Setting the Stage Reflection

After re-reading my setting the stage post at the beginning of the course, I can't say that much has changed on the way of my technology philosophy. I still think that it is very important to integrate technology into the classroom. I still technology should only be used if it is an upgrade from what is already being done. One thing that has changed is my understanding of collaboration. I really enjoyed the discussion and sharing that took place on this course. I want to incorporate that principle into my classroom so that students spend more time building knowledge together. One other major change is that my toolbox has grown significantly. I know have a much better and broader understanding of how technology can be used to enhance learning.

Discussion Reflection

It was interesting to see what others thought about this course. As I mentioned in my post, the best part of the course for me was the discussion with other teachers. When I tell people that I'm taking courses online, they typically say something about how difficult that would be or how can you learn without face to face interactions. I've found this course to be a great learning experience. The give and take with the rest of my classmates has been very rewarding. After reading the D2L discussion, it reminded how valuable forums are. I plan on incorporating discussion board into my class more this year. I think this will increase the sharing of ideas. I've learned so much from my classmates here. I'm sure my students could get the same benefits from the same type of discussion.

Final Project

I have reworked my Moodle page. My goal was to make my Moodle page more interactive. I added the following things to my Moodle; a tutorial on Punnett squares using Jing, cell analogies collage using Glogster, a Moodle assignment where students upload their homework directly to the Moodle, two forums for class discussion, and a Twitter feed that provides current happenings in the science world. I created two Jing videos to show off my Moodle. Here is Part 1 and Part 2. I’ve also been working on setting up a Twitter account for classroom use. I’ve created a document about the use of Twitter in my classroom, and I’ve also collaborated with other teachers (through Twitter) about privacy and security when using Twitter for educational purposes. Here’s my previous blog post about using Twitter.

P.S. Sorry about the slurred speech on the Jing videos. I just had my wisdom teeth removed, ouch!

Tool Exploration Week 6- Moodle

Because I decided to go with Moodle over blogs and wikis, I spent a majority of my exploration this week with Moodle. I want to learn more about Moodle so that it becomes more interactive instead of simply a place to store files. I went to Moodle.org and read through their hints as well as a few forum discussions in order to learn more about these tools. The majority of the tools I found pointless and to difficult to use, but there were several that I plan on using.

Moodle Assignments

The teacher can use this to create an assignment. Students can than upload their assignments right to the Moodle. This removes the need to collect papers. There are a couple of ways to set this feature up. One set-up allows the student to turn in a rough draft which then can be reviewed by the teacher. The student then corrects their work and submits a final draft. This feature sounds appealing to me. I think I will test it out sometime this year.

Moodle Forums

Forums are fairly straight forward. I plan on using forums a good bit this year to encourage discussion and the sharing of thoughts outside the classroom. The biggest thing that I need to develop is a policy on how they will be graded and what the expectations are.

Moodle Glossary

A glossary of vocabulary terms can be created on Moodle. This tool has several nice features. Students can create definitions for different vocabulary terms. Students can rate the definitions in order to decide which definition is the best. Using the tips section on Moodle’s help site, I came across some interesting ideas. The glossary can be separated into categories as the year progresses. Also, the class can be split up into different groups. One group will be responsible for defining terms while another group will be responsible for rating the definitions. I feel this is a great way for students to create their own definitions, evaluate the definitions they’ve created, and refine them. I plan on using this tool in my ninth grade general science course.

Moodle Quiz

Quizzes can be created on Moodle. The feature has a lot of flexibility and options. My favorite part of this feature is that it will grade the quizzes for you and provide quick item analysis. This would help give the teacher instant feedback on how the students are doing in class. Additional features include time limits, open and close time for the quizzes, and opportunities to retake quizzes.

Moodle Flashcards

The final feature I like is Moodle Flashcards. Students or teachers can create a set of flashcards that can be used for studying.

Blogs, Wikis, and Moodle

The readings about Blogs and Wikis were very informative. I think both have a lot of uses in the classroom. The nice thing about these resources is that they can be used for a lot of things. The research provided in the slideshow was excellent. Posts and discussions on blogs and wikis lead to increased research by the students, increased discussion, increased collaboration, and increased face to face participation. I’ve noticed this through my own personal experience. I’m a relatively shy person. When I was in high school I dreaded being embarrassed by giving a wrong answer or asking a “dumb” question. Even today, I’m more likely to ask for help from other teachers when I have time to write out my questions and thoughts (which is easily done online). For that reason, I love using my blog and Twitter as a place to discuss teaching ideas.

In terms of preference, I think both have their benefits. Blogs are great for reflection and discussion, while wikis have a little more flexibility and allow for more collaboration. Personally, I prefer blogs. Wikis seem bulky to me for some reason. I think it would take more time to get the students used to a wiki as well. Blogs are very easy to start and use. At my school district, we are required to have a Moodle for each one of our classes. For those of you not familiar with Moodle, this is a site that can pretty much do all these things. The site can be used to host documents, videos, pictures, links, forums, and quizzes. It also has blogging and wiki capabilities. Because it does do all of these things, the resources aren’t top notch. You can’t create a blog as nice as the ones we’ve created for this class. It does have its limitations. I need to explore the blog and wiki capabilities of Moodle a little more before I decide whether to create a blog through Moodle or just put a link to a blog on my Moodle. If anyone has used the blog or wiki functions on Moodle before, let me know what you think.

QR Codes

I read about QR codes a couple of weeks back thanks to a comment on Twitter. I wasn't particularly interested the first time around. I had some extra time this week at our Tech Camp, so I explored it a little more. Here's a link to a livebinder that will give all the explanation you need about QR codes. It also has examples of how to use it in class. I found most of the applications to be not that helpful. I'm going to share two applications that I see using QR codes for. First, I like the idea of having a paperless answer key to go with a worksheet. A QR code can be placed on the worksheet. When a group of students have finished their work, they can check their answers can be scanning the QR code with their phones. Now, they will have access to a paperless answer key. Here's a very simple example of a QR code that I linked to a GoogleDoc. If you scan this image with an app on your smart phone, it will send you to an answer key.  

The second option is adding QR codes to things like posters and science fair boards that the students have created. The QR codes can link to YouTube videos of the students explaining their projects. I don't know if I will incorporate it into my class this year or not, but it definetly interesting learning about.

Twitter Update

I've mentioned earlier on my blog that I want to incorporate Twitter into my classroom this year. I went ahead and created a handout for my students to give them an initial idea of the role Twitter will play in the classroom. Here is a link to the handout I created: Use of Twitter. It is still a work in progress, but I think it's a good start. Any suggestions and improvements are appreciated.

At a district workshop this week, I approached our IT coordinator with my handout and my ideas for using Twitter in the classroom. The IT coordinator seems excited about the idea and is a strong believer in it's use. She is worried a bit about our building principal buying into it. She approached him once before about Twitter and although he didn't completely dismiss it, he has concerns about student safety. I guess the worry is that people besides students and teachers will have access to what students are tweeting about. The IT coordinator is planning on meeting with the District Superintendent to discuss the idea of using Twitter in class. He's a very big proponent of technology, so we will see how things go. I just wanted to let people know about my experience with trying to integrate Twitter into my classroom. If you have any suggestions about selling my point to administrators or minimizing safety concerns, please post it here.

I think Twitter is a great resource, and I want to help students learn how to use it for educational purposes instead of frivolously following celebrities. It's been such a great learning tool for me that I feel obligated to share its benefits with my students.

Week 5 Exploration

Create A Graph

I explored Create A Graph after reading others posts about it. The learning curve seems very small. This could really help with analyzing data. LoggerPro is typically used in our school district, but I found this to have a steep learning curve. I didn’t fully understand and the kids struggled with it as well. I think this is a great alternative, and I plan on using it this year.

GoogleDocs

I’ve heard things about GoogleDocs before, but I’ve never spent any time looking at it. I just completed the second day of our Tech Symposium at my school district. We spent some time working with GoogleDocs, and I see a lot of applications to it. One of the biggest benefits of GoogleDocs is that it allows students to collaborate on documents in real time. For example, students can upload a Word document to GoogleDocs. At home, members of the group can be working at their respective locations on the same document at the same time. This feature can be used for presentations, Word, and spreadsheets. Another great feature of GoogleDocs is the ability to create forms for your class. Using GoogleDocs, you can create surveys and worksheets that can be completed by the students anywhere. The information is placed neatly into a spreadsheet for the teacher. This could be very helpful when trying to reduce the amount of paper being used in the classroom. Instead of completing an opening day survey, the students can finish a GoogleDocs form. Students could complete homework worksheets using GoogleDocs. I’m also contemplating using these forms as exit tickets in class. I think this tool has a lot of applications.

Let me know what you think about my analysis of these tools. Do you use these any differently?

List of Simulations

Simulations are great for sciences courses. There are many interactive simulations out there on the internet. Here are a few that I’ve come across:

Transcription and Translation

This website allows the user to practice the transcription and translation process. I use this in my class when we talk about protein synthesis. First, I demonstrate and then take some volunteers to give it a try.

Make a Karyotype

This is from the same site as the previous example. I have my students work through this during the genetics unit.

Enzymes

This is probably my favorite simulation/animation. This provides a lot of information on enzymes with the visuals to support the information. This has really helped my students visualize what’s going on with enzymes.

Peppered Moth Simulation

I’m sure most people know about the peppered moth scenario commonly used to explain natural selection. This site allows students to simulate a bird capturing moths in this scenario. It also presents them with percentages and graphs based off of their data.

Cells Alive

This is a great site for examining the cell organelles. I think there are animations of mitosis as well.

Translation

Here’s another good one for translation.

These are the ones that I use in my class. Hopefully, I can add to my list after reading everyone else’s posts.

Week 4 Reflection

First, I’m going to discuss the online data part. I like this idea. Research has shown the benefits of inquiry learning in science classes. A big part of inquiry learning is analyzing data. One problem is that collecting data can be time consuming and sometimes downright impossible in the classroom. That’s why online data has so much potential. Lessons can incorporate on-line data that has already been collected and organized.  From there students can get to work with some real-world data. As the chapter in the book states, the use of on-line data has several potential benefits. Research has shown that it can increase engagement, motivation, and achievement. I plan on looking into on-line data that I can incorporate into my classroom.

The second part of this week’s reading was about the generating an argument model. I like the concept, and I like that they’ve created a model that is easy to follow. I agree with many others that this should be an important part of science education. The only problem is I can’t think of how I could incorporate this into my class. Yes, I like the model. Yes, I think it will benefit. Yes, I think I should be doing it. But, I’m just not sure how. It takes a good bit of time and effort to sit down and think about developing something like this. I really want to incorporate this into my class, so I’m looking forward to beginning my activity that we need to create for this class.

Great Book on Teaching

I just finished reading Teach Like a Champion: 49 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College by Doug Lemov. What I really liked about this book was that it was very straightforward and practical. The author outlines 49 techniques that could be used in any class. For example, “right is right” is a technique used to set and defend a high standard of correctness in the class. The teacher shouldn’t “round up” the students’ answers for them. Students need to use technical vocabulary, include units, and answer completely. Nothing is this book is ground breaking, but the techniques discussed are easy to understand and very helpful. I took 9 pages of typed notes from this book. I plan on reading through my notes a couple of times and then find ways to implement them into my class. Overall, I thought this was a great read, especially for beginning teachers. This book would be a great addition to a undergrad education course.

Twitter (Please Help)

I'm seriously considering using Twitter next school year. Here are my thoughts...

Twitter could be used for the following:
1. Keep students up to date on assignments
2. Reminders for tests
3. Quick hints and tips for tests and assignments
4. Reminders for science fair deadlines
5. Students can ask questions to the whole class and others can respond
6. Parents can keep up on class events as well.

I'm sure there are more things. Does anyone have any suggestions for other ways I could use Twitter? How do you like my ideas so far? Will they work? Is Twitter the best thing to use for the objectives above or would something else be better?

I plan on requiring my students sign up for Twitter and follow a class Twitter account that I will run. Any problems with this?

Feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.