Week 7

My Favorite Websites/Tech Tools

There are so many technology tools available to use in the classroom today. I am a 7^th and 8^th counselor. Here is my "must have" list.

I find myself using iPads in my Guidance Counselor classroom fairly regularly. They certainly make a great addition to my counseling programs. So here's my list of apps. Most of these apps are free.

·         Scribble Press (free): Story creating app that students really enjoy! The stories are pre-made and the students can fill in the blanks with their info. Can be used as a getting to know you activity in both individual and group settings (in a group setting this would be great to use for those of you that have school sets of iPod touches).

·         Puppet Pals HD (free): My students LOVE this app, another story creation app where students can take pictures of them from the iPad camera roll and insert themselves into a story.

·         Dragon Dictation (free): I use the app to record notes and reminders for myself. Just speak and dragon will transfer your voice into written text. You can edit, save & email those notes.

·         TeacherPal (free): This is great to organize groups and keep track of who's in which group.

I use an online Survey (www.freeonlinesurvey.com) to do my end of the year staff evaluation of my program. The staff survey save so much time, tabulating the data and making the charts.

SchoolCounselor Resources.com This site includes printable forms for use in classroom observation, awards, certificates, documentation logs and other similar forms. This website has a variety of interesting PowerPoint presentations for use in the elementary guidance setting.  Some examples of useful presentations include:  Behavior Management,  Study Skills, and Character Ed.

I use my digital camera to take pictures of my students for the bulletin board and my door. Students love having their picture displayed.

Our county use Kuder career assessment. It is a fun and informative method of personal career exploration. Each assessment takes approximately 15 to 20 minutes to complete.

famemaine.com “Get a Life” encourages conversation among students regarding career goals and aspirations, while emphasizing the importance of making the right choices in order to have as many options in life as possible.

“STOP THAT BULLY!” This web site ( zunal.com) research the topic of bullying and various types of bullying that are common for school students. Through research students will work together to better understand the subject as well as complete a project focused on bullying prevention.

The state of Alabama use Inow program to maintain students’ record, demographic, contact info, schedules, and activity logs.

I order all of my printing supplies from Vistaprint. com. Often the items are free specials (business cards, postcards, posters) you just pay for shipping.

Dropbox- Online storage works just like a flash drive without the small flash! Documents, pictures, video and music can be stored and shared online with others

Week 7

Before taking UWA’s ED 505- Technology and Education, I had no experience with Twitter. It was required for all ED 505 students to create and maintain a Twitter account for this class.  I have learned twitter is a great way to get a glimpse of what people are talking about around you.  This was totally an experience for me. I have been able to request assistance from my classmates, as well support. I needed support and encouragement in this class because there were times it was hard to find.

I really didn’t know what to expect from a Twitter. I did not understand it; I did not

understand the language; but overall, I am pleased that I was required to complete this

assignment because I now have a bit more understanding about it. I knew you  followed

 people and read their tweets, but I did not really understand what you tweeted about. By

assigned this assignment of following educators or businesses and/or organizations that are

 affiliated with education, it made clear to me on the positive use of Twitter.

I followed organizations pertaining to my field of counseling and several educators that were recommended on a website our professor gave us, and a few friends and classmates. I started figuring out what people tweeted about! I saw articles and videos that all these people had found that they wanted to share. I still was not sure about what a retweeted and hashtag.  Actually, my granddaughter has taught me a lot about Twitter since the beginning of this course, but I still have much more to learn.

 
I plan to continue to follow educators on Twitter for my own professional development. I have found many resources and interesting articles that I feel can help me improve my professional career. There is a-lot of interesting information to gain and share.  I feel that I have had a positive experience with Twitter. I am extremely happy that this was required of us in this course.

Week 6

Technology is increasingly present in our 21st century students’ schools, homes, and communities. I am a middle school counselor and I have found it easy to use technology in my guidance classes to capture my students’ attention.  My technology skills have moved from Power Point to the mobi to hover cam and now Ipad. Listed below are several apps I use in my guidance counselor classes:

 Emptico app on Ipad has the appearance of an ordinary memory game. This app helps my students to increase theirs emotional vocabulary.

 Sprigeo app allows my students to report bullying and school incidents anonymously to me.

 Professor Garfield Cyberbullying app is used to helps students identifies bullying behavior and provide strategies for dealing with bullies (such as how important it is to seek the support of a trusted adult).

 I use AutoRap app when I require my students to watch a movie (Character Ed, Drug prevention, Drop-out prevention), and take notes. At the end of the movie, I give the students an opportunity to put their notes to rap using AutoRap app.  

Week 5

Why is it important to be a good digital citizen?

•         First, let define what a “good digital citizen” is. According to Roblyer and Doering (2012), netiquette is to be nice and communicate effectively. Remember the Golden Rule…”Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.

•         It is vital to be a good digital citizen on internet because it affects us as well as others. From the websites we view to the info we post, we are leaving out for other to view. We must always keep in mind that it is not just a computer screen that we are communicating with. There is always a connection to someone else….seen or unseen!

What value does a good digital reputation have?

·         A digital reputation is just as important as a person’s reputation outside of the digital world. What goes on the digest world is out there forever. You want to ensure that your digest portray best described as a person with good character; you never know who is looking at your digital reputation. I think as a counselor, it is imperative to have a good digital reputation. Unfortunately, negative information that has ended up on the internet about educator has stained the reputations and digital reputations causing them to have personal and professional problems. As an educator, we are often some children's only positive role models. If there is information on the internet that is portraying us negatively, it will inevitably affect our students as well as ourselves.

Week 4 / Three Kinds of Material Generators I used or would use in my classroom.

1.      Worksheet and Puzzle Generators

I have used a computer-based testing system or testing generator software in the past. The program was called Exam View Pro. Exam View Pro allows me to input any kind of test questions (multiple-choice, matching, short answer, completion, and essay) and it formats automatically to the paper. All I had to do was to import the questions and the answers and the software formatted to the questions and answers so that it looks in sync on the page. I was also able to build a test bank. Exam View Pro also allows for spell check, and it also scrambles the questions. You can also develop several different versions of the test that you are giving.

 

2.      Graphic Document Makers

I worked with Sizzix Big Shot PRO a lot during a school year. It’s really awesome machine. It creates awards, certificates, bulletin board decoration, and lots more. This is a great and easy die cutting and embossing tool be inexperience and creative. The websites they have in the book are print shop deluxe and smart draw. I would like to discover those in my own time and use them in my classroom.

3.      Worksheet/ puzzle generator software.

I use a lot of worksheets and puzzles in my Guidance Counselor classes; I am really interested in the worksheet/ puzzle generator software.  It appears no matter how old students are, they still love working on worksheets and puzzles. A lot of the times I give just Character Ed words for the students to define. If I could have a good puzzle generator, then they would probably become more interested in the content. After reading the text, I did a quick Google search of online vocabulary puzzle generators, and I am going to try to use them in the next class (worksheetworks.com).

Week 3 Instructional Software for 21st Century Teaching

Software is a written computer program function. The instructional software is designed to teach or help a student, academically. According to Roblyer and Doering (2012), there are five basic types of instructional software: drill and practice, tutorial, simulation, instructional game, and problem solving. The functions of instructional software are tailored to facilitate cognitive and academic growth, in all academic disciples. The following is a description of 5 types of instructional software, along with an example of a program designed to execute the functional style:

Drill-and-Practice Software Functions - Educational software that incorporates the concepts of drills and practice is similar to flashcards, but with more features. Software that uses drills to enhance learning uses repetition to help students learn the material. For example, sstudents work through example after example until mastery is achieved. Some programs use repetition, allowing students to practice until the material is learned or memorized. Drills and practice are a form of objectivist learning and is excellent for students to prepare for tests and/or learn concepts that are simple or even sometimes complicated, but require memorization of the material. (Roblyer and Doering, 2012).

Quizlet.com is an instructional software programs that allows the students or the teacher to design their own digital flashcards online. http://quizlet.com/.

• · Sample software for drill-and practice: Vocabulary Practice by Brainpop: http://www.brainpopest.com

Instructional Game Software - Software that has games-like rules and implements competition in learning concepts. There a numerous benefits of using instructional game software in the classroom. It makes learning fun, instead of being dry and boring. It also makes learning more engaging and motivational students love to compete and win, and this is why so many love educational games. One major negative of using gaming software in the classroom is that sometimes it creates chaos. I'm all for letting students interact with each other, but many times it does more harm than good. One must gauge the classroom environment before implementing many types of gaming software. Schoolforge.net offers a wide variety of games in different content areas (See link below)

• · Sample software for Instructional Game Software: https://schoolforge.net/education-software/educational-games

Simulation- Educational software simulates the "live" learning experience for students. Examples of the types of learning environments to be simulated are a chemistry experiment, operation of an automobile or airplane, or biology or medical procedures. Students use simulations in place of the live experience usually in advance of the simulated activity. The use of simulations saves money and replaces activities that might be not practical or may be even dangerous until the student learns the activity. Simulations usually allow many different students the opportunity to participate in the simulated activity an unlimited number of times in order to master the activity before participating with the actual activity they are learning. One example of simulation software would be something geared towards the stock market where students could learn to buy and sell stocks. (See link below).

•  Sample software for simulation: http://www.smg2000.org/

Problem Solving- Educational software that provides an environment to allow students recalling information, sequencing, analyzing, organizing, predicting outcomes, and formulating ideas is probably classified as problem solving educational software (Roblyer and Doering, 2012). An example would be EM solution Arithmetic which helps students learn problem solving skills and grasping math concepts (See link below).

• ·         Sample software for Problem Solving: http://www.emteachline.com/eng/fc10.htm

Tutorials- Educational software designed for entire instructional program topic. Students who access and complete tutorials should learn everything about the subject that might otherwise be taught in a classroom by a teacher. Tutorial allow students to move to the next topic after mastering a section, or keep the student in the current section if they have not mastered the material. Tutorials are more objectivist than constructivist learning since students have little or no input into what is taught. Tutorials are difficult and expensive to develop, which explain why developers choose tutorials less than other types of educational software to develop. Tutorials should use a comprehensive approach to instruction and simulate a real classroom experience to teach students the entire learning goals of a subject.

 

•  · Sample software for tutorials: Trigonometry Challenge by ETCAI: http://www.etcal.com/page 10.html

Integrated Learning Systems (ILSs) are systems that offer computer-based instruction and other resources to support instruction, along with summary reports of student progress through the instruction; all are provided through network or online sources (Roblyer and Doering, 2010). The ILS is designed to provide a "one-stop" learning activity for students and teachers. One tool that I would use for this is SuccessMaker which can be used to help students develop and practice reading and math skills (See link below).

• · Sample software of ILS can be found here http://www.pearsonschool.com/index.cfm?locator=PSZkAe

 

 

Week 2

Should students play games in school?  Games in the classroom for All Grade levels can be engaging for the 21^st Century students. Not only are games fun, interactive, and social, but they are also great tools for learning.

Games add personality and student engagement to more tedious, yet necessary tasks like teaching math facts, grammar rules and vocabulary, and reviewing for tests.  Our goal as a classroom teacher is to create life-long learners. We want to create an environment to where our students are excited about learning and experience new things in the classroom such as games to add an element of competition, motivates, and energizes students.