ELVIS KIDS DURING GOLFCREST BOOK PARADE 2011

Wk1 Discussion Board: Online Ed Horror or Happy Stories

I had an opportunity to take a course here in Houston, Texas called “Master Technology Teacher “(MTT) way back in 2005. We are using Blackboard at that time as a supplement to our regular class in the evening. I was not able to finish the course but I am more than halfway. This was due to the changes of administrator at that time and I am not sure if the new one will still pay my tuition fee and I did not bother to ask. Maybe it’s my fault.

I do not remember any problems with Blackboard and it is a good way of checking our assignments and projects plus any messages by the instructor aside from the regular email.

My second encounter with online platform is the FSO, which I think is a lot better than Blackboard. I am sure that Blackboard has now its latest version or upgrade since then but I have no way of knowing.

BP12_2010033_One Minute Message #2

The image is from http://www.xtranormal.com/




In addition to this one minute video, I created a 30 sec video of Albert Einstein based on his famous quotes. See and highlight the site and go the address in the new tab below:

http://www.xtranormal.com/profile/2307799/

BP11_2010033_Link_my_comment_ to_ Karmiko's Blog

Here's the link to my comment on Karmiko's blog bout LiveMocha.

BP10_2010033_Link_my_comment_ to_ QsFSOBlog

Here's the link to my commnet on QsFSOBlog.


The picture is a screen shot of the movie I created in xtranormal about Albert Einstein and Queen Elizabeth of England having a light conversation. See the movie below:

BP9_2010033_Web2.0Tool3 (www.kindersite.org)

http://www.kindersite.org

Before you can fully appreciate the value of this site, you need to register first and it’s free. You can register as a parent or as a teacher. Once you registered and created your username and password, every time you login, you will be asked for which age group you want (2-6 years old) and type (parameters) if you want a game, song or story. You also have an option for high educational value and then you can click search. After you have selected an item and click add to my page, the content you have chosen will be added to your page.

I tried games for 4 years old with high educational, fun and playability value. The number one listed is Animal Parade from BBC on the Teletubbies site. There were sound effects and the goal is to match animals during the parade. When an animal walks into Teletubbyland the goal is to click on the correct animal in the circles below and then sit back and watch the parade.

Most of the games require flash so if you are using a window based computer make sure that the flash is updated to avoid any problems.

When my search was a song for 4 years old with the best educational value, best fun value and best playability value, it brought me to the number one choice of Starfall Music. This site can be found in www.starfall.com, which I am already using with my students. This music site will give the students a quick overview of the classics. Works of classical musicians like Ludwig van Beethoven, Frederic Chopin, Scott Joplin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Jacques Offenbach and Peter Tchaikovsky are displayed and can be heard in an animated way.

When I have chosen a story for a 4 year old, the number one choice was the “The Wishing Tree” by Rachel Dawson. It was an interactive book where children can click, hear the sound and listen while participating in the story. It was fun.

I wish I had found this site before the beginning of the school year and I will definitely recommend this site to my fellow pre-K and kindergarten teachers and friends who have little children.

The site had a refereed researched published for ESL (English as a Second Language) by Dolores Ramirez Verdugo and Isabel Alonzo Belmonte from Autonomous University of Madrid.
The title of their research is “ USING DIGITAL STORIES TO IMPROVE LISTENING COMPREHENSION WITH SPANISH YOUNG LEARNERS OF ENGLISH”. Please read the abstract below:

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the effects that digital stories may have on the understanding of spoken English by a group of 6-year-old Spanish learners. To accomplish this aim, a quasi-experimental research study was launched in six state schools in Madrid. A pre-post test design was used to investigate whether internet-based technology could improve listening comprehension in English as a Foreign Language (henceforth, EFL). Findings indicate that the experimental group outperformed the control group in the final test administered. These results raise interesting issues related to the use of technology in the context of foreign language learning. Future research which includes other age groups and digital materials and which explores other linguistic areas could further substantiate the link between Information and Communication Technology (ICT) rich environment and improved language learning.

Reference:

Verdugo, D.R., & Belmonte, I.A. (2007). Using Digital stories to improve listening comprehension with Spanish young learners of English. Language Learning and Technology, 11(1), 87-101.

BP8_2010032_One Minute Message

bookr from FROILAN NATIVIDAD on Vimeo.

BP7_2010032_Link to Abby's_Blog

Here is the link on my comment to Abby's blog.


Please note that the image is from Abby's original post.

BP6_2010032_Link to Thomas_Blog

Here is my comment to Thomas Blog on Google Earth.

BP5_2010032_Web2.0 Tool2_bookr

http://www.pimpampum.net/bookr/

I will use this tool for my students to create a book about animals found in the farm and animals found in the zoo. I can also make a book about colors with different objects. Another one is book about jobs, for example a picture of a doctor, nurse, fireman, barber, dentist, mailman, hairdresser and other community helpers. The books you can make are endless depending on your imagination and availability of pictures on flickr.

By making these books student will recognize that print carries a message. They can also recognize the difference between a letter and a printed word. They can identify different parts of a book (e.g., front and back covers). Students can hold a book right side up, turn pages one at a time, and imitate reading behavior by moving top to bottom or left to right. And hopefully, later on identify a sentence made up of a group of words.

READ-ALOUD EXPERIENCE

I can sit in a low child-size chair while my students can sit on the floor in a semi-circle. I will hold the book so the children can se the pages and read it from beginning to end, without stopping to comment or ask questions.

POST-READING ACTIVITY

After reading the book to children, let’s say about animals on the farm. They can go back to their tables and take their journal to create or draw the animals that they remember from the story or from their own experiences. They can try to write the names of the animals even if it is not on the right spelling. They can do inventive spelling that sounds almost the same with the right word.

REINFORCEMENT

I can start making a theme or thematic unit about animals in every center. Library center has to have books about animals. Listening center should have books on CD’s with farm animal themes like Old McDonald. Computer centre should have games that show animal making sounds. The science center should have toys of animal figures.

To succeed in today’s high-tech society, children will need to know how to make meaning not just from text but also from the vast amount of information conveyed through images (Smolin & Lawless 2003).

REFERENCE:

Smolin, L., & Lawless, K. (2003). Becoming literate in the technological age: New responsibilities and tools for teachers. Reading Teacher, 56(6), 570. Retrieved from Humanities International Complete database.

BP2_2010031 EduUses4Blogs

A blog is short of a weblog, which can be organized in any way, you want it. It is like a digital journal where you have the freedom to express yourself. I am not a big fan of blogging but if it for educational purposes, I’ll give it a try. In our culture blogging is like a river that is so noisy and it is shallow. The river that is quite runs deep.

There are four common types of Blogs that can be found in the elementary classrooms (1) Classroom News Blog, (2) Mirror Blogs), (3) Showcase Blogs, and (4) Literature Response Blogs (Zawilinski, 2009).

I am very familiar with the mirror blogs since this is the same as the one we are doing with our AR (Action Research). This is mostly about reflection or reflective thinking. The student can also make contributions on what he has learned on the lessons.

Classroom news blogs is just a school activity response to share news and information.

The showcase blogs are showcasing or promoting the students project maybe in art or science.

Literature response blogs are teacher initiated by providing prompts in a particular literature or topic.

Students should be encouraged to showcase their work and put their best effort. They should be able to ask questions and reviewed their classmate’s work.

Eventually blogging can become a framework for higher order thinking skills and reinforce their online reading comprehension.

Reference

Zawilinski, L. (2009). HOT Blogging: A Framework for Blogging to Promote Higher Order

Thinking. Reading Teacher, 62(8), 650-661. Retrieved from Humanities International Complete database.

The picture above was taken from my RebelX Canon camera during our field trip in 2007.

BP3_2010031 Web2.0Tool1 (Game Classroom)

http://www.go2web20.net/app/?a=GameClassroom


I love this site.

Kids will have fun spending time on this site. Game Classroom offers games that aim to both entertain and educate. You’ll find games for kids from kindergarten through the 6th grade covering subjects from grammar to math.

I can direct my pre-kindergarten students during center time for those who are in the computer center to visit this site and play the games about “Connect the letters”. This game will connect the letters to make a picture with this fun alphabet game. They can learn to recognize both letters and letter sounds.

For my kindergarten students since we have both in a split class (8 kinder and 15 pre-kindergarten, and 2 special education students), they can play ABC Order, Count Your Chickens, Mr. E’s Matching Game, Number Train, Rats, and TimeWorks.

There are other games that are classified on different grade level but there is no harm in trying to introduce it to them if they can do it.

If you want to be a member, you have to pay $39.95 per year to get unlimited access to the latest interactive learning tools, games and activities. There is a 10-day trial as well.

“The European Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA, 2006) has produced a report on games and education with support from the Department for Education and Skills; Unlimited Learning: computer and video games in the learning landscape suggests that computer games offer the potential for learners to enjoy fully personalized learning experiences and opportunities for personal growth. It proposes positioning games in the classroom on three grounds: (1) as motivational stimuli for learning; (2) as enabling social development and promoting basic skills; and (3) as means of removing the barriers to learning for hard-to-reach young people” (Williamson, 2007, pp. 99-100).

Other software like Clicker 5 can reinforce the learning of these students from games.

“The rapid rise in the breadth and depth of educational technology, including computer software, is offering early childhood education professionals new and powerful tools in teaching early literacy” (Parette, Hourcade, Dinelli, & Boeckmann, 2009, p.355).

References:

Parette, H., Hourcade, J., Dinelli, J., & Boeckmann, N. (2009). Using Clicker 5 to
Enhance Emergent Literacy in Young Learners. Early Childhood Education

Journal, 36(4), 355-363. doi:10.1007/s10643-008-0288-6.


The Game Classroom image is from http://www.go2web20.net/app/?a=GameClassroom


Williamson, B. (2007). Viewpoints: Teaching and learning with games? Learning, Media, &

Technology, 32(1), 99-105. doi:10.1080/17439880601141492.

BP4_2010031 RSS Feeds

Below are the RSS feeds that I find interesting with some educational value and will help me in my quest to land in a technology related job within our district. I am in a special education but at the same time I am also the tech guy in our school that provides all kinds of technology support to my co-teachers.

Note: When you click the feeds, sometimes it won’t show you the site but if you want to add it directly to your Adobe reader-just copy the feeds and paste it to “Add a subscription” button/box then click add.

http://academicearth.org/academicearth.rss

This site have thousands of video lectures from some of the top scholars, including videos and instructors from MIT, Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Berkeley, and Yale. There are lots of subjects from law, math, English, chemistry, engineering, history, and much more. Their mission is to find innovative ways to use technology to increase the ease of learning by bringing them in one place.

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feed/type/news/name/news.rss

This feed is full of information about various science topics. There is also a section for just kids. You can also read blogs.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/InformationIsBeautiful

This feed display statistics and other information visually. This will make it easier to connect abstract ideas in a practical sense.

http://www.phrases.org.uk/a-phrase-a-week/index.xml

This site will help you find the origins and histories of phrases.

http://thejournal.com/rss-feeds/all-articles.aspx

The site goal is to transform education through technology. I am also a subscriber to the magazine (hard copy). It’s free and any educator can sign up.

http://feeds.chron.com/houstonchronicle/bizsilverman

These are feeds about news that are related to technology or computing. Silverman is a local columnist in Houston Chronicle newspaper.

http://www.wordnik.com/word-of-the-day/feed

This feed provides word of the day. This site allows you to make word collection and share your list with others, or ad comments to other people’s list.

BP1_2010031_iGoogleScreenShot

This is my WGO Tab Screen Shot.

This is my Profile tab.

This is my FSO tab.

This is my AR/CBL tab.

This is my ETC tab.