Digital Blog Post #E - Chapters 4, 7 &/or 9

Google Earth has opened up the potential for classrooms with its bird’s eye view of the world.  Whether you are a veteran teacher looking for new ways to teach an old topic or a new teacher making your debut in the classroom, Google Earth is sure to give your lesson plan plenty of punch.  Once such example is My summer vacation.  This is an excellent way to teach students the basics of using the program.  You can find ideas for any age group and endless amounts of virtual tours that will not only help you teach students but will likely teach you something along the way.  Google Earth is not only beneficial for virtual trips, but can also be used beforehand.  Allow students to explore the route of an upcoming trip to develop a geographic idea for the area they are about to travel.  Encourage them to investigate layers, looking for information about places along the route.  Below is an introductory video of Google Earth that does an excellent job showing how realistic the imaging is.

I just cannot say enough about PowerPoint.  It is amazing.  I have always been afraid to use it.  This term I was given the assignment to do a group presentation using it in another class.  Wow!  Was I impressed?  Certainly.  My first thought was how much my new knowledge in PowerPoint was going to help me in the classroom. We were able to add a Kahoot quiz to our presentation simply by embedding the link.  I am excited to have a group of students create ebooks with their PowerPoint slides.  Having students create a book using PowerPoint demonstrates their understanding of a concept or idea and is a great way to access students.

The idea of alphabet books for younger students is brilliant.  They should not be just a collection of flashcards bound together to create a book.  There should be more thought put into the pages.  It would be great to have the students use a particular theme such as “Traveling Alphabet” where they would have to think of a word that begins with the letter relating to travel.

These three chapters were related to invoking creative thinking in students.   Through critical thinking and creativity, ideas become realities as students create solutions, illustrate their thoughts, and make their creations come to life.  Creative thinking lesson plans give students the opportunity to develop and practice higher order thinking.

References 

Driver, L., (2016, June 1). Kindergarten Teacher Quiz. Created with Kahoot https://getkahoot.com/ 

            Interactive Flipbooks! (2016). Retrieved June 12, 2016, from http://www.flipsnack.com/

Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2014). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.  

My Summer Vacation [PDF]. (n.d.). Silver Spring, MD: Discovery Education.  Retrieved June 12, 2016, fromhttp://static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/untrusted_dlcp/services.google.com/en/us

Ray, H., (2010, October 21). Intro to Google Earth. Retrieved June 12, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnTw10bQKOM

Digital Blog Post #D - Chapters 6 &/or 10

By ldriverfsw | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon

You are in your classroom and look out the window at yet another dark, gloomy day.  Inside the classroom, students are restless.  This is the perfect time for a field trip!  No money for buses, admission fees, or lunches?  Not enough time to travel to the destination?  How about a virtual field trip?  The internet is full of resources.  Use them to provide a fun learning experience for your students.  Alternatively, you could create a virtual field trip.  When you travel, take photos and videos to upload to your class website.  Students can go on the virtual field trip individually, as groups, or as a class.  They offer enriched learning experiences and are exceptional teaching tools.  For hands-on learners, being able to manipulate the computer and experiment with images keeps the student more engaged.  For students with an upcoming field trip, virtual field trips can enhance or build upon what a student will experience.  Because they do not offer touch, smell, and aural feelings, virtual field trips should not completely replace actual field trips.  Virtual field trips can also take place through videoconferencing as shown in the video below.  

Word clouds are a great way to improve students vocabulary.  They can also be used to stimulate their thinking.  It would be interesting to ask the students to write down anything they know about the subject or concept.  Have them make a word cloud with their list.  At the end of the lesson, have them add or delete words according to their new knowledge.  This is an excellent way to encourage critical thinking.

When my son was growing up, I remember him having an electronic speller and dictionary.  It was a very helpful tool in assisting him to learn to spell.  It allowed him to spell a word; then it would correct any mistakes and give definitions.  Electronic spellers and dictionaries not only aid students in learning how to spell, but they also help with learning the meaning of words, and teach children to express themselves through writing.

These two chapters contained a wealth of information about engaging students in the classroom. When we are engaged in something, we are more likely to succeed.  This is true with students; an engaged student is more likely to learn and succeed than an unengaged student. 

References

Driver, L. (2016, June 5). Virtual Field Trip. Created with ToonDoo http://www.toondoo.com/cartoon/10214277

Driver, L. (2016, June 5). Word Cloud. Created with ABCYA http://www.abcya.com/word_clouds.htm

Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2014). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.   

Vidyo. (2011, November 15). Vidyo Video Conferencing for K-12 Education Enables Virtual Field Trips. Retrieved June 6, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4co6lltz2g