Graphic Organizers

Sometimes in this digital age we still need to provide our students with the paper form of graphic organizers. The Worksheet Works website has a page dedicated to Graphic Organizers that you can manipulate prior to printing for your students. Check it out and see what you can use.

Worksheet Works - Graphic Organizers

Thanks Lea Anne for sharing this site that you found. :)

Are You Glogging Yet?

If your answer is “no,” then make it a “yes.” Visit Glogster EDU to register for your free educator account and create up to 100 free student accounts. Glogster EDU is your original educational resource for innovative and interactive learning. Glogster EDU was conceived to imaginatively, productively, and collaboratively respond to the dynamic educational landscape and exceed the needs of today’s educators and learners.

Learning.com Innovators Summer Workshops

Looking for some fun and a great learning opportunity for this summer? Join Learning.com for a summer workshop. The Learning.com Innovator Summer Workshops are in-depth training and planning sessions where you create digital lessons and activities for the 2010-2011 school year! Come learn to use Learning.com's innovative FREE tools to create your own standards-aligned digital units, assign them to students, and track and grade them electronically. Learn about exciting Internet resources to include in your instruction, collaborate with peers, and have some fun while you are at it!

There are locations in Texas and in Oregon.

Texas Workshop Information
Portland, OR Workshop Information

Blog Swap... What is that?

Want to have some fun and share some great ideas. Try a blog swap. What is that you might ask? I Heart Ed Tech has set up a fun way for us to share information. Visit the site below for more details and to sign up for your chance to swap a blog.
Blog Swap Info

BP12_2010013_OneMinuteMessage#2_TradingCardCreator

The Trading Card Creator one minute message was created using Garage Band and converted into QuickTime format. Images were either self created or taken from websites providing images in the public domain (www.pics4learning.com, www.pdphoto.org, www.edupics.com, www.freeclipartnow.com). Big Huge Labs is the host of the Trading Card Creator which may be found at www.bighugelabs.com/deck.php.

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Image created using www.wordle.net

I created the Wordle above using the comment that I left on Sarah's blog about her Web 2.0 Tool of the week...Wordle.

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Image from www.pics4learning.com

Link to my comment on Quinn's Web 2.0 tool of the week....Audacity.

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The Web2.0 tool for the week is brought to you by Big Huge Labs and can be found at http://bighugelabs.com/deck.php. What is this tool you ask? It is the Trading Card Creator and it allows you to use images and text to create trading cards or create a card game. When I was in the classroom, I had students create trading cards about specific topics and then share them as a way for students to learn. Students would do research projects and then create their trading cards based on their research. I had students use PowerPoint to create their cards from templates. I wish I had the Trading Card Creator tool when I was in the classroom. This tool makes it much easier for students to create their trading cards. The applications and uses for this tool in the classroom are limitless. Trading cards can be created based on important people in history, teachers in the school, students in class, animals, habitats, countries, states, characters from a novel or anything else you can imagine. This is a great way to make simple study cards, assist ESL and dual language students or help young students with word/image associations. Using the Trading Card creator is simple and allows you to upload your own pictures or pull images in from Facebook or Flickr. You will pick your card design, enter a title, a subtitle (optional) and type in your text. You have the option of also adding up to 7 pre-created icons to your card. Hit create and your trading card is ready. Don't like what you see...click edit and make changes. When the trading card is complete, you are able to either save it to your computer or share it to Facebook, Flickr, Twitter or email it out.

I recommend printing trading cards on cardstock paper if students will be sharing them for studying and learning purposes. Be creative with your Trading Card creations and share to learn.

BP8_2010012_OneMinuteMessage#1_Glogster

My one minute message about Glogster is included in the Glog I created above. Images used in the message came from either www.flickr.com or were images that I created (digital camera, via PowerPoint or via www.bighugelabs.com/motivator). The images of Glogster came directly from edu.glogster.com.

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http://sarahmhodge.blogspot.com/2010/01/bp52010012web20t2-bookr.html?showComment=1263608323134_AIe9_BEafdUdvRbMG0V-x_7jP7uWN80D9AvHuEfU3QvJkIwJ4NXJwVAz9s0EfBEUFz0vgBMlZjG_0cJNUaT8K3Za8fxw68rwy2LMoSBVRFwq4c_PPf9PgXJpaKOSdbVtf0ErqKXIzAFIYxlthwQ3cdrhuGuAmAo-B5Lq8zjABCv48jAwWeb__lku-xpac5frMsQG9aqmvbl6JBgv0MJ0fK3c7AzyXJzjiHfytRvM6k5-ImyExTAmbnM#c935459620362636139

Link to my comment about Bookr. The books created on Bookr are far more interesting than this one.

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http://quinnlb.blogspot.com/2010/01/bp5201012web-20-t2-shwup.html?showComment=1263607804761#c2072781470861711734

Link to my comment about Shwup.

The word "Shwup" sounds like this picture looks.

Image from www.flickr.com.

BP5_2010012_Web2.0T2_Glogster

The Web2.0 tool for this week is Glogster. The free education version can be found at http://edu.glogster.com/. Glogster is a tool that allows teachers and students to create online and interactive posters. It is user friendly and provides many ways to "dress up" your glog. Test out the one I created and posted above. Let me know what you think.

The original (and non-safe for education) Glogster site (www.glogster.com) describes the site as "Simply put, Glog is a kind of poster - fully designed by yourself! Glog is a fancy creation from text, images, music and video. No matter what it is. Your Glog will stand out. It gives you a perfect tool to express yourself." Glogster was originally created as a way for teenage girls to express themselves virtually. So many educators began wanting to create this for classroom use that a separate and student friendly site was created.

I selected to use a staff development topic for my glog instead of a student based curriculum topic to show the diversity of the tool. When you create your Glogster account, you also have the ability to create student accounts. This allows for a "protected" area for students to create their own glogs related to a specific topic.

I could see the teacher creating a glog to introduce a topic and then have students create a final product related to the topic using Glogster. Having the ability to embed videos, sound and link to websites, provides even more opportunities for a glog to encompass many aspects of a lesson, activity or become a study guide.

If you need guidance on how to create your own glog, visit http://www.scribd.com/doc/25030064/Glogster-Instructions-Revised as these make it very easy and guide you step-by-step. You will need a Scribd account to view these. It is free and easy to set up.

Have fun Glogging!!

BP4_2010011_RSSFeeds

Google Reader is a great way to stay on top of the professional blogs that I follow. I have a few of them set to send me email updates, but that tends to fill up my inbox fairly quickly. With Google Reader, I no longer worry about being able to read the new blog posts when it is convenient for me. Google Reader has helped me to navigate through the maze of information provided by the blogs that I subscribe to.

(Image of a maze I created using SCRATCH)

The blogs that I choose to follow are: ISTE, Tech&Learning, Edutopia, DEN National Blog and DEN TX Blog each because of the value they provide me in integrating technology into the classroom environment. It allows me to collaborate my ideas with others while not in a central working location.

**ISTE is the International Society for Technology in Education and focuses on improving learning and the effective uses of technology for the field of education. ISTE is the guide for the NETS (technology standards). By following the RSS feed, I am able to stay more up to date on changes.

**Tech&Learning is a digital magazine that provides information on new technologies as they relate to education, information on issues surrounding technology and education and suggested websites and products for education use. The blog site allows me to receive information on a more regular basis than the digital magazine resource that I receive monthly.

**Edutopia is the George Lucas Educational Foundation which provides great resources on what works in public education and ideas for implementing these resources. Various members of the organization have blogs that provide up-to-date information regarding technology in schools.

**DEN National is the national blog site for the Discovery Educator Network. I have been an active member of the DEN since beginning my career in education. DEN provides many useful tips and tricks for using technology in the classroom.

**DEN TX is the state site for DEN members in the state of TX. As a member of the leadership council for the state, I follow this site to ensure that important information regarding state-wide and local events is posted for our DEN members.

Need more information on becoming a DEN member, just ask me.

BP3_2010011_Web2.0T1-Repper

I selected to test out the Repper app, which allows you to create patterns from images within the program or from images that you upload. The site is aesthetically pleasing and a lot of fun to use. It can be found at http://repper.studioludens.com/#. The image pattern that I created is found in the gallery at http://repper.studioludens.com/gallery.html and by searching for kelli.

My initial thought was that a patterning app would be great to use with young students needing to reinforce patterning skills. When I entered the site and created my first repper pattern, I realized the site was not for patterning as I was thinking of it. The site allows you to create a pattern image that is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 license. When the image is complete, you are able to download it to your computer, copy the URL provided to add to your social networking profile, copy the CSS code to add to an html page, assign tags to the image so that others may find it in the gallery or even create a postcard (via a 3^rd party tool that charges money).

I uploaded an image of ocean rocks that I took last summer at the Highlands Institute outside of San Francisco. When the image uploaded, it appeared in the bottom right corner of my pattern with a “movement” box in the center. As I moved the box, my pattern changed and I was able to stop it where I wanted. It was great to see how the image changed based on the area I selected. Many pattern images are available on the site so that you do not have to upload your own image.

How would I use this in a classroom setting?

**One of my favorite units to do with my former students (GT) was a unit on perceptions. Students had to take a picture of something from the view point of something else and write about the perception of each thing from each point of view. Sound confusing? For example, in Boston there is a beautiful and very old church that sits across the street from a very modern, all mirrored-glass building. I took a picture of the mirrored-glass building that reflected the entire church. I then wrote a brief story of about the mirrored-glass building from the church’s point of view and then another brief story about the church from the mirrored-glass building’s point of view. The point of the assignment was for students to become more aware of both sides of issues and how perceptions impact what we think and feel about others. I could see using this site to enhance this unit by having students all use the same image to upload and create a pattern from, then discuss how various people selected different areas of the pattern to be their final image. Students would evaluate their pattern image and how it reflects or represents the original image that was uploaded.

**This site could also be used in an art class setting. Students could create their pattern image on the computer and then try to reproduce it using their chosen art medium.

**Students could use this for language arts or writing by creating their pattern image and then describing how that image represents them or how it relates to a novel that is being studied in class.

**For a math assignment, students could evaluate how the pattern created could be represented numerically. There may not be a right or wrong answer to this one, just a creative way to have students think about the relationship between patterns and numbers.

**In social studies, students could use the pattern they create as a part of a shield that represents a country that they create and explain how and why this representation would make an impact.

Although this is a simple tool to use and is basically art by nature, there are many applications for its use in the classroom…if you let your creativity guide you.

BP2_2010011_EduUses4Blogs

“Pedagogical strategies and resources, activities and tasks have been designed and allocated in ways judged to be appropriate to the age and level of different groups of learners (Davies & Merchant, 2009)” is a statement that I find interesting, as educators hear that we must meet the needs of all students by allowing them to use the tools that will enhance their learning ability. We then hear that we may not use Web 2.0 tools in the classroom. Our students use technology on a daily basis via their cell phones and computers, yet we (education system) limit students’ abilities to use these everyday tools for their educational purposes. We must meet the students’ needs, but we may not use the tools that they thrive on seems to be contradictory to the current goal of education. Many schools and districts block the use of blogs and other Web 2.0 tools for students and educators, which limit the ways of sharing information and communicating. Blogs and education can be a winning combination when integrated appropriately.

Blogs are electronic communication systems based on a “website that an owner or ‘blogger’ can update on a regular basis” (Davies & Merchant). Blogs can be used to enhance interactive notebooks that are required by many school districts. Students create and use an interactive notebook (paper journal) to demonstrate their learning and thinking processes. Students need to be able to reflect upon their learning and an interactive notebook is a way for them to do this and keep it all together in one place. However, when this knowledge is limited to a notebook that belongs to and is used by only one student, students miss out on sharing and learning from each other. Blogs may be used to enhance the paper form of interactive notebook by allowing students to share their thoughts and learning experiences in a collaborative environment. Although students in a class may be taught the same information in the same way, they do not always process and understand the information in the same way. A blog would allow students to learn from each other’s interpretation of information.

Blogs allow for a non-pressured environment for students to share their thoughts. Students are able to post their responses without feeling uneasy in a classroom setting. This allows for students to gain confidence with expressing their views and their knowledge. A teacher would be able to post a question for discussion within the classroom setting and allow students to respond in a blog created for that classroom environment only. Students share their ideas and receive feedback from their peers and teacher without feeling threatened. If the blog is opened to other individuals, then the students have the opportunity to receive feedback from professionals in the field of study that relates to the question posted.

Many districts and private schools do not have the server storage space available to allow students a means to have an electronic portfolio. By allowing the use of blogging in school, students would have a unified place to share and compile their work (a portfolio). Blogs allow for textual posting, posting of images, videos, sound clips and other items that would reflect the works of students. Students would benefit from having a single place to post their work in a chronological order. “Updates are normally date-posted and displayed in chronological order with the most recent entry or posting shown at the top of the page” (Davies & Merchant) thus allowing a teacher, student, parent or other interested party a way to view a student’s progress over time.

Although this is a short list, the applications for blogging in the classroom are limitless. Creativity and need will guide how blogging and other Web 2.0 tools are integrated into the field of education. If we are to truly meet the needs of all students to allow for success, we must allow them to use the tools that meet their needs regardless of our (educators and field of education) comfort level with these tools.

Davies, J., Merchant, G. (2009). Web 2.0 for schools: learning and social participation. New York, New York: Peter Lang Publishing.

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