Video Links

Video clips are fun and is a very important learning tool in the classroom. I use video clips to introduce a topic, review material, or to recap the end of a unit. The two video clips I found are ones that I recently used in my 6th grade Science class on Photosynthesis and in my 6th grade Social Studies class on Ancient Egypt. With these two videos, I showed them at the beginning of the lesson plans to get the students interested and engaged in the topics. I also embed the videos onto my classroom website for students to go home and watch them again if they do not understand the topic.

I really enjoy SchoolTube because they have a variety of video clips and it is user friendly for embedding the videos onto your own personal web page!

Microblogging 101

As I was perusing through the idea of microblogging, I thought this concept was very creative and technological advanced for our students in this day in age. There are many ways you can use this in your classroom. A few examples I thought of were to post questions for students to answer after class. This could be a way to communicate with parents. One can also use this as a ticket out the door for a type of assessment. Students can post links and photos of topics we are talking about in class.

Virtual Debating

Today I came across this article on Virtual Debating . This was very interesting because it included two 4th grade classrooms from different schools. These students had a debate on the topic "Spending Too Much Money on Space Exploration". Prior to the actual debate, the students talked via e-mail to set up the date and time for the debate. When it came time to proceed with the debate, the classrooms debated via a webcam. The webcam was projected onto a SmartBoard in both classrooms. The students each had their chance to come up to the microphone and present their stance on the debate.

I thought this article was very interesting because every student was engaged with the lesson. I never thought of having a debate with another class using webcams. I would really like to try this concept with my own social studies class when we get to the topic of dropping the atomic bomb in Japan after WWII.

Middle School Exchange

As I ventured into into the ning world, I came across this great social network for middle school teachers. The url for this network is http://middleschoolexchange.ning.com/. I think this will be very useful for me since this is my first year having my own middle school classroom. On this ning, I can find different strategies to use in my classroom for teaching content and vocabulary. I can also chat with fellow middle school teachers! I would recommend this ning to anyone who is in the field of teaching in the middle school enviroment!

A Learner's Analogy

A learner is like a computer. Every learner is constantly giving out new information and retrieving new information. George Siemen explains that “technology is altering (rewiring) our brains. The tools we use define and shape our thinking” (Siemen, 2005). Every student uses technology each and every day. Our schools have become very proficient in the new technology world. My school personally has become a technology learning campus. In my building there are 10 teachers who are trained to teach their fellow colleagues how to utilize different means of technology in our classrooms. With this day in age, teachers need to use these different tools to keep students engaged. There are many ways to utilize these tools such as have students create a classroom wiki, create pod casts, and write blogs. By having the students become engulfed in the technology world students are being able to connect with one another through social means (The Impact of Social Learning). An example of how students can connect to one another, my fellow colleague and I are going to set up a blog account for each of our Social Studies classes. The students are going to have assignments where they will post on their blog as well as their peer’s blogs. When we get into our big Medieval Project, we are going to be in communication with the other class. Students will be able to leave comments, express their feelings, and interact with the other sixth graders in their school.

References:

Siemens, G. (2005, January). Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/article01.htm

The Impact of Social Media on Learning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grI_h88vs3g&feature=PlayList&p=3E43054A8703F57A&index=3 Retrieved January10, 2009.

Experience Capture Screen Shot

Three Ways I Would Use Blogs in my Teaching!

Hi Everyone,

I am sure everyone is all well-under way in their classrooms! I hope everyone had a good first few days with your new students! I was thinking today of how I could use this blog in my classroom. I thought about the dynamic of my students and most of them are pretty proficient in the technology world and many of them have computers in their house.

I plan on using this Blog in my classroom for a pre and post assessment. Instead of doing ticket out the door or bell work I will have the laptops in my classroom for students to sign onto our classroom blog. I will have the students write in their class blog and then everyone can go and comment on their classmates.

Another way to utilize the blog world is for students who need alternate answering questions on their IEP. Instead of typing in a word processor, I will have them write in their blog. This way instead of printing out their work I can just log on and check and comment on their writing.

Lastly instead of writing "diary entries" in a report format using word processor or handwriting, I will have the students write in there class blog. This way, they can write multiple entries and add images. Classmates and the teacher can comment on each others diary entries. This is another form of assessment that teachers can use in their classrooms.

I hope you can take some of these ideas and utilize them in your classroom! Enjoy!