Week 4
This
week I learned a great deal about PowerPoint Presentations. We had a discussion forum as well as were
asked to answer questions about a PPP that we created.
1.
What was the presentation about and to whom did you
present it? Since we are out of school I
created a PowerPoint and presented it to my children, ages 6 and 7. My PowerPoint is geared towards helping special
needs students prepare for daily activities at home and at school. I broke it down into 4 main areas: morning routine, behavior in the classroom,
how to excel in the classroom, and homework challenges.
2.
Of which item in your presentation are you the most
proud? I was able to get the information
that I wanted into the slides and present the material in a way to keep the
children’s interest for most of the slide show.
3.
What might you do differently if you could create the
presentation again? If I were at school
I would take pictures or videos in the classroom of how to do a few of the
topics we talk about and spice the PowerPoint up a bit. I would also work on the transitions, I chose
a lot of the cookie cutter transitions and they are neat but after seeing 20 in
a row they get monotonous. Sometimes simpler
is better.
4.
How did your students respond to the
presentation? They watched the
presentation and really liked the slide transitions. Most of the content was on a K-3 level so
they understood it probably better than some of my special education
students. I kept their attention through
about three quarters of the presentation and then they lost interest. I think if I could go back and put in more
pictures or add some videos to the presentation they would have watched the
whole thing through.
5.
Do you have any new ideas or thoughts on how to use
PowerPoint with your students in the future?
Yes, I never knew how easy it was to make PowerPoint Presentations. I admit that I need to work on polishing them
up and adding more multimedia content but I can see doing a lot of classroom
activities on PowerPoint. Plus if you
couple PowerPoint with some of the other file sharing multimedia sites we have
explored I can easily see putting instructions, assignments, fun activities,
field trips, etc. on the web for students to use and parents to view.
My mind is literally spinning with all of the helpful resources that this TED.com has to offer teachers to enhance learning in their classrooms. Since I am a special needs aide, I regularly collaborate with teachers in all subjects. It has been my experience that middle school students struggle greatly in math and in science so I wanted to look at videos pertaining to those subjects. I definitely wasn't disappointed by either video.
The first video that I chose to watch was by Dan Meyer. "Math class needs a makeover" was very interesting to say the least. Basically he is saying that any problem worth solving is not simple and textbooks in the classroom make problems seem simple without really ever having to "learn" the math. The textbook has the example and from that you are able to solve the problem quite easily but again everyday problems in life are not like that at all. You have to sift through information to find what is useful and may even have to research to find more information to "solve" the problem. What I found most interesting is that he as a teacher changes the textbook problems and works in real life problems. One example shown was asking "how long does it take to fill this tank". He actually took a video of a tank being filled up so that they could visually and in real time be able to see and solve the problem. I only wish that more teachers were like, Dan Meyer. He stated in the video that he is able to reach students, who have problems in math and normally would not participate in the discussion, are now being quite involved.
I also chose to check out the video by Tyler DeWitt, "Hey Science Teachers--Make it Fun." In this video, I learned that Tyler is a first year high school science teacher. He quickly found out that his students weren't learning from their assignments. They mostly were speechless except for one of his stronger students who told him that she really wasn't able to understand the material. Tyler suggests making science fun even if you generalize things more. Like saying all virsus' have DNA when in fact not ALL do, some could have RNA. But he says with young learners knowing which details to leave out so that they main point comes across can be the difference between a student loving science or hating it. A lot of time the textbooks are so scientific that its just too hard to understand and therefore the students give up. Tyler wants science to be fun and he does this by making videos and storytelling. He leaves out the seriousness, makes people laugh and care about what he is saying by giving examples on middle school terms. He has gotten great feedback from these in his classes so I know he is doing something right.
I feel that from both of these examples that you can apply them to any grade level that you teach whether it be elementary, middle, or high school. In math, the student needs real life examples in order to grasp the concept. When you are able to do this then they more than likely are going to "get it" and it will stay with them forever. With science its more complicated but in essence the scientific terms need to be made fun and related to things that they are interested in. When you do this they won't be able to get enough of science. I feel that I can adapt both of these videos to teaching special needs children in their math and science collaboration classes. I can't wait to meet with the regular education teachers and get their input as well.
Tech Exploration # 11
Comic Life http:comiclife.com
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1.
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Describe what you
learned from exploring this resource. Be thorough in your response.
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Comic Life is a
website that I know the students in special education would love especially
the male students who read comics often.
I work with some amazing and creative thinkers who could use this to
create a comic and in the meantime enhance their writing skills. This website is sure to enhance their
artistic and creative abilities by allowing them to think out of the box, so
to speak. As I have stated in the
previous posts, any time you can incorporate fun and learning together you
have excelled as a teacher. This
software works with Mac, Windows, and Touch Screen devices.
Ispeech is another
resource that enables you to change text to speech. However, ispeech is designed for a much
broader array of uses. This software
is marketed to app developers and designers.
It also can be used on your moblile device, websites and even “smart”
home appliances. You can also use it
so that your blog can be read to your students like a podcast.
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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
comiclife.com being used in any subject that is offered in the school system
and more specifically in English, Writing, or Art. I know I have students that struggle in
writing and staying focused, but using this website I feel that they would be
able to express their thoughts more easily by using comics. By incorporating this into my teaching, I
feel that this might be exactly what they need to want to learn.
Ispeech can be used
in many ways in my class. Like I
stated before with the other text to word programs, many of my students have
problems reading written words. With
this program they will be able to hear the words and do the work themselves
thus improving their comprehension and pride in their work.
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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 do recommend
comiclife.com to educator’s especially those that need to reach certain
students that are visual learners.
This might spark an interest in them to open up and let a little
creativity out. I can imagine several
lessons that I could use this tool to visually get my point across and with
comic strips being in sequential order this would lend very nicely to step by
step instructions. This site is inexpensive
at $19.99 so it is fairly affordable to most anyone. It seems very easy to use as well.
This is a very well
written program and comes with many features.
These come at a price through and this program can cost upwards of
$2500 to install on computers. There
are many free parts of this software and those could possibly be used in the
classroom setting. There is also a
section called creative pricing and a section for educators that appears to
let educators use the program at a reduced rate or even free. In this capacity I can recommend the
program. If you had to pay the full
price you would really have to need the program to justify the cost.
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Tech Exploration # 12
www.voicethread.com
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1.
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Describe what you
learned from exploring this resource. Be thorough in your response.
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The website, http://www.voicethread.com,
details information on a program that lets you upload images, videos, presentations,
etc... to the cloud. Once uploaded you
can let your students log on and view the files and make comments or have
discussions with other students. You have control on who sees the
information. You also can use the
software and create teams where you can put parts of your classes against
each other in debates or projects. You
can get a single teacher license for $80 and they offer discounts for whole
schools.
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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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The uses of this
software are endless in the classroom.
The teacher can upload lessons, seminars or assignments. Students can go online and use the site
for discussions, debates and getting assignments or missed lectures. The good thing about the software is you
can limit who sees the posts and who can comment. It also can use virtually any multimedia
source for visually pleasing presentations.
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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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Even with its $80
price tag, I can recommend www.voicethread.com for educators to use
in their classrooms. The ability to
place lessons and presentations online where students can view again and
again is priceless. This also lets
visual learners watch lessons and assignments rather than have to read a book
or write and read notes.
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Tech Exploration # 13
Storybird http://www.storybird.com
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1.
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Describe what you
learned from exploring this resource. Be thorough in your response.
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Storybird is a program that lets students read,
write, share and sell stories they write.
The site has a lot of art to choose from that you can add to your
stories or you can even sell artwork to the website if you have drawing
abilities. This website allows you to
set who sees your work and if they can comment on your work. This visual way of writing allows the
student to open up creatively and may actually inspire students to write more
than the minimum number of words you assign!!
Scribblar is a whiteboard program that lets groups
of people collaborate and and post online.
With the program teachers can host a virtual classroom and have the
students be able to comment and post also.
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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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The storybird app
would be perfect for a class that focuses on writing or literature, poetry,
etc. The students can create stories
and add artwork and really let their creativity shine through. The program also lets others view their
work and leave comments.
Scribblar is like
many other whiteboard programs. The teacher
can use the app to present lessons to the students and the students can
follow along and comment on the presentation.
You can also attach multimedia files to the pages of your whiteboards
for others to see.
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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 can see storybird
being used in selected classrooms.
Writing, literature, poetry and art classes would be a natural fit for
this app. This app has a free section
but it limits the user on what he or she can do. The premium version can be paid on a
monthly or yearly basis. Since a free
version exists for one or two time users and the relatively low price for the
better versions I can recommend the app for students.
Since scribbler is
free I can recommend the software. It
is a pretty solid whiteboard program and has the ability to add multimedia
elements so that is a plus.
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Xtranormal –http://www.xtranormal.com and the National Library of Virtual Manipulative http://nlvm.usu.edu
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1.
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Describe what you
learned from exploring this resource. Be thorough in your response.
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Xtranormal is a website that lets you create
animated movies by simply selecting a character and scene and then typing
some text. It is very easy and free
for the online version that comes with limited characters. You can purchase an upgraded version that
unlocks many more characters.
The National Library of Virtual
Manipulative is a mathematical website that you can select what you need help
in and what grade level you are in.
This site offers help in Algebra, Geometry and measurements from preK
to 12th grade.
Once you select the subject and
grade a program launches with many tutorial and problems to work through.
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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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Xtranormal can be used anytime you want to present a topic
or subject in video form. These videos
would be great for teaching early elementary education and the students would
really like the characters. The ease
of use and professional results are a big plus. I do however think older
students would not be responsive to the cartoon characters.
The NLVM website is a very simple program that allows the
user to pick out the subject and grade level.
Some of the tutorials lack any direction and you have to work through
them trial and error to arrive at the right answers. It does contain a lot of information in one
central location.
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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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Xtranormal I can
recommend for preK-to maybe 4th or 5th grade. Its ease of use and low initial cost is a
win-win for this software. You can
upgrade for a very fair price and do a whole lot more than the free version. Once students get to 5th or 6th
grade I think the cute characters will not be effective with them and I
wouldn’t recommend for those ages.
NLVM is a great
little website. It’s clearly laid out
and pretty intuitive with the controls.
It does however lack directions on a lot of the tutorials. It does have a free trial version so I can
recommend it. If there were cost
involved I would have to think about recommending it though.
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