Analyzing Student Data in Google Sheets

I had a hard time with both google spreadsheets and excel, but that was to be expected. I feel I still need to learn more about it before I am able to confidently use it in my classroom. I do see the benefit when assessing students progress. Also I can see if there are dips as a class where more instruction may be needed. I can use the data to pair students up as well. In my chart I can see the students that are progressing at a steady pace and those that are more sporadic.

Multimedia Project-Windows Movie Maker

Check out my mini tutorial.

Record your screencast online

Movie Maker in the Classroom

For my multimedia project I chose to learn about windows movie maker. This tool can have many uses in the classroom. Students can dress up and role play to make a lesson more fun. It can be captured in video so that it can be paused and played back at the teacher's convenience to emphasize certain points. The video can also be shared with absent students and other classrooms or groups of students to collaborate. I decided I might want to use it with my kindergarten class on a nature walk. I would have the students or myself record interesting things we saw during our walk. Afterwords, back in the classroom, we would have a discussion about the things we saw. For example, in my video, there are clips of animals. This could be a good intro to learning about squirrels or ducks and seasons, etc. Take a look...

Skype Experience

I have never used skype before, and had it not been for this class, I probably would never use it. It sounds pretty cool, and I was suprised to find a couple of friends and relatives. I look forward to skyping with them in the future, but for now I didn't get the opportunity to skype with them. I have at least made the first step in creating an account and understand its purpose. This would be a useful tool to use with parents who may be homebound, however, they would need to have internet access. In the classroom it would be useful to collaborate with other classes and learn what other kids are doing around the world.

Web 2.0 Presentation-Dropbox

My Favorite Web2.0 Tools

Web 2.0 is a web based storage area for applications and services. These applications and services live in the floating world of the web. One cool thing is they are not computer specific; they can be accessed from wherever and whenever! The storage tools are a great resource for educators, because they gives us a convenient place to store files without worrying about having our computer or flash drive all the time. I can see using this tool when working outside the home. For example, if I'm out of town but still need to work on documents, I can log into my web2.o tool of choice and get my work done.

One of the specific tools I explored is Scribblar.com. Scribblar is an interactive real-time multi user white board which can be used for training, tutoring, and brainstorming. Scribblar allows you to text chat and upload and share images. It also has live audio and tons of tools such as pencil drawing and highlighting. This would be a good tool to use with students who need to be absent from class for an extended period of time. If a student was out sick for a week with H1N1 and was having trouble understanding assignments, you could go to Scribblar and help the student work through the assignment. The student would be able to point out the areas they are struggling with. Parents could observe and continue to help the student at home.

I looked over a few other tools and some, I have to be honest, will need more exploring for me to better understand them. Skype seems to be pretty cool. Skype allows you to communicate with anyone in the world by allowing you to make free video calls. I can see using this tool during a unit that has to do with learning about other cultures or countries. We can connect with family members of students in class and learn about them on a more personal level.

Yodio - OTEN