Here is an overview of the Action Research project I conducted for my Inquiry and Research class.

Week 7 of the Connected Educator Class

Google Searches

We've all used the internet to look something up, but did you know there are some little tips & tricks that will make your search much easier.  There are a set of options that will help you filter, refine, and further explore your search.  These options are available right on the search results page.

Please watch the videos that I have shared with you and then go to Google and try some of them.  Be sure to watch the last video because it has LOTS of examples. 

                                                                Advanced Search tool

                                                               Dictionary definitions

                                                      Many ways to use Google Search
                                                   created by my instructor Marcia Jeans
                                                        You will find this VERY helpful!!

Week 6 of the Connected Educator Class

Social Media

Social networking is a big part of our culture today.  The Internet can be used to gain information, collaborate with your peers, or even communicate with students.  It can be used for teaching, learning, and to increase productivity.  However, it can also be misused.  People have lost their jobs for posting inappropriate photos or videos on their Facebook page or using their social networking sites repeatedly during working hours. 

Today’s generation has grown up using many types of technological devices and different types of social media.  If you talk to students today, they might tell you that they would like to see schools try to integrate social media into the curriculum instead of trying to limit their access to social networking during school hours.  There is a debate about how technology should be used but some people will say that if we want to reach today’s youth successfully, it is a needed method of communication.  The students can find information from online websites and students would like to see educators use more social networking sites in the classroom because they feel that they would stay engaged in learning if they did. 

One of the most useful tools for teachers is Pinterest.  It has rapidly become one of the biggest ways for teachers to share resources and information.  You can build ‘boards’ and easily ‘pin’ parts of the web onto those boards.  You can share lectures, notes, organizational ideas, lesson plans, etc..

 

When you “pin,” you are adding an image to your “board.” 

 

When you “repin,” you are adding someone else’s pin to your board.

 

You can search for other Pinterest people’s pins and repin them.

 

You can also install the “Pin it” button, so that you can pin
anything you find on the Internet to one of your boards.   

 You can also make comments on other people’s pins, or “like” them, and repin them. 

 If you are a teacher, and would like to use Pinterest in the classroom with students, be sure to read the Terms of Service because you will need parental consent for students under 13.

Here is a website that will show you how to get started on Pinterest.  

TheTeacher’s Quick Guide To Pinterest

 Here is a video to also help you set up a Pinterest account and get started. 

 

If you like to use Pinterest then you will really benefit from using the "Pin it" button.  

Here is how to install a "Pin it" button.  

It makes pinning so much easier.  You can pin something quickly from any website. 

 

Week 5 of the Connected Educator Class

This week I learned how valuable Google Drive is.  I had previously shared a document or two with other staff members but that is all I used it for and there is so much more you can do in Google Drive.  The documents are very similar to Microsoft Office but as long as you have internet, you can access them anywhere in the world which is a big plus.  It is also a great way to truly integrate technology and have the students collaborate on projects.

Google Forms is one thing that I will utilize immediately this next school year.  First, I will use the Google Forms to create surveys for our AdvancEd team that will be distributed to parents, students, and staff to get feedback on how we can improve.

                                                  Here is a video on how to create a form.

The second way that I will use Google Forms is to make self grading quizzes.  I'm all for making my job easier and this might be one way to do this.  After creating a quiz in Google Forms you can then download Flubaroo to help grade the quiz.  Assignments can be graded in under a minute and you can get reporting and analysis on student performance immediately.  You can also email students their scores if they have an email account.

What an informative week.  I can't wait to start on the next assignment.

Week 4 of the Connected Educator Class

Some of the sites and organizational tools that I discovered this  week

Much of our time these days is spent online whether we are at home or at work.  We spend much of our time reading and researching about all sorts of things.  Diigo helps you streamline the information and dramatically improve productivity.  There are annotation tools in which you can add digital highlighters and sticky notes whether you are working on a PC, tablet, or mobile device and they will always be there when you return.  You can build a personal library and access it anywhere and collaborate with students or staff. 

The Science Spot has a plethora of information for science teachers.  You will find lesson plans & activities for the classroom, project ideas for clubs or classrooms, science trivia, science starters to challenge students, word search & puzzles, teaching tips, technology lesson plans & activities, and links to many other resources.  I found several things that I will be able to use this next school year.

Remind101 is a free service for teachers that allows you to send text messages to groups of students and or parents from your computer, your iPhone, or your Android phone.  You will not have to upload cell phone numbers or give their personal phone numbers out.  There are standard text messaging rates that will apply so it is important that anyone who subscribes should have a phone plan that allows sending/receiving text messages.  If students & parents cannot receive texts, they can subscribe via email instead.  Only the person sending Remind101 messages (teacher, principal, coach) needs to create an account.  If you just want to subscribe to receive messages, you do not create an account. 

Messaging is 1-way broadcast communication—there is no inbox of replies to manage and no accidental texts received at midnight!  Students cannot reply so there is no chance of unfair or inappropriate communication between student and teacher.  It is not necessary to have a smartphone to use Remind101.  However, you must be able to receive texts.  If you cannot receive texts you can sign up to receive Remind101 notifications by email.  Teachers can send messages via the website by logging into their account at www.remind101.com.  If a teacher would like to send Remind101 messages via a mobile device, they will need to use the Remind101 iOS or Android app on a smartphone or tablet.

 

Socrative is a FREE program that can make classes more engaging and interactive.  Teachers can initiate activities and prompt students with questions.  The students will then respond to the questions on their smartphone, laptop, IPod touch, tablet, etc..  Socrative can run on any device with internet access.  Here are a couple of ways that you can use Socrative.  You can use it as a single response activity to allow students to reply to your prompt or question without entering their names.  In a single response activity your verbally pose a question or prompt to the students and they respond with a word, sentence, or multiple choice selection.  The anonymous reply format is useful for surveying students if you want them to submit responses to questions or prompts that they might be reluctant to share in an open format.  You can also use Socrative to administer short quizzes.  The short quizzes can include multiple choice, true/false, and short answer responses.  They also have a new option in which you can include pictures in your questions about diagrams, charts, and any other item that you have an image of.  You can set the quiz to give students immediate feedback on the multiple choice and true/false questions.  You can see the results of the quizzes in real-time and download a report of all students’ answers when all of the students have completed the quiz.   

Here is a video on how to use Socrative.

Other organizational tools:

Class Dojo

LiveBinders

Planbook

Evernote

Week 3 of the Connected Educator Class

The Professional Learning Network (PLN) that we investigated this week was Edmodo.  It is very easy to use and it is Free.  I have been using it this year to post assignments and the Daily Agenda for students and to also stay connected with the parents. Many of the assignments can be turned in on Edmodo and the teacher can annotate it for immediate feedback for the student and nothing needs to be printed.  The parents can view everything between the student and the teacher so they can stay current with what is going on.

This week I learned how to use Edmodo to connect with other educators.  This will help me stay current with the latest technologies and I will have a resource at my fingertips to talk to other educators and share ideas.  I'm looking forward to building this PLN over the summer.

Here are a couple of videos to help you get started.

Week 2 of the Connected Educator class

     This was a very informative week. I created my first Twitter account and issued my first few tweets. Through Twitter, I am following a couple of educational chats one of which is #Edchat.  You can easily keep updated with #Edchat topics by clicking on the hashtag of any tweet that has "#edchat".  The hashtag in front of a title is used to combine all of the tweets in one place so people can follow specific tweets and focus on the chat in real time. I am also following Steven Anderson (@web20classroom) who created a chat to focus on topics for educators. 

Here is a video to help you get started using Twitter.

 I really feel that Twitter will be a good place for my own professional development and it will be beneficial not only for myself but the other teachers at my school.

 I look forward to following these tweets and learning more about Twitter. Follow my Twitter account @DSchwartzTech.