First timer

So after reading about RSS feeds, I've decided to use them in class. I have created a class blog for a novel that we read, but I have decided that I will extend the blog for other units during the year. This way I can look at all the students' blogs at once and be made aware of each time they post. I hope to also send them individual feeds to them as well. Most of them keep up with soccer. I can send them feeds having to do with soccer. Some can even be videos about the last game. I can also send them other feeds, but to get them interested, the soccer ones would be good to start with. I think that using the RSS feeds are going to make my grading a lot easier and faster.

Meeting with Leigh

I met with Leigh to discuss the Esperanza Rising web site. It was a great meeting. I liked getting another teacher's input about what I was doing. She teaches 6th grade at-risk students in my school. She has all of my 6th grade students in class because they are all considered at-risk. Anyway, I think she was a good person to meet with because she also teaches honor students. This gives her more range academically speaking than me because I only have intermediate ESL students. So her opinion to add sound for the dyslexic students was great. This would also help my ESL students as well, especially some of the lower-level students. I also asked her opinion on what she would do for her honors classes. She said she would make them write summaries of each chapter. I decided to write the summaries for my students because we can discuss those in class and I would rather have them concentrate on their responses on the blog than regurgitating information. Their responses, I hope, are original thoughts they can share with the class. I would like to do something like this again because it is like getting a new perspective on things. I also taught her some things like about Softchalk and rubistar.com. Those are things she can use in her classes now too!

District Data Strategies

My district compiles data on Edugence which is an online data management system. Teachers can track student test scores from prior grades to determine whether or not they should take honors classes or possibly be tested for special education services. This also tracks years in US schools which is important for ESL students. It can tell how many times the student took the TAKS test and when he passed.
We also use the online grade book to collect student data. We have recently updated the online grade book and now it gives us information about the students that we have in class. It gives teachers access to students personal information as well as class schedule.
My questions regarding the storage of data are as follows...
1. What do we do with the testing data after it has been recorded? What is it used for? When is it looked at and by whom?
2. How long does the data in Edugence stay? Is there something that can record the whole life as a student from K-12?
3. Can we add an e-portfolio to the student's records? It would serve as an online writing portfolio that would show student work from previous grades.
4. If the e-portfolio is not an option, can we provide the students with folders on the server that would last from K-12? If not, could we request a flash drive on the school supply list so students could keep all of their information?
I recommend that we use e-portfolios in schools because it makes the ease of student paper transfer much simpler. For ESL students coming into 6th grade, there are writing samples for each student. Instead of having all of those on paper, we could transfer files. This is safer for the environment and ensures that fewer papers are lost in the process. I also recommend that we make the student share drive available for all students from when they start in Garland schools and not delete them until they leave in 12th grade.
I also believe we should require flash drives for the students to allow them to work on projects at the library or at home. This would give those who need more time, enough time to complete the project. All of these strategies will give the teachers and students easier access to information.

I GOT IT!!!

So screencast saved me!!! The presentation that I could get only to save on my hard drive is not available online because of screencast.com. Its great! I used camtasia studios free trial to record my power point. The interesting thing about that was that it recorded all of my mouse strokes. So I could show people the links that I posted in my power point. Very cool!! I had no idea how people did that...now I do. Its like I could carry on with a full lesson using that software. Great tool!
Screencast helped me save it to skip the media fire link. The test is no longer a test...it's for real!! So now I believe I might actually be done! Minus some more reading and a few blogs....YEA!!!

Here it is again!
http://www.screencast.com/users/kdickerson/folders/Default/media/a1e5f385-35e0-4ff5-87d8-f6c092d11722

Frustrations

I love the media class that I am in, but am frustrated because I can't figure out how to save things not on my hard drive. I can upload to mediafire.com which is fine, but I can't figure out how to skip that step. So now I have these files that are on my hard drive. Its like I'm missing a step that I can't figure out. AHH!!!! I guess it is fine that I am using media fire to host my stuff, but I just wish I could find a way to click on the link from this blog and instead of asking you if you want to download it, it just comes up. Maybe I'll figure it out sometime and then I can write about how great it is! Until then...at least I have a way of getting it up.

Online presentation

This is the presentation....its a test

http://www.screencast.com/users/kdickerson/folders/Default/media/a1e5f385-35e0-4ff5-87d8-f6c092d11722

Podcast with Video

Here is my podcast with video. I made it for the newcomer Social Studies program I teach. I have students who have just moved to the United States or have been here for less than one year. My job is to teach them American history so when they get to 8th grade, they are somewhat familiar with the events.
The Video podcast I created on Christopher Columbus shows how he came from Spain to the Americas, and thought he was in India. There are locations on the map that I wanted the students to recognize so you will see them multiple times. I am also reading very slow so they can follow the words and look at the pictures at the same time.
Choosing the content for this was easier than I thought because newcomers are so needy in oral and visual communication and this form of teaching fits both. With this presentation I hope to have the students listen to it and after a few times, give them a notes page with missing information to have them fill in as they listen again. This will help their note-taking later in life.

C:\Users\Kelly\Documents\Camtasia Studio\Dickerson Columbus Podcast\Dickerson Columbus Podcast.html

What I learned using the Survey

I sent a survey to 7 of the teachers that I work with. They were in different departments and of different ranges of teaching experience. I realized that some of the teachers were not at all interested in having their students incorporate technology into the classroom. This surprised me, but some of the teachers were older and possibly more set in their ways. Some teachers were extremely eager to use multimedia if they were in charge of displaying it; not necessarily if the students were displaying the multimedia. So I am just assuming that the science teacher that I sent the survey to, the one with the most access to technology in the school, was the one who was stating that he already knew how to implement most of the podcasting and video into his lessons. I also learned that we need to have more small trainings about different topics. That is the way that most teachers liked receiving information. I also learned that most teachers are well versed in Word and e-mail, but not necessarily Power Point or Excel. Power point would be especially good to implement with students because they can see and read at the same time. Maybe there should be a small training for that. I think that would be very beneficial.

SoftChalk

I used softchalk to do my advanced web site and loved it. It was so easy to use. I liked that I could upload different websites, quizzes and other web pages onto the web site I made from soft chalk. I uploaded movies from Brainpop and United Streaming to use as reinforcements in the lessons. I also linked quizzes to my own web page for the students to take when the time was appropriate. I was also able to use graphics and maps of the places that are discussed that were very clear. I was also able to have students link to www.googlemaps.com for travel distances and for students to have a visual as to where the events of the story take place. Other options that I liked on softchalk were that I could link vocabulary words in each of the summaries to tell the definition when the student put the mouse over it. I also could link some of the words in the summary to other web pages for more information. I wish my district would implement this for creating web pages with content for all subjects. Great tool for building.

e-portfolio

I have decided that I need to use e-portfolios in my classes. After presenting in class and researching the topic, I have decided that they are great representations of student work over time. Some of the aspects that I thought were beneficial were the reflection. I think it is beneficial for the student to know why they know things. I think that it is important for students to look over time how far they have come. Since I teach ESL, 6-8 grade, I believe it is important for the student to look at what they were capable of doing in 6th grade, possibly when they came to this country, and how their work looks in 8th grade, up to two years later. The online portfolio gives students a more authentic way of displaying their work. They get more excited about things and have something to own at the end of the process.
I think the reflection factor is the most important. It makes them look back over their work, which most of them do not do. I also think it is important for the students to be able to archive different types of media in their e-portfolio. I always think that visuals increase the interest of presentations. e-portfolios allow the student to add visual or audio elements to their presentation. The other aspect of e-portfolios that I like is that it belongs to the student after it is completed. This gives the student motivation to do best work. It also empowers them because other people will look at it - not just the teacher. Overall, I think it is a great tool for organization and communication, as well as a great tool to showcase student work.

Cheating

Students say that cheating is easier. In 1999 Bushweller stated that 70% of American high school seniors admit ed to cheating on at least one test, and 95% of the students who said they cheated were never caught. This was in 1999, so I assume that today the numbers have increased. It is usually easier to cheat online because most students know more about computers than the teacher an can find ways to outsmart the teacher.
With websites that teachers can go to now like www.turnitin.com, teachers can use this to place the document into a file and search it for plagiarism. It makes it easier for the teacher to check the paper for this. According to www.guardian.co.uk, plagiarism is on the rise in England because of the internet.
At the beginning of each year, students are made aware of the cheating policy in most cases. Most students are required to sign an honor code paper saying they won't cheat or will let teachers know if it occurs with other students. The punishment for cheating is varied depending on the severity of the crime. If a student buys papers or copies entire papers the punishment will be more severe than for a student who copies from another on a test or a quiz. The punishments at university levels are more severe are range from conferences with students and parental units to expulsion. Sometimes there is no degree awarded for past work if cheating is involved in any point of the process.

Cyber Ethics

Cyber ethics are important in today's society because with the internet technology learning occurring in schools and at home, students need to know what is expected of them and what to watch out for. Even at school, where there are firewalls that attempt to block out information that is detrimental to the student body, students need to know what is appropriate and not for school and their age. One of the aspects of cyber ethics that of up most importance is software piracy. Students need to know that it is not appropriate to pirate software for any reason, and it is also necessary to give credit to where you get the information.
Students today believe that everything they find on the internet is fair game. They can use it anytime and anywhere regardless of whether or not it is copyrighted. According to http://www.playitcybersafe.com/ the cost of piracy (copying or distributing illegal copies) is twelve billion dollars a year. This is especially true because students don't realize that when software or music is purchased it is the license that is purchased, not the actual software. The license agreement says that you must adhere to the rights of the producer. According to http://www.bsa.org/, these rights normally say that illegal distribution is not permitted. Students need to know that they are not allowed to share music or software, like games, with each other to download on the computer or CD to use for themselves and their friends.
My personal opinion about the sharing of files is that students today should be made aware and punished in schools for it. If a student uses graphics or audio, just like we do in school or in other presentations, they must begin to cite their references or how and where they got their information. This will make them more responsible internet and computer users. It will also prepare them for the future when they are asked to make a presentation with information found on the internet. The students also need to be made aware of the people in the news who are downloading information illegally and are being fined thousands of dollars for a dollars worth of music. Some students do not realize that it is against the law and they can be penalized. So when they let their friend copy their games and burn their CD to their friend's computer, they need to realize that it is illegal even if you are not making money. Students also need to realize that allowing pirated software on your computer potentially could freeze or disable things on your computer. So not only is it illegal to download licensed software, it can cause harm to your computer.

iTunes Podcast

One of the podcasts I have used from iTunes is www.ESLpod.com. I have used it to let my students listen to other native English speakers. They listen to the podcast and I give them questions about it. They sometimes write responses to the podcast and sometimes answer the questions I made up.
Some others that I would be interesed in using are www.culips.com ESL podcast and www.betteratenglish.com. These would be great examples of how we use different ways to communicate with different people.

Classroom of the Future

My vision for the classroom for the future is on where there are computers for every student in the room and there are big tables instead of individual desks. The classroom of the future will have no desktops, but laptops that can be used in and out of the classroom. Students will be able to access internet from home and continue learning from home. They will bring learning to their parents and their younger siblings. It will become more family oriented because there will be more access in more places.
The tables in the classroom would provide students the opportunity to work together and share learning. They would teach each other and in the process become more acquainted with what the lesson is about. Students will teach each other how to find things on the computer as well as help on the lesson. It would allow technology and content to go hand in hand.
The fact that learning can happen anywhere is the future of the classroom. Students would have portable devices such as cell phones and MP3 players that allow them to listen to their homework or review lessons for the day on their way to or from school or any other place they like. If teachers make learning portable and popular (because who doesn't have a cell phone or MP3 player these days?) students will be more likely to learn. It becomes more individualized for them. Teachers can individualize lessons for each student with downloads for different levels of the same content. That way, when presenting or doing a project, everyone has the same information, only on their individual level.
The classroom of the future would have television and computers for students to learn what is going on in the world around them. The technology would allow students to realize that history or science happens for a reason. For example, they would know that the reason we celebrate Independence Day is because of the American Revolution that we are studying currently. They could learn about why the stars shoot across the sky as they watch it on their laptops. It is bringing real authentic learning to their finger tips.
The classroom of the future will take a while to come into play. I think that administrators and staff have to be on board 100% for students to understand that the technology is there for their benefit. Some teachers are very traditional and might not want to comply. There will also need to be training and new curriculum written to accommodate the technology in the classrooms. I think once teachers realize they can act as facilitators, it would be a great thing to see students learning on their own and teaching other students and the teacher.

Creating Video

I just created my first and second video for school this week. Although fun to create, it took time probably because I didn't know what I was doing for a while. Some aspects of creating the content video that I really liked were that I can actually use it in class. My kids would probably like it because I created it. They seem to respond more to things in class that I take more time with. I liked putting the whole thing together. I enjoyed giving them a historical perspective and bringing present day into their learning. If you can bring it full circle like that, I believe the students get a better perspective on things. They fully understand why we actually celebrate our independence and hopefully will appreciate it more.
I enjoyed the content video more because I can use it and because it was more of my own creating instead of having someone tell me what to include. Don't get me wrong....the first video was important as well. The content video would not have gone nearly as well had it not been for the basic video. It was just more of a unique creation. The content video was important because it made me use the camera in a different way that I am used to. It also gave me a better understanding of how shots on the camera are supposed to look. I used many of the shots in the content video that I learned in the basic video.
Overall I enjoyed making the videos. I would say that I would make my kids use videos in class, but the truth of the matter is I don't have the equipment. However, I would love to continue to make videos for them to watch (depending on how much they like this one). I am a firm believer that if the teacher takes more time in preparing the lesson (video) the more the students will appreciate and learn from it. This also strengthens the relationships I have with my students. They are always wanting to know about my family and I. They do better when I relate my personal life or theirs to the lesson. This will hopefully spark conversations about what they do to celebrate their independence day with their family. Other celebrations may come up as well. Anything I can do to enhance their listening and verbal skills is great! All in all, I enjoyed the project.