Labs for Science

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/sci_edu/waldron/#dragon1

This website has saved my life. It has a list of different labs for middle school and high school. During science, I have taught each grade one up, so my eighth graders learn high school material. This has been able to give me the opportunity to differentiate my labs and find different resources that I can use in my classroom. It's great because it is very organized to where I can find the directions, pdf of materials and other things that make science easy accessible.

Biology is everything from plants to the human body and these labs have been able to be used in fifth grade through eighth grade. I used this lab in my classroom and with two clicks I was able to get my preparation notes and all student handouts that I would give to each of the students. How easy is that?

Better yet, they are so organized that they also have alternative materials you can use during the labs if you are a last minute and don't have the material.

WebQuest Evaluation 2

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/science/webquest/content/fireworks.shtml

This WebQuest has a lot of information for chemistry students who are researching chemical reactions and reactions in fireworks. I like that each section is organized and has its own heading. Each link works, which can be very helpful for students who are exploring.

I wish there was a guide that could lead the students into which section they need to do first, second, etc. There also could be pictures and images that will make the WebQuest more appealing and attract student’s focus. There could also be a link that leads to a discussion or a page to write the answers of the WebQuest questions so that the entire WebQuest can be digitally and turned in to the teacher without any loose ends.

Another thing I would critique on this WebQuest is what happens when students are done with the WebQuest? Maybe there could be some sort of extended response or games/interactive websites in the Resources heading that can direct students to continue exploring the topic when they are done with the WebQuest questions and assignment.

There could also be an evaluation to judge what the students have learned throughout their inquiry of this topic.

WebQuest Evaluation 1

http://vanderseescience.weebly.com/mini-unit-global-winds.html

This WebQuest was super easy to follow and the resources are all up to date and ready for anyone to use. All of the links are up and working and organized with different headings so that teachers and students know what the links entail. The links are not just URLs either; they are titles that the links are attached to in order for more organization.

The WebQuest is based on notes, activities and worksheets all in one page for ultimate learning. The student can easily go through in order which activity to do first and what they need to look at.

There were also other websites that were available for the student to get into and learn even more about the topic of global winds and expand their knowledge into the Coriolis Effect and other topics that are relative to global winds. This would be good for students who finish early.

The WebQuest, in my opinion, lacked steps for a student or teacher to follow. I’m assuming there is a worksheet that lets the student know exactly what to do on that day and helps guide them through the WebQuest, but I thought there could be a separate link that will lead them to a guide. I also though that there could be two separate pages: a teacher page and a student page for more organization. Even directions above each of the links describing what they need to do or what they are going to learn, such as objectives, would help this WebQuest out.

Overall, I enjoyed looking in to this WebQuest and actually used this in one of my lessons. I printed out a page, however, to help the students and myself guide through all of the descriptions and activities.

ICE Conference 2015

Another way I broadened my professional development and expanded my personal learning network was by going to the ICE Conference in St. Charles, IL.

The Illinois Conference for Educators, or ICE conference as many know, is a conference where many different technology presenters go to help educators receive professional development and also helps teachers use different software and programs to reach their students in their classrooms. When I was there, I received many opportunities to bring diverse teaching to my students in my own classroom. Many of the different programs were offered as conference workshops included: Google Classroom, Google Add-Ons, Digital Citizenship, Digital Footprints, literature in technology and bringing the community together with technology.

The goal of going to this conference was to see how I could incorporate different ways to reach students. Not all students learn the same way. Some can grasp certain concepts and struggle in others. My goal was to find ways to reach them all. During this conference I was able to see many speakers that helped me reach my goal. Certain speakers were better than others and had presentations that spoke to me. Others were a bit of a challenge because I found different speakers repeating themselves. This conference helped me identify approaches that may be more beneficial in the classroom. Bringing in different stories of people who have the same objective as me to help students learn to their potential will help in all areas of technology in the curriculum. If I see other people unpack their stories, I can learn how to unpack my own and make a difference in the lives of my students. There are many reasons why this conference was a good one to go to. One of the reasons was to decrease the amount of students who don’t “like” school.

Another cool part was in the middle of the entire thing there were different tables where you could go up and talk to the people about what they have. I learned different software and devices that can help the transition of the digital world come into play with our world we live in today. Society is a funny thing entirely. We talk about how much we want things to change, and when they do, we want what we had before. My goal of this conference was to see how I could bring diversity into my classroom. I learned many different resources and tools that I can bring into my classroom to help students enjoy learning again and help the drop out rate. When using these tools correctly students can find education convenient in their lives and hopefully be able to learn to their full potential. Every student deserves to receive an education where they can use lifelong learning later in their life. I will be just a pebble in the stepping-stone of the technology world that they will be partaking in. 

Berwyn Conference

One way I have broadened my professional development and expanded my personal learning network throughout this course is going to the Berwyn iEngage Conference. It was absolutely incredible and I am so happy I went. Technology is continuously growing and Berwyn is an example of a school that is taking technology and running with it. They have the Google Classroom, App Smashing, QR codes, WebQuests, projects to a next level and shared it with the world. There many things I've learned from going, but a few I will share.

Not all teachers are open to technology and it's OK. If some teachers do not want anything to do with the way the world is heading and the future of education down the technology path, it's ok. They are going to miss out, but you can't force them. Basically, you have to do what you got to do. The world is going to change and they are just going to have to stay where they are. You can't change the way they think. End of story.

The programs they had were incredible. They used so many in their classrooms and only showed a hand full. They showed me that it's okay to try all of the programs you possibly can even though you'll never get to them. There is no such thing as too many programs. How will you know you don't like one if you don't try it?

The Swivl is the coolest thing I have ever seen. It's a robot that you put an iPad in and wear an identifier and it locates you throughout your classroom. It follows you! You can record your lesson and show your students, keep it for your archive, or use it in small groups. I'm getting a demo in a week.

The students were all engaged. (I understood why they called it iEngage, I was like a kid in a candy store) I couldn't believe how the students that were walking around were so excited about their school. I asked a few what they thought of all of the programs and the softwares they used and they couldn't stop talking about it. They enjoy learning. Isn't that the ultimate goal? For students to like learning? To make learning enjoyable and lifelong? We are losing sight if we are doing what we USED to do. That isn't keeping the students interest and it isn't keeping the students in mind. It's thinking of ourselves. We don't want to do the extra time and be paperless because its too much work, but we want the kids to be excited to learn out of old textbooks and paper? What's wrong with that picture?

Technology is a beautiful thing that isn't used to it's full potential. Berwyn was a motivator. I'm motivated. I'm changing the way I teach for the better day-by-day with my technology.

Web 2.0 Relax Inside

Relaxing inside your mind is a very important technique and skill to gain. Relax Inside is a neat 2.0 Web Tool that can be used in every day life along with teaching.

You can learn to relax in these easy steps.

First, go to: http://www.relaxinside.com/?utm_source=Chrome+Store&&utm_nooverride=1

Next, click on the middle button with the squares and pick your theme from the five they give you.

Finally, set the timer underneath the squares and relax for however long you need to recharge and refocus.

I think this tool is incredibly important and should be used daily. This is a free tool that makes us stop and refocus what we want to accomplish. I have seen a huge difference in my students when I use this application. We will be in a lesson and when we transition to a different subject we stop everything close our eyes and relax on the inside. It makes my students, and myself rethink what I am going to do for that day and calms me down. This can be a huge addition to a classroom in the younger ages. If a student is fidgeting and throwing a fit about something they can go to the corner and relax on the inside for a few minutes. Our lives can be very fast pace and we can constantly get stressed over deadlines, problems or obstacles that get in our way. This tool shuts our brain off for a minute or two (however long you need) and relaxes.

This is also helping our character if used correctly. When I do get stressed out or if I’m freaking out about something I will get my iPhone and go to the website and “chill out” for a couple minutes. It’s amazing how I feel afterwards and what I’m able to accomplish. This is also good to build other’s character too. If they get in the habit of refocusing their energy to relaxation when stressed out, this can lead to the end of overreacting because it will become a habit to take a deep breath and refocus. This tool is a great addition to life in general and a great addition to my classroom.

-j

Web 2.0 Scrawlar

 Scrawlar is one of the best things I have learned about as a Web 2.0 tool. It is completely free, requires little prior knowledge and can be accessed by one website: http://www.scrawlar.com. Once you get to the website all you do is click whiteboard demo. This can change the way students do their homework, notes and how they analyze information.

I have learned that this is a 2.0 tool that requires no plug in (which has been a problem in our school and the different sites we use) In the school I teach we have white boards and marker that we use daily for different subjects. This tool lets the students customize their own background so they can have their own “white board,” and be able to do the work on their computers. Our school is a 1:1 school with MacBook airs. This can be a website they bookmark and use to keep notes, write what I write on the SMARTboard and be able to jot things down and save as a screen shot.

The ways to use this 2.0 tool is to go to the website. Then you can customize the background, use text and change the color of that, use a marker and write with your mouse, create shapes, create lines and save colors. This can be used for notes, school work and can replace the white board markers (that can run out of ink) and save time getting white boards and passing them out. One way I can utilize this is in math class. We can do the work on their laptops and they can do problems that I am doing in the front of the room and save it to their math folder for notes. 

Then the students can go back in their screenshots and see how to do the problems and how to get the answers as a reference. This tool was very cool to look into. I will be using this in my classroom. This 2.0 tool can be used for all grades K-12. I was completely impressed on how easy it was to access. Students in the younger grades could use this for sight words and practicing spelling words. Older kids could use this for notes and schoolwork. This could even go to the extreme of being homework and creating PowerPoint’s of how they did their homework. Another way students could use this is to “teach” a lesson on how to do a homework problem. Screen shots could help them be the teachers. I believe that all students will learn better if they become the “teacher” at some point in time of the lesson.

 -j