Tuesday, July 31, 2012


Tool #9 Assignment, create a new post in which you respond to the following:
  1. Why do you think it is important to tie the technology to the objective? It is important to tie technology to the objective, because in the world we live in today, technology is completely integrated. Students need to be able to navigate it seamlessly.Not all students have the same access to the technology at home and many parents today are less knowledgeable than the kids. Some adults are intimidated and therefore will not expose their children to it. School should be a place where kids have access to knowledge- the internet provides it. In addition, the tools available via technology are incredible.
  2. Why should we hold students accountable for the stations/centers? The more student realize that their actions on technology are tied to production, the more they will achieve. If they realize that free exploration is reserved for after goal accomplishment they will be continue to see how useful the tools are, but also how important time management is in school and life. Some students tend to get lost in their own thinking, so it is important to teach discipline with the use of technology. In the real world if we get lost in our games and searching, we do not accomplish our goals.
  3. Visit 2 of the applicable links to interactive websites for your content/grade level. Which sites did you like. How could you use them as stations? How can you hold the students accountable for their time in these stations? I liked the Learning Games for Kids and Thinkfinity. I will link those to Edmodo and my blog this year. I will use Learning Games for Kids in History. There are some great interactive games in which the students can practice naming the states. I have been looking for a good game for the students to practice state names on the map. This is the best I have found. Students can practice at home or in class in a station and then the results will be reflected in their Regions' quizzes. There are also several other games for students to practice skills and expand their knowledge within various core subjects. I will require parts of the games and then allow for exploration within these sites during station time. I can see kids wanting to go to these in their spare time at home. I will make them easy to find on Edmodo and blog.
  4. List two to three apps you found for the iPod Touch/iPad that you can use in your classroom. What do you see that station looking like? How can you hold the students accountable for their time in these stations? I downloaded several apps for the Ipads. I really liked the Spring Branch list of Apps on the district webpage that is linked to 11 Tools. I found several Apps that will be useful for brainstorming for projects and helping students organize their thinking. They were iBrainstorm, icardSort (not free), and MindMash. I liked Playtime Theater, Puppet Pals. and Toontastic for students writing from various characters points of view and persons in history.Book projects for guided reading/ book club can be organized using these tools. In addition, reflection after studying content in history will use these tools. They provide an opportunity for application and synthesis of knowledge. Screen Chomp seems like a great app for students to upload their work to Edmodo with one click. I haven't tried it yet, but I think I will put in on the Ipads and have students spend time exploring in a station. I liked the Popular Mechanics QuakeTracker, ESO Top100, NASA AppHD, and NASA Visualization Explorer for independent reading for my science kids, who love non-fiction. They are visually rich as well.
  5. What about other ways to use the iPod Touch/iPad? Share another way you can see your students using the device as a station. As I said before, students will be using the Ipad for publishing with the keyboards and Googledocs. In addition, students can use the camera to create Podcasts that tell students about what they have learned. These can be published on Edmodo. They could be created for reactions to text in language arts, creating how to videos ( much like YoutTube videos). We will also use the Ipads for quick searches. The Ipads are faster for quick research since the whole log on process is not necessary. Students who brought their own used them this past year for that kind of searching. It will be great during read aloud to quickly look up information. Students can take control and it will free me to lead discussion and thinking.

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