At first I was unable to post a comment, but then realized that I probably had to be signed in to Blogger and that was the case. So far I have enjoyed the Digital Literacy Challenge! I have been introduced to so much technology that I had no idea existed. It's been fun creating the word cloud, setting up my blog, creating a music station, and creating a google document together as a staff. I have also enjoyed exploring podcasts and videos to enhance my lessons.
The January 5th Job Alike at Erving was okay. I signed up for Petting Zoo and did have the chance to try out the ipod touch and ipad. I had never used an ipod touch before, and it took me a few minutes to learn how to navigate. Yikes! I better get with it! I felt like an idiot for a few moments. Trudy and I tried a little recording, but had some questions about how to use that specific camcorder, because it was different than the one I own. I also checked out another type of document camera, but it was very fuzzy. It was not an ELMO, and was very difficult to focus. I guess I would have loved a little more modeling before sending us off. Even if we had a brief explanantion at two stations and then had time to explore. Then move to two more stations, get an explanation, and then try out. For myself, and not having much prior knowledge of the items, it was kind of frustrating. I actually want to learn how to create a link to a Title I page that I would like to create in the future and how to make a power point presentation.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Pandora Music Station and iTunes University DLC #5
It was funny that part of our challenge this month was to create a station at Pandora online music. Right before Christmas break I was with my first grade group and they were doing rainbow writing to practice their high frequency trick words. I thought it would be fun to listen to a little music so I used Pandora to find a few songs. After spending more time to create "my station" I tried many types of music. I tried some easy listening stations and then created an instrumental station. I could see myself using this at times in the classroom just to set us all at ease.
The next part of the challenge was to check out podcasts at iTunes University. First, I explored the subject of math. and watched a video on K-12 Teachers TV. The video was on geometry and showed a sixth grade class. The focus was on polygons, angles, ratio, and explicit and implicit shapes. The teacher had the students take pictures around the school of different shapes(polygons) that they observed. He called these polygons out in the world the "real life story" and then when we call these polygons by math terms it is the "math story." They are windows in our real life, but in our math life they are called rectangles, quadrilaterals, and they have four right angles. They used their photographs to outline polygons they saw in their photographs and labeled them with capitals letters. Some came to the front of the class and outlined their polygons for their classmates and labeled them on the smart board for all to see. The teacher went on to question students as to the name of the polygons and used math terms to describe them. Some of the math terms I observed was quadrilateral, isosceles, scalene, right triangle, parallelogram, parallel sides, acute, estimating the number of degrees in an angle, etc. The kids were really engaged and I liked how they first took photographs and could then make the connection between "real life story" and "math story". Cool lesson!
There were a few podcasts that I listened to. One was through "Study Partner Math-Grade 4" and it told how to place mixed numbers on a number line and another was about factoring numbers. The pod cast was helpful, but I think the teacher would have to be in the front of the room illustrating the important points of the podcast for those who learn best from visuals.
It definitely took some time to find the podcasts and videos that might be helpful to your grade level. There were lots for higher level math and I have not found an easy way to narrow your search. I'll have to spend more time checking out this site. Thanks you technology teachers for introducing me to more technology ideas!
The next part of the challenge was to check out podcasts at iTunes University. First, I explored the subject of math. and watched a video on K-12 Teachers TV. The video was on geometry and showed a sixth grade class. The focus was on polygons, angles, ratio, and explicit and implicit shapes. The teacher had the students take pictures around the school of different shapes(polygons) that they observed. He called these polygons out in the world the "real life story" and then when we call these polygons by math terms it is the "math story." They are windows in our real life, but in our math life they are called rectangles, quadrilaterals, and they have four right angles. They used their photographs to outline polygons they saw in their photographs and labeled them with capitals letters. Some came to the front of the class and outlined their polygons for their classmates and labeled them on the smart board for all to see. The teacher went on to question students as to the name of the polygons and used math terms to describe them. Some of the math terms I observed was quadrilateral, isosceles, scalene, right triangle, parallelogram, parallel sides, acute, estimating the number of degrees in an angle, etc. The kids were really engaged and I liked how they first took photographs and could then make the connection between "real life story" and "math story". Cool lesson!
There were a few podcasts that I listened to. One was through "Study Partner Math-Grade 4" and it told how to place mixed numbers on a number line and another was about factoring numbers. The pod cast was helpful, but I think the teacher would have to be in the front of the room illustrating the important points of the podcast for those who learn best from visuals.
It definitely took some time to find the podcasts and videos that might be helpful to your grade level. There were lots for higher level math and I have not found an easy way to narrow your search. I'll have to spend more time checking out this site. Thanks you technology teachers for introducing me to more technology ideas!
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