The brain has been a major source of interest and curiosity in our family for the last 6 years. Most recently even more, when trying to figure out the best ways to educate. We have seen the brain take things that have been known one day and gone the next, so how do you handle this when trying to educate children? In looking at the various resources on the Dana Foundation website, a source of multi-sensory was brought up many times.
The arts were discussed time after time in regards to different studies. Many of them spoke of the arts, however seemed to think that more knowledge was drawn from those that not only were exposed to the arts, but to those that participated. For instance, more knowledge came to those that were learning to play an instrument, versus just listening to music.
Strategies came into play with regards to mnemonics and chunking, as well as, the arts bringing in phonemic awareness and repetition. Many children have concerns and we aren't made identical, so our teaching styles need to vary to allow all students to be able to succeed. Some children might pick up the information right away. Others might need more hands on styles to 'see' how something works and others just might need a little bit more creativity. Engaging each child is the key.
One of the topics talked about teaching how the brain works, so that the students can better understand how they think and process information. How awesome is that?! I think it would be a great avenue to teach children this information. This would allow them the opportunity to learn more about themselves and know what is best for them, allowing them to lead their education.
Glogster
There are so many Web 2.0 tools to choose from! Let’s explore the Glogster tool in a little more depth, seeing that I have seen this tool used in classrooms from grades 3-6.
‘Healthy Lifestyles’
Our project will be based upon Healthy Lifestyles. The classroom will be divided up into 10 groups of 3. Each student will be responsible for collaborating with their group to bring their research, ideas and creativity to the project, as well as present. They will work together to enter the text and images into their Glogster account.
The students will need to address the following:
1)Food Plate (What is suggested?)
2)Physical Activities (How much?)
3)Samples of both
4)Unhealthy habits (food & activities)
The goal is for the students to have to work together to see the whole picture of health. To show how eating right and exercise combined bring it all together, as well as, how their daily life is or can be affected. This assignment also allows for knowledge, problem solving, communication skills, creativity and writing skills.
Healthy Lifestyles Rubric
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1
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2
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3
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4
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Content Covered
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1 of the 4
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2 of the 4
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3 of the 4
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4 of the 4
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Text & Images
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1 of the 4
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2 of the 4
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3 of the 4
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4 of the 4
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Team Work
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Argued and did not complete task
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Argued but still able to complete task
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Communicated with little disagreements
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Communicated & worked smoothly-problem solved
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Presentation
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0 presented
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1 presented
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2 presented
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3 presented
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Technology Explorations # 19
a.) Delicious-
http://www.delicious.com/
1.
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Describe what you learned from exploring this resource. Be thorough in your response.
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I had never heard of the delicious.com website before today, but it has been in existence since 2003. My first glance at the site, it looked very similar to what you would see in looking at an Edmodo or Facebook page. The author profile picture is in the top left corner, with connectors in a listing below with information in the middle. The verbage from the site was “capture the web you’ve been missing”.
It is a place where you can house all your web findings and keep them for easy access. Pictures, sites and videos can be placed under your profile. This is one way to organize different areas of your life. An example could be: recipes, fun stuff, home improvements, and more. Your profile can also connect with Facebook and/or Twitter.
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2.
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How could you use this resource in a school setting? It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.
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In thinking in education setting, I can see educators creating their own profile to share different teaching tools. This would allow for easy access to share with others. Just think about all the time it can take to create 1 document for a class. If you could have access to a network, it could be as easy as clicking on a link from another educator’s site.
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3.
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Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth. Why or Why not?
The site is free, so there is no budget concern. It seems really easy to use and look through. I would recommend it to other educators as a resource. I am concentrated more with the younger students, but I could actually see using this tool with high school students to start their own organizational style.
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b.) HistoryPin-
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Describe what you learned from exploring this resource. Be thorough in your response.
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History Pin was a new site for me to explore. My first impression was that is was something like Pinterest, as well as an mapping look. In looking through the site, I saw all types of history being charted in a time line as well as location. Comments can be added to the pictures and people are able to seek out more visual memories of history. It reminds me of the saying “A picture is worth a thousand words”.
The site allows for additional pictures to be added to current topics and creations of new. The new creations can be of public events or event family history.
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2.
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How could you use this resource in a school setting? It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.
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In thinking of a resource for school, I can see this being a great tool for visual learners. The pictures allow for another look into learning the materials. I can also see this being used a project where multiple students can work to add to a certain project. A great example could be the history of your home town or school. A variety of people (students, staff, parents and/or community leaders) could all add their pictures to create and fill in the missing pieces of history. It could be used as a great community involvement piece.
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3.
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Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth. Why or Why not?
This resource could be a great tool. It seems really easy to navigate and offers downloadable tools for extra classroom options. It is a non-profit that survives off of donations and no cost to the user.
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c.) Diigo- http://www.diigo.com/
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Describe what you learned from exploring this resource. Be thorough in your response.
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Diigo looks like a cloud with fingers. It kind of reminds me of the various mapping explorations that I have looked through. The site allows for accessing your information from any device, whether it is your home computer, your phone or ipod/ipad. The text actually talked about Diigo being better than Delicious, due to some added features. The ability to highlight text and add verbage in addition to adding a sticky note seemed to be the newest addition. Saving these changes, allows for returning to it later.
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2.
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How could you use this resource in a school setting? It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.
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I can see this being used in a day to day lesson for a classroom. In looking at different information and needing to add students’ comments, they can be immediately and then saved. Areas can be highlighted as marked all on a larger screen while the entire class has input. Being allowed to save this, allows for access later and all the notes that came along with the live review.
The site allows for educator options, in which the students can have their own accounts. This allows for further discoveries.
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3.
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Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth. Why or Why not?
Diigo offers several plans at different costs. I would probably start out with the ‘free’ plan to see if it would work for the individual person, before committing to a paid plan. There offer: free, basic, premium and educator plans.
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d.) Calculator-
1.
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Describe what you learned from exploring this resource. Be thorough in your response.
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PBS Kids offers quite a bit of information thru videos and games for children to learn. The Calculator starts out with audio when you type in the numbers. The site offers different links for games, videos and more. Some of the videos are cartoon based, while others are real people. There are various math topics, so that different areas of concentration can be explored.
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2.
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How could you use this resource in a school setting? It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.
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This site could offer an extra look into math operations, especially if the student or students need more reinforcement.
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3.
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Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth. Why or Why not?
PBS kids is a site that I would recommend any educator. The content is safe for the classroom and allows for another look at the concepts. It does allow for a parent login and a teacher login, if wanted, but it doesn’t have to be accessed to view the various videos and games.
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e.) Talking Calculator-
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Describe what you learned from exploring this resource. Be thorough in your response.
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I thought that I was just accessing a talking calculator. It appears that this actual site has many office tools, however the calculator was the focus for today. The site has a more adult look to it, whereas the PBS Kids site was more cartoon geared.
The calculator has to be downloaded and allows for a large number font, to allow for a better visual as well as hearing the numbers. When the calculator talks, it speaks accurately. For example: 5, 230 would be spoken as ‘five thousand, two hundred, thirty’ versus, 5,2,3,0.
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2.
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How could you use this resource in a school setting? It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.
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This calculator could be downloaded to the main desktop for a teacher and one of the classroom computers. I can see it on a classroom computer with headphones, to allow for an auditory option for children that need that extra piece. The main teacher computer could be viewed on the overhead allowing a teaching experience in how to use the calculator in checking your answers.
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3.
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Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth. Why or Why not?
The site seems easy to use and doesn’t seem to cost, however I don’t know that I would necessarily recommend. I would rather explain how to actually work the math problems out on the board, so that the process can be seen instead of a straight calculator.
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Technology Exploration #20
a.)Math wiki example-
1.
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Describe what you learned from exploring this resource. Be thorough in your response.
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This is a wiki designed to help an educator. It offers help in planning different math lessons through a non traditional avenue, connecting it to the standards that need to be met. The combination of writing and math together seem to be main idea, allowing the creativity of a student to shine through explaining the math concepts.
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2.
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How could you use this resource in a school setting? It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.
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I can see this site being used as a resource for an educator that is looking for another way to incorporate the writing styles with math. This site give questions to think about as well as explaining how different concepts can be taught via writing.
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3.
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Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth. Why or Why not?
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I believe a wiki can always be a source of knowledge. This one in particular would be a great tool to use. There is no cost involved and the site could easily be bookmarked. It connects ideas with the standards, so there is no fear of deviating.
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b.) PicLits-
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Describe what you learned from exploring this resource. Be thorough in your response.
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This is a new approach to creative writing. Earlier in our technology explorations and assignments, we have talked about visual imagery. We had to choose a picture that if said, you could immediately visualize or if seen, you automatically knew who it was or what it was about. This just boosts this a little more. This site allows for pictures already downloaded to have text added. There are many words to choose from, so that it is as simple as a click and drag or a freestyle writing option. The new pic-lit can then be saved and shared.
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2.
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How could you use this resource in a school setting? It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how
the resource might be used in educational settings.
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This is a great tool to use in the classroom. Pic-Lit offers another look into language arts. It allows the students to be creative by seeing a visually and putting words out there to describe their feelings in looking at the image. Since the program can be viewed on a smartboard, it allows for the entire class to collaborate. Lots of questions can be asked to stir the emotions and get those creative juices flowing. Rhyming words and descriptive words would be greatly utilized with this style of lesson.
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3.
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Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth. Why or Why not?
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Pic-Lit would be a resource that I would recommend. It is an easy sign up and no fee to set it up. In looking for ways to grab the attention of all learners, this gives another avenue.
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