Friday, July 29, 2011

Revisiting my initial post

One of my biggest take-aways from this course is that in this ever-changing world, students must learn to be creative, and teachers must prepare students for careers that require an immense amount of individuality and creativity. Through use of a lot of these internet tools, teachers can speed up the learning process through constant communication in and out of school. Many of the resources we learned about in this course leave lots of room for students to be creative. Like I said in my initial post, the internet provides countless opportunities for communication and collaboration. In my final project, I attempted to create a blog that fosters communication between students at different schools and education professionals throughout the state.

I feel that my initial opinions remain the same. I chose to take this course for the reason that I thought it would make me a better teacher by learning how to navigate educational web tools more smoothly as well as give me ideas for integrating them into the classroom. I think this course effectively accomplished this goal, and even if I feel I have not mastered all of the tools we learned how to use, I now have the resources to learn how to use them. I have a long list of ways I can use these resources in the classroom thanks to Prof. Brunsell and all of the other teachers in this course! I want my students to be problem solvers and independent thinkers and I plan to teach them this through science by using inquiry. The internet gives students access to information they never would have had twenty years ago, so they may ask more questions because a lot of knowledge is already out there for them!

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Final Project

Here is a screencast of my final project for this course. One thing I forgot to mention is that the age group of students is 6-8th grade. Also, I do not include the name of the school in my blog because I do not yet have permission to create an official site associated with the school. I look forward to the development of this blog over the course of the fall, and any comments are appreciated!




Link to blog: http://outdooredch.blogspot.com/

Saturday, July 23, 2011

D2L Discussion Reflection

I enjoyed the small group discussions on Desire2Learn. Since the discussion was concentrated in one place, we could have more of a conversation. I like commenting on people's blogs throughout the course, but half the time I ask a question and do not get a response (nor am I good at responding to comments on my own blog) so I feel like I got more out of the D2L discussion. I briefly looked at the other discussion groups as well and it seems that overall, everyone was really pleased with the course content and how it was run. I think that all of us will find a way to incorporate at least a few of the tools into our classroom, no matter what age group we work with.

The main points that were brought up in our discussion group were using the internet as differentiation for students who need more of a challenge, using the internet as a motivational tool and to get students excited about learning science, and to broaden their opportunities to learn science since you can access resources on most anything in science. The internet is an incredible communication tool that students should be learning how to take advantage of to enhance their learning!

Screencast-o-matic

I created this short clip using screencast-o-matic and would ask this question of middle school students while they are studying the seasons.

I think that it is good I finally tried to use a screencasting program because eventually I may get the hang of it, but was not initially easy to figure out! I tried at least four times to get text to show up with the question for the students, but I was unsuccessful until now. Next time I would turn the sound off because you can hear me breathing and since I am not talking at all, it is unnecessary.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Old computer problems...

So I have tried to download Jing and Snagit (also available on the Jing website) and apparently my mac is too old to do this! I have tried searching other versions of Jing and have not had any luck Does anybody know how I can use this program or where I can find an older version that is compatible with my macbook from 2007?

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Blogs and Wikis

A few weeks ago, I created a project wiki for my class (the link is on one of my previous posts). I really like using wikis as a one spot stop for resources and communication. I find them easy to navigate, and easy to organize as a teacher. I like that students have constant access to what they need, and I will not have to print out the project requirements three times for each student. Students can collaborate and communicate through discussion threads, so it also helps me formatively assess their progress and their thinking throughout the project. I think I would more likely use a wiki in my class than a blog, because I think there is more flexibility in how you can use it, and it seems more conducive to project development since resources can be included and it is not so highly discussion based as a blog. It is also true that one student will not be stuck with all the work because as long as a student has internet, they can bring the project home. I think that blogs and wikis are easily the most useful communication and collaboration online tools we have learned how to use in this course, and I will undoubtedly use one or both in my classes in the future. I also like how in this course we each have our own personalized blog, and it keeps us accountable for completing the coursework, but we can also communicate through comments. I feel like I can get to know my classmates better this way, even though I will never meet them in person!

My favorite blog from the examples is "Lab out Loud." I am so impressed that two science teachers created the blog/podcast and put the time in to maintain it for other teachers and students. I could spend all day watching episodes and reading the blog posts. If you haven't checked it out yet, you really should! http://laboutloud.com/

Edmodo

I'm not sure why I haven't looked at "Social Networking for the Classroom" yet but I am very excited about the tools under that tab! My students are facebook addicts and Edmodo looks a lot like facebook, but the links are applicable to school. I think that it is important to make students feel comfortable with the resources teachers use in the classroom, so my hope would be that students would sign on to Edmodo like they do on facebook. Though I haven't found it yet, I am hoping there is a chat feature on Edmodo as well, the only concern would be to keep the chat to homework topics. I like how teachers can post a "poll" question for students to answer, because sometimes when I ask questions in class when I want an opinion from every student, some do not want to raise their hand so they do not participate. Having assignments and due dates accessible from home is useful as well. Hopefully other ninth grade science teachers could have an account as well so that we can connect on this site, rather than email.
I am still working on creating my profile, but here is the link: http://www.edmodo.com/msvandyke

Friday, July 8, 2011

Project-Based Learning

I am familiar with project-based learning, but have never heard the term, "challenge-based learning." The idea of project or challenge based learning seems daunting for a teacher at first, but then I realize that once the time is put into creating a genuine project for the students, they have the opportunity to run with it and direct their own learning, so the teacher takes a step back and acts as a guide when students are struggling. I think that students need more opportunities to develop their own questions and learn how to solve problems without someone telling them what to do. I like the emphasis on interdisciplinary projects at some of the schools. It can take months to complete a project, but ultimately the students feel a sense of satisfaction with their accomplishment. I see project-based learning as one step above inquiry, because it requires that students apply what they learn so that it is relevant to their life. A science lab could be an "inquiry" lab but not be classified as PBL if students do not directly respond to the results of their experiment. I see PBL as doing research to take action or create something that others can learn from. I wonder how widespread PBL will be in the near future, as it seems to produce tremendous results for students.

I found a few schools using project based learning post videos of example projects in their schools. Here are a couple websites of the more extensive websites I checked out:
http://videos.hightechhigh.org/
http://www.bie.org/videos
http://www.bobpearlman.org/BestPractices/PBL.htm (This site has links to a lot of PBL resources)

Online Simulations

I think that simulations should be used often to give students context for what they are learning, as well as a visual for learning the material. In earth science, it helps students visualize changes that often happen over very long periods of time (like plate tectonics).
The school I worked at this year had Vernier probes and optics set, which I was able to use in my classes. The Virtual Optics Bench described in Chapter 3 seems like a great simulation as a substitute for the Vernier Optics set.

One of my favorite online simulations (though involved and will take at least a class period for the students to complete) is Virtual Earthquake (http://www.sciencecourseware.com/eec/earthquake/). In this simulation, students learn how to use S and P wave arrival times to determine the distance to an earthquake, and using multiple data points, they find the epicenter of an earthquake. In part two, students find the magnitude of the earthquake. This simulation also enforces skills in reading and interpreting graphs. The other good part is that you can register as a teacher so that you can view the student's final quiz scores when you log in with the class code.


Though I do not have much experience using online data in the classroom, I see it as a very efficient way for students to complete inquiry-based assignments that are not as time consuming. They are still required to interpret data and use that data to come to a conclusion, so I think it accomplishes some of the same learning goals. I am looking forward to creating my "Generate an Argument" assignment, though I am having trouble coming up with a good concrete question for the data set I would like to use!

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Wetpaint Wiki

In addition to exploring options with Google Earth, this week I chose to create a wiki on Wetpaint. I made the wiki with the intention that it could be used for the duration of a course, but now I think that a wiki would be more useful as a project tool for students. For example, on this wiki, I posted a project and included due dates on the calendar, created a section for links that are useful resources for the project, a discussion thread, news relating to weather and climate, and a link to a rubric. I was thinking that I would add more projects as I go along, but instead, I think that there could be a wiki for just one project so that it does not get too cluttered. Students could use the resources on the wiki, and they could also communicate with classmates and group members. The due dates are easy to view, and the project description and rubric are easily accessible. This wiki is really just a start, and helped me get familiar with creating one, but I will not use this specific wiki in my class. I can definitely see using wikis as a tool, and I like the extensive options for what you can do with a wiki. Here is the link to my trial wiki!
http://vandykeearthscience.wetpaint.com/

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Digital Storytelling

The chapter from Technology in the Secondary Science Classroom and the idea of digital storytelling directly connect to "non-linguistic" representations that my class was talking about today in the other course I am currently taking. Non-linguistic representations add detail and clarification to abstract concepts in science. Visual components can make students think, or they can provide information that students may not otherwise be able to visualize. I use accompanying visuals every day to enhance my teaching, but I often do not consider the exact reason why I am including the visual besides that it will add clarification to new content.

I especially like that in the digital storytelling examples that students were summarizing and covering the essential ideas in their videos. It is a skill for students to gather information they have learned and summarize it by turning it into a story. There is a lot of value in being able to describe a science concept in their own words so that they can teach others. It seems students have fun creating the visuals and designing the sequence of presenting them. I am definitely going to create a project using digital storytelling in my earth science class in the future. Some of these videos will serve as good models for my students.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Prezis, Glogs, and Voicethreads, oh my!

I have used prezis for personal presentations in classes I have taken, and used one for a presentation on volcanoes in my classroom, but I have never asked the students to make a prezi. I realized that the final project I did last month on astronomy would have been the perfect time to introduce students to prezis. Giving students the opportunity to be more creative than just using a powerpoint would have been perfect! I also wish that I had known about Glogs because they are an environmentally friendly alternative to making posters, since there is no paper waste. There are always too many student products in the classroom to hang on the walls so a glog would be a nice alternative. I also think that my students would enjoy making a glog, especially the ninth graders. I spent quite a bit of time exploring voice threads, but I fail to see how I would use this in my classroom. I think it would be more effective to have a classroom discussion. This technology is one that I consider to be incorporated just for the sake of using technology, not because it enhances learning. I would appreciate an example from anyone who has used this before!

Create a graph is a really cool site, and easy to use. However I think that high school students should be learning how to use excel. If I were a middle school teacher, I might try to make graphing more "fun" by using the graphing program on kids' zone. It is a good introductory graphing program and is more asthetically pleasing than excel.

During the weekend I plan to explore Google Earth in depth. There are so many activities that have been developed by teachers that are perfect for earth science.


Link to a prezi I made with a classmate this past semester: http://prezi.com/jp6yfem0sjvt/copy-of-big-ideas-in-geophysics/

Monday, June 20, 2011

Response to Readings (week 2)

In the Thier article, I appreciate how specific examples of literacy strategies can be incorporated in any science classroom. Specifically, I really like the idea of "Write as You Read Science." In my classes, to make sure students do the reading for homework, I often include include accompanying questions that address specific ideas I want them to understand or encourage them to make predictions. I would like to give more open-ended assignments where students can identify what they think is important or interesting and I suspect I will become more comfortable with this over time. "Write as you Read Science" has clear guidelines and expectations, but still give students the freedom to identify in the reading what they learned and expand on their ideas or questions.

For a large inquiry lab assignment this spring, I required students to use Google Docs so that they could share their lab report with me so that I could give them feedback all the way through to the final product. I found this to be an effective use of Google Docs, however there were some glitches as graphs or diagrams would often not show up, or the program would take a very long time to update when all students in the classroom were using it at the same time. I have recently set up Google Reader, though I find Professor Brunsell's netvibes dashboard easier for navigating classmate's blogs. I am looking forward to exploring more on the NSTA website this week as well as browsing the science talks on TED.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Technology Guiding Principles

The most important skills that students must have when using technology for information-
1. Navigation: how to search for useful and reliable internet sources
2. Discretion: how to identify which information is important
3. Application: how to apply the information that is available to them. Access to knowledge is easy, they must know what to do with that knowledge!

The technology must help students learn-
4. Technology can be used to accelerate learning by providing information or simulations that help students make connections.
5. Technology must help differentiate for different ability levels in the classroom. Every student must be able to use the technology on a level that they understand.
6. Technology helps students analyze and interpret data to further understanding.
7. Technology should enhance communication between students, the teacher and experts outside of school.
8. Technology should be providing additional, more accessible learning experiences for students, and should not be used just because it is there.

Setting the Stage Reflection

I have seen the "Did you know" video in a couple different seminars. I find the statistics especially interesting regarding the technological leaps that larger developing countries like India and China have made recently. It is pretty mind blowing that China will have more English speakers that the United States within a matter of time. Last year, working in China at a school with highly driven students, I feel I have experienced first hand the high stakes that China sets for students. The students seemed to have a more global view and long term goals than most high school students I have worked with in the US. I think it would be fair to say that my current students are fairly oblivious to what they are up against, and they may take for granted the opportunities presented to them. I really like the quote from Thomas Friedman who said that he tells his daughters to do their homework because "people in India and China are starving for your jobs." I would love to find a way to promote international communication in my classroom, since the internet makes it easy to talk to people across the world. I struggle with how to integrate social networking sites into the classroom, but I especially am interested in how twitter could be used, because the short length of post appears to make it more accessible for all levels of students to read and respond.

The article on 21st century skills was especially interesting to me, because these skills can often seem vague, but this article did a good job defining concrete skills. "If students
have experience solving problems, working in groups, and communicating conclusions using evidence, they are developing the knowledge, skills, and abilities to participate in this century’s economy." The internet expands the possibilities for communication and collaboration. Students can problem solve with students from other countries and use both of their experiences to come up with better solutions. My mentor teacher this year is involved with Green Across the Pacific, and in this program students from China and Japan learn with students in Vermont about environmental issues and attempt to collaborate on solutions. I cannot imagine a better way to promote communication between cultures on global issues.

I think that the examination of the United State's educational system is not an over-reaction. In this ever-changing world, teachers need to make sure students are learning the skills they need to be successful in tomorrow's jobs. I appreciate the current focus on more inquiry tasks and practical application than when I was in high school. It helps prepare students to be better thinkers and problem solvers.

Introduction

This blog has been created for the course: Web Tools for Science Teachers.

I currently teach Earth Science and Astronomy in Bristol, Vermont (though the last day of school is tomorrow and I will be relocating to Colorado). I began this year as a student teacher and moved into a long-term substitute position for the spring. Last year, I taught at an international school in Chengdu, China and decided to get my public school teaching license this year. I am not sure how many other people in the course are new teachers, but I am definitely looking forward to learning from everyone enrolled in the course. I am especially excited to learn how to incorporate Web 2.0 tools into my classroom. This year, I communicated with some of my students through e-mail, but a few of my students do not have internet at home. For this reason, all use of web-based technology was strictly during class periods so as not to put those without internet at home at a disadvantage. Even though students are living in an age of technology, some families still cannot afford to have a computer with internet in their home, which can be restricting for students and teachers in the area of communication. I feel that it will strengthen my teaching a great amount to become literate in web 2.0 technology, and I hope that I will find effective ways to integrate it into the classroom routine.