Activity 4: Google Suite

Google Drive is great because everything can be made available from any device that has access to the internet. Since I began teaching at Chip, I've been keeping all of my files on Drive. It's a great tool for the classroom because you can link projects and guidelines onto a web page and students/parents can access it at anytime. One drawback for me so far has been that I often forget to share the docs after posting and parents end up requesting access (I wish there was a prompt that came up when linking files). Parents also need to get use to this technology because many still email to request forms as opposed to going online and finding it for themselves; one of my goals is to streamline my web page this fall. 

Here is a presentation that I updated to use with Reader's Workshop in the fall.

Basic Literary Terms

Week 3: Screencasting

Here's my first attempt at using Snagit, which I've never used before. This video is a great example of why we should rehearse and script our work before turning in a project. This is not related to a lesson, but it is something I would show kids to evaluate and make suggestions for improvement; sometimes are bad examples help improve student work.

I love using screencasts and the idea of flipping lessons (I'm not ready for a flipped classroom), but I was not happy with Snagit. I don't know if I completely missed it, but where is the pause button? I like screencasts that allow me to pause and bring up new pages or images. Without that pause button, I feel that the only thing I would use Snagit for is to explain simple images or to narrate a PowerPoint, which is all my screencast for this assignment it.

Engagement: Pear Deck

Pear Deck is one of the online tools that I'm excited to use next year with a classroom set of chrome books. I've posted the beginning of a Pear Deck presentation that I'd use for short stories under "Useful Links." Each year I feel that, at least in ELA, we cover some of the same material that previous years have covered. Using Pear Deck as an online formative assessment, I hope to be able to gauge what students already know and what we truly need to cover. Plus, the presentations can be made available for review outside of the classroom.

Using Blogs in Education

Aside from having access from any where, blogs can benefit the classroom by providing authentic opportunities for students to respond to one another and have his or her voice her outside of the classroom and beyond the teacher. Additionally, students need to learn to communicate well in writing because future jobs will require communication with people around the world. In my opinion, which I admittedly read somewhere and don't remember the source, classroom education is outdated, but by integrating technology and blogs, classrooms can take on a larger presence in a student's life and become more engaging while increasing the potential for applying to future real-world situations. Classroom /class blogs have the potential to create safe-zones for students to posture real-world interactions while making mistakes and gaining confidence.

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Here's a video that explains various points of view in fiction. It's a useful video because different classes speak about point of view in different ways; it's a concept that visual aids support tremendously. An extension to this video, which would require students to use the information, is to use a blog for students to submit reviews of story and explain the point of view. Each student, for example, might be required to review a book on an assigned week, submit the post to a blog page for other students to read, and they would have the video to review if they needed extra help.  Plus, other students could read the same book and add responses to posts. It's an authentic activity that allows for student interaction through a monitored medium.

Kickoff

Kickoff Post-
     I was motivated to sign up for tech nerd this summer because I am getting a set of Chromebooks for my classroom next year and I want to modify many of my lessons to use technology in an interactive fashion. I'm extremely excited to bring my lessons into the technological realm and look forward to online discussions that allow for quick feedback by both students and teachers.
     From this class I hope to learn how to add students to groups that will streamline collaboration, 21st century skills, and student growth. I hope to learn about apps and activities that will authentically teach students useful skills that will apply to their lives. I also look forward to learning about all of the things that I have no idea exist.
     As of now, I feel with the Google platform (if I used that term correctly). I frequently use sheets, docs, and slides for teaching, PLC, and assessments. I also have a Google calendar, which could use some organization, a Google Site for class, and have used other presentation formats, but I would like to focus on making many presentations more interactive and engaging for students, while maintaining high rigor for each student.