Evaluation for the First Semester Thus Far

     So far this semester has been a trivial time of adapting lessons to meet Common Core/Essential Standards demands, while also making engaging lessons for students using technology in a way that lets them learn twenty-first century skills (technological ones as well as social) and lets them delve deeper into the curriculum.  

 

     World History is an intense class already - we cover over 6,000 years of history in one semester.  So I need a way to cover the main points, themes, and concepts while also not staying in one section for too long.  Here are some of the things I've done with my students that have been successful and some that haven't been AS successful as they could have been.

- Webquests - my standard go to at the moment, almost every unit I teach has students going and completing a webquest on the iPads.  This really allows me to have students go research and delve into specific topics, while not spending hours on it at the front of the room in straight lecture.

- Quizlet  - Students who have not been studying well have seen drastic improvements using the Quizlet app on the iPads (please note Quizlet is a Web 2.0 application on a website and the app came later).  Students can access Quizlet not only on their computer at home, or the iPads in the classroom, but on their smart phones as well.  Students have seen fluctuations as big as 30's turning into 100's using Quizlet.

- Fodey.com - I did a previous post about Fodey.com; Fodey.com is another web-based application that does not use Flash so it is perfect for the iPads.  It allows students to create secondary resources for an event, that look like an actual newspaper, and provide not only an activity where they need to research, develop, and create their story to be historically accurate, but it gives them a finished product that looks quite marvy.

- iMovie - I must say my students love iMovie.  We have done two major projects with iMovie.  The first was Greek Gods and Goddesses.  Students had to create an iMovie trailer that showed their God/Goddess without actually saying the name of their God or Goddess.  The videos were then used as a review in class the day before the Gods and Goddesses quiz.  The second and most recent was the Enlightenment Interview making an iMovie Project in which one member was the host of the news program, one was the camera person and the third was the person the group was assigned.  Students then had to conduct an interview about the person's life from childhood to adulthood as well as why they were famous.  This one in the future is going to have a different set up.  They are going to have a generalized fill-in for the interview and storyboarding for their camera shots.  The videos ended up coming in with highly diverse levels of performance.  So it will be edited before next semester.

- Keynote - Keynote (iMovie and Keynote were two apps that I purchased this semester) is like Power Point in certain regards and nothing like Power Point in others.  Students who watched the tutorial were more at ease with the transition into Keynote than those who just jumped in trying to work on their presentations.  We have done Keynote Presentations on World Religions and Renaissance people.  So far I have been impressed with their outcomes.  

     Some random things, students can easily get frustrated in using the iPads when a program isn't immediately working.  If it isn't working just close the program completely and reopen it and 9 times out of 10 it is working again.   When students are doing collaboration projects I have them fill out evaluation forms that simply state... "I Did" with lines available to fill in and "My Group Mates Did" with lines available and students are supposed to write about each member of the group independently.  I don't allow them to talk or exchange papers during the evaluation to see what each person wrote down and see if they match.  If a student didn't participate to the full extent of other group members they do not get the same grade as everyone else.

So far I would say that overall I'm quite happy with where I am thus far and look forward to coming up with more ideas and finding more apps that assist my students in learning more about World History (and hopefully next semester more African American Studies projects as well!).

Fodey.com... I'm in LOVE

     While perusing my usual PLN locations, I had answered someone's post about things I do in my classroom to make innovative lessons.  The next person that posted truly sent an EXCELLENT Web 2.0 application.  Fodey.com allows you to create  newspaper article clippings about events/themes/etc. and make it look realistic!  It only does the one little corner of an article and if your title is too long for your article is will cut it off.  However, it will include anything you typed into the article.  

     My African American Studies class used fodey.com to create Newspaper Articles for the different events in the Scottsboro Boys cases.  We had articles covering from their initial arrest to their initial court case to their retrials and finally the government stepping in to release the boys.

     My World History class will be using fodey.com for World War II and creating articles for main events during World War II which will be upload into a Google Doc to put them all chronologically.  

     This application is quick and easy.  Students can change the name of the Newspaper, the date, the name of the article, and then write the article itself.  Once they are done they click "Generate" and voila they have their article appear at the top of the screen.  They can save it (it is a picture file) by downloading it and then they can either send you the file they sent or they can upload them to google docs and create a newspaper clipping timeline.   

Google Translate... Saves the Day

     Google Translate is not always faithful in its translations of foreign languages, but did you know that it reads English really well?  I have been using Google Translate for my read aloud students who only occasionally want certain words read to them.  Rather than them having to go ask an adult in the library or in another classroom I arm them with an iPad that is restricted from Safari and other programs that might be used to help cheat and allow them to type in what they want read and then they hit the speaker and it reads the words to them.  They no longer need to feel self-conscious about asking, because they don't need to ask anyone, so at least my students, have been more likely to use the program.
   
    Google Translate also came in handy when I was sick with a sinus infection.  My sinus infections come quickly and out of no where.  I went from being completely fine to not having a voice in less than twelve hours.  I had an important meeting on the day I lost my voice though (one I had been attempting to set up for WEEKS) and was not about to miss my parent conference because I had no voice.  Google Translate allowed me to talk to my students during the day without talking, as well as communicating with the parent without saying a word.  It truly saved the day!  Google Translate helps in multiple areas, not just translating :) 

Greek Gods and Goddesses

Idea: Using the iPad iMovie (4.99 in app store) to create depictions of the Greek Gods and Goddesses

Goal: Apply the notes on Greek and Roman Gods and Goddesses

Student Need To: Portray the God or Goddess they were assigned without using their name at ANY point in the Movie Trailer

Students Were Graded On: Title of their Movie, Theme they chose to represent their god or goddess (i.e. Hades = Scary, Dionysus = Retro; Aphrodite = Romance), Acting, Subtitles, Costume, and then Overall Depiction of the God or Goddess being shown

   The project took 45 minutes for each group for three days to be working on them.  On the fourth day we spent time watching all of the videos in class, talking about the god or goddess they were portraying and then who they were in the Roman context versus the Greek.  This was not only an great student centered project, but it had students applying the knowledge of the gods and goddesses they learned in class and then also served as a review for them the day before the quiz.

Speed Grouping

       With the use of iPads in my classroom I need multiple ways to combine students into groups that isn't just about my choosing/pairings.  Don't get me wrong, they are going to be paired by my choice as well, but for the days when I don't mind if they work with someone they know, I needed a way to pair them.  I only have five iPads in my room (which I'm UBER excited about), but I need to pair three students on an iPad (or computer in the back of my room (I only have one)) and rotate half way through my class to pull off my technology assignments at the same time as my typical, but shortened, lesson.
     We dedicated half of one day to learning about each of our classmates in what I'm now referring to as Speed Grouping (Group Shuffle or Group Interviews were thrown out as potential names).  The topic was introduced as similar to speed dating, but without the romance.  My largest class (37) had the least amount of time with 30 seconds to woo their classmates into choosing them.  They then had 30 seconds to make notes, which included the person's first name, last name, a fact they learned about them, and a rating from 1-10 (the ratings are between the student and I and the other student was NOT to be told their rating at any point and time).  After the buzzer went off, for time being up, "Switch" was called and the people on the left columns rotated themselves to the next seat over.  The classes with less students had about a minute to do their part of the 'why I would make a great group mate'.
     This was going GREAT, until during one period I was called into the hallway to be asked about emergency resources for a student.  I found that when I left the room, some how the transition from one column to the other was somehow switched and it no longer worked.  When all was said and done students then chose five people they MOST wanted to work with (typically their rated 9-10) and I did my best to accommodate those wishes.  I did threaten that if they filled in their top Five before giving everyone a fair chance that they would get no one on their list.  I also pointed out that it shouldn't be a popularity contest because just because your best friend is your best friend, does not mean that they are necessarily going to be the best group mate for you.  For my groupings, they will be paired by previous Social Studies Grades, Reading Scores/Levels, and Interests.

Speed Group Sheet had the following:

My Name: ____________________________ Class/Period: _______________________

My Top Five: ____________________________________________________________
                     ____________________________________________________________
                     ____________________________________________________________
                     ____________________________________________________________
                     ____________________________________________________________

1.


2.


3.


4.

.... continue for the number of students

I did mine front and back and half sheets so I have two rating sheets per sheet of paper.

Thanks for Reading!  :)

ISTE Standards v. My School

Overall, I feel that my school is probably pretty fair in regards to meeting the ISTE standards and its current steps towards increasing our standings in those standards.  On average, I would say that we are "initiating" or "approaching" in most categories, but that we do have some "meets" going on as well.  Rather than going into specifics I'll lightly touch on what we are currently doing in the school to meet the ISTE standards and leave it at that.


1. Shared Vision - we do very well at communicating, whether through e-mails, staff development, or committees (we have SIT Team, Committees and PLCs all going on).  The overall concept is of progressing towards more educational technology for Student Centered/Project based learning.


2. Empowered Leaders - We have those!!!


3. Implementation Planning - we do implement our School Improvement Plan, as well as topics that we receive Professional Development on.


4. Consistent and Adequate Funding - we have made attempts to get more technology in the classroom.  When the budget has been available the technology has come; when the technology hasn't been available it has waited.


5. Equitable Access - Our technology at the moment is more first come first serve, which does work to some extent in regards to the teachers who want to use it just have to budget their time in order to get the access.  You might not get it on the day you want it, but as long as you wait a day or two it would be helpful.


6. Skilled Personnel - We have this too!


7. Ongoing Professional Learning - we have this available for all teachers that are wanting to use it.  Whether it is through the teaching and learning conference in the summer or Professional Development during planning periods during the School year; it is always going on and available for students to attend.


8. Technical Support - our TSS person as well as our Sys-Op are both wonderful!!! We can also help each other out should it be a quick issue that needs fast trouble shooting.


9. Curriculum Framework - Our standards do associate with digital age learning and work;  we try to tie in our lessons with life skills or current issues going on in the world and why we would need (Relevance)


10. Student-Centered Learning - I think this is one of the categories in which we are still progressing.  We have days that that we are really on top of this category and then days that maybe not as much.  But just like students are their to learn, teachers are life long learners so there's always room for more development and improvement


11. Assessment and Evaluation - We currently have common assessments going on whether it is by unit or benchmark.  I think there is still room for improvement in regards to generating the data and compiling that for further evaluation.


12. Engaged Communities - This is probably one is which we can improve further.  We do get community involvement in regards to many things (sports, organizations, etc.).  I don't know that we have a lot of community engagement about technology, but again we are a work in continuous process.


13. Support Policies - We do set up what are expectations are and hold teachers, parents, students, etc. accountable to those expectations. 


14. Supportive External Context - We do have some external context going on in our school, for some our PLN's are probably developing further than others, but it will be like a chain system where we are all linked together so after one goes the rest may slowly follow, but there will be some influence in following.


We are good and well on our way!

This Day in History for the iPad

Well it's over I may be in love for Bell Ringers or closings... There is an App for the iPad that is "This Day in History"  I happened upon it because another teacher had posted that it was an app worth checking out and even though I might not have people reading this blog quite yet, if you are a Social Studies teacher it might be worth your while.  First, you can look ahead in days so if you wanted to create a Bell Ringer Question(s) and then let each group look at a different person and write a blurp on them and then share; at the moment I think that's a good idea.  If you disagree or have another, please share!  It is a free app as well which makes it ever better.


Other apps I'm currently deciding on:


- Smithsonian App - lets you watch videos (compare to United Streaming/Discovery)


- Mindomo - at the moment I'm liking the free aspect and it has seemed relatively easy to use (spent about ten minutes making a quick Web Diagram of leaders of the Civil Rights Movement) - I haven't figured out how to change colors, etc. yet.... give me time I will learn


- Yahoo Market Dash - I must admit I downloaded it because of another blog, but haven't opened it yet and might not open it at the moment - I'm thinking it will be good for Economics or for the Great Depression for U.S. History


- Ink flow - I like that you can grab, change the size, and move parts of your text to other areas, not in love with my writing in the program though; also in order to have multiple colors you have to pay for it, but for writing quick ideas down (brainstorming) for my students for a project I'm not opposed completely


K That's all for now... Thanks for reading

Pinnacle Day One

Greetings Ya'll!  This is my new blog :) In this blog I'm going to be posting various things that I am learning through my experiences.  So to introduce myself I did a Prezi (because I LOVE Prezi - think power point that can zoom about), but my fellow people were using other applications.  


So here is a little of marvy-ness that I have already learned about and am going to post:

• Dropbox - Definitively going to be looking into this - I think it might be similar to drop.io which disappeared, but don't quote me and look back later and I'll let you know
• Blogger - Just created mine :)
• Animoto - Very intriguing for a presentation and going to be playing with it later when I have time
• Glogster - Marvy type of pin board set up where you can post things

Well that's all for now I have more to do for my assignment, but this is my official first post YAY!!!