Student Computer Lab and Netbook Time

Wow, is it computer lab again already?! Well, what should the class do? Let's see, last week they spent the whole time on google images; some of them actually researched for their animal report. The week before that we did Dance Mat Typing. Maybe I'll send them to play some math games on learning links.

If you have ever gone through this type of though process when it is your class' turn to go to the lab or use the netbooks, you're not alone! Although we know it is much more beneficial to integrate technology as a device that enhances a lesson or unit, there just isn't enough time to plan this out ahead of time. Hopefully this post will help you find meaningful ways for your students to use computers without several extra hours of planning.

ReadWriteThink.org is a website with specific student-friendly programs and organizational tools. I stumbled across this site when I was looking for a way for my class to effectively organize a persuasive writing piece. I wanted this organizational tool to be something the students can access on the computer, since they are doing most of their research on computers. This site had the perfect program I was looking for! Now my class can research and organize at the same time on their computers without having to go back and forth between paper and computer.

This website has several applications for all major elementary (and beyond) subjects. To find student-friendly programs that fit your grade level and topic, simply click on your grade level on the left side of the screen. If you know specifically what type of program you are looking for, just type it into the "search" box in the upper left hand corner of the site. To find the program my class has been using I simply typed in "persuasive writing." That's it!

Your task this week is to explore the website and try to find an application that your students could use together as a class. In your response this week, let us know what program you found and how you plan to use it. If you cannot find a program you would use with your class, tell us about one way you currently use your computer lab/netbook time.

"Enemy of the State" Anyone?

If you haven't checked out Google Street View yet, the time has come. You’d be surprised where you and your class can go. Reading a book set in Iowa? Might as well “drive” down Temple Ave. in Shell Rock so that students can get a glimpse of the vast terrain. Or maybe “drive” by the Guggenheim on 5th Ave. in New York City. Or if those options are too luxurious for you, you can also walk to Starbucks from Lake Wilderness. It’s easy—just visit Google Maps, plug in an address or just zoom in on an area you wish to “visit.” Look for the little yellow guy and drag him over to one of the street views that are available in that area (available streets will be highlighted in blue).


This week, tell us how you might use Google Street View in your classroom. Be creative! It’s not just a mapping OR If there isn't a way you could use Street View, visit the Google for Educators page or the Google blog (side note: it's really amazing what Google offers beyond search) to to learn about some of the other great resources Google offers that might be useful to you and your students. Let us know what you find and how you might use it. Oh, standing in the middle of the Maple Valley Highway staring at the 76 station probably doesn't have too many classroom applicatoins. Oh, and as for the title, you should definitely check out the movie "Enemy of the State;" way ahead of its time.

Week 6: Halfway There!

Well, we're at the halfway point. How is it going? For this week's assignment, I'm asking you to do three things:

1. Provide a little bit of information about your experience so far by answering these questions:

2. Revisit the previous two blog posts (find access to the archived posts in the lower right corner hand of this page), and read through folks' comments. Find at least one thing to comment on and "reply" to that comment by clicking "reply" and leaving an insight, answer, or suggestion to that comment. One of the benefits of blogging is the conversation it allows for. Imagine if we had done this class via email. I could have sent you each week's post in an email and you could have responded to me with a reply to that email. However, notice how much richer it is to see and respond to each other's thinking using the blog instead.

3. Leave a comment to this post with your "mid-term" reflection. Anything you want to share is fine, but here a few questions you might want to consider: How is this set up working for you? How does learning this way stack up next to more traditional ways of learning? Have you learned anything about the way you learn that might impact how you teach? Any suggestions for the second half of the class? Remember--commenting on someone else's post counts.


Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bybri/2604493952/

Why Re-create the Wheel? (Due March 15)

Hello Bloggers,

There are times when I come to a lesson and think one of two things: 1) How can I make this lesson more relevant for this group of students or 2) I have taught this lesson roughly five gabillion (yes, that's number) times and I want to change it up a little before I go insane. In an attempt to remedy one, or both, of these dilemmas I often get on the web and open up Google. I always think I can scour the web for a quick addition to a lesson plan, but more often than not this consumes much more time than than originally allotted. This leads us to the focus for this week.

Teachers First is a teacher resource site that can eliminate the pain and agony of investing a great deal of time trying to figure out how to spice up a lesson. The resources found on this site are endless; from entire grade and subject-specific lesson plans to the "websites of the week" section, this is a website that should be on your favorites list. In fact, earlier today I was curious if this site had student-friendly games related to electricity (my current science unit). From the home page I just scrolled over "classroom" at the top. Next, I clicked on "by keyword." Then I typed in Electricity. Bingo! Several suggested sites popped up, each with their own description. Before long I found a site dedicated to electricity games. This is a link I can email my parents so they can play the game together with their child at home.

Your assignment for this week is to check out the website and post about a tool, lesson plan or idea from the site you found useful or that you could possibly use in the future.

Seek and Ye Shall Find (a Threaded Discussion Add-on for Your Blog)

Some of you are using the discussion feature on your SWIFT site to communicate with parents. (If you want to learn more about using the discussion feature of SWIFT, see page nine of the SWIFT User Guide.) However, one of the limitations of the SWIFT discussion feature is that the discussions aren’t threaded. This means that as parents post comments, the comments simply appear in chronological order, making it difficult for the teacher to respond to a particular comment that may have appeared early on in the discussion. Threaded discussions allow people to respond to particular comments; they allow the conversation to branch off into different directions. Specifically, your reply to a particular comment appears directly below that comment, tabbed over.

Unfortunately, Blogger (the tool we’re using for this class/blog) also doesn’t offer threaded discussions, making it difficult for me (or you) to reply directly to someone’s comment. However, a solution has been found! I have added a program to our blog that will now allow for threaded commenting from this point forward on the blog. Sweet. You’ll notice when you comment this week that the interface looks a little different—but fear not, all you’ll need to do is type in your name and email address when you post your comment. (And, if you see someone else’s comment you’d like to comment on, go ahead—that can count as your comment.)

So this week’s lesson has two themes (see below). Chose one to comment on this week (each theme has two prompts to choose from).

Theme 1: Using online discussions (SWIFT or other tool) with students or parents
a. If you have experience with online discussions, what tips do you have to share? What have been the benefits?
OR
b. What might be some ways you could incorporate online discussions into your class? If you’re new to this tool, what questions do you have for those who already use it?

Theme 2: If you believe it should be possible, it probably is—all you have to do is look.
(Back story: I knew Blogger didn’t offer threaded discussions, but I figured that I’m not the only person who wished it did, so I Googled “adding threaded discussion to Blogger.” That led me to a blog post about third party applications I could add to the blog to increase interactivity. That’s where I learned about Intense Debate—the application I’m using to provide threaded discussion for our class on this blog. The rest, my friends, is history.

I offer this as evidence that there is a solution out there for most of our challenges if we look and are willing to invest in a little risk taking. If I had seen this issue as a problem, I might have just begrudgingly accepted my plight (no threaded commenting) and would not have investigated further. However, I felt comfortable taking matters into my own hands and did some self-directed learning—something I think we (and our students) are going to be expected to do more and more of in this new digital world. In my role, I am confronted by this reality day after day, yet every time I am amazed and delighted. What about you?

a. Share a time you went online with a question/challenge and “taught” yourself how to do something new.
OR
b. Do it now . . . what’s a question/challenge you have in your class right now? Go online and look for your solution. How did it go?