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.