Early morning postings with Bekah Wadkins.... Grant Writing

Whenever someone mentions the word grant I have always gotten excited and freaked out at the same time.  Can one truly have 2 very opposite emotions at the same time?  Of course they can.  The idea of free stuff for your classroom makes you jump for joy, while the idea of writing a several page grant makes you stop in your tracks and run away.  I have had minimal success with writing grants but I'm hoping with the help of the resources given to us, from our lovely professor, I will have the most kicking technologically advanced classroom in the district.

One website that I have just learned to use was donorschoose.org.  With this website you tell a bit about your classroom, explain why you want what you want, and then go "shopping" for materials.  Once everything is done you submit it for review.  If you did not fill out a portion correctly they will send it back to you with notes as to what you fix.  Once everything checks out your project will be posted for people to go donate to.  This way several people can donate a little bit and fund your project. 

Another site that I looked at is adoptaclassroom.org  This site is very similar to donorschoose.org.  The only difference is that it doesn't have fees that have to be paid out of the donors donated amount.  Donors add money to your account and you go shopping with it.  It seems easy and straight forward.

My school district has an OPET grant which is for $500.  I was able to use this grant to obtain gaming headsets for my classroom.  I use these headsets, they include high quality microphones, to create digital story books.  It was a very simple grant to write and the kids really benefited from it.

The vast amounts of money out there is amazing.  It is all about finding those resources and going out there and getting "dirty."  Good luck to all you grant finders!!

Collaborative Technologies

Good evening and welcome to late night postings with Bekah Wadkins.  Maybe I should change this to good afternoon and welcome to nap time postings with Bekah Wadkins.  Vacation is going fabulous! (It’s 75 degrees in good ole Michigan!!)  But I decided to pull myself away from the deck, put the baby down for a nap, and write down my thoughts on using collaborative technology in the classroom. 

The biggest concern I have with using collaborative technology in the 4^th and 5^th grade classroom is that my students are under 13 and most of them do not legally have an email address.  Many parents are also apprehensive about letting their children online to work on projects and do email.  I think I am going to see if my parents will let their child use the parent’s personal email address for projects.  This way parents can monitor what students are doing and stay in the know. 

I really like the ePals website that was introduced to us in this week’s lessons.  The idea that my students could talk with another student around their age in another state or even country is amazing.  No more paying for postage and hoping that your letter arrives on time.  The idea of students being able to talk about their state and compare it to a student who lives in another state is amazing. As they learn about each other’s state they also learn more about their own state.  The possibilities really are endless, and the best part is that ePals is a free service!! There is no cost! 

I am very excited to try this with my classroom.  In 5^th grade one of the standards is learning about American History.  I want to use ePals to connect with a classroom in the New England states and have them share pictures and stories from their local town and stories about what it was like in their town throughout history.  My students will learn about the history of that town while teaching someone in another town about the history of our small town.  Everyone learns this way.

Late Night Postings With Bekah--- Multimedia Presentations

Good evening and welcome to late night postings with Bekah Wadkins.  Wouldn’t you know I was able to get this done early two weeks in a row! Now let’s not get to excited folks, I go on vacation next week so it might be a last minute posting then.  But let’s enjoy this right now!

When I decide to incorporate Multimedia technology within my classroom there are several items to consider.

These include, but are not limited to:

Are the students mature enough to handle using the technology?

Will it help or hinder the learning process

 Do I know enough about the technology to be able to help the students with their projects?

Is there enough time to complete the project?

If a set of students cannot handle using computers to create projects, we need to start conditioning them so that they can use this technology.  We need to use it so often that it is no longer a toy but a useful tool for learning.

Jamshed N. Lam said, “Technology should enhance learning. There is no value in just having access to it but more important how it is used.” (http://www.teach-nology.com/tutorials/techinclass/) A computer that is sitting in the back of the room for AR tests and that is it is not as beneficial as a computer that is integrated into almost every aspect of the day.  A computer can’t be the sole means of learning the material either.  It has to help improve the learning.  If a child has more difficulty with making the program work than they do with actually showing what they have learned it is not worth it.   We need to teach our students how to effectively use technology to help make the work easier, not more difficult and time consuming.

The most disappointing thing to both students and teachers are projects that are started and cannot be finished because of breaks or other circumstances.  It is always important to make sure and allot enough time to start and finish a project.

The great thing about many computers is that they come already equipped to create multimedia presentations.  If a computer does not have a preloaded program, there are several online that are free to download.  If one wants to add voice recordings they would need a microphone.  These are as little as $10 at local stores such as Wal-Mart.

The major hurtle to jump when incorporating multimedia presentations in the classroom is the teacher learning how to use the program so that they can adequately show students how to use the program and help them create the projects that they want.

I’m including my video of Saturn that I made for this assignment.  I would like to use something similar with my students for them to present the knowledge they learned to their classmates.  They could then take their presentations and email them to grandparents, friends, and even e-pals across the globe.  This video is just a short sample I would show my students so they had an idea of what I was looking for in their projects.  I'm totally ok with having a little humor in with a presentation as long as it sticks mostly to facts, and clarifies anything that is to be considered a joke. 

Late Night Postings with Bekah Wadkins.... Podcasting the possibilities

Good afternoon and welcome to late night postings with Bekah Wadkins.  Wouldn't you know this week I'm on a ball and didn't wait until the last second!! I'm even early this week!  (This would have nothing to do with the vacation my family is about to take I'm sure!)

With the help of our FANTASTIC professor I was able to find a pod series about 1 minute solutions.  http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/one-minute-tips-ipad-podcast/id366044925  So far they have only put out 3 different tips, but I'm hoping that after I email them they will start making some more.  They have talked about locking the screen with longer passwords and setting a locked image that identifies who to give the iPad back to.  What a great tip especially for in a classroom.  If little Susie forgets the class iPad in the library, the librarian will then know where to return it to.  Or you can have it say what iPad number it is if there is more than one.  No more guessing who used which iPad last they are electronically labeled!  Though in our school I will probably be the first one to have one but hopefully someday our entire school will have them.  I hope I can get one soon.

The potential of podcasts are endless.  I'm going to experiment with making podcasts for subs when I have to be gone.  This way they can pause and answer questions and I can still teach the math lesson.   This way I know the students learned the correct information and in a way that I know works.  Podcasts are also great for teaching parents some of the new math algorithms.  For our assignment I created one that taught parents how to do lattice multiplication.  I will attach it so you can see and share if you would like!  

 Podcasts are also a great way to give lessons to students who are going to be out of town.  I know next year I have a couple of students that always go on vacation in the off season, which means during school.  I can create podcasts for them to watch while they are gone so that when they get back to school they are right on target with the rest of the class.    

The most fantastic thing about creating podcasts is that most computers come with everything you need already on them.  The only thing you might have to purchase is a microphone.  I  am blessed to have been granted a grant that bought 14 gaming headsets so my students could make digital story books.  This year I am going to have my students creating podcasts on how to play the many different math games in our Everyday Math series.    I would need to train my students on how to use the SmartRecorder from Smartboard or windows movie maker.  I've had tons of success with windows movie maker, but I'm really excited about using the Smart Recorder that comes with the Smart Notebook software. 

Some dilemmas that a teacher might come across are students that have never messed with technology or are severely handicapped.  With the correct pairing of partners, this obstacle can be easily overcome.  Technology is the great equalizer among humans. 

Check out MCP Actions website!

<center><a href="http://www.mcpactions.com/%22%3E%3Cimg src="http://tinyurl.com/mcpbnr%22/%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/center>

Check this out!!  They have some amazing photoshop actions and they are giving away an iPad2!!

Late Night Postings with Bekah Wadkins.... Handheld Technologies

Good evening and welcome to this weeks late night postings with Bekah Wadkins.  I am Bekah and I will be here t o entertain you for a bit.

Two handheld technologies that I read about this week are iPads, clickers, and GPS.  I feel it is unfair to write about clickers as one of my handled technologies since I currently use them in my classroom.  I am going to write about them anyway and include a third technology that I looked at to keep it fair. J

iPads…. WOW! I want a class set of these bad boys!  Not only do they have apps for everything, they can be used with multiple people.  It responds to multiple touches of the screen at once!  I was blessed with the opportunity to play with an iPad this weekend.  Talk about having iPad fever before I had this experience! It is even worse now!  There are apps for spelling, multiplication, reading, science, EVERYTHING! Literally!  And if there isn't an app for it you can email in and someone will make an app that is what you are looking for.  You seriously can't get any cooler than  that!  I could use it to enhance so many different things within my classroom.  I'm not sure where to even start it would be so useful.  The bare basic would be the ereader that reads the textbook to my students that are reading below level, an ebook that would motivate my students that don't enjoy reading, and it could give quick drills for multiplication.  Though seriously this is just the tip of the iceberg people! So if you find an iPad for cheap let me know would you?! My students would love you forever!

Clickers…  Here is where I feel I am cheating but I want to share this information with you.  I'm putting it in the middle so that you are more likely to read it!  I have the Promethean clickers.  I love them and HATE the promethean flipchart software. Though I must admit that promethean.com has some amazing tutorials and awesome downloads.  I'm just biased from being used to smartnotebook.  So here is what I do… I create my lessons in smartnotebook and then use the express poll to use clickers with my smartnotebook.  I have learned to integrate the two different programs.  The best part of using clickers is the immediate feedback that is so important to students when they are learning.  They know right away if they got an answer wrong, and I know right away to correct them.  There is no more waiting for a week to get an assignment back and then trying to remember what we talked about that week before.  Clickers also help save the environment, no more need for 24 copies of that workbook page! Can I hear a cheer from the tree huggers in the room?  You can also set up clickers to do self paced tests and insert words into venn diagrams.  There are several possibilities with this technology as well. 

GPS….  Who would have thought about using GPS for a scavenger hunt around the school?!  As students come to the designated spot it shows a picture, starts dialog, sends them to a webpage.  One article talked about a bison hunt that students did around their school.  What a fantastic way to learn geography!  Another fun project would be for students to make maps of the school and then program the GPS so their peers could go on a scavenger hunt.  It could be for make believe resources, or for real resources within the building.   Talk about taking Oregon Trail to a whole new level!! Complete with crossing rivers! 

Research….research….research….. Applying the research to students current needs can be very difficult. 

One of the problems can be class size.  Research has shown that students, especially at the elementary level, need as much one on one time as possible.  The more students you have in your class the harder it is to get to each and every student.  With blogs, chat rooms, and online learning it is making it increasingly less difficult to get to each student within your classroom. 

Reaching each of the multiple intelligences is also another problem that is encountered.  Technology has helped us to reach each of these different intelligences, whether it is using garage band to create songs about the curriculum or the ereader to read the passage to the slow reader.  Technology definitely enhances teaching when used correctly. 

Money, money, mon-ey

The problem is that technology is expensive…. even for educators who can often get a discount.  The average iPad 1 (2 is out now) is going for around $500 (Sam's Club).  For the new iPad 2 you are going to spend at least $800.   I don't know about you, but I don't have an extra $500 laying around.  GPS ranges in cost from $100 (Sam's Club) and up depending on what you want and how accurate you want.  There are some that are accurate within an 8 block radius, this probably is not accurate enough to be using on the small scale of your classroom or even your block.  The bonus is that this technology will last.  Even though you might spend this much money on an iPad it would definitely work for several years, even if new  versions have come out Mac is good about supporting its previous products for several years after it is no longer manufactured.

Late Night Postings with Bekah Wadkins on Diverse learners...

Good evening and welcome to another late night posting with Bekah Wadkins.  The question to ponder tonight is what are we doing with our diverse learners?  There are several things we will be going over, so sit tight and enjoy the reading. J

                When I look at my classroom I know that each and every one of my students is a diverse learner.  Now this does not necessarily mean that they all have different learning styles, just that each of them is bringing their own personal experiences and knowledge to the table.  My classroom is one that is mostly Caucasian, with a dabbling of African Americans and Hispanics.  The major difference in my room is not that of race but of social economic status.  Who are the rich kids and who are the ones that are on welfare? This is what I deal with in my classroom.  So instead of only teaching about the different cultures I also teach about economic statuses.  I teach my students about a local eye doctor that grew up with a huge family and very little money to go around.  He is now very wealthy and lives in our town.  It is all about teaching my students perseverance.  Anyone can achieve anything that they put their mind too. 

                Now I shouldn't say that there are not diversities with each learning style, because there are.  I have students that read more than two levels below grade level. With these students when they are given a reading assignment, I often let them listen to the audio version online.  This way I can measure what they are learning and not just that they cannot read the science text book.  With book projects students are able to choose how they want to present their book.  These projects include digital story books, traditional book reports, creating a game based on their story, and creating a movie poster.  Whenever possible, I try to reach as many of the different learning styles as possible. 

I absolutely love this quote from Teacher Vision.com  "Teaching learning disabled youngsters will present you with some unique and distinctive challenges. Not only will these students demand more of your time and patience; so, too, will they require specialized instructional strategies in a structured environment that supports and enhances their learning potential. It is important to remember that learning disabled students are not students who are incapacitated or unable to learn; rather, they need differentiated instruction tailored to their distinctive learning abilities."
(Read more on TeacherVision: http://www.teachervision.fen.com/special-education/new-teacher/48460.html#ixzz1OR0SkhfH )

                As an educator I have to remember to have patience and understanding so that ALL of my students have a chance to learn.  It is common practice in my room for my students to stand.  If a student is a wiggler, I put a bungee cord on their chair so that they can bounce their feet without disrupting others.  If they feel like they need to stand, they stand.  I am not a teacher that forces my students to sit in their seat all day.  At least every 45 minutes, often sooner, I have my students stand and do movement activities.  This could be as simple as clapping their multiplication facts with a partner, or instead of raising their hand to answer they have to do jumping jacks. 

                 Other than physical duration, students often have other issues to battle with.  The speech pathologist at our school used school funds to buy an iPod touch for one of the autistic students.  With the app on the iPod he is able to create sentences that are then read out loud to whomever he is talking to.  He clicks on the different categories and puts in the words that he needs.  With the iPod he was able to order exactly what he wanted from McDonalds without any help from anyone.  It was truly inspirational to see him be self sufficient and able to communicate.   The really awesome part of using an iPod is that it is a normal everyday tool.  It isn't some funny machine that is carried around that no one recognizes.  He feels normal with it. 

                When I was student teaching I had to wear a microphone so that one of the hearing impaired students would be able to hear me from across the room.  I felt like Brittney Spears wearing a head microphone and giving my presentations to the class.  By talking with my students about how I felt awesome to help out, it was never an issue with the other students that this one particular student was slightly different.

                For my students that have such huge spelling issues that they can't even understand what they have just written, I incorporate more typing skills.  If I can teach them to get close to the correct spelling of a word, than they can usually right click and find the correct word on the list in Microsoft Word.  Though this takes time because of the lack of typing skills at fourth grade, by the end of the year they are more proficient than they were, and by high school they are great.

                Though I generally like to summarize different quotes this one is truly inspirational, so bare with me while you read it.

In addition to openness, teachers must know the learning patterns of the students in their class. Teachers must understand the learning patterns of the students who grew up in a culture other than their own. Israeli children, for example, are taught to readily criticize an instructor who they feel is saying something that is incorrect while Vietnamese children will not say a word during class unless called upon to regurgitate memorized material (Jones 10). Students from Israel differ greatly from students from Vietnam, which may create a culture clash in the classroom. Vietnamese students will think the Israeli students are rude, brash, unnerving, and extremely obnoxious. In fact, the teacher may find that they feel the same way about the overly critical Israeli students. However, if the teacher knows that Israeli students tend to criticize their professors and is open to the fact that they do this because it is socially encouraged and acceptable in the Israeli school system, than the teacher can calmly explain to the students that while critical thinking is wonderful it is not okay to openly criticize the teacher in front of the entire class on a consistent basis. Therefore, readjusting the participation structure of the classroom in a calm and professional manner. (Building Blocks: The First Steps of Creating a Multicultural Classroom, Larri Fish. www.edchange.org)

                This brings to point that we need to consider where each child comes from in their own life.  The culture at home often spills over into the classroom.  Teaching students an appropriate way to discuss disagreements is very important.  This quote just reiterates that. 

                Technology for my building has very limited budgets.  If I were to get a few iPod touches to use in my classroom it would cost around $200 per iPod touch. Ideally I would like to have iPads for my classroom.  These run around $500 for the first generation that came out.  I already have clickers, a smartboard, and an airliner within my classroom. 

Late Night Postings with Bekah Wadkins Unit 1

My name is Bekah Wadkins and I teach in a small town south of Kansas City.  The technical skills that I possess are many.  I build computers as a hobby and enjoy fiddling around on our old computers.  There isn't much I don't know how to do.  My husband is currently working on his Bachelor’s in Network Administration.  Between the two of us we are a very “techie” family.  Technology has always been a passion of mine.  When I finished my degree through Emporia State I knew that I wanted to get a Master’s Degree in technology.  What better way to reach my students than through a medium that they are already familiar with.

I currently am very blessed with a fairly digital classroom.  I teach using my smartboard, airliner, and projector every day.  We have four student computers that are new but run like a tortoise.  If we could get the student computers to access the network quickly and effectively I would use this as a resource more often.  Right now it takes students a minimum of 10 minutes just to get the computers completely logged on so they can take an AR (accelerated reader) test.  This does not include loading browsers and videos.  It is very frustrating to have that technology sitting there but impractical to use it.

I also use Promethean clickers in my room.  There are 4 sets in the building.  I tend to monopolize the use of 1 set.  I would rather that it got used than sit unused in the computer lab.  The clickers that we have in our classroom are fantastic.  They give the students the option to send in a multiple choice answer, true false, fill in the blank, or short answer.  The amount of paper I save by projecting a science page on the smartboard and having students answer the questions right there is amazing!  Not only am I going green, I can answer student questions right there when it happens.  If over half of the class gets the wrong answer I can discuss it with them right then and there.  

My current dream is to have a class set of iPads for my classroom.  Our new reading series has an app for iPad.  I would settle for just 3 iPads.  The many different uses in the classroom make it a worthy investment.   I want my students to be hands on learners.  Whether it is making digital stories or using an ipad/ipod touch I want to work with them in the technology enhanced environment that they are used to.

Bekah Wadkins’ Top 3 Elements of a 21^st Century Classroom

3.  Understanding-  If a teacher does not know how to effectively use technology in his/her classroom  than it is a waste of time.  If the students are not taught how to effectively use the technology it is a waste of their time. 

2. Resources- As the video we watched from pbs http://www.pbs.org/teachers/digitallearners/ stated, If we only have limited technology that can only be used a little bit at a time it becomes a distraction rather than a facilitator of learning. If I only have 1 laptop that only gets pulled out once a month, students are not going to use it to their full potential.  Like every new “toy” we get we have to play with it a bit before we get serious.  How many of us check Facebook at least twice before getting serious about doing our homework?  I know I’m guilty.  If I did not have a chance to play a bit before getting serious I would be on Facebook all of the time instead of doing my homework.  Students are the same way.

1. Willingness to fail- try try again.  As one of our previous aides would say “Click it Tori can fix it!”  Tori was our school tech aide.  She could fix almost anything.  Once people learned that it’s ok to fail and mess things up people began using more and more technology.  Almost everything can be recovered.  That’s why Mrs. Servatuis used to say “Save in 3s ladies and gents, save in 3s.”  Always back up what is important to you so that if you accidently delete something or crash your computer it is no be deal. 

The kind of learning environment that I want to create for my students is a safe one; one where students are not afraid to try new things and fail.  Once a student becomes comfortable with not understanding a concept that is when they can truly discover how a concept works.  I can give a child a fish and feed him for a day, but to teach that child how to fish and I have fed him for a lifetime.  The same goes with technology and learning.  I can spoon feed the information to my students, but they will forget it shortly after the unit test. 

Have my students discover the answer and they will remember it for a life time.  Case in point: when I was in the fourth grade I had to make a new product that would solve a problem that is common for students. I will never forget the SprayClean can that I made.  One sprits of this and your entire bedroom would be organized and clean.  It was a fun project that I will always remember.  It works for students today too.  If they learn hands on and create something to go along with what they are learning they will remember it.

Some of the resources that I have to help me create this environment are a supportive staff, and teaching my students early on that it is ok to not know the answer.  Once your class feels comfortable with each other and learns that it is ok to admit that you don’t know, the tension seems to evaporate.  As Miss Frizzle always says students are ready to “take chances, make mistakes, and get messy.”   In all seriousness, once students feel comfortable with you as a teacher and you feel comfortable being yourself with them, then learning can truly take place.  And believe it or not, it can be fun!