Activity 7: Cloud Computing

Sharing in the Cloud

I LOVE working on things within the Google Cloud and using the various Apps! I have researched and explored a bit with other sites such as Dropbox and Sky Drive, but found Google to be my favorite because it allows me to work on something without having to download it to my computer. This is great because I don't have to download the document, edit it, and then upload the document once again for others to see the changes. The availability to edit it as a group and the fact that it saves as you go puts this ahead of others for me. 

I have not used the "comment" access before. This would be great to use when you would prefer to be the one editing the document or don't want things changed quite yet, someone could leave a comment to provide suggestions. I also think it would be great for student writing. They could share the document with myself and their peers, and we could provide feedback without changing the document. This is easy to access, edit, and share! 

Unfortunately, I did not realize until the end of the year that all elementary students have emails (this piece I knew) in which they are only allowed to receive incoming mail (this piece I also knew), but they DO have access to all Google Apps! <----- This was a wonderful surprise! This is great because this past year I had students signing up for a Gmail address to access these Apps, but this year they already will have the emails set up. Having the Cloud makes it easier for students to share their work in class, access it anywhere, and share their work with their peers and teachers. Clearly, I am excited about having this available to all students next year (or just really tired). Woo hoo! :)

Cloud Computing: Fraction Review

Activity 6: Study Tools

Tagxedo and Quizlet

This week I chose to use both Tagxedo and Quizlet. I have heard a lot of great things about Quizlet and had a fun time preparing a lesson for my students. I incorporated different words or phrases that indicated a certain operation in math. For example, less than would indicate subtraction and in all would indicate addition. I think this would be a great resource to use with my students as a reminder when working with word problems. I will definitely be planning on using this to enhance my students vocabulary in all content areas this year. I found it to be very easy to use and would be a great, quick tool to have available to my students. 

Using Tagxedo was a lot of fun! I put together another Tagxedo about a year ago, but never really thought about how I could incorporate it in the classroom in a meaningful and purposeful manner. The example that I put together was based on providing students with a visual that had various adjectives to use in place of he word "cold." I really liked this idea and think that the students would have a fun time putting these together. We talk a lot about using different words, jazzy words and this creates a great visual product to display in the classroom. Both were very easy to use! I look forward to implementing them in my classroom this year. 

Tagxedo Example: Jazzy Words for Cold

Quizlet: Terms that Indicate Operation

Activity 4: Screencasting Place Holder

Activity 5: Creating a MV YouTube Channel

Activity 5: Creating/Improving my MV YouTube Channel

I began using YouTube this year to upload videos for my math class. While attending the TIES Technology Conference this past December, I learned a lot of different pieces that YouTube offers that I was not aware of before the conference. The ability to edit your videos and to post in various places starting at a certain time in the video are both great pieces to have available to you when posting videos for students to view. I have wanted to work with my YouTube channel for awhile, so this assignment was great in helping me do just that. My goal for this year is to upload ALL of my Flipped Classroom videos on YouTube so that both my students and parents can find them in one spot. Currently I am uploading them to Moodle, but think this would be easier and faster to navigate. I would also like to begin using the editing tool that YouTube offers to improve the videos that I made last year. There are plenty of things I would like to change/add/delete/fix from my starting videos! 

I am embedding a video that I used last year with my students that discusses making magnitude estimates. This was one of my first videos that I created...needs some improving. :) 

Activity 3: Digital Storytelling

Storytelling: Food in Spain

To tell a story about my favorite food in Spain, I chose to use ZooBurst. I found it to be fairly easy to navigate and fun to put together. I did not prefer the process in which you had to go through to choose pictures to add to your presentation, as I found it to be very time consuming. Although, I figured out the easiest and most efficient way to upload them towards the end. The overall hardest part for me was thinking of a topic!

I plan on using this presentation when I discuss food in Spanish. We practice talking about different foods that we eat at different meal times during the day. Sharing my experience with food in Spain adds in a cultural element in which students are able to learn a bit about life in Spain. Which student doesn't love talking about, looking at, and hearing about food?

As I think about ways that I could engage my students in creating their own ZooBurst books, there are a lot of possibilities! Students could retell the elements of a story, present different literature projects, and show different parts, such as an introduction, body, and conclusion to their writing. In math, students could discuss the steps to different operations or present their own word problems and then let the class solve them.

Activity 2: Pimp My Presentaion

Pimp My Presentation: Meet Mrs. Greene

This year in fifth grade, my students used Prezi to present many different projects. I shared the program with them, but never actually explored it myself. This was a great reason to start exploring!

I chose to use a template and found this to be extremely easy to navigate! I also adding the zooming feature to some slides and added the video. The program was very user friendly and made it easy to insert both images and videos. 

Using Prezi to present information is an engaging way to appeal to you audience. I can think of many different ways to incorporate this within a fifth grade classroom and am excited to be able to assist more in the creating process next year. This process took me about an hour to create and learn how to manipulate it, which is something I need to remember next year with my students. It is so important to provide time in class where students can explore and learn about the tools in which we are asking them to use. 

Some of the ideas in which I could use Prezi within my classroom include:

• Retelling a story
• Identifying the elements of a story
• Presenting research findings
• Character interviews or presentations
• Steps to solve types of math problems
• Creating real-world math word problems and presenting the steps to solve
• Investigations into Spanish speaking countries and traditions
• Presenting new vocabulary in Spanish units

Activity 1: Blog Bling

Activity 1: Social Media in Education 

I would use the following video to introduce the use of technology within our classroom for the year and also to promote acceptable use. We would brainstorm ideas on how we, as a class, could incorporate social media to enhance our learning. This would also be the time in which we have a discussion about using social media appropriately.