Aside from EdModo, I think Screencasting is one of my greatest "10thingstechie" discoveries this year! Screencastomatic was very user friendly and simple to use. I had a video created and uploaded to YouTube within minutes, and now I can easily share the link with my students. I could find myself using screencasting quite a bit in the future - ESPECIALLY when I am out and a substitute is in the classroom. I wish I had explored this a few weeks ago, when this exact situation happened. I left directions for the students to build their resume using Career Cruising, thinking it was pretty self explanatory. Well, needless to say, not much got accomplished that day. Now, had I had this instructional video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlS-jumPALo&feature=youtu.be&hd=1 , I think there would have been a lot more progress! I could also see using these types of videos to explain things to students when they are absent, or obviously, when flipping the classroom. I could see creating one of these for each of the major units (resume, cover letter, etc.) and then posting them to my EdModo account so that students could access them from home, make up work, etc. This is definitely a great tool.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
SmartBoard Exchange
Resources for Career Planning are abundant online. As you might imagine, every business magazine, newspaper, college career center, etc. has advice about interviews and resumes, job searching, and such. However, finding something tailored to the HIGH SCHOOL classroom, can be a bit more challenging. And so the saga continued when searching the SmartBoard Exchange. There are a couple of articles disguised as "lessons" and some career activities targeted towards younger students, but not much that would enrich the secondary curriculum.
What I found to be more useful in the Smart Board Library was the Lesson Activity Toolkit. I didn't realize the variety of templates available to make interactive "games" or activities. While I think some of the novelty of the SmartBoard has worn off with our high school students, this is another tool I'll add to my toolkit when it comes to quick assessments and exit slips. (On a side note - my students are currently planning a Learn & Serve project where they will be giving a health lesson to preschool students. I will be showing them these tools that they may wish to incorporate in their own lessons. I think they'll be a hit with the little ones.) The review templates, such as keyword match, are quick and easy to use. I literally made one in about 5 minutes to use at the end of class. They are also different and more engaging than simply asking questions or paper and pencil exit slips. These are the plusses, however, the downfall is that ONE student gets to demonstrate their knowledge, while the others watch. I find socrative, polleverywhere, or my favorite - edmodo, to be more useful in assessing individual student knowledge.
It was a good use of time to be exposed to some of the additional tools available on the SmartBoard. I've fallen into a rut of simply using it as a fancy whiteboard and am happy to have additional tools to add to my teaching toolkit.
What I found to be more useful in the Smart Board Library was the Lesson Activity Toolkit. I didn't realize the variety of templates available to make interactive "games" or activities. While I think some of the novelty of the SmartBoard has worn off with our high school students, this is another tool I'll add to my toolkit when it comes to quick assessments and exit slips. (On a side note - my students are currently planning a Learn & Serve project where they will be giving a health lesson to preschool students. I will be showing them these tools that they may wish to incorporate in their own lessons. I think they'll be a hit with the little ones.) The review templates, such as keyword match, are quick and easy to use. I literally made one in about 5 minutes to use at the end of class. They are also different and more engaging than simply asking questions or paper and pencil exit slips. These are the plusses, however, the downfall is that ONE student gets to demonstrate their knowledge, while the others watch. I find socrative, polleverywhere, or my favorite - edmodo, to be more useful in assessing individual student knowledge.
It was a good use of time to be exposed to some of the additional tools available on the SmartBoard. I've fallen into a rut of simply using it as a fancy whiteboard and am happy to have additional tools to add to my teaching toolkit.
Sunday, May 18, 2014
QR Codes
I recently had a e-survey/reflection that my students needed to complete after our e-mentoring program came to an end. I decided to make the lengthy url into a QR code and post it on the SmartBoard when the students came into class. It did catch their attention a bit, and increased engagement for the time being, but I did not find it all that effective. Most of the students do not use this technology and therefore did not have the QR reader app already on their device. Thus, of course this took some time for them to download it. If I was going to use QR codes on a more regular basis, then it might have been worth it.
I was thinking about other ways I could use QR codes next year. I decided to add QR codes for some suggested websites for a makeup version of a guest speaker journal assignment. This way, the students will have easy access to the website at home or on their device, without having to memorize the website. We shall see next year if this helps students to access the information.
As this school year comes to a close and the next school year begins, perhaps I will think of more original and creative ways to use QR codes. So far, this is a start!
I was thinking about other ways I could use QR codes next year. I decided to add QR codes for some suggested websites for a makeup version of a guest speaker journal assignment. This way, the students will have easy access to the website at home or on their device, without having to memorize the website. We shall see next year if this helps students to access the information.
As this school year comes to a close and the next school year begins, perhaps I will think of more original and creative ways to use QR codes. So far, this is a start!
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