This chapter didn't seem to relate to what I teach as well as to some of the other subject areas. We don't do a lot of hypothesis testing in language arts. We do use predicting skills before reading assignments. This chapter had a lot of information I will gladly share with my colleagues.
I read through the appendix area of the book and the area on internet safety had good reminders that we should always stress with our students.
There were two books listed there that I am interested in reading (you, know, in all that free time I have!) Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson and Classroom Blogging: A Teacher's Guide to the Blogosphere by David Warlick. The blogs and wikis are two of the areas I found most interesting. I need a lot of work and practice with both to become more comfortable before trying to introduce them to my students.
I am so happy to discover all of the tools available in Microsoft Word that I had no clue were even there!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Chapter 10 - Homework and Practice
Ick. Homework. As a sixth grade language arts teacher I try to get writing into my classroom whenever I can. I have a weekly writing assignment due each Friday that is completely done at home. The final draft does not have to be printed from a computer- it can be hand written - but most students have access to a computer somewhere and do bring it in printed. I am going to spend time going through the options available through Microsoft Word that I was not aware of before reading this book. Word research tool? What? All of these things have been available- and I had no clue! We will definitely discuss the thesaurus available right there for word choice improvement. The Flesh-Kincaid grade level rating I think will be very interesting to them. They will enjoy seeing what rating their writing receives and I will help them learn some tips for raising that level. Also, autosummarizing? I didn't know that existed! We will use that tool in many different ways this year I hope.
The Flashacrd Exchange website also looks like a good site for reviewing vocab words.
The Flashacrd Exchange website also looks like a good site for reviewing vocab words.
Chapter 9 - Identifying Similarities and Differences
As others have said I also use a lot of graphic organizers to classify and differentiate in my classroom. I am a strong user of "Thinking Maps" I liked the tools discussed for students to use drawing toolbars to create their own graphic organizers. This will give them a little more ownership. This would allow students to use their own creativity in some tasks that often seem a little boring.
Inspiration and Kidspiration seem like sites with just abundant supplies of useful tools that I need to utilize with me students. Analogies and Metaphors with six graders are not the easiest things for them to learn. If these sites make those skills easier or more fun to manipulate, then I will definitely spend the time to investigate them more fully before school starts.
Inspiration and Kidspiration seem like sites with just abundant supplies of useful tools that I need to utilize with me students. Analogies and Metaphors with six graders are not the easiest things for them to learn. If these sites make those skills easier or more fun to manipulate, then I will definitely spend the time to investigate them more fully before school starts.
Chapter 8 - Reinforcing Effort
Effort is something that is lacking in a lot of students- even in the SEARCH students I teach. They have figured out what they have to do to get by and that's all they do. I honestly didn't get as much out of this chapter as the others previously. The effort rubric looks worthwhile. The spreadsheet looks easy to manipulate. But this is one of those areas I see myself not following through with. I see the importance, but with time limitations for planning and teaching, I can see this rubric as something I'd like to do , but I don't follow through with. The data collection section really left me with more questions as opposed to something I could walk away with and use.
Chapter 7 - Cooperative Learning
While reading this chapter a few ideas caught my eye. Personally, cooperative learning in general is not my favorite activity in the classroom. I do use cooperative learning frequently so any new ideas I encounter are always welcome. Jigsawclassroom.org was an enlightening sight. I have used jigsaw strategies often but this gave me some ideas I hadn't used before. It gave detailed instructions and quidelines for group members roles. I will use these ideas.
ANother point I am interested in is a webquest. I liked the site webtask taskonomy. It was interesting and enlightening to see all the different types of webquests available. I always thought of a webquest as kind of a scavenger hunt. It can be so much more. I think the two types I could use most often in my room would be the Journalistic task and the Self Knowledge tasks.
ANother point I am interested in is a webquest. I liked the site webtask taskonomy. It was interesting and enlightening to see all the different types of webquests available. I always thought of a webquest as kind of a scavenger hunt. It can be so much more. I think the two types I could use most often in my room would be the Journalistic task and the Self Knowledge tasks.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Chapter 6 - Summarizing and Note taking
I played around with the site ThinkTank. I think this will work well with my students. It walks you step by step through the process of narrowing a research topic. After you find a topic, it helps you with subtopics. Students have a very hard time deciding on topics. This site helps you define what you are searching for with great leading questions.
The site NoteStar will also be very helpful with research projects. It looks like a great site to help me manage my students projects. It will let me send messages to the students about their projects. It will help check authenticity- that's a big issue. It will also be good for a cooperative learning project. It lets me assign different aspects of the project to different students. It will help me track progress of all the group members.
The site NoteStar will also be very helpful with research projects. It looks like a great site to help me manage my students projects. It will let me send messages to the students about their projects. It will help check authenticity- that's a big issue. It will also be good for a cooperative learning project. It lets me assign different aspects of the project to different students. It will help me track progress of all the group members.
Chapter 5 - Nonlimguistic Representation
When learning new vocabulary I always have my students create a grapphic representation along with the meaning of the word if possible. If I could find a way to complete this on the computer instead of paper/pencil activities, I think the students would really enjoy it and it will hit more of their learning styles. I liked the conceptual/descriptive pattern organizer created with kidspiration vocabulary word template. The graphics would appeal to the students. Personally, I like the look of the generalization/principle pattern organizer with Microsoft Word organization Chart, but I'm a "word" person and it looks very "wordy".
The step by step instructions for creating projects with movies and animation will be very useful. I need to be braver and embrace all the technology out there. It will be to the benefit of my students.
The sites Iknowthat.com and Knowitall.org look like sites I will use often from now on.
The step by step instructions for creating projects with movies and animation will be very useful. I need to be braver and embrace all the technology out there. It will be to the benefit of my students.
The sites Iknowthat.com and Knowitall.org look like sites I will use often from now on.
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