Remind - Another Avid Supporter

What's great about the remind app is that it places accountability on students and their families.  As a middle school teacher, I think this is very important, because as kids get older, they need to become more responsible.  I hand out instructions on how to join Remind with my Syllabus on the first day of class, and from then on out, it's easy breezy.  I just send out a notification any time a test is coming up, or an assignment is due... No spending hours writing up emails to parents to keep them up to date on what is happening in class.. Remind is super quick and easy.

CPS Clickers: Great Assessment Tool

I had my first principal observation a couple of weeks ago, and she mentioned that she would have liked to see me have more technology in the kids hands on a regular basis, rather than technology solely being in my hands.  She mentioned that there were a bunch of sets of CPS clickers laying around the school that no one uses.  So, I snagged a set... Love them.  I highly recommend them if you have a chance to use them.  Each kid in class has their own personal clicker with an assigned number.  I simply post a multiple choice question, and they use the clicker to choose their answer.  Immediately, their answers are shown, I can instantly know if classes are understanding the content I am teaching.  Plus, the kids really like them..sort of makes them feel like Jeopardy contestants.

Remind, a great app for educators and students

I wanted to share with the class an app I discovered around the start of the course, it's called Remind (previously Remind 101).  It's an app and web interface that allows teachers to share messages, assignments, images, etc. with students in their course.  Optionally students can reply to, check off, and mark as favorited the information shared by the instructor.

It has a very simple and clean user interface that focuses on what's important when communicating between students and teachers.  I would highly recommend everyone check out Remind's resources and best practices page in the link below.  If it peeks your interests I would sign up (as it's free for teachers) and start playing around with it's possibilities in your classroom.

Remind Resources and Best Practices

On a sidenote I discovered remind and have been using it to take a free motivational course offered by one of my favorite comic book writers and author Kelly Sue DeConnick.  And as a student using Remind I can attest to how excellent it having an instructor send a notification to me that remind's me to stay on task and inspire me to do better with my work.

Podcasts: Long time listener, first time recording for education

Coming from a background of both information technology and electronic media production I've had previous experiences with several of the topics covered by both the text and the assignments in this course.  I've collaborated on knowledge base wiki's for troubleshooting technology issues, I've previously recorded screencast tutorials for users new to Apple software, and I've even made guest appearances on a friend's Podcast discussing alternative/indie music.

But not until I was actually tasked with creating a Podcast to demonstrate and discuss it's educational use had I ever given any thought to the idea using them in the classroom.  I've been subscribing to several podcasts (one of which is a history podcast) for years now and in all my years of listening not once did it dawn on me that this could be an excellent tool for students.

Although I'm not currently an educator I love the idea having an english literature students record narratives and stories to distribute via a podcast channel.  Allowing students to participate in the production and editing of a podcast seems like a great hands on experience for the classroom.  And with the simplicity of creating a blog using WordPress or Blogger it means student's have a platform to host their podcast out of and the easily publish to iTunes for their friends, family, and the world to listen to what they have to say.

Also some great and entertaining podcasts I would recommend are in the links below!

Dan Carlin's Hardcore History

Welcome to Night Vale

In The End

It is hard to believe that this class is already coming to an end. I would like to thank Dr. Rubin for opening my eyes to so many ways that I can incorporate powerful uses of technology into my classroom. Just this week, my students and I are beginning our Algebra 2 wiki. My hope is through collaboration we can create a powerful resource for studying and review. This should truly come in handy to students who are absent from class. Coming from someone who thought that they were tech-savvy, this class has opened my eyes and helped lay a foundation for my future teaching.

WebQuest in the Classroom

I really enjoyed learning about and creating a Webquest. It taught me more about the wide variety of tools in PowerPoint and opened a new realm of possibilities with the program that I can see using in my classroom.  I find that it can make a huge impact because it will force the students to be hands on learners and make allows me to incorporate fun, attractive, and relatable themes for the students which will keep them engaged throughout the learning process.

First Web Blog

Creating my first ever web blog was a great learning experience. There are so many resources that I can access use to expand learning within the classroom through the class blog. The learning assignment made me want to implement blogs within the classroom and use it often so that it is not so daunting to the students. I come from a small town school that is a bit “old fashioned”, and is not the best when it comes to keeping up with technology and all its new “fads”. However, this class was very beneficial because I see where I can make a difference and impact not only my classroom, but also my entire school. I look forward to teaching in new ways that forces my students to expand their knowledge in and out of the classroom to become better lifelong learners.

Technology in the classroom

Through my 5 years as a technology specialist for a 6000 person school corporation, I worked with all grade levels and all types of students. One of the best things I found was when teacher figured out how to get student excited about using technology. However, some of the worst things was when students were not excited about using it and then of course forced into it. It really just led the students into figuring out how to use the technology to do anything but the work that was assigned.

One of the pieces of software we did not use in this class, that kids really seemed to like, was LMS pieces of software like Moodle and Blackboard. They are awesome that bring everything into one software package. They are create piece of software that are accessible from anywhere, allow each individual to create a blog, do a class discussion, take quizzes, and many more things.

First blog post and more...

Hello,

This is my first blog post for the class, and I apologize for the delay on it! As a person with a computer science degree, I have lots of experience with this sort of thing. Additionally, I worked for a school corporation as a technology specialist for K-12. If you'd like you can look at a blog that my wife and I do: www.joelandbritt.com. It's great to have an opportunity to put your thoughts out there for the public to see and learn from, and this class does a great job of teaching and enabling that in people.

So Many Possibilities!

I am so excited about everything that I have learned to do during this class! I was very nervous about taking a class at all since it has been 12 years since my last one. I have the privilege of working with all grades at our elementary school and now I have so many different tools to use with them to make learning more fun. All the projects we have done have provided me with awesome additions to the classroom. Not only will the kids love these, but it's a great way for parents to see and hear about what is going on in our class!

Cultural shock

Social media is not something new to me. I am by no means a guru in it but I can get by. I do have facebook and I did create a twitter account once. The only reason for twitter was to enter a contest with John Calapari. It was his first year as coach at Ky. The prize was a Lebron James autographed t-shirt. You had to follow him on twitter and the first 100 followers were eligible to win. He chose numbers at random and I was his 59th follower which just happen to be Patrick Patterson jersey number. He chose that as one of his winners and the rest was history. I am going somewhere with this trust me. I have always been proud of who I am and where I came from. I didn't think I had to change for no one.

Back 10 to 15 years ago I was the overseer of a Christian chat room. This particular chat room had voice capabilities in which we could chat with people from all over the world. I remember one evening we were talking about where we live and the differences in our dialect. I was amazed at how people from Louisiana had this long drawn out country voice. But they too were tickled at my accent. But I was like I don't have an accent. I am just like you, or any one else. I have never heard myself recorded until I had to create a podcast for this class. It was a shock needless to say when I heard myself speak. I was like did I actually say the "told" that countrified. Well, the answer was, YES you did. But the thing I got out of all that was this. No matter where we are from or how we sound, we can still make a difference. That is my goal. Make a difference.

WebQuest wanna be

I have always had a fascination with computers ever since I laid eyes on one in the early 90's. Since then any tiny bit of information I can learn just sends a wave of emotion through me that is hard to explain.  I am like a child getting a big bag of candy on a Saturday afternoon. When I first started this class I was very overwhelmed. Not with the class itself but finding the time to accomplish all I had to do with work and coaching elementary basketball. Even with all the chaos in my life I still enjoyed each assignment with that same enthusiasm of opening a toy for the first time. It was an added bonus to learn ways to involve my kids in the classroom.

With all that being said. I would have to say the web quest was my favorite activity. I love every aspect of the activity; creating the slides to adding pictures and motion. Making a web Quest for special education students whether the topic is Math or reading is something I see my self doing in the future. Technology is the wave of the future more so than it is now I just never realized how many possibilities there are out there that I could utilize until I took this class. .

Part of the Machine...

     Technology in the classroom will always be a very complicated high wire act, one that is often performed without a net. When an instructor creates class content utilizing technology there are certain risks. Lets look at the risks.

These pit falls are very similar to what Goldilocks experienced with the 3 bear's porridge..

If the porridge is too cold no one wants to eat it.  The same with using classroom technology students know if it is out of date. If they feel it is dated or "cold" your success rate will suffer.

In addition when the porridge is too hot you will see a few takers. These few takers are the early adopters sacrificing getting burned to be the first to taste it.  Classroom technology can experience these same early adopter issues,The problems can range from a complete lack of training to incompatibilities with the rest of the room's technology.  Tools used for learning should emphasize the instructor's lesson, not detract from it.

Lastly, we arrive at the "just right" porridge. The temperature works with the flavor for a complete experience. This is ideal for classroom technology. Technology that enhances the lesson plan giving the students a tool to learn with, and from. If the age of the tool is taking away from the lesson then a more current tool should be chosen. 

In Conclusion it is very important you look at the class you are teaching , and recognize what technology is most appropriate from the class.

Thank

-John Begley

End of Class

Through this class I have learned many things! I would never have thought that I would ever be able to say that I know how to create a podcast, screencast, or create my own blog! I always read other blogs from time to time, now this class has opened up an opportunity for me to finally create my own. I never could have imagined how all of these different tools could help my students and I within my class and broaden the spectrum of technology use. I cannot wait to take what I have learned and implement it within my classroom and share with my students.

Sarah

Creating a Blog!

Hello again, I must say that when I was creating my web blog that I struggled at first trying to link everything, but I have a better understanding now. Whenever, you are new at something it just takes some time and patience at first until you get the hang of it, and that's how I felt when creating my blog. However, I think it will be a very useful tool in my classroom, as I have already shown it to my special education resource English I class, and they are eager to create their own! Furthermore, my favorite part of this class was creating the podcast, as I listen to one daily called Kentucky Sports Radio! I found that it is fairly easy to create a podcast, and I am going to use this when I create my tests for my special education students. It will allow them to receive a reader and move at their own pace, instead of waiting on me because they are all on different levels. Again, this class has helped me grow in technology and I plan to incorporate all of the technological practices from this class into my own classroom. I plan to use this blog to stay in touch with my classmates to keep improving in the areas of technology in education.

First Time Blogger!

Hello my name is Marcus McKeehan and I am a Special Education Teacher at Knox Central High School. This is my fourth year of teaching all at Knox Central, where I am also the Head Coach of the girls softball team. Therefore, I am very busy at my school and I consider myself lucky to have the honor of teaching and coaching at the same high school in which I attended. I really enjoy teaching and working with students of diverse needs and when they reach their goals in school and life it is really rewarding. However, this is my first time blogging and I have enjoyed reading other posts on this blog to learn about others in this course, and hopefully can stay in touch with these teachers to see how they are incorporating technology in their classroom. This class has been very beneficial to me, as I have learned several new ways to integrate technology in my classroom and to better serve my students of diverse needs. I hope you enjoyed my blog!

First Blog Post

I just created my class web blog so I thought I would give posting on this a whirl too. I really enjoyed creating the blog and see so many great possibilities for my students! I'm really excited about them getting started with it next week. I think they will find it to be a fun tool for our class.

Creating a Web Blog!

Hello everyone!

So I just created my very first web blog!  I must say that I was so clueless at first!  I still have so much to figure out, but definitely have a better understanding of how a blog really works.  This could be so beneficial to my students and my coworkers as well.  If anyone has any advice or helpful comments about things I can do to make my blog the best it can be for my students, please feel free to share! :)