Week 2 Reflection: The Cool Cat Teacher

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For this week’s blog review, I selected The Cool Cat Teacher by Vicki Davis.  The link I first used took me to her blogspot, which has been discontinued.  Her last post detailed the steps of deciding to, and finally switching the location of her blog.  This was very informative since I am also beginning my blogging adventure with a free blogsite.  The correct website for her blog is:  http://www.coolcatteacher.com/

sketchnotingforbeginnersThe titles of her posts caught my attention.  10 Ways to be a Terrible Teacher was the first article I read.  89 lesson plans for teaching math was next.  I found the blogspot easier to navigate and was visually more comfortable for me, but on either site – the information was fantastic.  Vicki posts everything from classroom resources and techniques to how to’s that she has figured out.

Vicki posts a lot of technology related reviews and ways of including technology in the classroom.  This one is challenging for me.  I am diving head first into this adventure of teaching with technology.   So far, I have existed with low tech or old technology.  I recently bought an ipod and am adjusting to digital music.  For my students sake, I need to catch up so that I can help them be curious, explore, and understand new technology so that they can be a part of creating the next generation of new technology.

I am excited to follow Vicki’s blog and bi-weekly internet radio show – Every Classroom Matters.  She has a subscription link so that I will get her updates in my email.

Word Clouds in the Classroom

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Word clouds have come a long way.  As a kid, we would create word cloud collages by cutting and pasting clippings from magazines and newspapers.  Now I can create a world cloud straight from an article or wiki page.

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I created this wordcloud using Wordsalad – Your salads, redefined – Lite Edition app for ipad.  This app was free and offered a lot of versatility.  After I pasted the text, the app selected the high impact words and arranged them into the word cloud.  I was able to select the color palate, emphasize or de-emphasize words, make the layout portrait or landscape, and also change the font.  This app uses in-app purchases to enable additional functions and the removal of the wordsalad watermark.

 

After playing around with this version, I found Wordsalad – Beautiful Word clouds, which was previously called Wordsalad – Your salads, redefined – school edition.

Thiwordsalads edition cost $3.99 and was well worth the small cost.  This edition allows the user to choose background colors, has more text options, and settings.  The paid version also does not have the watermark.  My favorite feature for this update is the ability download - wordsalad iconto import text directly from wiki sites. The ability to export a wordsalad to photoshop is an additional in app purchase option.   I greatly value the changes and new abilities that are available with the paid Wordsalad. The app is also available for android, but I did not explore those options.

I didn’t have any trouble navigating through either app.  They are both well laid out and easy to work with.  I sought out tutorials, and only found one brief tutorial clip on youtube.  The video is shared from the blog Teaching with Technology by  mat.humphreys@ccyd.org.uk (Apple Curriculum Coordinator – Teaching and Learning.)

I would love to use wordsalads to decorate my classroom.  They would be wonderful to combine with thinglinks as a way for students to explore vocabulary and concepts.  A wordsalad/thinglink would be a fun way to present a unit review.

Thinglink in Education: Pi

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I enjoyed checking out Thinglink.  It is an app/program where a teacher can use a picture and add

youtube and plays the song Mathematical Pi.    I also linked to the Tau Manefesto which debates the use of pi over tau, which is equal to 2pi.  I also added additional pictures, an image of the digits of pi, the history of pi, and the wikipedia page on pi.

Thinglink was fun to play with.  It has a lot of potential in the classroom.  I see thinglinks being used as an interactive way to help students begin research.  They could also be created by students as a way of presenting information they have learned.

My Thinglink was created with a free education account, so some of the features are limited. With the free account, teachers can add up to 100 students.  I am considering an annual subscription, which would allow a nearly unlimited number of students I could add.  The annual subscription costs $35/year.

Week 1 Reflection: MindShift

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    In my search for a blog to review, I looked     at  Teach 100, a daily ranking of educational blogs.  Today’s number one is     MindShift .  MindShift is a blog that  promotes “Innovative ideas – projects,           processes, curricula, and more – that are transforming how we teach and learn.”

 

One article that caught my attention shares the success one school has had by addressing mental health as a key component of student success.  How Schools Can Help Nurture Students’ Mental Health  addresses several ways that schools can support better learning by addressing the mental health needs of their students.  Some of these mental health strategies include supporting exercise and mindfulness in the classroom.  Mindfulness is a practice that I embrace and plan to include in my classroom.

About MindShift:

MindShift explores the future of learning in all its dimensions. We examine how learning is being impacted by technology, discoveries about how the brain works, poverty and inequities, social and emotional practices, assessments, digital games, design thinking and music, among many other topics. We look at how learning is evolving in the classroom and beyond.We also revisit old ideas that have come full circle in the era of the over scheduled child, such as unschooling, tinkering, playing in the woods, mindfulness, inquiry-based learning and student motivation. We report on shifts in how educators practice their craft as they apply innovative ideas to help students learn, while meeting the rigorous demands of their standards and curriculum.

OSMO in the Classroom

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Osmo in use                                          OSMO

  The Osmo was very fun no easy to work with.

The base accommodates several styles of iPad, but not cases. I      prefer to keep my iPad in a protective case all the time, so this is a  downside, but I would like to look and see if they sell other  adaptive pieces to accommodate a case.

The set up was very easy. The iPad sets in the base and a red camera adapter (ie: mirror) sit over the camera lens at the top of the iPad.

imageThe apps, Tangram, Words, Newton, and Masterpiece, were each easy to use.  I brought one home and watched my daughter interact with the apps.  Tangram, Words and Masterpiece held her attention more than Newton.  I enjoyed the spelling  aspect of Words, and the problem-solving that was presented in Tangram.  I would love to see an additional app called Numbers (for example) with number tiles with activities on number recognition and arithmetic facts.

 

I enjoyed playing with Masterpiece – it lets me seem like a much better artist than I really am!