Personal Learning Network

Creating my PLN was a very long process.  It really made me think about how I do learn information, store it and share it with others.  And do I share it with others?  Probably not as much as I should but that will change now.  I used the site http://bubbl.us/ to create my PLN.  I have to say I had more fun deciding on the colors of the little bubbles than I did thinking about learning, storing and sharing information. But I finished my diagram and would like to share it with you, just click on the link. 

On-Line Quiz Assignment

I used the site http://www.proprofs.com/ to create a multiple choice quiz on saftey signs for my students.  Using this site to make the quiz was very simple, easy to understand and quick.  I also liked that I could use an image or video in each question.  I would have liked to be able to use pictures in the answer area as well but this site didn't offer that option.  To take the saftey sign quiz click here.  One way I could get my students involved in making quizzes, is to show them a video and as a group have the students decide what information is important to remember from the video.  Using the information from the students, I can create an on-line quiz for the video.  Or I could have the students each come up with a question about the video to put on a quiz and then I could do the technical part of actually making the on-line quiz.

Google docs Assignment Part 1

In my class this year, we will have a Card of the Month Club.  This project will have my students hand making cards to sell in order to raise money to help pay or supplement the cost to them for our classroom community outings, purchasing supplies for future cards and our horticulture project.  In order to sell the cards, we have to have orders from school staff and parents.  I have created a form that is easy for both staff and parents to access and order the cards.  For the school staff, I sent out an e-mail which explained our classroom project and included a link to the form.  For the parents of our students, I have sent a letter home explaining the project and included this blog address http://www.lorieslog.blogspot.com/ .  The parents will visit my blog which I have added a post to them about the Card of the Month Club.  In the post is a link they can click which will take them to the form.  By using the form on google docs, the order information is compiled in a spreadsheet that I may print out when filling card orders.  This is such a nice feature because in previous years, staff had to come to my classroom in order to notify me of an order and I would have to stop what I was doing in order to write it down.  This process with using the form has made it easy for everyone to order cards right from their desks or homes.
Click here to view the form.

October Card of the Month Club

Welcome Windfall School Parents,

     If you would like to order handmade cards from Room 116 just click here.  Remember your donation/order is due on or before September 15th. 

   

Web 2.0 Tools

While looking at the tools available, I went to the drawing category with the idea of finding something that would help my students develop skills using a computer mouse and be interesting and motivating for them.  I found Tux Paint which is drawing software for children ages 3 to 12 and free to download and use.  I tried downloading the zip drive folder available but couldn't get it to open once I did.  So, I deleted it and just downloaded the software to my computer which there are two downloads included in the software.  Since it is a download, I will have to get permission from administration for our computer guy to download it to my classroom computer, which isn't always easy and I am sure by the end of this class he is going to be really tired of hearing from me.  But for my students it leaves an icon on the desktop which allows them easy and independent access to the software.
    Once I got the software running, I did like it.  It is very easy to use.  The students have different tools available to them on the left side of the screen that include a paint brush, stamp, text, shapes and lines.  On the right side of the screen are the many options for the tools.  My two favorite options are in the stamp tool because it has realistic pictures of many items like transportation, food, and animals to name a few.  Also in the stamp options is the letter and number signs in American Sign Language which would be great for me to use with my students.  Not only can I use it for the students as an unstructured time for mouse skills but I can also create structured activities for mouse skills as well as other skills.  I created a page where I placed capital stamps of the letters "A", "B", and "C" on the right side of the drawing area and in a different order on the left side of the drawing area.  The students will use the line tool to draw lines in order to match the letters.  Once a student is done with the activity, they are able to erase, print or save using icons on the left of the screen under the tools.  I saved my structured activity and it saved directly in the program which is nice but also a downfall because I had no other option of where I wanted it saved.  Also, for this assignment I am unable to retrieve the activity in order to provide a model and share with others.  The saved pages are easy to access in the program by pressing the open tool.  Once in the saved folder, students can see a small visual of each saved page and even see a slide show of all the saved pages.  When opening a new drawing page there are templates of puzzles, scenes to add stamps to, grid sheets and even maps.   
   Over all, I enjoyed using this software and will ask for it to be downloaded to the classroom computer.  I am eager to use it with my students, especially the puzzle templates and sign language.  I am even going to leave it on my laptop so my children can use it.

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog. It was created for my technology class but feel free to talk about other things as well.