Tool #9

It is important to tie the technology to the objective because there aren't enough hours in the day to add another content area.  Therefore, we must tie the technology to the learning objective.  Of course, using technology will be a great way to motivate and engage all learners.  They love it!

We should hold students accountable for the stations because we need to assess and evaluate their understanding, and make necessary revisions.  It is about meeting the individual needs of all students.  The only way to ensure that is to hold them accountable.  Students take the tasks more seriously if there is an accountability piece already in place.

Tutpup and Study Ladder could both easily be utilized in a station.  I know the kids would love playing against other kids from many different places.  Study Ladder lets you set up classes and create assignments.  I love that aspect for meeting the different needs / levels of my students.  TesiBoard lets you use the ActivBoard as a station, and the kids love using it.  In the beginning, I would have the students do a written reflection about their station, however, we would eventually move toward using Google Docs for their reflections.

There are so many great apps!  I liked the Grammar Jammers Primary and the Dictionary apps.  It takes two things that are usually boring for kids and makes it more fun! Yahoo!!!  Discussions and written responses will hold them accountable.

I would also love to use the iPad / iTouch with our learning buddies.  I know the kids would get a great kick out of that!

Tool #11

I think 11 may be my new favorite number.  It has not been easy to get here.  When you spend a large portion of your summer in places that either do not have internet or a connection on your air card that is the slowest ever, it makes life interesting and very slow and frustrating.  However, I am almost there.  Yahoo!!!  I might even finish before the last day of 11 Tools!  I know....shocker!!!

I really liked the capability of Google Docs to let groups collaborate together on the same piece of writing.  My kids loved making stories together last year, and I am hoping my new group will too.  I am sure that I could pair up with another class and let them work together.  That would be so cool! I will continue to use Wordle and use it even more.  I think it would be a great closure for a lesson or the day to just create one together about what we learned.

My thinking has transformed by beginning to think beyond my four walls of my classroom.  I want to collaborate with other teachers and have my students collaborate with other students too. I am used to seeing my students in small groups working, but now they will be working with each other on a variety of computer projects. We will be embracing even more technology this year, and I can't wait to see the outcomes that we will achieve.

One unexpected outcome for me is that I am excited about learning more with Atomic Learning.  On some of the tools, I want to go back and play even more.  I enjoyed reading other blogs, and learning from others through their blogs.  I think my students will get a kick out of their teacher was in summer school, too.

Tool # 6

I loved Wall Wisher.  It is so user friendly. This would be a great thing to use with small groups with a net book at their tables.  You could have group directions posted for them.  In math stations, each  group could post a sticky note about their station. Here is mine about summer.

<iframe src="http://www.wallwisher.com/embed/fHzWHzmbgg" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="400px" style="border: 1px solid #999999"></iframe>

I will be using Blogger with my parents this year.  It should be a great resource of  information for them.

I watched the tutorial video on Diigo on YouTube, and I signed up for an account. I also applied for an educator account.  I look forward to using that site to collaborate with other teachers and my students.  I can bookmark sites that I want students to use for research or skill practice.  You can add tags for topics.  You can highlight parts of text and make notes.

Technology motivates kids, and I know they will love using it.  It encourages participation anytime you use it.  Sometimes it is to get help from another user, work together on a project, or read other responses.  Today's Meet requires participation, and yet, the kids will think it is fun!  I can't wait to get started!

Tool #10

Just like you keep children safe on the playground, and go over rules and expectations, digital safety is a must in every classroom.  I love Brain Pop so I will use the Digital Safety movie to help my students learn.  I think it is important that they learn to keep all passwords and personal information private, be kind to others, and not to post anything that they don't want the whole world to read or see.  I also liked the Cyber Safe THINK reminder.  Digital Citizenship could also be tied to our other citizenship lessons as we discuss the many places and ways we practice good citizenship.  As far as parents go, I  would make this a topic at Open House and also include some information in my blog or newsletters for parents.

Tool #8

After watching the videos/tutorials, I learned that my netbook has a microphone port, projector connection port, a webcam, and a SD card reader.  Yahoo.  We used netbooks last year for reseach in the library, and my students loved them.  In my classroom, they can be used in small groups with one per group.  They will also be utilized for work stations.  Each I -Touch will need a name.  I will have to make that easy to remember.  There are many apps for the kids to use.  Last year my kids loved the facts practice one that gave them a minute.  I know that app helped them to improve on the Facts Tests.  There are lots of fun apps to be utilized during work stations.  Rules and expectations for use will have to be explained and practiced in the beginning.  Student managers will be in charge of getting them out each day and putting them back.  We will also have a couple of student experts to help trouble shoot as needed.  I know I will notice who the first two should be quickly just by observing them with the I -Touches.  I am so excited to have this new technology in the classroom.  Thank you SBISD!

Tool # 7

I think I am going to have to take a tip from Karen and set a timer.  I spent way too much time looking at all the sites that are posted, and then I went to even more links from there.  I looked at iEarn.com, GlobalSchoolNet.org, Class2class-Math Projects, EducationWorld, and Projectsbyjen.com.  I learned about key pals instead of pen pals.  I really want to utilize that next year with my cousin who teaches in Florida.  I am also interested in online expeditions.  I will do some more research with Weekend Explorer to learn more about that one.  I tried Edmodo, but I need to get a password for that one.  There were several projects that you can sign up to participate on Projects by Jen.  The Oreo Project, The Pumpkin Seed Project, and the Holiday Card Exchange Project seemed appropriate for my students.  I also got another idea for Wordles from her site.  Guess My Wordle can be used at the beginning of the year after students share to put one up and have students guess who.  You can put different facts and information about a state and have Name that State.  Well, you get the general idea.  I am really excited about using Skype in the classroom. To get my feet wet, I thought it would be fun to have a Mystery Reader skype with us.  I also love that there are some authors that will skype for free for 15 to 20 minutes.  I could also send out a survey to parents to find experts that would be willing to skype with us.  I know Karen the Magnificent has also made connections for us in this area.  Yea, Karen  at RCE!  I am also blessed to have Theresa on my team who did several skype sessions last year, and I know that she will share her expertise as well.  I would also like to do a math lesson with another class at my school in the spring tying facts and probability.  Students would first predict which sum would come up the most when rolling two dice and finding the sum.  Students would roll a certain number of times and record their sums.  We would put our results together and create a graph.  We could also skype with the class and talk about the results and our conclusions.  There are so many great things to do with technology, and I know the kids will teach me even more.

Tool #4

Google Docs can be quite a time saver for teams.  Documents can be started and shared with your team.  Each person can edit the document, too.  You can use it for creating rubrics for projects. There are many ways to use Google Docs to support communication and collaboration.  It is not always possible to meet face to face, and Google Docs can help in completing tasks together without meeting.  Directions for projects for students can be emailed to them.  That would help cut down on paper, and lost directions. Power Point projects can be saved in Google Docs for family to see.  The voting aspect can be utilized with math and making graphs.  I think the kids would really enjoy that.