Sunday, February 27, 2011

ETC_Final Project Post

Introducing Glogster to my students is one of the best things that I have done in my teaching career. They loved it and found it to be helpful and fun. I am using choice #1, the persuasive video to present my message.




 My RILS Plan



Target Audience - My target audience is my class of adult learners. I teach at a community college, so I will have somewhat of a mixed audience within that realm. Most of these students have a high school diploma and have probably graduated within the last 1-2 years. However, there are some with a GED and there are those non-traditional students who are coming back to school after many years of being out.

Materials - computers, power point notes, math textbook, math video lessons on fractions

Objectives -
  • The learner will be able to multiply two or more fractions and/or a fraction and a whole number.
  • The learner will be able to use a multiplication shortcut with fractions.
  • The learner will be able to reduce answers in  fraction problems to lowest terms.

Procedure - This will be directed towards my students.
  1.  Log in to Glogster through my home page, which is  http://gloggie1234.edu.glogster.com/dashboard/?
  2. To get the students familiar with Glogster, I will demonstrate how they will be able to navigate through the program by adding designs, images, text, and videos.
  3. I will advise the students to review their lessons on fractions, either by viewing their power point notes, by watching the video, or by reading their textbook.
  4. Students are now ready to start adding material to their poster. I will encourage them to add images to their posters, and also videos along with their text. They will also get to choose background color schemes and from different fonts.

Web 2.0 Tool - I chose to use Glogster as my Web 2.0 tool because I feel that it will give my students the chance to really get involved and to be creative.

Social Participation/Social Learning - The most important thing here is for the students to see how posters that were created by other people look like.  There are hundreds of finished products on the Glogster home page. This will give them an idea of the direction they need to go in. They will apply their own ideas and unique style to their posters. After all, their posters will reflect what they have learned and their own understanding about fractions.


Making Connections - Using Glogster will add a new twist to learning. Each student is essentially "in charge" of their own creation, so they have the freedom to add anything they want. At this point, we have already gone over the lesson of multiplying fractions.  They have textbooks, videos, and power point notes to refer to. Creating this poster will give them the opportunity to see just how much they remember. They will also discover if they really learned anything, or if they were just going through the motions.

Create/Produce - The end product will be an interactive poster on Glogster. As their teacher, I have an account and I have set up an account for each student. This information will remain on the website. All they have to do is to log in and view their posters, and also the posters of their fellow classmates.

Reflection - I would like for each student to post their ideas and their thoughts about this entire process to a blog site that I will create. I also think it will be neat for them to make a video giving their reflections. Doing both will be a good idea.

Assessment - The Glogster poster can serve as an assessment tool. Evaluating each poster will also give me an idea as to how much each student really understands. I will also use That Quiz, which is an online Web 2.0 tool designed specifically for the creation of tests. I can make the tests online (pre/post), give each student the URL, and let them log in and take the tests. With my own account, I will be able to track each quiz and score.




Saturday, February 19, 2011

PE5_Glogster

This is what I have created so far for my lesson on multiplying fractions:


PE4_Glogster

I am choosing to use Glogster for my RILS Plan and for my CBR project.  Glogster is an interactive poster board that I feel my students will really enjoy. Although I teach at the post-secondary level, I feel this will be a useful tool. I teach a developmental basic math course and most of my students have missed out on the "fun" of learning. I am hoping to restore that "fun" and I want them to feel comfortable with numbers. Most of them enter my classroom with a fear or a dread for math. By using Glogster, they will be able to see just how fun math can be.




Using Glogster will give my students the chance to apply the knowledge that they've learned, plus it will allow me as their teacher to gauge their understanding. Glogster will also empower them in a way that allows them to be creative and to explore different things. In essence, they will be spilling all of their knowledge out onto the poster board for all to see. They may even surprise themselves!!! 


 


Sunday, February 13, 2011

BP7_Glogtser Commercial

Here is my one minute video on Glogster.

BP6_Link to Pam's site

Follow this link to my comments on Pam's site

BP5_Link to Jen's site

Follow this link to my comments on Jen's blog:

I think that wordle is a neat 2.0 tool that I can and will use in my classroom

BP4_ThatQuiz

I have found a Web 2.o tool called ThatQuiz for teachers that can be used as an assessment tool for my adult math students. I will be using this site for my CBR project, since I am a math teacher, and it will allow me to give a pre-test, as well as a post-test to my students. I can design quizzes or pre-tests on any math topic that I choose in order to test their knowledge. I can also create post-tests that will gauge how much they have learned. I like ThatQuiz since my Basic Math class is computer-based, so my students will be able to take both tests on the computer.  Students receive their grade immediately, upon completion of a test and teachers are able to manage and edit all grades, if needed.

This is the home page and it shows all of the different math topics that can be chosen and three other subjects:


To get started, teachers can sign up for a free account:

This screen allows me to give my class a name and to list all of my students. I can add more names if I need to by clicking the "Add More" button; it adds more names one at a time.  I can also save this screen.

This is a test that I made on fraction identification.  I am testing my students to see if they can identify these fractions on a number line. 


Each test is assigned a URL and students are able to click on their name after they log in and begin the exam.


This is how each question will appear:



I think that this will be good for my students. It is so creative and quite different from the traditional paper and pencil tests.  I think they will have fun with this.  Fractions is one of their weak points, so I am hoping that this will help them to strengthen their math skills. Of course, I will be testing on other math topics.

                                                                                                  

PE3_iMovie

I ended the second blog with adding a theme and a background. Now I would like to add audio by doing a voice-over and I will also be extending the length of my slides.


To extend the length of any slide, I must select the slide, double-click, and manually type in the length of time that I need.  The box below shows that I have extended the selected slide to 10s.




To add audio (voice-over), I simply select the slide and click on the microphone icon.







Now, for the finished product.






PE2_iMovie

In my last blog, I was uploading pictures to the project window. Next I want to add a theme and I will choose that from the Title screen

Once I choose a theme and drag it in front of my first photo, a background menu pops up




I am allowed to choose font type and font size for my theme






The small blue boxes above my theme slides indicate that I have added text.






On my next blog, I will complete my movie.

PE1_iMovie

In this first blog, I began watching tutorial videos about iMovie '09 on Lynda.com. After watching the first three introductory videos, I recognized some of the features, because I have used them before in previous classes. However, I am no expert, so I gladly welcome the tutorials. When I used iMovie in the past, I had to figure out a lot of things for myself and it was no fun. So here goes.....


To begin creating a movie, you must open iMovie and select New Project from the File Menu



Next, a drop down menu appears allowing me to name my new project, choose the aspect ratio, and choose a theme.






I will choose the standard ratio and start making my movie. First I will choose some pictures that I had in my camera from geometry class. I will add those to my project window.





Monday, February 7, 2011

BP2_Glogster

I have chosen to use a Web 2.0 tool called Glogster.  Glogster is an interactive poster that students can use to post their ideas, videos, podcasts, or just about anything creative they want. I will be using it as an aid in helping me to present or to lecture new topics to my basic math class. For example, instead of showing power point slides on an overhead projector, I can print the slides out, hand them to the students, and allow them to create a lesson using Gloster.

Posters on various math topics using Glogster



In order to get started with Glogster, a teacher must register for his/her own account.  This allows them to create posters as well as monitor student activity.






Friday, February 4, 2011

BP1_Welcome to my blog post

Hello fellow bloggers and welcome to my site. I am new to blogging, but I think I like it. We are all going to learn a lot about one another, and hopefully, we will connect in a positive way. I started Full Sail to learn more about technology. I didn't know what I was in for, and at times, I have felt like quitting. At this point, I am beginning to feel that I am grasping the whole CBR project and what it is intended to do. I know that after month 12, I am going to be an excellent teacher!!!