1. The first tool that I can envision using in my teaching is MakeBeliefsComix Printables. These printable, partially blank comic templates have a variety of prompts and pictures with spaces for students to add their own text. These would work well for beginners in English because there is not an intimidating amount of blank space, and each comic square has pictures that can get the student thinking about what they want to write. The printables are organized into categories or themes, which makes them easily browsable for use in a variety of different units or to address a variety of topics. There also seem to be prompts for students of different levels: from connect-the-dots for younger students to story-telling prompts for older students. I would love to use these, particularly as a pre-writing, brainstorming tool in preparation for a more formal work, or as a tool for reflecting on a text and connecting it to their own experiences.
2. I can also definitely imagine using Spelling Bee in class. I like that the voice recordings are very clear, the texts are not too long, and there are different passages for different grades. There are only three levels for each grade, but even some of the lower grades have difficult words for non-native speakers, so perhaps the students could start at a younger grade than they are actually in as a sort of warm-up while they are learning how to use the website. This same website also has other interactives on "elements of a story," "historical and cultural," and "literature," which I could certainly imagine using with sixth graders. There is also a unit on "cinema," and there are several history units. Even if there is not time to cover all of the elements in these units, passages could be excerpted from them and used as reading passages or supplementary materials for teaching basic "Western Civ."
3. I am quite keen on the BBC Skillswise website, particularly the section on common letter patterns! These fact sheets that they have about words with the same letters making different sounds and, vice-versa, different letters making the same sound are terrific. Even if they are not an exhaustive list of every example, they provide a very clear introduction to one of the tricky aspects of English spelling and can help contribute to the student's bank of sight words. The letter pattern crossword puzzles and word finds are great, not ideal for a whole lesson, of course, but a nice way to review.
4. I can definitely see my students getting a kick out of the ReadWriteThink Printing Press. At the school where I am volunteering, there are a fair number of native or near-native speakers of English, because one or both of their parents come from an English-speaking country. The kids and their parents alike have expressed that a weakness for them is in English writing, and I would LOVE to use this tool to create a monthly newsletter (in English) about what goes on at the school. The templates are straightforward, and it looks like the products that come out of it are very polished.
5. Finally, this StoryJumper program is ADORABLE!! I love the clear instructional video on how to use it, how many character and prop options there are, and the fact that you can upload your own photos to personalize the story! I can totally picture how much the students will love doing this, and how stunning and potentially hilarious the stories they come up with will be when they are done! It's an amazing way to let their creativity inspire them while also incorporating useful language and ICT skills in their project! I am so looking forward to using StoryJumper!
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
Week 4 - CALL Course - Coding for Kids?!
The award for coolest-blog-I'm-following-of-the-week definitely goes to Cool Cat Teacher Blog. I found the topic of "How to Teach Coding in the Elementary Grades" a big improvement over last week's topic about gifts to get teachers. There's so much in this blog entry that it's hard to know where to start. I even checked out the sponsor of the entry, Metaverse, and now I'm curious about how to use "augmented reality" in the classroom.
The interviewee, Sam Patterson, is a Makerspace Coordinator for Echo Horizon School. MakerSpace for Education, as I am learning, is part of the "Maker" movement, which is based on a constructivist/constructionist ideology: a theory of learning according to which individuals construct their learning based on experience, observation, and reflection. It also emphasizes the importance of creating things to share with others, not simply the absorption of information. I'm for it, and I think it's also cool that it is not only a theory about learning but is also accompanied by a physical space: that there are examples of physical makerspaces and - not exactly instructions - but suggestions and ideas for creating your own makerspace that students, in turn, use to create things for others.
In a way, this topic ties in nicely with my entry from last week, which talked mostly about the digital library. It's fascinating how the digital universe, which I previously thought of (and used) as a two-dimensional platform, is in fact multidimensional. Not strictly because it can duplicate real-world 3D structures, but because it has dimensions of its own. I'm not sure I really grasp this concept or all of its mechanisms or implications fully, but I'm wondering more now about digital "space," and I'm looking forward to examining my own interactions with technology through this lens.
In the course of the interview, I also learned about Hour of Code, which looks awesome, but unfortunately it only appears to be available to US schools. Then again, I have a feeling that something similar could be implemented in Israel, or perhaps it already exists and I just haven't heard of it. Patterson mentions Scratch and ScratchJr and a couple of other platforms that get young students "coding" at an early age. I went to these websites, and frankly I find them very fun-looking but a little intimidating. I feel like I would have to spend a lot of time on my own learning how to use these things just to be able to give the most basic introduction to my students. This seems to be exactly what Patterson is arguing against in the interview, however. I love his recognition that kids figure things out faster than he does, and how he turns that into an advantage and a way for him to learn. I love is philosophy that "not everything gets done," which is something that I wrestle with a lot in my school. One thing I really admire about my host teacher is that she has an amazing way of getting things "done" even if they do not appear to be what I would consider "ready" in the traditional sense, but she finds a way to get lots of pots boiling, get the kids to help her accomplish many different things, and just sending things out into the universe. In the educational landscape as I've experienced it, there never seems to be enough time to finish anything. Rather than waiting for something to be "ready" to present it, though, my teacher makes things, by definition, "ready" by presenting them! I don't know if I'll ever be able to harness that kind of energy the way she does, but I hope that I can learn a bit about how to do that from her.
Learning with e's has a new post about un-googleable questions. Nice concept, for sure. Feeling a bit meta because my next step was to google "un-googleable questions" to find some more examples of them. I found a bunch of results (like this one)! Google still seems to be the place to go for un-googleable questions...LOL.
Although Technology Tailgate still doesn't seem to have been updated much since the last time I checked it, I did find links to many other blogs under the "Coaches" section of the website. I don't know how I missed these before but perhaps there will be more useful materials on the blogs of TT's individual contributors.
Added a few links to my symbaloo from the collection about using images in education, and I can see myself having as much fun with some of these as my students (e.g. PhotoFunia)!
The interviewee, Sam Patterson, is a Makerspace Coordinator for Echo Horizon School. MakerSpace for Education, as I am learning, is part of the "Maker" movement, which is based on a constructivist/constructionist ideology: a theory of learning according to which individuals construct their learning based on experience, observation, and reflection. It also emphasizes the importance of creating things to share with others, not simply the absorption of information. I'm for it, and I think it's also cool that it is not only a theory about learning but is also accompanied by a physical space: that there are examples of physical makerspaces and - not exactly instructions - but suggestions and ideas for creating your own makerspace that students, in turn, use to create things for others.
Image source: http://www.makerspaceforeducation.com
In a way, this topic ties in nicely with my entry from last week, which talked mostly about the digital library. It's fascinating how the digital universe, which I previously thought of (and used) as a two-dimensional platform, is in fact multidimensional. Not strictly because it can duplicate real-world 3D structures, but because it has dimensions of its own. I'm not sure I really grasp this concept or all of its mechanisms or implications fully, but I'm wondering more now about digital "space," and I'm looking forward to examining my own interactions with technology through this lens.
In the course of the interview, I also learned about Hour of Code, which looks awesome, but unfortunately it only appears to be available to US schools. Then again, I have a feeling that something similar could be implemented in Israel, or perhaps it already exists and I just haven't heard of it. Patterson mentions Scratch and ScratchJr and a couple of other platforms that get young students "coding" at an early age. I went to these websites, and frankly I find them very fun-looking but a little intimidating. I feel like I would have to spend a lot of time on my own learning how to use these things just to be able to give the most basic introduction to my students. This seems to be exactly what Patterson is arguing against in the interview, however. I love his recognition that kids figure things out faster than he does, and how he turns that into an advantage and a way for him to learn. I love is philosophy that "not everything gets done," which is something that I wrestle with a lot in my school. One thing I really admire about my host teacher is that she has an amazing way of getting things "done" even if they do not appear to be what I would consider "ready" in the traditional sense, but she finds a way to get lots of pots boiling, get the kids to help her accomplish many different things, and just sending things out into the universe. In the educational landscape as I've experienced it, there never seems to be enough time to finish anything. Rather than waiting for something to be "ready" to present it, though, my teacher makes things, by definition, "ready" by presenting them! I don't know if I'll ever be able to harness that kind of energy the way she does, but I hope that I can learn a bit about how to do that from her.
Learning with e's has a new post about un-googleable questions. Nice concept, for sure. Feeling a bit meta because my next step was to google "un-googleable questions" to find some more examples of them. I found a bunch of results (like this one)! Google still seems to be the place to go for un-googleable questions...LOL.
Although Technology Tailgate still doesn't seem to have been updated much since the last time I checked it, I did find links to many other blogs under the "Coaches" section of the website. I don't know how I missed these before but perhaps there will be more useful materials on the blogs of TT's individual contributors.
Added a few links to my symbaloo from the collection about using images in education, and I can see myself having as much fun with some of these as my students (e.g. PhotoFunia)!
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