Top 10 Tech Tools I Cannot Live Without

I have created a notebook with all the sites and tech tools I encountered that I plan to use again. My top ten today (who knows what tomorrow brings) are:
Pinterest                           Animoto
Glogster                           Big Huge Labs
Wiki                                 Diigo ( I just love being able to keep my favorites in one spot.)
TeAchnology                    Teacher Tube
Rubistar                            ClassTools.net

All of the sites have tools to make fourth grade life easier and to keep students actively engaged.  I need a self-study class (with a call when needed tutor) so I can spend lots of time building upon what I have learned and adding to it. Big Huge Labs offered a variety of tools which students will enjoy such as puzzle and games. I plan to purchase it for future use. ClassTools.net was so helpful. It certainly beats trying to reinvent the wheel for every form or rubric. Animoto, Glogster, and Wiki will join PowerPoint as great presentation sites for my students.

Week 6   Mobile apps are becoming more popular and more available daily.  Teachers are embracing them as a useful tool both in school and at home. Even though I teach a self-contained fourth grade class, I have several students who have mild learning disabilities associated with problems recognizing and reading words, one student has physical limitations, another is visually impaired and  yet another has emotional problems. There are several apps that are appropriate for some if not all of the students:

Spanish Flashcards is designed for use with the iPad and iPhone. The program written by Declan Software contains a list of over 3,800 Spanish words spoken by a native Spanish speaker. It also has a learning list testing technique to ensure that students retain new words. Every child benefits from knowing a second language.

World Book designed This Day in History for iPad. It allows students to recall any date in history. They can pull up photos, music, speeches, and data. This benefits all children in a typical social studies lesson.

Also designed for iPad and iPhone is Fishdog.  The 60 second games use strategies like the number line for subtracting, which is recommended by Common Core Standards. Students can also practice facts with math drills. Anyone who can use a mouse can play. Students receive immediate feedback and can track their scores.  This is beneficial to students struggling with basic skills.

Interactive Storybook also uses iPhone. Students are introduced to fairy tales with dragons and Vikings.  Students can listen as the story is read aloud and while  the app highlights each word to help build word recognition. Reading a story several times has been shown to improve reading skills. This program will be helpful to students with reading problems and entertaining to students who are fluent readers.

 Week 5  A digital citizen is a person who belongs to a group, helps dictate the laws by which he must abide, and expects to benefit from the programs and services the online community offers.  There are several reasons why good citizenship is important. First, good citizens must do their part to keep themselves and others safe.  If every digital citizen polices himself by promoting positive, respectable behavior, no one will be fearful of the fact that the information submitted cannot be controlled and sharing (one of the most delightful aspects of the internet) will be welcomed.  Secondly, the name we make for ourselves in a digital community lasts for a very long time. If it is our desire to grow and prosper, we must make a concerted effort to build a resume that reflects a good spouse, parent, friend, or employee. The “thou shalt not” behavior we seek to exemplify in our everyday lives should govern our lives in every aspect-stealing, cheating, killing the reputations of others,  or gluttony which involves spending all of our time on the internet are laws we should seek not to break in order to maintain our status as good digital citizens. Besides, we are just wired to want to do the right thing.

Web 2.0  (Hyperlinked at the bottom of the post.)
 Animoto  http://animoto.com/play/dM36ESW1b0nsOKK2amAMsA

Glogster http://millshouse.edu.glogster.com/eatmong-ed505/


Voki  http://vhss-d.oddcast.com/vhss_editors/voki_player.swf?doc=http%3A%2F%2Fvhss-d.oddcast.com%2Fphp%2Fvhss_editors%2Fgetvoki%2Fchsm=12d516f7404fcefcce7ac2325b025908%26sc=7895095

Voki http://vhss-d.oddcast.com/vhss_editors/voki_player.swf?doc=http://vhss-d.oddcast.com/php/vhss_editors/getvoki/chsm=b77c2d3a155a08d10659360ca150d9f6%26sc=7895156

<iframe src="http://bubbl.us/view/16179a/2ac77c/142VubkDaxjFk/" width="600" height="400"></iframe>
Animoto

Glogster

Bubbl.us

Voki

Voki

Week 4
  Desktop publishing is a must for the elementary teacher. Students as well as parents love and are more attentive to brightly colored, graphic oriented brochures, letters, and notes. Material generators such as Printmaster have become staples in our classroom. Students also use it to publish their work. They write a book of poetry and add pictures at Christmas time. Writing stories ceases to be a chore when students can edit without rewriting. Headers for projects, letters to our special friends, brochures to invite parents to Family Night, and posters for all subjects are a few ways students use desktop publishing.
   The Premethean ActivBoard is also a must have tool. We use it daily for presentations, demonstrations, clikcer-based interactions, graphing, calculating, powerpoints, practice involving games and drills, telling time, and even as a random selector.
   Test generators in addition to worksheet and puzzle generators have become more important since the advent of common core standards. Puzzle generators are fun practice activities for multiplication facts and spelling or vocabulary words. Activities to reinforce and assess common core standards are not readily available, so test generators have provided a way to design and have access to materials.

Week3- software

ED 505 Week 3

According to Roblyer and Doering  software can fall into two strategies: directed and constructivist. The directed software includes drill and practice and tutorial. The directed software provides great benefits when teachers assign them on individual basis (as-needed) and at learning stations for self-selection and review. Constructivist software includes simulation, instructional games, and problem solving.

Drill and Practice resembles the flash card method of learning. Students are exposed to a problem or question, they give a response, and are provided with feedback about the response. Examples of drill and practice include flash card activities, chart fill-in activities, branching drill (students proceed to a new level based on mastery in current level), and extensive feedback activities (software gives detailed descriptions of errors made and provides feedback for correcting them). Research has shown that drill and practice produces automaticity and is therefore worthy for classroom use.

www.bigbrainz.com

http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/PD/instr/strats/drill/index.html

(Teachers can design their own activities using a bank of problems.)

Tutorial is direct instruction which consists of all the components of a lesson-explanation, practice, and feedback. Good tutorial software should guide students’ learning with appropriate questioning, ample practice sessions and suggestions for improvement. The student should have some authority about the amount of time needed to read and answer questions or review feedback. The software must present content so students understand it and provide feedback immediately along with redirection. Graphics should have a purpose if utilized and records should be kept of student activities.

http://www.mathtutor.com/              

http://phonicstutor.com/

Simulations require the learner to choose which tasks they will perform and the sequence of the activities. There are two main types of simulations: simulations that teach about something and simulations that teach how to do something. Both types are further divided into subgroups based on how students interact with them.  Simulations allow students to observe a sequence of events in one hour that they probably would not see in a year. Simulations provide a safe environment for multiple trials with complex processes. Students usually immerse themselves in these activities.

http://www.digitalfrog.com

http://www.starrynighteducation.com/product_k-4.html

Instructional Games add game-like rules and/or competition to learning activities. Much like drill and practice, instructional games add rules. Good instructional games should have appropriate content, appeal to all students, motivate yet not frustrate, and be socially acceptable. The instructional games should not be used in place of daily teaching but should be used sparingly for cooperative groups, as a reward, or to replace worksheets.

http://www.laureatelearning.com/products/category/games.html (learning disabled)

http://www.superteachertools.com/jeopardy

Problem-Solving software focuses on skills associated with problem solving such as observing, recalling, and analyzing or practice activities centered on solving specific problems.

http://www.cet.ac.il/math-intrnational/software5.htm

http://mathbydesign.thinkport.org/default.aspx

Roblyer, M.D. and Doering, A.H. (2013). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching. Boston:Pearson.