Glogster! Poster Yourself!

To best describe my love for Glogster - check out my Glog below!

Wallwisher

This is one of my new FAVORITE websites for teachers! As the logo states, Wallwisher is a new way to communicate. I have already found so many uses for the wallwisher in my curriculum as a computer specialist and have shown it to many teachers who agree - it's amazing!

Take a look at one of the walls my FIRST grade students are working on:



So, how can you use Wallwisher? The possibilities are endless. Here are some ideas I have for the primary classroom:

1) Create digital word walls or word family walls. See first grade example above!
2) Post predictions regarding read aloud books.
3) Brainstorm ideas for different activities. Below is an example of what I did with my second graders. We are beginning our unit on Google Earth, so students used Wallwisher to brainstorm various locations to search for!



4) Use as a closure activity and have students post what they have learned!
5) Create a "Class Favorites List". Students can post and link their favorite websites!
6) Allow students opportunity to "vent" their thoughts and post a thought of the day!
7) Use as a tool for collaboration across classes/grade levels/schools!


My favorite part about Wallwisher is that it is SO EASY to use! With a simple introduction and demonstration, my first graders were able to do this without a problem. All you do is double click, type your name and your comment and press ok! There is no need for logging in, email accounts, or passwords. It really is as easy as double clicking, typing, and pressing OK!

Wallwisher allows you to change various settings to fit your individual safety and security needs. You can protect your wall by limiting who can post to it, or you can set it so any posts must be approved by you. As the creator of the wall, you can also log in and delete any posts as well as edit them. It also provides you with an RSS feed to the wall and embed codes! This is a wonderful feature that allows for walls to be seen by a greater number of people!

If you haven't tried Wallwisher yet, you definitely should! It is an easy way to integrate technology into your curriculum! You will not regret it!

ps...I forgot to tell you ... It's FREE!

Assessing on the Fly

A couple of years ago, I was introduced to Turning Point software and their "clickers." It was love at first sight. I loved the fact that I could take my Power Points for my lessons and build in assessment tools. My students loved them as well.

During my final year as a second grade teacher, most of my assessments (informal and formal) were given using Turning Point, especially in content areas of science and social studies. The students loved them and were motivated to do well. The instant feedback Turning Point gives the class and the teacher was phenomenal. I could easily tell which concepts I needed to review or spend more time on. My students truly benefited.

However, creating Power Points to be used for assessments has become monotonous and boring.

Just last week, I was introduced to a new window of opportunity! Turning Point Anywhere! No longer am I bored! My excitement is renewed and I'm excited to share this with you!

If you have a set of Turning Point clickers and use Turning Point 2008, then you can download and use Turning Point Anywhere. http://www.turningtechnologies.com/responsesystemsupport/downloads/

So what is Turning Point Anywhere, and why am I so excited? Turning Point Anywhere is assessment on the fly. You simply plug in your Turning Point receiver and open Turning Point Anywhere. Basically, you can poll anything that appears on your screen. So, for example, let's say that you have a website projected on your SMART Board and you want to see if the students can identify the URL address of the website. Simply, identify three answer choices -
1) New Window Tab
2) URL bar
3) Close Window Icon.

Verbally, ask the students to identify which of these three choices is the correct answer. Press the start polling option, and allow students to respond! When everybody's response is collected, press stop polling and a chart will pop up to graph the responses! Review the answers and right click on the correct answer bar to set it as correct. Turning Point Anywhere also allows you to print participant reports! It's wonderful!

Turning Point Anywhere brings new value to document cameras, the web, and other software applications! It allows you to integrate technology into your lessons and create spontaneous teachable moments!

Bookmarking and Sharing Websites

When I first became a Building Technology Integrator/Computer Specialist, I used www.delicious.com to share my websites with colleagues and students. As I continued to add more and more sites to my delicious account, it became very cumbersome for my younger students to find what it was they were looking for.

This year, I found the solution to my problem: Tizmos! Tizmos is a personalized homepage that includes screenshots of your favorite sites. When I share my Tizmos page with my students (http://www.tizmos.com/mrsmarsala), students are easily able to see my favorite websites. It is very simple to use:

1. Create an account.

2. Click on Add Site.

3. Cut and paste the URL of your favorite sites, or type them in the address bar.

4. Press Add.

Once the site is added, the screenshot will appear on the Tizmos page! You can even edit what the title says by clicking on the pencil and changing the site address. Don't worry - this doesn't affect the URL.

When sites are added to the Tizmos page, they are added to the end of the site list; but you can rearrange the sites by clicking on them and dragging them to where you want them to be.

There is one "minor" downfall to the Tizmos pages: tagging. When the account holder is adding sites, the account holder can identify sites by different tags. However, when the Tizmos page is shared with others, the Tags are not viewable and the websites can not be sorted by tags. To solve this issue, when I add sites to my Tizmos page, I try to keep similar concepts or grade level pages together.

When it comes to sharing sites with students, especially K-3 students, Tizmos is my preference. Delicious.com is wonderful, but for students who are learning to read still, it is difficult for them to find what it is they are looking for. With the screenshot feature, Tizmos allows younger students more independence!

New Year's Resolution

Eight years ago, I graduated from college in hopes to become an elementary school teacher. This dream of mine came true. For the last eight years, I have been an elementary school teacher in the Dallastown Area School District in Dallastown, Pennsylvania. I'm fortunate to work for a district that supports its teachers and views technology as an important tool in education. When I began in the district eight years ago, I was a third grade teacher. After teaching 3rd grade for three years, I made the switch to second grade, and after another three years, found my true calling as a Building Technology Integrator. This is my second year serving in this role. I'm responsible for teaching the computer special to Kindergarten through fifth grade students and helping teachers integrate technology into their day to day teaching. I LOVE MY JOB!

Technology first became a passion of mine at West Chester University. It is there that my eyes were opened as to how technology can change the way teachers educate and the way children learn. For the past few years, I have been following many blogs online from other technology educators, and have found them to be a wealth of valuable information. Blogs inspire me to be better, more innovative, and think outside the box. For this reason, my New Year's Resolution for 2010 is to create my own blog!

One of the things I notice working with students and teachers is that many people are afraid to try new things out of fear of the unknown. My purpose for this blog is to share what I am doing in the classroom with my students and my colleagues, the successes and the failures. I plan on sharing technology resources that I find beneficial and websites to be used by students and teachers.

My plan is to make a posting at least once a week...hopefully more! Hopefully everyone will experience a happy and healthy 2010!