Field Experiences

ITEC 7430 & ITEC 7445 Field Experience: 12+ hours
Creating Math Notebook Files
(TF-II.A-F, III.A-E) Throughout the semester, I created Smart Notebook files for our Math Department to use. We use these lessons to present, review and practice math concepts. When creating files, I use a standard format of presenting a warm up question, then a slide with the Standard and EQ, what we are doing that day (Opening, Worktime, Closing) as well as guided notes, interactive problems, linked sites to explore, etc... These lessons are used by the 8th Grade Math Department to guide instruction.
Creating these files helps me with technology skills as well as design skills. I want to present the information in a way that is easy to read, organized and useful. I try to design the pages for notes as well as some student interaction. I also link sites that I am going to be using to the file which makes getting from one place to another easy. Using the Smart Notebook software, I've learned how to use the SmartNotebook Recorder, Recorder, Image Capture as well as many other tools available with Smart Technologies. I find the Smart Software is educationally friendly. It is also easy to create interactive practice quizzes, games, graphs and maps. I can look at my files and see the progress I've made in, not only the design, but use of technology.



ITEC 7430 & ITEC 7445 Field Experience: 1 hour
Sharing with Google Docs
(TF-V.C-D)

Getting things together for the end of the year can be quite hectic. There is a lot of collaboration between the grade level teams and it is always difficult to get everyone in one place at one time. We also have lists to compile with students names and differing categories. I threw out the idea of us compiling the lists, documents, etc...using Google Docs. Most all teachers in the 8^th grade already had a Gmail account however, many had not used Google Docs before. At at team meeting one day, I helped the few teachers without a Gmail account get set up and ready to share. I previously created the document that we need in Google Docs Spreadsheet and emailed the file to everyone else after we all were Gmail ready. I showed the teachers how to bring up the file on their email and how all edits were changed for everyone at one time. Therefore, we do not lose a copy or get confused about who has the final copy. This allowed the 8^th grade teachers to easily add their need information to the one document.

 

ITEC 7430 & ITEC 7445 Field Experience: 1 hour
Smart Recorder and PPT Recorder
(TF-V.C-D)

One of my fellow teachers, Mr. B, overheard me talking about recording with Smart Recorder. He wanted to know more about the tool and if he had it available on his computer. During planning one day, I went to help him get his set up. He was not familiar with Notebook software, even though it was available on his computer. He normally used PPT for his Science presentations, etc... I first of all showed him Notebook software and its relevance to his classroom. I then showed him how to set up Smart Recorder and use it without having a Notebook file up on the desktop. He liked how easy the tool was to use and then we talked about ways to use the tool in the classroom.

He then wanted to know if he could record a PPT presentation. In the process of showing him how to do that, we found that PPT has a record feature as well. This is something I did not know as I hardly ever use PPT. PPT's record feature does not do as much as the Smart Recorder, however, it is also a tool that he can put to good use.

 
 

ITEC 7430 and ITEC 7445 Field Experience: 7 hours
Tutorial videos using Smart Recorder and survey
(TF-I.A, II.C )

For our emerging technologies assignment, I chose to learn about the Smart Recorder. After completing the assignment, I felt that I could use the recorder to make short tutorial videos for teachers in my school that would like to learn about some of the Web 2.0 tools that I've learned about this past semester. I chose to do three Smart Recorder videos over iFlashcards, wallwisher.com, and glogster.edu. In the tutorials, I showed teachers how to set up their account, create, and ways to implement in the classroom. Since the recorded files were so large, I had to upload them to Teacher Tube and then post the link through our school email on a page called CMS Announcements. I did not want to overwhelm our teachers so, I posted one every few weeks. After several of the teacher saw the videos, they wanted to know how to use the Smart Recorder as well.

After posting all of the videos, I created a short survey to see what the faculty thought of the three sites and if they would like to implement in the classroom. A majority of teachers said they would, however, they would have to work on it for next school year. A majority of teachers also said they liked iFlashcards for year round use and Glogster for project ideas. I put these tutorial videos together so that my colleauges can see what they are missing! I want other teachers to see the kinds of tools they can use to support curriculum instruction.

 


ITEC 7430 & ITEC 7445 Field Experience: 1 hour
Useful Web 2.0 Tools in the Classroom
(TF-II.A)

My team teacher, Mrs. Flowers, and I discussed our technoloy lessons with each other. I told her and showed her my wallwisher.com lesson that I used with my Social Studies classes. We talked about similar sites that were blocked at our school, however, wallwisher.com is available to our students. I showed her how I was using the site in the classroom this week and told her of other ideas that I have for the site that we can use next year. She is interested in the Web tool and is planning on making herself an account. She also posted a respons to one of my questions to learn more about it.
 
Mrs. Flowers then told me about her Glogster.edu activity that she is going to do with her students this week. She is going to have them create a glogster page on a famous person in history that we've discussed in our GA History classes. We talked about the activity guidelines and how students will need to cite pictures and information they find. Mrs. Flowers took me through the setup process and we discussed how we could get all of our students a Glogster.edu account. A teacher can only have 50 students per account. We pulled our other team teacher in the conversation and we will all set up accounts to where our entire team will have glogster access. I discussed ideas of using the site in math class as well.

ITEC 7430 & ITEC 7445 Field Experience: 8 hours
Syncing Clickers with Study Island and Implementing
(TF-IV. A-B. )

After getting a little fed up with a program called Study Island last year, I asked our Math Coaches if we could have a teacher training on the program. I searched the program and found all kinds of cool things to do with it, however, there were several tasks I could not figure out. We finally got our training in January. We learned how to track our students progress, how to make sure they were really working during lab time and how to make using the program more competetative among students. I also found out that we could sync our clickers to Study Island for several different activities.

After the training, I was determined to sync my clickers with the program. I wanted to use the program as well as the clickers for our CRCT prep before April. I found how to sync the clickers, however, there was a problem in the process. I tried several different options with no success. I had to email our tech person to help me out. She worked on it a little while and gave me a call and we tried to work out the kinks together. We finally figured out how to sync correctly and I was able to play with the program to see the kinds of options I had with my students and the program.

I spoke with the other two math teachers in 8^th grade to inform them of my idea of using Study Island with the clickers to prep students before CRCT. They were up for the idea as well. I went to each of their rooms to help them get their clickers synced with the program as well as set up the class rosters. We then sat together to talk about how we wanted to use the clickers. We decided to do some whole class review as well as individual review. We chose topics we felt stuents were the weakest on such as algebra skills, probability and linear equations.

In March, we used the clickers with the Study Island program for two weeks (3 days per week). At the end of the two week period, I analyzed the data collected from the program to see how students were progressing. I was able to see what areas my classes were the strongest and weakest in. This helped me guide instruction on my team in the weeks to come.

Having students use Study Island and the clickers allows teachers to keep track of students progress to guide instruction. Each of our teams had something to work on to help our students prepare. Having this data and collecting it in a way that holds our students attention is a helpful tool in assessing understanding.

ITEC 7430 & ITEC 7445 Field Experience: 2 hours
iFlashcards to ESOL Group
(TF-VI. B,D)

To help our ESOL students with vocabulary, I went down during their Explo/Elective time to help them learn how to use and create flashcards using the freezingblue.com website. I've used the site in class before to create flashcards for my students. To help our ESOL students and teachers, I went to the ESOL class during my planning to show the teachers and students how to create and use the iFlashcards. We had students and teachers create accounts and I walked them through the set up and creation process. The were able to pick it up quickly. I also had typed directions for teachers and students if needed. Our ESOL students are constantly studying their vocabulary and I felt this was a more productive way to study. The teachers and students enjoyed the site and I've seen several of them using it throughout the day. Students ask me if they can log onto my student computer to study their cards when they have free time.

Work smarter, not harder is what I think about when I use these iflashcards. I'm trying to get the word out about the site and how useful it can be for students. Our students have a difficult time knowing how to study and I feel this site can help them. The main goal is to get students creating these cards on their own. There is also an iflashcards app students can get on their iPhones, Androids and iPodTouches. So, students can create on the internet and then take their flashcards with them.

 

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ITEC 7410 Field Experience: 4 hours

Survey

(TF-VI.B)

I learned how to create a survey using SurveyMonkey.com. I wanted some data to use for my SWOT analysis so, I created a survey online. The survey was simple to create and best of all FREE! The free version allowed you to ask only 10 questions, however, if you used the matrix type questions, you could get more questions in without going over the allotted 10. It took me a while to figure out how to use the matrix type questions. Once I played around with it some, it was easy to generate. It took me a while to make the survey as I was trying to find questions that would help me in creating my SWOT.

Once my survey was complete, I was able to post the link in an email and send to teachers at my school. I asked teachers to complete the survey anonymously as I was using the information for my master's class. Teachers were willing to help(as I bribed them with candy) and most said it was easy to take.

Analyzing the results are very simple as well. SurveyMonkey collects the data and lists the percentages of different answers. It was easy to take the data that the site collected and use in my SWOT analysis.

ITEC 7410 Field Experience: 2.5 hours

Twittering!

(TF- I.B)

My team wanted to find a better way to communicate with our students using technology. We have homework hotline at our school, however, many students do not even bother to check the site. Our team decided to try Twitter. My team teachers and I each set up our own Twitter account. Mine is AchuppTeaches. We had our students take out their phones and follow us on twitter. When students follow us on Twitter using their phones, they will get a text message every time one of us sends out a message. We usually send out information about homework, upcoming tests/quizzes, fundraisers and school events. We also posted how to follow our accounts on our homework hotline so parents will also be informed. We also post links to our iFlashcards as well as other sites where students can study for classes.

We had a meeting with a parent last week and we told her about the text messages using Twitter. She was very excited as she does not have Internet access at home, however, she does get text messages. We gave her the directions and she is now following us to keep her and her son up to date.

Our administrators were happy with our idea and allowed us a few minutes to share it with our faculty during out last meeting. Since then, I've shown other teachers how easy it is and how they do not need Internet access to be able to use it. I've also had other teachers at my school following our Tweets to learn more.

ITEC 7410 Field Experience: 1.5 hours

Learning about Study Island

(TF- III.A.B )

Our school is using Study Island as one way to improve CRCT scores. We've had the software for a few years now. The last two years, I've not had the chance to really look at the software and see what it offers. I just knew that students could go online and take tests based on GPS standards. Well, it was promoted again during a faculty meeting a few weeks ago and I thought I'd take a look to see what it is all about. Currently, there is no training or professional learning on the software. We were told we did not need training on the program...obviously someone has not looked at what the program offers.

I logged onto my teacher account and I saw a link where I could select students to make rosters of my classes, in order to track progress. Had no clue it could do that! I set up my classes(which took a while as I had to select my students form the entire 8^th grade) and began looking at what students could do. I noticed that I could make my own tests, make games/competitions out of progress, sync to CPS system and so much more! I was excited about syncing to our CPS system. I decided I would try it and after several attempts, I failed to sync the CPS clickers. I'm still working on that part of it. I went to my PLC that week and asked our coach if we could get training on the program. So, that is actually in the works. Hopefully it will happen! I'm assuming our school is wanting to use it for tutorial and drill/ practice but there is so much more potential.

ITEC7410 Field Experience: 1 hour

Internet Safety Powerpoint Presentation

(TF – VI.A)

After creating our Internet Safety Powerpoint, I had the opportunity to share it with the teachers in my weekly PLC. I went through the powerpoint and then went back to show teachers the sites I used in my presentation. I let other teachers download the presentation so they could share it with their classes. I also shared the presentation with our counselors as they do monthly lessons with students in each grade level. I thought the information may be something they could use in a lesson.

I also shared my Internet Safety Powerpoint with my ELT class. ELT is an extended learning time class. We were planning on using technology that week so I decided that it was a great time to incorporate Internet Safety into the classroom. My kids thought it was a little cheesey but they really enjoyed watching the videos that I incorporated into the Powerpoint.

ITEC7410 Field Experience: 1 hour

Sharing Content Report

(TF-I.A)

I had the chance to share my content report with the Social Studies teachers in 8^th grade. Most of the teachers were interested in the information found on the report. Several of the teachers had not used or were not aware of the tools and resources available to them in the classroom. I showed a few teachers the Brainpop site where there are many videos that can be accessed related to our standards. I was also able to share the Brainpop site with my technology teacher.

I also shared the flyer with my Media Specialist and she is now trying to put together something to get this kind of information out so teachers will be aware and hopefully use our available technology.



 ITEC 7400 Field Experience: 30 minutes

Learning how to podcast

(TF-I.B)

One day after school my team teacher, Mrs. Flowers, showed me how to podcast. She showed me how to record my voice using GarageBand on the Mac and then upload it to I-Tunes. She then showed me that I could add a pictures with podcasts and upload it to I-Tunes. This could help me in the classroom for students that may need to catch up on difficult material in math and get notes from missed days. Students can also use the podcasting in school projects or make their own podcast in social studies for other students to listen to. It took about 15 minutes for Mrs. Flowers to show me how to podcast and then another 15 minutes for me to get in there and try it out.

ITEC 7400 Field Experience: 3 hours

iFlashcards

(TF-III.A.B)

My team teacher found a site called www.freezingblue.com. Best of all, it's free! Here, you can make iFlashcards for your students to use in class or outside of class. When I went to the site, I had to make my account and then I could begin making my cards. I'm using the site for SS and for Math. Students can practice their flashcards online, on their iPhone or Ipod Touch. The app works better with the iPhone and Ipod Touch. My team teacher and I make flashcards for SS information and I use the site for my math vocabulary.

I had my kids with iPhones find the app during class so they could show others. If students have time during class, they may use their devices to study during class. I've also brought in laptops and had students quiz each other. I know not all students have access to the information outside of school, therefore, I allow time in school to use the iFlashcards. It is also a good way to do a quick practice with my class as a whole when I bring it up on the Smartboard.

ITEC 7400 Field Experience: 4 hours

Mobile Study

(TF – III.A.B)

I found a site called Mobile Study where teachers can create practice quizzes for students to take online. I've made a few quizzes for my students in math that go along with the units we've studied. The site is very easy to follow. Teachers can make their own account and keep up with quizzes made. Multiple choice questions can be made and explanations can be given if a student misses a question. I can also post the link to our Twitter account so students can easily access when new quizzes are made.

ITEC 7400 Field Experience: 3 hours

Creating Smartboard Review Games

(TF- IV.A and I.A)

Near the end of a unit, I like to play a review game with my kids to give them a fun way of assessing what they remember and then showing them what they need to study before the test. I found that the Smartboard's Notebook tools has a gallery of many different interactive files that can be adapted to fit the content. I found a “tiles” file where I can put a point value on the outside of the card and then a question on the inside of the card.

I like to split my room in half or make several different teams so groups can compete with each other using the points. If the group gets the question correct, that team wins their points. If the team gets it wrong, then the opposing team gets a try at the same question. This makes reviewing much for fun for the kids. I made a “tiles” review game for our last SS unit on the American Revolution and then in Math, dreaded equations. I've also used the “matching” file that allows students to match the correct word with the correct definition or statement. I've used this review in my SS class to help students remember different people.

I also helped my team Science teacher across the hall in creating and using the interactive files Smartboard has on their Notebook software. Math usually uses the Notebook software so, when I showed the Science teacher the interactive files, she was very excited!