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(1) General Software Review. In this activity you will be reviewing software that you would find useful in your roll as a teacher. Note, this is a review of software, not websites. Websites can be used only if they have a high level of interactivity and animation such as those at ExploreLearning.com. Although we have software on our local servers, much of it is antiquated, and students are best served by downloading freeware and shareware.

• Review five or more pieces of educational software. You are free to choose any piece of software that is of value either for instructional, administrative, or professional purposes. You must have hands-on experience with the software... watching someone's software review is not sufficient.

• Write a paragraph describing each program and your professional opinion of

its usefulness in education.

• At least one of your titles should be freeware or shareware that you have downloaded from the Internet.

• Include a screen capture from the software.

• Choose the best one from among these 5 for the formal software

review/presentation.

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Title

Review Screen Capture

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I picked this software because I am always looking for better ways to teach grammar. It is so frustrating as a teacher when students, at the high school level, still struggle with basic sentence combining and mix up there, their, and they’re with each other. This grammar software is quite simplistic in nature with its graphics and with the game itself, but the practice is excellent. The students have to really understand run-on sentence and fragments to do well. I would use this more for a junior high school class because of its tone, but it focuses on the basics, and that is what I enjoyed about it. This is also the software I have downloaded from the internet (see screen capture below).

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Easy

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This program is the a true blessing for teachers. Easy Grade Pro has created this grade book software for teachers to keep track of grades (obviously), attendance, seating charts, biographical information, and anything else that could be of use. It can generate reports for individual students or whole classes. This software can also connect with hand held computers for easier access when you need it. Most of the teachers at my school use this program, and it is easy to use and very dependable.

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Mus

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atch

Juke

box

Musicmatch Jukebox may not seem to be a prototypical type of educational software, but it all depends upon how you use it. For example, I have been able to download different songs and create playlists that I have burned to CDs for different units I am teaching. When teaching The Great Gatsby, I can download jazz tunes to play for class. When teaching my poetry units, I can bring in any number of songs that show whatever poetic techniques I am focusing on. Bringing music to the literature helps to bring the literature to life for many of the students.

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4

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Well- I have always wanted to try one of these programs out. This was created to help anyone who is interested read faster with more clarity and understanding. The user must use a text rich format document already on his or her computer and upload that into the program. Once it is there, the user can select how fast the words move, how many words come at once, the background, the font of the words, and if sound should accompany it. I selected The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe to practice with. The background was creepy, the sound was creepy, and the story (because I am so familiar with it) was also creepy. I was put into a trance with all of it happening at once, which might be the idea behind this program. However, I do not recommend it because I don’t see how comprehension can come with reading in this manner. Now, I might feel differently after a few weeks of practice with words flashing before me, but I would not use this my students because speed in reading is not the idea. The idea is to teach understanding, and that will not happen with this program.

5

Sory

lines

With this program, anyone can create, edit, store, and design any type of writing. One starts with a plotline, and then you add characters, subplots, locations, and all the descriptions you like. There are places to store pictures, there are numerous quotes to use, and there are ideas for you to practice with already loaded onto the software. There is so much to do with this, that it would take a while to figure out what works best for you as a writer. It seems quite simple to use though, and it could be very useful in a creative writing class because students could really map out their work ahead of time, and the teacher could check on it before writing begins. I therefore believe that this is extremely useful in the correct setting. I don’t think an essay writer should use this because there are simpler tools for organizing essay thoughts, but when one needs to organize a full story of characters, locations, actions, and the like, something like this could be very useful.

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(2) Formal Software Review. In this activity you will be reviewing software that you would find useful in your roll as a teacher. Note, this is a review of software, not websites. Websites can be used only if they have a high level of interactivity and animation such as those at ExploreLearning.com. Although we have software on our local servers, much of it is antiquated, and students are best served by downloading freeware and shareware.

• Select one software product for formal review and presentation to the class. Write reviews for each according to the format guidelines provided on the following page. Post you selection.

Title: Story Lines (1) Description of Program This program is designed for the creation of stories – be they in the form of articles, short stories, novels, movies, television scripts... It keeps all ideas organized and easy to access to keep writers focused. One can work multiple stories at a time, and ideas can be moved all over the place. (2) Basic Information This program can be learned very easily through a simple tutorial they give. Basically, it is up to you to come up with a plot line, and the program will help you develop it. There

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are character card, location cards, action sequence cards, and subplot cards to help you progress through your story. (3) Target Population I see this software as a way to help beginning writers find their voices and ideas at early stages. Because you can do so much or so little with it, it can be used with elementary students, and it can be used by professional writers. I see it working best for secondary school students and teachers though. Elementary school teachers can lead students through some of the basic properties of story telling with it and can create simple stories, while secondary school students can work on their own to create their own more complex works. (4) Content Goals Using English Content Standard 2.1 students will be able to 2.1 Write biographical or autobiographical narratives or short stories: a. Relate a sequence of events and communicate the significance of the events to the audience. b. Locate scenes and incidents in specific places. c. Describe with concrete sensory details the sights, sounds, and smells of a scene and the specific actions, movements, gestures, and feelings of the characters; use interior monologue to depict the characters' feelings. d. Pace the presentation of actions to accommodate changes in time and mood. e. Make effective use of descriptions of appearance, images, shifting perspectives, and sensory details. In other words, I will have the students in my 9th and 10th grade class use this software to organize a short narrative to satisfy this standard. The students will be able to put together all information necessary with the use of the Story Line program to complete this task. (5) Process Goals In completing this standard using this software, students will also be able to show their mastery of organizational writing through the use of technology. They will show their ability to plan their thoughts and keep track of relevant ideas as they come to them before they begin to write their narratives. They will learn to have more comfort with technology, and their work will be saved for them to look back. (6) Lesson Plan The following lesson would work for either a 9th or 10th grade class. The objective would be for the students to write a biographical sketch of a fellow student. The author must include… a) two important events in the person’s life that has shaped him or her b) two important people who have helped shape him or her c) the person’s desires in life d) any major struggles and/or obstacles overcome or being dealt with Each pair must use the Story Lines software to plan out the flow of the story before the writing will begin. Each character and event must have a separate card with details, and the plot line must be shown as well.

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After the pair of students interview each other, they would begin work with the software. They will have three class sessions to input all they need to on the software. We will print out their work so far, and they will take it home to work on. The rough draft will be due one week later, and the final draft will be due one week after that. This will give each student practice with interview techniques, brainstorming and planning sessions, following outlines, composing rough drafts, editing, and producing a final copy. (7) Summary Overall, with a few practice sessions, this program could be of great use to a teacher. Even using some of the applications available could enhance writing practice and techniques. The key with this program is to keep it simple. The students could be overwhelmed with all of the capabilities, so teachers must know what to show and demonstrate ahead of time. Using a projector and creating a story outline as a class before giving the software over to the students is the best procedure. Once the students are used to the ideas behind the software, then they can produce stories without this aid, and that is real reason behind this program – to teach the students how to write effectively. (3) Formal Presentation of Software: One or two sessions will be scheduled for formal software review. During these sessions you will present your software in small groups or to the class using network sharing software such as Apple Remote Desktop. Once you have decided on software to review, post your decision on the newsgroup as specified in class or on the web-page. first-come, first-served.

• Make a presentation of your software using the following guidelines Each presentation must be limited to 15 minutes.

• Your presentations should stress how this software can be used effectively in the

curriculum.

• Do not spend time discussing mechanics (menu structure, etc.) nor shortcomings

• Illustrate how the software can be used to enhance instruction.

• Provide your peers with a "hands-on experiences" lesson if at all possible. .