Webtools in the Classroom
Classroom Tweet Door
TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge)
Before beginning this program, I knew the content of what I was teaching and felt like I had a good understanding ofpedagogy (how to teach). Technology, however, was something that I always "never had time for". It was something I almost saw as "fluff". I was more concerned about my students learning the content that I did not want to "waste time" on technology. That being said, I did use technology occasionally and had tried out a class blog but I did not see the true purpose of it. Soon after beginning the progra.m, I was in awe of all of the wonderful ways to meaningfully incorporate technology in to my classroom. I began to see a whole new way of teaching. I feel that over the past few years I have learned a great deal about what it means to be a 21st Century teacher and seeing the importance of preparing my students to live in a world that is very much dependent on technology. However, I have also seen my students grow. By changing the way I teach, my students have become much more independent and better able to collaborate with one another. I now feel that I am truly making progress towards that ultimate integration and understanding of content knowledge, pedagogy, and technology. Over the past two years I have not been given the answers to being a 21st century, instead been given the key to opening the door to continue learning and changing the way I teach to fit the changing world around us.
Below you will find a more in-depth description of my understanding of TPACK in "Transformation in to a 21st Century Teacher"
Wallwisher
Wallwisher is an online, interactive bulletin board that allows students to post their own comments
and answers to specific questions. I have used this during my literacy block as part of a computer/writing center where my students reflect on a specific question. I have used this to make connections or answer other questions with our class read aloud novels, as well as answering application questions about current science and social studies units. An example of a wall wisher I used http://padlet.com/wall/qigst44q52
Bubble.us
This tool allows for my students to make a bubble web. While there are many purposes
for this website, I have used it as more of a brainstorming/activating prior
knowledge activity. I like using it as a computer center, where each of my kids
can post to the same bubble map, this way all of my students have the
opportunity to read each other's bubbles and they can share their ideas even if
they do not like to share with the whole class out loud.
Here is an example of a bubble map that we made this year: https://bubbl.us/
Glogster
Glogster is a great web tool to create interactive posters for the classroom. It can include text, photos and video. I have used it several times as a class project throughout the year, where my students can add to the poster during computer center time. It turns in to a collaborating project and the kids get so excited to see the finished product. This could also be used for social studies and science projects.
A colleague and I presented Glogster in our New Literatcies and Media Class. The followinf link has our findings http://hillerspires.wikispaces.com/Gloster+Page
Here is an example of a Glog created by my class on Goods, Services, Producers, and Consumers http://www.glogster.com/rausch/producers-and-consumers/g-6kvff4nlo4gmj1i77hrrla0 and http://www.glogster.com/rausch/goods-and-services/g-6kvff6hj4gcnu4cf1d0nba0
Blog
Blogs are versatile web tools that can be used for almost any subject. I have used blogs for my second graders to answer more logic-based math questions. These questions required them to articulate what they did and why to solve the problem (integrating literacy and math). I have also used a blog in my classroom to apply the literacy skills we have been learning in class to different contexts and multimedias. The blog also enhances students' abilities to communicate and support one another in a different media form. I have used this rubric to keep my students on track and get the response that I expect.
Below you will find a rubric that I used to analyze my students post as well as provide my students with guidelines and expectations for their posts.
Both kidblog and the blog feature on Weebly.com are kid-friendly and very easy to use I have found my weebly site a little easier to keep track of. Here is my classroom blog: http://msrausch.weebly.com/blog.html
For more information on student blogging for math talk (integrating math and writing) please read the research several colleagues and I did below entitled "Project-Based Inquiry on Blogging in Math"
Here is a video that I created with a colleague on blogging in math: http://vimeo.com/32481716
For more information on student blogging in literacy read the research I did below. entitled "Affects of Blogging and Twitter In the Classroom". You will also find the affects of using Twitter as an educational tool as well. in this study as well.
Twitter
Twitter is a great tool to set up for the class and have them tweet about what they are learning. By tweeting "We can" or "We learned" statements students work on articulating what they have learned in a concise manner with the limited character feature of Twitter. Further, they are using the vocabulary from lessons which helps them internalize these words and use them in other contexts more often.
In my classroom, we have a "Tweet Door" where all my students have a small strip to "post" a tweet of their own for their class to read. I choose one tweet to post on our Twitter account from the Tweet Door.
Twitter also is a great way to communicate with other classrooms. The kids love seeing what other classes are learning about and making connections with other kids their age that they may not know otherwise. Globally, you could reach out to other classrooms from around the world and communicate with them too.
Here is the link to my own class Twitter account: https://twitter.com/MsRauschsClass
Research
Researching is a critical skill that all children need to know. In today's world upon graduating high school students leave knowing 2% of what they will need to know for the rest of their lives. With that being said, it is impossible to even think that we could teach our students everything in our ever-changing world. We need to instead give our students practice and support with learning with the skills to help them learn on their own. Teachers should be moving away from drill and practice of specific skills to teaching kids how to learn information on their own. This includes how to not only use texts but also navigate the web. As "we leave school only knowing 2% of what we will need in life". (Barth, 16). We need to prepare our students how to learn on their own.
Blabberize
Blabberize is a fun tool to use for a final culminating activity for research projects. It is a way for kids to record the information that they learned and have an animal read the information on the computer. The kids enjoy posting their blabberizes and listening to their classmates. It is an alternative to class presentations.
The following are websites to help readers on beginning reading skills to comprehension strategies:
Reading Into The Book
Into the Book is a great website to practice specific reading skills. I use it a computer center where the kids work on a specific skill and earn a bookmark. They are motivated to practice such skills as summarizing, making connections, visualizing, and asking questions as they are able to collect bookmarks as they master these skills. Website: http://reading.ecb.org/
Reading AZ
Reading az is a great tool to use even if it does cost money to hold an account. The books on this website have various topics and are of all levels. I print a lot of the books for guided reading. RazKids is a program which is related to reading az and allows for students to login, listen and read along to a book on their level and take a comprehension quiz after reading.
However, I will use the projectible books for whole group lessons on my Promeathean Board. This provides my students with a shared reading experience where they can see the pictures and the text, as if they are sitting on their parents' lap. This is especially important for kids who did not have these experiences at home. The goal of using the projectible book is the 21st century version of using a big book, which was used historically for the purpose of "creating a feelin in every child that he or she is sitting on his or her parent's lap for a story". As it was Holdaway's idea that "big books can be used in the classroom to create the same kinds of positive feelings about story time that children have when they sit in their parents' laps and are read to at home".(Tracey & Morrow, 105)
Tumble Books
Tumble books is another great website to provide children with positive reading experiences. Here they can listen to a story and read along as the words are highlighted as they are read. This can be beneficial for struggling readers and students who continue to need support with fluency. the websites can provide a scaffolded experience for children who are not fluent readers can still be exposed to grade level texts in yet another way and an opportunity to practice grade level skills with higher texts.
Starfall
Starfall is a great website for early reading skills. This website features short songs and videos as well as games for letter/sound idenetification and phonics patterns. For beginning readers, students can read poetry, tongue twisters, fables, and even nonfiction stories. The website gives the choice of reading the story on their own, clicking on a word they do not know to hear the word read to them or hearing the story completely read aloud to them as the words are highlighted on the screen.
Before beginning this program, I knew the content of what I was teaching and felt like I had a good understanding ofpedagogy (how to teach). Technology, however, was something that I always "never had time for". It was something I almost saw as "fluff". I was more concerned about my students learning the content that I did not want to "waste time" on technology. That being said, I did use technology occasionally and had tried out a class blog but I did not see the true purpose of it. Soon after beginning the progra.m, I was in awe of all of the wonderful ways to meaningfully incorporate technology in to my classroom. I began to see a whole new way of teaching. I feel that over the past few years I have learned a great deal about what it means to be a 21st Century teacher and seeing the importance of preparing my students to live in a world that is very much dependent on technology. However, I have also seen my students grow. By changing the way I teach, my students have become much more independent and better able to collaborate with one another. I now feel that I am truly making progress towards that ultimate integration and understanding of content knowledge, pedagogy, and technology. Over the past two years I have not been given the answers to being a 21st century, instead been given the key to opening the door to continue learning and changing the way I teach to fit the changing world around us.
Below you will find a more in-depth description of my understanding of TPACK in "Transformation in to a 21st Century Teacher"
Wallwisher
Wallwisher is an online, interactive bulletin board that allows students to post their own comments
and answers to specific questions. I have used this during my literacy block as part of a computer/writing center where my students reflect on a specific question. I have used this to make connections or answer other questions with our class read aloud novels, as well as answering application questions about current science and social studies units. An example of a wall wisher I used http://padlet.com/wall/qigst44q52
Bubble.us
This tool allows for my students to make a bubble web. While there are many purposes
for this website, I have used it as more of a brainstorming/activating prior
knowledge activity. I like using it as a computer center, where each of my kids
can post to the same bubble map, this way all of my students have the
opportunity to read each other's bubbles and they can share their ideas even if
they do not like to share with the whole class out loud.
Here is an example of a bubble map that we made this year: https://bubbl.us/
Glogster
Glogster is a great web tool to create interactive posters for the classroom. It can include text, photos and video. I have used it several times as a class project throughout the year, where my students can add to the poster during computer center time. It turns in to a collaborating project and the kids get so excited to see the finished product. This could also be used for social studies and science projects.
A colleague and I presented Glogster in our New Literatcies and Media Class. The followinf link has our findings http://hillerspires.wikispaces.com/Gloster+Page
Here is an example of a Glog created by my class on Goods, Services, Producers, and Consumers http://www.glogster.com/rausch/producers-and-consumers/g-6kvff4nlo4gmj1i77hrrla0 and http://www.glogster.com/rausch/goods-and-services/g-6kvff6hj4gcnu4cf1d0nba0
Blog
Blogs are versatile web tools that can be used for almost any subject. I have used blogs for my second graders to answer more logic-based math questions. These questions required them to articulate what they did and why to solve the problem (integrating literacy and math). I have also used a blog in my classroom to apply the literacy skills we have been learning in class to different contexts and multimedias. The blog also enhances students' abilities to communicate and support one another in a different media form. I have used this rubric to keep my students on track and get the response that I expect.
Below you will find a rubric that I used to analyze my students post as well as provide my students with guidelines and expectations for their posts.
Both kidblog and the blog feature on Weebly.com are kid-friendly and very easy to use I have found my weebly site a little easier to keep track of. Here is my classroom blog: http://msrausch.weebly.com/blog.html
For more information on student blogging for math talk (integrating math and writing) please read the research several colleagues and I did below entitled "Project-Based Inquiry on Blogging in Math"
Here is a video that I created with a colleague on blogging in math: http://vimeo.com/32481716
For more information on student blogging in literacy read the research I did below. entitled "Affects of Blogging and Twitter In the Classroom". You will also find the affects of using Twitter as an educational tool as well. in this study as well.
Twitter is a great tool to set up for the class and have them tweet about what they are learning. By tweeting "We can" or "We learned" statements students work on articulating what they have learned in a concise manner with the limited character feature of Twitter. Further, they are using the vocabulary from lessons which helps them internalize these words and use them in other contexts more often.
In my classroom, we have a "Tweet Door" where all my students have a small strip to "post" a tweet of their own for their class to read. I choose one tweet to post on our Twitter account from the Tweet Door.
Twitter also is a great way to communicate with other classrooms. The kids love seeing what other classes are learning about and making connections with other kids their age that they may not know otherwise. Globally, you could reach out to other classrooms from around the world and communicate with them too.
Here is the link to my own class Twitter account: https://twitter.com/MsRauschsClass
Research
Researching is a critical skill that all children need to know. In today's world upon graduating high school students leave knowing 2% of what they will need to know for the rest of their lives. With that being said, it is impossible to even think that we could teach our students everything in our ever-changing world. We need to instead give our students practice and support with learning with the skills to help them learn on their own. Teachers should be moving away from drill and practice of specific skills to teaching kids how to learn information on their own. This includes how to not only use texts but also navigate the web. As "we leave school only knowing 2% of what we will need in life". (Barth, 16). We need to prepare our students how to learn on their own.
Blabberize
Blabberize is a fun tool to use for a final culminating activity for research projects. It is a way for kids to record the information that they learned and have an animal read the information on the computer. The kids enjoy posting their blabberizes and listening to their classmates. It is an alternative to class presentations.
The following are websites to help readers on beginning reading skills to comprehension strategies:
Reading Into The Book
Into the Book is a great website to practice specific reading skills. I use it a computer center where the kids work on a specific skill and earn a bookmark. They are motivated to practice such skills as summarizing, making connections, visualizing, and asking questions as they are able to collect bookmarks as they master these skills. Website: http://reading.ecb.org/
Reading AZ
Reading az is a great tool to use even if it does cost money to hold an account. The books on this website have various topics and are of all levels. I print a lot of the books for guided reading. RazKids is a program which is related to reading az and allows for students to login, listen and read along to a book on their level and take a comprehension quiz after reading.
However, I will use the projectible books for whole group lessons on my Promeathean Board. This provides my students with a shared reading experience where they can see the pictures and the text, as if they are sitting on their parents' lap. This is especially important for kids who did not have these experiences at home. The goal of using the projectible book is the 21st century version of using a big book, which was used historically for the purpose of "creating a feelin in every child that he or she is sitting on his or her parent's lap for a story". As it was Holdaway's idea that "big books can be used in the classroom to create the same kinds of positive feelings about story time that children have when they sit in their parents' laps and are read to at home".(Tracey & Morrow, 105)
Tumble Books
Tumble books is another great website to provide children with positive reading experiences. Here they can listen to a story and read along as the words are highlighted as they are read. This can be beneficial for struggling readers and students who continue to need support with fluency. the websites can provide a scaffolded experience for children who are not fluent readers can still be exposed to grade level texts in yet another way and an opportunity to practice grade level skills with higher texts.
Starfall
Starfall is a great website for early reading skills. This website features short songs and videos as well as games for letter/sound idenetification and phonics patterns. For beginning readers, students can read poetry, tongue twisters, fables, and even nonfiction stories. The website gives the choice of reading the story on their own, clicking on a word they do not know to hear the word read to them or hearing the story completely read aloud to them as the words are highlighted on the screen.
transformation_in_to_a_21st_century_teacher.doc | |
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project-based_inquiry_on_blogging_in_math.doc | |
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affects_of_blogging_and_twitter_in_the_classroom.pdf | |
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