Our Going Green PSA

We took the time to experiment with video editing, and we made this public service announcement. This PSA is a fun interaction of Going Green. After this experience, we now know how to use video editing to make a fun project with a new educational tool.

Interesting News

In one of my education classes, we were just informed that the state is trying to change the way teacher observations are conducted. Right now, teachers are observed by a principle or assistant principle. However, they want to make the observation based 50% on a principle’s observation of the teacher, and 50% on student performance (from state assessment tests). They want this in effect by Fall of 2012, which means that our class of future educators is clearly effected by this. I personally see this as a horrible idea because some students will always struggle of state tests, and some students are just poor test takers. Also, some students do not take the tests seriously, which shows that they did not learn anything when we know that it is true. Although there are no promises of this taking place, it is important to be aware of the implications. How do you see this affecting the education system? Why do you think they would change to this? What would this really be measuring in your opinion?

Incorporating New Tools into the Classroom

There are many tools that are centered for a particular age group, but some resources are helpful enough to incorporate ideas for both early childhood educators and secondary educators. Teaching is an ongoing process; we are always running into new ideas to incorporate into lessons. As future educators, it is important to be alert of new tools in order to create an interactive and fun classroom in the future.

Finale is a tool for students with a great interest in the field of music. It allows students or educators to create their own MP3 or composition. I really liked that the tool had a follow along guide to show the students what part of the composition was being played at that moment. The tool also gives a lot of instruments for the educator to choose from that are preinstalled in the program. The negative side is the price because it will cost the educator 300-600 dollars for use. This would require some type of funding that is not always available in the changing economic standing that educators of today must face. Teachers can use this at a basic level of nursery rhymes for young students, or they can make it very advanced for a music class. However, the educator creating this must have a music background to make the tool most beneficial because of the huge learning curve and the complexity of the program. This class presentation was interesting because of all of the sample pieces we got to listen to and see being used. Teachers can use this to explore the more creative side of lessons, such as songs for steps and processes to help students remember things. Students are able to use this to demonstrate understanding, while presenting in a fun and interactive new style.

Prezi is a tool that is much easier to use because it is less complex with a very minor learning curve. This program resembles a lot of the features of our well known Power Point program. Teachers can create themes and fonts that make the presentation more interesting and inviting for the students. Students can also create presentations for class assignments using this tool. Prezi allows an unlimited amount of space, so teachers are able to keep their lessons and make minor changes each year to the presentations. Prezi allows you to create pathways for the viewing of the information, which is a fun way to go above and beyond the usual Power Point slides. Prezi also gives you samples to use, which is helpful to new learners who wish to create the most beneficial presentation. However, be careful not to get too carried away with the pathways and motion. This can be very distracting and cause the students to lose focus on the importance of the information. Educators can use this to create flow charts. The presentation was great because we got to see a sample Prezi that actually was about our own majors. This site gives you templates to follow. Teachers can go to www.prezi.com to create fun and interactive lessons, and hopefully this helps teachers step out of the comfort zone of Power Point. Teaching is all about learning new things and expanding on ideas, such as Power Point, which are too often boring and overused.

Let me know what you think...Helpful or Pointless?

Expanding the Usual Classroom

By expanding the classroom, educators can include new resources for the students to experiment with and learn new ideas. Education is a learning process for both the teacher and the students, so teachers should always be looking for new tools to use in the classroom. Kidspiration is a great tool to make a classroom a more active learning environment. This software allows for the use of a graphic organizer, and it benefits both the students and the teacher. The teacher has access to sample lesson plans, and the site also helps to provide lessons for special needs students. These students can all benefit from this site because is allows students to participate in activities that will help them further understand. The software also gives access to clip art that can be helpful in creating more motivational and exciting presentations. The site offers create activities for many subject areas, and it gives different opportunities based on age group. This is important because it shows the focus on the needs of the individuals of certain groups and areas, and not students as a whole. The downside of this program is that it has a cost for unlimited use. Therefore, most teachers will have to pay for this on their own if they want access to the new ideas. Teachers can go to www.inspiration.com/Kidspiration to create student centered activities that will help them develop socially and take more ownership of their work. The presentation clearly showed the success of this tool because of the video with students centrally involved in the lesson. Therefore, they are more excited to learn and are having input into their own educational progress.

Reflecting on Tools in the Classroom

One tool to use in the classroom is called Museum Box. The presenter said that this is a great tool for history classrooms, but it has other beneficial applications. Students can involve photos and videos into each box as part of their presentation. This tool is a great solution for the overuse of power point presentation. It is like a mini compact version of a presentation. It also allows students to express their own creative side to whatever extreme they find appropriate. It allows the students to create these boxes and keep them together, which can help many students with the issue of organization. I can also see this being used as not only a timeline in history, but a way to illustrate layers in many other classes such as science. A beneficial technique for teachers is that it allows them to create lessons, and keep them in an organzied fashion all together in a "drawer". Teachers can go to www.museumbox.e2bn.org to create these slides for their classroom.


A tool that is designed to let students express their creativity is Go! Animate For Schools. This tool is a great way for students to experiement with new ideas and have fun annimating their own creations. It allows them to express themselves and have fun. This tool can be used in an educational setting, but also in a fun way outside of the classroom. The bad side is that the site does cost 99 dollars for a sinlge classroom. Many teachers are more interested in a free source because of the amount of money already included into a classroom. The site is private, so it is more likely to be safe to use in an educational setting. Educators can go to www.goanimate4schools.com to let their students express a more creative side, while still focusing on educational topics.

Learning about Tools

In class, we learned a lot about the different tools that are available for classroom use.

Popplet is a great tool for many different students. It allows them to map out ideas, and become more organized. Likewise, it can help educators become more organized when creating a lesson. It incorporates learning for the diverse population that can be found in a class. For instance, many students learn better through pictures and creativity, and this tool allows for this type of learning. I like that you can create your own drawings because it allows the students to personalize their own work. This is often times what can get a student involved in the learning process. It is sad that you are limited to six discussion boards, but one can delete old mappings in order to allow for further instruction using the tool. Educators can go to www.popplet.com in order to create these fun discussion boards for the students to explore and learn through.

Storyjumper is a really cool site, and it can be used in multiple different classrooms. Likewise, there are no age restrictions on this tool. It can be used to create lessons for educators, such as math problems and word problems. However, it can also be used for students to create their own material. Students can personalize this by adding their own photos, which is really nice for students. Many kids like being able to make it more relatable by turning it into a narrative. I like the idea that you can order a hard copy of the book that you create. Parents need to be more involved, and this allows them to see what the students are doing in class. It also allows the teacher to create hard copy of the lesson. An idea is creating a mini yearbook for the students at the end of the year, which many parents and students would be excited about getting. It is important to remember that we are limited to 16 pages in the book, but for my major of early childhood, this would never create a problem. Teachers can go to www.storyjumper.com in order to create a creative new tool for interaction in the classroom setting.

Wordle is another creative tool that can easily be incorporated into the classroom setting. This allows students to create a mix of words, and the students have a say over the size of the different words. Therefore, they can use this to represent themselves and what it more important to them. This tool is great for an introduction and welcome because of the control over what is the biggest vs. the smallest word. If I was creating one, I would put organization as the largest word, and people could really get to know me. Although I do not see this being used by the younger grades, teachers can use this to create fun and interesting posters for these younger children to experience. An educator can go to www.wordle.net in order to create these fun and intriguing new designs for students to experience with.

There are many new tools available on the internet for teachers. The important thing to remember is the age group that you are working with and how you can incorporate these tools in a beneficial way for that particular age group to gain information from. Exploring the options is important to create an interesting classroom for all students to have a fun learning experience in.