If you have made your way to this blog, you may notice I have not posted here in a while. You can see my latest blog posts at the following links:
Also, check out Creative APP-titude: iPad Multimedia Tools for Creativity
Thanks!
Over the past few weeks our fifth grade classes have been studying the Age of Exploration. Each student was given an explorer to research and wrote blog posts as if they were the explorer. Then each explorer had to go and leave comments on other explorer’s blogs, noting areas of similarity, agreement, or disagreement. This has been an amazing activity and the students have created thoughtful postings and comments. This was my first time using Kidblogs, and I highly recommend it as a excellent tool for student bloggers.
Here are the blogs from our classes:
Is your class studying explorers? If so, we would like you to visit our blog! An easy way for your students to interact with our class would be let them read our blog and respond by commenting to the posts. Please have them comment as if they were talking to the explorer, not the student. In return, we would be happy to connect with your class regarding an online project that you have created.
If you are interested in connecting with us, please contact me by leaving a comment below or by emailing me here. Currently, comment moderation is on for the student blogs, so I need to know if you are planning to leave comments. Thanks!
My notes from the session by Ron Brandsen from Holland Christian School.
I was excited to see that this session was being offered at MACUL this year. I’ve always been interested in ways to combine faith with technology. This something I have tried to do when I was teaching in the computer lab, so I am always interested in discovering new new ideas of things that teachers are doing.
What is fundamental to religious education?
Ron’s link: http://sites.google.com/site/irodonline/macul-10-tech-and-rel-ed
Thanks, Ron, got some great ideas from your session!
Notes from the iLife session on “Engaging Students in the Curriculum With Technology” from Gabriella Meyers and Cheryl Boes, Utica Community School, Apple Distinguished Educators.
They began by showing an outstanding video from Jeff Hall on “Create a New World.” I’ll try to find a link and add it later. Excellent!
Meyers says you can present standards and rubrics that let students choose the tool that they use to create their message. However students must first be familiar with the tools.
iPhoto09 – document images of what is going on in the classroom. Use the “Places” feature to stamp where the photo was taken. An iPhone will do this automatically or you can stamp the pictures in iPhoto. Great to use with “Flat Stanley” projects. Boes is using this with the “Walk our World” project.
Use the slideshow themes to automatically create a slideshow with a folder of photos. Instant!
Photo Books - using Lintor Publishing it is easy to create your own books. Create the book in iPhoto and print, and then make your own book. My note: this company is great!!!! I have used them for creating student books.
iMovie09 – has made it easy for kids to do simple things. They use the webcam to record themselves to practice a speech or to create a finished product.
Math Boot Camp – spring musical centered around math concepts. Very clever! Showing skit talking about strategies to solve word problems.
Cherokee Trail of Tears – example of a student project.
March is Reading Month – students created a song about reading, included a special needs child who normally didn’t complete work. Another idea: students create a song on math properties.
The new version of iMovie has great new features including the dynamic themes. (Agreed!) An advanced feature is that you can create your own themes.
Animated Travel Maps – easy way to create a map as part of a movie. Idea: use to track the travels of a Flat Stanley.
iMovie has a variety of ways that you can export your videos so students can have them.
iTunes8 - a way that a teacher can organize all your media resources. Idea: use a clip of music as a transition time signal that to move from one subject or task to another. Use different playlists to anchor different activities, to energize, or to calm. (Great idea!!)
iTunes has lots of free podcasts that you can download. iTunesU has great content!
Thanks, this was a great session! iLife is the best and I picked up several new tips and tricks!
I’ve been hearing lots of tweets about the excellent sessions that Rushton Hurley has been doing. Here is a link to his resources:
http://sites.google.com/site/rushtonsmacul2010sessions/home
And his nonprofit: http://www.nextvista.org/
Showing Lost Generation video.
Showing: Airport video of troops arriving home.
Kids are fascinated by video. Showing a video only of his students made to show a nines math trick.
Categories of videos at http://www.nextvista.org/
Light Bulbs: ideas
Global Views: different views of the world
Seeing Service:
The videos he posts must be 5 minutes or less, copyright friendly, ok for audience of young students, factually accurate and cited appropriately, for a student audience. Explaining that Royalty Free means you don’t have to site it, Creative Commons you usually have to cite.
Simple Video:
Showing Audacity, pulled in a clip of music, adding a news welcome with your voice. Demonstrating how to move the voice and then use the envelop tool to lower the music under the voice. Can also do this on Garageband. (my note: Garageband does this same trick very easily, has automatic ducking under the voice.)
Showing Moviemaker. Very clever example using flickr images to illustrate song lyrics. Note: students need to export the project file into a file that can be shared. It is easy to teach students how to do this. Images are powerful! You can also use a cam like a flipcam to get video, but that adds an extra step, which sometimes can be a hassle.
Equipment – free software that came on computer such as iMovie and MovieMaker, Photostory, GarageBand and Audacity. Flip video camera, microphone.
Planning is key:
Links to copyright-friendly media: http://sites.google.com/site/rushtonsmacul2010sessions/home/digital-video-and-the-projects-you-ll-want-to-do
Students love to celebrate each other’s work!
Here are my notes from the Friday morning session with Steve Dembo. I am looking forward to an entertaining and insightful presentation.
(Idea: Powerpoint Kareoke, give students five slides, give them 30 minutes to put together a presentation.)
Steve says his preschool son already has a permanent record, including pictures on Flickr.
There is a shift. Parents today are posting photos of their kids all the time. They don’t care if your school has a policy about name and images not being together.
Facebook asks their age, under 14 have higher security. Kids lie about their age, bypass the security.
College Confidential website – hints on getting into a college, but admission officers also use this to check out candidates.
New Facebook settings make much more information more public.
Google is starting to set up live search for Facebook and Twitter posts.
Marc Prensky – if we want to reach digital natives, we need to change. Characteristics: extremely social, risk takers, nonlinear, instant gratification, etc.
Website: usernamecheck.com will check for all the sites you are registered at.
Friendfeed allows you to create one feed that everything feeds into. Ping. Hellotxt. – can choose what places you want to send your posts to, includes phone text.
AtomKeep.com – lets you go to all your sites at once to change your profile.
Invest more time up front, and so you don’t have to more time later.
What can you learn in 30 minutes from Google Reader, Delicious, Twitter, Facebook? Steve shows all the things that he was able to learn. Steve calls all the people he learns from “his team.”
Where does social media fit into education? Dembo notes that many schools don’t follow into any of their followers on Twitter – they miss out connecting with their audience. Doesn’t engage the parents. Need to respond back to the people. “Ambient Intimacy” helps people feel connected.
“If you don’t organize it, they will.” – parents form Facebook groups.
Social media resumes – take control of your presence online. You have to see what you are “doing” not a static page. This is what classrooms should be doing. Be sure that people can find something good.
Dembo’s predictions for the future – 3 trends:
Showing how people use people to tell when the laundry is done, when the plant needs watering, cats GusandPenny, Kickbee – baby kicking in stomach.
Google Lit Trips – so you can interact.
Take your own personal experience and mix it with the technology to make it your own.
Best way to predict the 21st century is to invent it!
Here are my notes from Leslie Fisher’s session at MACUL. Leslie is always one of my favorite presenters – lots of fun and lots of new stuff for the geekiest of geeks!
Handouts here: http://www.lesliefisher.com/handouts/handouts.html
twitter.com /goodies to get a widget to add to your website. Can set width, height, color, and then embed the code.
Use TweetDeck columns to search for a certain topic.
Google Calendar -embed your calendar on your webpage, can customize which events it shows to the public.
Google Maps – can create your own map, can collaborate with others on the map.
Google Web Forms – can embed into a website. Yes, this I have used this feature a lot with my students!
Evernote – Yes, love this! Use it all the time. Great way to collect recipes from the web. Also use it with my phone to take pictures while shopping. I didn’t know until today that it would try to do text recognition. Neat!
Etherpad – hmm, only 16 people allowed at a time in the free version. I couldn’t get into her example. That’s new, I think. Good to know if you want to use with a class, you couldn’t get entire class in at one time. (An alternative is http://typewith.me/ – thanks @yoopertechgeek on twitter.
Google Wave – a wave of information, a document that people can join. I haven’t quite figured out this app, yet.
Use Google Sites to create a webpage. Can set up areas to be collaborative.
Google Voice – a phone number that connects to your home and cell number, can create groups, customize.
jott.com – $12 for 10 minutes worth of talk time. Uses with Remember the Milk.
Ustream TV - use to stream classes, activities using webcam or phone. Can add a poll to the stream. #”roomname” to open the chat so you don’t have to log in to chat. iPhone app only works over wifi.
Smugmug – photos, gives free account to nonprofits. Can use as a fundraiser.
Audioboo – record with your iPhone. I’ve used this with my fifth grade class. I ask students to reflect on what they have learned at the end of the lesson.
Tripit - place to put all your confirmations for your trips, puts together your itinerary. Can network with other people via the app, also supports iCal info.
Yelp - food reviews and more
I’m familiar with most of these, but she shared some new ways to use them. Thanks, Leslie!
Here are my notes from Vicki Davis’s session on Differentiated Instruction from this afternoon. I have followed her blog and twitter for several years, and it was such a treat to actually be in a session with her in person.
Suggests you leave a conference with Top Three Things to Do (just 3) and start them that weekend.
Choose the Web 2.0 tools that help you to do what you want to do, not just because it is trendy.
The only thing you have complete control over in your school is YOU – you have a choice on your attitude.
Vicki uses old equipment, has to raise money for everything she does.
Successful technology integration is people centered.
Professional development needs to be in little bites.
Invest in others who will teach and stimulate others to learn.
Teaches a tool once, then gives the students choices to use that tool.
Car analogy for the classroom:
Skills kids should know:
Davis uses a Wheel of Learning for projects – that addresses various learning styles.
Good point – for students, video is all about being funny, but she stresses that it must meet her criteria, she doesn’t grade on “funny”
Only lets them use cellphones for assignments, put phones in box during tests.
Uses Invention projects where they have to invent a new way to do something.
Have a “Hall of Fame” for the very best projects, “extra credit” for kids that finish easy. Only teaches the “cool stuff” once, and then this person teaches everyone else.
Give students the rubric when you give them the assignment.
When learning facts, they have each kid make games at classtools.net for 10 words, they play each other’s games.
Students need a home base – uses a wiki as their home base.
Wow!
Here are my notes from Steve Best’s excellent session from this morning. I use my iPhone all the time as a teaching tool! He gave excellent ideas and shared some great new apps that I am anxious to try out. Sorry, I don’t think I have all 25 apps listed!
Appbox Pro - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/appbox-pro/id318404385?mt=8
Dropbox - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dropbox/id327630330?mt=8
service, account, 2 GB free, holds your stuff, similar to Mobile Me. Syncs with any computer w/your dropbox. Can give permission to share folders. Also you backup. Can’t edit on phone, file viewer only.
1password - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/1password-pro/id319898689?mt=8 it remembers all your password info.
GorillaCam – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gorillacam/id342972390?mt=8
GoogleEarth -
Google Search App - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-mobile-app/id284815942?mt=8
Air Mouse - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/air-mouse-free-remote-trackpad/id356395556?mt=8
Audioboo - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/audioboo/id305204540?mt=8
records 3 minutes of audio
Bento - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bento/id314638461?mt=8
database for iPhone
Graphing Calculator - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/graphing-calculator/id289940142?mt=8
Instapaper - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/instapaper-free/id284942713?mt=8
grabs text and images, not ads, so you can read later
Howcast - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/how-to-videos-from-howcast-com/id292836649?mt=8
video tutorials
Reeldirector -http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/reeldirector/id334366844?mt=8
edit videos on iPhone
Stanza - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/stanza/id284956128?mt=8
ebooks, connects to free books
Encyclopedia - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/encyclopedia/id288141564?mt=8
downloads ALL wikipedia content onto your phone, including links
Wifi trak??
Units - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/units/id284574017?mt=8
conversion tool
Dragon Dictation - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dragon-dictation/id341446764?mt=8
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