Peer Coaching Video

I came across this little gem in my archive of files and liked the way we used technology to not only develop as students but to also help in the development of our school's staff. Last year, my principal asked if I could give a short presentation on how I was using Literature Circles and peer coaching in my reading classroom for an upcoming in-service. Of course I agreed to do it, but we wanted to put a little spin on things. The kids were excited about creating a short presentation for all the teachers. Students in my group were beginning to get pretty good at creating a podcast and wanted to try to make a movie. So, with a little digital camera and Windows Movie Maker, we created a short 5 minute video about our Literature Circles. The students filmed all the scenes themselves and narrated it as well. They also had a hand in writing the script too, but I did some modifying of my own. We used a small MP3 to create the narrations and then placed them and the video clips into Movie Maker and *poof*. We are finished! The movie worked out great as it incorporated our Literature groups without a disruption, helped us work on some much needed writing, and gave us the opportunity to practice some 20th Century skills as well.

I am hoping to be able to create more movies like this during the upcoming school year. We tried our hand at making stop motion movies over a novel we read which seemed to take way longer than anticipated or needed. We might try to create some live action movies this year instead. I think it would also be really neat for students to create a video over stories their reading, research projects, science experiments, etc. The possibilities are endless.

PBwiki Summer Camp

A couple weeks ago, I received an email asking if I'd like to participate in an online summer camp dealing with the ins and outs of using PBwiki in the classroom. Of course, having used it this year, I jumped at the chance. And in total honesty, participants receive a free premium account for one year which is what really drew my attention. Having had some experience with the site before, I didn't think it would be too difficult to navigate through.
After week one of the course, I'm wondering, "Man, can I do all this?" There are webinars that you are required to attend and weekly homework assignments. Not really all to difficult, but it's summer man! Anyway, I digress.
I was able however to participate in my first webinar via the internet. There were a couple ways that we were able to meet. The first being on a conference call along with a live demonstration through the GoTowebinar site. That was nice, I was able to watch the presenter click away on her screen while listening to her over the phone. The second option was to watch through the site, Ustream. While I wasn't able to see her screen unless I was connected to the webinar invite, I was able to hear the audio and see her without having to use my cell phone minutes.
After seeing and participating in the Ustream feed, I think this could be a very valuable resource to use in classrooms. Not only do you get a live video feed of the person you are talking with, but there is also a live chat along the side in which presenters and watchers can interact with each other. How cool would it be to have students at teams watching the same live feed and being able to ask questions to the speaker. This would be a great opportunity with the new laptops in the classrooms (well on a cart that will be wheeled to the classroom anyway). There were some glitches in the feed due to pbwiki's internet connection and possibly to the fact that there were 150 viewers watching it, but I am excited to try and use this tool through the school year. Heck, this could be used as a live Literature Circle discussion with another class in the same district or school (wink wink mr kimmi).
As far as the PBwiki summer camp course goes, I am excited to see what other options are available for the site. The best part of this course is that I am learning from other teachers how to effectively use a wiki in the classroom. Even better, an elementary classroom.
Our classroom wiki site is currently: misterboyer.pbwiki.com but it will be getting an overhaul.
The site for the summer camp is PBWiki Summer Camp and when it's all completed and compiled, it should be a very helpful resource.

Teacher Laptops

So, how many of us educators have gone to a meeting or collaborative session and thought, "Man, if only I had a laptop with me, I'd be able to keep notes a lot better." How many times have you looked up at the clock and it's almost5:30-6:00 and you are not finished typing in your grades? Our district has taken a huge step forward to integrating technology by starting to make it accessible to teachers full-time. Thanks to a 4 year technology plan, this summer each teacher in the district was issued a Dell laptop.
This is quite a big step for the district as they progress in their technology integration throughout the schools. This is also a good chance for "non-techie" educators to get their hands on and use some of it, to hopefully begin to integrate it into their classrooms and practices. Each teacher was required to go through a "laptop training" course, which may seem kind of cheesy and dull, but there were several things that would be helpful to those who are unfamiliar. The term I heard over and over again was, "Play around and experiment, you won't break it." While, that is something one doesn't have to tell me twice, for those reluctant people, it was comforting. Hopefully they will take advantage of it. I have a laptop at home as my main computer, so I am familiar with the workings of one. I am excited however about the new Office programs which I haven't had any experience with, but they look and feel really nice upon initial use.
Now, for my personal purposes. Having a laptop at my disposal now has made it easier to collaborate with my other colleagues and administrators during meetings. During a meeting in our building's conference room about my student teacher for the fall, my grade level partner and I used the laptop to create a tentative timeline for them to follow. We will both be having student teachers in the fall and wanted some consistancy between them. This timeline will then be placed in Google Docs to be refined by either of us and shared with our student teachers.
Now for some troubleshooting. I can see already that our district has run into some snafus with all of the laptops that are being distributed. Most of them have come from the docking stations and connectivity to the districts servers. Currently, my laptop is experiencing a hiccup with the absence of the All Programs menu, which will definitely be a problem on down the road. I'm thinking that this is one of those docking issues (other teachers are experiencing the same thing) and will be resolved once I dock the laptop at my workstation, which I haven't visited yet this summer. I'm still on vacation right?
We'll see how it goes as we progress through the year and hopefully I will be able to see more teachers feel more comfortable around the computer now that they have one to explore and "play with" at home. I know that I've enjoyed mine so far and having it will definitely provide an easier opportunity to use some to the Web 2.0 offerings throughout the year.

Make the Most of Teaching Time

With time being such a coveted commodity in a classroom, we teachers try to make use of every single minute that can. How many times how you told the class, "I'm going to give you 5 minutes to finish up before moving on to our next task," and then 10 minutes later realize that they are still working? Are you sick and tired of buying those expensive overhead timers whose batteries die before one semester of school is up or your overhead lamp turns the LCD screen dark? I for one, fall into both of those categories.
Well, here's some help for us all. It's a little web site called online-stopwatch.com. Through this website, you are given a flash stopwatch and timer than can be used to keep track of time so that you don't get off track again. And the best part about it, is that it's FREE! And who, as a teacher, doesn't like things that are free?

Online-stopwatch offers a variety of online timers ranging from your basic countdown timer, to an hourglass, and even (the kid's favorite) a bomb that burns a wick until the time expires. Another plus, is that they are all very easy to set. To get the full benefit of the application you could click to make it as a full screen. Depending on what resources you have available to you through your district, this timer can be shown via a projector or (as in my district) over our Safari television system so that the students can monitor their own time as well. If you don't have those resources, perhaps justing setting it to a classroom computer that students can see on "Full Screen" mode would work just as well. You can also download the timers to your computer for uses in other places as well, such as presentations, classes, workshops, etc. Be sure to turn up the volume so you can hear the timer go off - which sounds like a telephone ringing. Be aware however that all the timers have the same "ring" to signify the time being up, much to the dismay of my students who were very much looking forward to a bomb sound when it's timer went off. Another word of warning, upon seeing these timers for the first time (especially the aforementioned bomb), students like counting down to the end. I suggest showing them the timers first, let them get their counting out of the way, and then set your expectations of the use of the timer in your classroom. Eventually students will get used to you using the application.

This website has been very helpful for myself and students in my classroom as it is a good way to manage and make the most out of our time. I don't have to worry about buying new batteries for it and it won't break (unless the site decides to start charging people for the service). It has been very helpful for journaling time, timed math tests, Kagan structures, and any other classroom activity that requires a timer. If you really wanted to find some uses, since it does count off to the nearest thousandth of a second, one could stop the clock periodically and have students name the place value as a quick math review. Several of the teachers in my building have found this to be an invaluable tool for them to use in their classrooms.

Easy Blogging for Anyone?

For anyone who's wanted to try blogging in the classroom knows that it has it's limitations.
1. Students have problems typing and it takes them forever.
2. When they do type it's about three basic sentences long.

So, with the help of a web application maybe it is possible for all students and all grade levels to work on a blog and even post to their own blog. listen *

With the website, Jott.com, bloggers can use a phone to call in an entry and their call is then transcribed into text and posted to their personal blog. The limitation to this being that, a "jott" (the term used for the phone call) can only be a maximum of 30 secs long. Not very long, but when a kids begins talking, sometimes 30 sec is enough. You are also given the chance to listen to the call through the blog itself. You can click the link above to hear my first attempt.

So, what are the benefits of this type of web application in the classroom? Foremost, this app has just made it possible for practically anyone to blog. Now bloggers can be anyone, from Kindergarten and Special Education students, ESL students, and even a jumping off point for those less than reluctant teachers to start a blog. Anyone interested in using this application simply can go to the website and sign up for a free account. However, there is a little bit of trouble in making sure your posts go to your blog, but with the help of the forums and on-site help menus, this is easily taken care of as well. You will need to know the ID code for your blog which is easy to find, as it shows up whenever you post a new entry, but this will take some looking on the users part to get it. That is the most difficult part of the setup, so once you've got it, it's smooth sailing from then on out. Also, it's important to note that before calling, you might want to have a rehearsed "speech" in your head so that you aren't stumbling over your words, thus allowing more speech to text time. Again you can listen to my attempt as a prime example.

While there is a lot of potential to the application, there is also some possible, but easy, obstacles to overcome. Other than the 30 second limitation, there is also some editing that would need to be done. With the voice to text technology, obviously there are going to be some mistakes. But, who says that this wouldn't be a great opportunity for some peer editing practice? We can find a lesson in everything can't we?

Imagine the excitement and pride of a Kindergarten, 1st grade, or Special Needs parent to go to their child's blog and read a poem they've written or maybe even a daily journal entry? Wow!

I want to give a special thanks to mrkimmi for referring me to this website that could quite possibly have a lot of potential in the classroom. With blogs being a more widely used tool in the classroom for a variety of reasons, Jott.com has just made it easier for a wider variety of people to get in touch with the technology around them.

* The point in which my 30 sec call was up. Maybe a little more of a rehearsed call would allow for more script.

Powered by Jott

Getting Connected with Web 2.0

The purpose of this blog is to keep a running journal of my dealings with using technology in the classroom. Using technology in the classroom is part of my professional development plan for the upcoming school year.
Web 2.0 resources can be very beneficial in enriching the learning of students. These resources are ways that students can create, integrate, and collaborate on projects to enhance their own learning. With these tools, they will also be able to seek the help of their peers to guide their learning and excitement that we all seek in the world of teaching.
Stay tuned to see how technology is used in my classroom.

To see other blogs and sites dedicated to the same cause, take at look at the blog list to the right to explore how other educators are using technology in their classrooms.