Creating a 21st Century Classroom

77 Web Resources for Teachers to Explore This Summer (via http://www.freetech4teachers.com/)

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 19:56:00 -0400

Four Pillars of Technology Integration

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 10:40:27 -0400

Four Pillars of Technology Integration

Every Teacher’s Must-Have Guide To Facebook - Edudemic

Sat, 21 May 2011 13:08:51 -0400

Every Teacher’s Must-Have Guide To Facebook - Edudemic

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Wed, 11 May 2011 09:53:26 -0400

Next year, I will become the Instructional Technology Specialist at my school. I’m extremely excited about the opportunity to work in with two of my passions - teaching and technology.

I have already been asked to get grant money to buy laptops and the accompanying carts for each “wing” of the school. We have around 300 kids that would need to be sharing these laptop carts. So, step 1 is to find enough grant money to purchase these laptops and carts. Once we know how much money we will receive (I’m thinking optimistically here) I’ll be able to make a decision as to what type of laptop/netbook we can purchase. There are a lot of choices out there, so any input I receive would be incredibly helpful. We need laptops with enough power to do anything from keyboarding practice to running higher-end graphics software.

Here are some other goals I have in mind for the upcoming years:

- set up a multimedia center with Apple Computers

- start a NetLiteracy Community Connects program at our school

But, first things first, laptops and carts! Wish me luck!

NetLiteracy.org

Wed, 11 May 2011 09:39:08 -0400

NetLiteracy.org:

Amazing things happening with this organization. Follow them on twitter: @NLAlliance

Survey highlights changing teacher opinions on ed tech

Wed, 11 May 2011 09:05:36 -0400

http://is.gd/ryc1Mo

This is what happens when new and younger teachers start to infiltrate the school system. They aren’t scared to use new technology!

K5 Computer Lab Reviews the Point 2 View Camera

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 20:35:50 -0400

ipevoinc:

K5 Computer Lab provides an extremely thorough and insightful review of the Point 2 View USB Document Camera, and particularly gears the review toward educators looking to expand their tool set and stretch their dollars.

Among the many things discussed in the review:

Overall, this is a fantastic bargain for educators looking for a low cost alternative to expensive document cameras.

Please check out the full review!

I think I’ve just found a new thing to put on my tech wish list!

Florida moves to go all digital in classrooms

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 17:37:46 -0400

Florida moves to go all digital in classrooms:

knewton:

Some intense changes underway!

“State education officials rolled out a five-year proposal this week that calls for all students in K-12 to use only “electronic materials” delivered by Kindles, iPads and other similar technology by 2015… Many states, including Florida, are experimenting with schools going partially digital. Clearwater High School went a step further this fall, handing out Kindles to all students to use instead of textbooks.”

Fascinating. I’d like to know how (if) this works out…

Which Schools Have the Best Broadband Connections?

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 17:33:29 -0400

soupsoup:

usagov:

Access to broadband at school gives teachers and students access to a wealth of online educational resources. With a quality broadband connection, students from rural areas, inner cities and the suburbs have equal access to the same educational tools.

To see which areas of the country have high quality broadband access, view the interactive Education Broadband Map.

ONA on Tumblr, awesome.

What Do Kids Say Is The Biggest Obstacle To Technology At School?

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 11:57:00 -0400

What Do Kids Say Is The Biggest Obstacle To Technology At School?:

Interesting article about a survey given to students and teachers about technology at school.

As always, the kids want more freedom to use their own mobile devices in school and also believe the school firewalls are too strict and don’t allow them to research to the fullest. I see their points, but I can also see ulterior motives to their complaints.

What do you think about allowing students to use their own mobile devices (iphone, ipod touch, laptop, ipad, nook etc.) in the classroom?

Today I used Word Magnets from the downloadable app at ...

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 14:10:00 -0500

Today I used Word Magnets from the downloadable app at www.Triptico.co.uk to demonstrate comparing and contrasting Los Angeles and New York with a Venn Diagram! You should check it out!

Papershow for Teachers

Sat, 29 Jan 2011 22:11:00 -0500

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great holiday season!

As I was reading my Google Reader feed through the fantastic iPad app Flipboard (iTunes link) I came across an article posted by tuaw.com about an emerging technology called Papershow (http://www.papershow.com/us/). Essentially, it

“has a special pen (with a camera built into it), and a Bluetooth-enabled USB drive that hooks right into your Mac with all the necessary software pre-installed on it. The pen’s camera can only be used with special paper (a pad is included with the package, and you can of course buy more) that has a series of dots on it to tell the app where and when you’re draw ing on the screen. So very easily, anything written on the special paper gets translated up to the screen.”

(via tuaw.com)

But it gets better. There are these virtual buttons along the edge of the notebook page that, when you “push” them, bring up menus of different tools like a calculator, or insert images among other useful things.

I visited the Papershow website and they list many ways Papershow for Teachers is great for the classroom including the fact that it keeps the class’ focus on the teacher, and the teacher can keep his/her eyes on the class rather than having his/her back turned to them. They also mention the fact that it gives students the ability to participate without having to get out of their seats. I, for one, like that idea. I find that sometimes, I’m so pressed for time, I don’t like to wait for kids to get up out of their seats, walk up to the board, and then write their answers on the board. It takes me out of my groove and creates a period of stagnation.

Another thing I like is the price. It’s only $299 which is not too bad compared to some other classroom technologies available out there. One thing I do not like is that it only comes with one pad of that special paper. When that inevitably runs out, you have to purchase more pads which could cost you a lot of money in the long run.

I’m intrigued by this new product, so I’ll definitely keep an eye on it.

Great News!

Sun, 28 Nov 2010 00:39:33 -0500

A while back I put up a link to the Triptico website where there were loads of great tools for teachers to use in the classroom including a randomized student picker and a word magnet tool I found incredibly useful. Well, about a month or so ago, the site was taken down due to the increased traffic, thereby taking away some great tools that I used every day. However, today I took a look at the website and it looks like David Riley, the creator of these fantastic tools, is working on a downloadable app with all the great tools included! I cannot wait until this app is done! :)

If you would like more information go here… http://www.triptico.co.uk/ and take a look at the videos he has posted. Follow David on Twitter here… http://twitter.com/triptico_eLearn#

I can’t tell you how excited about this I am!

Qwizdom Audience Response Systems

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 12:50:00 -0400

One piece of technology that I really would like to have in my classroom is an audience response system - also known as clickers. Basically, each child receives a small remote with which they use to answer questions. Their answers are anonymous, so no one feels embarrassed when getting a question wrong. You can easily show a graph of the responses and it also keeps track of the percentage of the class who has answered so you know if everyone has responded to the question.

I think this would greatly improve student participation and I could see in an instant whether or not I have to go over a concept again or I can keep moving.

Of course, the problem is, in my case, funding. I talked to the Qwizdom people at the Indiana Non-Public Educators Conference I just attended in Indianapolis and they said there were some grants they had available to help with funding. They also said they’d work with us on pricing.

I’m really excited about getting this new technology into my classroom. Now, I just need to talk it over with my principal and see what we can do! I’ll keep you posted!

For more information go here: http://www.qwizdom.com/education/index.php.

iPad

Sun, 17 Oct 2010 16:27:00 -0400

I’m a big fan of Apple products. I always have been. However, when the company introduced the iPad earlier this year, I was a bit skeptical about its place in the market. Wasn’t it just a big iPod Touch? What could it do that a regular old netbook/laptop couldn’t? Was it worth the $500?

Well, a half a year has passed and the iPad is a runaway success - even with all of its short-comings. It has had a better first year than the first generation iPhone. Just like the iphone, the apps have been what made the iPad successful. Plus, it’s incredibly thin, easy to hold and transport, and it holds a charge like a camel!

As I saw all of this unfold I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t the iPad be a fantastic tool in the classroom - both for me and for my students?”. Then the next question I asked myself was, “How in the world would I get $500 to purchase an iPad?” Then, I remembered that Khol’s has a program where they provide you with five volunteers to do work for you for 3 hours and then they give YOU $500!! Sounds too good to be true, right? But it’s legit!

I filled out the application, the Khol’s associates came to my classroom where they did various tasks, and about a month and a half later I had $500 which I promptly used to buy an iPad for my classroom.

It has been pretty amazing.

I’ve enjoyed using it to take notes in meetings using Pages - the word processing app from Apple. When I get more iTunes gift cards from donations I will buy Numbers, which is like Excel. Both Pages and Numbers have been recently updated (September 30th, 2010) to make them more compatible with their Microsoft counterparts.

It’s nice to have my school email at my hands at all times.

I access many files on my iPad using the Dropbox app. However, my proxy server does not allow me to access my Dropbox from my iPad when it’s on the school’s wireless network. The whole proxy thing also doesn’t let me use a lot of educational apps that access the internet. I think this issue will be resolved soon. Our tech guy is installing an off-network wifi hub in my wing of the school that should take care of the proxy issue. I have also downloaded a book that we are reading as a class. As we are reading I can highlight sections of text that I want to discuss later or write questions to ask the kids on digital sticky notes. When the new OS update comes out in November, it will bring all the functionality of the iPhone to the iPad making it able to do so much more!

My class using the Word Magnets software from www.triptico.co.uk...

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 11:45:06 -0400

My class using the Word Magnets software from www.triptico.co.uk to choose their lunches. This also doubles as an attendance taker! It took some time for the kids to learn how to use the interactive whiteboard (as you can see in the video), but they’re getting used to it!

My First Webinar - Blogging in the Classroom

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 22:18:41 -0400

Today I “attended” a webinar on blogging in the classroom. It was my first experience with a webinar and it was a success although there were some technical difficulties. There were two parts to the webinar - the telephone connection and the website part where the presenter shares his or her desktop with the audience so the audience may see a powerpoint presentation or the website the presenter is looking at. Well, the phone part worked fine. However, the website part did not. Fortunately, the presenter provided us with a print out of the documents he was talking about, and little was lost due to the technical difficulites.

This experience reminded me that technology is never perfect. If you are going to use a new technology in the classroom, you need to practice before you implement it. Always have a back up plan because you never know when something will go wrong!

Besides the technical difficulties, the webinar was informative. It gave me some good ideas on how to use blogging in the K-12 classroom. It would be great to do blogging on a regular basis, and I feel I would have to do it every day or a few times a week for it to catch on and be successful, but it is very difficult to plan in computer time. Laptops or netbooks would solve this problem! If only I had the money…I need some grant ideas!

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 15:03:00 -0400

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives:

This is a great website to use with a whole class lesson on your interactive whiteboard or with individual students in the computer lab! It is sorted by grade-level and math concept. I just used the virtual geoboards in a lesson about shapes.

Post #1

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 17:39:00 -0400

I was (and still am) a part of the first generation of students who was exposed to computers as learning tools at an early age. I still remember typing papers as a first grader on old Apple II computers before they had point and click user interfaces and using those big floppy disks that you had to lock in before the computer could read them. I still remember the annoying sound of the dot-matrix printer as it spit out lines and lines of boring, uniform text. Those were the days!

Much has changed since then (I’m typing this post on an iPad!), but those early experiences with technology stuck with me. I was engaged in the activity because I thought the computers were cool! I had fun learning because it didn’t seem like I was learning. Of course,The technology wasn’t perfect (is it ever?). I am sure my teachers had their fair share of headaches and tech problems. But the most important thing was that they were willing to take a shot at trying it out. Those early experiences with technology in the classroom have helped make me the kind of teacher I am today.

Nearly 20 years later, I have become a 3rd grade teacher, and I am on a mission to make my classroom a 21st Century classroom - a classroom of engaged, enthusiastic students eager and ready to learn. Schools should cater to the student. We, as educators, should rise to meet their ever-changing needs. So, what makes the 21st century student engaged, enthusiastic, and eager to learn and participate? Technology.

This blog will serve as a place where I will share my ideas and resources as well as my progress and pitfalls. I hope you find it interesting and are willing to reciprocate some ideas, resources and even some of your own stories!

Thanks for reading, and now, as the wise Buzz Lightyear said, “To infinity, and beyond!”