Cart Pilot

Just a quick posting about our iPad and Chromebook pilot. Everything is just underway. Check back to hear more.

Where do we go from here?

I plan to concentrate on a few items we learned about this week for implementation this coming school year.

I want to work more on introducing Google Apps into my classroom... especially knowing that students in SG will be introduced to them so early in their school careers.  I do not currently have a lot of expertise in working with Google Apps, but I'd like to suggest and use these tools with my students to incorporate tools they are already comfortable using, and familiar with.  I'd like to incorporate the use of Google Docs for collaboration and peer editing.  I'd also like to help kids to start using the "share" feature to enable them to easily share assignments/papers with me.

Having looked at Storybird today, I'd really like to incorporate the use of this tool in my Creative Writing class.  I think this could be a really neat tool... and I'd like to try to figure out how best to include it.

Also, an oldie but goody, I plan to continue working with Moodle to add more content and resources.  Amanda and I also talked about collaborating on some Moodle quizzes and content, so that is pretty exciting.

My Action Plan for 2013-2014 . . .

Thursday, June 27, 2013

After completing the technology hours this week, I feel excited, overwhelmed, a little scattered, and very motivated. Here is my plan of action as of right now (but of course it will change ten times by August, and that is a conservative estimate).

• My Big Campus: This will be my main dashboard for the school year. I plan to link all of (or at least most of) the other sites we will use from here. The benefits of this are that the students will become familiar with one site and with finding the other resources and sites, which will make it easier on me throughout the school year. Also, this will use the very same login.
• Moodle: I would like to use this with all of my classes, but only for a few specific areas. I think finding a way to include usage and mechanics activities and explanations would allow for students to be more self-paced, but I could monitor their progress. I was also thinking of doing something with the course for Fundamental Reading and Writing to make it a little more structured.
• Other Sites: 
• Celly - create a place for students to ask each other questions, but also create a backchannel and discussion place
• Quizlet - already using, but dividing into classes to make it easier for students to use
• Google Maps - would like to incorporate this to explain various settings, and students could use to create presentations
• Google Drive - check into collaborative pieces that students could create
• 21st Century Skills: I want to make these skills more of a focus for this school year.

Thursday Reflection...My Plans

I plan to do a couple of things with my learning this week.  The first tool I am excited about is Mybigcampus.  I have used Edmodo in the past and liked it and this seems like the exact same thing as that.  I plan on having announcements for students, discussions regarding novels, and assignments based on reading.  I already created some of these things including a discussion prompt for the first week of school.  It will be exciting to see how its use goes in the classroom.

I also plan on using animoto and storybird to create videos and stories.  I still have to experiment with these two a bit, but they seem pretty self-explanatory and students will enjoy them.

Other sites like classdojo and socrative also have a shot of being used in my classroom.  I need to add students and explore some more to see how it all would work.  I like that each of these tools has different focus areas; behaviors from classdojo and check for understanding from socrative.

I learned about a lot of beneficial tools this week that I can't wait to try to implement.  My goal is to use three of them often this year; by often I mean every month!  That will be huge for me!

Thanks!

Thursday Reflection

For the foreseeable future, I would like to add QR codes for "how-to" videos from Khan Academy on the worksheets that I hand out.  Ultimately, I would like to use these videos to help "flip" my trig classes.   Warning:  QR codes for YouTube videos work better on an I-pod Touch than codes for websites with embedded videos.  It also makes a shorter web address for students, who don't have hand-held devices, to type on their computer.  I'd like to find other videos, perhaps on Discovery Ed, that enhance/deepen the lessons.  Something I would like to explore:  Could I use Class Dojo or Class Charts to keep track of my students homework completion instead of using a grade book?  What about late homework?

Next Steps

• Start using Google Maps/Google Earth in social studies instead of those antique maps that are still hanging in my classroom!  They have awesome pictures and take you RIGHT THERE!!
• Implement My Big Campus in all of my classes starting this year! 
• Try to get colleagues on My Big Campus so that collaboration can occur!
• Look into grants for technology in my classroom.
• Use Photo Story as a way of presenting information for class projects.
• Use Socrative as a survey tool/closure activity in the classroom.
• Develop and use QR Codes as a way to provide students with information on certain topics or as a scavenger hunt activity.
• Contact Kristen/John to help me to implement all of this awesome stuff!!

Thank you both for sharing all of this great technology information!  Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Thursday Reflection

My big campus will be the focal point of my classroom this year. By that I mean that I will house all information and resources on the site.  I am always looking for ways to open communication with my kids so that the classroom allows for risk taking.  Hopefully the blogs and discussions will truly enhance that vision.  

Socrative will be used to gather information about each day's work.  I do ticket out the doors each day with my classes, but I hope this will save me some paperwork and time.  

Thanks for helping me with this John and Kristen!!  I will be bugging you both for help throughout the year!