A Blog About the Glog

I LOVE IT.....or I would if I could figure out how to get my students to log on and start creating. Setting up my page was super easy, but I ran into a wall trying to figure out how to have my students log on and change their usernames and passwords. I will need to take this home and play with it to see what I can figure out I guess.

Similarities and Differences

Benefit of this technique is that it helps kids make new connections, correct misconceptions and helps kids understand content at a deeper level.

4 generalizations

-presenting students with specific guidance gives them knowledge...teach them how and we will help them.
-when we ask kids to use sims and diffs in whatever they are doing it helps to build understanding
and they need to be able to self select the tool they are going to use to do this
-use graphics or visuals to build understanding
-there are 4 specific ways to do sims and diffs
1) comparing
2) classifying
3) creating metaphors
4) creating analogies

Thinking Maps

The double bubble is used all the time in my classroom. We use is to compare and contrast the stories from Harcourt as well as all literary elements. It is used in math to compare algorithms. We use it in Social Studies as well as social behavior. I encourage group work, cooperative learning and integrate Smart technologies as often as possible in my classroom.

Week 3, Tier 2

What did I do this past week? Hmmmm? I know that one hting I did was to take back to my room what was said in class last week. The smart boards are for the children, not for us. Over the past week, whether it was legible or not, my students did everything on the Smart Board while I watched. No me or my partner teacher in front of the class using the smart board to lecture. Nope :) It was straight up children up there, doing the work, creating thinking maps, click and drags...as much as possible. With each passing activity, the level of engagement grew. Overall a fun week.

End of Day Reflection

I am experiencing information overload right now. There are so many amazing things that can be done using technology, and I want to remember them all, but without time to work and play I know they will be gone shortly. I love the Word Clouds. I am already planning on how to best use this for developing character traits. I also like the memory games and am trying to figure out a time in the schedule when my students can do these activites. Yay Mozilla...any possibility of Google Chrome? So much to move to my long term memory...gonna get on it now.

Session 2....

....for most, but session 1 for me.

My SmartBoard is used daily in my room, all day long. This week it was used for vocabulary development. Students worked in groups to create Thinking Maps to demonstrate understanding of vocabulary words. Each Thinking Map contained: their definition, dictionary definition, synonyms, antonyms, a sentence and a picture of each word. Once the work was completed, they would go up to the Smart Board, create their circle maps and share them with the class. Within that single lesson my students used graphic organizers, they compared and contrasted, we integrated technology into the lesson and worked in small groups. Every week is a lesson for me in new ways to use the Smart Board. The kids are learning as quickly as I am, and in many ways they are teaching me as well.

Final Thought

I loved seeing how EVERYBODY seems to be moving away from paper and pencil. I mean, it does have its place, but seeing so many interactive lessons and hands on activities was great.

I plan on continuing with DVTech Pro next year if it is available. I realize that we merely scraped the surface of what is out there, and I am excited to dig deeper.

You were all amazing and patient instructors. Thank you so much for all you did.