Tool 7

This "Digital Storytelling" assignment brought about more isssues for me than  could have imagined. I was going to to an i-movie over the Fourth of July Celebration in Stone Harbor New Jersey. We had the script, the Mac and were all prepared to take pictures throughout the day of the,Fourth.

Too many "technical difficulities/glitches" to even go into. Where is anSD Card, IT guy/girl, computer charger/spare battery and working Dell when you need them. I will send an e-mail to the course adminstrators to see what, if anything, I can do.

Tool 11

Tool 11 is about "digital citizenship." I think there are many areas regarding being a good "digital citizen," but if I were to choose 3 to teach my students, they would be:

1. Safety: Students should not reveal personal thing about themselves. Things like address, bitthdate, school, inappropriate photos. The world is a dangerous place, and has become worse with all of the technological advances.
2. Plagerism:  It is illegal to use other people's words as ones own. Copying and Pasting is still plagairsm. It is the most common form that I ihave seen since I started with the district.
3. Etiquette:  Be polite, don't write in all caps, remember your audience (in all cases), don't write in texting abbreviaions (?) in academic work, besides your own notes. Follow conventional rules of grammar.

I would probaly "teach" the ideas of good citizenship by shoing examples to my students. I would show many examples, and let students point out the errors. I think this would be the easiest way for middle school students to learn. It is easier for me to show why things are wrong, than come up with fake examples for them to learn from.

Tool 10

Exploring Mobile Technology and Aps was by far the easiest tool for me to write about. Seeing as it is the only tool I have really used before, and this was just recently.

There are many fee aps that can be downloaded to iPhones, iTouches, iPads and Android phones, and this is just the beginning.

The educatonal aps I think might be the most frequently used are the dictonary, the scientific calculator, metric conversions, unit conversions, wikipedia, maps, ...

The possibilies are endless. All a student need is availavble technology and internet access.

I could not even begin to guess what aps a particular student would you. The market is so huge, there are many different aprs that do the same thing in a different format or style.

I really look forward to having the iPad in my classroom (this year, please?!).

Tool 9

Jing could be very beneficial to both teachers and students.

For the classroom teacher, he/she could present the lesson once (put it on Jing), and not have to keep repeating the same lesson class after class. Of course, students would still require classroom instruction from the teacher, but the Jing Video would save repetition. Teacher who are goign to be absent, could record their lecture and have the substitute play it (while learning the subject at the same time!).

Students could use the Jing video at home to reinforce/relearn what was said in the classroom.

Perhaps, the greatest benefit (for both teacher and student) would be when a student is absent. Teachers would not have to repeat over and over. Even while having textbooks and (hopefully) notes, one can never have too many resources or diiferent types of presentations of a topic.

 Skype is a web based program that lets people communicate with audio and even video (if people have the technology available to them). I have seen this program use mostly with people communicating with poeple overseas (like Iraq and Afghanistan), in place of paying international telephone rates.

For student use, they could communicate with other students in the district/state/county to ask questions, get opinions, see differing points of view. Perhaps worldwide it would be most effective in helping our students see differing poiint of view and getting a taste of different cultures from around the world.

Tool 8

The two videos I uploaded should help student reinforce basic math and science knowledge. The first video is Mrs. Burke's Perimeter Rap. I must say, I give her props for doing this. Although her rapping style is "unique," I feel the students would have fun (laugh) while learning the basic math concept of perimeter. Not only does she cover the concepts of perimeter, the area formula for rectangles is also rapped about.

The second video, "The Work and Power Song," was done to the tune of "Jeremiah was a Bullfrog." Most middle students are familiar with the tune. This is a basic formula that needs to be memorized, beginning in the 6th grade.

Both of these videos came from Teacher Tube


.http://www.teachertube.com/members/viewVideo.php?video_id=157&title=Mrs__Burk_Perimeter_Rap



http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=187503&title=The_WORK_and_POWER_Song&ref=Elizabethhermann

Tool # 6

Wikis are pretty cool. I can see many uses for them in the classroom. In Language Arts/Social studies, they can help with with learning new vocabulary and important dates. For English in particular, wikis can be very helpful in learning and using literary terms. Another use for wikis in LA/SS would be for the 7th grade mythology unit.
They are also helpful with higher level thinking skills, such as analyzation. This can be used in all areas of the curriculum.
 
For my department,  we might b able to create wikis for separate goals that are used with multiple students.