Information Savvy

With the vast amount of information readily available through the internet and the increased prevelance of ameteurs creating websites, blogs and wikipages, how do we sift out the trustworthy information from the opinion? Work. Isn't it always the answer? We need to question everything at least until we've proven a site or a source to be reputable. It is our responsibility as adults, parents, professionals, teachers, and role models to teach our children how to do the work for themselves. Unfortunately, there will always be "on the job training" and some lessons wil only be taught by trial and error. What work is involved with establishing credibility? Read the information on a site. Does it sound creditible? Check the sources cited? Are cited sources? Is the information coming from professionals or from individuals? Double check to see if the same information can be found on another site. What about statistics, graphs and charts? Is the data used to create them from professional sources? Does it sound reasonable? If we teach children the necessary tools to verify information they find and read on the internet the chances that they will protect themselves from false sources and information will be greater.

Savvy Shopper

Need to save a few bucks?  A quick lesson on using coupons for grocery shopping is contained in the following podcast.

Children's Lit Project

I recently created a visual presentation for my Children's Literature class.  The task was to research and teach the class about a specific genre.  My group researched FANTASY.  I wanted to make sure that the presentation was more than just words on a Power Point because that can be kind of bland.  I learned about a website (Prezi.com) that allows you to create presentations with a kick.  I have included the Prezi that I made for you to preview, but definitely check out their website and play around for yourself.

Flickr Findings

So, for those of you who are like me and always wanted to know how to use Photoshop to edit photos, but can't figure out how to do anything in Photoshop, I have an alternative:  Flickr.com.
Highlights of Flickr.com:

• It's FREE!
• It's user friendly.
• It integrates into other technology straight from the website.
• It's easy to share photos with friends.
• (Others I haven't discovered yet)

I plucked around in it for about an hour and was fascinated by all the things you could do with just a click of a button.  Some of my classmates were able to do some more involved editing.  I've chosen a few of my favorites to share.

Howell goes Hollywood

So last week in class we had the opportunity to play around with the video cameras and the iMovie program.  Our task was to take video on campus and then convert it into a 30 second commercial for Western Oregon University.  Click here to see the commercial or play the video below.



Here is what I learned:
30 seconds goes by fast.
It was super easy to edit.
It was a lot of fun to do.
It would be easy and fun for kids to do.
Kids would love to share, which means they will learn.

Integrating Podcasting

I read an exerpt from a book by Will Richardson this week all about podcasting.  Honestly I'm not a huge podcast follower.  Maybe it's my age; maybe it's my naivete of technology; maybe it's my busy life with kids and school.  Whatever the reason I was glad to be educated in the realm of podcasting to see how I might be able to incorporate this tool into a future classroom.
My favorite part of the chapter, the part that perk my ears up and made me hold my breath for a second, was the phrase "students teaching students."  Awesome, right?  The idea of having students who understand the material, the curriculum, the process recording themselves to help others understand is phenomenal.  Why?  First, teaching someone else is the true test of showing that you understand the material.  Second, having someone your age, someone who understands you, someone other than your teacher explaining an idea can often unlock your understanding of a concept because they can find connections that work for you.  Third, help when you are home and struggling with the homework.  There is nothing worse than feeling like you understand the lecture, followed the practice problems and then get your homework out after dinner and it looks completely foreign.  What do you do?  Ask your parents for help with Algebra?  Probably not.  Call your teacher?  Not likely.  Scour the internet for something similar and hope that it translates to the problem your struggling with?  Maybe.  But open a podcast that a classmate created that directly reflects the material and problems you are working on and you are right back on track.
There can be incentives for students who create the podcasts.  Likely they will be the students who are ahead of the class anyways so give them suggestions of which problems they should demonstrate (if you assign the even problems you could give them the odds).  They can do them a day in advance and you can monitored them to make sure they are accurate and appropriate.  Work with the principal whoever else is necessary to see what kind of school credit they can receive for their additional work.

Education in Technology

I have a few thoughts to share on the subject.  Check them out on my website.

Question Of The Week

How does a teacher ensure that technology use will enhance instruction and not be a distraction or a disconnected add-on?
It is the responsibility of the teacher to be reflective of teaching style, content, and classroom and individual need.  If any teaching method is not increasing the knowledge of the student than changes need to be made.  If the attention of the students is fading the atmosphere needs to be ramped up and can be done with technology.  If the class is getting distracted then a teacher nay need to trim or cut as necessary.
I think in the case of math there will be opportunities to use technology to enhance the instruction and understanding of mathematical concepts.  I have had the opportunity over the last two years to take math classes at the university that integrated online homework assignments.  The access to virtual textbooks and online homework meant that I spent less on books, had less weight to carry around and could work on homework wherever I had access to a computer with internet.  Another benefit to the online homework option as a student was I would immediately see if my response was correct.  If not there was access to guided solutions that walked my through the process and then I could try another problem without having the previous wrong answer count against me.  It made for very good practice.  The benefits for the professors was that the program grades the work immediately and therefore lessens the amount of time spent in grading assignments and trying to get them back to the students in a reasonable amount of time.  It was also a way to enhance the lecture by having guided solutions that support what was discussed in the classroom.
Ultimately, a teacher will need to be flexible and prepared with backup plans to assess the needs of the students as they learn.

Author/Illustrator Mark Fearing
Last week the elementary school that my children attend had a Family Reading Night event where they invite an author to come make a presentation.  The purpose of this event is to expose children to literature and illustration and to encourage the to excel in reading and writing and art.  Mark Fearing was this year's vising author/illustrator.  He was AWESOME!  He gave a short but great presentation and then gave the kids blank booklets, pencils, and crayons to begin writing and drawing their own books.  Then he spent the remaining time signing books for anyone in attendance.  In addition to that he wrote a thank you to the school for letting him come.  Check out his blog and see what he's written, drawn and the books that he review.

Additional Sites to Visit
I found a couple more sites I think are worth the time to look at.  The first is carrotsticks.com.  This has math games for 1st to 5th graders.  You can create your own avatar and invite friends to compete.  Even if you have older kids who need to practice during the summer or if you want them to study without knowing it you could challenge them to beat your score at a game. 
Another is chesskid.com.  Chess is a great game for strategical thinking and problem solving.  And young kids can be quite good at it.
Check them out and let me know what you think.

Math can be fun?

I love games that use math.  Kids play and learn at the same time.  I recently came across a site that has some very fun games to play.  Check it out.  Manga High Math Games.

WTF?  (Why the face?) 

As Phil from an episode of ABC's Modern Family says "WTF?  Why the face?"  Every time I mention that I want to teach math to middle schoolers someone makes a face or tells me how brave I am.  I suppose it's not as glamorous as teaching kids to read or going on field trips to the pumpkin patch.  I mean, someone has to do it.  And it should be someone who has a passion for math.  But it's not just that.  I know a lot of kids struggle with math before they even get to algebra.  They can't get help at home because most of the parents never liked math and forgot anything they learned the moment they took the cap and gown off.  I want to make sure that they don't fall behind and then get left behind.  Does that make me brave?  I don't think so.  But I do hope that my ideals aren't lofty, but realistic.