Classroom Communication....?

As we get closer to state assessment time, parents are extremely interested in what is going on in the classroom. They become more nervous than the students, who are still oblivious to the importance of the upcoming assessments. Nonetheless, Parents want a closer look inside the classroom, mainly to ensure that their student passes on to the next level. Therefore, communication is key....so what are the best ways of doing this while using technology? I thought you would never ask.

I'm finding no avenue is perfect for every parent, but if you try to differentiate with your parents, like we all attempt in the classroom, then here are a few areas to dabble in.

Class websites:
There are many website tools out there, but cost is a premium issue. Some I have used effectively are SchoolWorld and Wix. SchoolWorld is an easy website template that comes ready made with interchangeable designs that fit the need of your classroom. There are unlimited pages that you can create and the content is up to you. You also can import class list to create quizes, polls and games to make your site more interactive. The coast is $39 a year for the basis, $59 for the advance version which includes the quiz maker. However, if several teachers sign up at the same time, you can save money with the bulk discount SchoolWorld offers teachers, schools and districts.

The only thing I do not like about SchoolWorld is the inability to embed html. Therefore, no third-party video and sound.

Wix is a flash website building tool that is actually free. You would get basic layouts that are tailored toward certain industry genres, but can be manipulated to fit your style. You can add many animations and flash effects to make your site more engaging. It also works as a drag and drops platform, allowing for easy page building. You also can embed your own polls from third-party website along with video and audio simply by pasting the html code.

The draw back to Wix is that it runs slow for families that have low-speed internet connection at home. Also, the more animation you add, the slower your pages takes to load.


Blogs:
Another popular way to correspond with parents is simply by putting all your information in a blog. Blogger and Wordpress are very simple to use and parents can ask questions or provide feedback easily via commenting and emailing you through the blog.

With blogs you can also, post cool videos to go along with lessons, embed polls, and truly make it an interactive experience for the families that you need to keep in the loop.


E-Magazine:
Many teachers create weekly newsletters to print out and send home. Some make it, some do not. Therefore, I began uploading my newsletter into ezine creators like issuu. I simply create my newsletter using my favorite publishing tool; which Pages, upload to issuu and they publish my newsletter as an online magazine. Parents can rss to your issuu site to receive updates on when the next issue is available each week or whenever you publish a newsletter. You can now be as creative as you want without trying to fit everything on one page. Teachers can even create a grade-level magazine highlighting the weekly events. The best thing is, it's free!

These were just a few ways to keep the families in touch that you have an impact on Monday - Friday during the school year. The key is communicating so find you niche and get your class involved. I guarantee, the more your parents feel involved, the more support you will receive from them.

An iPod In The Hand Is Better Than A Book In A Nook

As more and more district contemplate going BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), attention to what device has the greatest impact in the classroom will rise. In my class the debate is on. We are doing a novel study and I allowed the students to use their own e-reader. We ended up with 2 Kindles, 1 Nook and 9 iPod Touch. Once we downloaded the book on all devices, students were salivating to start reading.

Now, this post is not to compare the devices but to prove a point. I assigned two chapters to read, 10 questions per chapter over inferencing, author's purpose and organizational structure along with a response post on their student blogs. 15 out of 25 students completed the assignment on time, which included all 12 who used a hand held device. What was more interesting, was 11 out of the 12 students with a device held thread conversation on one another's blog about the 1st two chapters.

Is this just a coincidence?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Virtual Zoo Can Enhance Problem Solving Skills

Social Media games can be time consuming and very addicting, however troublesome if you get to caught up. Well, this year I got into a game for my first time and immediately saw how it could impact the classroom in a powerful way. Tap Zoo is a virtual zoo application that allows a player to grow his/her own zoo. The player will manage the animals placed in the zoo and have the opportunity to collect revenue for each animal and revenue generating object used to enhance the decode of the zoo environment. Some animals generate more revenue than others so how you spend your money and calculate your profit determines the success of your zoo.

What I did was download the app to my iPad and found an animal buying guide (http://tapzooguide.com/animals) to post to a Google Doc to create a discussion board. Then we held a discussion surrounding the guide about profit. We looked at the animals in each level that would allow us to make our investment back the quickest. Then we developed a strategy and timetable for making our purchases. Then I let the kids grow the zoo. The students used Google docs to collaborate on ideas and document the expansion of the zoo. As a class they decided on who the buyers would be, who would be in charge of breeding, who would cross-breeding (mixing of the animals to create more exotic creatures and sometimes highly profitable) and finally they chose designers who would be responsible for not only the upkeep of the zoo (you have to clean the zoo), but would also try to make the zoo look good.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Drop it Like It's Hot

Ok, ok... I know it has been a while since I have lade down some technology knowledge for classroom use, but since my MacBook was stolen in October, I've been sort of lost in space and I'm just now finding myself. Sad part about the entire fiasco was loosing so many personal items like photos that I hadn't had the opportunity to upload elsewhere. The cool thing is, I was still able to grab a ton of files, music and important work documents because I use a cloud storage device.

Let me introduce you, if you haven't been already formally acquainted to Dropbox. Dropbox allows you to get rid of the flash drive and always have your information readily accessible on all device that you have it loaded to, or from any computer that has online capability. Folders can be shared with anyone you like, and you and your cohorts can utilize the same documents from anywhere. Here in Mesquite ISD we have a teacher share folder, but the problem is, you can only access the folder from the Mesquite ISD server. With dropbox, you can start working on a project at work, save it to Dropbox, open it at home then share it will a colleague just by dropping it in your shared folder. Your colleagues can see exactly when you upload the document to the folder or even when someone makes changes as soon as it is dropped. Collaboration made easy!

The really cool thing about Dropbox is deleting file. My wonderful thief and new owner of my macbook attempted to delete all my files that were stored in Dropbox. However, I accessed my Dropbox account online and I was able to restore all my deleted files. If an item is deleted from any device, your online account will archive the file just in case you didn't truly mean to delete it in the first place. Hallelujah!

Check out the video for more info, then ditch the flash drive (that you loose so many times anyway) and drop a Dropbox on your device today!