Web Tools Mind Map

This is such a great Web Tools 2.0 Mind Map from TRIG I had to share it. I mainly wanted to share so I will always have a reference back to it. Find the Mind Map here.

Instructional Moodle Videos

This is primarily for teachers in my district, but others may find them useful as well. Our district is using Moodle Version 2. 5. Below will be a running video tutorial for beginner level tasks in Moodle.

How to create a class  

 

How to have students self enroll in Moodle

How to add a label (use to link to another website)

How to embed a video in Moodle
(Allows students to view videos on your site)

My First Badge

I finally got around to creating my first badge and integrating it with Moodle.  You can create your own badge at Open Badges or use stock badges from Class Badges. Creating a badge was fairly simple and straightforward.  I then just downloaded the image from these sites and uploaded it to Moodle. Go to a class you teach in Moodle, administration, and then badges. You can set the badge to be given manually by you, or you can set parameters to award it automatically to students once they complete a task or meet certain criteria. The bottom picture below is my final badge. The first picture was my draft I awarded to a student. This is their view on their profile page in Moodle. I am looking forward to delving into this digital reward system more this year. Practice and enjoy!!

iTunes U for Primary Sources

I have used iTunes U in the past to listen to a few lectures on history, but it appears they have been doing some innovative work by adding a great primary sources catalog. The best thing about it is the ease of use and search. Most primary document vaults I have seen from government are not user friendly at all! I already got side tracked while writing this blog by one of my favorite writers of the 1800's, Lysander Spooner. You will need to use iTunes to open up the link and I have found that any PDF or book will open in your iBooks. Search and enjoy. Click here or just go to it in iTunes.

Flippin' Tools

Napoleon Dynamite isn't the only one using the word "flippin" anymore. Even if you can't flip your entire classroom every teacher should start making their instruction accessible to students all the time. Refer to my MACUL 14 notes for the session, "Flipping the classroom in the classroom" if you don't know what I am talking about.  I was inspired and wanted to try and start doing some filming of myself going through math problems. You can try to do this online using Educreations but I tend to run out of space with longer math problems. I plan on using my iPhone 5 to record myself explaining math problems to students. I bought this clamp device which I plan on clamping on my elmo to have a birds eye view of the paper while I solve the math problems. Here is the link to it on Amazon.    
My math video tutorials coming soon.....

MACUL 2014: Ideas and Resources

Every two years when MACUL comes to Grand Rapids, MI I get as excited as a kid on Christmas morning! I am so pumped up to meet with other educators that have the same passion I do when it comes to integrating technology into our classrooms. The day is full of inspiring and informational sessions put on by other master teachers. There is so much to take in that your brain seems to stop absorbing information after a few hours or what you had learned early in the day is lost by the end. I made sure to take good notes during the entire two day conference to help combat this information overload. I have created a Google doc that has a summary of each session I attended so that you are able to only click on the notes that sound interesting to you. Click here to see all the great ideas, resources, and inspiration.

My Latest Symbaloo Mix

I've said it before and I know I will say it again. Symbaloo is my favorite way to organize the web.  If I don't put a site that I like into my mix I always forget about it. It allows you to see visual bookmarks on any computer, tablet, or device that can get online. Here is my latest webmix, about 5 of the sites are specific to my school district.    http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/school98

Sharing some Symbaloo ♥: THARP EDU Webmix http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/school98 via @symbaloo

Shared Digital Classroom Notes

     Many of my students struggled in the first semester of my world history class this year. Even though I allow notes to be used on all my tests as an accommodation many of them were still struggling to find the information on the note sheets they were filling out.  I decided I would summarize the important points of each day in class as we discussed the concepts, and then have two stationary laptops always set up in my room for students to use and take notes during class. Each day two different students sit at the laptops and are responsible for taking the class notes for this lesson. This puts positive peer pressure on students when they take notes on those day because the class i s depending on them. It also helps the students that are absent or transfer into your class. When we are done with each chapter I will print out all the notes and give each student their own copy. I started off the first few days by modeling with them how to take notes. (spacing, numbering, using different colors) I am also being very specific and telling them what to put down at the beginning with the hopes of gradually releasing responsibility to them in note taking. I would share the Google doc but it is on our own school Google network and can't be viewed outside of it. Here is a screen shot of it.

Creating Videos to Expand Learning

   Teachers often do great things in class to communicate learning and information to students, but what if a student isn't paying attention, is absent, or needs that learning to be repeated? Teachers often don't have time to go back and review certain material with students again. I decided to tackle this problem in one of the classes I co-teach. I think any special education teacher can add a valuable learning experience to any class by taking a key or important concept that is taught and encapsulating it in a video that any student can access at anytime. I co-teach one industrial arts class each semester and am doing it for the second time with wood shop. The first time I co-taught wood shop I noticed that trying to teach 30 kids how to use 10 machines presents many problems. It's hard for 30 kids to see all the intricate details and movements of one person on a machine and then to try and remember all those details when they go to use it a week later. I am hoping creating a video of how to use each machine will help students master these skills and machines quicker. I just used my iPhone to record the general education teacher explaining how to use each machine and then I edited the movie using iMovie on my MacBook Pro. You could use an online site like WeVideo if you don't have access to another movie editing program.  Even if you aren't using machines you could make a video about any important concept you want to make sure that is being reinforced in your class. If it's an important concept you want your students to know, why would you not make that information accessible to them all the time from anywhere?