12/15-12/29
Since this is my first blog, I want to share what I have done so far this year J. On a regular basis, I use my LCD projector, Elmo and and SMARTboard with my 4th grade students. I usually use my SMARTboard during math class and use the Elmo during reading. I use the SMARTboard to make working problems more interesting and the program allows me to save pages of problems that the kids solved that I can save and go over later. I use the Elmo to display pages from the practice book so explain the seatwork while I pull small groups. I am looking forward to using these technologies in new ways and using new technologies to enhance my educaiton. During the coming week, I am going to think of new ways that I can use the my laptop to enhance my reading lessons.
12/22-12/26
Students are not in school this week but I am planning ways to make lessons more interesting with technology. One idea that I am bouncing around in my head is finding a way to use technology to review for different quizzes and tests. Maybe incorporating our CPS clickers into some review sessions would make reviewing for tests more interesting. Next week, we will still be on spring break but I will be thinking about how to approach my wiki.
12/29-1/2
We are still on Winter Break and I am beginning to plan out my ideas for my classroom wiki. I want to use this wiki as a review tool but I am not sure which class to use it in. I am thinking it would probably work best in Science but I am looking into using a Social Studies video as well since we will beging studying the history of Maryland once school resumes. Next week, I will be working on using technology to prepare my students for their tests and quizzes using technology.
1/5-1/9
At this point in the school year, I need to make sure that all students know their math facts. I will be using www.multiplication.com to help students practice their facts. There is a great game call Math Magician on there that times the students and gives them a chance to print off their scores. There are also several games that ask students to know their math facts. Next week, I will look to continue using these websites and develop a a more efficient computer rotation chart for math.
1/12-1/16
I have worked hard to develop a more efficient math rotation chart. My old chart had students grouped alphabetically, which did not always work well because students that needed extra support from me would miss their turn on the computer. In my new rotation, I have students grouped based on ability now and it helps when I am pulling small groups in math. I can now see all of the students that I need to see at one time and there is a much more efficient rotation beween small groups, computers and seat work. Next week, I am going to shift my focus to reading and focus on my at risk students to help them to develop their very weak reading skills.
1/19-1/23
My 4th grade reading curriculum comes with a cd that reads the leveled readers to my students. I have had a hard time using these because they work best in small groups but my laptop is used for the whole group lesson so it takes time to get that unhooked and hooked up again in the small group section of the classroom. I ave decided to start moving the whole group lesson along a little faster so I can have time to get the laptop to the small group section of the classroom. Right now to assist students who are strugglign with reading fluency, I play the cd for the students to read along with in small groups. Alternating between student reading and the cd reading helps students to focus on comprehension. Next week, I will be looking into ways to improve note taking in class using technology.
1/26-1/30
This week, I worked out a great way to help students take notes during reading class. I now use my laptop to type notes and comments made by the class for tsutdents to put into their notebooks. I have found that students are much more engaged and want to see their ideas shared on the laptop. I have also found that this helps to better organize the notes and is easier to follow than notes written on the chalkboard. It is also nice to be able to save notes to go back to at a later time. During the coming week, I am going to turn my focus to science. We have a science test coming up and I want to use technology to help the students prepare for the test.
2/2-2/6
I have created my first Wiki! We have a test coming up soon on Earth Science so I have created a wiki that has a video about different tpes of sedimentary rocks. After watching the video, the students are to make a post in the discussion area describing a certain type of rock. I am looking forward ot reviewing what they record in the discussion area. Next time, I will share what I have observed about my first wiki experience.
2/9-2/13
The wiki experience was a disaster L. Students watched the video in the computer lab but when it came to making posts, students completely missed the point. I learned quickly that it would have made more sense to maybe have a practice wiki to expose the students to wikis. Most of their posts did not have significant information and some students tried to chat with each other over the discussion board. I am going to create a new wiki in a few weeks to review for our next test. I will that what I leanred from this experience to create a new wiki in generally the same way but with the students being more experienced. Later, I am going to do some invesigation into www.teachertube.com to find videos pertaining to the Early America.
2/16/2/20
This was our first week of implementing www.studyisland.com. Students really bought into the program and enjoyed seeing their percentages. The competitive aspect of study island (comparing student scores to other students and schools) has really motivated students to score better and try harder. I found that students were using the program at home and were imporving their scores by playing the game as often as they could. I will definitely continue to use this program in future weeks.
2/23-2/27
The success of TeacherTube earlier encourages me to find a video pertaining to erosion. I was able to find a cartoon that clearly explained the roll of erosion in nature and it effectively reinforced the information from our curriculum. The fact that it was a lively catroon kept my student’s attention and made the information more fun. I would definitely suggest that any other teacher use TeacherTube to find videos for their students. It eliminates the inapprpraite videos and advertisements that might istract the students and focuses them on more relevent material. Next week, I am going to continue my search to make reviewing for tests more fun.
3/2-3/6
I did not incorporate anything new into my lessons this week regarding technology but I was able to find a cool collection of sound effects. I will be able to play a version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” with my students with the sound effects that I downloaded. I need to figure out a way to make sure that all students are involved in the game since it traditionally uses one person. I am thinking that I might have students answer two questions then call someone else. Next week, I will begin to look into using the CPS Clickers in my lessons to perform a formative assessment at the end of the lesson.
3/9-3/13
This was the first time I have used CPS clickers with this class to conduct a reading comprehension quiz and I think that it could have gone better. The students were definitely motivated but I had difficulty finding a place to put the censor in a place where all students would point at it. I ended up having to hold it up and turn it in different directions to get all of the responses. I think that next time, I will probably use the SMARTboard to help up the censor while the projector projects onto the board. Next week, I am going to try the Clickers again with a Maryland Pop Quiz.
3/16-3/20
The pop quiz went pretty well with the Clickers. The students were still motivated and the technology worked well throughout the activity. One thing that I would change would be to add a few more quesitons and more variety to the questions. I stuck to traditional 4 selection multiple choice problems and I think I would want to mix in more of a variety, maybe some true and false and well. Next time, I am going to try an accomodation strategy that will also improve the trying skills of my students. I am going to have a student take notes on my laptop while the screen projects onto the chalkboard. Hopefully this will go smoothly and I will be able to print off notes for students who have a hard time taking notes and need to focus more on staying focused in the discussion.
3/23-3/27
My attempt to imporve the typing skills of some students completely backfired. They took a long time to type the notes and the idea was not time efficient at all. The notes were not taken very well and I needed to take a lot of time re-explaining different parts of the lesson. This has worked well when I have done it in the past and I will continue to display typed notes for my kids but I will think twice before getting my kids ot take notes for the class. Next time, I will go back to me taking the notes and the students recording. I will keep in mind the idea of printing off notes for students who would benefit more from taking part in the discussion.
3/31-4/3
I found an interesting video on the American Revolution for my students to see that showed some people conducting a reinactment of the war. It was important for students to see this video to get a better idea of how things were back in this time. It was also an easy video to find. I will definitely use this resource more often. I had not used TeacherTube in the past but I found it to be reliable and provide usefull videos. We are getting into heat in Science, so next week I will try to use a video from www.teachertube.com to assist the learning process.
4/6-4/10
This week I am finally getting a chance to use my “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” review game with the students. We will be using it to review for our civil war quiz coming up at the end of the week. I am planning on using the review questions from the end of the chapter to quiz the students. I am going to call on students to answer two questions at a time and see how far they can get in the game. My plans for next week are pending on how this review session goes. If the game works well, I will use it again for next week’s Science test. If things do not go well, I will continue my search for a fun way to incorporate technology into my review sessions.
4/13-4/17
The review session last week was a big success! Students really enjoyed the review game and it went smoothly. I will be using the game again this week to assist students in preparing for their science test. I will be making a slight change to the activity this week. Last week, I read the questions out of the book which worked OK. This week, I am thinking that I will show the question using my ELMO. We lost sometime because I had to spend time repeating questions. If it is shown on the ELMO, students can answer the questions easier. Next week, I am going to look into getting back in the computer lab and using the SMARTboard to create a review sessions for our fractions quiz next Friday.
4/20-4/24
This week in the computer lab, the SMARTboard session went OK. I think the students enjoyed using the SMARTboard but we ran into some technical difficulties. My plan was to have students working on www.multiplicaiton.com and working problems in their notebooks while students worked on the SMARTboard but the computers were really slow. I heard that the county as a whole had a very slow system recently so I had to work with frustrated students and encourage them to be patient. Next time, I will continue to use the SMARTboard in math class but use it as a way to record notes that students can copy into their notebooks.
4/27-5/1
This week we are reviewing probability and are using the SMARTboard to represent the lesson in an interesting way. The pictures were nice but students manipulating the figures really helped them to grasp the information. I was happy to see my below grade level students benefiting from a more hands-on activity. Next week, I am going to complete my Voice Thread with the students.
5/4-5/8
I had difficulty preparing my voice thread this week. I had videos picked out to use but I realized that I did not completely understand how to use the Voice Thread. Instead, I took the students to the comptuer lab to work on www.multiplication.com and work on their multiplication facts. Next week, I will use the Voice Thread to introduce Lattice Multiplication.
5/11-5/15
It is finally time to use my Voice Thread. I still came across some difficulties because not all of the voices recoreded . I tried putting the microphone in different positions but many of the voices still did not go through as well. I hope that I will get another chance to work on this, but I also need to get back into using Study Island. I will look at what my students need and pick the best choice for next week.
5/18-5/22
This week, I am making sure to spend more time in the computer lab. We have not used
5/25-5/29
This week, we are still doing Study Island in the computer lab but we are turning our focus to Reading. The students have performed better on reading tests that math tests in the past so I am not anticipating any problems with these concepts. I know that the material is a little harder than what they are used to but I am confident that there will not be any problems. This has been a rewarding experience and I am looking forward to using more technology throughout the rest of the year and in my future teaching experiences.
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