Post # 7: Survey

My survey is about Reading.


https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeblBFfEt0naYK1ApGaF_GJmdIyWNzkZrpA7VfOI92oUKNWmQ/viewform

Blog Post #6: Using Pinterest

Pinterest is an amazing tool for teachers wanting to find ideas and resources for the classroom. I love how you can find ideas for anything: classroom management, home decorating, activities, babies, workouts, etc. Pinterest is an easy way to keep track of the pins you make by saving them in different boards. I have created several boards based on the different content areas. This just helps me keep track of the activities I have liked and can later use. It saves me of having papers stored in folders that I then forget to use.

            My first idea for using Pinterest is for finding activities, classroom decorating ideas, lessons, and anchor charts for kindergarten. I chose kindergarten because it is the grade level I currently teach. I have used this social network, Pinterest, in the past two years to find ideas for writing, to find fun and engaging math activities for my students. Finding apps that are grade level appropriate for my students is another way I would use Pinterest. In this case, I would be learning different activities that can be used with this grade level. If they moved me to another grade level, I would use it to find everything related to the other grade level.

            The second idea would be for me to use with 5th graders in Science. Students need to do science projects every year, and for some it is hard to find ideas of what they can do. So the week that projects are announced, I would have my students search Pinterest and create a board named Science Projects. I would have them look for ideas and pin them to their board. This would give them an idea to research several projects and then look at their ideas and decide what they want to do.  

            The third idea would be for teaching and collaborating with the other teachers in my grade level. In our school, we have designated days for planning as a grade level. When we plan together we look at the TEKS for the whole 9 weeks and then we looks for activities. We always use Pinterest to look for the activities. We would look for ideas for anchor charts especially when teaching new concepts to our students. This would be another form of us teachers learning together.

            I loved using Pinterest. I think it is a great tool for anyone searching for ideas and resources, it does not matter what you’re looking for. Lately I have been using it not just for school, but also for tips on my baby. I think Pinterest can be used for teaching and learning and can be used by anyone.

Pinterest Board

The link to my Pinterest Board:

Educational Resources

Blog Post 4: Uses for Evernote

Evernote is more than a tool for taking notes. It is a place to keep information whether recorded or typed that can be shared with others. It can also include pictures, screenshots, articles, and other information that can be edited by people you share it with if desired. I enjoyed using Evernote and I think older students would benefit from using this tool.  

I would use Evernote in the 4^th grade in the subject area of Language Arts. Since this is a great tool for creating notes and saving them. I would have my students write narratives or short compositions. Then I would ask them to record themselves reading their work. I would have them save these compositions in the same notebook so that it could be a digital portfolio of their work throughout the year. This is a great way to show the students’ progress in writing stories.

Another idea for using Evernote, would be for 5^th graders. For Math, I would give them a word problem as a pdf file. I would then ask them to solve their problem and ask them to record how they found their answer. As an article mentioned it is important for students to explain the logic behind their answer whether it’s right or wrong. I think this would be a great tool for students to explain their reasoning. This would be a way for them to explain step by step how they solved their word problems.

My third idea would be used in a dual language 3^rd grade classroom, in Spanish Language Arts and English Language Arts. Students in dual language are learning both languages so I would have the students create notes every day. One would be in English and the other one in Spanish. This would be their journal. I would give them a topic and have them write about it for 15 minutes. Students would then be required to share their note with a partner so that they can edit their work.

As a teacher, I would use Evernote as my place to store the lesson plans for the academic school year. This would be a great resource because I could write down the lesson plan. After my students are done with the activity, I would post some samples of their work. I would also reflect about how smooth the lesson went and record modifications, reminders, or misconceptions that need to be addressed for the next year.  

I loved using Evernote, I found it very useful and easy to use after I watched the video Up and Running with Evernote. I like that you can create so many notes, include photos, audio, and share everything. This is a tool that I will continue to use because I can use it to save pictures of my baby too.

Public Evernote Notebook

 I decided to use Evernote to create and share a notebook with lessons I found for Kindergarten. Since I am fairly new to the grade level, I wanted to research some ideas to use with my classroom. I wanted ideas that would be engaging and fun for my students. In this notebook, I included ideas for Math, for writing, and a cute one for Mother's Day. This is a work in progress because I plan to add more lessons to this notebook.

Lessons for Kindergarten

https://www.evernote.com/pub/caruiz3/lessonsforkindergarten

Some of The Best Windows Apps For Teachers

The educational technology blogs have many articles that are interesting and important for educators. I especially found the article about the best window apps for teachers to be beneficial. It has the app, Duolingo, which provides activities so that students can practice a new language. The languages that can be practiced are: Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Irish, Dutch, Danish, and English. With this app you can choose the amount of time to practice, 5, 10, 15, or 20 minutes. You can choose a language, and then take a placement test if you know the basics or start from the beginning. The test asks you to translate some phrases. It rewards the students for their good achievements and also translates texts. Another app that is mentioned is iMath, which gives students the opportunity to improve children’s math skills. This app is designed for children from Pre-K to 5^th grade. iMath covers more the 900 math skills and more than 20 topics. Sway is a storytelling app that allows the user to create and share reports, stories, presentations and much more.  It mentions another math app, MathQuiz, which lets you practice and improve your calculation skills. It also lets you choose the level, and the types of questions. I think the next app is for educators, and allows them to make lesson plans for any subject and allows you to share. 

4 Excellent iPad Apps For Recording Audio Notes  

            The next article I found was about iPad apps to record audio notes. The first app, Audio Note, allows for inserting text, photos, drawings, and highlighted notes. It can also amplify the audio if it is used in larger rooms. You can share the audio with the following apps: iCloud, Dropbox, WiFi, and iTunes. The Super Note Recorder lets the user to color code the notes to distinguish them from one another. It also lets you record voice and take pictures so that they can be added to your notes. The next app, Sound Note, lets you take notes during meetings, lectures, and interviews. This app allows you to record audio while tracking what you type and draw. This app allows you to playback by just tapping a word.

            These articles are especially for educators. Teachers can either use them in the classroom for school projects or practice math skills. The audio notes can be used for many different activities, especially storytelling in the lower grades. Teachers can inform the parents about these apps, so that students can practice at home. The Duolingo app would be very useful in my classroom for my bilingual students to practice the English language. As a teacher, I think that the more articles and research we have on apps that can support us, the better off our students will be.

Blogs used for Distribution, Discussion, and Demonstration

Blogs have become a platform to share ideas, videos, photographs, and information and at the same time allows other people to leave comments. Many classrooms are implementing blogs in their classrooms.  They can be used in three ways: distribution, discussion, and demonstration.

Distribution

Blogs can be used for the distribution of information to students and their parents.  In my case, I would use www.weebly.com which lets you create a blog. I would use it with my current class, which is kindergarten and would cover all the subject areas. This blog would be more for the parents since my students don’t know how to read or write yet. In this blog, the parents would be able to see the class schedule; this way they would be aware of when the students have breakfast, go to lunch, have P.E., and are dismissed. This blog would also include the rules and discipline plan.  The homework for the whole week and a calendar with important information happening each month, like: picture day, early dismissals, the times for awards ceremonies, and parent teacher conferences would also be included. This would be like an electronic newsletter for the parents.

Discussion

Blogs can also be used to generate discussions between the students. I would use blogs for Language Arts for 4^th grade students. In this case, I would create a blog and have each student  post on this class blog their responses to either poetry covered in class or to a story that was read to them. Students would be read a story and then would have to post their response and cover the following TEKS. They could summarize and/or explain the lesson or the message of stories that are fiction. They could also compare and contrast the adventures of the characters. Then the students would respond to their students' posts.

Demonstration

Blogs can be used to show the students’ progress over time, like a portfolio. I would use the blog in the 4^th grade for Science. In this case, I would have the students work in groups and make a video of the labs, their results, and their reflections about what they learned. I would then ask them to post their videos and have other students make comments. Another idea for 4^th grade students in Language Arts would be for students to post their stories or brief compositions. I would give them a topic and they would write their stories, film themselves reading the story and then other students could post comments providing positive feedback. Several of these stories throughout the year would demonstrate each student’s progress through a digital portfolio.