Thursday, September 28, 2017
Mobiles in the Classroom Interview
I chose to interview a friend in my old district for this assignment. He is a high school US History teacher, and his school has recently implemented a cell phone/mobile device policy for the classroom. This policy has recently been implemented and they are still working on kinks and glitches in how they allow students to use mobile devices in the classroom. I recorded my interview below:
Q: Why did your district decide to allow students access to mobile devices in school?
A: Surprisingly, parents were the real push behind the change. We have a very small high school of about 600 students, and are located in a small, rural, but tight knit community. Parents would attend school board meetings and push for their children to have access to their phone during the day. Administration took their wishes and came up with a compromise that students could have phones during the day, but during class they must be used instructionally and appropriately.
Q: When can students use their cell phone during class?
A: We encourage them to use it with specific apps and tools, and try to make the time as structured as possible.
Q: Do students get distracted and text during class?
A: Of course they do! I often have to remind them to put their phone away and not use it when they aren't supposed to. This goes as well as you could expect.
Q; Are you a fan of adopting this policy in school or no?
A: Not at all. Students are very distracted and more interested in texting and talking with their friends than actually focusing on the assignment or research given. It is frustrating to deal with more attitude brought on because of the cell phone usage.
I had more questions prepared for my interview, but after talking, I found out that they were not applicable because of the program being so new. I was not too surprised to hear the answers given. I had the same thoughts about cell phones in the classroom and was wondering if they would carry through to an actual school that incorporates this program. I posted on my discussion responses a link that I found on Twitter about cell phones in the classroom. You can read and access the link below:
http://wbur.fm/2k76JLZ
Q: Why did your district decide to allow students access to mobile devices in school?
A: Surprisingly, parents were the real push behind the change. We have a very small high school of about 600 students, and are located in a small, rural, but tight knit community. Parents would attend school board meetings and push for their children to have access to their phone during the day. Administration took their wishes and came up with a compromise that students could have phones during the day, but during class they must be used instructionally and appropriately.
Q: When can students use their cell phone during class?
A: We encourage them to use it with specific apps and tools, and try to make the time as structured as possible.
Q: Do students get distracted and text during class?
A: Of course they do! I often have to remind them to put their phone away and not use it when they aren't supposed to. This goes as well as you could expect.
Q; Are you a fan of adopting this policy in school or no?
A: Not at all. Students are very distracted and more interested in texting and talking with their friends than actually focusing on the assignment or research given. It is frustrating to deal with more attitude brought on because of the cell phone usage.
I had more questions prepared for my interview, but after talking, I found out that they were not applicable because of the program being so new. I was not too surprised to hear the answers given. I had the same thoughts about cell phones in the classroom and was wondering if they would carry through to an actual school that incorporates this program. I posted on my discussion responses a link that I found on Twitter about cell phones in the classroom. You can read and access the link below:
http://wbur.fm/2k76JLZ
Sunday, September 24, 2017
Unit 3- Discovering New Activities
Discovering Something New- u03a2
I really enjoyed using Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything this week. Sadly, I had no idea that a site such as this even existed. I love that she has categorized by focus area/interest area. I saw many resources that I found interesting and new, and many that I have had experience with. I chose to highlight some of the resources that I have heard of through fellow educators, but haven't used before.
Website # 1: Wordle
Wordle is a great website that allows you to input words and phrases to make word clouds. Word clouds are visually appealing illustrations of words that can be anything that you choose them to be. I chose to share a Wordle with Hershey affiliations. Unfortunately for me, when chose to create my Wordle, the site was down, and it wouldn't create for me! I was however able to find a public Wordle on Pixabay to share. It is below:
Photo Credit: Pixabay
You can see how Wordle highlights the key words that are used and makes them visually appealing and very well presented. Another cool think about Wordle is that is a site that allows you to access FAQs and redirects you when you have trouble accessing the website. I found out through exploring the website that Wordle was created by an IBM employee who was writing code during work time. He created the program while on the clock, and IBM has full rights to Wordle. How interesting is that?
Website # 2: EduClipper
EduClipper is an excellent online resource that reminds me a lot of Pinterest. The difference with EduClipper is, of course, that everything is educational! When you use Pinterest, you can of course "pin" and save school resources, but you will run across other resources that may not be totally educational. I found that with EduClipper, you can "clip" articles, photos, and websites onto your various boards that other EduClipper users can see. One thing I loved is that when your articles or pictures are "re-clipped", you receive an email that notifies you. I noticed that the users that re-clipped my content, also had some pretty cool clippings on their EduClipper boards too.
If you haven't explored the website yet, you will notice that when you use Educlipper, you can take your clipped articles and turn them into a collage of resources. This is an awesome tool to use if you want to highlight a bunch of different articles on one topic (ex: Daily 5 Literacy). I also love that other educators can suggest or add clips that might be useful to you, They can do this by looking at your content, and if they see something that they think you might like, they will suggest or save the clip for you. I have an example of this below:
You can see above, that another user, Karen, saw this anchor chart (based on one of my clips) and thought that I would find it useful, so she suggested it for me.
Website # 3- Easel.ly
I chose to explore Easel.ly because of the excitement surrounding infographics. Infographics to me are one of the most exciting tools out there to present information. In my opinion, when things are visually appealing, they are more likely to "stick" and be remembered. I loved that Easlly lets you create your account and get to work immediately. When you log on, you come to a home screen with tons of free visuals to use if you so choose. Take a peek below to see:
Other users have created quite a few different infographics, and allowed access for usage and sharing. How cool is that? Here is one of my favorites that I found:
If you needed to know the differences of nerds vs. geeks, here you go! This infographic says it all!
I would love to use the site with my students, if they were a bit older. Typing is still a struggle for us, so I think that would pose the largest challenge. I would use this all the time for older students, whether presenting or making study guides for tests, etc.
One of the main things that I love about this site, is how EASY it is to use it. The toolbar (see below) at the top makes it so easy to adjust, cut, copy, and import things into your infographic. I literally taught myself how to use this toolbar in a minute. Kudos to the designers for the ease of this website.
Thursday, September 21, 2017
Unit 3- Activity 1- Filling Up My Toolbox!
(photo credit: Pixabay)
I had a great time "filling" my toolbox with cool new tools and shortcuts. Keep reading below to find out more!
Bitly
Bitty is an excellent resource that allows you to shorten links and website URL's to make them shorter. I found that this is especially helpful when you are using links to blogs and pages within websites, because you have so much less to retype when trying to access the site. A good example of this would be my blog website and link:
Before using Bitly: /https://mhsfirstfun.blogspot.com
After using Bitly: http://bit.ly/2flWwK7
Notice how much shorter the link is when using Bitly! I love that they make it so easy to create shorter links. I especially love that they include the "copy" button next to the input box. This makes it easy to just press and go, and not have to use the above tool bar to copy then paste. What a nice feature! One of the most impressive link shortening tests that I performed was (this was while I was online shopping :))
Before using Bitly: https://www.loft.com/spiced-stripe-flounce-shirtdress/437722?skuId=23743083&defaultColor=0040&colorExplode=true&catid=catl000013
After using Bitly: http://bit.ly/2ygUG0K
How AWESOME is that?! I think that I would use this tool most when accessing links for parents to use. How much easier would it be to hyperlink and access shorter links for them?
QR Codes with Deliver
QR Codes are one of my favorite tools to use in the classroom and personally too. I love the ease of using the scanner to scan a code and immediately takes you to the link that is embedded in the QR code. This is so convenient in the classroom, because I love to make QR codes for books and other sites that I use. We also access SeeSaw via a class QR code. I posted a QR code to my blog below:
Here is a great link for QR codes and ways to use them in the classroom:
These are the most convenient way to keep the sites that you use most at hand. No searching, finding, or typing. One click and you are there! I chose to bookmark Quietube. I use YouTube so much in classroom, and often need to access videos with no commercials or advertisements. This was a perfect choice for me. I posted a photo of it below:
I found this site to be just as easy to use as SafeShare, and am glad to have two different resources now!
Sunday, September 17, 2017
Unit 2- Assignment 2- Digging Deeper Into the Mainstays
I choose three different websites to review and share my experiences with. I have listed them below:
Twitter: I chose to review Twitter for my social review because out of the many social platforms, I have the least experience with Twitter. I have used the others in my Web 2.o decertification class, and thought that it might be wise to branch out a bit! I found that Twitter is pretty easy to use and manage, as long as you remember to literally keep it short and sweet. You have a maximum of 60 characters that you can include in your "tweet" including, symbols, hashtags, etc. Most major websites and apps have their own Twitter account, or "handle" and follow many other similar companies or individuals. I love that once you follow someone, they have an option to either follow you back or not follow at all. You have lots of choice and freedoms when using Twitter. I love that you can access information so quickly using the Twitter app and can update and post within seconds.
I found myself trolling others tweets and posts and getting lost in the Twitter web for hours! A large number of teachers in my building use Twitter and many of them use it as a platform to communicate with parents and other educators. Photos, videos and other cool classroom happenings are tweeted and often re-tweeted. I found that if you were a teacher of older aged students, you could easily have them use their smartphone and follow the class page or retweet and tag current/relevant events to the other class members. You could easily create a classroom hashtag to help students identify the content that they would search and tweet. I love that Twitter makes it so easy to search hashtags and tweets. This could make finding certain information readily accessible to find. I have posted a sample tweet below from Manal, my coworker who I interviewed this week. See below:
VoiceThread: VoiceThread is an excellent tool that I have had a small bit of experience with. VoiceThread does just what it means! It allows you to record your voice and add images to create a presentation or lead a discussion. VoiceThread can be accessed by computer or via the VT app, which is available in the app store. VoiceThread is much more engaging to use than typing a post or paper because you are able to make your point by using voice and not words. I find that words are at times great, but voice recordings with inflection and tone are much more engaging to read and respond to.
VoiceThread would be an excellent alternative to papers and summaries because it would provide students the opportunity to plan, write, and execute a recording that is relevant to the material being covered.
Pinterest: Pinterest is an excellent organizational tool that allows you to create boards that house links to content. This content can be found on blogs, other websites, or places on the web. You can house images, videos, and just about anything else that you can imagine on Pinterest. Others can follow and re-pin your posts, similar to what can you on Twitter. Pinterest gives you the ability to create "secret boards" to house information that you may not want others to see! I love this for planning things that I may not be ready to implement or try. The one way that I would use Pinterest in my classroom, would be to organize Pinboards that are based on the current concepts being taught in class. Students could pin and repin to gather information and sources for a project or topic!
Thursday, September 14, 2017
Web 2.0 Interview
I chose to interview a co-worker of mine for this week's assignment/interview. Manal and I have worked together for three years, and she has incorporated many Web 2.0 tools into her classroom.
Our interview questions are below:
1. How did you decide which tools to use with students?
I chose to use the following tools in my classroom: Twitter & SeeSaw. Twitter was a good choice because of the ease and use of the application. SeeSaw was a great choice because it allows students to participate in using as well as provides parents the opportunity to see their child's work. I have found great success with these tools in my classroom!
2. What obstacles did you overcome to obtain permission to use the tools?
Surprisingly, None! We are encouraged and supported when using these applications and tools in our classrooms. The only hurdle that I had to overcome was the possibility of having students on the "Do Not Publish" list. I have to more aware of who I am photographing and making sure that I am not publishing them at any time.
3. What advice would you give to a teacher seeking to replicate your efforts?
I would tell them to be aware of what they are posting. Be mindful of the audiences that you are reaching. Also, make sure that what you are posting is relevant and thoughtful! Have fun!
Our interview questions are below:
1. How did you decide which tools to use with students?
I chose to use the following tools in my classroom: Twitter & SeeSaw. Twitter was a good choice because of the ease and use of the application. SeeSaw was a great choice because it allows students to participate in using as well as provides parents the opportunity to see their child's work. I have found great success with these tools in my classroom!
2. What obstacles did you overcome to obtain permission to use the tools?
Surprisingly, None! We are encouraged and supported when using these applications and tools in our classrooms. The only hurdle that I had to overcome was the possibility of having students on the "Do Not Publish" list. I have to more aware of who I am photographing and making sure that I am not publishing them at any time.
3. What advice would you give to a teacher seeking to replicate your efforts?
I would tell them to be aware of what they are posting. Be mindful of the audiences that you are reaching. Also, make sure that what you are posting is relevant and thoughtful! Have fun!
Manal
Visit Manal's Twitter Page here!
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