Geometry on
Friday, April 23, 2010
Perzi Presentation
This presentation was created at http://www.prezi.com/. If you are sick of the same old PowerPoint transitions and slide format try this cool tool.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Photosynth IS COOL!
Photosynth
This is totally awesome! Photosynth allows you to see a “stitched” view of the world. The website takes still photos of the world. They take insects, museums, and just about anything that you want to look at and puts it in an interactive web environment. It is very similar to Google Maps. You can click on an image and it will link you to another image that follows.
You can also be a contributor to the website. You need to install some software to your PC and then you can start stitching the world together.
I can see this being used in the classroom by students who just took a field trip. Often as a teacher I refer back to the trip to teach. “Remember when we saw,” can now be accompanied by a realistic trip back to the location of the trip.
Chuck
This is totally awesome! Photosynth allows you to see a “stitched” view of the world. The website takes still photos of the world. They take insects, museums, and just about anything that you want to look at and puts it in an interactive web environment. It is very similar to Google Maps. You can click on an image and it will link you to another image that follows.
You can also be a contributor to the website. You need to install some software to your PC and then you can start stitching the world together.
I can see this being used in the classroom by students who just took a field trip. Often as a teacher I refer back to the trip to teach. “Remember when we saw,” can now be accompanied by a realistic trip back to the location of the trip.
Chuck
Friday, March 26, 2010
Make Belief Comix
www.makebeliefcomix.com
Awesome!!! I loved this website. The characters are created. The ease of use to manipulate the scenes is simple. The best thing is that the students are able to use their own voice to make the characters come alive.
On a slow Friday after the normal tests were completed I had the students go into the computer lab and create some comics. They loved it. Usually when I take them in to the lab and tell them that we are going to do some creative writing, the boys begin and minor revolt. I usually have trouble keeping them focused on their tasks at hand.
This time it was different they went into the lab and I shared with them a quick tutorial about the website, and turned them loose. It was great. They were trying to outdo each other and spent some serious time developing their characters. Now can I just get a reproduction of this on ISTEP!
The best part is once the students finished the projects they just emailed it to me. It also required them to put the first and last name, something I rarely get on any thing turned in to me.
This link shows an example a student created, and I do hate tapping!
Awesome!!! I loved this website. The characters are created. The ease of use to manipulate the scenes is simple. The best thing is that the students are able to use their own voice to make the characters come alive.
On a slow Friday after the normal tests were completed I had the students go into the computer lab and create some comics. They loved it. Usually when I take them in to the lab and tell them that we are going to do some creative writing, the boys begin and minor revolt. I usually have trouble keeping them focused on their tasks at hand.
This time it was different they went into the lab and I shared with them a quick tutorial about the website, and turned them loose. It was great. They were trying to outdo each other and spent some serious time developing their characters. Now can I just get a reproduction of this on ISTEP!
The best part is once the students finished the projects they just emailed it to me. It also required them to put the first and last name, something I rarely get on any thing turned in to me.
This link shows an example a student created, and I do hate tapping!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Emerging Technology 2: Prezi
I have found that PowerPoint presentations in the classroom have really spiced up my teaching. Currently our classrooms have a dukane in the ceiling that allows the teacher to present materials through the teacher's PC. To be honest, the students are already tiring of my PowerPoints and are drifting. Thank you for that Nintendo. My students have the attention span of a Labrador.
If you are in the same boat as I am you might want to try PREZI. This is a presentation tool that will spark up your classroom presentations. The program takes some practice to get the hang of. But, if you stick with it you can make some fantastic shows. It is like PowerPoint meets the creative software of a Mac. Sorry PC users this will not take the place of a quality Mac machine but it will help you add some flavor to you drab presentations.
The Basics
You can upload pictures in to a presentation and add text. Then you create a flow to your presentation. I quickly sat down and created or started a show about my son. I think that PREZI will be the cheese that I can dangle in front of my students to get them to Spring Break.
If you are in the same boat as I am you might want to try PREZI. This is a presentation tool that will spark up your classroom presentations. The program takes some practice to get the hang of. But, if you stick with it you can make some fantastic shows. It is like PowerPoint meets the creative software of a Mac. Sorry PC users this will not take the place of a quality Mac machine but it will help you add some flavor to you drab presentations.
The Basics
You can upload pictures in to a presentation and add text. Then you create a flow to your presentation. I quickly sat down and created or started a show about my son. I think that PREZI will be the cheese that I can dangle in front of my students to get them to Spring Break.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Module 4-2 Digital Literacy
Making Everyday a Technology Day
Mary Scroggs Elementary is ready for the 21st Century Skills. Good thing too, in case you didn't know we are already 10 years into the 21st century. This school is not find ways to use technology as an aide to teaching. It is use technology to as a tool for learning. The students don't just go to the computer lab to type papers, or learn a new form of technology. Rather the students are immersed in the technology as it is being used in the real 21st century world.
The technology is being use to understand, evaluate, and analyze their world. The technology is being use to apply knowledge and create a rich learning experience for not only students, but teachers and parents as well.
What's the Price of Censorship?
Great question. Let's ask Google and China.
I looked at the title of this article and my liberalism came flooding out. How dare someone take away the right of free press. Then my conservative right side of my brain began to fight back. In the blog post Grace Rubenstein stated that a school newspaper was not allowed to print an article about a recent superintendent's resignation. The school stated that inaccurate details and lack of evidence were to reasons behind the restriction of publication.
Grace points out that the school should let the students publish and if then the article is indeed invalid the students will learn how to retract a statement. She compares it to trying to learn science with out experimentation. Good point, but do we just give the student a chunk of uranium and say have at it?
Mary Scroggs Elementary is ready for the 21st Century Skills. Good thing too, in case you didn't know we are already 10 years into the 21st century. This school is not find ways to use technology as an aide to teaching. It is use technology to as a tool for learning. The students don't just go to the computer lab to type papers, or learn a new form of technology. Rather the students are immersed in the technology as it is being used in the real 21st century world.
The technology is being use to understand, evaluate, and analyze their world. The technology is being use to apply knowledge and create a rich learning experience for not only students, but teachers and parents as well.
What's the Price of Censorship?
Great question. Let's ask Google and China.
I looked at the title of this article and my liberalism came flooding out. How dare someone take away the right of free press. Then my conservative right side of my brain began to fight back. In the blog post Grace Rubenstein stated that a school newspaper was not allowed to print an article about a recent superintendent's resignation. The school stated that inaccurate details and lack of evidence were to reasons behind the restriction of publication.
Grace points out that the school should let the students publish and if then the article is indeed invalid the students will learn how to retract a statement. She compares it to trying to learn science with out experimentation. Good point, but do we just give the student a chunk of uranium and say have at it?
Digital Ethics
Howard Gardner and Digital Media
I am curious!
What are the ethics behind your experience with digital media? Or what beliefs did this video challenge about your thoughts of digital media?
When I listened to Mr. Gardner share his thoughts about the ethics in digital media. I thought about the what is now a yearly experience. I usually get a letter, email, or phone call from a parent informing me that another student in the class posted something threatening on the web towards their child. The problem is that the two students don’t see each other face to face until they get to school. At home online, muscles seem bigger, bravery skyrockets, and friends peer over the shoulder encouraging the bullying.
So where do we teach the students the ethics about digital media. Well from Mr. Gardner's point of view we need something like a cybermentor. I think that teachers should be cybermentors in social networking sites. Teacher's and parents should be the digital role models for the students. When the students witness the ethical use of digital media by adults in their real world, they can then apply those ethical skills to the ambiguous digital world.
MY GOAL: Teach netiquette to the students in my class. I will be their cybermentor on Facebook and other sources of digital media.
I am curious!
What are the ethics behind your experience with digital media? Or what beliefs did this video challenge about your thoughts of digital media?
When I listened to Mr. Gardner share his thoughts about the ethics in digital media. I thought about the what is now a yearly experience. I usually get a letter, email, or phone call from a parent informing me that another student in the class posted something threatening on the web towards their child. The problem is that the two students don’t see each other face to face until they get to school. At home online, muscles seem bigger, bravery skyrockets, and friends peer over the shoulder encouraging the bullying.
So where do we teach the students the ethics about digital media. Well from Mr. Gardner's point of view we need something like a cybermentor. I think that teachers should be cybermentors in social networking sites. Teacher's and parents should be the digital role models for the students. When the students witness the ethical use of digital media by adults in their real world, they can then apply those ethical skills to the ambiguous digital world.
MY GOAL: Teach netiquette to the students in my class. I will be their cybermentor on Facebook and other sources of digital media.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Storybird
I "jumped in" and will be keeping a journal as I tool around and try to make a story about fractions. I hope that if I make a story that is engaging enough I will only have to teach reducing fractions 10,000 more times this year.
Oh No! No spell check. I will love to see what the students spell in their storybird story. I guess I need to get my journal of What Students Said or Wrote ready.
Okay this program lends itself to including dialogue. The hilarious characters that you can put in the story are just begging to get a voice. I am having a blast making them come to life.
I am having trouble focusing on putting the math content in and not focusing on the plot of the story.
I think I am going to scrap this book and focus on literacy (boo!)
check it out and sign up. It's FREE!
www.storybird.com
Oh No! No spell check. I will love to see what the students spell in their storybird story. I guess I need to get my journal of What Students Said or Wrote ready.
Okay this program lends itself to including dialogue. The hilarious characters that you can put in the story are just begging to get a voice. I am having a blast making them come to life.
I am having trouble focusing on putting the math content in and not focusing on the plot of the story.
I think I am going to scrap this book and focus on literacy (boo!)
check it out and sign up. It's FREE!
www.storybird.com
Friday, January 29, 2010
Check Out My Bookmarks
The following are a list of my 20 favorite bookmarks. If you want to post your top bookmarks you can go to www.delecious.com and sign up for free. After about 10-15 minutes of playing around you will ge the hang of it. Remember your weblink, it will be something like www.delicious.com/firstlastnames. Then post it to the comments and we call all check them out, to decide if you are worthy of praise or not.
My Link is at www.delicious.com/chuckcowley
My Link is at www.delicious.com/chuckcowley
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Welcome to the Chapel Glen Blog
What is the purpose of this blog?
The vision that teachers in the K-6 arena can visit this blog and post their best practices, cool things they have tried in their class that succeeded and not so cool that that have failed miserably. We all have those days. This blog can be a place where we share what feel and think are the next best things that we need to do in our classrooms to help students achieve. Finally, this blog can be a place where we come to laugh about and share events that have happened in our classrooms. We all could use a bit more joy.
Why did I create this blog?
One late night while taking a break from reading and meditating about my future a vision of the future struck me. I saw Pam Elliott and June Dwoark sitting down blogging to each other about one of June's latest escapades through Europe. I took this epiphany and ran with it. Just kidding, I have to do it for a class.
You might say, "Who Cares"
Well I would say to you, "Quack, Quack." I could have made a blog about my children. But to be honest, who really would care to read that. My family might, but they get to hear about and see my family on a regular schedule. I would hope that you will post some of your writings here. I know that we are doing great things here at Chapel Glen and at least I know that I am interested in knowing what other teachers are doing. I think that is a dialogue that is dieing in our rushed school day.
The vision that teachers in the K-6 arena can visit this blog and post their best practices, cool things they have tried in their class that succeeded and not so cool that that have failed miserably. We all have those days. This blog can be a place where we share what feel and think are the next best things that we need to do in our classrooms to help students achieve. Finally, this blog can be a place where we come to laugh about and share events that have happened in our classrooms. We all could use a bit more joy.
Why did I create this blog?
One late night while taking a break from reading and meditating about my future a vision of the future struck me. I saw Pam Elliott and June Dwoark sitting down blogging to each other about one of June's latest escapades through Europe. I took this epiphany and ran with it. Just kidding, I have to do it for a class.
You might say, "Who Cares"
Well I would say to you, "Quack, Quack." I could have made a blog about my children. But to be honest, who really would care to read that. My family might, but they get to hear about and see my family on a regular schedule. I would hope that you will post some of your writings here. I know that we are doing great things here at Chapel Glen and at least I know that I am interested in knowing what other teachers are doing. I think that is a dialogue that is dieing in our rushed school day.
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