Technically Teaching (Lynn's Blog)

Blog has moved

2012-01-04T22:09:00.002-06:00

New blogs are being posted at this address:
http://wp.lps.org/lfuller

ITC + PLC

2010-03-30T19:43:00.001-06:00

I Love This New Website...

2009-01-22T20:31:00.003-06:00

It has something for everyone, a great source for "problem of the day". I used it this morning. We did "count to 20". It had a number of objects between 10 and 20, sets of ten were in ten frames, so it was easy to count tens and ones. My students took turns coming up and typing in the answer.

You can do one "activity" (20 problems) each day for free. It does have a subscription option that is unlimited and tracks progress.

100s Chart Designs

2009-01-21T21:10:00.003-06:00

The website that is linked to the title of this post has directions for making designs on a 100s chart. It is a great activity for number recognition, or you could give the directions for +1, -1, +10, -10, etc.

I think I will go to the craft store and buy some "jewels" with a flat side so that they can make the designs with those. It seems like a really fun way to practice a lot of math skills.

I found something really fun on Apples4theTeacher
It is so cool! Some of the kids can play on the computer! This is a link to a 100s chart coloring page! You can choose different colors, touch the crayon to the number on the hundreds chart and click on it to make it change color.

Too much fun with a 100s chart!

New Math Workstation - K-1

2009-01-13T12:34:00.003-06:00

This is an activity I put in one of my math workstations for kindergarten. It could be adapted for older children.
First - we used wooden cubes to make dice for the numbers we need to practice. Ours have 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16.
Next - I gave students a "full" ten frame - ones we filled up using bingo markers as a class. (I had them laminated). They also got an empty ten frame (also laminated).
To play - Students roll their die, complete the number using their full ten frame, making X's with a dry erase marker in the empty ten frame to show the number.
Erase and start again!

This really has helped my students begin to understand place value. They look at the "1" in teen numbers as "one ten" and they call the second numeral "___" ones in the empty ten frame.

Math Worksheet Generator

2009-01-11T16:07:00.002-06:00

This site is a great resource - if you need additional math practice sheets, you can make them here. There are a lot of choices, so you can make it exactly like you want it.
There are plenty of options available free of charge, but there is also a subscription side that has many more options. I haven't tried it yet, I think you could make just about any kind of practice sheet you would ever want.
Give it a try!

Counting Coins

2009-01-08T21:22:00.003-06:00

This site is a great resource for an independent math center.

Just make up little bags of assorted coins. Challenge your students to count the coins on their own, then check their work by typing in the number of each coin they have on this webpage. It will total each type of coin and then give a grand total of all of the coins at the bottom.

I emptied out my change purse and tried it just for fun! I think kids will love it!

Jan Brett Videos

2007-12-05T05:40:00.000-06:00

This time of year it seems inevitable that I will end up searching for something new on Jan Brett's website.
This year, I think I hit the jackpot!!!

She has a great video section. I downloaded the two videos for the Gingerbread Baby. One video shows how to draw a gingerbread baby, and in the other, she talks about the story and her illustrations and ends up telling the story.

I think my favorite part was how she explained the illustrations in the side bars of the page. She talked about how that allows her to add extra details to the story and to do some foreshadowing. She spent some time talking about giving her characters voice and making them seem real to the reader.

The videos are extremely well made. There are several to choose from. Most of them focus on how to draw the illustrations in her books. Her conversation while drawing is an added bonus!

PowerPoint Flash Cards

2007-11-15T06:39:00.000-06:00

What do you use flash cards for??? For just about any skill that you would use flash cards to support learning, you can create PowerPoint flash cards to do the same thing.

PowerPoint slide shows are a great way to provide independent practice on a number of skills. With simple animations and voice recording, your slide show can support learning in your classroom when you don't have time to get to everything that needs to be done.

We will have a workshop at Everett on Wednesday, Nov. 21st at 9am. Please come with your ideas and be prepared to make a slide show!

For kindergarten, I am working on slide shows for; alphafriends chant, numbers 1-20, sight words, word families, fluency sentence practice...

See you there!

Formatting Palette

2007-11-14T11:51:00.000-06:00

Just a tip for today...When you're working in Power Point or Word or Excel, work with the "Formatting Palette" open.

On the top bar, go to View>Formatting Palette and this will open it for you. A little window will open on the side and will assist with you with all kinds of formatting tasks - font, font size, underline, bullets, spacing...you name it, you'll probably find it there.

Desktop Web “links”

2007-11-12T14:32:00.000-06:00

I have been asked to share the directions for creating a link to a website with a matching icon on your desktop. I thought I would go ahead and put the directions in a blog so that you can access them whenever you want.

1. Open your web browser to the site you want to create a link to.

Move your mouse over the little icon that shows up to the left of the address that is in the address bar in your browser. When you get to the right spot, the mouse will turn to a hand and there will be a little direction box that says “drag and drop this icon to make a link to this page”. – Do that!

2. Find a picture – any picture….and get it on your desktop. Either click & drag it or do (Shift+apple+4) to “capture” a photo you would like. You can use your own photos - if the site you want is to be used specifically with a student, you may want to use their picture.

3. Open up your picture on your desktop. Copy it – Edit>Copy

4. Highlight your web “link” (click on it once) – Get Info – File>Get Info.

When that window is open, highlight the existing icon (very small, to the left of the web address toward the top – click on it once).

5. Paste your picture – Edit>Paste

It should magically change before your eyes!

Computer Assisted Listening Center!

2007-10-02T16:33:00.000-06:00

Visit Robert Munsch's website! Most of his books are available in mp3 format. You can load them into your iTunes. Then, on the bottom left hand corner of iTunes, there is a box for album artwork - if it is open, it will say "drag album artwork here". I find a photo of each book or take one myself and drag it into the box so that kids will know which book to follow along with. This is a very easy way to set up a listening center. I love it!

The Role of the Computer in Literacy Workstations

2007-09-27T18:50:00.000-06:00

I've basically been using my computer as a listening station during my workstations time. It works out nicely. I can use headphones, and I have found some great books that are free online. The first one is Stellaluna + 11 other titles available on the same site. Very nicely done.

Next, I am sharing the site that I have used for a long time that tells some of the aesop fables that are part of our kindergarten curriculum. For these, I checked out the corresponding books from the library and had them available at the workstation as well.

Velcro Picture Paper

2007-07-27T10:22:00.000-06:00

Check this out! This product was mentioned in a workshop I'm attending this morning - it fits right in with my favorite things collection! Here's the description:

Attach picture paper without tape or adhesive. Picture paper features VELCRO Brand hook-and-loop closure on one side of the sheet and photo quality paper on the other side. Hangs on cubicle walls, bulletin boards, carpets, and trade show booths. Adheres to most fabric surfaces. Great for personal photos, decorations or signs in the home, office and school.

How cool is that? I need to get some!

You can buy it at amazon.com - the page is linked to the title of this post.

"Awesome..."

2007-05-31T11:41:00.000-06:00

This is the single-word quote that I am known for in the article featuring Adobe Software use at LPS as published on Adobe's website! I guess it would be another one of my favorite things - my little "blurb" is near the bottom of the article! I like to use "fill-in-the-blank" forms for students and for a lot of my teacher work. Adobe Professional allows you to create forms that you or your students can fill in with necessary information. The article is linked to the title of this post.

Do A Dot Art Markers

2007-03-30T07:55:00.000-06:00

I love using these "bingo" markers in guided reading groups.

When we work on word families, we make a book with many of the words in the family (-at family: bat, cat, fat, hat, mat, rat...).

Sometimes it's hard to get kindergartners to isolate the onset sound of these words - we call it the "leader" - just like we have a leader in our line, words have leaders too! We use the dot markers to put a dot under the leader of the word so that kids will pay more attention to the sound that starts each word.

It has worked quite well, and the kids love it! Do-A-Dot even has their own website - linked to the title of this post - check it out!

Fun New Website!

2007-03-29T16:52:00.000-06:00

I love the little 5 minute "filler" programs that are on the Disney channel! I'm a big fan of Daniel Cook - Daniel goes on little field trips to learn about all sorts of things, it's a great show for young children.

Anyway, Daniel now has his own interactive website, and it is awesome! I learned about it in a class I took last night, and I'm so glad I did!

Click on the title of this post to go to Daniel's site!

Mr. Alligator

2007-03-27T15:10:00.000-06:00

I love to use this alligator "snapper" (from Safari Ltd.) to teach greater than and less than! Jack Hartmann has a song - Mr. Alligator Can Chomp on his CD - Movin' 2 Math. Here are the lyrics:

Mr. Alligator can chomp, he can swim and he can stomp, he's a real smart alligator...he chomps at numbers that are greater!

Once we get a couple of numbers up, Mr. Alligator looks them over and then decides which one he will "chomp"! The kids make alligator mouths with their hands open in the direction that they think Mr. Alligator should chomp. It's a lot of fun!

American Sign Language Font

2007-03-27T15:03:00.000-06:00

I think that finger spelling is a great way to teach letter sounds. It is a way to make an auditory concept visual and kinesthetic. I have had a lot of success using this to teach kids to use letter sounds in their beginning reading and writing.

The title of this post is linked to a University of Oregon site that lists many different sources where you can download free fingerspelling fonts. The one I use is the Gallaudet font.

More Favorite Things

2007-03-27T09:22:00.000-06:00

Avery® Inkjet Clean Edge Business Cards #8371, Matte Finish, 2" x 3 1/2", White, Pack Of 200 (Item # 422371) - Office Depot

These Avery Business Cards are great. You can print sight words on them, math facts, whatever you want. Avery has templates on their website that you can download to your computer and just use them to set up the cards so that they print correctly. The cards are perforated and come apart very easily after they are printed.

These cards are also the perfect size to fit in the business card protectors that I blogged about a couple of weeks ago.

The title of this post is linked to avery.com where you can find a lot of resources to use with their products - the word "template" in the text is linked to the specific Avery template for business cards

More Favorite Things

2007-03-20T12:29:00.000-06:00

Firefly 20 GB External Hard Drive

Today's favorite thing is very serious. Having an external drive for back up is critical! Trust me, I have suffered a recent loss! This is something I feel silly about because there is more than enough space for me to have stored every file I have to this drive.

This Firefly is listed at Amazon for $149.99 - (the page is linked to this post). If you shop around, I'm sure you can find a better price, and you certainly don't have to have this particular storage solution, but make sure that you have something that you can rely on. Don't be caught without one!

More Favorite Things

2007-03-20T11:31:00.000-06:00

PDF Lab

District computers have this available in the applications folder, but if you don't have it, here's how to get it...
Open your Universal Locker > Teacher Info. > Software > OSX > ("P" folder) > PDF Lab.

This is one of those tools that I often take for granted. If I suddenly lost it, I wouldn't know what to do!

Here's how it works - you open up the window, and you can drag .pdf files into the window. From there, you can "stitch" separate files together to create one document with multiple pages (this is a big bonus - you can then send them to print center for 2-sided copies). OR - you can open a document with multiple pages and select only the pages you want to have included in the new file you will "create". That way, you don't have to print pages you don't want or need.

More Favorite Things

2007-03-20T11:23:00.000-06:00

Are you looking for a great FREE software download? Tuxpaint is a free drawing program, and my kids love it!

It has a lot of tools and fun effects that kids can use to create fantastic artwork! Tuxpaint even has great sound effects - try it, I'm sure you will enjoy it!

More Favorite Things

2007-03-20T11:06:00.000-06:00

Looking for a good way to teach kids about nouns & verbs? Here's a technology solution! Get your hands on a digital camera AND a digital video camera. Let the kids experiment with the two different cameras, guiding them to the conclusion that nouns are things you could take a still picture of - using the digital camera. Verbs are things that you would need to use the video camera for - to catch the action! Of course there are always exceptions - some words that wouldn't quite work in this scenario, but I think you get the "picture", and I think that kids will not soon forget the difference between a noun and a verb!

Oh, the title of this post is linked to the National Educational Technology Consortium's website. They have a couple of publications there that talk about wasy to use technology to teach literacy.

These are a few of my favorite things...

2007-03-09T13:28:00.000-06:00

Acrylic Box Photo Frames.

All you need is one of these clear plastic box frames and some corn meal and let the learning begin! Put the frame face down on a table and cover the bottom with a thin layer of corn meal (corn meal isn't as abrasive as sand or salt). Students can practice writing letters, numbers, sight words, anything! Put it down on top of a piece of colorful wrapping paper, OR - one of my favorite things...put it on top of the overhead projector! After the student "writes", they can check the screen to see how they've done!

The title of this post is "linked" to the Hobby Lobby website. Check their specials this week to find out if these frames are on sale, or print off a coupon to use in the store. They come in many sizes!

These are a few of my favorite things...

2007-03-07T10:49:00.000-06:00

Apple Video Adapter

Use a video adapter cable to connect the mini-VGA video output port on your iBook, eMac, or iMac G5 to any S-video or Composite enabled device.

I'm surprised I didn't think of this favorite thing sooner. I guess I could teach without it, but I know I wouldn't teach as well.

If we're not careful, our teaching can be unbalanced and directed only toward auditory learners. This is the most natural mode for us to teach to. It has to be a conscious decision to include visual and kinesthetic learners in the lessons we teach. This is one tool that can help us "adapt" (pun most definitely intended) our teaching to include learners with various learning modes.

I use it ALL day, EVERY day!

These are a few of my favorite things...

2007-03-07T10:40:00.000-06:00

Linkin' Logs - My computer died earlier this week. It was quite stressful. I had backed up quite a few things, but had missed some too. Thanks to Mike, our travelling tech genius, some of the things I thought I couldn't live without were able to be recovered.

Through all of this, the one thing I didn't even give a second thought to were the bookmarks I keep. All of my bookmarks are safely and neatly organized in my Linkin' Log account.

Linkin'Logs...priceless!

These are a few of my favorite things...

2007-03-01T11:12:00.000-06:00

Favorite things #4 - Free Printables!

There are a couple of sites that I visit over and over again, and my guided reading instruction wouldn't be the same without them.

Hubbard's Cupboard is a great place to find printable booklets for children to read and take home. These booklets are carefully written by an educator and categorized by the word family or sight words that they teach. I love having these little books that kids can take home and read.

From Hubbard's Cupboard, you can get to Carl's Corner where this creative educator has organized a seemingly endless collection of activites that reinforce word families. I use so many of the materials available here. I don't know what I would do without this resource. Oh, and one of the best things is that she has put all of the activities for each word family into a "zip file". So that you can just download the whole file and use what you want (some are word documents and others are in .pdf form).

These are a few of my favorite things...

2007-03-01T10:56:00.000-06:00

Favorite things #3 - I'll put two things together here. My absolute favorite teaching tool is iTunes. But, I have to admit that my iTunes wouldn't be nearly as valuable without their content, and the person most responsible for providing the content of my iTunes is Jack Hartmann. He has put together so many songs that are invaluable for instruction. There are kids in my class who know some pretty impressive things as kindergartners, all because they learned it from a song!

This is Jack's latest album - I purchased it just the other day, I'll let you know what I think when I get it.

Oh, and it's important to note that Jack got his start at the University of Florida - Go Gators!

These are a few of my favorite things...

2007-03-01T09:50:00.000-06:00

Favorite Thing #2 - Magnetic tape in a dispenser!

Here's what the manufacturer says about it "Make your student's work refrigerator-ready with this revolutionary magnet tape. As thin as masking tape, the magnetic power is strong enough to hold paper to any acceptable surface."

This is such a handy tool to have. I can make anything and everything into a magnet so that I can put it up immediately as a visual for my kindergartners, or even to use as a manipulative. This is especially useful when you're sorting and arranging things in some kind of an organizer.

Dick Blick has a pretty good price for it.

These are a few of my favorite things...

2007-03-01T09:11:00.000-06:00

I'll borrow this line from The Sound of Music to introduce some of my favorite things that help me teach kindergarten.

Favorite thing #1 - Business card sheet protectors from office depot

Acco–Wilson Jones® Business-Card Untabbed Binder Pages, 8 1/2" x 11", Pack Of 10 (Item # 157078)
	$2.39

These are awesome - I usually focus more on teaching literacy - math planning is Kim's job, so I bought these at first to make my own personalized bingo cards with whatever I wanted, right now I'm using alphafriend photos so that my students who are struggling with letter sounds can practice putting their markers on the picture that starts with the sound.....

When Kim saw them, she immediately thought to turn it sideways and turn it into a ten frame! What a great idea - we use them every morning when we're counting the letters in our helper's name - they can put a colored chip in each pocket for all of the letters in their name.

We're still discovering great ways to use these - if you have any ideas, let me know!

I Opened a Gmail Account...

2007-01-15T09:00:00.000-06:00

I switched over to the new and improved Blogger and opened a gmail account, but I haven't been able to get posts to notify the google group, so this is a test...

Anything with an "i" in front of it has to be good, right?

2007-01-14T17:20:00.000-06:00

Here I am sitting at home as the snow is falling outside, typing away on my iBook, listening to my iTunes, thinking about how much money it is going to cost to purchase the new iPhone my husband has been drooling over! Everything good has an "i" in front of it.

Which reminds me, I have a terrific student teacher working in my classroom right now. One of the best technology tools I have had at my disposal to assist in preparing for her arrival is iPhoto. I love to use iPhoto to organize my class photos. At the beginning of the year, I just take photos of all of my students (with any luck, I have an opportunity before the school year starts). Once the photos are loaded into my iPhoto library, I can make different albums for different uses. The "book" tab has a "yearbook" option that allows you to print a book with 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 18, 20, or 32 pictures on each page. This comes in handy when you need to get things organized. One album has students in their line order so that we can just look on the sheet to find out if everyone is in their place. Another album is organized to show which students are in each reading group. Other albums have only pictures of students who are in various reteaching groups.

Gotta love iPhoto! Or anything else with an "i"!

Don't Try This @ Home (Updated)

2007-01-14T17:13:00.000-06:00

It was brought to my attention that dry erase markers (especially the high-odor ones) could possibly damage the computer or TV screens. Well, we don't want that! Though the equipment I'm working with isn't exactly the newest on the market, the cost of replacing it is a price I can't afford to pay! So, here's my solution...I happened to have some clear vinyl that I purchased from a craft store (You can buy it by the yard). I just cut a piece to fit the screen and it seems to work very well like a vinyl cling. Then, the students use the dry erase markers on the vinyl instead of the screen. It has to be replaced after a while, but I'm sure the cost of the vinyl is a lot less expensive than the computer. That's the best solution I can come up with for now, I'll update this post if I come up with something better.

Don't Try This @ Home!

2007-01-11T18:34:00.000-06:00

This is the disclaimer I repeat to my students every time I introduce another use for one of my favorite teaching tools...

Here's how it works - I create a power point file for a skill that I need students to practice (letter recognition & letter sounds, high frequency words, etc.). Typically, I make a slide for each letter or word and I record narration so that the students can now see and hear the skill they are practicing. My kids are really good at clicking through power point slides, so management is not a problem at all.

You might have noticed that with the slides, we've covered auditory and visual modes of learning, but what about kinesthetic?

What about kinesthetic/tactile, you ask???? When I make the slides, I create them using a traceable font. I then supply the students with a dry erase marker and an eraser. The screens on the desktop iMacs erase just like a white board (maybe better). Students can practice skills independently in a way that addresses all of the modalities and all of this happens while I am uninterrupted, teaching the whole group!

This technique also serves as a make-shift interactive white board when I use my laptop, T.V. dongle, and dry-erase marker -- a low-tech solution for a high-tech wanna-be!

Looking Back

2006-05-01T04:57:00.000-06:00

I remember before the 2005-06 school year even started, I asked the Tech. PLC to set up a blog as a means of communication and to document learning for the year. At first, I was overwhelmed by the resistance! I heard things like "What is the purpose? Who will read it? What do I put on it? and lots of How do I.....?"

I really just put this poll on my blog for fun, just because I saw someone else do it. But, I couldn't believe the outcome. As I thought back to all of the questions and the hesitation that our group showed about blogging, I laughed out loud as I realized that Blogging has been named the most valuable tech. tool of the year!

I "linked" a blog entry to the title of this post. It is an exhaustive list of reasons for teachers to blog. I think you will find it interesting.

Oh, and check the date the blog was posted - just when we thought we were getting somewhere!

New Poll for Everett PLC

2006-04-24T17:46:00.000-06:00

Everett PLC Survey

2006-04-23T07:26:00.000-06:00

Going out on a limb...

2006-04-21T16:36:00.000-06:00

One of my friends who is a technology trainer in another state wrote the following comment after reading my last blog...

So if I'm reading this right, in my role as a trainer I need to focus on getting teachers to use technology for themselves first before trying to get them to use it in the classroom with students.

I don't know if you come across any readings with the phrase "paradigm shift" but it seems to be the opposite. That we need to stop just focusing on training teachers on the "how to's" and focus more on the integration.

Let me know your thoughts

Well, here are my thoughts...I believe both - you should teach the teachers the "how to's" AND focus more on integration.

Here's my rationale for teaching the "how-to's" - teachers CANNOT teach students how to use technology as a problem-solving tool if they don't first learn to use technology as a problem-solving tool in their own personal affairs. Teachers have to be consumers of technology in order to see the dividends that will be reaped by their investment.

Here's my thought on integration - far too many times, training stops at the "how-to's", there is no follow-up, no accountability, no committment, no investment. Some of the best training opportunities I have had are ones that have required me to check back and prove how I have used the tools I was taught.

One answer I can see to this dilemma is Peer Coaching - pair teachers up in training sessions and have them check back with one another to see what they have done in their classrooms using what they have learned. Also, I think a great way to accomplish this would be Peer Coaching from the trainer - it would be great if trainers could check back with teachers for support.

Or, as I have been studying in my practicum, set up a Peer Coaching/Support network within a building. Our technology focus group has seen a lot of progress this year, and most of the credit is due to the amount of support we have within our group.

Another aspect of the literature review that was included in Dr. Dawson's report that I referenced in my last post was administrative support. This is what made the Everett Technology PLC so successful. The Professional Learning Community model was a great way for many of us to get involved in learning about technology integration. Some are in the first stages of integration, while others have proficient skills in technology integration.

I like the in-house, almost embedded-reporter way of accomplishing things best. In a perfect world, every building would have an integration specialist who could encourage technology integration on-site, but for now, supporting colleagues is the best answer I have.

Everett's Professional Learning Community

2006-04-19T10:24:00.000-06:00

Many of the Everett PLC technology focus group members have blogged about continuing our technology group next year. I hope this will be the case. I have been reading a lot of research articles about professional development models lately, and have come to realize many things about professional learning.

One of my professors in Florida sent me a project report she has just finished working on with two other colleagues, exploring peer coaching. Dr. Dawson's work revealed many different types of peer coaching to me. I never really thought much about it before, but there are many different ways that it can be done. This is something that I would like to explore as we plan our Professional Learning Community activities for the 2006-07 school year.

Peer support is vital as we seek to grow and learn as educators, but even moreso as we look for ways to integrate technology into the curriculum. I want to include an excerpt from the literature review done for the Peer Coaching report. This helps me focus in on what our goal needs to be if we are to continue.

Prolonged engagement is particularly important when peer coaching is used to support technology integration (Bradshaw, 2002; Margerum-Leys & Marx, 2004) because it takes at least 3-5 years for teachers to become effective technology-using educators (Becker, 1994; Sheingold & Hadley, 1993). During this time the teacher progresses through a series of stages that begin with using technology as a curricular add-on or personal productivity tool and culminate with using technology as a tool to fundamentally alter teaching and learning pratices (Hooper & Rieber, 1995; Ringstaff, Sandholtz & Dwyer, 1997; Moersch, 1995).

Barron, A., Dawson, K., & Yendol-Hoppey, D. (2006). Peer Coaching.

Some people have commented also about how far they have come, but how much more they have to learn. Did you read the same things I just read? THREE to FIVE years!!! One down, a couple more to go!

One Small Step BEFORE Comic Life

2006-04-16T17:58:00.000-06:00

I love using Comic Life, but I haven't been sure about finding a good sequence of lessons and activities leading up to comic life. It's a great evaluation tool, and it can be used to show how students have learned curriculum content, but it seems there needs to be a step to teach students about dialogue...the whole point of comic life!

This might be the answer. National Geographic for Kids has a "try this" page. On this page, there are a bunch of "Back Talk" pictures - these are pictures of animals, some with strange expressions. The animals all have a word bubble where you can (or students can) type in your own saying.

This might be a nice bridge between content and a final project using Comic Life.

Careers & Community Helpers Curriculum Unit

2006-04-15T21:42:00.000-06:00

I just finished TEACHING my technology-enhanced curriculum unit. The unit is called "What do you want to be when you grow up?" It focuses on careers and community helpers. I wanted to write this unit because I have noticed that often, under-privileged children, like many of the children I work with can't tell you what they want to be when they grow up. I think that it is important for kids to dream and start working on life-long goals, even at an early age. I really think there's something to it - a correlation between this phenomenon that I have witnessed and the perpetual effects of poverty - a discussion for another time!

Anyway, the unit actually started as a webquest project from Internet K-12, which I took last summer. I took a much deeper look at this idea, and what I have come up with isn't necessarily a webquest anymore, but I guess, if you consider it's for kindergartners, it might be as close as you can come to one.

It was so fun to teach something that I knew so well - from the standards and objectivevs all the way to the finished project. I'm excited to share the unit because the final product turned out great! I think that UBD is probably crucial in the process of integrating technology into curriculum, as it requires you to think about the outcomes of the study early-on. The final product really drove the activities I chose and the sequence I used to teach them.

Here's a preview - look at Shanna's Show on the playhouse disney website. This quick little time-filler shown on the Disney channel is a great way to incorporate technology into a career unit for kindergartners. Because of their small attention span, this is the perfect size of video. There are other shows that focus on careers and community helpers, but they are 20-25 minute shows focusing on only one job. This way, we could explore many different careers in just a few minutes at a time.

Thinking About Designing Technology-Rich Curricula

2006-04-05T12:47:00.000-06:00

My friend Cody shared a research article with me titled "What Happens When Teachers Design Educational Technology? The Development of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge" (The article is linked to the title of this post).

It discusses technology integration, and in and of itself technology is not an instrument that can be used to change our current educational system. There have to be teachers who are committed to using it.

"It is becoming increasingly clear that merely introducing technology to the educational process is not enough to ensure technology integration since technology alone does not lead to change. Rather, it is the way in which teachers use technology that has the potential to change education."

This diagram shows what the authors feel is important to establish a framework that is conducive to conveying knowlege through technology integrated curriculum.

This is their description of each area:
Content (C) is the subject matter htat is to be learned/taught. High school mathematics, undergraduate poetry, 1st grade literacy, and 5th grade history are all examples of content that are different from one another.
Technology (T) encompasses modern technologies such as computers, the Internet, digital video, and more commonplace technologies including overhead projectors, blackboards and books.
Pedagogy (P) describes the collected practices, processes, strategies, procedures, and methods of teaching and learning. It also includes knowledge about the aims of instruction, assessment, and student learning.

What we should be striving for is that middle ground - the technological, pedogogical content knowledge. This is where we can design learning experiences that are grounded in process not product.

Koehler, Matthew. and Punya Mishra. "What happens when teachers design educational technology? The development of technological pedagogical content knowledge." Journal of Educational Computing Research. 2005: Volume 32, 131-152.

iPod Shuffle

2006-04-03T12:58:00.000-06:00

I was able to use some of my money from doing home visits to get an iPod Shuffle for classroom use (thank you, Roger)!

I have been diligent this year about loading all of the CDs I use for instruction into my iTunes and organizing them in playlists by theme. The shuffle has taken me to the next chapter in this quest to streamline my classroom audio needs.

For every kindergarten theme we teach, I usually have a center set up with books on tape for the kids to listen to. Remember the old days when we had to pop in the cassette, rewind it (because in my haste to get to the next tape, I didn't rewind the last time!), press play, adjust the volume....

Now, I can transfer all of the cassettes to CDs (now, scholastic has books available on CD as well), and load the CD in to my iTunes playlist for a theme. CDs are much easier to handle than cassettes (no rewinding) but an iTunes playlist with all of the stories is better yet. Even better than that is transferring the playlist over to the iPod shuffle. This way, my laptop is not necessary for the books to be heard. If I have to be gone, the books will go on without my laptop. Also, if I need my laptop to provide another computer for the group at the computer center, it will be available. Or, I can use the time to get my laptop set up for the next learning activity so that things are all ready to go, using technology to minimize transition times as much as possible!

It's a good thing!

Week 4 – Designing Technology Rich Curricula

2006-04-01T16:52:00.000-06:00

Starting my Theme Unit: Kindergarten Careers/Community Helpers
What do you want to be when you grow up?

National Educational Technology Standards(NETS)for K-2 Students addressed:

Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.
Students use productivity tools to collaborate in constructing technology-enhanced models, prepare publications, and produce other creative works.
Students use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a variety of sources.
Students use technology tools to process data and report results.

Literacy Objectives:
0.7 Exploration/Inquiry: The student uses information and study skills to research personal questions, interests, and real-world contexts.
0.7.1 Asks questions to get information and understand events.
0.7.2 Finds information to answer questions from observation, books, and other people.
0.7.3 Records information and observations.
0.7.4 Contributes to a class report.

0.11 Interpersonal Communication: The student communicates in small group discussions, group work, and collaborative projects (oral language.)
0.11.1 Shares thoughts and information.
0.11.3 Asks questions for information or clarification.
0.11.4 Contributes to classroom discussion.
0.12 Presentations: The student speaks before a group to express or defend an opinion, present information, give directions, tell a story, or share a book.

Character Development:Character Education, accordingObjectives:
C.4 Interacts with others appropriately.
C.4.2 Develop and display communication skills.
C.4.5 Allow others opportunities to express ideas, thoughts, and feelings.
C.4.7 Lead, follow and work cooperatively with others.

Social Studies:Social Studies, according to LPS Objectives:
SS.K.2.3 Describe sumilarities and differences among city and farm communities.
SS.K.2.4 Discuss the influences of African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, Native American, Mideast Asian American and European American men and women.
SS.K.2.6 Recognize that many different people share the earth.

Students will complete a webquest in a group of four students. Groups will select a career or community helper to research. Students will identify 3 things that describe the job they have chosen. They will draw pictures of each of the three items that describe the job and one final picture that reveals the job they have researched. This will be presented like a riddle, pictures will be scanned and put into power point slides for presentation.

Bloglines - Looking for new tools?

2006-03-26T16:07:00.000-06:00

Bloglines user lafuller (lfuller@lps.org) has sent this item to you, with the following personal message:

This post is from my professor's blog at the University of Florida. The list of Web 2.0 applications listed in the site she references is quite overwhelming. I looked at it as sort of a self-assessment to see how many of the services I knew actually existed! It seems like there's something new to learn about every day!

KD's Reflections -EME 5207

Looking for new tools?

By Kara Dawson

You may want to check out the link below if you are looking for a different blogging tool, a new email service or a new online bookmarking service (among other things).

Web 2.0 applications are truly taking our society by storm. What doe this mean for us as educators?

http://www.econsultant.com/web2/

One thing is for sure -technology and ethics is a topic we must address with our students (and maybe some of our colleagues). http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/03/16/teachers.credentials.ap/index.html">Dozens of teachers resign amid cheating scandal

Technology Integration – Questions?

2006-03-24T12:14:00.000-06:00

As educators, we are constantly asking ourselves, “what can we do that will deliver our content to our diverse group of learners?” I take this question and try to find a way for technology to answer it.

I have a TV adapter for my computer, so I can put anything from my computer immediately up onto the TV screen. I have also loaded ALL of my music CD’s into my iTunes library and have organized the songs by the skill they teach – this way I can access them with very little delay, this really helps diminish transitions. Great songs from people like Dr. Jean Feldman and Jack Hartmann have also inspired numerous “videos” (this link will take you to my website – click on “Alphardy” or “Make A Rhyme”) that I have made or have helped the students make – this is a great way to transform material that you have into a presentation that will teach to all of the modalities – visual, auditory and kinesthetic (if you add actions).

Curriculum and Technology

2006-03-24T12:12:00.000-06:00

I tried to think about curriculum development, and how I approach this task as an educator. I wondered, what does curriculum mean to me? What do I consider good curriculum? What does it involve? The words scope, sequence, spiral and scaffold all came to mind as things that I look for, things that indicate that someone had the “big picture” in mind when they were developing the plan. The process of backward design seemed to make sense in this context. Constantly, in the forefront of all of my thoughts, designs, and plans, I consider students, their ability to relate to material, the material’s relevance, effectiveness and its ability to engage the students. I think that most curriculum developers will take on the task in much the same way – why? –because, they too are educators. Standards can be set in place by just about anyone, but it takes an educator to turn it into curriculum, someone who can envision the end product, someone who can see how they would teach the material if necessary.

Technology should not be considered as a separate standard or objective. Technology’s place is in the curriculum stage, using it as a means of determining how to get to the end results in every aspect of education.

So, how does technology make it into the curriculum? It all goes back to teacher training – teachers who are comfortable using technology themselves will realize it’s potential as a teaching tool, they can see the benefits it has for their students, and they can get involved in the curriculum stage. It would be hard to develop a plan about something you know nothing about – this might just be the roadblock we often find ourselves up against.

Read About Blogs in Education

2006-03-22T10:03:00.000-06:00

This post is primarily for the Everett Bloggers - these are a few links I have found that support the use of blogging for professional use and as a great way for students to "publish" their work. It can be quite motivational.

http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/teacher_feature/teacher_feature096.shtml

http://awd.cl.uh.edu/blog/

http://www.eddept.wa.edu.au/cmis/eval/curriculum/ict/weblogs/

If you have additional resources for educational blogging, please feel free to comment to this post so that my readers have access to your resources as well.

Multipurpose Blogging

2006-03-22T09:42:00.000-06:00

This post is just an announcement to all of my blog readers that you might see some different things coming from my blog. This is because I am using one blog for many purposes, (EME 5207 - Designing Technology Rich Curricula, my practicum, an independent study, and this also posts to an LPS blogroll) but I can't see separating them because they are all about technology in education. So, bear with me and my multiple "blogalogues". If you're so inclined, please help me by responding to any of the ideas you find here. I value your feedback!

Thanks! Lynn

Philosophy & Curriculum

2006-03-15T14:37:00.000-06:00

In the “Designing Technology Rich Curricula” Class that I am taking online through the University of Florida, we are studying curriculum development and the various factors that can influence this process. The first step of my discovery was to gain some insight into my own character and personality so that I can have a better understanding of how “who I am” relates to what I teach and why I teach it the way I do.

I have taken some of these assessments before, I thought I had probably changed quite a bit from when I first took the assessments – a lot has changed since my undergrad studies! But, surprisingly, I’m pretty much the same person I always have been. It was an interesting journey of self-discovery. One of those things that makes you go hmmmm… Just in case you’re interested in finding out for yourself, here are links to the assessments I took.

Cognitive Styles Inventory (Myers-Briggs)

Learning Styles Inventory

Multiple Intelligences Checklist

Risk-taking Test

Temperament Sorter

Another part of my assignment was to find out which educational philosophy I subscribe the most to…I found out that my educational philosophy is somewhat progressive, though I could find elements of several philosophies that I agree with and tend to emulate in my teaching. I think that my interest in using technology in education embraces the concept of change and requires me to teach children problem solving techniques and skills that will help them to react appropriately to innovative concepts and learning opportunities. Technology has changed the way we do a lot of things. Some of the things that used to be taught in school, things that were seen as foundations in education might be on the track to becoming obsolete. I won’t go into detail about exactly what I think those areas are, I don’t want to go public with incriminating evidence! But, I do feel strongly that some areas of education are changing, whether we like it or not. The answer is to embrace the technology that is changing it, the kids we are teaching won’t have a choice, so we shouldn’t always teach as though we do.

Skilled teachers explore many different ways to convey meaning to their students, so that they can successfully demonstrate an understanding of the subject being taught. In order to design instruction that teaches to standards, I think that teachers must have a strong understanding of the content of their subject matter. This is where curriculum comes in. Curriculum is a collection of activities and resources that are used to teach content that is directed by standards and objectives.

Teachers are the least self-centered people that can be found. We realize that “it’s not about us!” It’s about those we teach. We have to become all things to all learners so that we might teach some – it’s possible you have heard this concept presented somewhere before! If you know a little bit about my life outside of teaching, you’ll recognize where it came from!

Designing Technology Rich Curricula

2006-03-08T21:24:00.000-06:00

If you’re in this online class with me at the University of Florida, welcome to my blog! My goals are described in the blog header. My blog focuses on issues related to technology in education, particularly primary education (I teach kindergarten). This has been a great communication tool for a technology focus group in my school. Several of the teachers in my building have blogs that chronicle ways they have used technology to enhance curriculum. You will notice references to my colleagues and their work in prior posts. This is my final course in the online Master's degree program. I will graduate in May.

Comic Life Fun

2006-02-24T16:09:00.000-06:00

I made this "reminder card" for one of my students using Comic Life. Our SLP, Linda, mapped it all out for me and came up with the plan - bless her, she drew pictures and explained it all to him. I got a wild idea to try to use real photos to show him how it should work. The red side sort of goes along with the red/green card game played in the first steps program, this student hasn't been in the program, but he knows that red is for the undesirable behavior, and green is the good stuff. We'll see how it works, no matter what, it was fun trying!

Teacher's Hub

2006-02-15T14:52:00.000-06:00

My America Reads student told me about a good website this morning. Teachers_Hub is a great place to find resources. There is a section called “Quiz_Hub” where you can find a lot of great quizzes & games to practice a wide range of skills (spelling, multiplication, homophones, geography, vocabulary, U.S. History) and lots of puzzles & games like chess, mancala, mastermind, simon and sudoku. I haven’t spent a lot of time looking at this site, but I’m sure it’s full of a lot of things that I can use with kids!

My Assessment Results

2006-01-31T18:17:00.000-06:00

I scored 85 out of 100 possible points on the Table of Essential Digital Literacy Elements self-assessment on the Atomic_Learning website.

This showed me that though I am comfortable with most computer applications that were included in the assessment, I am not comfortable enough to teach some of them to others. And, I'm certainly not ready to publish anything - maybe it's just a lack of confidence - who knows?

I also don't know if I CAN'T show others how to do some of the things listed or if I just don't have time to show them. I hate to admit it, but a lot of times, my attitude is just that it's easier to do it myself.

You will notice that there is no magical scale to go along with this score - numbers don't correspond to a matching technology skill level. This is just a number that you can record to show you where you are, what areas you need to improve in, and a little while down the road, you can take it again and be amazed by your growth.

The most important factor here, as I see it, is that you are willing to do this...to learn more about yourself and your technology skills, and to dedicate time and effort to improve what you know and to increase your comfort level.

Thanks for participating!

Assess Yourself

2006-01-31T17:50:00.000-06:00

Another blog assignment for you!

There is a great self-assessment tool on the Atomic Learning site. You can access it through LPS. You will find "Atomic Learning" under the staff tab.

Once you get to the site, choose "curriculum tools". Under the heading "Staff Development Framework" it says "assess yourself". SHORTCUT - just click on the title of this post and it will take you directly there - but I wanted you to know how to get there on your own - there are lots of great things on this site.

You're going to a document with a rubric - this time you get to complete one for yourself! There is a link to the "Atomic Learning Framework Philosophy". In order to access this document, (a little lengthy, but good information) you will need a username (lincolnps) and password (overland).

Complete the assessment and post a blog about your findings.

Digital Photography Online Course

2006-01-22T16:41:00.000-06:00

The title of this post is linked to an online digital photography course. It is packed with information and does a nice job explaining all of the things you need to know about pixels, mega bytes, jpeg, and many other terms you may have been wondering about.

Something for your spare time! Actually, you might want to add this to your bookmarks - it's a great resource!

Comiclife & Digital Photos Support Classroom Learning

2006-01-22T16:27:00.000-06:00

If you click on the title above, you will be taken to a Read, Write, Think page that includes a lesson plan that is all about using comics to teach writing skills. You might want to take a look at the "Comic Creator Student Interactive". This is a neat tool to help kids sketch out some thoughts before they even take photos to include in their own comic. It is a great organizational tool!

Also, you might be interested in the Comic Life Gallery. Lots of ideas here to show the potential Comic Life has to make creative visuals for educational or personal use! (Ask Kim Z about her Christmas thank-you's!)

On-Task Blogging

2006-01-19T16:05:00.000-06:00

Some of our blogging friends have already commented about the success of our Tuesday morning meeting. I had a wonderful time and I hope you did too.

Since that time, I have had conversations with some people about getting "on-task" with their blogging. Remember, the purpose of our blogs is to share what we have tried or what we have learned as we experiment with implementing lessons that use technology.

But, I don't want you to feel guilty for using your blog to post something unrelated to our goal. The process of acquiring knowledge to enable you to infuse technology into your teaching requires that you first become comfortable with technology for yourself -- use it to suit your own purposes, whether it be for word processing, e-mailing friends, organizing family photos digitally, paying your bills online - whatever! (You will notice that I used the word "infuse". When I was thinking about the topic of this blog and the progression of technology competence in teaching, I remembered our first blogging assignment - "list two sites that you use for teaching and two sites that you like to visit for your own enjoyment" I must have thought of the word "infuse" because I remembered one of my favorite sites for my own enjoyment, the Mighty Leaf Tea Company. I visited this site just before I started this blog. You'll have to go there sometime - I think it's relaxing, I can almost smell the Earl Grey drifting from the liquid crystals in my computer screen!)

The next step is to "infuse" technology into your lessons -- use online resources to find lesson plans or printables, find some great websites that illustrate the point you have tried to get across, make your own technology-based resources to teach a unit.

The final and ultimate step is to become aware of the impact technology will have on our students. Their lives will be influenced by technologies that we can't even begin to imagine. It is our duty to start now to make this a way of life for them. I read an article in a class I took last spring that introduced me to the concept of Mindtools. We need to teach our kids to think of the technologies that are available to them as "mindtools". Here's how I see it. I have taken piano lessons since I was 4 years old. I am not a good note reader. I spent 20 years of my life as a frustrated pianist because I did not have the skills to take the beautiful melody that was flowing through my head and tell my fingers how to do it. In my mid-twenties, I started taking lessons from a teacher who had mastered this form of note-less piano playing for himself, and had become so comfortable with it that he was able to teach me how to do it. I'm not perfect, but I'm a whole lot better than I used to be.

The application here is that all it took was a teacher who was comfortable with using the methods for himself to teach me how to take what was in my head and make some sense out of it. We need to help our kids take all of the information they have stored in their heads and use the computer to make sense out of it - make it into something that they can share with others.

Make this blog about you AND your teaching. Little vacations from the topic at hand are perfectly acceptable - they represent who you are, what you like and why you're good at what you do!

Isn't blogging fun?

Change Your Settings

2006-01-05T14:14:00.000-06:00

You might want to make a change in the settings for your blog.

Under the comments tab, it asks..."who can comment?" The default option is "only registered members". This only allows those brave souls with a blogger account to comment. If you use the pull-down menu there to change the setting to "anyone", well, guess what? Anyone can comment!

This might be helpful considering the pupose of our blogging experience...to share what we have learned with others!

Also, remember to use the Google Group address to notify our group when you have posted to your blog (EveTech@googlegroups.com) You add this in the "e-mail" tab.

Happy Blogging!

Everett Blogs

2006-01-02T09:59:00.000-06:00

Let's just make this easy...

I put a new category in my Linkin' Log for "Everett Blogs".

All of our blog addresses are linked there, so you can just pull up my Linkin' Log if you want to find addresses instead of searching for e-mail messages, copying and pasting!

My direct Linkin' Log address is linked to the title of this post, or you can find it by typing in "links" in the search box on the LPS site and either typing in lfuller or finding my collection in the pull down menu.

Keep up the good work!

Puzzlemaker

2005-12-29T21:06:00.000-06:00

This is a great site, I've seen it before, but have forgotten about it. I added it to my Linkin' Log so that I won't soon forget it.

It is a Discovery Channel site, and a good one too!

You can use the Puzzlemaker to make your own crossword puzzles, word searches, cryptograms, even math squares and other math puzzles - all of those things that many of us spend hours trying to make on our own.

On the left side of the page, there is a tab called "Brain Boosters". This is a huge list of word problems that really make you think. It's a big list, there are enough to use a different one every day.

Comic Life - Part II

2005-12-29T09:51:00.000-06:00

I went to the second session of my "Comic Life" class the other day. It was a fun time because we all had pretty much figured out the program and had experimented with new ways to use it instructionally, so we spent some time sharing ideas. I realized how much potential this program really has.

Here are the ideas that were given in class...

Use Comic Life to make "social stories" - include real pictures to help kids that have a hard time understanding different perspectives. One of the people in the class was an SLP. She said she has been working with a student with some serious social problems, because she doesn't understand the impact of her actions or how she is perceived by others around her - but with this program, real pictures and thought bubbles to illustrate the interactions, it might eventually make sense. This might be a good tool in working with kids who are bullying as well - often, I don't think they realize how they are making other kids feel. Send them out with a camera and have them recreate and photograph their incident, type in a word bubble with what they said and what they were thinking, and then let them see the other side. Who knows? A lot of work, but it might pay off in the end.

Another idea was to use Comic Life to create a template that you give to students to help them create a project or to demonstrate their learning - one specific example of this was that the teacher created a template with three picture panes. It was titled "Healthy Choices" The students were all given this template and a folder full of pictures that included healthy and unhealthy choices. They had to choose three and insert captions about why they were healthy choices. Along with this idea, it would be great to set up a template that students could use to illustrate or include pictures to sequence a story or an event - beginning, middle and end.

One of the teachers had moved into a portable while her room is being remodeled. She took photos of the room and students wrote captions comparing their old classroom to the new one. This program is great for making comparisons.

Animal reports - one of the teachers had the students find a photo of the animal they had researched, and they used word bubbles to have the animal "tell" different facts about itself. Quite clever - I think the kids would have a great time with this!

Introductions - A parent of a special needs student had a hard time figuring out all of the people who worked with her child. The little girl had a hard time with names, so they created a sheet with all of the teachers who worked with this student and their names, and in what capacity they usually worked with her. It was a nice tool to help the parents stay involved and have a conversation with their child about her day at school. I thought that this would be a great tool to have available for parents at open house before school starts, to introduce them to classroom teachers, other teachers on the team, administrators and specialists.

The possibilities just seem endless.

This program will be part of the new "image" that will be on our computers after January 6th. So, we will all have access to it. I'm looking forward to seeing how we use it.

One thought that I had was that a drawback might be the potential for creating a lot of color printing jobs. However, I noticed how many output options are available through Comic Life - it can be used as a web page, as a powerpoint slide, pdf file, etc. The projects could be displayed through one of these modes for class presentation, or through a slide show displayed on a computer at conferences, making it unnecessary to print them.

Linkin' Logs are up!

2005-12-29T09:25:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year!

Brian got our Linkin' Logs up and running just in time for us to save all of our bookmarks before our computers are reimaged on the 6th.

This is going to take a little work, but it will be well worth it in the long run!

Brian said that you all should receive a confirmation e-mail with some directions about how to get started on your linkin' log. I would suggest that you first take a look at all of the sites you have stored and jot down some categories that many of them would fit under - this will help as you set up your new bookmark site.

Here's what you do...

Log on to the district site - just click the link through the title of my blog (above).

In the search field, type in "links"

Type in your username and click "login"

Insert your password.

You will notice the Direct URL address to your Linkin' Log - after the reimaging is done, all you really need to do is open up a browser (safari or firefox) and add this address to your bookmarks, then it will always take you to your bookmark collection housed through the district website and you can find them from any computer any time anywhere!

The next thing you will get to is "Add a Category".

I would spend some time putting in all of the category names you jotted down earlier - some of mine are (online storybooks, reference, interventions, printables, reading...).

So let's say for example that I inserted all of my category names.

The next step is to go to the right side of the screen where you will see "Add an Address"

Under "site name" I would type in one of my favorites- Starfall

The next line is for the specific address (URL) I would type http://starfall.com

Next, I would type in a description of the site, then you will notice in the next section that all of the categories you put in earlier are listed as checkboxes - I would just go down through my categories and click all that would apply to this website - probably "online storybooks" and "reading".

Then you just click "submit".

Following that, you can insert your personal info. and decide if you want your page to be listed as one the "collections" on the district site. I can show you more about that when we get back to school.

There you have it - a secure place to keep your bookmarks, which is a good thing, since this will probably not be the last district re-image for a while - I would imagine that they might do it again over the summer.

I will stay in the building on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons until about 3:30 to provide some support. You could stop into my room (122) anytime during the day on Wednesday or Thursday, Kim and I can have a computer set up and ready to show you where you will find the linkin' log, in case you're having trouble.

Obviously, most of the work will have to be done on your own computer, since you will need to copy and paste your bookmarks over to the linkin' log. SO, I will be available after my kindergartners leave (12:30) to come and give you some pointers on your own computer. The only glitch is that K-Wrap meets in my room during that time, so sometimes it is difficult to find me - so, I'll have my cell phone on and you can find me that way for sure #560-1085.

We'll get this all buttoned up before they wipe us out on Friday!!!

Comic Life

2005-12-07T13:20:00.000-06:00

I went to a great class the other day - Comic Life! It is pretty much just what it sounds like. It's a program that allows you to make your own comic book page! It accesses all of the pictures you have stored in iPhoto and allows you to drag them into the panes they have set up, or you can make your own template. You can also scan pictures that you have drawn or use clip art to fill the panes. After you have all of the pictures in the places you want them, there are lots of different sizes and shapes of word bubbles to include. There are titles and captions, and they all come available in that great comic book font!!

I had the most fun playing with it and I think kids would have a blast! It would be an amazing tool for helping kids make a story sketch - they could outline it using the program and then write the story later, or do it the other way around, make a comic to illustrate a story they have already written - which would help them to determine the main events in their story.

This would be great for social stories as well - with real pictures of the kids involved!

It's an amazing tool with a lot of potential!

The link above will take you to LPS's ulocker. Type in your username and password and then click on the "teacher info." folder. Inside that folder, there is a "software" link - choose your platform and find it in alphabetical order "Comic Life". There is a class for it in the district, but it is pretty easy to figure out on your own, and of course, if you had questions, you could ask me.

Try it - you'll like it!

Just A Test

2005-10-10T21:29:00.000-06:00

Dear Fellow Everett Bloggers,

This is my test-blog, to see if I set up the google group successfully. If so, then you will receive an e-mail notifying you of this post. I'm curious to see what it has set up for you to respond, or how it directs you to this page. Guess we'll find out!

Lynn

Here's a link to my website (Jules, I'm trying to figure out the link thing!)

My Favorite Sites...

2005-08-06T16:15:00.000-06:00

Here are a couple of my favorite sites for education:

(Click on the green links)

Ben's Guide

Ben's guide is a great site for educators. It is sponsored by the Federal Government and gives great insight into government policies and practices. It has links for early elementary school children through high school. It's a really fun site!

I Spy

This is a link to Scholastic's collection of online I Spy games. It is a lot of fun!

For a complete listing of my favorite educational sites, please visit my Linkin' Log page through LPS at:
My Links

Here are a couple of my favorite sites just for me...

Mighty Leaf

I love tea, and this is about the best site I know to explain the origin of different types of teas, their nutritional value, where they are grown, and the latest really cool tea "gadgets."

Hotel El Encanto

This site shows a little about what I learned this summer - it is the website for the hotel where I stayed in Juayua, Sonsonate, El Salvador. The Hidalgo family, owners of the beautiful bed and breakfast are also coffee plantation owners and I gained a new respect for coffee - I even drank some while I looked out the hotel window at the steaming volcano less than 20 miles away!

Internet Research

2005-06-11T17:16:00.000-06:00

I have been looking into Internet Research strategies for a class that I am taking online through the University of Florida. The article linked here lists nine good reasons to conduct internet-based research in your classroom. There are many different research strategies. I tried one today called a "hotlist". My new "hotlist" Summer Fun Tour of Lincoln is what it sounds like, a list of websites that lead to Summer Fun in Lincoln, Nebraska! The thought is that this will create an easy-to-access listing of interrelated websites pertaining to one subject - in essence, equivalent to rolling in a big cart full of maps, encyclopedias, tour guides & other reference materials. My next big project is to create a "webquest". This is similar to the hotlist in that it does provide numerous internet resources with a common subject, but this research project requires the direct participation of the student.

Technically Teaching (Lynn's Blog)

Blog has moved

ITC + PLC

I Love This New Website...

100s Chart Designs

New Math Workstation - K-1

Math Worksheet Generator

Counting Coins

Jan Brett Videos

PowerPoint Flash Cards

Formatting Palette

Desktop Web “links”

Computer Assisted Listening Center!

The Role of the Computer in Literacy Workstations

Velcro Picture Paper

"Awesome..."

Do A Dot Art Markers

Fun New Website!

Mr. Alligator

American Sign Language Font

More Favorite Things

More Favorite Things

More Favorite Things

More Favorite Things

More Favorite Things

These are a few of my favorite things...

These are a few of my favorite things...

Apple Video Adapter

These are a few of my favorite things...

These are a few of my favorite things...

These are a few of my favorite things...

These are a few of my favorite things...

These are a few of my favorite things...

I Opened a Gmail Account...

Anything with an "i" in front of it has to be good, right?

Don't Try This @ Home (Updated)

Don't Try This @ Home!

Looking Back

New Poll for Everett PLC

Everett PLC Survey

Going out on a limb...

Everett's Professional Learning Community

One Small Step BEFORE Comic Life

Careers & Community Helpers Curriculum Unit

Thinking About Designing Technology-Rich Curricula

iPod Shuffle

Week 4 – Designing Technology Rich Curricula

Bloglines - Looking for new tools?

Looking for new tools?

More Questions And Results!

Technology Integration – Questions?

Curriculum and Technology

Read About Blogs in Education

Multipurpose Blogging

Philosophy & Curriculum

Designing Technology Rich Curricula

Comic Life Fun

Teacher's Hub

My Assessment Results

Assess Yourself

Digital Photography Online Course

Comiclife & Digital Photos Support Classroom Learning

On-Task Blogging

Change Your Settings

Everett Blogs

Puzzlemaker

Comic Life - Part II

Linkin' Logs are up!

Comic Life

Just A Test

My Favorite Sites...

Internet Research