Tool #11 - Self Assessing and Reflecting

1.  I really like poll everywhere from Tool 6.  I think its a great way to get instant feedback on what the students think and know. I could use it at the beginning of a section and see what students already  have knowledge of. 

2.  I have realized that there really are an abundant amount of technology tools with ideas for me to use in my classroom. This will allow me to change up my teaching style and make things exciting for my students.  I do not think it will be a major adjustment for me to accommodate the 21st Century learner. I enjoy learning new ways of doing things. 

3.  I enjoyed finding out about new sites and programs that were out there.  They were easier to learn than I had previously thought. 

Tool #10 - Underneath it All - Digital Citizenship

Things that I would want to make sure my students understand are that they are

responsible for all postings and how those may affect others, just because it is a website does not mean it is necessarily a reliable source, and learning with technology does not take away from the learning done without technology.

One of the resources that I plan to use instructionally is discuss digital citizenship

topics relating to plagiarism email, harassment.

I think the best way to emphasize the idea of digital citizenship to the students is to have a contract for students and parents to sign so they are aware of the rules and guidelines that must be followed.

There should be a student contract for students and parents so that rules and guidelines are understood and followed.

Tool #9: Incorporating Classroom-Based Devices as Tools for Learning

1)  It is important to tie the technology to the objective because technology is the voice of the students, how they communicate nowadays, and the best way for the material to connect to them is through the voice they understand.
2)  Students need to be held accountable for the stations/centers to create a vested interest in the material.  The students should want to understand and succeed in at the stations.  Through that the learning will me much deep and profound.
3)  I really liked Interactivate and Manipula Math.  They bring interactive visual representations of complicated concepts. These help the student really understand the mechanics of the concepts and what affects what.  The students could be given analysis questions to be solved by investigating parameter changes on a certain application.
4)  Some cool apps that could be used are Educreations Interactive Whiteboard and Mover Lite.  I see the students all communicating with the ipads, exchanging ideas.  Group research rojects with each students' ipad their own research tool and then all sharing their findings.
5)  The ipad can also be a quiz show "buzzer", entering in their answers with the ipad.

Tool #8: Taking a Look at the Tools

I learned where all the vital buttons were, how to access different things and other important data like the volume, etc. I have an iphone and an ipad so I am already very familiar with how Apple products work and love using them.  In order to manage the devices, I will make working on the Ipads a privilege that the students have to earn. Since I will only have a few, I still need to think of the best way to evenly distribute using time among my students. I will use Khan Academy and SchoolTube to watch video tutorials on various topics and other websites for games, etc.  I will also let those students who struggle come in during study hall to use ipads to watch extra tutorials or use additional resources to reinforce the lesson. 

Tool #7: Reaching Outside your Classroom: Online Digital Projects

a. Content objective:

  Algebra 2 students will be in groups randomly picked by the teacher. The objective is to review conic sections for the exam. Students will use the ipads, netbooks, and/or their own electronic device to investigate material through Google. They will use a format of their choice to present to the class as a review. They will include all of the important characteristics of the conic section, an animation of how the conic section is formed given a double cone, and an animation on how the shape of the conic changes as the parameters change.

b. When you plan to implement:
   I will assign it after the conic unit and present the week before the exam.

c. What tool(s) you plan to use:
   All of the electronic devices the school district has provided for my classroom and the students electronic devices.  I will let the students in each group determine how they want to present. Students will present the project during which each member of  the group will have a speaking role, and class will critique for accuracy of material.

If you need to find another classroom - We can begin networking with other classrooms right here! 

Tool 6

Used TodaysMeet and Poll everywhere today.  This will be great to use for a quick question answer discussion at the beginning of class ad it encourages them to use technology. In poll everywhere student's are anonymous so it might encourage them to give an honest response and not worry if they are incorrect. 

Tool #5: Producing with Web 2.0 Tools

I just played around with wordle. It is easy to use. I could use it with geometry vocabulary. Here is a wordle I made to describe wordle.

I learned how to take pictures and put them in a video.  I am very excited.  I can't wait to use this.  It is much easier than I thought! I can use this as a slide show to show the order of operations slowly as we work through a problem, or how graphs are transformed for different equations.