Week 5 Blog

This presentation was about the composition of matter. It was created as a beginning to matter in the 8th grade. Many of the students have studied matter and the composition of matter but always need a refresher course in the main aspects of matter. When a student is asked "What is Matter?" They will often answer with liquid, gas, solid, and plasma. Although this is the correct answer, there is much more information they must know in order to move into a more detailed investigation of chemical science.


I have never used transitions in my PPTs. I do not like them because it takes my students so long to take notes from lengthy presentations. I try hard to provide to my students the easiest note-taking experience but its not always possible. For this presentation, I like that my colors are easy on the eye and the material is brief but heavy. Also, in the PPT, I created instances where the students are required to collaborate and then come back as an entire class. This is always important at the middle school level. I did find two slides where I can use transitions to provide the necessary material and they worked great.

I would like to provide real life examples (pictures or video) of how the students should be separating their mixtures. I would also embed a video into the PPT but for this particular lesson, there was no time to add a video.

My students didn't realize they were being presented with notes and information. I had many facts in the presentation that were interesting and well-taken. My students also seemed to like the collaboration within the presentation. It helped to keep their attention when a normal note-taking assignment would be met with groans of pain!

I use PPT with my students whenever I can. I try to use all forms of Microsoft Office including Publisher with my students. I allowed my students to use PPT when creating their science experiment but only if they were not interested in showing at the district science fair. I am not a fan of multiple black on bright colors or transitions and my students know this. Some of them, because of this expectation, like to do their work on poster board.

One final thing I would like to mention about my PPT. I did not use a lot of photos. I once read that sensory overload diminishes the learning capabilities of the student in the classroom. I use as little photos as possible but instead fill in moments of collaboration between my students and videos that can increase student knowledge.

Technology Explorations 17-20

Digital Passport

Digital Passport are web-based games and videos meant to be used by 3^rd through 5^th grade students. This is a website that is intended to be used for independent learning. There are many different modules that focus on digital safety, respect and community. Each Module teaches the students something different about digital citizenship. There is a communication, privacy, cyberbullying, search, and how to credit module. Each module has a video, tests, and materials the teacher can assign to her class for completion. 

There is an Edmodo app that can be used with Edmodo. There is a new edition coming out that will allow students to use the website on their iPad’s or on student cell phones. An elementary school teacher or maybe 6^th grade teacher could use these teach technology awareness. The students can watch videos, answer questions on printed PDF handouts, and take quizzes to show their content mastery. Because the students are able to see what they have done and a printable poster is available, students will be excited about completing the modules.

As a teacher, digital citizenship is always important. As I discussed in a previous discussion post, I set rules for my students when in the computer lab or in the classroom. I am often asking my students to use their phones for research purposes and require them to follow all the rules. This website, although age appropriate only for 6^th grade and below, can be beneficial to the classroom and the teacher. It is not content based but does help to create digital citizenship and falls in the guidelines of common core and the national education for technology standards for students. If time is an issue in the classroom, this can also be used outside the classroom as homework.

Professor Garfield

Professor Garfield is a website that focuses its attention on creating literacy for all children. This is a completely free website that caters to students up to grade 8. It promotes literacy in the form of materials and educational computer links. There are instructional materials available to teachers and parents in an effort to get all students, regardless of their disability, reading and writing. For each grade there are a multitude of different games and activities the students can play. For example, one game at the 8^th grade level allowed me to play against other players or Professor Garfield. The questions asked were of a trivia type of question. Many of the questions were facts based on common core goals.

I would use this in any level prior to 8^th grade. There are very limited games or instructional opportunities for 8^th grade but the three I played with helped to master content based learning. There are comic strips, trivia games, music videos, interactive content for learning disorders and dyslexia, and for the older children – a career section. Because the kids can compete with one another, a room could be set up where students ask a series of questions and compete for highest score. Competition at any level is great!

I would recommend this resource but only on a limited type use. Although the content matches national requirements, there is not determined content area. As a science teacher, I want my students to learn what I am teaching in my designated time. For this grade level – and for other grade levels – this type of separation is necessary. The website is free, there are many resources, and many links but I don’t find it to be acceptable for classroom use on a regular basis.

KidsHealth

KidsHealth is a website teaching health to students. This website offers teachers free lesson plans to teach students about health and eating right. There are experiments provided to help students understand the effects of certain foods on their bodies. All the lessons include standards that follow with the national standards. All Questions are written in language appropriate for the grade level and allow teachers to use this is as a guide in teaching students the required content.

There are tips on the website that help the teacher to use this website in the classroom. The first is to share articles with students that are related to the health of the child. These articles could be used for core writing in the classroom. This website is a great way to share news with parents, coordinate with other educators including nurses, coaches, and counselors. Because cross-curriculum education is so important, this website can be used to support this type of learning environment.

I would recommend this website to any educator looking for some type of lesson in regards to the body of a teen and younger person. The resources are great and also offer quizzes to be used in the classroom after a lesson is given. The resource is absolutely free and can be used from any computer lab if the teacher is looking for something technology based.

Remind 101

Remind 101 was designed to assist teachers in their communication needs with students and their parents. Because communication is one of the largest problems between teachers and parents, this website allows the teacher to send a bulk text to all in the group for reminders and assignments due.  This is a safe way to extend the classroom outside the brick and mortar without the normal problem with exchanging phone numbers and such.

Remind 101 can be used in just about every school setting. For the middle school and above students, the teacher can send a class reminder for upcoming assignments or needed supplies for an up-coming assignment. Because the classroom often ends at the end of the students’ class period, it can be impossible to contact students for reminders. For my classroom – I use Remind 101 to remind about studying and supplies the students may need.

I recommend, from experience, the use of Remind 101. Many schools do not agree with the use of Remind 101 because they have an all-call system in place. In my past school, I had to explain that Remind 101 was completely different and safe. When I needed to connect with my students on a Sunday night, I was able to send a message. It is a phenomenal source that allows the students to be connected outside of the classroom.

Technology Explorations 13-16

Scootpad

Scootpad is an online classroom similar to the blackboard system we use for college classes. This is also similar to the program Edmodo that we researched in the past. There are some differences besides the platform. Scootpad is a site that allows the students to practice all common core standards for both reading and math. For the teacher, real time results can be investigated and detailed up to the minute progress can be seen. This is available for grades K-5. There are many features offered to the students. A teacher can track behaviors, create plans for engagement, create assignments and homework and projects for students to complete.

This program can be useful for all elementary classrooms. The common core is built into the system for ELA/Reading, spelling, and math. Students can be given certain assignments that need to be completed at home or during spare classroom time. I saw other uses such as when students finish early in the classroom. A teacher can set up centers that allow the usage of a particular assignment using technology in the normal classroom and as mentioned above - homework assignments.

For the K-5 student, I think this program is useful. Since it does have the common core for these grade levels, it can be used to increase student knowledge. There are rewards to provide incentives, the teacher can communicate with the student and watch the student as they work through a problem.There are built-in messages for ease of providing an incentive to the students. Students are not allowed to talk with one another which helps decrease wasted time. Overall, the price is free for the basic program and could be beneficial for this grade level but not for an entire district use.

Photopeach

First off, Photopeach has been highlighted by the Discovery Educator Network. There are many ways to use this program. For the library, you can introduce upcoming books with the image of the covers, for the ESL class for vocabulary use, in the technology class, and as an assessment tool. This program is used by educators and students all around the world. It is a place to create slideshows of different things done in the classroom. It is best used for collaborative group work when created by the educator.

Photopeach can be used as a station or center on the smartboard. It helps to reinforce techniques learned during a demonstration or information presented to the class. For learning concepts, this program will allow the teacher or students to create a presentation that requires the students to answer questions on the smart board by choosing a particular answer. A timer can be set up to time the students on their answers. This is an interactive program that can be used by all students. Review of tested material is one way I would use this in the classroom.

If I had a smartboard in my classroom, I would use this as a station. The price is a little high for the teacher salary. For a district, it could be quite high in price. For the medium it is 25 dollars a month for 150 students. For the free account, unlimited photos and documents are not allowed. The teacher would probably need to use the class premium and this is the expensive one. For a district, this may not be feasible. The use of smart board accessories may be the best way to go. I would still use it if it were provided.

Storybird

Storybird's are short, comic strip-like stories that students can make and share with others. This website makes it easy for students to tell a story using digital media. Students and teachers can create stories by combining pictures and text. When using this, the students can print their books, watch it on a projected screen or share with others. Storybird helps to get kids writing and helps them to work in teams to create a document for all to see. This can be used at home or in the classroom and is good for all ages - even adults!

Storybird can be used in any classroom to create a story about something the students are learning or for the purpose of reading and writing. Since creating short stories are part of a state's curriculum or student's portfolio, this can be used as a required task. In the art class, students can create digitalized images to be shared with others. These can be simple or more detailed for use in a child's story book. This is great - as I mentioned earlier - for use in any classroom. For the science classroom, I would use this to create a comic strip about the laws of motion - a child's book I already use but make it digital.

I would give this a two thumbs up. This program looks fun to use and the program looks easy. Although the larger program is not free, it is worth the cost. I love that there are many options for use, it is safe, and kids can receive feedback from those that read their story. Kids are imaginative by nature and allowing the student that can't draw but has a vivid imagination, the opportunity to create something with graphics is high on my list. One final thing about this website - students at the high school level or above can add graphics they have created and make a commission off these images.

Wordle

I have always wondered how people made posters with random words on them - and the time it took to make said posters. This is where this can be done! Wordle is a website that allows the user to use a list of words to create a presentation that is full of key words used in a particular topic. The user can use any list of words and can change the colors and fonts of the words in the Wordle. Wordle was created by a single individual and is free to use. It is difficult to print large copies of this document because most schools use pc's for student use. According to the website, there can be issues with printing.

Wordle is not something that will take a long time to create. The creative process comes when the students need to change the words to match their personal style. The website allows a ton of changes to font, color, organization, addition and removal of words and such. This can be used to learn vocabulary - as a study guide for words - and for key words to be used in a science class.

I really liked this website and made my own wordle. This is something I will definitely use. I am thinking of using this to create a bulletin board of my students names for each class period. In my classroom, I have student grades posted according to their student id number. Above this is an ugly poster with their period number. I am going to remove this ugly poster and replace it with a wordle. The kids will love trying to find their name in the list of names. It will be great. I would recommend the usage of this for presentations on the walls of any classroom!

Technology Explorations 9-12

Kid Blog
Kidblog is a blog that gives kids a blogging experience in the classroom. This website is a platform that is suitable for K-12 students and allows the students to use technology without the typical interruptions found on many other sites. Kiblog allows the students to share with their peers and the global community. This is a paper-free system - something every school should work towards achieving.

This is perfect for K-12 students and according to the website, it can be used for older students as well. In the classroom, Kidblog allows the teacher complete control over the blogs and student accounts. The blogs are completely private and only viewable when made so. All comments can be blocked just as with many blogs allowing complete protection for the students. There are no personal requirements of the students.

I would recommend this program to teachers using technology as their basic teaching and learning device. In order for this to be successful, plenty of time must be provided to the students. Teachers must be willing to be diligent in looking at and monitoring student activity. It may be time consuming but looks like a good program to use - and its free!

Glogster
Glogster is a program that can be used to make interactive posters to share with other students, teachers, and friends. Students are able to use Glogster to create posters or web pages by using the drag and drop technique. It has premade pages that the kids can use when creating a glog. The company services more than 1000 schools and a million plus kids. There is a cost associated with the use of Glogster. One teacher, for free may manage up to 10 students.

This can be used to showcase what a student has learned in reading, writing, social studies, and science. The student can use this to showcase a science experiment or book report in digital format. They can share these amongst their friends. This can also be used to create web pages for things going on at the school or for extracurricular activities.

I would not recommend this to teachers that teach in excess of 40 students. Although the program seems easy, it takes work on the educators behalf to accept each and every one of the students. The cost for an educator to have more than 125 students is 390 a year and only allows 250 students. The program is unreasonable in that it only offers for one teacher 125 students. For many teachers around the nation, 125 is a dream class load.

ePals
ePals allows students to communicate with students in other parts of the world. The website offers many different products for teacher use in the classroom. Mostly this website is a portal for other companies and features these companies for purchases of their products. ePals allows the teacher to connect with another teacher and classroom that is also ready to collaborate on a lesson. This helps to build a community outside the student's community. ePal also offers E-mail to the students that allows a protection like no other. The email accounts are free as is the collaboration part of ePals.

ePals can be used to form a community with other students across the world. For the high school spanish class, a class learning English in South America may be able to help the students by pronouncing words appropriately - vice versa. For the science class, the students could collaborate with other classes in other regions of the United States that have different weather patterns or landscapes. Sharing anything in the classroom is beneficial to the learning of the students.

With the use of Facetime, Skype, and other visual technology, I'm not sure this is going to be something I would consider using in my classroom. I am familiar with Skype and tend to choose this over anything else. It is free as long as the person to which you are speaking has an account as well. Personally, I like the ease of use, the lack of commercial ads, and the sound I receive when calling. One final thing - many schools have transitioned to student emails for school. The use of an email that is not school related may cause problems with passwords and removal should a student move to another school.

PBWorks
PBWorks is a host of workspaces for students, parents, and teachers. This can be used to encourage student-centered learning and allows students to build web pages, embed images & videos, and post documents. There are tons of resources available to the teacher and staff of a school. The sharing of resources across schools can be done through this website. There are many different versions - some free some cost money.

Classroom space in PBWorks can be used to publish class notes, PPT lectures, schedules and policies and show of examples of student work. Students can work together on group projects and can create their own portfolio of work they have created. In addition, students can share and interact with other classrooms and groups on every corner of the globe.

This website is a little confusing to work through. I am savvy when it comes to technology but this website - although it offers resources, seems to be lacking the content necessary for my grade level. There are many free resources that are user friendly for sharing of resources. At many schools, there are sharing accounts over servers that allow the sharing of documents from one teacher to another. I personally wouldn't use it just because the website is terrible.

Artifact: Desktop Publishing

Articles handed to the students of a school tend to be on colorful paper, have writing that appeals to the students. Rewards or incentives are often appealing but overall, I feel most articles handed to students are boring, lackluster, and are often packed full of too much information. In addition, too many clipart images can lead to disinterest by the intended audience. Too much information on a single page or images that are blurry or unrecognizable cause a distraction and leave the document worthless.
For a brochure, flier, or offer to be recognized and valued, the writing should be clear, have a single font, and lack confusion in its creation. Color is often a good way of gaining interest - this color can be in the paper or in the writing on the paper. The flier should clearly state the goal with as few words as possible.
For this assignment, I took an original flier for a cancer benefit. The students were to bring as much change as they could and they would earn a doughnut party at the end of the benefit. This is the original and the final product.
For the final product, I added color, made the writing easy on the eyes, removed all the unnecessary photos and changed some words for ease in understanding.

 

Technology Exploration 5-8

Brain Pop

Brain Pop is a program that can be used in many K-12 classrooms. BrainPOP has animated curriculum and can be used in place where students feel bored and uninterested. BrainPOP has four different versions to help reach the audience of all schools. BrainPOP has been set up to support the whole of the child by providing complex concepts in illustration, characters that can reach the audience of those in the school and aps that help the student understand the concept being taught. All resources in BrainPOP are matched with the common core of academic standards and doesn’t require any special hardware or installation in order to be used. Additionally, BrainPOP can be used on tablets like iPads for use in the classroom on a more individualized lesson plan.

 

I have used BrainPOP in my classroom. I used it to teach science and social studies at the middle school level. There are many different subjects that can taught by using BrainPOP. A problem can exist when attempting to focus on one particular aspect of a larger topic with BrainPOP. Although a useful tool, when needing to break down material into smaller bites, BrainPOP fails miserably. This resource is used in many Kentucky schools and usually doesn’t fail to entertain the students in the classroom.

 

Although this is used in many classrooms, I’m not sure I would use it as much as others. The price to be purchased by schools is approximately 1500 dollars. If not all teachers are using this, then it doesn’t pay to have this resource. Instead of spending the money on this program, I would choose to have access to youtube where I can find resources that delve deeper into the topic I am teaching. For a younger crowd, like elementary, it may pay to have this program, for 8^th Graders, not so much. There is a minimal charge for use in one classroom. Only three computers can use this at a time, so if expecting to have the students use BrainPOP as a lesson, it will probably not work.
There is an ease of use to this program, the fee is quite high but not too high, but I would still only suggest the lower grades use it for lessons.

Kidspiration

Kidspiration is a concept-mapping product for elementary students. Originally, the program was developed for grades K-3 but it seems to be appropriate for classes up to grades 5. There is program by the same company that caters to the middle school and high school students. Kidspiration allows the students to apply what they have learned in the classroom. It seems to be very popular from the reviews read. By using kidspiration, the student can create virtual graphic organizers, concept mapping, webbing, and outlining. There is also an area where the student can use the program for plots and graphs.

I would use this program for science experiments in the classroom. After Christmas, my students will be tasked with completing an assignment that requires a type of mind-mapping. They must design plans, prove they experimented with different options, and then show how the assignment worked when finished. I would have them use this as a presentation since the program can be printed as a larger type of presentation. In comparison to a Microsoft program, the ease of use is great plus the examples provided are much more suited for education.

It is difficult to imagine purchasing this product for an entire district. For an entire lab, it is in excess of 1000 dollars and unless used on a regular basis, this could be a waste of money for the school. Upon investigation, if a purchase is made for a particular teacher or class, the teacher does receive a lesson plan book and a copy to be used at home for planning purposes (funny that they provide this - the job is never done!). I have used the trial version of the program and love it for the purpose of creating science experiments in the classroom. I have never, however, had the opportunity of planning a lesson around creating mind-mapping or webbing as an assignment. If the money was available, I would definitely create plans that require the students to complete a particular assignment by using iPad installed programs like Inspiration.

Mystery Quests

The Mystery Quests website is made for the Social Studies and Civics classroom. This is a Canadian based website that focuses on the mysteries of history that surround the country of Canada. There are many different lessons that focus on solving a particular mystery. Each lesson requires a certain skill of reasoning from the student and requires the student to follow through by a predetermined process of solving a mystery. The student must be able to reason through the topic. Students may work individually or as a pair and have many different choices as they examine a particular historical moment.

As a science teacher, it is difficult to imagine using this in the classroom. I didn't go through many of the different mysteries but the ones I did didn't give me the idea that the website would go along with the curriculum in which I teach. Because I am a certified science and social studies teacher, I can see this used in the social studies classroom at just about any grade level. Although the middle school classroom focuses primarily on American, World, and Geographical history, it is important to pepper in history of other countries, especially the nearest country to the United States - Canada. I would use this as a class activity since the website has smart board use, as well.

I would definately use this website in a social studies classroom. There didn't seem to be any cost associated with the program. When opening documents, there was an ease of use and the documents were in PDF form which allows for easy printing. Having adobe acrobat installed on lab computers would allow the student(s) to fill in required fields and resubmit for grading. Overall, I really liked the lessons provided and the additional teacher resources is a great time saver for lesson creation.

Puzzlemaker

Originally, I didn't know that Puzzlemaker was created and provided by Discovery Education. In order to use all aspects of discovery education, a fee must be paid. The puzzlemaker is a systematic program that allows parents, students, and teachers to create puzzles that can be solved strictly by the knowledge of the student. There are many ways to use it, including word searches, crossword puzzles, cryptograms, mazes, and fallen phrases. This section of discovery education is free with the understanding that discovery education will place their stamp on the work provided to the student.

I would use crossword puzzle in my classroom for review purposes only. It is difficult to justify the level at which a crossword puzzle challenges the mind of the student. It is, however, important to understand that all students learn in different ways. Using a crossword puzzle or type of puzzle like available on this website, you can be sure the students are influenced by the content in more ways than originally thought. Although most students are given a study guide that requires them to answer a series of questions, this may be one of the best study guides for a student to perform at home when they are more relaxed and dependant upon the resources they have at home.

I would definately use this free resource. There were just a few negatives to the potential use of this resource. The first was the time it took to create a detailed crossword puzzle, the second was the nature in which material was taught, and the third was that advertisements were included in the printed copy. The positives are that it is free and students love to have assignments that require very little reasoning skills.

 

 

Week 3 Blog

Spreadsheets and databases can be great tools to be used in the classroom. Because I teach science I find the use to be of great value when performing experiments and for teaching the scientific method. According to the website,  http://sarahputnam.wordpress.com/2012/10/07/relative-advantage-of-spreadsheets-and-databases/ there are many ways in which spreadsheets can be used in the classroom. As discussed, spreadsheets allow for a more organized manner of keeping material. Spreadsheets and databases differ in the size that they each hold. For smaller projects, spreadsheets should be used and for databases, a larger approach can be considered.

There are many advantages to using one or the other. In the science classroom, it does seem that students finish their work quicker, they are better at interpreting the data they collect and their ideas can be better organized by the use of a spreadsheet. For many of my laboratory assignments, the students are required to fill in a spreadsheet with their data and are then required to categorically explain the reason something occured or be able to explain their results by using the data they have collected. 

In my search for information about using one of these tools in the classroom, I found a lesson plan that is very interesting and falls in line with the subject I teach. The following is the lesson plan I found. I will use it in the future. This lesson plan will be changed a bit to reflect the common core of my state and the grade level in which I teach but it may be exactly what someone needs for a younger group of students.

http://www.units.muohio.edu/cryolab/education/documents/packing%20for%20antarctica_lessonplan_mk.pdf

Blog week 2

1. What did you learn this week? The four technology explorations were interesting. I have used a few of them on a regular basis but I had forgotten how easy it was to use the rubric maker for my students. I firmly believe that a rubric should be presented to the students whenever possible. Without a rubric, the students have no idea how they will be graded and don't understand the expectation you have prior to beginning the experiment. As a teacher, it is often difficult to be sure each student has these items but is almost a necessary tool for student success. With this being said, I think it is important for school districts to remove the constant criticism of paper use in the classroom. Printers and paper is at a minimum in many Kentucky schools and this is a serious problem when trying to implement things like rubrics in the classrom.
 
2.What steps will you take to implement this in your classroom? Although, paper is an issue in the classroom, I will begin using rubrics more often. For formative assessments, I will use the same rubric in grading and will give this to the students prior to their next formative assessment. I will have them place this in their science notebook so they can refer back to it when necessary. Also, I will place this on my teacher website for when the student is performing an activity at home.

3.What challenge(s) will you face when using this in your classroom? I think the main issue I will face when trying to incorporate this in the classroom is that the students have not been influenced by rubrics in the science classroom. For many science classrooms, I find the teachers to be doing projects that require less writing and more "doing". I tend to fall in the middle of these two areas of teaching and often face difficulties when expectations are set for the students. My 8th grade students are required to pass an 8th grade exam prior to moving to high school and I set my expectations that require high skills and effort to recieve A's.

4.What will you do to overcome the challenge(s)? I discussed this in an earlier question. Because the largest challenges are student use and school district distribution of ink and paper, I will provide one rubric to be used for all formative assessments. I will also use a large poster board with the expectations to be hung in the classroom for daily use. In addition, as discussed, I will upload the rubric for both summative and formative assessments to my classroom website.

Academic Standards blog 1

The question to be asked is "How do I assess the learning and progress of my students." Overall, standards are in place for every state for all grades of education. Initially, a group of people must get to together to determine what the students need to know. Next, they need to perform the work(by completing an assignment) on their own and determine the level at which they want their students to excel. Thirdly, the team of volunteers must determine if what they have completed actually fits into the standards and then create a scoring guide for the particular assignment they have completed. Grades are decided by using student work and last the team must determine if the assigment was riddled with problems and double check that it fits with the standards determined at the beginning. Once the standards are verified and the assignment has been determined, it is always a necessity to determine the level at which the student understands the material. Weekly tests are a great way of determining knowledge content but this can often lead to boredom and monotony in the classroom. Formative and summative assessments must be used and the student must be assessed EVERY time an assignment is issued to the student. This should be for all levels of learning - not just elementary. Tests can be given in the form of multiple-choice items and performance-assessment taks that ask a student to perform a particular goal. An interesting point made in this section of the website was to be sure to not use fill in the blanks when trying to determine reading and writing. In order to determine the writing skills of a student, they must write. Also, another interesting point was made in asking the students to read a story and color or design a poster. This is a reading strategy taught to many students in the middle grade years. According to the website, using crayons to draw a photo of what the student has read is 4th grade work. I tend to disagree. How do I, as a teacher, ensure that my students are "seeing the movie in their head" as they read? Comprehension of material a student reads is the first step in reading and writing skills, in my opinion.

Technology Explorations 1-4

Technology Explorations 1-4

Class Dojo

Class Dojo is a resource to be used in the classroom that helps the students to understand their behavior issues and helps them to stay focused and on task without the need for the teacher to redirect. Class dojo is a subtle tool at keeping the class in order without interrupting the normal flow of the classroom. Classes can be adjusted to include the names of each student and positive and negative feedback can be given to the student in a timely manner. In addition, Class Dojo can be used by the parents of the students taught. For parents involved in their child's education, it can be beneficial to the students and the learning process to use class dojo as a communication tool in describing the events of the day.

In my classroom, I could use this to provide the immediate feedback to particular students. This program can be used with any smart phone and/or tablet/ipad and has an ease to its use within the education setting. Many students, regardless of their age like to see where they are doing good and where they can improve.

I would recommend this to any teacher. I like the program to be used in the classroom because of its ease of use and its free product. Because there is a little noise each time a change is made to the class, the students may work harder to do the positive things instead of negative.  I do have some issues with this program. My number one issue with using this in the classroom is the time it takes to monitor behavior. I found, when using this in the classroom, that when it was most needed, it was unfortunately hard to keep up.

Schoology

Schoology is a free online learning center that is similar to blackboard or  other programs that allow a teacher to provide resources to the students for personal use. Schoology allows the students a mobile type of learning environment that allows learning to occur outside the classroom should the need arise. This program has different platforms depending upon the level of education necessary for the students. There is a k-12 addition as well as a higher ed division. This can also be used for businesses wishing to share information across businesses.

This can be used similar to other programs that allow assignments to be provided as well as information to students. This program, because it is like blackboard, allows the teacher to provide lessons to the student and then grades the items and places them in a gradebook. There is also a calendar to use in keeping up with assignments and requirements for the class. You could use this in a classroom for assignments the students need to complete at home. This way there will be no excuse for lost papers or books.

I do like this program. When you provide the code to the students, they apply their code and log-in to your class for further instruction. The program is free for instructors and allows the teacher to upload the necessary files for completion of an assignment. Plus, it grades and inputs the grades in the gradebook for you!

 

Rubistar

Rubistar helps the teacher to create rubrics to be used in the classroom. Because rubrics are necessary for the students to understand what is required of them, Rubistar can help take the hassle out of grading assignments that students were unsure of. There are areas in Rubistar that allow the teacher to use other rubrics already created.

 

Using rubrics is one of the most necessary tools in an education setting. It is important to understand that all students deserve to know the expectations of an assignment prior to using it. Although many rubrics have been created, this program allows the teacher to create new ones based on new criteria within seconds. I already use this in my classroom and suggest its use to anyone.

 

I like this program because it is easy and quick to use. There is no need to save a rubric unless you wish to do so. You can go back in a adjust a previous rubric or use their formulated rubrics for your own personal use. Anything easy is worth trying out. The amount of time spent planning is more time a teacher has with family or teaching content. Try Rubistar and use someone else's ideas rather than spending hours coming up with your own. As is always said, "Work smarter, not harder!"

 

Planbook

Planbook is exactly as it sounds. It is a program that helps to create monthly plans for the teacher. This program allows a teacher to access their gradebook from anywhere. It has weekly, and many rotations to be used by high school teachers. The program uses a system like Microsoft Word and all browsers is supported. There are also apps a user can install from their cell phone. This program is similar to many used by school districts. You can add standards so you can match standards to lessons.

 

Using this in the classroom can be beneficial when creating lessons. Although many schools are already providing a certain template to be used, for those not provided with this type of template, this may help. Although they don't have state standards loaded, they can be loaded so a teacher can see what standards they have used and which they have not.

 

I would not use this program to guide my instruction. Although it is easily accessed, it is not as good as I would like it to be. The annual charge of 25 dollars allows you many different options but nothing is as good as the program I currently use called curriculum engine. This program is one of the best I have ever used. If Planbook had the same options of drag and drop for standards and the option of converting files to word documents without the fee, I may consider using it.