Review of My Virtual Tool

On Monday November 30th we all presented our virtual tool. My tool is called Nearpod, if you have never used Nearpod before, it is an interactive presentation tool that allows you to make in-slide quizzes, add audio, video, polls, drawings, short answers and so much more. When I presented my tool I used Nearpod so that my fellow classmates could see what it was like from the students point of view. After using Nearpod I am a strong advocate of incorporating it in my lessons instead of powerpoint. Nearpod really made the whole experience of planning a lesson and activities stress free.

MoBlog's Virtual Tool Presentation

Math is a very controversial subject. People either hate it, love it, or are terrible at it. Maranda introduced us to Manga High. It is a tool that has multiple areas of mathematical games. The games can be chosen by subject area, for instance you can pick algebra, multiplication, or geometry. It is really neat to be able to use this at the end of class as a way of reviewing the lesson that day. This site even offers help on questions they might be struggling with, as a way of self teaching. At the end of her presentation she had us participate in commit and toss, which is where each of us had a paper and wrote something about the site, and throw it to the front. Then everyone grabs one (besides their own) and reads it out loud.

LinkedIn

In tonight's class we created a virtual resume database on the website LinkedIn. LinkedIn offers future employers access to all of our skills, work experience, education and etc. I feel like social media sites often play against people in the work force so it is nice to see something that is helping us positively move forward in the work force. Setting up LinkedIn was fast and very simple to navigate, I feel like everyone aspiring for a job should make one because this can show employers that we are professionals. For teachers LinkedIn is very important because there we can showcase what areas and grades we can teach, and past experiences we have had.

My LinkedIn Profile

Social Networks

Social Networks

1. What is the name of  the social network site you are reviewing?

www.classroom20.com

2. How is the site normally used by the general population?

It is used as a group network where teachers can come together and collaborate on blogs, projects, or assignments. It also gives teachers a way to share information, lectures, and ideas.

3. How could it be used in the classroom? Give a classroom example.

I feel like it can make the teacher more prepared to lead the classroom effectively.

Useful Tools Lesson

I am going to discuss the application called bubbl.us it is a collaborating tool that displays the information as a web that everyone can see and add to. 

I really want to show that collaborations can be clean, organized, and neatly put together.

Virtual Environments

Tonight in class we covered various virtual class environments that will come in handy when we do flipped classrooms. I thought they were all easy to use and a fun change up to just lecture alone. The Skype environment was my favorite because it gives students a chance to communicate with someone who may work in the field we are discussing or someone who lives in an area of interest. Plus, sometimes they need to hear someone else voice besides the regular teacher's. Edmodo and Blendspace were a lot alike, both were easy to maneuver through and served the same purpose. I favored Blendspace because the process was fast and easy, it allowed for all the content we needed and offered easy to make quizzes and direct links from the web browser. I feel like Blendspace is the optimal site when making a flipped classroom.

The Missouri Compromise

Hello fellow historians,

In today's lesson you are going to learn about why the Missouri Compromise was crucial to the future of the United States. As you are reading think to yourselves the possible outcomes that may have happened if Missouri was admitted as a slave state without Maine balancing it out as a free state. Here is the link to the reading. After you finish reading dectermine if you think the states should decide for themselves if they want to be a free slave or state. Tomorrow in class I am going to place signs around the room titled "Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree". Considering your stance you will stand in front of the sign you agree with the most, and as a group back up why you feel this way.

See you all tomorrow!

Wikis and Kahoots

Ever since middle school I remember being told "No using wikipedia" as a source when writing a paper. Wikipedia is a giant wiki that virtually anyone can edit, it is not all bad just not reliable. If we use wikis in the classroom we can limit who can add input and use it to compile information straight from class. I feel like it is a great tool for collaboration, but when matched up with google docs it looks almost insufficient.
We used a site in class tonight that I really enjoyed, it is called kahoot. It makes it easy to create quizzes on the fly and gives a fun competition like setting to the students when answering questions. I feel like it would be a fun thing to add to the end of every discussion to keep the students engaged. Also, it would be fun to assign students to make their own Kahoot over a specific subject that everyone can participate in.

Ps. Im slowly but surely becoming more of an advocate for technology in the classroom

Flipped Classroom

Missouri Compromise

Link

Social Media

Tonight I was absent because of golf regionals. I did the reading and I found it very interesting that social media can actually be good, and not used for bad. It's awesome to show kids that they can use fun things like social media to learn. Doing lessons through social media can encourage kids that learning can be something else other than pencil and paper.

Podcast Presentation Night

http://www.opinionpodcasting.com

Tonight we had an inspiring class. Each one of us made a Podcast over college going culture and presented it. It was interesting how even though we had the same subject all of our stories were completely different and equally inspiring. Aaron's story can connect to a certain group of kids who have had a rough time but caught a break. Maranda's story showed us that sometimes you need to seek advice from someone out of the family who has more of an inside knowledge. Shelby's story showed us that a life with money is an easier life to live. Kate had a touching story about following in her mother's footsteps and going to college and getting a degree. Everyone had amazing views on college going culture. I feel very blessed that all of these fine people will be educating the future.

Podcasts

In tonight's class we discussed podcasts and why the are important, and the functions they have. Podcasts can be a fun project to engage kids in a new way. It also archives Podcasts so you can go back and listen to them whenever you want. They are also a fun way of getting your idea to different audiences. Tonight we received an assignment called "This I believe" and it is a podcast that will be done by us about college going culture.

Tonight we worked on our portfolios for the teacher's education program, then we dove into our lesson on Micro blogs. We watched two interesting videos one about microblogs, and the other about sparking curiosity with technology. The government website still must be crashed because it would not pull up correctly. We also made twitter accounts, just in case they're necessary later on.

                                                                               Bloggin'


Tonight we tackled the many uses for incorporating blogs into everyday learning. Blogging is simple, fun to use, and a creative alternative to pen and paper. No matter what educational level one is on blogging is an amazing way to communicate to people outside of the school building on literally any subject. My personal favorite part of a blog is that it acts as an archive, and keeps posts dated and easy to look back on. An activity that is like blogging but goes back to the olden days LOL, was the chain notes activity because it acted like a blog allowing everyone to see each others ideas and get the opportunity share their own ideas in the process.