Podcasts

I found a podcast comparing the collision theory during a chemical reaction to basketball. Since Regents and General Chemistry study kinetic and chemical reactions, this would a helpful way for some of them to hear it presented another way especially using a sports illustration. The more learning styles I can reach the better.

Global Cooperation

I chose the Big Huge Labs from Mod 9. Any of the projects that the students completed could be shared with other classrooms around the world as another way to view the material. This material could be shared using WiZIQ from Mod 8 which is a great program that allows anyone from anywhere in the world to learn from each other. They can communicate via audio or video. Teachers can teach free classes to anyone in the world that signs up and learners can search for classes or teachers that teach subjects that interest them.

ePals in the Classroom

I think the features that are the most helpful in ePals is the field trip series which allows students to visually go where they may not be able to otherwise. Also, the projects that are ongoing that allow teachers and students from all across the world to communicate about a single topic is awesome because if they're studying something like weather patterns that is different all across the world at a given time, they can share their experiences and learn from each other. I also like the classroom match so that teachers can figure out which classroom corresponds most closely with what they're doing to work together more efficiently.

I think I could use this in my teaching by connecting to another classroom about the subject of measurement. Most other countries use the metric system which is common in chemistry. We could collaborate and learn from another country on how to accurately use the metric system.

Videos in the Classroom

I could use the Crushing Can Demonstration in my classroom to show them the relationship between temperature and pressure. I would probably also let them do this in class themselves but this way they could see what would happen and how the experiment works. This would be true for other demonstrations found online, especially ones that I can't do in the classroom because it's too dangerous.

Using Flickr in my Classroom

I could use Flickr in my classroom during projects such as the one I do about elements. The students could download pictures of their element, the person who found it or worked with it, and uses for their element onto Flickr. Then they could use those pictures to make a slideshow, trading cards, comic strip, etc on Big Huge Labs to present to the class. I could also use it to create trading cards which would work as review cards as I discussed in my last post.

Flickr Applications to my Classroom

I used the Big Huge Labs site to make a trading card that would be part of a set of cards to review material about the Periodic Table. This particular card would have the student look at a non-labeled picture of the Periodic Table and have them think about the names of the groups that are shown. I would use this in my classroom for review of this and other units during the year. The trading card sets for each unit could also be used for review at the end of the year for the Regents exam.

Using Microblogs in the Classroom

After reading Karine Joly's article "Should You Twitter", I realized I could use Twitter to commuicate with other chemistry teachers on the site. I could ask them questions about how they explain a difficult concept, get new ideas for games, activities or demos or or just communicate about any random aspect of our jobs. She also gives the example of being able to follow the basic gist of a conference she missed because so many people were Twittering about it. Also, like Tomaz Lasic talks about in "Twitter Handbook for Teachers", you can discuss educational theories, education issues such as discipline and the most breaking technology for the classroom. In short, it's a way to learn more about your profession from multiple sources and outlooks.

Weblogg-ed Response

I was reading the most recent post at Weblogg-ed today entitled "Wanted: School Chief Learning Officer" . The topic of the blog was a conversation about how many teachers did a good job of getting the material across versus teaching them how to learn. This man's particular response was that only 10% really taught their students how to learn and became lifelong learners. I thought this blog was interesting because unless you consider the Director of Curriculum, there is no one in charge of making sure the students are really learning in a solid way. The administrators are there to keep the building running, conduct discipline, etc. Teachers are solely responsible for making sure their students have really learned the material but that goes beyond just getting ready for the test. I know that I get caught up in just getting through the material with a minimum of interruptions that I don't always focus on whether the kids are really grasping the material in a deep way or not.

Social Networking

One of the social networking sites I visited was School 2.0 found at http://school20.ning.com/. This group could be useful to me as a teacher because sometimes it is hard to think up ways to incorporate a large amount of technology in a classroom. A discussion could be started about this topic for a specific subject such as chemistry. Also, it is a way to keep current on issues and questions from teachers that involve technology in education. It's also a way to make new connections with other teachers from other parts of the country or world that may have more experience in certain technological areas as relates to education.

A learner is like...

A learner is like a runner in a relay race. Each relay runner receives a baton from the runner before them. The first runner accumulates a certain amount of knowledge and passes it on to the next in line. Each consecutive runner, as they are running their portion of the race, takes the previous runner's knowledge and adds to it, either from outside sources or from their own experience and makes connections. According to Siemens article, "Learning is focused on connecting specialized information sets, and the connections that enable us to learn more are more important than our current state of knowing." In "The Impact of Social Media on Learning", Siemens states that "Our learning today is one of forming networks with each other. Our tools enable that effortlessly and in a way that's very human to us." He also says, "When we have the dialogue, we ourselves grow in our knowledge. We grow in our understanding of our own ideas." I chose the idea of a runner in a relay race because each successive runner carries more information than the one before them. In "The Network is Learning" Siemens states that "The way we are connected to other individuals is largely responsible for our ability to continue to stay current." This relates to the relay runner analogy because each runner is connected to the one before them. Each successive runner is more knowledge and more current than the ones before them. "In a knowledge economy, the flow of information is the equivalent of the oil pipe in an industrial economy. Creating, preserving, and utilizing information flow should be a key organizational activity." (Siemens, 2005.)

Reaction to "Why Let Our Students Blog?"

I liked the way this video was set up with first showing a multitude of words that would describe why it is beneficial for students to blog. Some guidelines for helping students set up online blogs are found at Education World. Some of the words listed that stuck out to me were participation, excitement, conversation, literacy and empowerment. I especially liked this list because I think if students can blog their thoughts about school work they can be more excited about the topic and share more than they might out loud in a classroom setting. Also, they can learn to spell and write better and see their blogs responded to. The second smaller part was "to give students a ________". My favorite was "audience". I think that many kids these days, especially younger ones, don't feel that what they have to say is listened to carefully because of their age. Blogging gives students the ability to voice their thoughts, opinions and questions. 21Classes is a site that lets a teacher set up a virtual classroom for free. Click here to visit the "Why Let Our Students Blog" video that this blog references. This reflection is for my online class LAI684.

Safe Blogging

Here are the things to remember about blogging safety:

1) Adjust the privacy settings so that only certain people can see your blog and make comments.
2) Set web browers so that can't crawl your site.
3) Don't use your full name.
4) Don't share any personal information with someone you don't know including entering it as part of your blog information.
5) Don't post a profile picture.
6) Don't meet people you meet online.
7) Be careful!

Ways to use blogs in class

After reading Richardson's thoughts on ways to use blogs in the classroom, I picked three ways I could use blogs in the classroom. One way I could use blogs in class is to have the students blog about one thing they learned that day in class as a journal entry. Another way is for general chemistry students to have them blog about ways that chemistry corresponds with their lives. A third way is to have students ask me questions via blog about a concept they don't understand.