A Well-Equipped Educator

http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/Reference/images/web_2_Bloom.jpg

When I first walked into my EDU 560 course about integrating technology into the classroom, I thought I was golden. I implement technology constantly inside my classroom. I use a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet and all of its educational applications. I sync the tablet to a device called a Dongle and this allows me to wireless use my tablet on the projector. I use virtual manipulatives and allow the students to use laptops when working on a project. I am really confident and comfortable with all of this. Was this actual implementation of technology?

I thought it was. I was wrong. There are web 2.0 tools such as Glogster, ThingLink, Wikispaces, and Prezi that students can use to learn. Students can have blogs, use live documents for discussion, create talking avatars and animals on Blabberize, and make a Wordle. After experiencing this course, I feel way more prepared to educate the 21st century learners I have in my classroom.

Next year, I plan on implementing tons of technology through a product box. Students will be able to pick from a product box to show that they completely understand the material and can go further on the Bloom's Taxonomy. I will probably use Glogster the most as a choice for students to use because I thought Glogster was fun and very appealing to the human eye. Another tool that I plan on using a lot more is Prezi. At first, I thought Prezi was disappointing. After a few more experiences with the tool, I decided it is a tool I want to add to my toolbox. With the implementation of Common Core right around the corner at my school, I feel more prepared to educate my students and create successful individuals that are ready to tackle any task at hand.

The Ambiguous Media

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I thought digital tattoos were interesting, but I liked media literacy a lot more. Media literacy is very important to understand as an individual. In my opinion, individuals who do not question what they see or hear or think about an event, debate, or subject critically are being controlled by the media. The image to the right demonstrates what I mean. Everyone should be taught how to evaluate and analyze a media source and question the norms. Stereotypes and judging others is huge idea that I defend and represent. I have an open-mind about any situation I see or hear, and I believe others need to have an open-mind as well.

We need people to question the norms and to stop following the leader. The video in class about the suspect apprehended by the officer who was the subject in the film is a great example. I was stunned (and felt trapped by the ad) about what I was thinking when watching the video. I consider myself a pretty non-judging fellow, and I am constantly questioning others thoughts when I think they jump to conclusions based on societal norms/stereotypes. I know that I am going to try very hard to implement a media literacy element to one of my skills this year. At the very least, I have plenty to fire at my advisory.

Twitter as a Professional Resource?!?!

"I will never have a Twitter account. Social media is annoying and Twitter is for people who have too much time on their hands." That is what I said some time ago. Now, I am thinking "don't knock it till you try it" because I have a Twitter (https://twitter.com
/MathMaticalBoss) and it is great.

http://teachthought.com/teaching/20-simple-assessment-strategies-can-use-every-day/

The picture to the right represents my thoughts about Twitter before my grad course "forced" me to create an account. People are brain-washed and absorbed by their phones and technology and Twitter adds to this. This may be true for those who use Twitter recreationally, but when you use it professionally, it can supply you with endless resources. For example, this resource posted by Socrative to the right gave 20 assessment strategies any educator can use on a daily basis. I thought this resource was great because I feel restricted with my assessment tools and ideas. I really liked how some of these assessment ideas have students writing about what they have learned. In a math class, writing in complete sentences is absent a lot of the times and I want to change that in my learning environment.

Another great tool that you can use to your advantage on Twitter are the professional learning communities (PLCs). PLCs are groups of people that share ideas and help each other out with problems, ideas, and/or theories. For example, if you wanted to learn more about the Common Core State Standards you could participate in a Twitter chat about the subject. I participated in the using blogs as educational tools chat (#blogchat). Honestly, I tried to join 4 other edchats that covered topics I wanted to talk about, but they weren't chatting at the times listed on the official Twitter educational chat schedule. This chat was a last resort, but was still interesting. The chat seemed to center around one theme: using blogging to take the conversation further. So, I asked everyone if they use open-ended questions at the end of their blogs to keep the conversation going and I got tons of responses, retweets, and favorites. One person suggested that I use the open-ended question as a bridge to the essential questions on the unit. I thought that was a very great idea.

Glogster Volume Example

http://5j2014msconneally.wordpress.com/2014/01/11/glogster-a-glog-is-like-a-poster-only-better/

Glogster is a pretty cool piece of technology. A person using Glogster can create an interactive poster and post these posters to a blog-like website. The poster could be a topic such as carbohydrates like the one to the right or it can be one volume of a cone and volume of a cylinder like the one I created (Burns Volume). On the poster, an individual can add various images with texts or graphics to support his/her topic. In addition, you can create interactive arrows, add a YouTube video, or add pictures you have created. After you are done, someone can view your Glog and learn various skills from  your interactive poster.

My Glog was about volume of a cylinder and volume of a cone. On my poster, I give an introduction and overview of what a cylinder and cone look like and the formulas to calculate the volume of one figure. In addition, I posted thought provoking questions to get my students wondering about the connections between the figures and what the difference between area and volume are. I supply students with real-life connections to the 3-dimensional figures and added practice problems. Students can click on a pencil to practice various problems about volume of the two figures. Lastly, I added a virtual manipulative link to have students challenge themselves. The virtual manipulative gives students a scenario of pouring a liquid from a cone into a cylinder and vice versa. Students will be able to navigate this Glog very easily.

I really enjoyed using Glogster. I have never used any technology like this before and I am very glad I was exposed to this. As soon as I was done, I started thinking about various ways I could used Glogster in my classroom. Moreover, I know I will add this do the product list for students next year as an assignment. In my opinion, the great thing about this technology is how easy it is to create, but it makes you look like you were way more productive.

Introduction Prezi Presentation on Volume

Burns Prezi on Volume

Prezi is very intriguing presentation tool. Prezi is similar to PowerPoint by Microsoft except Prezi is more interactive. One can argue this because if you know how to use PowerPoint, then you can make it do many interactions. Prezi is unique because it zooms in and out of different components of your presentation. Furthermore, you can zoom in after you have already zoomed in. You will have to become familiar with Prezi in order for you to understand what I'm saying. Lastly, Prezi has some similar animations to PowerPoint, such as the fading effect.

The Prezi Presentation I created is to give students a introduction to new material. The subject matter in this Prezi is about volume of various 3-dimensional figures like cone, cylinder, and sphere. Inside the Prezi I have included the formulas, real-life examples, and a graphic representation to keep viewers on track with everything. I use arrows to make the connections like volume to sphere to a picture of the earth. Lastly, I like how easy this will be for students to navigate. It is as simple as clicking the mouse and scrolling through the slides.

My feelings about Prezi went from bad to good throughout my experience and discovery of the presentation tool. Throughout the creation of my Prezi, I felt as if I was disorganized. As is I couldn't keep track of my images and text. I needed to constantly zoom in and out to keep track of my work. Since this was my first time using Prezi, I knew I needed to give it another shot and work on it. I felt a lot better after I did another one for the course. After I compared the two, I knew that my first time was a trial and error instance and that I had become more comfortable with the tool. In my opinion, my first Prezi is disgustingly disorganized (if that is a correct combination of words). My second Prezi is a lot better and I feel like it is a quality piece of work. In the end, I will use this tool a lot more because I feel it is easier to create then a PowerPoint and it is more engaging for students.

QR Codes for Final Exam Review

Personal Phone

QR codes is a tool that allows someone to link an external link to a barcode-like image. Someone with a QR code scanner app on a mobile device or tablet can scan the QR code and investigate the link that pops up. My experience with QR codes was a great experience. At first, I could not find a way to get math problems such as volume of a cylinder or cone to adapt to the QR codes. QRstuff.com was a great resource to create my QR codes, but the DropBox link was a complicated one. The link to DropBox worked, but I was putting myself in the shoes of my students and noticed that they needed Adobe Reader in addition to installing the QR code scanner app. I knew I could make this an easier process for the students. After surfing the web for ideas, I finally found one. By creating my problems in PowerPoint and saving those problems as a JPEG, I could use PhotoBucket attached to the QR code.

This made the activity a smoother process for the students. In addition, the fact they were ALLOWED to use their phones (responsively, of course) engaged every student. The activity was basically a mini-scavenger hunt. The students started with the first QR code, which brought up a final exam review math problem. The answer to that question was somewhere on the front or back of the worksheet, which lead the student to his/her next problem to complete. I modeled the process just in case because some students had no idea what a QR code was. In addition, I make modifications for those students who didn't have the necessary resources by allowing a partner or using my cell phone.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed the practical use of the QR codes and I am spreading the idea among my colleagues. My school has a strict cell phone policy, but this is a great way to integrate technology.

Final Review QR Codes