Tool 5: Web 5.0?
I played around with xtranormal and adimoto. Since xtranormal requires that you pay to publish the project I cannot embed the results right here. Though I am using blogger to talk about my experience with these tools, so that counts as another one right?
I did find it interesting at how quickly xtranormal was able to take anything I typed and synthesize it into voice. I could see some students using this to produce instructional items if they didn't want to talk on camera. Though having to pay for results is a bit of a downer.
I did produce an animoto using some pictures of a sidewalk chalk activity I did this year. I suppose I could have the students produce one of these to show off their work but you have to pay for anything longer than 30 seconds.
Try our video maker at Animoto.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Tool 4: Google Apps
Sharing documents and creating forms with Google Apps is very trivial. I have used it in the past to collaborate on a Teacher U class that I am running this summer and it could be applied for making notes for team meetings or other curriculum projects during the summer when it's hard to get everyone together. Unfortunately, Google Apps is very clunky on iPads so with the students I will probably restrict its use to the netbooks. The forms seems like an interesting way to ask short response questions to an activity or gather information from different groups about errors they saw in an activity, things that went wrong, or interesting things they noted while we were working. I can also use it for feedback surveys to get a feel for how the students feel like their progressing at the end of a grading period for example.
It is definitely something I am going to look into for the fall. Math is always a challenge for this sort of thing as we don't have as many items that require long form writing, though spreadsheets could be handy.
Sharing documents and creating forms with Google Apps is very trivial. I have used it in the past to collaborate on a Teacher U class that I am running this summer and it could be applied for making notes for team meetings or other curriculum projects during the summer when it's hard to get everyone together. Unfortunately, Google Apps is very clunky on iPads so with the students I will probably restrict its use to the netbooks. The forms seems like an interesting way to ask short response questions to an activity or gather information from different groups about errors they saw in an activity, things that went wrong, or interesting things they noted while we were working. I can also use it for feedback surveys to get a feel for how the students feel like their progressing at the end of a grading period for example.
It is definitely something I am going to look into for the fall. Math is always a challenge for this sort of thing as we don't have as many items that require long form writing, though spreadsheets could be handy.
Tool 3: Online Videos and Images
I enjoy making use of videos and images in the classroom as much as possible. I use YouTube and Vimeo the most. Vimeo has the advantage of being used by the kids without any special workarounds.
This video I've used before to introduce our discussion of exponential growth functions. They have financial, biological, and industrial applications that the kids relate to quite well. And this video always makes them gross out a little bit.
I shared this video with my Pre-Calculus students during our study of vectors. It's a great example of the resultant direction of a plane that wants to go forward up against wind that wants to push it sideways.
It is important to cite sources that you use in your lessons. It provides an opportunity to explore more from that author if the kids are interested in other things and it also sets an example for them that created work is not always free for the taking.
I have had a Dropbox account for years. I have it on my home and work computers and it makes creation easy because I never have to worry about where something is stored. It makes collaboration with other people very simple too through the use of shared folders. There is an iPad version that can allow for quick distribution of images/files to the student iPads.
I enjoy making use of videos and images in the classroom as much as possible. I use YouTube and Vimeo the most. Vimeo has the advantage of being used by the kids without any special workarounds.
This video I've used before to introduce our discussion of exponential growth functions. They have financial, biological, and industrial applications that the kids relate to quite well. And this video always makes them gross out a little bit.
I shared this video with my Pre-Calculus students during our study of vectors. It's a great example of the resultant direction of a plane that wants to go forward up against wind that wants to push it sideways.
It is important to cite sources that you use in your lessons. It provides an opportunity to explore more from that author if the kids are interested in other things and it also sets an example for them that created work is not always free for the taking.
I have had a Dropbox account for years. I have it on my home and work computers and it makes creation easy because I never have to worry about where something is stored. It makes collaboration with other people very simple too through the use of shared folders. There is an iPad version that can allow for quick distribution of images/files to the student iPads.
Tool 2: Other Blogs and Comments
I paid a visit to a few of my fellow teacher's blogs and there are several blogs I visit on a regular basis for interesting ideas.
1 - Thoughts from A303
2 - 11 Tools Erin Johnston
3 - Kristina's 11 Tools
4 - Dan Meyer's Authors Choice
5 - Continuous Everywhere Differentiable Nowhere
6 - Action/Reaction
Often times teachers within a school will get stuck on the same ideas for years and years without considering alternatives or ways to iterate on what they have. By seeing what people in other parts of the country are doing you can stumble on all sorts of interesting things.
Dan Meyer inspired a standards based grading strategy that has been incredibly successful in my classroom that I am working on rolling out to more content areas at Northbrook. Sam Shah is a Calculus teacher from New York with a vast amount of resources. He recently made a post about Algebra boot camp in Calculus that mirror an idea I had for my Pre-Calculus students. Frank Noschese has a very interesting 180 Day Photo Project that I might implement next year, if I can remember to take a picture every day.
Sharing your thoughts is a great way to get feedback from other teachers who might show you some items you may not have thought of before.
A lot of the tools I use in my classroom have been inspired by these people, something I would not have gotten on my own.
I paid a visit to a few of my fellow teacher's blogs and there are several blogs I visit on a regular basis for interesting ideas.
1 - Thoughts from A303
2 - 11 Tools Erin Johnston
3 - Kristina's 11 Tools
4 - Dan Meyer's Authors Choice
5 - Continuous Everywhere Differentiable Nowhere
6 - Action/Reaction
Often times teachers within a school will get stuck on the same ideas for years and years without considering alternatives or ways to iterate on what they have. By seeing what people in other parts of the country are doing you can stumble on all sorts of interesting things.
Dan Meyer inspired a standards based grading strategy that has been incredibly successful in my classroom that I am working on rolling out to more content areas at Northbrook. Sam Shah is a Calculus teacher from New York with a vast amount of resources. He recently made a post about Algebra boot camp in Calculus that mirror an idea I had for my Pre-Calculus students. Frank Noschese has a very interesting 180 Day Photo Project that I might implement next year, if I can remember to take a picture every day.
Sharing your thoughts is a great way to get feedback from other teachers who might show you some items you may not have thought of before.
A lot of the tools I use in my classroom have been inspired by these people, something I would not have gotten on my own.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Tool 1: Get Started
This chronicles my journey through the 11 Tools training. Setting up this blog was very easy and took only a few minutes. I did not face any challenges with the process. I have a more established blog of the same name at http://infinitesums.com that catalogs some of the things I have done in my classroom during the 2011-12 school year.
More to come after June 4th.
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