Glogster

What a fun way to create collages and posters!  I think students will love this:)

math poster
LA poster
lit poster

(CC standard 7.L.6)

CC in my classroom

How will I use CC standards in my classroom?  Well, to be honest, I am still figuring that out a little.  Obviously I will need to look at my curriculum next to these standards and make sure they align.  What doesn't align, I will need to adjust or cut completely.  Things constantly need to be refreshed, so this is the perfect reason to re-evaluate what I'm doing in my classroom.

I will definitely be using this site for ensuring I am in fact hitting those CC standards.

Symbaloo to the Rescue!

I love this recently discovered (thanks to some colleagues) organizational tool! Symbaloo.com allows you to bookmark sites according to tabs (home, work, share...whatever). So that all of your bookmarks are available on ANY device with internet. Instead of trying to remember all sorts of web addresses, you just remember this one! It is GREAT! I'm already using it at home, and have a share page linked to my Wiki for parents and students! You've got to see if this is something that will help you:)

(ISTE--NETS.T standard 3b)

Another screencast

This is such an easy and useful tool...didn't take me long to create another one! This is about saving a Word document to a flash drive. Watch!

(ISTE--NETS.T standard 2a)

Screencast-o-Matic

OMG! This is so cool! You capture a live screen and can add your voice to the instructions so kids can watch and hear you doing something in any program. I created a simple one showing kids how to reverse indent citations for a bibliography--it seems like no matter how many times I give them the written instructions, they still don't quite follow it. This should be much easier for them, and it was simple for me to create. Check it out here!

(CC 7.W.6--Writing)

Flip a Lesson

Whoa, this is a little outside the box thinking! The concept of flipping is that what normally gets done (or should get done) at home...aka homework & practice...gets done in the classroom. That means what is typically done at school...aka the lesson & learning...is to be done at home. This learning and such at home, or you can do it at school independently, is completed through videos and such. Sound interesting? It's simple to "flip" lessons and such with tools like YouTube for Teachers and TedEd, but the whole thinking behind this idea is what might bog you down!

 Here is a simple "flipped" lesson on absolute value.
(CC Math standard 7.NS.1)

 Here's another "flipped" lesson on adding integers--although I will probably use the video in class, so it is not technically flipped!
(CC Math standard 7.NS.1)

One more "flipped" lesson--The Giver novel's video trailer to be used as an introductory activity.
(ISTE NETS.T standard 1c)

Wiki vs Website

I am finally figuring out the difference between a Wiki and a website...and now I have both set up! Yeah for me:) For my wiki, I have links for getting extra copies of worksheets and links to websites. One feature I love is that I created a SYMBALOO page for parents and students with website buttons for sites I think will be beneficial to them. It's pretty cool! Now I just have to work on uploading Word documents and such so those extra copies can be accessed! Here's my link if you want to check it out!

(ISTE NETS.T standard 3c)

Common Core

Common Core Standards is a great idea, but as with everything in education, we as educators need to be given time to change our methods and training to facilitate these changes.  Knowing that most all students everywhere are to be focusing upon the same topics throughout the school year sounds like a comforting thought.  As often as we have students moving in and out of our schools, the idea behind common core is that students just won't be behind no matter where they move to or from.  This is awesome, but I don't know that I believe it will be reality.  Standards already exist, and in many schools, classrooms of the same grade level and content area don't even cover the same materials (let alone at the same time), so how is this idea to work across the nation?  I'm just skeptical, even though I believe it is a great idea. Here is a basic video, if you are interested in some information about common core standards.

(ISTE NETS.T standard 5c)

NETS for Teachers

We are definitely into the digital age full swing, whether everyone wants to be on board or not.  From Internet, laptops, tablets, iPods and the like, the possibilities are endless in terms of resources available to enhance teaching--which will in turn enhance student learning.

The standards with technology seem very logical--teachers need to understand and practice with these tools in order to facilitate student learning by use of these tools.  The creativity will abound, as students aren't held to traditional means of presenting information and what they know.  Standard 1:  "Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity" addresses this concept. Having a student share what he or she knows shouldn't be confined to writing a paper or giving a presentation.  Why not have him or her show through a combination of traditional and/or modern means?  Gathering videos and embedding them in digital presentations or using text-to-speech sites are just a couple of the numerous possibilities.

Also, standard 3: "Model Digital Age Work and Learning" is so crucial in classrooms today.  Teachers cannot just talk-the-talk when it comes to using technology; they also need to be able to show students that they can walk-the-walk.  It is about being credible and knowledgeable for and to your students.  The old adage of Do as I say not as I do just isn't viable.  If we want students to really live & breathe the digital revolution that will run their world, we have to be able to be a source of leadership and assistance.  Will we be able to answer every question?  NO!  And that's ok...we know that no one has all the answers.  The biggest thing is that we show our students we are trying and continuing to learn.

All five standards are very important, but the two I've mentioned above I feel are the most important.  I think if we really work on those, the others will kind of naturally fall into place.

Social Bookmarking

The social bookmarking concept really appeals to me!  We recently got an iPad, and in order to get into the sites I use a lot, I had to sit side-by-side with my laptop & favorites to get all the sites and addresses correct!  Not difficult by any stretch--just annoying!  I think this is a tool I will try out:)

Miss the Mark?

The line that resonated the most with me was, "When broken down, however, the responses showed drastic underutilization of these tools" in reference to features in various programs. I feel like this happens to me all the time.  Something new comes along and I'm all excited, but getting used to the tools I use regularly often leaves little time for exploration of lesser used ones.  All the time I fall victim to just working with what is in my comfort zone, and then I lose out on many tools and things that would benefit my students and me!

LMS second article

What I could read of the second article was interesting in explaining the difference between LMS and CMS. From what I can gather, they are similar in some aspects and very different in others.  The CMS does not have the interactive features that an LMS would have.  I've heard or Edmodo, but I am not familiar with it at all.  It sounds almost like you could start with a CMS, and once you are familiar and educated in that, moving to an LMS would open up a ton of new possibilities!  All depends on what features you are going to make use of to decide which type to use.

(ISTE NETS.T standard 5c)

LMS on Wikipedia

Lots of information here and I think I have determined (very possibly inaccurately) that our TeacherEase program at school is a learning management system.  We are able to track attendance, lunch, grades, demerits and the like.  Some features I use often are for addresses, phone numbers, locker numbers and class schedules.  We do all of our grades in this program, behavior documentation, post things to the digital lockers for parents & students to access at home and eventually our curriculum mapping is supposed to be on this site as well.  It is so great being able to do some of this work from home, since this is all web based.

Whoa!  There is a lot of stuff I need to learn about all of these web based applications and uses...I guess it is a good thing school doesn't start for another month:)