Summary of Learning

I chose to use the tool Mindmeister.  Mindmeister is a mind mapping software tool built with modern web technologies.  Mindmeister is a great way to collaborate with others, brainstrom and put your thoughts down. The reason I choose this is because I wanted to try something new and play around with it.  It was perfect for the Summary of Learning Project because I could make it how I wanted with images, videos and customize fonts and colors.  I also got to put all my learnings from this class in a presentation form that is engaging and something I can use in the future.

The biggest take-aways from this class was learning and playing with all the technology tools that are out there.  The few that I really focused on was word clouds, voice thread, blogger, twitter, piktochart and mindmeister. When I first started this class I did not know how to use any of these technologies and now I can use these in my future classroom and my social life as well.

I plan on using a lot of the technologies that we learned in this class for my futute classroom.  It will be a great way to get the students engaged and interested in what we are learning.  Now days this world seems to revolve around technology so our students need to be exposed to the different things out there.  I can't wait to share all the ideas I have gathered from this class!

Embeded is my Mindmeister that shows what I learned from this class this semester!  I hope you enjoy it because I know I did!

Week 4 PLN on TPACK

This week was all on TPACK in the classroom.  What is TPACK?  TPACK stands for tecnological, pedagogical, content knowledge.  Technology knowledge is the knowledge about standard technologies such as books, chalk, blackboard as well as more advanced technologies such as the interenet and digital video.  This involves the skills required to operate particular technologies.  You would need the knowledge of operating systems, computer hardware and the ability to use standard software such as word preocessors, spreadsheets, internet browers and email.  Pedagogical knowledge is deep knowledge of the process and practices or methods of teaching, learning and how it ecompasses overall educational purposes, values and aims.  This is a form of knowledge that is involved in all issues of student learning, classroom management, lesson plan development, implementation and student evaluation.  Content knowledge is the knowledge about the actual subject matt that is to be learned or taught.  Teachers must know and understand the subjects they teach.  Putting these all together it is the existence, components and capabilites of various techbologies that are used in teaching and learning settings, this are interactive tools.  In my future classroom I really want to be able to use technology in my classroom as much as I can.  I would like to use tablets, interactive disaplays, presentation tools and computer/laptops.  It will be a great way to get the students engaged and they will also learn so much since today it seems everything relies on technology.  Not only do I want my students to use technology I want to utilize it as well in teaching a lesson and activities.  This week was very interesting to me because I had no idea what TPACK stood for and how you could use it in the classroom.  I feel like it was a ton of information at once so I would like to explore more on it and get more ideas on how I can use it in my future classroom.

Tools Review Tagul Word Cloud Week 4

The tool that I decided to play around with and research on is Tagul Word Cloud.  Tagul is a web service that enables you to create beautiful word clouds that you can place on your webpage or share with friends.  It looks really nice because of the fancy features like words inside of words, pretty fonts, many different cloud shapes and customizable colors.  Tagul Word Cloud is free to use except some features that can be accessible in premium subscription.  You also have the option to print what you have created.  I would use this in my classroom by first showing my students of my example on a topic in english, science or social studies.  You could have your students research a famous person or a certain topic and have them pick words/ information that describes that topic.  The students then can share with the class and even print out their Tagul Word Cloud as a visual.  Another thing you could do in the classroom is to use this as a gift for mothers day or fathers day.  The students could print the word cloud out and then frame it in a 4x6 frame. On the website it gives you step by step instructions to print so that it will fit in the frame.  I think this is a great site for students to get engaged, have a visual and to do something different and fun in the classroom. The students should be able to create this on thier own.  They may have trouble using the site and figuring our how it works but if the teacher shows them how to use it and the kids play around with it they will be fine.   It does help that everything is pretty much labeled and easy to find.  There are also FAQ on the website that is very helpful that the students and the teacher could use.  I really enjoyed making one about my husband Damien for fun!  I would love to make this a gift someday to print and frame for family and friends.  Check mine out!
https://tagul.com/show/avks7eyo6mer/Damien

Tools Review Prezi Week 3

For this weeks tool review I chose to use Prezi.  Prezi is a presenation software that goes above and beyond.  People can share knowlege, tell stories and inspire thier audiences.  It gives you a limitless zoomable canvas and the ability to show realtionships between the big picture and small details.  The depth and context will make your messages more motivational and remembered.  Prezi helps you organize your thoughts and deliver them in a clearer way to catch your audience attention.  With Prezi you can create one online or offline and you are able to share it with your friends.  You can even present your Prezi from your own mobile device.  There are over 50 million users that has created over 160 million Prezis.  Not only can you make your own Prezi but you can search for Prezis that other users have shared and if you like what you see you can make a copy of it to keep!  For example, I typed in "vowel sounds" and the Prezi site brought up a ton of Prezis that has to do with phoincs.  This could be a great way to use in the classroom for presenting something on a certain topic or just a review topic such as "vowel sounds".  It keeps the interested and engaged!  It is also great that you can search for other Prezis to present topics as well.  I would use this in my classroom to change the learning up a little instead of having boring slide by slide, it is more engaging, fun, interesting and will keep the students attention on the topic.  Another way you can use it in the classroom is by letting the students make thier own Prezi on a certain topic and then have them present it to the classroom.  What makes it easy to use is there are a handfull of templetes students can choose from and all they have to do is type the information in the text boxes.  They then can play around with font, color and adding photos which is very similar to google slides or powerpoint.  Thier are also help videos, tips and support if the student would need extra help.  It will be challenging for students to get the hang of it first due to all of the zooming and out and trying to put text boxes in the right place but the best thing is there is a perview button before you would decide to share your work.  Below is a link to the short Prezi that I made about myself.  Check it out!

http://prezi.com/br1si5znk5xz/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Week 3 PLN on VoiceThread

I loved playing around with Voicethread!  I have always heard about it but have never tried it out myslef until today.  Voicethread are online slide shows of images, doucments, or videos.  Viewers can make comments on any slide by text, audio/ video or drawing on the images itself.  This could be a great to use in the classroom by having students safely publish thier work to a global audince.  You could have your students do research on a specific topic and have them create a voicethread on it to present to the classroom!  This is also great for students who can not hear or speak because of the comment section people are able to type in comments and read the comments and visually see the pictures. This is one of the best ways to enhance student learning, improve student achievement and improve student engagement. Students can demonstrate their knowledge of content, develop higher level thinking skills, improve their digital literacy skills and harness the power of visual literacy in digital storytelling projects.  Below is the link to my voicethread that I made. Check it out!

https://voicethread.com/new/share/6893839/

Week 2 on PLN

PLN stands for personal learning network.  PLN to me and other resources is aboutt making connections and personal relationship with other teachers, schools, adminstrators around the world.  Having a PLN is sharing different ideas, resoucres and learning new ideas.  We can share these ideas in many different media tools.  It takes time to buld these connections but is a globel network. PLNs can include tons of different communities such as facebook, blogs, twitter, wikis and linkedin and most of the learning takes place online.
https://onceateacher.wordpress.com/2009/05/05/pln-your-personal-learning-network-made-easy/

 /http://teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/creating-a-pln/

Ther are ten tips that I found online on how to learn to network.
1. Connect
2. Contribute
3. Converse
4. Request
5. Blog
6. Tweet
7. Join Classroom 2.0
8. Use Google+
9. Be Patient
10. Be Authentic
http://gettingsmart.com/2012/01/personal-learning-networks-for-educators-10-tip

I think PLN's are important because it gives you different ideas and gets you connected with other educators.  You may find different ideas that you have never heard of or you may have ideas that you could share with other educators as well.  I think it can be used in the classroom in many different ways but one great way that was mentioned in the article Please Tweet You was getting to talk to authors about books they have written.  In the article the students loved chating with the author of a book they read in the classroom they were able to ask her questions they had and she was able to give the students answers.  I would love to use this in my future classroom.  I would mainly use it after my students have read a book or a certain topic and contact the author for question and answer chat.  I really hope to learn more ideas to be able to use in my classroom.

Tools Review Piktochart Week 2

The tool I have chosen is Piktochart.  Piktochat is an online tool for creating infrographics.  Combining charts, graphs, text, and graphics, users can easily assembele and present information using the drag-and-drop interface.  It is generally is geared towared adults in the work place creating business presentation, Piktochart clearly lends itslef to student use.  Students can choose a templete or theme, and then fill it with thier own information.  Students can learn concepts of grouping, graphing and visually representing pieces of information.  They can easily integrate them into inclass reports or projects and be able to share with thier peers.  Piktochart templates are set up to work well with all kinds of data and once the students get the hang of it they will be excited to do thier own research and making it look slick and professional.

In my classroom I would have my students create thier own info graphics maybe during science or social studies.  My students could teach thier classmates the judicial branh structure or create a WWII timeline.  Even in our language arts class they could make a Piktochart to diagram a book's plot or character sketches.  As an educator I could use this in my own lesson plans and inclass presentations depending on what the topic is for that subject.  It can really distill information into understandable chunks, and kids should respond well to its sleek design.

Again students can easily use Piktochart because they can choose a templete or theme, and then fill it with thier own information.  It is very easy to naviagte and has a ton of different options the student can choose from.  It is also very helpful that there is a step by step tutorial on how to make this infographic that the students can watch.  I think it would be challegning for students in the grades 2nd and below because it is very detailed.  It can also be frustrating when you can get soemthing where you want it.  I think this is really best for 3rd, 4th grade and up.
I hope you all enjoy!
Here are some screenshots of one that I created with a partner last semester:
https://magic.piktochart.com/output/5772308-untitled-infographic#

Here is a youtube video on how to make an inforgraphic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzI9RzvnwZA#action=share