Tech Project 2-Screencast

For this project, I expanded on my last screencast that I made to teach two high needs students how to write a 5 sentence paragraph using the analogy of a hamburger. I again showed my last screencast and told them that this time they were going to create their own. Students first went through the writing process and then created their screencasts. They then presented them to one another and gave each other some stars letting them know what they liked. Both boys loved making their screencasts and when they were finished asked when they were going to be able to make another. The screencast were very simple for them to make and they were able to do a lot of it independently. It's great when I can find something that motivates, engages, and excites the students that I work with because so many times that is a large piece of what they are struggling with. Next time instead of just recording their voices I will have them add some writing to it as well.

TECH PROJECT-SYMBALOO (JUMP CODE BZGX)

I made a Symbaloo for my Special Education students. After seeing Erin's from class I thought that it would be beneficial for many of my students. My students work at different paces and some may finish way ahead of others. It is often difficult and time consuming (especially for the littles) for them to search the web and try to find a site that is educational and appropriate. They usually find one and stick with it. Using the Symbaloo makes it more tailored to their needs and gives them a variety of sites to explore. It is very easy to use. All they need to do is go to the LPS webpage, put in the jump code and there it is! Super easy and kids are already used to using jump codes. Students also use the Symbaloo in my classroom as a reinforcement to complete work and meet behavioral goals. Again students are still on sites that I have chosen for them, tailoring them to their needs, and keeping them educational. I have them organized by subject matter and am going to add more to the webmix and then categorize them by subject matter and grade level.

I found Symbaloo very simple to use and not too time consuming. I was able to get onto other's webmixes and find different websites that I thought would be appropriate for my students as well as searching myself. I hope to make a Symbaloo that focuses on NeSA practice skills.My Symbaloo is a work in progress as I continue to find websites that I like and are meaningful.

Collaborative Project with ELL/Special Education teachers/and Graduate Student 

Shadow Puppet/Persuasive Presentations

Together the adults met to discuss how we were going to teach the lesson, use the app Shadow Puppet, and the process involved. We started by using keynote presentation to introduce the project to the students. Carlie (from class) came in to help me with my special education students. I was also fortunate to have a student teacher to assist with making the Shadow Puppet videos. The students were paired with an adult to help them search for pictures and record their report into Shadow Puppet.

My student teacher and I created a Shadow Puppet first so that we could play around with the app and see exactly what we needed to tell the students and show them. It was definitely a must to play around with the app first so that we felt comfortable with it. Before beginning the shadow puppet we first showed ours and told the students that they were going to make something similar using their persuasive reports.

This was how the process began: First students wrote their persuasive essays/paragraphs with support from classroom teachers and us. Students then edited their essays and typed them on the computers. They were then given directions  to highlight 2 or 3 key words for each paragraph. These key words were going to be the pictures that they would be searching for on their Shadow Puppet. Students had a good time searching for pictures, were highly  motivated, and engaged. After finding the pictures they typed in key words onto their pictures that went with their picture/paragraph. When all pictures and writing were complete they were ready to record their voices by reading their persuasive essays. A quiet place was needed to record their choices because it picked up a lot of background noise. I found it frustrating that if a mistake was made while recording they were not able to redo that specific page but they had to go all the way back to the beginning and start over with their recording. After finishing the project, students presented them to their classroom peers. They were excited and proud to present them and it took out some of the jitters of having to stand in front of a large group of their peers. 

This was an easy lesson to adapt and modify for different learners within the classroom. I would like to have students do another Shadow Puppet now that they are familiar with the process and feel more comfortable with it and see if students would be able to do more independently.

Screencast/Graphic Organizer

Screencast
For my screencast I used Educreations. I created a video on how to write a paragraph using  the analogy of putting a hamburger together. This was my first attempt of using Educreations in this manner. Therefore it took me quite awhile to put the video together. However, once I got going and was able to get my first couple of pages put together it moved quicker.

When recording my voice on the video I couldn't figure out how to rerecord just one page. I made quite a few errors while recording and had to delete all previous pages just to edit one. I then had to put all the slides back to the video pages to create another draft. This was time consuming and frustrating when all I really needed to do was rerecord one page. I plan to use this video with two of my fourth grade students needing modifications in the area of writing.

I read the article on flipped classrooms and it had some interesting points. However, with the students that I work with I do not see how that would be possible. Some my not have access to technology at home and/or parents that can take the time to help their students access the information. Majority of these students would not be able to access this information independently either because of their age and/or disability. That is why I plan to use this video in the classroom first as an introduction to the lesson and then to refer back to the video when completing their paragraphs step by step.
After watching the video the students would then complete the graphic organizer before writing their paragraphs.

Below is the link to the video.

https://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/hamburger-paragraph/30235221/?s=GOn5Nr&ref=appemail    


Graphic Organizer
After watching the video we would complete a graphic organizer together using the organizer that I created on Inspirations. From that organizer we would then write our paragraph referring back to the video sentence by sentence.

When making the organizer, I tried to make it look like the hamburger and toppings that was used in the video. The kids would give me the information for the organizer and I would type onto it.  After a couple of guided practice opportunities the students would then attempt to fill in their own organizer and develop their paragraphs. Making this organizer on Inspirations was quite simple, but I am not sure if my two 4th grade students would be able to put it together without taking up too much of instructional time.

Therefore, I still have a couple of questions. I found a better picture of a hamburger and was able to upload it onto Inspirations, but the text boxes covered most of the hamburger and made it difficult to see. I wish there was some way to type in the text boxes and then delete just the boxes when done typing. Secondly, I am not sure if I can save this as a template, send it to my email, and save it on another  I-Pad so that both students can be using it at the same time and I don't have to keep recreating when students are ready to start a new organizer. Even though I think it would have been just as easy to print off an organizer that would be useful, I think my kids would enjoy using the technology to create their organizers (depending on the amount of time) and be more engaged in the lesson.

With these same students I am interested in trying to have them create a digital paragraph. I would be like to see if there paragraphs improved if they first created them digitally and then had the paragraph played back to them so they could write their paragraph  sentence by sentence. My students sometimes get so caught up in the spelling, spacing, legibility. etc...that they become so frustrated and produce minimal work and/or shut down. I would be curious to see if creating their paragraph digitally first would lessen their stress and produce a better product. This strategy is something I have not thought of before except with dragon dictation which often times does not translate well when students have speech/language needs.

Below is the organizer I created:

Solomon's Story

After watching the video Solomon's Story about on-line searching it made me realize that maybe students have really never been taught how to search for something particular that they are looking for. I have assumed that since they have been working with technology for such a long time that searching for a topic would be simple enough, but maybe not.

Fourth quarter my fourth quarters will be doing research on a famous person. I can see myself showing this video to them before we begin researching. It will help them use key words and phrases to look for more specific information rather than just using their names.  It will also discuss with them that there is a lot out there on the internet and not all sites can be trusted and it will help them know how to find the most reliable sources.

I am glad that you introduced us to these articles/videos because I think there are many of them that I can actually use with my kiddos.

#SPED MATH TWITTER CHAT

This was my first time on a twitter chat and it was quite interesting. I decided to chat on SPED MATH and found it fairly easy to find the chat and get logged on.. There were probably about 20 others on the chat from all over the country. I liked that when we first logged on we were asked to let the group know where we were from and what grade levels/subjects we taught. Many of the topics covered were about how to decide what to teach our students in comparison to what was being taught in the regular classroom as well as the pacing for sped students. I commented quite a few times in regards to the pacing and how quickly we teach objectives and move on to the next not allowing students time to even understand/practice/process the material. Most of the group agreed that the pacing is extremely fast and that it hinders our students from learning the material and the many objectives that are taught. This belief was across all grade levels and it was nice to see that others all over the country are struggling with the same issues. Overall this was a great experience and I would like to try another one soon.

Creating vs. Consumption

In this weeks reading I found it interesting in reading about using technology mainly for consumption and not so much for creating. As I examined how I have used technology in my classroom I soon realized that I was guilty for using it for mainly consumption and "finding" information.
As a special education teacher and seeing students for only a short time during the school day it is often difficult to deviate from what the classroom is doing as my role is usually to support students with their class work. However, at this time students are beginning to explore persuasive essays. This was a great time for me to integrate the technology into something they are already doing, but present it in a different way. When they begin to write their own essays, students will first use technology as consumption and locate factual information to support their thesis. They will write that information into their graphic organizers. When they are ready to write their essays, they can either write it with paper/pencil or use the word processor. After completing the essays all students will present their essays to the class. Many of my students are uncomfortable standing and sharing information in front of their peers so this is when they will use the technology to "create." Students will use "Shadow Puppet" to find pictures that would support their opinion. The students will then read their essay and record it to match with the pictures. This is how they will make their presentation and hope to ease their anxiety of standing in front of their classmates to present. I hope that we can also share these with their families through email. I look forward to exploring this with my students.