Allblogpostingscanbefoundat

mmcduffie.weebly.com
Web2.0forMath
1/29/2016
0Comments

WhatisWeb2.0?
"If students are toachieve their fullpotential, they must have opportunities to engage and develop a much richer set ofskills...While
there is still a need for more empirical evidence that thesefactorscanbetaught astransferable competencies acrosssituations,there
are a wide range of promising program and approaches" (Schechtman, DeBarger, Dornsife, Rosier, & Yarnell, 2013 as cited in
Solomon&Schrum,2014,p.8).

My initial thought of Web 2.0 toolswasanythingthatwasweb

based. Soas longasteachersandstudentswereusingdigitaloronline
tools they were successfully using Web 2.0 tools. However, Web 2.0 tools allow for creation. The first phase of my school districts
technologyintegrationplanhasprovidedeverystudentwithatake
home device, and aGoogleaccount. Sonowstudentsandteachers
have access to any tools needed at any time. Even with all the technology that is provided, the students are not always as
academicallyengagedasIwouldlikeforthemtobe.

Itmakes sense that students achieve their full potential when they are engaged in a lesson or activity. Studentsatmyschoolhave9
different teachers and 7 classes each day. Imagine having all this different information thrown at you, and having to master or
rememberallofitwithin a certain amount of time. Naturally the students will gravitate towards what they are most interestedin,and
becomeengagedinawaythatleadstomeaningfullearning. TheWeb 2.0tools wouldallowstudentstocreateandconnect,makingan
activitymoreauthentic.

ThissemesterImlookingforwardtolearningaboutusingblogsin theclassroomwithmystudents. Inthe pastI used blogsinsearchof

professional learning communities outside of my district, but I am interested in seeing how it can be used with math instruction.
Solomon & Schrum explain that blogs encourage writers and responders to develop thinking, analytical, andcommunication skills
(2014). All of which are necessary for any class, but especially for mathematics. The students could improve vocabulary use and
deepen their understanding through their posts. Previously I used
Padlet
for class discussion, but didnot have students respond to
posts. Using this Web 2.0 tool in my classroom would allow students to connect with others, reflect on the content, creativelydisplay
whattheyunderstand,orshareartifactsofreal
worldmathexamplesfromtheirownperspective.

Howareblogsusedinamathclassroom?

WhenIenvisionstudentswritingaboutmaththeyaredetailingstrategiesorexplainingaconceptinawaythatidentifieswith
them.Inanotherblog
SilviaTolisano
sharesexamplesofstudentsusingablogtoshareonlinetoolsforcollectingdata.
DesignScience
detailshowtouseMathTypeinWordPressblogssothatstudentscantypeequationsintheirresponses.
Inthisblog
RandeenSimonsen
,a3rdgrademathteacher,gives5tipsthatincludelettingstudentswriteproblemsfortheir
classmatestosolve,andinspiringcreativityinseeingmathoutsideoftheclassroom.

Im definitely convinced that there are several applications for blogs in a math classroom and Im even more impressed with the
opportunity to apply the Common Core standards for mathematical practice. Although they could use any of theeightstandards,the
mostcommonwouldbemakingargumentsandprovidingconstructivecriticismonothers.

EvaluatingBlogs

Ofcoursewhenstudentsareprovidedwithanexpectationaplan shouldbein placetoprovide feedbackbutIwasindecisiveabouthow

I wouldevaluate blog postings. I want students to be creative in their posts and not focus on the right wayor the right answer. I
referred to MarkSamples
A Rubric for Evaluating Blogs and Karen Frankers ARubric for Evaluating StudentBlogstodevelopmy
own rubric. Frankers rubric was very detailed, and gave me the idea of evaluating students on their voice. The goal wouldbe for
students to improve on writing, and thinking in math using appropriate vocabulary. It would be important for themtoknowthatyour
audience is a community that uses math language. Samples rubric was created using a 4 point scale whichiswhatmystudentsare
usedto.The4pointscalewouldallowforstudentstoselfevaluatebeforesubmissiongivenitssimplicity.

HereisanexampleofwhatIwoulduseformystudents.

Chornenkis10Reasonstoblogintheclassroomfromstudentsperspectives:


References

Chornenki
,S.(2008,January31).Top10reasonstouseabloginaclassroom[VideoFile]retrievedfrom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfJETK3am1M

Franker,K.(2015).ARubricforEvaluatingStudentBlogs.(n.d.).RetrievedJanuary29,2016,from
https://www2.uwstout.edu/content/profdev/rubrics/blogrubric.html

Mathews,B.(2012).Creatingandusingablogtoenhancemathandscienceinstruction[PDFFile].Availablefrom
https://www.dessci.com/en/company/training/workshops/blogs_for_math_science.pdf
.

Sample,Mark.(2010,September27)Arubricforevaluatingstudentblogs.RetrievedJanuary29,2016,from
http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/arubricforevaluatingstudentblogs/27196

Simonsen,R.(2015,March13).Kidblog.(n.d.).RetrievedJanuary29,2016,from
https://kidblog.org/home/studentblogsformathcommunication/

Solomon,G.,&Schrum,L.(n.d.).Web2.0how
toforeducators

Tolisano,S.(2014,May31).AndYouThoughtitCouldNotBeDone:BlogginginMath.(2014,May31).RetrievedJanuary29,2016,
from
http://langwitches.org/blog/2014/05/31/andyouthoughtitcouldnotbedoneblogginginmath/

DigitalDivide,SocialNetworks,andVirtualEnvironments
2/14/2016
0Comments

DigitalDivide
Eventhoughmyschooldistrictis1:1,therearestillcaseswheresomestudentsareexposedtohigherlevelsof
technologyintegrationandhigherorderthinkingthanothers.Thisisduetothelearninggapsthatexistin
literacyingeneral,whichincludesreading,basicmathskills,andbasiccomputerskills.Inmyexperiences,the
digitaldivideinmyschoolisthemostobviousbetweenminoritiesandwhitestudents,andofcourseinrelation
tosocioeconomicstatus.Whiletherearestudentswhohavehadseveralpersonaldevicesforyears,thereare
stillthosewhohavenoneotherthanabasiccellphone.Additionally,studentswhoseparentshold
professionaljobstendtobeexposedtocomputerusesotherthansocialmediapurposes.PaulGorski(2005)
statesthatallstudentinfluencesmustcontinuouslyexpressexpectationsandassumptionsthatallstudents
haveanopportunitytoachievemasteryofcomputerandInternetskills.Althoughseveralteachersbelieve
thatallstudentshavethisopportunity,itscreatingtheopportunitythatbecomeschallenging.Somedistricts
provideopportunitybyhavingseparatecomputerliteracyclasses,butwhathappenswhenyourschooldoes
notprovidethisoption?Thenteachersattempttochoosethemostefficienttoolsthatwilleliminatethe
problemsthatlowerperformingstudentsmayfacewithoutadvancedcomputerskills,butthatstillmaintains
accesstohigherorderthinking.Evenwiththelearninggaps,moststudentsunderstandhowtousesocial
mediaandvirtualgamingtools.Thenusingacombinationofbothintheclassroomallowsforfamiliar,and
userfriendlyinterfacesthatengageandchallengestudentsatalllevels.

SocialNetworksfortheClassroom
Onesocialnetworkingtoolthatisgreatforeducationis
GoogleClassroom
.ThecapabilitieswithGoogle
ClassroomaresimilartoEdmodo,exceptthatitiscompletelyintertwinedwithGoogleDrive.Thismakes
GoogleClassroomasinglehubforsharing,creating,communicating,andassessing.Teachershavethe
abilitytopostassignments,questions,ormakeannouncementstoagroupofstudents.

GettingStarted
WithaGoogleaccountteacherscancreateclassesorgroupsandthenhavestudentsjoinusingaclasscode.
Oncethestudentsjointheywillhaveaccesstoallstreams,anassignmentcalendar,andcommunication
betweenallpartiesbecomesverysimple.


ClassroomNetworking
Inthestreamfeatureforaclass,teacherscancomment,startdiscussions,orpostassignments.IfaGoogle
documentorotherfileispartofanassignment,thereistheoptiontoeithergivestudentsviewingaccess,orto
createacopyofthefile.Theneachstudentscouldhaveadigitalcopycreatedforthemthatisalreadyshared
withtheirteacher.Thenewestfeatureofaskingaquestionallowsfordiscussion,andteacherscanmoderate
whetherornotstudentscanseethepostsofothers.TeacherscanalsousetheAboutpageofeach
classroomtohouseinformationabouttheclass,suchasasyllabus,thecurrentstudyguidefortheunit,
resources,etc.


SafetyandStudentAccountability
InthepastIveusedsomeothermediatoolsfordiscussionsuchas
Todaysmeet
or
Padlet
,butwithmiddle
schoolstudentstherewasalwaysthetemptationtomakesillypostsbecausetherewasnologin.Students
mustbesignedintotheirGoogleaccounttousetheclassroomfeature,soallactionsaretiedtotheirname.
AnotherissueIhadwithothertoolswaswhenstudentschosenottoparticipateinadiscussionorassignment.
GoogleClassroomallowsyoutoseethenamesofstudentswhocompletedanassignmentoranswereda
question,andthosewhodidnotforgradingpurposes.

Heresa
tutorial
onGoogleClassroom.

MultiUserVirtualEnvironments
MultiUserVirtualEnvironments(MUVEs)canbeusedintheclassroomtotellastoryorgivestudentsavirtual
fieldtriptoaplace,orthroughanexperience.Onevirtualenvironmentthatcanbeusedinamathclassroom

iscalled
BrainNook
.Thistoolcanbeusedtohelpstudentsworkonbasicmathandliteracyskillsthatare
alignedtoCommonCorestandards.

GettingStarted
Teachersstartbycreatingaloginandmakingaclasslist.Thenyoucanassigneitherreadingormathgames
basedonaspecificskill.Thegradelevelsdonotpass5thgrade,sosinceIteachmiddleschool,itsagreatfit
toaddresslearninggapsfromelementaryschool.Onceagradelevelandskillisselected,youcanpreviewa
gamebeforeyouassignittoyoustudents.BrainNookalsogivestheoptiontosetthedifficultylevel,statea
duedate,andreceiveresultsviaemail.Teacherscanalsoviewreportsonstudentprogresstohelpchoose
activitiesormakeotherinstructionaldecisionsoutsideofBrainNook.Meanwhile,thestudentsarestaying
engaged!

NetworkingandSafety
StudentshavetheabilitytochatwithinBrainNookbutteacherscanmoderatethis.Youcandecidetolimit
communicationoutsideofasetclasslist,andcanevenmoderatehowmanydailymessagesstudentscan
send.Althoughwewantstudentstonetworkdigitally,BrainNookallowsteacherstolimitunnecessarychatting
sostudentscanstayfocusedontheirlearninggames/skills.Ifneeded,teacherscanalsoseechattinghistory
ofallstudents.


References

Gorski,P.(2005).Educationequityandthedigitaldivide.AACEJournal,13(1),345

Mayer,A.(2014,September5).GettingstartedwithGoogleClassroom[VideoFile]retrievedfrom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIfXzJMLsMQ

Solomon,G.,&Schrum,L.(n.d.).Web2.0how
toforeducators

ProductivityandDigitalCollaboration
3/5/2016
0Comments

Wikispaces
Teachers can use Wikispaces to share and receive information and ideas related totheirclassroom. While
most teachers create websites to post details, a Wikispaceallowsstudentsandteacherstocollaborateona
digital product. The site also allows files, pictures, or documents to be stored. In the past Ive seen these
tools used for teacherstudent communication, but I have also seen them used between collaborative
planningteams. Forexample,thereWikis thathouselessonplansandrelatedresourcesforunitplanning. I
explored three sites,
Code Blue
,
Primary Math
, and
Counting Book
. Alltheinterfacesuserfriendlyanduse
leftside panel navigation. They also allow for others to comment on their pages which would be great to
initiate discussion between students, or between teachers. The Primary Math site alsoincludessharelinks
to social media sitessuchasTwitterorFacebook,andalsoincludesadvertisements. SincetheWikisareso

easy to make it would be great for student creations on an individual or group project. Onelimitationisthe
visual aspects of the Wikis. All the sites seem to look pretty much the same and I know from personal
interactions with my students that they do actually care about how a site looks. You can make some
changesinthesettingsfeature,butitislimited.
My school has Google Apps for Education,somostofmydigitalsharingtakesplaceonmyGooglesiteorin
Google classroom. My idea would be to use Wikis for student portfolios. Students can develop a portfolio
over the course of the year that includes artifacts of curriculum examples or applications outside of the
classroom. Forexample,ourfirstunitisaboutoperationswithsignedrationalnumbers. One ofmystudents
shared a story with me about how his dad used golf scoring to teach himoperationswithintegers,andhow
this connection was really helpful. This would be a great artifacttoshowhowtopicsinourfirstunitconnect
to the real world. Students are constantly asking me Ms. McDuffie, when will I everusethis? Soitwould
begreatforthemtoresearchthisthroughouttheyearanddevelopaportfolioasafinalproject.

ProductivityTools
When my school district started using Google, everything changed for the better! Students and teachers
have Google accounts which allow for sharing, collaborating, and creating using multiple applications that
can all be stored digitally.
Google Classroom allows teachers to create and share digital assignments that
even create copies for each student automatically. Teachers are able to work on lesson plans with their
collaborative team at the same time and house worksheets or other documents relevant to the daily plans.
The Google tools are also great for collecting, storing student data. I typically have students complete an
assessment using a Google Form, which connects to grading AddOns such as
Flubaroo
. ThisAddOnin
Google Sheets grades an assignment and produces a score for teachers, then not only is the information
kept in a digital form, it canquicklybeanalyzed. Teachersareabletoquicklydecidewhichstudentsarenot
masteringconcepts.

One other tool I explored was

30 Boxes
. The calendar provided by Google, maynotbeas userfriendlyfor
some of my students, especially when multiple calendars are shared with you. I would encourage my
students to use this tool as a simple way to plan out your month.

Students would be able to set up

recurring events as weekly homework reminders, which would be helpful as many that I teach donotusea
planner.


Studentscanalsouseatodolisttomakesuretheyhaveturnedinalltheirwork,orcompletedallactivities
forextracurricularresponsibilities.Theyalsohavetheabilitytosharetheircalendarwithabuddy.This
couldbegreatforgroupprojectsorforagroupofstudentswhohavemostofthesameclasses,tokeep
trackofduedates.

AnothertoolIexploredwas
Slideshare
,whichprovidesYouTubestylepresentationsandtheallowsusersto
followorganizationstorefinepresentationsearches.ImcurrentlyfollowingtheEducationpresentations.
Userscansearchatopicsuchasequationsresultinginanypresentationwiththatwordinthetitle.


Onceapresentationisselected,therightsideoptionsallowforsharing,downloading,liking,and
commenting.Theleftsidepanelincludesotherpresentationsthatarerecommendedfortheuserbasedon
theirsearch,whichissimilartoYouTube.UsingSlidesharecouldprovidestudentswithadditionalstudy
toolsforeachunitthatcouldbereferencedattheirownpace.Furthermore,differentpresentationscould
showmultiplerepresentationsofaskill/concepttohelpstudentsgainadeeperunderstanding.Usersalso
havetheoptiontosavepresentationsbypressingclipslideinthetoprightcornerofeachpresentation.
Thisfeaturesavesthepresentationtoaclipboardoftheuserschoice.

References

http://codeblue.wikispaces.com/
http://primarymath.wikifoundry.com/
http://kcountingbook.wikifoundry.com/
http://30boxes.com/
http://slideshare.net

VisualandAudioLearningforDifferentiation
3/13/2016
1Comment

Differentiation

Inatypicalclassroomthereareavarietyoflearningstyles,relativeexperiences,andreadinesslevels.For
thatreason,teachersattempttodifferentiatetomeetthediverseneedsofthosestudents,butarefacedwith
manyobstacles.Timeconstraints,lackofplanning,andoverwhelmingcurriculumlengthtendtointerferewith
thenecessaryplanningprocess.HobgoodandOrmsby(2011)statethatpartofdifferentiationistoprovide
studentswithmultipleavenuestolearningwhichcanbedoneusingvisualoraudiodigitaltools.

VisualLearningintheDigitalClassroom

Whileitmaybetemptingtopresentmaterialtostudentsintraditionalways,manystudentsaresimplynot
interestedinlearninginthatway.Onestrategyispresentcontentusingdifferentvisualrepresentations,orby

allowingstudenttoshowtheirunderstandinginthesameway.Thenthestudentslevelsofengagementare
highbecausetheyareabletocreateameaningfulproduct.

WhileexploringFlickrImainlyfocusedonimagesthatcouldbeusedtopromptwritingforstudents,especially
sincereadingandwritingisanareaofimprovementforsomanystudentsatmyschool.Theideawouldbeto
showoneimagetothestudentsandaskthemtowriteastorysurroundingtheimagethatwouldinclude
specificdetailsaboutwho,what,where,when,andwhy.Thisisbasicallyadifferentwaytofacilitatea
freewrite,andtogivethestudentstheopportunitytobecreativeintheirwriting.Anotherusecouldbetohelp
studentspracticewithindirectmeasurementandnumbersense,similartowhatAndrewStadeldoeswith
Estimation180
.

AllImagesCourtesyof
Ankara'dan

AnotherphotoeditingtoolItriedthisis
Cartoon.pho.to
.Usingthissite,studentscanuploadarealimageand
applyacartooneffect.HeresanexampleofanimagethatIuploadedtothissite.


Thereisalsotheoptiontomorphfacesbychangingexpressionsortheshapesofheads.Studentscouldalsousethisasacreative
waytotellastoryaboutthemselvesortheirfamily.

AnothertoolIexploredwas
Photopeach
.Usingthissite,userscancreateslideshowswithimagesaddmusic,captions,quizzes,and
more.Photopeachallowsstudentstoshowtheirunderstanding,orexplainatopicintheirownwayusingimagesorartwork.Users
alsohaveaccesstopresentationsmadebyothersusingtheExplorefeature.One
example
createdbyuserCarlygilmoreisabout
quadraticwordproblems.

Afteruploadingyourimages,youcanchoosefromthegivenlistofmusic(onlythepaidversionallowsyouto
uploadyourownsongs).Thenyoucaneditphotosifneeded.Theeditphotofeatureallowsuserstoadd
captions,includeaquiz,oradjustthepresentationspeed.

Heresmy
PhotoPeachpresentation
aboutfood!

BoththevisualtoolsIexploredarefreeforsomebasicfeatures.ThepaidPhotopeachClassPremiumallows
teacherstocreateaccountsforstudentsandlimittheiractivityforsafety.

PodcastsSubscriptions

Podcastsareuniquewaystoaccessinformationandentertainmentinaudio/videoforminyourowntime.In
theclassroompodcastscouldhelpstudentswithreadingdeficiencies,orEnglishLanguageLearners(ELL)
betteraccessthecontent.ApplesiTunesisoneofthemorepopularvenuesforpodcasts..Usingthesearch
feature,Iwasabletofind
EnglishasaSecondLanguage(ESL)
podcast,whichisspecificallyforhelplearning
tospeakEnglish.Theycouldalsobeusedtoexposestudentstodifferenttopics,cultures,orissuesoutsideof
theircommunity.Forexample,studentscouldlistento
AISWNews
podcastwhere4thand5thgradestudents
inChinadiscusscurrentenvironmentalnews.Lastly,apodcastsuchas
TheMathDude:QuickandDirtyTips
toMakeMathEasier
couldbeusedtosimplyshareusefulinformationortipswithstudents.Itsgreatthat
someteachersareallowingstudentstocreateandmaintainpodcastepisodes!Thenstudentshavethe

opportunitytolearnfromotherstudentswithdifferentculturalbackgrounds.Thatleadstoahighlevelof
engagement,andahighLoti.

Ialsoexploredpodcastsat
LearnOutLoud
.Althoughthesiteincludessomeentertainment,mostofthe
subjectsarefocusedonlearningforacademics,social,orpersonalgrowth.Simplychooseacategory,and
thenuserscaneitherscanthroughindividualpodcastsorchooseasubcategory.

CreatingPodcasts

Oneeasytousepodcastcreatorsiteis
PodBean
.Aftersigningupforfree,userscanstarttopublish
newepisodesonapersonalizedURLwithalimitedamountofspace.Istillhadtousetheonlinefile
converter,
Zamzar
,tochangemyaudiofiletoMP3,butafterthattheuploadwasquickandeasy.
Heresthe
podcast
thatIcreatedusingthissite.

References

Hobgood,B.,Ormsby,L.(2011)Inclusioninthe21stcenturyclassroom:Differentiationwithtechnology.
Retreivedfrom
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/everylearner/6776
http://www.estimation180.com/
http://cartoon.pho.to
http://photopeach.com/education
http://photopeach.com/album/nihebi
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/englishassecondlanguage/id75908431?mt=2
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/aiswnewspodcast/id270805419?mt=2
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/mathdudequickdirtytips/id355421944?mt=2
http://learnoutloud.com

http://www.podbean.com
http://zamzar.com

ToolsforLearning&Assessment
4/17/2016
0Comments

BoomWriter

OnetoolIexploredthatisgreatforstudentwritingiscalled
BoomWriter
.Studentsareabletowritestories
collaborativelyusingcertainvocabularythatteachersprovide.Teachersstartwithatopic.

Teacherscanchoosedifferentstorystarters,invitestudentstotheprogram,andassigngroupsfor
collaborativewriting.Thefirstchapterofthestoryiswrittenforthemandtheyareexpectedtocreatethe
followingchapters.Thistoolisgreatforstudentcreativity,developingwriting,andforstudentcollaboration.


AnothertoolIexploredwas
Evernote
,anonlinesourceforkeepingtrackofdocuments,todolists,clippings,
andnotes.Studentscancreateanotebookforeachclassandincludenotes,reminders,ortodolistsfora
specificclass.HereisanexampleofnotesaboutSurfaceArea:

Studentsareabletotypenotes,andtheycanincludeimages,attachments,orincludelinkstootherresources.Thiswouldbea
greattooltousetohelpstudentsorganizeinformationorkeepadigitalnotebookwheretheycanarchivetopics.

FluencyApps

Onemathematicsappthatcouldbeusedtohelpstudentslookforandmakeuseofstructureinregardstopatternsandnumber
senseis
MathDoodles
.Withthisappstudentscanidentifypatterns,sort,orplayfluencygames.Currentlytheappis$.99.A
similarappforfluencycalled
HittheButton
isavailableonlineforfree.

Hereisa
video

aboutMathDoodles.

FormativeAssessments

Itiscommonforteacherstouseformativeassessmentstodetermineifstudentshaveunderstoodthe
materialtaught.Itisalsocommonforteacherstouseformativeassessmentstodecidehowtodifferentiate
orhowtochangeinstructionifneeded.OnedigitalformativeassessmenttoolIhaveusediscalled
GoFormative
.Usingthistoolteacherscancreateonlineassessmentsintheformofmultiplechoice,short

answer,orshowyourworkresponses.Theshowyourworkfeatureallowsstudentswithtouchscreen
devicestodraworwritetheirresponseoruploadanimage.

Whenanassignmentiscreatedteacherscanincludeimages,videos,equations,etc.Oncestudentslogin
usingapersonalizedcodeandbegintheirresponsesteacherscanviewandprovideinstantfeedback.Inthe
pastIhaveusedthistoolforquickformativeassessmentsandmademyownquestions.However,recently
theteamatGoFormativehavebeenprovidingEngageNYmathassessmentsthatarepremadeand
separatedbygradelevel.Formoredetailsonhowthisworkswatchmy
screencast
.

References
ChildrensTechnologyReview(2015,May27).MathDoodlesAttributes[videofile]retrieved
from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNoRttm_44c&feature=youtu.be

http://www.carstensstudios.com/mathdoodles/mathdoodlesDemos.htm

http://www.topmarks.co.uk/mathsgames/hitthebutton

www.evernote.com

http://boomwriter.com/

LearningManagementTools&InternetSafety

4/17/2016
1Comment

LearningManagementSystems

CurrentlymyschooldistricthasGoogleAppsforEducationwhichmakesiteasyforteachersto
proposetheuseoftheapplications.However,therearestillsomedistrictsthatdonothaveaccessto
theGoogleapplications.Forthatreasonithelpstoexploreothertoolsthatcouldbeusedwithouta
Googleaccount.Furthermore,learningmanagementsystemsarepopularforcreatinga
onestopshopforteachersandstudentstolearn,create,andcommunicate.

IveusedEdmodointhepastandImfascinatedwiththechangestheyhavemade.Usingthistool,teachers
cancreateclassesforstudentstojoinusingauniquecode,issueassignments,polls,makeannouncements,
andmorewithaninterfacesimilartomanysocialmediasites.Togetstartedstudentscancreatetheirown
login.InthepastIhadanissuewithstudentscreatingalogintheywouldnotremember,oraccidentally
signingupasateacherorparent.Irecommendgivingthestudentssomeguidelinesfortheirusernamesas
wellaspossiblymakingascreencastshowingthestudentshowtosignupandaddyourclasscode.Ifthe
studentshaveGoogleaccountstheycansigninusingthat.Oncethestudentscreateasinglelogin,theycan
accesstheclassofanyteacherthatusesthetool.


Whencreatinganassignmentteacherscanaddanattachment,includealink,anddecidewhichgroups
(classes)toassigntheitemto.Theassignmentscancomefromotherplaces,ortheteachercanusethe
Libraryfeaturetosavematerialstheywanttoassign,especiallyforfutureuse.Thereisalsoagradebook
featuretokeeptrackofassignmentgrades.

SomeotherfeaturesincludeEdmodoSnapshot,EdmodoPlanner,andOfficeOnline.TheSnapshotapp
allowsteacherstoassignautomadeassessmentsbasedonCommonCoreStandards.TheOfficeOnlineacts
asaGoogleDrivethatallowsuserstocreateMicrosoftWordorExcelfilesonline.IfteachershaveaGoogle
Drive,thereistheoptiontoconnecttotheirfilesusingtheLibraryfeature.

OfficeOnlinecouldbegreattohelpstudentswithorganizationifteacherschoosetocreateadigitalnotebook.
Thestudentswouldhaveoneplacetoeasilynavigatenotesandconnectthemwiththeassignmentthatwas
issued.EdmodoSnapshotwouldbegreatforcreatingregularformativeassessmentstoassessstudent
growthandforprogressmonitoring.

OverallEdmodocontinuestobeauserfriendlyandfreeonlinetoolthatisavailableforeducationaluse.The
directionofWeb2.0isbecomingmorepersonalized,andusingonlinemanagementtoolsallowforeasier
accesstopersonalizedmaterial.Theideaisforstudentstobeabletonavigatetheirclassmaterialsand
assignmentsusingonlinetools.

InternetSafety

Inthepastfewyearsmydistricthasdevelopedfromallowingstudentstobringtheirdevice,toproviding
devicesineveryclassroom,tobeingcompletely1:1andsendingdeviceshomewithstudentsallyear.Now
thestudentshavecontinuousaccesstoonlinematerialsandtoolswhiletheyareatschool.Withthecontinued
accesstherehasbeenariseinconversationsregardinginternetsafety.Thismeansthatthelessonsmustgo
beyondthetipaboutkeepinginformationprivate.

This
webwise.ie
articlediscussesseveraltipstoteachstudentsinternetsafetyandcyberbullyingprevention
thatapplytoalldevices.HerearethetipsIfoundmostimportantandthatrelatetomyschoolandsome
currentissues:

Movebeyondsimplyhavingstudentsorparentssigntheschoolpolicies.Thespecificsneedtobe
taughtexplicitlytoallstakeholders.

Developaspecificpolicyregardingtakingphotosasthiscouldleadtomemedevelopment,ormisuse
onsocialmediasites.

Keepanuptodatelistofacceptablesitesandapplicationsaccessedusingtablets.

Getstudentinputaboutthetechnologyusepolicies

Oneresourceforeducatorsinclude
Netsmartz
whichincludes,videos,lessons,presentations,andmore
regardingteachinginternetsafety.Netsmartzalsoencouragesstudentstotakeleadershiprolesinthistopic
andteachtheirpeers.Thiscouldeliminatestudentsfeelingliketheadultsaredisconnectedfromwhatreally
happens.Schoolscouldcreateaninternetsafetypeergroupthatmeetsregularlyandteachesaboutthe
topicsthroughouttheyear.

Anotherresourceforeducatorsis
StaySafeOnline
whichincludestipsforparentsandstudentsaswell.There
ismuchinformationprovidedbutthereisalsoa
resourcepage
whereuserscanfindinternetsafetybrochures
ortipsregardingdifferentsubjects.

References

Webwise.TabletsandInternetSafety:10ThingstoThinkAbout.Retrievedfrom:
http://www.webwise.ie/teachers/tabletsinternetsafety/

http://www.netsmartz.org/Educators

https://staysafeonline.org/staysafeonline/resources/

www.edmodo.com

LessonPlanScreencast
5/4/2016
1Comment

Here'sthelinktomy
Screencast
whereIbrieflydiscuss3toolsand
reflectonmy
lessonplan
.

InternetToolsReflection

5/4/2016

1Comment

ThissemesterIlearnedagreatdealaboutdifferentdigitaltoolstouseintheclassroom.Inthepast
whenexposedtodifferenttoolstheywerepresentedwhileusingcontentssuchasscienceorsocial
studies,andforthatreasonIhadsomedifficultywithtransferringtheusetomathematics.Iwasvery
pleasedtohaveatextbookwithalonglistoftoolsandhowtheyareused.However,Iwasalso
pleasedtohavethetimetoexploretheuseofthetoolsmyself,andinvestigatehowtheycouldbe
usedinamathclassorothertopics.Ihavealreadybeensharingsomeofthetoolswithmypeers,
andlookforwardtoinvestigationandsharingwithmoredetails.

Ialsoenjoyedtheexposuretobloggingthissemester.Itwasdefinitelyachallenge,butsomething
thatIhadnotconsideredbefore.Thereareblogseverywherebutitisimportantforteacherstohave
professionallearningcommunitiesthroughbloggingforquickwaystostayconnectedwithnewdigital
toolsorstrategies.Itisespeciallyhelpfulwhenthetoolsarelinkedandtheblogincludesscreenshots
orhowtovideos.Ialsothinkbloggingisapowerfulstrategytouseintheclassroomwithstudents,
especiallytokeepthemengagedinwritingandexpressingtheirthoughtsusingwordsandpictures.

PL&TechInnovationReflection
5/6/2016
0Comments

ThissemesterIlearnedalotaboutprofessionallearning.Themosteyeopeningexercisewasthe
coachingsimulationwecompleted.IactuallyhadfeweradoptersthesecondtimeIcompletedthe
simulation(7andthen5).Oneofthemainpointsthemadewastheimportanceofbuildingrapport
withteachersandtheimportanceofpatientlyworkingwiththem.Itisalsomorehelpfulto
communicatewithteachersaboutwhattheyneedfortheirstudents.Obviouslyitdifficultforacoach
tomeeteveryteacher'sindividualneeds.However,alackofcommunicationdoesnotcontribute
positivelytotheoverallgoal,whichisincreasingstudentachievement.Usinganopen
communicationcoachingcycle,alongwithcontinuoussupportcouldmoreeffectivelyassistteachers
withanyinitiative.

Ialsolearnedalotfromtheworkshopdevelopmentandimplementation.Itookadifferentroutethan

mostofmyotherpeersbyspeakingwithspecificteacherswhoIthoughtwouldbenefitfromthe
trainingIprovided.ThentheworkshopIcreatedwasveryhandsonwithmaterialsthatwere

originallycreated(excepttheYouTubevideos).Ienjoyedthatlearningexperiencesandlookforward
tofollowupworkshops.

ITEC7410Reflection
7/16/2015
0Comments

Asateacher,whenmyschoolfirststartedtechnologyintegrationIthoughtitwasabouthavinghardwareandsoftware
toolsavailableforuse.Formemostofthetimethetoolswereusedforproductivitysuchaslessonplanning,lesson
presentations,datacollection,anddatastoring.Forthestudentsonlinegamingorpracticelinkswereusedthemajorityof
thetime.InITEC7410Ilearnedthattechnologyintegrationmustbemoreadvancedthansimpleskilldrillforstudents,
andthattheideaofProblemBasedLearning(PBL)isagreatmodelforhigherorderthinkingandauthenticityoflessons.
ItisimportantforstudentstodeveloptheNETSSstandards,andtousethoseskillsforapplicationofcorecontent
knowledgethroughtechnology.

Asaleader,Ilearnedthenecessaryprocessofdevelopingatechnologyplanfromasharedvisionwithamaingoalof
contributingtostudentachievementtargetslacedoutintheschoolimprovementplan.Ihaveexperiencedtheimpactofan
unclearvisionthatcomesfromstartingtheintegrationbeforedevelopingaplan.Thatincludesconfusioninexactlyhow
technologyshouldbeintegrated,theassessmentofitseffectiveness,andhowteachersareevaluatedonintegration.So
notonlyisitimperativetodevelopatechnologyplan,butitisbeneficialtohaveacommonideaamongstallstakeholders.
WhatIamtakingbacktomyschoolisthataplanshouldbedevelopedcollaborativelyrightaway,andthatthephrase
personalizeddigitalenvironmentintheSIPshouldbespecifiedtotrulydetermineifthestrategiestoachievethelearning
goalsarebeingmet.

Asaprofessionalingeneralitisimportanttobeawareofcurrenttrends,issues,andresearchbasedstrategiessharedby
peers.BeforetakingthisclassIhadnotpreviouslyusedanRSSFeeder.UsingFeedlymirrorsusinganeducational
searchengine.Iwaseasilyabletofindarticlesandinformationaboutintegratingtechnology,problembasedlearning,and
mathematicseducation.Itisimportantforteacherstofacilitatetheirownlearningexperiencesoutsideofprofessional
development,forpersonalgrowthandreflection.

0Comments

ITEC7400Reflection
4/29/2015
0Comments

Inthe21stCenturyTeaching&LearningclassIhaveacquiredanabundanceofinformationregardingthe
importanceoftechnologyknowledgealongwithinstructionalpedagogyandcontentknowledge.Froma
teacher'sperspectivethesethreecomponentswouldonlyenhancemyinstructionasamathematicsteacher.
Ialsolearnedofmoreeffectivewaystoincorporatetechnologyintothecurriculumbyconsideringwhat
wouldconstituteahighlevelofengagementandahighleveloftechnologyintegration.Thistechnology
integrationisdoneinastrategicmannerthatensuresmeaningfulnessandlongevityinstudentlearning.

Inregardstobecomingatechnologycoachitwaspowerfultolearnofthetechnologystandardsthatexistfor
teachers,andstudents.Inmypersonalteachingexperiencesthefocushasbeenonprofessional
developmentforteachersintheuseoftechnologytoenhanceinstruction,buttherehasnotbeenasmuch
emphasisonstudentdevelopmentinusingtechnologytoenhancelearning.Ourstudentsneedtoknowhow
tofind/useresources,andorganizeinformation,collaborate,andcommunicatedigitally(NETSS2,3&6)
andprofessionallysotheycanalsocontributetopositivelytotheirlearningexperiences.FurthermoreI
wouldwantforthestudentstolearnskillsthattheycoulddevelopandbenefitfrom.

ITEC7445VideoAssignment
https://youtu.be/qnfUMOMF6I4