The majority of the work that I do with my class I make sure that I am using my district issued computer that is broadcasting on a district provided server. I feel safer using the district's spyware rather than having to pay for my own, or rely on possibly a cheaper issue I had purchased. Although, if you read my discussion post you will see that there are still flaws to a district spyware program.
I like to do a lot of journal writings while we are in class, rather than as homework, so the students can seek guidance since they are not formal papers. However, I love the idea of blogging so that I can grade each submission as it is posted, rather than having to wait until all 25 papers are turned in. Even if I could work on a few at a time it might free up some of my time rather than having to spend several hours looking at all of the works. It would also be great to be able to provide feedback to the student, and the student could review that feedback at any time. Many times, when students receive a graded paper back, they discard it and it is never to be looked at again. If all of the papers were collected on one website and they could easily flip through each assignment, the student might be able to observe their own growth. They could see the work they did at the beginning of the year, and see how they progressed and worked through my suggestions to where they ended the year.
In my classroom right now, the only communication tool I really use is email, and this is mostly with other teachers and parents. I have a lot of primary elementary students and they are not reliant on email like the rest of us. We are lucky we can get them to enter their ID to login. However, blogging is something they would be able to use and would get them entered to the online world. Before I could expect my students to create/use a blog I would have to create a classroom blog so they could see what one setup would look like. I would also have to spend some time walking them through the steps of how to create a post and make sure it was accessible to the people it needed to be accessible to. I would also provide the parents instructions on how to use the blog so they could help their children at home, as well as monitor their child's work.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Week 7--Software
The software that I have used in my classroom was the Lexia Learning software. I have found this software to be a HUGE help. I will warn anyone reading this, that is software is VERY expensive and I feel very privileged for my Principal to have purchased it for our school. This software focuses on the reading skills of students. I would classify this software as a tutorial type. When a student first starts to use this software they take a test that will gauge their reading level. Once the computer has determined what their strengths and weaknesses are, it creates an individualized plan for that student. For example, I used this primarily with a second grade class. Some of my readers were able to read entire chapter books, while other students could not even string all of their syllables together. I would be able to take a class of 20 to the computer lab and know that each student was going to be challenged and practice their respective skills.
The computer would generate games that the students would play that would focus on their weaknesses. For example, some of my students would struggle with the "silent -e". The game that was created for them was in a basketball setting. The student would be "playing" basketball and a voice would tell them a word and give them certain letters. The student would have to use those letters to create their word. If they got the word right, their team would receive a point, but if they got it wrong, the other team would get the point. While that was easy for some of my students, others would play a reading game, where they had to try to "out-read" the computer.
This software is also very helpful in that every week it generates a report for the teacher that identifies where the students are struggling. Along with identifying these weaknesses, it also provides lesson plans and worksheets to help the student with these concepts, while not on the computer. This was very helpful because it allowed me to work with these students back in the room. Every teacher would love to be able to create a worksheet that specifically hit each students' weakness. However, back in reality, that is not possible to do with 20+ students every week. These worksheets provided by Lexia would allow me to foster a small group environment in my room, and I was able to work one-on-one with these students on a regular basis. We saw GREAT improvement on our MAP reading scores.
The computer would generate games that the students would play that would focus on their weaknesses. For example, some of my students would struggle with the "silent -e". The game that was created for them was in a basketball setting. The student would be "playing" basketball and a voice would tell them a word and give them certain letters. The student would have to use those letters to create their word. If they got the word right, their team would receive a point, but if they got it wrong, the other team would get the point. While that was easy for some of my students, others would play a reading game, where they had to try to "out-read" the computer.
This software is also very helpful in that every week it generates a report for the teacher that identifies where the students are struggling. Along with identifying these weaknesses, it also provides lesson plans and worksheets to help the student with these concepts, while not on the computer. This was very helpful because it allowed me to work with these students back in the room. Every teacher would love to be able to create a worksheet that specifically hit each students' weakness. However, back in reality, that is not possible to do with 20+ students every week. These worksheets provided by Lexia would allow me to foster a small group environment in my room, and I was able to work one-on-one with these students on a regular basis. We saw GREAT improvement on our MAP reading scores.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Week 6
The WebQuest that I created was : http://questgarden.com/127/81/1/110613044905/
The purpose of this WebQuest was to get the students thinking about economics and their responsibility to the environment. I geared this lesson towards a fifth grade group and they needed to create an argument for the Principal to provide an iPad to each student in the school. I really wanted them to think about the ways that the iPad could be used to reduce cost, and make the learning process easier. They would be conflicted in that most students would want an iPad because it is the "cool, new" thing, but I wanted them to go beyond that. I wanted them to think about how much it would initially cost to provide these to every student, but how much we would save with reducing textbooks, and eliminating a lot of the paper waste. I also wanted them to think about what type of distraction this tool would place in the classroom. Students would have the opportunity to abuse the privilege of having a "computer" at their desk. There would be many opportunities for the students to open a game app and the teacher would never be aware. These were the things I wanted the students to wrestle with. I really wanted them to create an argument through an economic lens, rather than from the perspective of a 5th grader that wanted a new "toy."
My challenge in creating this was balancing the lesson plan look, with the look of what my students will be reading. I wanted to establish the background of the lessons, while still providing the opportunity for the students to follow along and participate. When I was researching WebQuests I found several different layouts that I liked better than the questgarden site. Questgarden supplied the tools to create this tool, however I found it to be more lesson plan styled, rather than student interactive. I think some students would have a challenge navigating through this site.
This was a tool I had never heard about or learned anything about. This is now a tool that I plan to use and I LOVE the premise of it. It was, however, time consuming to create, and is obviously not something I would use everyday, but rather would use on the bigger projects of the year. I also think this tool is geared towards intermediate students more than primary students. It would be difficult for a K student to be set free with this tool to read its directions and complete the tasks at hand. They would need too much help for this tool to be effective.
The purpose of this WebQuest was to get the students thinking about economics and their responsibility to the environment. I geared this lesson towards a fifth grade group and they needed to create an argument for the Principal to provide an iPad to each student in the school. I really wanted them to think about the ways that the iPad could be used to reduce cost, and make the learning process easier. They would be conflicted in that most students would want an iPad because it is the "cool, new" thing, but I wanted them to go beyond that. I wanted them to think about how much it would initially cost to provide these to every student, but how much we would save with reducing textbooks, and eliminating a lot of the paper waste. I also wanted them to think about what type of distraction this tool would place in the classroom. Students would have the opportunity to abuse the privilege of having a "computer" at their desk. There would be many opportunities for the students to open a game app and the teacher would never be aware. These were the things I wanted the students to wrestle with. I really wanted them to create an argument through an economic lens, rather than from the perspective of a 5th grader that wanted a new "toy."
My challenge in creating this was balancing the lesson plan look, with the look of what my students will be reading. I wanted to establish the background of the lessons, while still providing the opportunity for the students to follow along and participate. When I was researching WebQuests I found several different layouts that I liked better than the questgarden site. Questgarden supplied the tools to create this tool, however I found it to be more lesson plan styled, rather than student interactive. I think some students would have a challenge navigating through this site.
This was a tool I had never heard about or learned anything about. This is now a tool that I plan to use and I LOVE the premise of it. It was, however, time consuming to create, and is obviously not something I would use everyday, but rather would use on the bigger projects of the year. I also think this tool is geared towards intermediate students more than primary students. It would be difficult for a K student to be set free with this tool to read its directions and complete the tasks at hand. They would need too much help for this tool to be effective.
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