Grades 2 Spreadsheet

Microsoft Excel is a great tool for teachers to use in the classroom.  It is a fast and easy way to keep a grade book.  I've used Excel and its formulas before, but I didn't know just how much you could do with it.  During this activity, I learned how to use brackets to weight different parts of a score.  I also learned how to use the IF function to assign a letter grade to a numerical grade.  And I learned that you can use the COUNTIF function to count how many of each letter grades you have.  I think this tool will be very useful to me as a teacher.  I will be able to just set up the formulas and plug in the grades, and it will calculate the averages and letter grades for me.   This will really save on time.

Here is a link to my published spreadsheet.

I believe the ISTE NETS standard for this activity is: 3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning, because it involves using a digital tool to analyze and evaluate information.

Google Calendar

Google Calendar is a great tool for teachers, students, and parents to utilize in the classroom.  As a teacher, you can set up a calendar to let students and parents know what is going on, such as project due dates, school trips, parent-teacher meetings, etc.  Below is the calendar I created using Google Calendar.



I believe the ISTE NETS standard for this activity is: 3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning, because the teacher is communicating relevant information with students and parents using a digital tool.

Google Forms

Google Forms is a quick and convenient tool to gather information from a group of people.  For my form, I used Google Docs to create a survey that can be sent to parents/guardians to inquire about their interest in helping with classroom holiday parties.

Here are the links for my online form and published spreadsheet.

Google Forms are easy to share.  They can be sent directly in an email to friends, family, colleagues, etc. Recipients don't need to log in to complete the form, unless you specify that when creating the survey, for extra security.  Published forms and spreadsheets can be viewed by anyone with the link.  The unpublished spreadsheet can be set to private, so that only the creator can view it, or, set to public so that anyone with the link can view it.

I believe the ISTE NETS standard for this activity would be: 2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments, because the students are using a digital tool to create their own assessment or survey.

Shortening URLs

URL Shortening is a technique that is used on the Internet, in which a provider takes an original, long URL and makes the web page available as a short URL.  For example, I took the URL http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Dragon-Tattoo-Stieg-Larsson/dp/0307454541/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1308859031&sr=1-1 and shortened it to http://amzn.to/jpfLU3.  This service is important because long URLs can be inconvenient.  They take up a lot of space when posting, and can break when sent in an email.  Some of the most widely used providers of this service are bitly, tinyurl, is.gd, and nxy.  To shorten my URL, I used bitly. 

I believe the ISTE NETS standard for this activity is: 3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning, because the students are using a digital tool to enhance their learning.

Reading Week 4

The link to my published document answering the question for week 4 is here

Online Graphing Tools

In this activity I compared WV's math and reading scores to the National average.  I took the data that I found here and used Kids Zone to create charts to display the information.  In my first document I presented data for WV's 4th grade math scores compared to the National average.  I presented the chart in a way that showed WV is struggling and falling behind the National average and that additional funding is needed to address the problem.  In my second document I presented data for WV's 8th grade reading scores compared to the National average.  Even though WV is considerably behind the National average, I presented the chart in a way that made it seem not as bad. 

This activity is a great way to show students how you can manipulate data in a chart to say what you want it to say.  You can change the scale to make differences seem less severe or more positive.

I believe the ISTE NETS standard for this activity is: 1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity, because students are using real world issues to gather knowledge, and using technology to present the information.  They are also using their creativity when deciding how to format and display their charts.

Web Survey

Using the Zoomerang website, I created a web survey on the usage of e-books.  You can take my survey here.  There is also a link to the survey on my link list at the bottom of my blog.

I think this tool would be great for the classroom as either an online assessment of students or a way to obtain their views/experiences of a subject.  I believe the ISTE NETS standard for this would be:  2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments.

Reading Week 3

I created a google document for the questions pertaining to week 3, which can be found here

Word Cloud

Using Wordle I created the word cloud below using the text from the Pledge of Allegiance:

I really like this tool; it would allow students to be creative when working with different subject matter.  I think visual learners would benefit from it.  They could take text or quotes they are learning and view them in multiple ways.  I think the ISTE NETS standard for this would be:  1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity, because it inspires creativity and imagination.

Jing Screencast

Using the Jing Software I created the screencast below that demonstrates how to make a graph from a data table and also how to format the data table using Microsoft Excel.  You can also view my screencast online here

I think this would be a good tool to use in the classroom because it could save you a lot of time.  When you are teaching a new technology concept it can take a while to be able to show each student individually how to do something.  With Jing, each student would be able to view the demonstrations on their own.  I believe the ISTE NETS standard for this is:  3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning, because the screencast supports the students learning.

Jing Image

I used the Jing Software to capture and create this image to teach students proper citation of a website.  I started by capturing the image of the citation, and then used the text and arrow tools in Jing to show students where each piece of information goes.

A link to my Jing Image on the web can be found here

I would use this tool in the classroom when I needed to highlight certain aspects of an image.  It is a good way to draw a student's attention to an important detail or provide additional information about an image.  I think visual learners would find this helpful.  I believe the ISTE NETS standard for this is:  3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning, because you are using a digital tool to communicate information to a student. 

Self Portrait

Using the website PicassoHead I created a self portrait in the style of Pablo Picasso:

The link to my portrait in the online gallery can be found here

The website features many creative and interesting characteristics that you can use to create your portrait.  And after you have created one, you can save it in their online gallery.  For your portrait you can add the features to the face, make them bigger or smaller, and even change the color.  Using this tool was fairly simple, but I did have a little trouble at first with positioning features where I wanted them, so I just played around with it until I got the hang of it.

I think this would be a really fun art activity for students.  I believe they would really enjoy it and at the same time be learning about digital art.  I think the ISTE NETS standard for this would be:  1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity, because they are using their imagination.

Snipping Tool

I used the snipping tool  on my desktop to capture this image of the browser statistics for 2010-2011.  If I were teaching students about the browser wars, I would use this chart so that they could see the percentage of people who use the different web browsers.

This snipping tool is very convenient and easy to use.  I like it a lot better than copying and pasting an image, because sometimes those images come out distorted and some images you aren't able to copy.  I would definately show this tool to students for when they needed to save an image or place it in a document they're working on.  I believe the ISTE NETS standard for this is:  3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning, because it is a tool that supports student learning.

Reading Week 2

Here is a link to my google document that I created addressing the questions from the article...Week 2