Helping Teachers Make the Grade!

Lonnie Cochran, Krystle Horton, Kimberly Cing, Kristi Reynolds,

Rachel Ashwood

Table of ContentsLonnieCochran

 

3-8 

Krystle Horton

 9-11

Kimberly Cing

 17-22

Kristi Reynolds

 23-27

 28-32

Summary 33Rachel Ashwood

                What is 

    Quizlet is a free easy to use Web 2.0 application that allows users to create and master vocabulary using a variety of interactive games.  

   

 

Getting Started

Getting started on Quizlet is easy!  View the video below:

Examples from my

   

Benefits of                    for...

Teachers• Easy to create sets• Ready-made flashcards,

review games and quizzes using a variety of formats (multiple choice, fill-in, matching)

• Track student progress• Ready-made class review

activities

Students

• Practice online at home • Check accuracy of class

notes and data by comparing to teacher posted Quizlet definitions etc.

• Immediate feedback• Track individual progress

promoting metacognitive skills

• Fun activities for pratice• Audio provides correct

pronounciations for ELL

Potential Frustrations/ Limitations

Limited to students who have internet access, but printable flashcards and quizzes make it accessible to all (teacher prints and distributes)

Short Answer and Fill-in's must be typed correctly to berecognized by the programas correct, but site providesan override option to accommodate for this.

                              for  

I love Quizlet!  It is easy to use and access.  It is free!  Quizlet is a great way to integrate technology in the classroom and homework habits of my students!  The interactive nature not only allows my students to practice, study, and quiz themselves, but the comments feature allows students to pose questions of their peers and of me, the instructor, for clarification!  In addition, Quizlet is a tool my students can use to generate flashcards for any course they will study!  It is a great tool for promoting lifelong learning and study skills.

SnagFilms.com is a website devoted to providing full-length documentary films to a wide variety of people across the world.

This website also allows people to do what is called “snag a film” and post it practically anywhere on the Internet.

The best part about this site is that it is FREE!

• SnagFilms.com also has an educational section called SnagLearning.

• Selected films that are appropriate for students grades six and up from the SnagFilms’ collection.  

• Films cover almost every discipline and include films from PBS and National Geographic.  

• Teachers can collaborate with one another by submitting lesson plans, activities, quizzes, and homework.   

• The goal of this site is to share educational films that open the class up for participating in discussions.  

What does                   look like?   

Take a look at my class wiki page to see just how it can be used.

What Does SnagFilms Look Like?

 

How Do I Use                  &                    ?

SnagFilms• Search for what you are looking for• Choose from: What’s Hot, Topics, Channels, or search A-Z• Use MovieMatcher to connect you to films that interest you• Choose from topics: arts, campus, environment, health, history,

international, life and culture, music, political, religion and spirituality, science and nature, short form, sports and hobby, war, and women’s issues.

SnagLearning • Choose from: grade level, subject, or channel.     

After you choose your film, just press play! 

Benefits of                    &

• Free • Easy to use• High quality, Award-

winning documentaries

•  Teacher collaboration

•  New films added weekly

• Connects students to real world problems

• Increases student engagement

• Involves critical thinking

Frustrations and Barriers

There are none!

                      Conclusion

SnagFilms and SnagLearning are great Web 2.0 Applications that should be used in the classroom.  They are a great alternative solutions to YouTube and are more about what is going on in the world rather than random people uploading whatever comes to mind first.  This tool allows students to learn about different disciplines in relation to their world.  

“ PicLits.com is a creative writing site that matches beautiful images with carefully selected keywords in order to inspire you. The object is to put the right words in the right place and the right order to capture the essence, story, and meaning of the picture.”• Users choose a photograph from a large gallery of

beautiful, inspirational, humorous, and thought-provoking photos

• Users may utilize a list of words (divided into nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and universal words) that the website offers related to each individual picture (sort of like “magnetic refrigerator poetry"), or the users may choose to freewrite poetry or descriptive paragraphs. 

• Users can then post the finished poem to their Facebook or MySpace page, their blog, or a wiki or other website.  They can also email the finished poem to any address.

Setting up an account on PicLits.com• PicLits.com is absolutely free!• Just go to www.piclits.com• Enter your e-mail address, a password, and a pen name

(under which your work will appear)• You will immediately be directed to a page where you can

start composing your poetry!

A Sample PicLit that I wrote myself!            

Link to my PicLit

Benefits of using PicLitsFor teachers: • Has poetry and creative

writing lesson plans incorporating the website

• Lesson plans have suggested worksheets and quizzes

• All keywords for each photograph are divided into parts of speech (helps teach students grammar)

• "Coming Soon" to the site: search tools and tagging to aide with finding examples to use in class

• You can also browse the gallery for good examples

For students: • It's free!• Can be accessed from any

computer with internet use• Simple to use ... students can

use keywords to inspire them and help them to write poetry

• Drag-n-drop option helps students change the tense and forms of the keywords

• A wide variety of inspiring pictures to choose from

• Students can post their poems to their Facebook page or email it to their teacher

Frustrations and Perceived Barriers• Students would need

internet access• You cannot mix drag-n-drop

with freewrite (i.e. if you choose to use the drag-n-drop option, you cannot add words that aren't already in the keywords)

 

• There are only 72 keywords per

    photograph on the "drag-n-    drop" option• You cannot print your work

    unless you do a screenprint     (yet ... this is listed in the     "Coming Soon" info!)

Final Thoughts on PicLits.comI'm excited to use this Web 2.0 site in my classroom.  The lesson plans provided on the site are an outstanding resource.  I have my students write poetry when we do our poetry unit and they're always asking, "What do I write about?" and "How do I get started?"  PicLits really gives students some inspiration and some ideas to get started. Students could complete the assignment and upload it to the class wiki or they could email it to the teacher.  It would also be a wonderful extra credit assignment.  Or I could also have students write descriptive paragraphs on the photographs instead of poetry.  This site is a literature teacher's or creative writing teacher's dream!                                                                                                                                                                          

   What is

Glogster EDU defines itself as "A Web 2.0 platform that allows users to easily upload photos, videos, text, audio and more to create a unique online, interactive poster."

This is an example of a glog.The neat thing about a glog is

that it is interactive.See interactive glog

 

How to get started1.  Go to www.Glogster.com/edu2.  Click on register and sign up for an account.3.  Do NOT add any students at this time, you can add them later. 

Watch this detailed video for extra help with setting up an account.

How to add students to your class.Click on Download File not add accounts

Benefits of Glogster EDUFrom Glogster.edu• A fun learning experience• A new way to express creativity• Private, secure, safe virtual classroom monitored by teachers• Drives new interest levels around subjects that may have been

seen as “boring” before• Adds audiovisual aspects to traditionally text-oriented subjects• Fosters teamwork and collaboration with classmates• Increases drive to be independently creative• Unlimited shelf life• Improves student-teacher relationships by allowing both to

explore Web 2.0 & learning concepts together• Keeps teachers and students up-to-date with modern

technology

Barriers of Using Glogster EDU• I think Glogster should simplify their "Dashboard" because it is hard

to find things at their site. It has a lot of "Junk mail" and other things that are not useful included that make it really hard to find your own glogs.

• Make sure to add your students using the "Excel" option.• To add sound, data and drawing options, you must purchase the

premium edition.  

Try Glogster for your next class projectI would definitely suggest using Glogster EDU in your classroom.  It is so easy that you don't really need to spend much time teaching your students.  I plan on using Glogster this summer in a class I am teaching.They are really easy to embed into other formats such as wikispaces too.  SEE MY GLOGSTER

PortaPortal

• Portaportal is a bookmarking site that is free and server based

• Convenient to bookmark all online links using categories and subcategories

•  Easy for parents, students, and other teachers to access

• Share links with others• Search other people's portals for specific

things you might want to know more about

How to Get Started on PortaPortal

• Go to www.portaportal.com•  Click the 2nd button down on the lefthand side that says

"Signup," enter your basic information, then click "Join portaportal"

• Note: The username you choose will also be the  guest name of your portal. Keep it simple so guests can easily remember and access your portal 

•  Once you have your account you may begin adding/editing/deleting categories, bookmarks, or basic quick links by using the tools on the top right

•  So that guests may view your portal, you must go to the preferences page (top right), then you will seee the menu "Guest Access" and you must change it to "Allow Guest Access"

Portaportal Classroom Benefits 

• Quickly pull up links on the projector to pull up websites from categories or quick links

• Helpful since bookmarks can be opened from any computer like the one in the classroom, the computer lab, or your students' home

• Parents can access easily to see what are good websites for them to use at home

• Students can access easily at home • Categories can be specific like: "Parent Links," "TCAP

Practice," "Phonics Skills," or links to other skills that have been studied in the classroom 

• There is no limit to how many users may access your portal at one time 

PortaPortal Frustrations

• Aesthetically unappealing color schemes, icons, and advertisements

• Cannot aggregate and separate: If you want a link in two categories, you have to enter it twice; If you want to remove it from your categories, you have to remove the link from whichever categories it is in individually

•  It is not difficult to search other portals, but it isn't very social because it is not networked

• There is no notification or feed to let you know when things have changed on the site

Additional PortaPortal Thoughts 

• Many teachers at my school use portaportal. Our school's website has all of our individual teacher links to portaportal. This is helpful for parents with more than one child at our school so they do not even have to remember our portal username.

• I like how I can share links easily with fellow teachers and parents• My students are only in kindergarten so they do not access it

themselves, but I often pull it up on the projector to quickly open bookmarks. I like it because I can use it in the library, computer lab, another classroom, etc. 

• I like portaportal, because it is what many people at my school use. However, I think Delicious is overall a better bookmarking site

• Check out my portal:http://guest.portaportal.com/rkashwood 

SummaryWeb. 2.0 applications are definitely useful for educators and students alike!  Technology can be used to engage students because it's such a huge part of their lives.  The learning can be more relevant to students if they can somehow use it with technology.  In our research we've found that ...• Quizlet is a great resource for any subject and grade level.  Teachers can

create vocabulary lists, flashcards, quizzes, and review games promoting both in class and independent study skills.

• SnagFilms and SnagLearning offers educational films at your fingertips.  It also offers activities and quizzes to accompany the films.

• PitLits is a creative outlet for students.  It gives them inspiration to be great poets and writers and offers them a place to publish their work to Facebook or their class wikis.

• Glogster allows students and teachers to create interactive posters with photos, video, and audio.  This would be an innovative way for students to do group projects in any subject area.

• PortaPortal is social bookmarking for the classroom allowing quick access to links and teachers, students and parents to share bookmarks.