Article 9 "Learning Connections The Power of 10S"

I found Joanne Barrett's article both amusing and informative. Amusing because I, too, teach my seventh graders about the metric system at the beginning of each year for my Life Science class.  They are amazed that the United States is the only major nation in the world to still use its antiquated English measurements. They enjoy using the meter sticks, and liter beakers, etc, but I feel that unless something major happens in our education system, we will never join the rest of the world and use the metric system.  I found her idea of Metric Day and the activities informative.  I usually have various lab stations set up involving different measurements and activities involving comparisons of our English system to the Metric. The marshmallow toss and scavenger hunt will definitely be part of my metric unit next year as they provide more tangible activities.  In addition, I will be showing the original version of "The Powers of Ten"--should be fascinating!   This unit will cover student ISTE standards 2,5 and 6.  The more we expose children at younger ages to the Metric System, perhaps we can have a chance of changing over by the mid-century.

Article 8 "Total Technology Immersion" by Sandy Vaughn

“Total Technology Immersion”

As Sandy Vaughn writes in her article the Floydada Independent School District in Texas has shown how even a school with little resources can become totally immersed in technology from elementary school through high school.  This small district has not only increased test scores, but have gotten students and teachers excited about coming to school and learning.  It’s particularly nice that those students from low-income homes can also participate by being issued a laptop to use “24/7”.  Even high school juniors and seniors are helping their families with college tuition by taking college level courses in high school via the Internet.  With the right kind of funding and accessible funding, schools throughout this country should be able to become totally immersed in technology.

VoiceThread Extends the Classroom with Interactive Multimedia Albums

Laila Weir sold me on the VoiceThread tool in her article.  She reports how this computer tool (developed by Bill Ferriter of Salem, North Carolina )  can be a versatile classroom tool which gets all students interested.  By posting an image, document or video, the teacher can ask the viewer to respond to a question "by typing, recording an audio or video comment, or drawing on the image itself." I love the versatility this gives the teacher in getting responses from his/her students--all of them.  Ms. Weir emphasized that not only do the students who always answer questions respond, but those that are "shy" or rarely answer will answer because they can use their "technical" skills not a pen and pencil.  Another neat aspect is that classrooms in other countries can respond.  This wonderful tool can be used in all classes and can help students with their writing skills, reading skills, and public speaking skills.  As a science teacher, I would use it as one teacher recommended, as an extended KWL. For example,  I would post a picture of a leaf with sunlight shining on it, and ask, "What do you know about photosynthesis?"and "What do we want learn about photosynthesis?"  The students could respond on their computers.  Then after learning about photosynthesis, we would revisit the VoiceThread and correct any misconceptions.  I'm still new to it, so I am just coming up with cool classroom uses for this great tool.  So, in conclusion, Ms. Weir has introduced me to a visual, technological tool that I can put on the VoiceThread web site to which ALL of my students can respond in a variety of ways.  It will help my shy students to be more "vocal" as well as get my students away from the usual pencil and paper exercises into an educational usage of the technological age.

Voicethreads would definitely satisfy NETS 2(communication/collaboration), 4 (critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making), and 5 (digital citizenship).

S'Cool Tools: 5 Great Tools to Perk Up Your Classroom and Encourage Your Students

Dr. Maureen Brown Yoder lists 5 tools that she feels have the potential to "transform your lessons".   Dr. Brown chose the following tools because she felt they: 1) were powerful in enhancing the teacher's lessons, 2) were easy to learn, and 3) were either new or an improvement over an earlier version.  The tools are:
1) We Do Robotics Construction Sets by Lego--great for younger students who love building with Lego blocks and and use their creations on computer screens as animations to show their counterparts in other countries.
2) Smart Table by Smart Technology which is an enhancement of a smart board and on four legs.  Capable of having up to eight students working on various lessons, the Smart Table is quite pricey at $7,999!
3) AVer Pen works with AVer Plus software from Avermedia.  Works like an interactive whiteboard only without the whiteboard!  The image can be projected onto almost anything and the pens can "write" on them.  The teacher's pen can interact with up to six student pens at once and have a 100 foot operating radius.
4) Multiuser Virtual Environments or MUVS from Ramapo Islands seemed to interest me the most out of all the tools, because it it allows the students to actually become part of a virtual environment. And there are environments for just about all core subjects.  The EcoMUV is an ecosystems curriculem for middle school Life Science, and I was astounded that it had 10 fifty minute lessons  with ancillary i and teacher training for the this virtual environment.  Middle schools have used MUVS to get students excited about doing projects and learning.
5) The last tool listed is Google Apps Education Community by Google.  These are apps for teachers with various "tools for internet searching, collaboration and classroom activities."  These are free from Google, and I believe would be a boon to teachers as so many are now using apps in other areas of their lives.  It's also wonderful that teachers can share their ideas and advice on the available forum.
Of the five tools, I believe, as a middle school teacher, tools 4 and 5 would be the most valuable for me.  The others sound good, but tool 1. seems it would be more of a benefit to elementary teachers, and tools 2 and 3 seem like they could only be used in the most affluent areas as they seem rather expensive.