjoy!

A Few of Your Favorite Things

Tonight in class I learned how to create a survey using Google Forms. Surveys can be used to ask students questions to get to know them at the beginning of the year, learn more about colleagues, or survey parents about classroom environment or homework... to name a few! Here is the form I created as an experiment tonight.

The Wonderful World of Plants

The last unit I completed this school year with one of my small groups was all about plants. I included a variety of lessons, strategies, resources, and tasks in the unit and decided to document it all using Animoto. Animoto is a new tool I learned about in my grad class that is wonderful for creating short videos. I used my iPhone to record students and take pictures, then uploaded the images to Animoto, and created a short film. Before I show you the video, I will quickly explain the outline of the unit.

I began the unit with a text set of Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert, The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle, and How a Seed Grows by Helene J. Jordan. We used Planting a Rainbow to learn about the life cycle of a plant and complete life cycle graphic organizers.

We used The Tiny Seed to learn about what a plant needs to grow and thrive and what causes a plant to die. We completed the cause and effect graphic organizers.

Lastly in the text set, we used How a Seed Grows to learn how to plant a plant. The students participated in discussion and used that information to write their own how-to books. You will hear the students reading their how-to books to you in the video.

After writing their own how-to books, the students were required to plant a bean plant by following another student's how-to book. In an attempt to have students participate in discussion and give constructive feedback, I encouraged the students to give one strength/compliment and one area that needed improvement to the author of the how-to book. This was a great way for the students to think about what worked well in their writing and what they need to improve.

As a final activity with the unit, the students completed observation journals. Every time the small group came to my classroom, the three students would write a sentence or two documenting what they saw in their bean plants (dirt, stem, leaves, etc.) and draw a picture to match their sentence(s). The observation journals gave the students the opportunity to make predictions about their plants, give thoughtful reasons as to why their plants may not be growing, and participate in science.

Overall I my students LOVED using the iPhone to take pictures and videos. They loved being recorded and then commenting about their readings for the video. It was a great activity to introduce students to movie making and all the steps that are involved. I plan to have students use more technology to make videos and document their learning next year.

I thoroughly enjoyed this unit and I know the students did as well. Hope you enjoy the video!  

Classroom Rules and Expectations Digital Story

I started creating a digital story about my classroom rules and expectations to fulfill a requirement for my grad class, but quickly realized it was a great way to connect with parents, intrigue students, show student work, and use as a tool for instruction. I decided it would be really neat to use current students to make a video for my incoming students in the fall. I had students assist me in brainstorming different rules and/or expectations in my class to begin. I then took their list and used the students to model different positive actions in my classroom. I complied all the pictures and videos and added commentary to finish it off. Here's what I created.



I used a new tool called VoiceThread to compile all my pictures and instructions.I found VoiceThread to be straightforward and easy to use. Below I've listed a few of the ways I think VoiceThread could be used.

- Student documentation of his/her own story
- Read aloud of a book for a listening station
- Lesson introductions with pictures of a concept (i.e. intro to shapes create a short digital story displaying different shapes you see around the house and school)
- Practicing math facts, sight words, letters, numbers, etc.
- Introduction of classmates and/or teacher
- Classroom rules and expectations

Let me know if you use VoiceThread and how you use it in your classroom!

Hip Hop is Powerful

A few days ago I was telling a friend about the Talent Show we had at school and described the dance moves, songs, and true talent students at my school have. I love the talent show every year because it is a window into students true interests and talents that are not always seen in the classroom. My friend asked if I had ever heard of Chris Emdim. I stared at her and said "No, the name doesn't sound familiar." She went on to tell me how this man has started what's called Science Genius and #hiphopEd to use hip hop as a means of teaching science. He is an advocate for engaging students in a real way to encourage learning. Check out this short video to get an idea of what I'm talking about.

 Now, I know a lot of people reading this probably work with elementary age students and as you can see this video focused on high school students. I still think there's something to be said about using hip hop to engage students of all ages. I would love to do more research this summer to learn how the brain is activated when rapping and find more raps to use in my classroom. I know it would engage many of my students and encourage them to use some of their talents more frequently in the classroom. I sometimes encourage my students to write a rap with their sight words or beat box to a math problem, but most students look at me, turn red, and say "No, I can't do that." If I began lessons with a rap to introduce a concept or showed a rap for more practice with a math equation, students may be more apt to create their own rap. Using hip hop is something I would like to try going forward as I feel it could truly make a difference for my students.

Goals of Student Blogging

This summer I plan to level my classroom library (I know! It's really sad it's not leveled, but cut me some slack. I'm a newer teacher without a full classroom of students), plan unit themes, and compile specific activities for each concept I teach. I feel like these are the typical items on every teacher's summer "To-Do List", but now I have a new item to add to my summer to-do list. It is to research and become extraordinarily familiar with student blogging. Through my grad course I have become aware of the incredible opportunities available to teachers and students to expand student learning. Here are just a few classroom blogs I've explored recently.

This is a classroom blog with first graders. 

This is a classroom blog with second graders.

As you can see, it's amazing what students decide to write about! Some students write about very influential and passionate topics, others write to persuade, and some write to express emotion. Blog writing also challenges students to write for a different audience. Students become accustomed to writing for their teacher and no one else. The blogging world allows students to consider people around the world that might be their readers.

Writing is often a difficult task for my students, but if I introduced blogging into writing I think students would be incredibly motivated. My hope is to research student blogging this summer and begin implementing student blogging in the fall. I would like to get my older students started at the start of the year. Two things I want to keep in mind as I begin student blogging is 1) Set a specific time each week to allow students to write on their blogs and 2) Keep blogging student centered. 

Here we go!

Draft Form!

Hi all!

I have been working on a Digital Story for my grad class this week. I was fairly apprehensive about beginning this project, but have quickly learned it is fun (and fairly easy) to create. I will warn you, it is slightly more time consuming than I first thought. I decided to create a short video about the rules and expectations in my classroom at Washington to use with my new students in the fall. I decided to use the tool called VoiceThread. I will post a bit more about VoiceThread when I reveal my final digital story. This is all for now. There are a few slides I plan on adding, but I hope you enjoy what I've created so far!

Made My Day

This post doesn't have any great research, life-changing advice, or groundbreaking realizations, but I wanted to share a conversation I had with a parent yesterday. I live in the town I teach so naturally I run into students and parents at the grocery store, while I'm looking through the racks at TJMaxx, and even at the gym. Most of the time I give a quick wave or hello to the student and/or parent and keep going. Yesterday as I entered the gym (where one mother works) I said a quick hello and planned on continuing with my workout. Instead the mother stopped me and said "Rose* was just talking about you this morning!" And then proceeded to share what Rose said that morning as she got ready for school. Apparently Rose's brother was pretending to be sick in an attempt to stay home from school when Rose piped up and told her mother and brother how much she loves school. She walked her mother and brother through her daily schedule. When she got the the part of the day where she comes to my classroom she shared with her mother some activities we complete and informed her mother that she enjoys going to my classroom.

And please keep reading. I am not trying to inflate my own ego... just bear with me. I have a point!

I was very happy to hear a student loves to come to my classroom, but what the mother said next almost made me tear up. She thanked me for making her daughter like school again. I feel as though sometimes people forgot how hard school can be for my students. Their brains are on overdrive in an attempt to keep up with their peers all day long. They leave school exhausted, frustrated, and sometimes at a point of depression. When students are identified and become mine my first goal is to get the student to fall in love with reading and learning. Most of the time when students come to me, they are so frustrated and confused they demonstrate task avoidance and a variety of negative behaviors. My goal to have students fall in love with learning is not formally written on their IEPs or on their report cards, but that is always my first objective! I firmly believe that students, and especially those in special education, need to feel successful and motivated before any significant learning can occur. Rose was identified as a student with a specific learning disability in reading and entered special education this year. In our conversation Rose's mother told me last year she would fight to stay home or spend the day in the hallway "getting a drink", "going to the bathroom", or in the nurse for every ache because she did not enjoy school. This year she is the one trying to convince her brother that school is fun!

I'm sorry if that felt like rambling, but I want to convey that teachers truly do make a difference. I want to FIRST encourage other teachers. You never know how much parents and students truly appreciate all the work we put in every day! You never know how many conversations take place in homes similar to the one Rose, her mother, and brother had. SECOND, I also want to encourage you to always keep in mind that we teach because we love to learn and what to instill that love of learning in students. We want all students, no matter how high or low, to enjoy reading, learning new material, and exploring new things on their own. We need to remember why we became teachers in the first place! It wasn't to get a four on our teacher evaluation or make sure we implemented every single Common Core State Standard! 

I keep this on my desk as a reminder.

Thanks for listening! :)



*Name was changed to protect student.

Thoughts and Ramblings about Storybird

Tonight in class a few colleagues and I created a Storybird story to become familiar with this online tool. Before last week I had never heard of Storybird. It allows educators and students to create their own stories using pictures within certain illustrators' galleries or listen to stories created by other authors. As we experimented with the new tool, there were a few things I really liked and I few things I found difficult. I'll list a few Pros and Cons below.

Pros:
- Allows students to use their imagination
- Only allows pictures from one illustrator for each story so stories look similar to a true published book with one illustrator
- A creative way for students to display their ideas
- Educators can create mini-lessons with a specific goal in mind (i.e. inferencing)

Cons:
- The program does not allow for much editing (i.e. font style, font size, addition of text outside the template, etc.)
- You cannot upload your own pictures and/or student work
- It is hard to maneuver around the site
- No auditory options 

Please do not take everything I say to heart! I am new to this online tool and may need more time experimenting on the site. These were only my first impressions.

Here's the Storybird I created with my colleagues. We created this book with the goal of having our students practice inferencing. See if you can answer the question at the end of our story.





  

Were you able to tell that Susie was really using her imagination for all her travels? She was at home the whole time!

If you use Storybird yourself, let me know what you think!!

So Many to Choose From...

After researching a few literacy projects from previous classes, I feel slightly relieved to know there is a variety of resources to choose from when completing the literacy project! I stumbled upon quite a few really interesting projects that I would love to try with my students. The first literacy project I looked at was from what appears to be a kindergarten class. The teacher, Anne Marie Betterini, read 10 Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle as images of student work flashed by illustrating every scene. I think it was a really neat idea to involve young students in literature. Check the video out here. !0 Little Rubber Ducks

Another literacy project I viewed was the project we also viewed in class. It was a project completed with fourth graders using Voki. I had never heard of the tool before last week's class and still do not have a complete understanding, but I really enjoyed the projects done regarding the characters from Charlotte's Web. Watch the voice over with Wilbur here. Wilbur Voki

The last literacy project I viewed was done using VoiceThread. I am entirely unfamiliar with this resource, but liked how the students were able to use images of their own work and record their voices as they read their Alphabet Aliiteration Book. Not only did I like how the teacher utilized VoiceThread, but I liked the idea of an alphabet alliteraciton book. I have a few students in mind that might benefit from creating their own alphabet alliteration book. I think I will have to give this a try next year with some students! View the alliteration book here. Alphabet Alliteration Book - VoiceThread

I think I'll have to do a little more research before deciding on a topic and tool for my own Literacy Project!

The Toxic Culture of Education?

Today I wandered upon a video from TED Talks titled Toxic Culture of Education by a high school math teacher named Joshua Katz. If you are unfamiliar with TED Talks it is a nonprofit organization with the mission of spreading ideas across countries, cultures, languages, and topics. I have seen a variety of videos regarding education. Among a few of the topics I viewed were talks in favor of the common core, talks in adamant disapproval, and videos regarding different methods of teaching.

Katz opens his talk with the statement "Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish by the ability to climb a tree it will live its whole life believing it's stupid." I have seen this quote before and loved it in regard to public education. I think part of my love of this quote stems from my profession and role as a special education teacher. Students have a variety of different strengths and weaknesses, but regardless of what those strengths and weaknesses are all students are required to take the same test and perform with the same standard of achievement. It doesn't make any sense to me! As adults we are required to choose a job, but not everyone has the same job with the same requirements so why are students required to study the exact same topics and take the exact same classes. Katz was proposing to reintroduce classes such as home economics back into schools because some students need the topics taught in those classes. Some students do not need to learn how to solve huge algorithms, but need to know how to complete their taxes and budget.

He goes on to talk briefly about the Common Core and the so called "buzz" words that come with it. Words like rigor, critical thinking, and meaningful discussion. He states that what he sees in his daughter's kindergarten classroom is not rigorous, but "developmentally inappropriate rote." I could not agree more! Kindergarten students are required to perform on a level much higher than their bodies and brains are ready. I believe it is wildly inappropriate. To require a five year old to sit for long periods of time on the carpet and listen to a lesson in reading and then be expected to read books that appear much to high for a five year old seems crazy to me! I believe if more structured play was incorporated into the kindergarten classroom and maybe two recesses, yes two, there would be a lot less behavior problems and more life skills kindergarten students would learn. Katz states that when ideas such as structured play or home economics are brought to school districts as options, teacher are told they are not rigorous enough and do not align with the common core. Who said play was not rigorous for a five year old?! Much research has been done saying that a child's play is their work. More structured play would better prepare them for the life ahead of them!

Before I get any further here's the link to Katz's video. Take a little less than 18 minutes and let me know what you think!  Toxic Culture of Education

My First Animoto Video

As part of an assignment for my EDUC 584 course I was required to create an Animoto video. I had never heard of this video tool before and was intrigued... but I will admit I was not extraordinarily excited. I have used iMovie before a few times, but that is the only experience I've really had with movie making tools. I was able to successfully make a few videos of different trips, but I remember iMovie taking a long time and not the most user-friendly. I've always wished I was more well versed in the tool, but when it comes to technology I need explicit examples and hands-on experiences. All that said, I was a little precautious about another video making tool.

I decided to start my first Animoto with a simple subject I felt comfortable using. I decided to take a few pictures of student activities documenting how they practice letters and sight words in fun interactive ways. Here's what I came up with!

I found Animoto to be VERY user-friendly. I could figure out how to easily upload videos, change the order, and watch the previews. I would love to show my students this video and let them see how I used their hard work in a video. This also gave me ideas on what I can create next for my students regarding letters and sight words. 

 

What An Inspiring Teacher!

Every week my principal sends out what is called "Gray's Guide." It gives information, announcements, and research articles as a mean of communicating weekly with the entire staff regarding different topics. This week i instantly recognized the article as soon as I began to read it. It was the story of an amazing teacher that did not teach to the test or teach to see her student's reading levels sky rocket, although those things are important. She taught to make students feel loved, important, and worthy. I wasn't able to find who first wrote the article, but here is a link to another blog. It's so inspiring and makes me aspire to be the kind of teacher that looks past all the achievement testing and focus on making students feel and know they belong and are loved.

Click here for the story. The Kind of Teacher I Want to Be!

Welcome!

Hello! 

Welcome to my new blog about EDUC 584 - Integrating Technology and Literacy. This blog is part of a graduate class I'm taking at University of Saint Joseph. I hope to use this blog not only for class, but to display some of my students' work. 

Here's a picture of one of my students practicing her sight words with links.