My Podcast

Student recording of a Tale by Grimm

Twittering

I've been exploring Twitter this year and am becoming more receptive to what it can do for me.  Since my district has blocked Facebook and other social networking sites where I had planned on working with students after-hours, I can see that Twitter might be an alternative to this dilemma.  Since most students have cell phones (or micro personal PCs), they have access to Twitter.  I can see them Tweeting questions and receiving answers from peers or me while they work on the topic at hand.  I can also see using it to send out reminders for things and posing "homework" questions once they leave the school building.

I've been following several people on Twitter, including but not limited to: Ian Jukes, Kathy Schrock, Cyndi Danner Kuhn, Jeff Utech and Alec Couros.  I find it refresing to read their opinions and what they are finding out on the 'Net. 

I did a search for #biology and found some useful sites for my return to the classroom next year.  I picked up several of the tweets and am now following them.

Reflection on 23 things

This 23 Things experience has given me an opportunity to explore several new technologies and tools that I have either not heard of or been too afriad to try before.  I learned much about blogging!  I can see why some people blog.  While it isn't my thing, I have found value in doing it.  I have used Wordle and continue to use it.   Planbook.edu was a website that I found through one of the activities that I am looking at when I do blended delivery next year.  It offers the chance to have online plans, activities, and formative self-assessments for students.

I think that module has enhanced my understanding of the NETS-T.  By dividing the 23 things into groups based on the standards, I was able to see how the standards can be implemented. 

Thing 8: Reflection on a friend's post

My colleague, Jodi, blogged about a website (http://tametheweb.com/2009/02/24/twitter-in-the-classroom-2/) where a teacher is using Twitter as a major component of his classroom.


Here's my resonse: http://23thingsjodiice.blogspot.com/2011/03/thing-17-twitter.html#comments

WV Statewide Technology Conference - Brain Honey with Anne Meadows

This concurrent session on Brain Honey, a blended-delivery tool, was inspiring.  While I didn't use this particular tool, I have thought more about blended delivery and how to further use it when I return to the classroom this fall.  I'm thinking of actually doing very little, if any, lecturing in front of the students.  Instead, I want to spend my time working on labs and hands-on activities.  These labs and things will provide real data that can be analyzed and allow for conclusions to be drawn.   The idea of having the 'book content' online and available to students whenever they need it will hopefully get the students more involved and begin to take control of their own learning.

FETC Webinar/Conference

I attended a "Technology Shootout" the other day via the FETC.org website.  The session was hosted by Hall Davidson, Leslie Fisher, and John Kuglin.  They were very quickly and enthusiastically talking about their favorite, and new, tech tools.  I had seen or heard of many of these things, but some of them were quite neat.   Dropbox was covered (and I've used it!).  I was also excited about screencast-o-matic and other online screencast software.    Stratalogica is an online mapping program that combines real-world data and offers a way to give real-world data to students.   It also offers video feeds and commentary about current events via an interactive globe/map.  Desktop Connect is an app that allows your iPad to connect wirelessly through the cloud to your PC at home/work. 

These are just some of the topics covered.

Thing13, reflection

Again, I'm doing things 'my way' and out of order. Half-way through this module, I found myself in stimulus overlaod. I have already seen more things than I think i could possibly ever use in a course. However, that doesn't mean I won't try. I'm finding that the more I read about how ohters use technology the more ways I'm find to incorporate things into my own class. Since I'll be teaching Biology next year for the first time, I plan on keeping a personal blog about the journey. I'm also wanting to have students open a blog for my class where they can discuss things and turn in assignments. I read a tweet about a teacher who has the students post the link to their work via Twitter and that is something I'd like to do. If it will engage them and make them interested in learning, then I'm all for it.

Creative Commons photo

Been checking out some beach photos on Flickr. Here is one that I really like. It is shared by doug88888.
Here is the link to the photo.
Here is the link to the attribution license.

And the photo:

Skype

First of all, my Skype name is kevingoff.wv, so add me as a contact.

I have been looking at different ideas of how to use Skype in my current school. One of those is to find an author through one of the Skype with an author networks out there. There are two teachers that I've already talked about doing this with, and both seem to be pretty interested. The one problem I'm finding is that the authors they want to talk to are not part of these programs.

The Spanish teacher has been toying with this idea as well as a way to get her students speaking Spanish with native speakers. The logistics have been a problem - finding a compatible class.

Kanawha County Acceptable Use

Our Acceptable Use contract has been around for several years. Currently, it doesn't directly address Web2.0 tools, but it does so in vague legalease. I have interpreted it to be open enough that as long as a student is using their Access.k12... email address, a teacher can have them do most anything and use most any available Web2.0 tool.

Keeping track of all of these forms has been a great headache in our school. Last year, about 1/4 of the total forms were lost in a flooding incident. This wasn't realized until mid-way this year. We began using a Google Spreadsheet to organize the student names and data. It is divided by grade level and has a box for each of the spots that appear on the AUP. This allows us to sort students by many factors, such as those that can have their photo on the website, or those that can have no information at all posted online. This is an easy way to check things out - much better than sorting through 650 sheets of paper. We also have a column for their access email ID, but I have not gotten that updated yet. The teachers that need this information have access to the spreadsheet - some to view, some to edit. We currently have 100% of our students with AUPs on file and 100% of them permitted to access the Internet from home. The one holdout was a parent that didn't want his daughter on MySpace and Facebook. After it was shown to him that we block the sites, he let her have access.

What to do when a student can't have access at school and needs to research. We have several work arounds. First, if the student has a cell phone with Internet access, we allow them to use it, if they so choose (not my favorite because we then lose all control). Another, is to let that student work with another student who physically manipulates the computer (hence the non-allowed student isn't accessing it, only viewing it. The last resort is for the teacher to do the typing.


Click here to view a PDF version of our AUP via GoogleDocs.

Twitter in the classroom

When I searched Twitter.com for "biology," I found a biology teacher who used Twitter as a way to keep abreast of current research in science. That is an idea I'd like to try. This teacher went into detail about how he taught his students about Twitter and the process he used.
I am thinking of using Twitter more as a collaboration tool than anything else. When students have a question, they can post to my class' hashtag and then anyone in the class/es can answer. This is a stretch for me as I'm not a fan of Twitter. It is too much like reading a foreign language, IMHO.
I think that this idea would have a positive impact on student learning because not only will some students get questions answered, others will have to recall information and teach it to someone else.

Twiddla

Not really impressed with this website. Had a very difficult time getting others to see what I'd added to the screen. Then, when I tried to save an image of it, I was unable to get the saved file to open as an HTML plugin was required. So, I did a screenshot of it. I don't think that I'd use this at this point in my classroom because of the difficulty I've had today. One thing that I did find out, if you join the site, it works faster but still has the same problem with saving.

RSS

RSS is a way to quickly disseminate information and updates in a standardized format to recipients that want to receive the information via their email inboxes or an RSS reader.

I currently subscribe to six RSS feeds - Microsfot at Home, Microsoft at Work, MSNBC News, Popular Government Questions from USA.gov, School of Effective Teaching, and USA.gov Updates: News and Features. I use the Microsoft feeds often as a resource for the "Tech Tips" that I try to send out to the entire district every month or two. I also listen to the MP3 files that are downloaded from "Effective Teaching" about twice a month.

I started at the bottom of the list and found that many of the links were to YouTube pages, which are blocked from access. So, I returned to the top of the list and chose link 2 - Creative Teaching - to write about.

This site is full of nifty ideas for writing and topics to write about. Of course, writing is not my favorite thing to do so I'm stretching it when I say that I will use this site. I will be sharing it with the Reading/Language Arts folks so that they can look at it and check it out.

It has a large library of ideas, but I found them hard to read because of the color scheme chosen. Also, the scheme may not appeal to some male teachers. I also found it to be cluttered with too many ads and links. I am a "Keep it simple" kind of person so having all of that visual stimulation drives me nuts.

planbookedu.com

Checking out this site and finding it pretty neat. It looks like the old-fashioned plan book, which will increase the comfort level of some teachers. It also has all the capabilities that I, as a teacher, am looking for - a way to organize my files with my lessons, a way to share my plans with others, and a way to print out my plans. The share feature can be used for students who are absent and need make up work or electronic files that you have attached to your plans.

What I don't like about the site is that when you print out the plans, you get the whole week of plans, not just one day.

This is something I might share with my teachers.

Photosynthesis

I am wowed by this video. It seems to be made by high school students and is not only a high-end production but also has correct informtion and a great sound. I can see using this next year in my biology classes as a way to teach the basics of photosynthesis. This music will make learning and remembering the process and steps much easier.

Here in WV, these CSOs can be addressed in conjunction with this video. SC.O.10.2.11, SC.O.CB.2.7, and SC.O.9.2.6.

Here is the link.

Digital Age Assessments

One of my favorite lesson that I taught as a middle school teacher was the very first lab each year - our Alka-Seltzer (R) rockets. I would put two unknown substances (Alka Seltzer and water) in a film canister and let the students watch as the canister would hit the ceiling of my room. They then have to figure out what I did with a given list of ingrediants and different types of containers. This teaches the scientfic method as well as provides experiences that we touch on throughout the course. Usually, I require a written lab report. I think that the next time I do this activity, I will have the studetns blog about their progress and their ideas so that their results might be more consistent. They also can determine a way to measure the height of their canister's travel through an electronic means.

Yogajournal.com podcasts

Yoga is a great way to relieve stress. I found yogajournal through iTunes. The gentle flow yoga is a good type to have students do during lunch or as a club. It is also something that could be done as part of the PE class. Here is a link to one of the gentle yoga podcasts. http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/yj-practice-podcast-gentle/id272050214?i=64015564

My "First" Post

This the first real post in my quest of "23 Things". I'm glad that I did it out of order because my perspective has changed greatly about this assignment. I thought it wouldn't be difficult to do these 23 things because I "already know it" but man, was I wrong. After having a day in my office with no teachers on the schedule and very few interruptions, I should be relaxed and ready to go home. Instead, I'm tense and excited because I've learned something entirely new to me (Voicethread) and shown it to a teacher with positive comments and a willingness to have her students use it and post to it in class. I've played with Wordle previously and have a teacher who uses it with her students. They do character descriptions in that format. Her students make lists of words to describe a particular character, then enter them in Wordle and adjust the color schemes to reflect the mood or tone of the character. Way kewl stuff.

My youngest great-nephew

This is Hunter at his first birthday party. He is a star to me, so I made him a VIP by having his photo displayed by cards in a stadium. I did this using ImageChef and only had to select the frame and then the picture. It was simple.

Voicethread

Wordle



I used Wordle to make the word part.  After converting a screenshot into a JPG file, I used that Wordle JPG and the indian head clipart to make a new JPG file via Microsoft PowerPoint.



My Wallwisher page - leave me a note!