PLN#10 3/23-3/30

8 Free Online, Collaborative Interactive White Boards

This post was about other online interactive White Boards. The difference between the SmartBoard program and the ones in this post are that these are collaborative. In other words, these White Board apps are an online meeting space where the user can create a session and invite other users to collaborate. I chose one called Twiddla. I did not have to sign up and I did not have to create an account. In Twiddla, you have two options; you can start with what they called "Sandbox" or the user can start "A New Meeting". The Sandbox is a public session where the user can practice using the app. The user can upload images, URLs or documents and users can collaborate and discuss, add text, highlight or draw on the screen. This seems like a great tool to get my students together on a topic and bouncing ideas of off each other. This could also be useful for projects where the students could meet online and discuss and work on their projects. 

Week 10 Blog

Blog#10
3/23 -3/30

Ashley started things off this week with the first online presentation. She did a great job and is lucky to get it out of the way. She was organized, she used the time wisely and the presentation did not seem rushed at all. She was articulate and she engaged the audience by asking us questions and having us complete a couple of activities online. The presentation was on Schoology and even though I've used Schoology before, Ashley taught me a few things about the LMS that I had never used before. She showed us how to create quizzes and she had a us take a quiz, too. The online quiz had some features I have never seen online and I look forward to using them. I currently use Edmodo, but I favor the interface of Schoology. Schoology has come a long way the last few years and it seems as if Schoology has more features and looks more professional than Edmodo. I think I'm going to familiarize myself more with Schoology and give it a try. Edmodo seems to have peaked in terms of design and features and hasn't really changed in the last few years. A big thanks to Ashley for the awesome presentation and for showing us some cool features on Schoology. Now I have a better idea on how to execute my presentation and I hope to get this out of the way, also.

PLN#9 3/16-3/23

App Ed Review Roundup: Multicultural Apps and a Website

This review caught my eye because of the title: Multicultural Apps. This blog reviewed a few multicultural apps and I found one that I think I can use in my classroom. It is called HiNative. HiNative allows users to ask other users using the app multicultural questions. The questions may include inquiries into language, customs, traditions, and politics, among others. The feature that caught my eye is that HiNative automatically translates questions and answers from the user’s native language into other users’ native languages. My students can create an account and throughout the year have them use this app. In my last PLN, I stated I had trouble differentiating with Spanish and making their homework relevant to the real-world. I feel like I can hit both targets with this app. The students can ask other Spanish speakers questions about the grammar or the cultural theme of the unit that I am teaching. The app can be accessed from a PC, Android or Iphone/Ipad so it is easily accessible.

Week 9 Blog

Blog#9
3/16 -3/23

PLN #8 3/9-3/16

Are you Bringing Your ‘A’ Game for Your Students? 25 Questions

This was an interesting read about teachers bringing their 'A' game for their students everyday. She poses 25 questions she recommends teachers ask themselves to reflect on and help motivate teachers to continuously improve and bring energy to the classroom. I'm to test myself on each question and see where I stand. Here are the 25 questions:

1. Do you set the tone of respect by showing your students respect? Yes, I greet my students everyday at the door before every class. I comment on the new sneakers, hairdo, or ask them how their day is going.
2. Do you model lifelong learning (if you aren't inspired to learn, why should your students be)? I make it a point to tell my students that I have not stop going to school since I graduated high school. I tell them their are other options besides college but the key is to always learn something new. 
3. Would you want to be a student in your classroom? Yes, because I motivate, cool and hilarious. Haha
4. Do you regularly look for ways to better serve your students? I'm always looking for tech or ways to differentiate my lessons.
5. Do your students have opportunities to make choices about how they learn in your classroom? Yes and no. I'm in the process of creating other ways for students to reach the final goal. My colleague, Mrs. Rodriguez has a template that she gives students every week with a list of activities that have to be completed by the end of the week. The students can pick and choose what activities they want to complete.
6. Do your students have opportunities to make choices about how they demonstrate what they've learn in your classroom? As of now, only with their projects. The students usually have 3 or 4 ways to present their projects.
7. Is the homework that you assign providing students an opportunity to connect what they are learning to the world around them? No. I'm still trying to figure out how to do that effectively with Spanish.
8. If a student demonstrates on an assessment that they don't understand something, do they have an opportunity to correct that? If not, why not? Yes, they do.
9. Are students afforded the opportunity to master what they are learning in your classroom (or do you just move on whether they've learned it or not)? Yes. If they students don't get a 90 or better, they have the opportunity to re-take it until they get a 90. Most students don't take me up on the offer.
10. Do you throw up your hands and say, “I have no choice … the system makes me to do this”? Everyday.
11. Are you having fun teaching? No.
12. Have you thanked a student lately? No.
13. How aggressively do you look for ways to allow students to learn and demonstrate learning in a way that works for them? I feel as if I'm not as aggressive as I want or need to be. I will have dedicate time this summer to look for different ways for students.
14. If you're forced to “teach to the test”, do you feel that means you have no choice about how you teach? As a Spanish teacher, I just laugh at that notion and ignore it.
15. Do you require students to be quiet, sit still, and just listen? Only when I'm talking. I generally talk for the first 5-10 minutes, and then students are off in groups working on their tasks.
16. Do you think flexibility in your classroom equals a loss of control? Not at all. If one has good classroom management skills, that allows you to be as flexible as you can be.
17. Do you feel that it's not your responsibility to motivate your students to learn? It is my responsibility.
18. If you had the choice to make again, would you be a teacher? Yes.
19. Does the homework you assign have enough value to make it worth taking away a student's opportunity to do extracurricular activities, have a life, chill a little, or get enough sleep? The homework I assign is always pertinent to what we are learning. No work should have enough value where it would affect someone's life.
20. Have you “always taught this way”? No. The way I taught 10 years ago is different with the way I teach today.
21. Do you make a point of trying to get to know your students? Yes. I do a survey at the beginning of the year and that helps me tailor my lessons to students' needs and interests.
22. Is your classroom focused predominantly on you, or on your students? The students.
23. Do students have opportunities to make choices regarding some homework activities (selecting from a range of options for example)? At this point, no.
24. Are you helping your students learn how to learn? I'm helping my students acquire and discover.
25. Would you want your children to be in a classroom like yours? Yes, like I said, I motivate, I'm cool and I'm funny.

This was a good questionnaire to assess what and how I am doing with my students. My strengths are that I look for different ways to reach my students and the focus is on the students. My weakness is that I offer no differentiation when it comes to students being able to select how they meet the objective.

Week 8 Blog

Blog#8
3/9 -3/16

Dr. Sponder posted another job in the Education Technology and we re-assessed our strengths and weaknesses in relation to the job description. I definitely have a few needs that need to be addressed if I were to one day to get into this profession. At first, I joined this program to get the bump in pay, but now that Dr. Sponder has shown us what opportunities are out there, I definitely want to refine my skills and learn as much as I can because I definitely would like to pursue something in this field. We went over a few PLN's, Moodles and ToonDoo. Most of the Moodles look complete and I'm finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel on mine. I'm about 90% complete and I'm looking to complete my Moodle this weekend. It is just a matter of fine-tuning, looking for errors and testing all of the links. Finally, we were shown how to segment our online activity; I'm hoping to get this Moodle done this weekend, so I can start planning for that. I would like to go on an earlier date so that I can be done with it and it will be one less thing to worry about.

PLN#7 3/2 - 3/9

Popplet

I discovered Popplet through our Periodic Table of Ed Tech assignment and have already incorporated it in my Spanish 4 class. They are currently working on group projects and are required to use this as one of their tools. Popplet is an app to organize ideas in a mind-mapping format. The user can post ideas, notes, sources, etc and put them together and create a mindmap. The one feature I do like is that you can add other popplets from other users into one popplet. The students have to do their research this weekend and add their findings to their popplets. They have to provide links, media and pictures. On Monday, the students will then combine their popplets into one popplet. This will be an easy way to keep all of their findings organized and in one place, and it will also let me keep track on who is contributing and who is completing their work.

Week 7 Blog

Blog#7
3/2 -3/9
7 Keys to Blended Learning

Even though this blog entry was about running a blended learning environment using Microsoft's version of their LMS (MS Classroom) exclusively, there were several tools they mentioned that can be used in the flipped/blending learning environment that can be applied to other LMS platforms. The blog also suggested several strategies one should implement when running a blended/learning environment. I found some strategies that I am going to implement in my Moodle and in my classes as I continue to plan and design a blended learning environment in my Spanish curriculum for next year. The article suggested seven keys that can be effective in blended learning:

1. Making participatory learning expectations clear - The blog states that blending environment should encourage students to be self-directed because it claims that "21st century jobs are fundamentally self-directed and education must adjust to that". The blog provided examples on how to make certain expectations clear. For example, students may think online learning is only to be done at home. To make this expectation clear, one can explain what is expected of them at home and in class.
2. Create a digital textbook for student reference - The blog suggests that students learn more when they are the authors of their own book. In other words, students can create their own content by writing and collaborating online, developing interactive content and creating cartoons, videos and podcasts. One method I thought was interesting was students creating their own rubrics and assessing themselves. This affords the students the opportunity to not only assess themselves but to also take ownership of their own learning.
3. Clarify grading overview - The blog mentions teachers take advantage of video annotation and quizzing tools. They give several options that I have used already and I agree video annotation is a great tool even if used in the classroom. One option I find interesting are the video platforms that allow the user to reflect, discuss and take notes during the video. This is a different approach from TEDed and Edpuzzle where the video stops and the student just answers a question. This tool allows the student to reflect, take notes and think more profoundly about a topic rather than just answering a multiple choice question.
4. Set up an online presence for to share instructional resources - Basically, it recommends an LMS that is easily accessible from multiple devices so that the activities and resources are readily available.
5. Select a screen-casting tool to record instructional videos - One of the most important features is to select a screen-casting tool that is reliable and it recommends several choices one can choose from.
6. Create class videos online for easy access across devices - The blog also suggests hosting videos that are created online. The blog recommends using YouTube and other methods of accessing videos if teachers/students don't have access to YouTube.
7. Implement engaging classroom activities - Finally, the blog suggests ways to implement hands-on activities. This key was interesting because I did not think of including any hands-on activities for the online portion of the blended instruction. It recommends sites like Minecraft, Padlet, collaborative apps for student groups and forum based applications. Implementing these activities will give a nice mix of synchronous and asynchronous learning for the course.

This was a good read considering we have been taking online classes and have read some articles on blended learning. This blog entry applies to what we have been learning and practicing in this program. As I went through the keys, I found that I am currently incorporating many of the things in the Moodle course that I am designing and look forward to implementing some of the other keys that were suggested.