Saturday, November 26, 2011

Tool #11 Reflections Final Post!!!!

I have passed my assessment, I could have scored an A had a not choose all choices on the choose all that apply.
1) My favorite tools are edmodo, blogger, and wall wisher. I can post about relevant chemistry topics to a blog in blogger and have students make comments about it. I also can post videos or podcasts and have students ask questions or respond to other peoples comments.
2) I've transformed my way of thinking by realizing there are many different ways to give students they information they need to be able to apply and they do not always need to do a worksheet to show what they know. A lot of times in chemistry they do still need practice solving problems but there are topics that they can learn just as much if not more by doing an activity on a netbook or i-pad.
3) My unexpected outcome was how I know like Google Chrome. I was not a fan of it the first few times I used it but as I've been using it for my blog I've realized it is really good for things other than skyward and PDLC. As long as I'm not using those programs it is easy to navigate.

Tool #10 Digital Citizenship

1) The three things I would want my students to know about being a good digital citizen are:
a) That everything that they read online is correct and that they should always look at multiple sources.
b) That they should not be writing anything on a website that would be inappropriate to say nor should they be send e-mails with inappropriate material in it.
c) They cannot copy information from the web for an assignment that is plagiarism.
2) I can use atomic learning such as avoiding plagiarism before assigning a research paper, or netiquette before working on a collaborating project.
3) I would teach digital citizenship by talking about it throughout the year. When our focus changes then I would change my focus of the talk.
4) I can share by the idea of digital citizenship with parents by sending home a pamphlet about what we expect of the students with websites that they can go to so they better understand what it is to be a digital citizen.

Tool #9 Incorporating the devices into the classroom

1) It is important to tie technology to the objective because we do not have time to waste doing an activity for activity sake. We have the highest stakes testing that we have ever had and we have to cover more material then we have ever had to cover. If the technology doesn't help them learn the objectives we don't have time to use it.
2) Students have to be held accountable or they will not do it. If you give the students access to the internet and you are not watching them or asking them to complete something they will will get off track because that is just human nature.
3) I like Chemgametutor.com it could be a good review station or if students are finished with everything for the day they could go and review using the game. Since I can have student logins that track their progress I can see exactly what they are doing and which kids are not doing well on a particular topic.
I also like pHet you can use it to reinforce a topic that you are covering. Many of the simulations allow students to see what is occurring on a molecular level which helps students make connections. To hold students accountable I can make a worksheet that goes along with the activity that they would turn in (or have on google docs and turn in electronically). Not only does this keep them on track but it also has them focus on the parts of simulation that I find important and that are aligned with my objective.
4) As far as ipad apps that I like: Mahjong Chem, I've tried to use this on the i-pod touch but the tiles are too little to see so this would be better on the i-pad. This a great review app and students can complete this at one station and put their score and time on a sheet of paper to see who has the highest score by the end of the day. I also like Formulas. I recently used this in class on the i-pod touches when students were done with their other work. It gives them immediate feedback if they are correct or not.
5) Students can also use the i-pad to view videos as a station. These videos can be of new material, a short video clip about things we are discussing in class, or student created review videos.

Tool #8 The devices

I learned that the netbooks will have a webcam that they could use to make short videos/tutorials. I also learned that the ipads will be synced with the teacher laptop. The only problem with that is each teacher will have to buy an App and although a team will all use the same Apps it will now cost much more since they do not have a common sync computer. I do like that each teacher is responsible for their own devices I just don't think it is the most economical thing especially since some of the i-pad apps are pricey. I did have two questions 1) where will the money to get the Apps come? 2) will the i-pads get screen protectors and cases? (it only mentioned i-pods)
I plan on managing the devices by first going over acceptable use and the consequences of not following these acceptable use rules (alternate assignment during class/ finishing the class assignment at home/ or receiving a zero for the assignment) Also walking around to monitor what they are doing. If they should be researching and they are pressing on the screen constantly then they are playing a game not researching. If we are using them as a station then students will alert me if a device is broken when they reach that station to hold the students that were at the station before them accountable. At the end of each period I can quickly do a count to make sure they are all accounted for before the bell rings. If they are using them individually then they can check them out and in from me and I can make sure they come back in the same condition as they were lent out.

Tool #7 Reaching Outside the Classroom

a) Objective: To see the relevance in chemistry in the real world.
b) I plan to implement after the chemistry EOC.
c) I plan to use Skype
d) I could find people that use chemistry in their lives/jobs and have them do an interview via Skype. Students will come up with questions to ask the person collaboratively using Google docs.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Tool #6 Wallwisher

I just made an account for wallwisher.com. If you go to http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/flintchem you can write on my wall. This could also be a good alternative for facebook, where students can post questions and other students can answer the questions or I can answer the questions as well with another sticky note. Also at each lab table can be a different "wall" with a question posed about the lesson and students would rotate and they just double click to create new stickies they can make a new comment or comment on another students comment. Students can put their name at the end of the comment to hold them accountable for their posting.

Tool #6 Edmodo

This is my edmodo profile page.http://sbisd.edmodo.com/profile/1955003 I currently use edmodo to post assignments and to put helpful gadgets such as flashcards and games so students can use to study. I've also joined some communities that have been helpful on coming up with new ideas and a place to ask questions of other professionals. I can place students in groups and then they can post things for a collaborative project that only they can see (and myself). I also gave the code to parents so that they can see what I post, they can also see what their children post. This is helpful so they can see what assignments are due and when tests and quizzes are. 

Tool #4 Google Docs

I currently use Google Docs for documents that I want available at all times on different computers. Students will sometimes submit papers to me via Google docs instead of e-mail. My students also use Google docs when they are researching a topic. It makes it easy for them to be collaborative with each other and then they do not have to worry about getting on their server folder. I think that the forms could work well when we get our devices so I could make a quiz and they a station could answer the questions at the lab tables. Then they rotate and the next group answers the questions.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Tool #5

I could use these tools to introduce a new topic or to review a topic such as the naming video in Xrtranormal. The stupeflix video students could make 1 minute videos to explain a topic or to make a commercial about an element. I used the stupeflix video to recruit students to take AP chemistry. It was quick and so I could quickly show it in other teachers classes without taking up too much time.

Tool #5 Xtranormal: naming compounds

Naming Compounds with Superheros
by: flintj

tool #5 Stupeflix video: AP chemistry recruiting video

Tool #3

I embedded two videos, one by using the insert a video button on the top of the compose tab. The second video I copied the embed code in the edit HTML tab. Both worked pretty much the same. I also used the view pure site which works well since some videos on youtube do have some inappropriate ads on the sides and bottom. I tried using keepvid and saveyoutube but was unsuccessful. Keepvid said it cost money to download and saveyoutube said it might corrupt my computer so I just exited out. I find youtube and discovery education to be the most useful to find videos. I prefer to use Google images to find images. I found the code of best practices in fair use for media literacy education video ridiculous and a waste of my 3 minutes. I did learn that as long as I am posting things to a secure password protected site such as my edmodo account that I can post whatever for educational purpose. Dropbox also says it might harm my computer, but I continued and it worked. Drop box was really easy to use. I like that I can put files that I might use on other computers in the drop box and then I can quickly open them on another computer. I do not have to worry about transferring files with a flash drive to my mac I can just open the files in drop box. I sadly have known about drop box for a while and used it once but now that I've been using multiple computers I find this very useful.

Tool #3 what would happen without chemistry

Tool #3: Harry Potter Sings the Elements Song

Tool #2

I visited many sites of fellow SBISD educators, it was nice to see how other teachers are responding to the different tools that I have not reached yet. I do prefer to lurk in the shadows and not post comments but I know it is gives others feedback and shows them that others are actually looking at what they do. When I looked at the major blogs of others listed on the 11 tool website they seemed overwhelming. It could take hours going though all of the information present. I will think about looking at blogs though in the future put by putting blog in my Google search. I feel this would be less overwhelming.