Identifying Similarities and Differences
Every year I teach my students about what it was like being in school during the Civil Rights Movement. I ask them to compare and contrast their school experience with the experience Ruby Bridges had. This year, I had my students type up their thoughts in a word document. Another way I addressed this strategy using technology was to have students watch two videos through Discovery Education and compare them by answering questions using Survey Monkey.
Homework and Practice
I value regular practice both at school and at home for my students to help them build confidence and get their parents involved. Have access to the computer lab only a half hour a week, at best, makes it difficult to integrate technology for every strategy. One way that I have managed to do it is to have my students participate in Raz Kids. I have three computers in my classroom, so I have assigned students different days to spend time practicing their reading using Raz Kids.
Generating and Testing Hypotheses
This is a strategy that I work with my students on. My students certainly have many questions about life in general. It is important to get them to begin thinking about the causes and effects that impact the world around us. As to how to integrate technology to address this skill strategy, I am short on ideas and welcome your thoughts. One thought that I have, which I haven't attempted with students yet, is the use of spreadsheets. I am intimidated by the complexity of this tool, but value all it's potential. Any thoughts?
Thursday, April 29, 2010
525- Week 4 Strategies
Cooperative Learning
Being a teacher of younger grades, I am immersed in an environment that makes way for many cooperative learning experiences. My students' assigned seats are in groups, and I facilitate an additional 3-4 cooperative learning activities everyday. These activities are primarily hands-on. Since beginning the Masters Program, I have taken this opportunity to challenge myself to give my students more opportunities for cooperative learning using technology. Some ideas I've come up with include email, blogs, and online survey and checklist tools. In addition, I would like to work with the district's IT department to allow use of a class wiki.
Reinforcing Effort
This strategy is also very at home in a first grade classroom. I believe in trying your best at all costs, and I impress that upon my students. This year, the district subscribed to Discovery Education. This site includes an online assessment component that has a fun extra feature for the students. As teachers create their assessment probes, we have the option to include a game feature. The way it works is that for every question, or couple of questions, that the students complete, a game will pop up as a reward for answering. Another way I have come to reinforce effort through technology is to use an online checklist to keep track of weekly assignments. My students are able to monitor their own progress and are held accountable to the amount of effort they show with completing assigned tasks.
Being a teacher of younger grades, I am immersed in an environment that makes way for many cooperative learning experiences. My students' assigned seats are in groups, and I facilitate an additional 3-4 cooperative learning activities everyday. These activities are primarily hands-on. Since beginning the Masters Program, I have taken this opportunity to challenge myself to give my students more opportunities for cooperative learning using technology. Some ideas I've come up with include email, blogs, and online survey and checklist tools. In addition, I would like to work with the district's IT department to allow use of a class wiki.
Reinforcing Effort
This strategy is also very at home in a first grade classroom. I believe in trying your best at all costs, and I impress that upon my students. This year, the district subscribed to Discovery Education. This site includes an online assessment component that has a fun extra feature for the students. As teachers create their assessment probes, we have the option to include a game feature. The way it works is that for every question, or couple of questions, that the students complete, a game will pop up as a reward for answering. Another way I have come to reinforce effort through technology is to use an online checklist to keep track of weekly assignments. My students are able to monitor their own progress and are held accountable to the amount of effort they show with completing assigned tasks.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
525- Online Mapping Tools
The resources I reviewed include Exploratree, Webspiration, and Education Oasis. All three are useful online mapping tools.
Exploratree provides a wealth of ready-made thinking guides, while still giving users the option to submit their own guides. The guides can be printed or used online. Users have the capability to edit and add graphics to the guides. As a first grade teacher, I could use this with my students to create a very simple idea web. I don't feel comfortable with the site's design to do more with my students. It is a little complicated for younger grades.
Webspiration is very similar to Kidspiration and Inspiration. This version is totally online, which allows for collaboration between users. Documents created on Webspiration are downloadable to Inspiration, which offers more advanced editing features. My school district has purchased licenses for In/Kidspiration, so my students are already familiar with the Webspiration style of mapping. This is an ideal online mapping tool for me to use in my classroom.
Education Oasis is the tool I liked the least. It only offers 58 pre-set organizers. The available organizers must be printed to be used because there is no editing feature. This tool is not designed for collaboration. The site set-up is user friendly, with categories to organize the options. As I looked through the Misc. section, I noticed that there were several organizers that are a part of the CRISS Strategies that my school uses.
Exploratree provides a wealth of ready-made thinking guides, while still giving users the option to submit their own guides. The guides can be printed or used online. Users have the capability to edit and add graphics to the guides. As a first grade teacher, I could use this with my students to create a very simple idea web. I don't feel comfortable with the site's design to do more with my students. It is a little complicated for younger grades.
Webspiration is very similar to Kidspiration and Inspiration. This version is totally online, which allows for collaboration between users. Documents created on Webspiration are downloadable to Inspiration, which offers more advanced editing features. My school district has purchased licenses for In/Kidspiration, so my students are already familiar with the Webspiration style of mapping. This is an ideal online mapping tool for me to use in my classroom.
Education Oasis is the tool I liked the least. It only offers 58 pre-set organizers. The available organizers must be printed to be used because there is no editing feature. This tool is not designed for collaboration. The site set-up is user friendly, with categories to organize the options. As I looked through the Misc. section, I noticed that there were several organizers that are a part of the CRISS Strategies that my school uses.
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