This is why I teach

Interview to use my phone

I have always enjoyed putting new energy into finding tools to better my teaching and enhancing the possibility for student learning.  I usually read ACSD or other educational publications about the newest thing.  The search brought me to Lori Peters who has changed my mind about using the most common handheld device in the classroom as a learning and diagnostic tool.

Lori Peters is an English teacher or 11^th grade has brought to my attention that the cell phone has been there all along and been overlooked as in important tool for the modern educator. 

The first thing I need to check out is the district’s policy about how they deal with students and their cell phones. Her perspective is that with a firm understanding of what the kids can and have tried to get away with will arm the teacher with a much better footing when having students bring their cell phones into the classroom on and ready to work.

The programs that she recommended I try are zipgrade, turnitin app, and reading with digital copy.  Zipgrade is an app connected to an easy to use website that grades form tests with the cell phone camera.  This is great because you never have to wait in line to use the bubble machine in the faculty room.  Also, the compiled data that is collected for each student and the class as a whole is far more comprehensive than any simple bubble sheet.  The teacher can print out complete documents informing the students what they missed and what the other kids in class chose.  This gives the teacher the advantage in reteaching if they see the majority of students missed the mark on a standard or idea. 

I have used turnitin.com before but never thought about using the app to grade my essays.  I think that with the amount of energy needed to carry all of them around while always having my phone in my pocket it never occurred to me to try and just grab my phone.  I did not try this one yet but I think the next much of essays I should force myself to keep the paper away and jump onto my phone. 

I think that the feel of a good book is relaxing and therapeutic.  The cold hard glass and steel of a phone is not the same thing.  But, since all of my students have a phone with the ability to house all of the novels I am teaching and give them a bunch of tools to make them a better, smarter reader.  I can have the students look up words they don’t know just by highlighting them.  This is a much more powerful tool than most people realize.  The challenge of the modern student to use more than one “device” at a time is not realistic.  But now they can just use one, their phone, to get immediate feedback about the word they don’t know.  In addition to the, highlighting, side notes and bookmarks that are now able to be used and transfer from device to device.  So if a student has more than one it can have all of their notes shared on both devices.

I think that I have underestimated the power of the cellphone as a classroom tool.  Next year, the cell phone will be out and the power it wields will be glorious.  

www.Zipgrade.com - 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/zipgrade-grade-paper-tests/id635077270?mt=8

www.Turnitin.com

https://www.apple.com/ibooks/

Tools for a Teacher

I wanted to try all of the different URL minimizing websites but I was blocked from all of them by the school filter except for ow.ly - So that is where I traveled. http://ow.ly/Nj2pd Is the awesome shortened website address that it gave me so click on it to see my school website. I think I have had to use one of these before and they all work similarly. This site though needed me to prove I am human by making an ice cream sundae. That was new for me. I can see myself using this when I tweet websites out to the students. I think that it is far better than trying to type in all of the characters.

 I like using the QR Reader. But, I did not use the one that was on the activities page. I used http://www.qr-code-generator.com/ I really like that you just have to put in a url and it creates it without having to register or go through too many steps. Some of the other sites needed you to do that in order for one to be created. I did put it up in my classroom but I know my kids have my website book marked already.


I have to speak to how great keepvid.com is.  This is a website I was able to identify as THE ONE teachers in my building need to know. With the difficulty of getting through the firewall to Youtube the best solution is to get the videos onto the computer.  This site allows you to have the file of the video you want and you can then organize it in your iTunes or any other way you want.  This is the best way to have those "use every year" videos without the scare of loosing track or not being able to find them again. I used to use ZamZar.com but that site had issues with copyright and now they do not permit that function from youtube anymore.  I hope that KeepVid continues to work.  I would be lost without it. 

Checking out new sites to better education

Twitter When I first heard of Twitter I really did not see any positive educational value to it whatsoever. I thought it was a great way for people who have opinions to say what they want to people who may or may not care what they said. I think it is very interesting that with more time and patience the educational experience is far more intricate than I ever expected. The thing that I never accounted for is that Twitter provides a great way to connect with others through other people or from searching them out. I was able to find other educators through the search and use their following lists to see others of interest. The best thing that Twitter does is allow the user to provide links to pictures, articles and videos. This is where my attention was placed for the secure and positive educational value. The ability for my students to be able to follow me for my classroom and be provided with the articles or links to videos I use in class invaluable. The mess of having to print out all the things I want the kids to read and then they lose them anyway. It is just frustrating. I think it is far more valuable for my time and resources that I can provide a link that is not encumbered by the school webpage and get right to the point. See what I want them to see and nothing else. And, if they follow me they can get it right away. The transition of language is becoming more concise and specific. Twitter is moving the trend down to the least about of language possible. I think my students will love it. Prezi I grew up with taking notes from Power Point on a classroom TV. I thought that it was way too slow and cumbersome to take notes. Most of the PowerPoints had words and that was it. The newest version of the power point style media presentation software is web based Prezi. This online tool allows the user to create movable and much more intricate presentations that keep my attention far better than the old PowerPoint. The best advantage of using the new Prezi rather or over the linear PowerPoint is that if you want to review a specific part of the presentation you can view the whole thing in one screen. The software has the ability to zoom and focus your data into or on top of each other. This excellent program will allow students to create presentations for class where their ability to present is hindered by time, creativity and their grasp of the material. This easy to use program will enable students to include any and all resources in their presentation to make sure they can demonstrate their knowledge in the best way they know how. The fact the software is usable across all platforms makes it the best way for my students to be permitted to use it and demonstrate their knowledge. Educlipper One of the most difficult things when you begin teaching is finding resources for you as a teacher and to provide your students. Being able to find comfort in a curation website for education that you can trust moves teachers beyond the surviving mode and into thriving mode. What better educational resource could you ask for than one that connects great people with their great easy to use resources? Educlipper enables individuals to create profiles and add resources to permit others to connect with them and use their materials. I know the challenge of googling a topic for your classroom instruction and getting the mounds of data back that may or mostly may not be used by an effective teacher for their students. Educlipper gives a new teacher and student the ability to find documents and presentations that will enhance the ability to learn. This is also available across all platforms to enable all students regardless of technology access to this great resource. Twitter.com Prezi.com EduClipper.com

Checking out Moodle with Wes Spence from LCTI

My investigation into creating a larger online portal to conduct my classes I was directed to a teacher that through the course of blended learning uses the website Moodle to house all of his class discussions, tests, quizzes and presentations. In the discussion I had with Wes he was very pleased with the improvements in his classroom organization and student accountability with the use of Moodle. I never even thought about the accountability part of the educational process as a reason to move more online. I guess I should have more quickly with the focus of my current educational ventures. He is able to have organized assignments set on a calendar and have the students access all at one time or release them one at a time. He began using Moodle about five years ago when the school began piloting the program in the high school. The site allows only those who have accounts and passwords to access the course material. This security is a wonderful part of the program. He is able to use any and all content he finds appropriate for his course without the fear of copyright infringement. This is one of the reasons I am so intrigued by his use of Moodle in the classroom. In my film courses I want to use clips from major motion pictures and I need and want to post them on my website for all of my students to view. Moodle will give me the avenue to post clips online and the students can exchange ideas about that material in a safe and secure environment without my fear of being sued. His advice for anyone who is wanting to transfer their classroom into an online environment is to prepare for tech glitches to take over your life for the first year or so. He even after a few years has some pop up every now and then but most of the students successfully communicate, create, and be evaluated all online. All of that paperwork that was so cumbersome to manage now is online in easy to see and organize files. The students can just upload or create their content right there in the same place the content for the lesson was taught. I think that with the correct application sizes and support I will be right in line to begin trying to get my film courses in with Moodle. Unfortunately without the proper authorization the course moodle sites are not accessible. I guess you will just have to take my word how great his set up is. https://moodle.org/ http://moodle.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuKhBKAgQcA

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. When researching the types of licenses that are available and attractive to use for myself and my classes. I am familiar with giving credit for work that someone does not pay for with my video classes and the copyrighted music we use. I think that those who take work that does not belong to them and position it as their own should be accountable for doing so. I am not exactly sure to what measures or what extent those punishments should be but... something. I have no problem others using what I create and modify it to their own advantage or use. I think that taking great ideas and changing them around is what most art does. Why not continue to use it in the art of teaching.