The approaching holidays are difficult for many of my students. I notice that their attention wanders, their behavior unravels, and their capacity for learning new material decreased dramatically. So, when I found this site, which will allow me to make educational games, I was very excited! My kids used Sheppard Software earlier this year to learn their states, capitals and Canadian Provinces, and StudyStack.com to study for their recent Social Studies test. Now, if they can play while learning their spelling, vocabulary, homonyms, heat and energy, ancient civilizations, or ecology, won't that be more fun!?
I'll let you know how it goes and post links on my portaportal. If you try any sites, let me know too!
Happy holidays!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Podcasting
I was glad to learn about podcasting, because I think it will be especially beneficial for my students who have difficulty reading. My sixth-grade language arts students are finishing a cooperative book, and they will create a podcast to accompany the slideshow of the book. They are very excited about being able to share their work with their friends and family online... suddenly a class project takes on a new, much more exciting dimension, and we will save paper by not making a copy of the 20 page book for each student to bring home.
I love to read aloud, and my selection of books on tape for this group is limited. I am trying to find ways to help them read independently, and many of the texts I use (we have a subscription to Reading A-Z.com, which has great levelled non-fiction texts) do not have an audio component. I think I will try creating a podcast for the kids to listen to as they read along. I have noticed in the past that students who follow along in a book as it is read to them improve their own fluency and vocabulary.
Other resources I have found are also very exciting. You've already seen my first Prezi, and I created a second one for my sixth graders on the difference between "there, their and they're." This came together very quickly (my first attempt took 5 hours!), when I realized that the simplest way to create it was to type all the words I wanted in a list format (each line in a separate text box), then find a bunch of pictures (click and drag to desktop, then to the prezi). Only when I had all the items on the Prezi did I start to organize them. MUCH quicker! The kids were fascinated, and read it aloud to themselves as they watched it. Instead of autoplay, I let them click when they were ready to move to the next "slide."
Ted.com is a great resource for anyone who is interested in learning more about technology, science, design, and many other subjects. Perhaps because I watched Flubber this weekend with my daughter, I found this lecture about the invention of new toys especially intriguing. Although these lectures are fairly high-level, and probably more complex than I would use with my students this year, I imagine 8th grade - High School level teachers would find some of them very useful.
More soon!
M.
I love to read aloud, and my selection of books on tape for this group is limited. I am trying to find ways to help them read independently, and many of the texts I use (we have a subscription to Reading A-Z.com, which has great levelled non-fiction texts) do not have an audio component. I think I will try creating a podcast for the kids to listen to as they read along. I have noticed in the past that students who follow along in a book as it is read to them improve their own fluency and vocabulary.
Other resources I have found are also very exciting. You've already seen my first Prezi, and I created a second one for my sixth graders on the difference between "there, their and they're." This came together very quickly (my first attempt took 5 hours!), when I realized that the simplest way to create it was to type all the words I wanted in a list format (each line in a separate text box), then find a bunch of pictures (click and drag to desktop, then to the prezi). Only when I had all the items on the Prezi did I start to organize them. MUCH quicker! The kids were fascinated, and read it aloud to themselves as they watched it. Instead of autoplay, I let them click when they were ready to move to the next "slide."
Ted.com is a great resource for anyone who is interested in learning more about technology, science, design, and many other subjects. Perhaps because I watched Flubber this weekend with my daughter, I found this lecture about the invention of new toys especially intriguing. Although these lectures are fairly high-level, and probably more complex than I would use with my students this year, I imagine 8th grade - High School level teachers would find some of them very useful.
More soon!
M.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Presentations
This week I explored different sites that either host collections of presentations or teach you how to make one. I found a lot of amateur presentations, some very wordy ones, and a few I would show to my students. One of the other teachers recommended Pete's Power Point Station, which has quite a large collection of education slide shows, and that was quite helpful.
And then I played with my favorite by far: Prezi. I watched several tutorials, read some tips, and then jumped in! I spent a while last night and tonight creating a presentation for class tomorrow. It's still rough, but I enjoy the ability to move around the page, include visuals, be a little bit playful while presenting useful information. I think I would have to be careful not to throw too much at my students in this format, though. I had to tone mine down a bit because I was afraid the audience would get motion sickness, but what I ended up with is a decent mix of fact and fun, I think. Certainly more interesting (for me, anyway, not necessarily for a left-brain thinker) than reading black words on a white page...
Now I want to get a drawing tablet so I can do my own drawings instead of depending on the images online. And I want to learn how to do flash animation! And a document camera!
Will it never end??
And speaking of presentations, here is my favorite presentation of the week: the South Portland Marching Band, featuring their drum major Joey Hendricks, in a custom made sequinned, bejeweled and glittered jacket, created by yours truly and my daughter Gracie. They won 5 stars in all categories and brought home a gold medal. Now THAT's a presentation!
And then I played with my favorite by far: Prezi. I watched several tutorials, read some tips, and then jumped in! I spent a while last night and tonight creating a presentation for class tomorrow. It's still rough, but I enjoy the ability to move around the page, include visuals, be a little bit playful while presenting useful information. I think I would have to be careful not to throw too much at my students in this format, though. I had to tone mine down a bit because I was afraid the audience would get motion sickness, but what I ended up with is a decent mix of fact and fun, I think. Certainly more interesting (for me, anyway, not necessarily for a left-brain thinker) than reading black words on a white page...
Now I want to get a drawing tablet so I can do my own drawings instead of depending on the images online. And I want to learn how to do flash animation! And a document camera!
Will it never end??
And speaking of presentations, here is my favorite presentation of the week: the South Portland Marching Band, featuring their drum major Joey Hendricks, in a custom made sequinned, bejeweled and glittered jacket, created by yours truly and my daughter Gracie. They won 5 stars in all categories and brought home a gold medal. Now THAT's a presentation!
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| The famous Pat Metheny glitter guitar jacket! |
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| The amazing South Portland Marching Band -- what an incredible bunch of kids! |
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