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Saturday, April 16, 2011

Thing 15: Reflection-taking it all in...

Okay Junkies, take a moment and reflect on the tools shared so far during week 6.  Post a 2-3 sentence reflection here as a comment.  Feel free to respond to others.

27 comments:

Nancy Keck said...

I love the way Edmodo can be used to sort of pull the other things all together. We have students who are really loving to post their voki and glogs. Now, I have learned about wallwisher and can post that up on Edmodo. This is a great tool for use within the classroom, withing the school and in collaboration with other schools and professionals.

Amy Miller said...

My students love to communicate with each other and me through Edmodo. They have become pros at posting Avatars and comics along with pictures on our class blog and now they can do the same with Edmodo. We have joined Nancy Kecks Science Verde group on Edmodo which has given us many ideas from her students on how to use Avatars in science. It is wonderful that my students can now collaborate with other students from a different school.

Sharon V said...

With all these tools available, I can't imagine any student who wouldn't want to be engaged. When we get more equipment into the classrooms, then we will be able to let all students demonstrate what they know in a variety of ways. Not having a classroom keeps me from jumping right in a creating lessons and projects for students to use.

Unknown said...

Many of the tools here I have seen before, and some I have used with my classes. I am now seeing how much deeper I could go with these tools and will work with other teachers to determine good matches of tools to curriculum so that all of the students at my school have access. I am predicting a very busy school year!

Meredith Gilbert said...

There are so many tools available! I am trying to figure out how I can get more equipment in my classroom so students will have more access to the tools. I am so excited for the school year to start and incorporate everything I have learned!!!

stageforlearning said...

This past school year, I was exposed to many of these technology options. We had a technology center in the classroom and also scheduled the school's computer lab twice a week. I can't wait to share some of these ideas with my summer school students and fellow teachers. My students will most certainly be engaged!!

Mrs. Stewart said...

Schedule time in the computer lab, media center, and advocate to your principal. There are ways to get technology to you. You have to be passionate and ready to show the value and to teach others. Make friends with your media specialist and USA. They are your main advocates. Always ASK!!!! It never hurts to ask and keep asking...many times there are unused computers at a school or you can pair up with another teacher to work out a plan. Take a poll and see who has computers at home. The kids can bring their own devices and work...why not??

christine said...

I too was introduced to all these wonderful tools this year but didn't have time to go deep on ALL of them. I picked a few and really jumped in with my kids.
Taking this course over the summer allows me the luxury of really looking at the tools and deciding the best way to use them in my class.
I don't think I can pick a favorite so far. They are all great. They are each another tool to put into my tool belt to help kids learn and create!

Anonymous said...

I have enjoyed learning about these tools and am sure a few will be new to my gifted students. The best aspects about these tools are the opportunity for creativity and expression forum. They will love collaborating and sharing.

I think I will try to plan a few after school sessions to teach the tools to the students who want to become proficient and take it deeper.

Sue said...

I have created an Edmodo account for the incoming 6th graders. I just added a wallwisher question as well. I know the students will enjoy interacting!

Time4Sail said...

I am so excited to share everything with my gifted third graders. I feel better about taking on Edmodo. I plan to experiment with adding some of the great tools such as the Wallwisher which I hope to use as a great place to post thoughts for literature circles. I am also looking for a way to find the resources for more computers. I have concerns about students bringing in their own computers...who would be liable if they are broken or lost? I do think a "Technology Survey" would be helpful in the beginning of the year. Maybe something set up for open house on a computer? hmmm... my mind is going 90 miles an hour with the possiblities!

Cyndi said...

M students and I were excited to find and use edmodo for the last weeks of school. One additional benefit was being invited to take this course; I have learned so much and because it was the summer, I have had plenty of time to play. I am looking forward to putting some of these new tools to work.

Katy said...

The "social" in social networking says it all - kids love to be social! All of these tools harness that desire and turn it into a learning pathway.

The great thing about these tools is that they can be used from any computer - sooooooo, if your grade level, or your team, is willing to set up some kind of a schedule, your students can farm out to the different classrooms and use all of the computers available. Send a couple to the computer lab also, and you suddenly have 10 or 12 computers at a time!

Mrs. Stewart said...

Great idea Katy. A lot of our colleagues are looking for a way to gain more technology access.

It would be really neat if teachers could set up a weekly rotation schedule so students could have a block of time on the computer at least once every two weeks.

Mrs. Stewart said...

@Sue
I love love that idea! This would be great for open house as well. Would be a great way to gain parent communication and involvement. Hopefully we can start a PTA group...

Holly said...

I finally got into Edmodo! I am so excited and I've got connections now! Exploring the posssibilites of Edmodo has really opened my eyes. I can see my students getting excited about having the opportunity to use it in the classroom or anywhere, as long as they have computer access.

Late Comer said...

Wow! There are so many sites and programs out there!! I need a second computer to work on while working on the first computer just to keep up with different programs, notes, comments, and all else that is coming through these days. (switching back and forth between word and sites is too time consuming!) I think that at the end of this course, I will try to focus on becoming proficient in 5 or 6 products, and Edmodo is one. I like the ease of use, especially collaborating with other professionals. I think our students will enjoy the "social networking" facet of it, and I can control the student posts. I'll spend more time with this product, especially since it is supported by VCS. Great use for our Weekly Writing Assignments!

Mrs. Jacobsen said...

I loved Wallwisher. I am constantly writing myself notes but now I can post myself links, etc. Someone talked about a book I googled it and had the Amazon link with the note. The link reminds me of the books content. As to Edmodo- I'm trying to think along the lines of facebook so I suppose it would be a great place to post pics of class events and have the children comment on the pictures. They wouldn't have that option on a blog spot. I'm still mulling this one over.

andrews3 said...

I really enjoyed Wallwisher. It was so easy to use. I can't wait to start using it with my classes - even my kindergarten classes could use it to sequence letters, pictures, etc. I'm still getting used to Edmodo. I can't seem to figure out who is online the same time I am so that I can chat with them. That is possible, right? I have been able to locate many resources through the various communities, so that's a good thing.

mkj said...

I will have 22 students in my Spanish 2 class this year. I have 4 desktops in the classroom. I like your idea of inviting them to bring in their laptops. So, if I can get 3-4 more computers in the room, I can get them on Edmodo in pairs during the first week. I want them to respond to the Wallwisher questions I posted for them on Edmodo.

Mrs. Stewart said...

@ Andrews,
Live chat is not a feature of edmodo at this time. You can check their blog and make a suggestion to add this feature! On wikispaces you can embed a chat room.

Mrs. Stewart said...

@Jacobsen,
Your students could comment on your blog. You could just change the settings so you could moderate comments. Edmodo and a blog are very similar. The only thing different is Edmodo gives the kids a sign in name and they can join different groups.

Mary Jo said...

I'm excited to share the things I've learned so far with my team and my students. I'm fairly new to tech stuff, so I will heed the advice from the video and start small! I've already gotten lots of great info from the Edmodo groups I'm participating in and I love being able to connect with other first grade teachers in the district.

cathycity said...

I was lucky enough to have some very kind, generous teachers at my school who were in the Project Tides group. Through them I learned about Edmodo and started my own group toward the end of the year. I limited the group to third through fifth grade and named it Power of One to continue with the anti-bullying theme that I was working on throughout the year. Having this particular venue enables me to learn what the kids are thinking and to interact with them in spite of the rigid scheduling requirements that demand the time during the day. I hope to develop this further this year, and I hope to include some other tools into my Edmodo.

Michelle Deibler said...

I have always embraced technology in the classroom and I am very excited about all we have learned in the course. I'm learning more ways to use things I already knew about and learning about new ones- like wallwisher. Now I just wish (like some others have posted) that money for technology use in the classroom would catch up with what is available. I have begged and gotten 6 desktops in my classroom, but I wish I had one for every student!

Anonymous said...

Every summer I learn a little more.
These last two summers have been a real eye opener. First I went to the model school conference. Man was that fantastic. This year just reinforces what I started learning last year and I am able to go deeper into some of these web tools. It's exciting. Thanks for this workshop!

Debra said...

I'm very excited about sharing some of the sites and projects we learned about. Many of the tools we learned were easy enough that students can use to create projects to show others what they have learned.