Avatar - Voki

"> This is my second Voki, using the text to voice feature rather than my voice.

Assessment Tool Post - Rubrics

As I read chapters 20-22, I considered which tool would serve my purposes best. It made sense to opt for a rubric because we are constantly creating rubrics to score student work. I grabbed a rubric I'd used for scoring group participation last year and thought 'I'll just retype this and be done with the assignment' (Sorry, Ms. Kemple) When I came across Rubistar it was amazing to see that they had areas to assess and comments so I didn't need to recreate the wheel each time! (Why didn't I see this years ago?) I did edit some of their comments to meet my needs at fourth grade. Some of theirs were a little brutal. This will definitely be a tool I will use frequently throughout the year. It's 'rubric creation for dummies!' While the wording isn't the best for younger grades, it's easy to edit and manage. Honestly, I think students would be able to create rubrics to score their own projects!

Avatar - Voki

"> This is one of the Voki avatars I created! See my July 26 blog post to learn more.

Scrapbook Photos

These are scrapbook photos from our recent trip to New Mexico. See my July 22 blog post to learn more. Enjoy!

Transformation Tool Post - Avatars

After reading chapters 23 through 25, I decided to create two avatars.  I chose to use Voki for mine because I was able to deliver short snippets about Oregon Geography by typing in text related to the avatars I created.  It also said only a basic level of expertise was needed by teacher and student!  I think my fourth graders will enjoy these and I didn't feel the social networking was an option for use in my class.
After finding out how easy it was to create the avatars using Voki, I think I will probably use them in my classroom.  They are a creative way to present short bits of information, definitions, and the kids will love them.  Using the animated characters brings a more personal touch to virtual teaching, but it can also add spice to regular classroom teaching.
 I think it would even be fun to let my students create a Voki to communicate something to the class!

Response to Oregon Standards (5A, B and C)

I like the term 'digital citizenship' and plan to use it in my classroom.  Every year, before setting foot in the computer lab, we talk about appropriate use of not only the computers, but also the internet.  The students are well aware of which web sites they can visit, but there are always a few who want to 'test the water' and go to banned sites.  PPS is pretty good about using a firewall, but they are able to get to you tube and access videos.

Practicing safe, legal and responsible use of technology will be a good focus for my class.  It's so important for each student to show personal responsibility when using digital technology because part of our job, as teachers, is building strong citizens of the future.  I talk to my students about having integrity regarding plagiarism and actions to one another, but I think I'll talk to them about kindness in using social media.  At age ten many of them have facebook pages, so we talk about appropriate use of it (and that it's not okay to access at school!)

So many things we think are common sense, and common courtesy, need to be taught to our students.  We need to prepare them for the next stage of their education and give them the tools needed to be successful in our technological age.

Presenting Content Post - Sharing Images through Picasa Scrapbook

I chose to use Google's Picasa to share photos from my recent trip to New Mexico.  After looking at Moodle, flickr and photobucket it looked like Picasa was going to be the easiest for me to create.  I'm using my school computer so didn't have any personal pictures already loaded on it.  I had my son email me photos from his telephone, downloaded to my school MAC and was then able to access them for the Picasa scrapbook!

This would be a resource I could use in my class for various introductory lessons and I'd be able to save it from year to year.  There are images on the web I could draw from to create a 'glossary' of science or social studies terms with both definitions and pictures!  Being able to add captions is a useful tool as well.  I could potentially leave my scrapbook visible for the students on the classroom PCs so they could access them during their computer time as research tools!

Response to Standards (2 A, B and D)

After today's class I felt like this was a natural standard to respond to because we talked about how we/kids can communicate and collaborate using digital media.  It seems like a perfect fit!  As I reread the standards I can see how important it is for our students to have these technological skills.  With the tool our group discussed today, microblogging, students will be able to both communicate and collaborate as needed to complete a project.
Also, based on our discussion today I am convinced it's up to us, as teachers, to give our students the skills needed to be able to successfully communicate and collaborate with one another.  I am confident we can teach them how to work with a team to create a digital project and present it to different audiences - classmates, parents, etc.
We can't count on our students having access to computers and internet at home, so we must start making them comfortable with technology at school!  I'm hoping to be able to guide my fourth graders as they begin using computers for purpose this year!

Communication Tool Post - Microblog

In Chapter 13 we read about microblogs and thought they would be fairly user-friendly to use with elementary age students.  Louise, Diana and I decided to create a microblog through Edmodo where we  discussed frogs.  Wouldn't this be fun if you were in fourth grade!?  First, you'd get to use the computer to respond and second, you'd get to give your opinion and receive 'immediate' responses.

I think I'd potentially be able to use a microblog in my classroom for creating a KWL Chart to launch a new topic.  For instance, if we are starting to study the Land and Water unit in Science I could prompt (assign) my students to log on to Edmodo and tell me what they already KNOW about the subject.  Then the second assignment I'd give them would be to tell me WHAT they want to learn during our unit.  I think they'd be motivated to do the assignments because they'd get to use their computer at home!  When we gathered together again the next day we could briefly go over what the class would like to learn during the unit and I could reassure them that they would/would not be learning it!

Response to Reading - Day 1 (Chapters 1-7 and 11)

I like how the book breaks down the technology tools and gave us a decision-making matrix so we can take into consideration everything that might effect the outcome of an assignment.
My guess is that over 90% of my students' families have access to the internet and would be able to use most of the tools listed.  This past year I had a student film his book presentation and post to youtube!  Another girl posted hers to Vimeo.  While I know the parents had a huge part in making this happen, the students had the idea and took the initiative to look into what they'd need.  I was reminded of this as I read chapter 2.  Figure 2.2 drove me crazy and was pretty confusing!  It made me wonder if some of the things I put in front of my students drive them crazy too!
When I got to chapter 7, about blogs, I was wishing I'd read it before creating my blog for class.  Coming at it from the novice angle, it was really helpful to read about how I might be able to use blogs in my classroom. I'm not sure if I'll go there this year, but I'm definitely going to check out the TweenTribune blog referenced in the chapter.
There are so many tools out there and I realize I just need to find the courage and time to work them into my practices!