BP14_20091103_ZacBrowser

Introducing Zac Browser : A web 2.0 tool for children with developmental disorders.

BP13_110903_Peer Posting

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2009

BP#13_2009103_web20_tool_Raylit

Raylit is an educational site that addressed the needs of student. There are cartoons that host the educational sessions which are composed of fun learning games, videos, music and stories-things kids love. They talk about interesting things and guide kids through the lessons and games, making learning fun and effective. This site is good for kids from 3-7. What I like about this site is that you can type in your student's name to register them. Once you have done that the cartoons that guides the students through the lessons will call them by name. This makes the game personal for the kids.

Each session has 5-6 educational items. The items I had when I signed up under my daughter's name was, sequencing, matching the professional with the correct tool, learning numbers and counting, science knowledge clips and a sing along called Mr. Son, Mr Golden Son. The child's age will give you different educational items.

I plan on using this site with my second graders. I have ELL students and students that are working towards level that can really benefit from this site. It is hard for teachers to go back and teach skills that was suppose to be taught in kindergarten and first grade. This site will supplement to help fill the gaps in education.

As a teacher, I like the fact that I can send a text message to my students that will be spoken by the cartoon characters. I can click on their names to update their profile and settings. I can also view their current curricula and track their progress.

This site is not free, but I believe it is beneficial, therefore I plan to propose this site to administration at my school. I will try the trial version, track my student's progress, and show the data to my principal so that he can see how useful Raylit is.

picture from www.raylit.com

BP12_110903_Peer Posting

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2009

BL15_2009113_Researching and Blogging about Web 2.0 tools

I had a great time looking at everyone's sites but was really excited at some new Web 2.0 sites I found.  You will need to check this site out because it has numerous creative aspects to use in your classroom.  I can not wait to use this for a lesson next week. I will create it this weekend to help me teach my students. This site is called "Proprofs" - click on the link so that you can explore http://www.proprofs.com/ I zeroed in on the flashcard part of this site so that I can teach Web 2.0 vocabulary to my students. http://www.proprofs.com/flashcards  

Many sites are blocked at our school but I want to introduce my students to the vocabulary so they can check things out at home. My sixth grade students love flashcards that they can play with on their computer screen and work at their own pace. Since we do not have programs at school the students can use I will be able to type in my own definitions and terminology to customize for my classroom usage.  There are also different flashcards that are premade by others in many different subjects to choose from. By picking a premade set you can customize them to fit your class. This site also has a way to create and customize quizzes as well.  The quiz section allows you to shuffle your quiz, add images to your quizzes and also have two-way feedback. ProProfs provides free knowledge sharing tools and free online education. It also has blogs, wikis and a webschool.  Let me know what you think!

BP11_110903_Peer Posting

Sunday, November 8, 2009

BP #6 20091105_ Research Web2.0 tools - 1

Castroller.com is a podcast cite that one could create their own channel. Your channel could be your class discussions that your students would have the ablility to review for test material, if the student was out, they could listen to the podcast to gleen the information discussed in class that day. Cast Roller's settings allow you to limit who has access or ablility to set permissions.

I could see this being used with Art History lessons or lessons that students are working in groups with the class textbook.

BP10_110903_Glogster

Glogster is a nice web 2.0 tool for many different classes. You create an account then have the freedom to make a virtual poster. It can contain video, audio, images, and text. Glogster has clip art you can use or you can upload your own images. This tool has many different uses. One use of it would be in a creative writing class. Students could write a book or short story, then create a poster to advertise for the book. Another idea is using this program to create social awareness posters or posters for activities that are coming up. Also, it could be used to create visual study guides. If a student has to learn different characters from a book, have them create a poster about each character so they have a visual to think about and make synonymous with that character. I am not going to bore you and go on about ALL the ways you can go use this program. You can click on the link and go explore. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. :)

Below is a snapshot of my glogster. Click here to see the live version.

Glogster: www.glogster.com

BP9_110902_Skype

Here is a link to my Skype Podcast. Enjoy.

BP8_110902_Vizzle

Vizzle is a nice tool for younger students or students with learning disabilities. With vizzle, you download the program onto the computer then log in. It has a free trial but if you would like to use it long term, you do have to pay for it. You can create lessons in any of the following four types: matching, a game/quiz, a book, or printable worksheet. There are images included in the program or you can add your own. Also, there are lessons and tools included if you do not want to make your own. Let's use a hypothetical situation to explain how this program could be useful in a classroom. You have 20 students in your class of first graders and four computers at the computer center. During centers, on the computers you pull up vizzle and have a playlist of activities for the students to do. The playlist consist of a matching game and a quiz game. The students will go at their own pace but the computer helps guide them in the activities. With the matching game, if they get the answer wrong it takes it away or puts an X and if they get it right, it cheers them on. After completing the game, it has a fireworks animation for the students. They do the same thing with the game/quiz which automatically helps them with counting because they have to count their moves. The whole time the students are learning the pictures with the words and reading. You can make it harder or easier and include a lot of variety with the lessons so you can use it the whole year. Also, with the printable worksheets, for students who don't communicate well, you can print out the picture squares and allow them to use those for communication. For example, have a pictures of the different things on the lunch menu then at lunch time have them pick the card that shows what they would like for lunch.

Below is a picture of the game format.

Vizzle: http://www.monarchteachtech.com/vizzle