Tech Task #3 - Connecting through ETMOOC Webinar

The last portion of Tech Task #3 is to attend a webinar or twitter chat. I decided to attend an ETMOOC webinar, but failed horribly at it the first few times! I had some problems with the time differences and I actually wasn't able to attend a live one, so I found that they archive the webinar, so I watched it pretty well just after the session was over. 

I tuned into Student Blogging: Getting the most out of blogging with your students by @suewaters. I am glad I tuned into this sessions because it was one that I feel interested me the most! 

She began by speaking about edublogs.org. It is basically a blog hosting site where you can create blogs for your classroom and students. Here is her website, TheEduBlogger, where she talks about Educational Blogging and resources. A great website to subscribe to! 

She talked about getting the students  blogs set up when they are ready to have blog opposed to just throwing them into it. You also need to set up a scaffolding for them to become independent learners with their blogs. There also needs to be family involvement, creating connections with the rest of the world and connected to the curriculum. 

Sue went on to talk about Digital Footprints and talked about never using full names of students (which is important) and also to educate the family on it so that they are able to understand. Someone in the chat posted this video and gets you thinking about where your Digital Footprint comes from.



The session goes on with lots more wonderful information about student blogging, so I don't want to give it all away, but I encourage you all to watch the session yourself, especially if you are wanting to set up student blogs. Here is where you can watch it: T1S7 - Blogging with Students. You can also check out other sessions that have been recorded where there are also really good discussions. 

I enjoy the ETMOOC sessions as it gives me the opportunity to learn so much from others while sitting at home on the couch. They discuss many great topics that are important to educators. 

Tech Task #3 - Connecting through Blogs

This section of Tech Task #3 is to find three new educator blogs to subscribe to. My Google Reader has long been filled with wonderful educators who update their blogs regularly with content and updates from inside their classrooms. Some blogs that I am currently following enjoy are:

A Teacher's Plan
Fun in First
PS22 Chorus
The Teacher Wife
Rockin' Teacher Materials
Tales of a Teacherista
Stellar Students
Oceans of First Grade Fun
Lesson Plan SOS

If you are in Early Childhood Education, I would highly recommend adding these to you Google Reader subscriptions. 

I chose to follow three blogs that offered regular posting and are related to technology in Education, so here they are:

Cool Tools for 21st Century Learners - I like this blog because it has SO many different technology tools for teachers. It is filled with many gadgets I've never seen before and tells how you may be able to implement them into your classroom. 

Free Technology for Teachers - I really enjoy this blog, especially the page "Free Downloads." This page alone as so many great resources to use in the classroom. I quite liked the "Google Earth Across the Curriculum" article that they had as it got me thinking on so many ways to use Google Earth in different ways! So exciting!!

Ask A Tech Teacher -  I thought this blog would be a good one to subscribe to.  It has lists of great apps, websites, blogs, and resources for teachers. I found that this blog will be really helpful when I am out in the classrooms. 

Tech Task #3 - Connecting on Twitter

For Tech Task #3, one of the components is to follow 5-10 new people on Twitter. I decided to follow more educators and teacher communities. Here is the list of the most recent people I have decided to follow and why.

@SmartEdServices  This account tweets teacher tips, resources, and tricks to use in the classroom. They also link to their website where you can find teacher resources and other helpful links. 

@ecce1 I wanted to follow Barb Mathieson as she has some good tweets and participates in Educational twitter chats. I also like that she is passionate about ECE and Technology.

@KarenNemethEdM Karen Nemeth has a passion for technology and  early childhood education as well as dual language learners. She also participates in a #ECETechChat which I think would be a little controversial but interesting. 

@mpowers3 I followed Margaret Powers as I enjoyed scrolling through her tweets. She helps teachers integrate technology into their classrooms and also participates in different ECE and technology twitter chats.

@astrang I enjoyed reading Anita Strang's tweets as well as her blog. She is a Canadian Elementary Special Education teacher who uses Ed Tech to differentiate. She shares some great thoughts and links.

@TWRCtankcom I followed Julie Niles Petersen because she has many good tweets and posts great, helpful links. She also has a wonderful blog dedicated to teaching reading with helpful resources.

@cubeforteachers Cube for Teachers tweets K-12 classroom resources that are free! They also tweet some interesting articles for teachers. 

Why I like Google Forms

After using Google Forms to create a survey and collect responses, I have found this tool to be very useful. I am thought of many ways that I would be able to successfully use it in the classroom. 

Why I like it
-Free
-Easy to use
-Quick results
-No need to 'Log In'
-It can be anonymous
-You can ask varrying questions in different formats (multiple choice, text, scale, etc..)
-Results are collected into an easy to follow spreadsheet
-Results are automatically transferred into results
-You can embed the survey or send it through email

How would I use this in the classroom
There are SO many different ways that Google Forms can be used in the classroom. Here are some that I think I would find useful and would be able to use.

-Pose questions to parents on classroom blog or school websites. It could be to get feedback on an event like Open House. This is a quick and simple way to ask parents what they liked, what would they change for next year, etc.. or you could have parents fill out information on your classroom blog as to if they would like to be a parent volunteer, what days, etc..

-Collecting data anonymously during staff meetings.

-Exit Slips. Before leaving class, students can fill out what they have learned or respond to a posed question.

-Letting students make decisions for example, which book would they like to read for a novel study, or where would they be interested in going on a field trip, etc.

-Answering questions. No need for paper and pencil, students can type their responses to question through a Google Form!

-Getting to know students or what they did over Christmas break.

-Peer assessments.

The list goes on and on. I can for sure see myself using Google Forms in my future classroom. Its a great way to collaborate, gather information, and assess students. I am amazing at how many different ways you can actually use this wonderful tool! I can see myself using it, even with young students!  

Check out more super awesome ways to use Google Forms in the classroom:
85 Interesting Ways to use Google Forms in the Classroom 
80+ Google Forms for the Classroom

Google Form Results

The Google form I created was about YouTube and how we use it in our lives. A fun fact for you all is that YouTube is the second largest search engine next to Google. That right there is fascinating! With my form, I wanted to understand how and why we use YouTube.

Here are the Results from 18 people:

Do you have a YouTube account? 

On average, how many YouTube videos do you watch in a day?

These results are pretty well what I expected with 1-5 videos being the majority.

What type of videos do you watch on YouTube?

How many subscriptions to other channels do you have?

 

I am very surprised with these results. I thought more people would be subscribers to channels but it looks like the majority do not subscribe to any at all! 

Why do you like YouTube?

It's a great tool to use in the classroom to help teach a lesson or show a video :)

There are tons of videos for personal use, educational use almost everything you can imagine is on you tube!

 Honestly, I like watching music videos and getting to know lyrics from songs. I also enjoy searching "How To" videos.

Lots of great communities!

The connectivity, the chance to put something out in the cyber space of youtube and have other connect with it.

I like that you can literally find out how to do anything.. it should be called the How To Tube. Also, it provides so many valuable resources not only in my personal life but also in the classroom. I find students love doing anything that relates to YouTube and like I said you can find almost anything relating to teaching.

Using it in the classroom

How easy and quick it is to find a fun video to share with students so they can understand a concept.

There is something for everything. No matter what type of video I want to watch it is there.

I like that it is essentially a visual representation of the wide variety of information that is available on the Internet.

It has a really user friendly search format and it has so much content! 

 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewanalytics?formkey=dDlQZWxxNk8xcF9GUHJmcVBESWpCMVE6MQ

How to Make a Blog Header

Hi everyone!
I decided to make a video tutorial on how to customize your blog by adding a custom made header! I will take you though how to make one using photoshop and paint and how to upload to your blog! This is for blogger users but can benefit anyone who has a blog!

I made this video using Screenr and since they only let you record for 5 minutes at a time, I had to edit it all together. Somewhere along the way the video got all squished but I'm positive it will help you anyway! 

Let me know if this video helped you out!! 

Tech Task #2 - Google Forms

YouTube is probably on my list somewhere of the things I cannot live without! Watching YouTube has become part of my daily routine. I conducted this survey to find out how other use YouTube as I am interested in seeing the results!

Thanks for filling out my survey! 

Teaching Teachers

I had a great internship experience, I truly couldn't have asked for anything better. One thing that I especially enjoyed doing besides teaching the students in the K/1/2 classroom, but also teaching the teachers!

My internship was in a small school so it was very easy to communicate with everyone in the school. It really was like we were a family. When someone has a good idea, they share with everyone and they are constantly using each other to continue learning. Something I brought to our small staff was knowledge of technology and finding teacher resources across the web. For me, technology seems to come pretty natural, although there is more there for me to learn. And, of course, many of us know how to go online and search for teacher resources and classroom materials. 

There were two teachers in our end of the school. The K/1/2 teacher (my co-op) and the 3/4/5 teacher both who have many years of teaching experience behind them and both who are wonderful teachers. They were both talking to me one afternoon near the beginning of the school year and said, "I don't know how they expect first year teachers to buy all the resource books we have, that's not fair!" Which is true, but I questioned, "What resource books?" They opened their combined cabinet filled to the brim of workbooks with reproducible pages and lessons. This is where their learning began! 

I asked them if they have ever heard of Pinterest or TeachersPayTeachers. They looked confused, so as I lead them to the nearest computer talking about what the internet and technology has to offer. It was funny because one of them said, "Nope, I know where this is going. I'll be lucky enough if I can open my email each morning." 

So I went on to show them the two sites I had talked about and taught them how easy it is to use the internet for finding different resources. They agreed that it was much easier then having to go to the Teacher Store to grab the same type of resources. I continued to show them something new each week, and by Decemeber, they were using it pretty well, and liking it!! My co-op teacher and I actually came with the SAME lesson we had found on Pinterest and pinned to our Christmas Pinboard! 

I was really glad that I had the opportunity to teach other teachers about what I know of technology and how I can find it useful for teachers. 

Here are some sites I enjoyed throughout my internship:

Pinterest: Well, Pinterest is my all time favourite website. I'm nearing 3,000 pins and I use it all the time! If you aren't familiar with Pinterest, it's about time you get acquainted! It's your one stop shop for storing and sharing things you love! I love finding delicious recipes, DIY projects, crafts, tutorials, fonts, and obviously teacher resources. You name it, Pinterest has it. What I also like is that I can post my own things to Pinterest that I have made and get to be able to share with the world! Out of my 52 pinboards, 20 are dedicated for teaching purposed, organized by subject area and sometimes grade level. It is a great tool for teachers for sure to collaborate and share ideas and materials online. 

TeachersPayTeachers: This is a great website for teacher collaboration. It allows you to buy, sell, and share original teaching ideas. The site is not only for buying, there are MILLIONS of freebies out there for you to use as well. Any subject, any grade level, I bet there is something you are looking for. I joined as a seller a while ago because when I make something, it needs to be ultra cute, so I thought that it is also a great outlet for people like me who are wanting to share their work! The site is really user friendly and I all around love it because you don't have to go to the Teacher Store to buy something, it's right at your fingertips, the priced items are reasonably priced, AND your supporting other teachers as well! 

Education.com: This is a great site if you are looking for free, printable booklets or work pages for addition practice in areas like math and language arts.

I used many other great teacher made blogs to find some helpful ideas while I was planning as well. Its important to remember that pretty much everything you need is out there, so there's no need recreating it.

I'd like to know in the comments of any other sites that you find particularly helpful when planning!!

Kaitlyn :)

PS: Let me know if you would like a video tutorial on how to create a personalized banner (similar to mine above) for your blog. I'd like to play around with Screenr and would make one if there's interest :)

Tech Task #1

Hey Everyone! It's been fun watching everyone's first Tech Task and getting to know you all a little bit more! Here is mine! 

ECMP 355

Hello fellow ECMP 355 students and welcome to my blog! I've had this blog for a while, but removed many of my old pointless posts. I am excited to be in this ECMP355 class with all of you so we can learn more about technology together! 

I have an About Me button above so you are able to find out who I am. I've made a custom design for the banner on my blog which highlights many exciting things in my life! I made the banner using Photoshop CS2 which I've enjoyed using over the years! 

On my side bar, I've added a Twitter feed, a link to my TeachersPayTeachers store, and a list of the ECMP355 blogs I follow. This is the first time I've used Twitter for a class, but I also enjoy using Twitter to connect with friends and follow people and accounts that intrigue me. I enjoy the site TeachersPayTeachers and I thought I would enjoy making things for others to use as well! So you are welcome to check that out if you'd like. I thought adding a blog list for ECMP355 would help people in this class to be directed to others' blogs easier.