ABCMouse.com

I am going into teaching wanting to teach K-3, I believe that children should be as prepared as they can when they enter the education system. This website, I believe, is a great tool for kids to use before they enter school and even after. When you first start using it though you can try their 30 day free trail but, parents, if you see that it is really helping your child you can become a member. I like this site because it targets children from the ages 2-7, which is right in my area of interest. This site helps kids to learn how to start reading to  doing simple math.
The good thing about this too is that you can access it anywhere, from a computer, to a tablet, to a phone. So kids can use it while at school, at home, or while they're out with mommy and daddy. I think the thing that appeals the most to the children and their parents is that the site is very interactive and they learn through playing games, which will make them want to do learn more. I think that every child should have access to this site and use it to the best of their ability, to make them prepared for school.   

Pinterest in the classroom

Now I'm pretty sure that everybody knows what Pinterest is, if you haven't where have you been? I love Pinterest and I use it for just about anything, from trying to diy things to looking for my next hairstyle. But what i just recently found out is that Pinterest is a great tool for in the classroom. You can find ideas for your next lesson plan or even good ideas on how to set up your classroom. What I also find very interesting is that you can also find different kinds of classroom management techniques for a smooth running classroom.
Just in my last semester I had a practicum that I took part in. In that practicum I had to give a lesson plan. I had no idea where to start. After much thought I came up with my lesson but I didn't know how i wanted to teach it to my class. Then my professor told me to look at Pinterest, she helped me find some keywords to search and i found just what I wanted to do. When I taught my lesson everything went smooth and the kids had a fun time with the lesson that I came up with.  

Organizing ideas at Popplet.com

Students today eat, sleep, and live with technology, so implementing digital tools in the classroom is very crucial. This can be intimidating for teachers, new and long time teachers. Every time I come across, or hear about a website or app that can be used in an educational setting, I do my research for future use. A little while back, I was introduced to popplet.com

Popplet is an app where you can customize and interact with graphics and organize ideas. Unfortunately, popplet  is not available for android devices. The apple store has a free version called popplet lite, which only allows one popplet at a time. There is also a free version for $4.99, that allows multiple popplets at a time. There is also a website at http://popplet.com/ which is also free. This app is used to make boxes, arrows, text, different fonts, and pictures to make flow charts, character maps, etc.

Popplet is easy to use, and keeps children's attention. This app can be used by teachers in the classroom, or students of all ages in and out of the classroom. This tool can be used individually, in groups, or a class as a whole. This app can be used in lessons to make relations between items, organizing information, studying, and to help students make visual connections. In or out of the of the classroom, this app can also be used for organizing, planning, brainstorming, taking notes, and generating new ideas.

Cell Phones in School

      This is a broad view of what roll the cell phone plays in classrooms. Back when I was in middle school and high school, we never used our phones, except maybe three times from sixth grade to twelfth grade. Now, I hear my friends in high school talking about how they use their phones to take quizzes or participate in online activities. That old saying "back when I was a boy (enter phrase here)" applies for many of us 90's babies who grew up with technology and learned along the way. Now, students come into middle and high school already fluent in technology.

     Anyway to get the students involved in learning is a great idea, but is having phones for this purpose really such a good idea? It is so easy to have a students sit in the back of the class, or just far enough away from the teacher as to get away with texting a friend, going on Facebook or Instagram, or surfing the web instead of participating. Although, if you are doing an activity like Kahoot! where the teacher can monitor the number of students participating in the activity and even who is not involved at all. Of course, the teacher does need to setup some guidelines for using phones in class so they do not abuse the privilege. Maybe do the activity at the end of class so the teacher does not have to deal with phones being left out or getting the class to refocus on the lesson. No matter how the teacher sets out to accomplish these goals, it is up to the students to have the maturity to participate and not to abuse the system. If the activity is for a grade, even just participation, it gives the students more incentive to be engaged in the learning that is going on around them.

iLit helps those with reading difficulties

                      iLit is a virtual classroom reading website where kids can learn to read at their own pace. Each day they can find a book to read independently from over 400 choices. There are many different genre that the student can choose from and also different reading levels. This website is similar to a Kindle or Nook where it follows along with the progress of the child's reading. It gives them the tools to better enhance their reading by offering the ability to make a note of words or sentences that they want to reflect on later. The dictionary tool is very useful as well. It gives them the spoken word and will even show them a picture of the word to help them visualize the word.
From the teachers view, it allows him or her to follow along on the child's progress and allows them to conference with them individually. The teacher can ask all the students questions that they write about in their journals.
I like this technology for classrooms. it gives kids the chance to learn at their own pace but also has the help of  a tech tool when needed.    

Rubrics made easy

   Since we are all prospective teachers, we have many days ahead of us that will be filled with the stressful task of making grading rubrics to assess our students on their comprehension of our lessons. Luckily a free website called Rubistar takes this stress away!

   Rubistar is a website that is full of rubric templates for project-based learning activities in almost every subject. All you need to do is go to the website (linked below) and choose the category for the rubric you need. Next, all of the possible rubrics for lessons under your selected category are shown. Just pick the one that best suits your lesson and you're set. The template will already have categories and focus points set up. If these categories or points are not exactly what you had in mind, they are all customizable. This means you as the teacher can make edits to whatever you need to make it correlate perfectly with your lesson.

   Rubistar offers the option to make a free account, where rubrics can be saved and edited any time as well as accessed anywhere. All of the rubrics are printable and easy to navigate. If you don't have time or just don't feel like making another account online, that's no problem. Rubistar can be used without an account, and the only drawback is not being able to save the rubrics you create and go back and edit them later. A solution to this would be once you have them printed, to keep them on file. Or just make an account and save them electronically, whichever way is best for you as the teacher. To ensure that the rubrics are quality, each one has a link you can go to and see who contributed to it. This website is great to take the stress away that comes with creating rubrics, it is simple, easy, and efficient!

Link to Rubistar 

3D Printers In Classrooms

Dremel has created a 3D printer specifically for educational purposes. The Dremel 3D Idea Builder is selling for $1,000. Since it is the size of a relatively small microwave oven, it can easily be placed in a classroom. It is specifically designed to be quieter than other 3D printers, so that it does not distract students from working in the class. This printer comes with 10 lesson plans and 3D model kits that teachers can utilize to enhance students’ learning. Dremel has designed the printer primarily to increase student engagement and understanding with STEAM (Science, Techonology, Engineering, and Math) subjects. Students are no longer restricted to visualizing charts or models; instead, they can create real prototypes to further their knowledge.

Since 3D printers let individuals make any product with the click of a button, it increases creativity and opens the door to many possibilities in the education world. I think 3D printers will definitely be utilized in the future, not only in STEAM subjects, but in other areas too. It would be useful for Geography class, since teachers can make models of rivers, canyons, or other formations around the world. In History classes, such printers can be used to make replicas of artifacts from museums. The possibilities with a 3D printers are endless. Instead of traditionally viewing pictures on lecture slides, this printer will excite students and create a hands-on learning experience for them.

References:

https://3dprinter.dremel.com/3d-edu-printer-benefits

Understanding History

Browsing the web, I came across a really neat website called GoSocialStudiesGo.  The website is packed with resources that mostly concentrate on United States and World history.   The site provides some textual information on historical events, but also shows some primary sources like photographs and even documents from the era.  GoSocialStudiesGo is a perfect resource to use if you want to teach history and further your students understanding of historical content.  

Along with the historical text provided, it is important to note that the text is written in a way for students to understand the information being taught to them.  In my educational experiences, I noticed that my peers would have difficulty understanding the language that was used in a particular era.  I remember one instance in which my classmates and I had a group project where we had to explain the significance of a primary source.  My peers struggled to figure out the significance of the source because the language used was very difficult to comprehend.  With the resource GoSocialStudiesGo, students can understand the significance of certain historical content.  That way, there is no confusion and history can be a fun and engaging subject for all!

GoSocialStudiesGo would definitely be a resource I would use in my classroom, if I teach history in the near future.  I really want my students to understand the content I am teaching, so I think that this resource is a great way to further their understanding, but in a way that they can understand. I believe that by making the social studies curriculum more relevant for high school students, it will actually allow the students to enjoy learning social studies instead of finding the material irrelevant or difficulty to understand.  This content is vital to learn since it will be knowledge that they will carry with them the rest of their lives.  It is important as social studies majors that we make this content relevant for our students.  

Studying with Crash Course

Crash Course is a channel on YouTube that is dedicated toward providing essential information to students about a variety of school subjects.  Created by two brothers, Hank and John, Crash Course had a wide variety of educational videos for students in high school, college, or anyone who wants to learn.  Topics range from “hard sciences” like chemistry, biology, and ecology to other interesting topics like intellectual property, economics, and world history.  Each topic has its own playlist, making it easy for students to watch all of the relevant videos in order (or shuffled by activating the “shuffle” toggle).  Each video is free to access on YouTube and Hank, John, and their friends seem to be producing these videos to encourage education and make learning fun.  

One of the most appealing aspect of these videos is the way the material is displayed.  Each video is accompanied by cartoon animation, sound effects, historical pictures, and a well educated person describing the information.  In a classroom setting, these videos are extremely useful because they provide an alternative way for students to access information compared to the standard lecture.  Students can watch these short 10-15 minute videos in class, for homework, or for fun.

While studying for my MTTC exams in biology and chemistry I used these videos.  Although it took quite some time to watch all of the videos (chemistry, for example, has 46 videos between 10-15 minutes in length) the material the videos touched on were on par with the rigor of the tests.  Studying this way reinforced that learning through a textbook is not the only way to learn nor is it be best way to learn for every student.  These videos are free, easily accessible, and fun to watch so I encourage everyone to check them out.

Crossword Puzzles

My friend and I are doing a presentation this semester for our EXPS 220 course. We have to do a PowerPoint presentation on Astronomy. The professor picked out four scientists/astronomers she wanted us to focus on. She also would like us to have an activity to do after our presentation. She wants it to be fun but also tie in to what we are teaching the class. She talked about some past activities other of her students had done. Some examples were bingo and labeling. I thought about doing bingo but figured it would be too much work to make the bingo boards. They all have to be different of course. 

Instead we both agreed on creating a crossword puzzle. This would help incorporate some key words and clues as well. I typed crossword puzzle maker in the google search engine and a variety of sites came up. The one that popped the most was the teachers corner. It was supper easy, we chose 2 key words from each of the scientists followed by some clues. All I had to do on the site was type in my words in the words column and my clues in the clues column, and add a title. I clicked "Make crossword puzzle" and it did the work for me. I had the options of customizing my puzzle as well. It is a really neat way of creating a fast, easy, and fun activity for anyone to do!

Poll Everywhere

Poll Everywhere is an website that facilitates live, interactive polling for a wide variety of contexts.  There are several suggested uses for this website and a variety of pricing schemes ranging from free to $1,999+.  For K-12 settings, instructors can sign up for free and can create polls with a maximum of 40 responses allowed.  The responses can be organized in a variety of ways, including word clouds and text walls that populate as the responses are received from students as this video demonstrates.  The more frequently the word is used, the larger it becomes.  These word clouds or text walls can be used in PowerPoints, full-screen internet presentations, and can be customized to look how you want them too.  

There are also great uses in the school setting beyond the classroom.  One example of how this website can be used is to communicate with parents.  This website provides some useful ideas on how to use Poll Everywhere to engage with parents.  If you are wondering about how this can be used in your classroom and the requirements, here is a link to a video that provides useful information.

Computer viruses and getting scammed

Computer viruses and getting scammed

    Have you ever heard of a virus called KOOBFACE? Or the Blue screen of death (BSoD)? These are two very real things that can happen to your computer.  

Blue Screen of Death (also known as a blue screen or BSoD) is an error screen displayed on a Windows computer system after a fatal system error, also known as a system crash: when the operating system reaches a condition where it can no longer operate safely.
"Koobface is Network worm that attacks Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux platforms.^[1][2][3] This worm originally targeted users of the networking websites like Facebook, Skype, Yahoo Messenger, and email websites such as GMail, Yahoo Mail, and AOL Mail. It also targets other networking websites, such as MySpace, Twitter,^[4] and it can infect other devices on the same local network.^[5] This infection allows an attacker to access users' personal information such as banking information, passwords, or personal identity (IP address). It is considered a security risk and should be removed from the network."
But did you know that these two things are also being used as a scam? I did not know this and followed the directions on the screen. Upon doing this I reached what I thought was an actual customer service representative. After allowing them to remotely access my computer I realized that I was being scammed ,but by this time it was to late. They wanted to charge me $250 for some software to "fix" this issue.They showed me all the definitions and everything about what the koobface and BSoD is, so that they would come across as a legitimate company. I immediately disconnected everything from the internet and shutdown my WiFi. After having a real IT person painstakingly go thru my computer, I found out that this so called company had put over 250 more viruses and malware on my  computer. Thankfully she was able to remove everything and restore my computer. This honest mistake could have cost me everything. 
 With all this technology you would think that it would be easier to tell when something is a fake,but technology is what makes it even harder to know the difference. These people are able to make it look legitimate. This is why it is very important to have up to date antivirus and malware protection on our computers. 
As future teachers it is important that we stress to our students the importance of being secure online and not to click on everything, because you never know what will pop up.  I have listed a couple of Wiki sites that talk about these two things as well as link to a blog talking about the BSod. I realize know just how dumb that was and have learned a valuable lesson. Don't make the same mistake.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koobface
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Screen_of_Death
https://blog.malwarebytes.org/fraud-scam/2015/09/avoid-this-bsod-tech-support-scam/

Flippity.net

As a full time student and a full time employee, finding ample time to study can be challenging. So finding tools that can help save time while studying is crucial. Have you ever used flashcards to study? This method works very well for myself, but the time it takes to write out these flashcards is valuable time wasted. What if there was a way to make flashcards in half the time? Well, there is. Flippity.net is a website where one can make digital notecards.

Flippity.net is a tool used through Google. Once you sign in with your Google account, you can make as many flashcards as you would like. You can save these flashcards in different categories and publish them to fellow students. It is really that simple.

Flippity.net is a free website that can be used by anyone. Once your flashcards are made you can go back, edit, or delete at any time. You can also add videos, voice recordings, pictures, and audio. There are also many other ways to study with Flippity.net, such as, using a different spreadsheet to make a quiz show like set up. You can decide on categories, points, questions, and answers. This tool can be used to study individually or in a group.

Minecraft: Education Edition

After reading last week’s articles, “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants” and “What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy,” I realized the importance of developing different methods to teach today’s students. In our generation, students, also known as Digital Natives, may learn better through the “edutainment” approach, instead of the conventional teaching ways. A recent article published by CNN shows that Microsoft agrees with such a view. Microsoft will soon release an educational version of a widely played online game known as Minecraft. They will alter MinecraftEdu, an existing educational software used in 40 countries, and launch their own version for schools this summer. In the way Minecraft lets players create their virtual lives, MinecraftEdu lets teachers create the objective of the game and lessons to go along with it. Teachers have used this tool to teach a variety of subjects such as engineering, coding, math, and history. Microsoft’s new version of MinecraftEdu will have improved maps that will allow students and teachers to navigate better. It will contain a multi-player mode that will let 40 students enter into a single game. Microsoft’s version will also have a social-media feature. Once Microsoft releases their new and improved tool, they will be offering free trials to schools. They have also developed a forum on education.minecraft.net for teachers who want to discuss their lesson plans and views on using this educational version of Minecraft. By developing Minecraft: Education Edition, Microsoft is taking the initiative to improve and recreate education systems, so that they are well suited for the learners of today.

References 

https://mojang.com/2016/01/announcing-minecraft-education-edition/

http://money.cnn.com/2016/01/19/technology/microsoft-minecraft-education/

Using Google Maps in the Classroom

If you aren't familiar with Google maps its a mapping website that offers satellite imagery of the world. It's mostly used by the everyday person to find directions and plan routes but it can also be used successfully in the classroom. You can use Google maps for basic cartographic lessons such as learning about latitude and longitude or it could be used in math to calculate the distance from one place to another.  It can even be used to explore the oceans and landmasses. Google maps gives students visual information about the geographical features of the earth. Students can learn as they explore the different parts of the world. Google even offers online tutorials and conferences that can help teachers learn how to use the Many different Geo tools Google has to offer. You can even attend one of the many "Google Geo Teacher Institute" training events to learn and discuss how teachers can and have used Google Maps in the classroom.

https://www.google.com/help/maps/education/learn/index.html gives multiple ways of using Google Maps in the classroom in core subjects such as science and math.