Technology Portfolio

1. Technology Portfolio By Genevieve Fitzgerald

2. Acrostic Poem Genevieve Fitzgerald Glad to be here! Energetic Not liking this heat Enthusiastic Very interested in learning more about technology integration Irish and proud to be! Excited about finishing the school year! Valuable as an employee Everyone’s friend Forgetful I really do love teaching  The beach is my favorite place in the world Zany Great with babies and dogs Every year I go on a big vacation Ready for anything Almost couldn’t find the classroom tonight Love living in the city Dying for summer break to start!

3. Google Form The Google Doc to the right was created in order to collect information about reading websites.

4. Interactive PowerPoint

5. Introduction to WebQuest Bernie Dodge, the original co-creator of WebQuests defines a WebQuest as “a scaffolded learning structure that uses links to essential resources on the World Wide Web and an authentic task to motivate students’ investigation of a central, open-ended question, development of individual expertise and participation in a final group process that attempts to transform newly acquired information into a more sophisticated understanding.” This lengthy definition basically explains that WebQuests are interactive, evaluative tools to facilitate student learning through technology and literacy. A WebQuest usually starts with a question or topic of study, which can enhance the current unit of study in a classroom. It can be a very useful tool for teachers in a technologically capable school. Besides designing the WebQuest itself and including the 6 key components (introduction, task, process, information sources, evaluation, and conclusion), teachers who use these must keep in mind some guidelines for appropriate use. For example, thinking about the length of time the assignment is going to take to complete is important in planning in the early stages. Deciding if it will be an individual or a group activity will impact the availability of computers and Internet access in your school as well. If every student needs access to a computer, the teacher will need to arrange to use the computer lab and/or laptop cart and its availability could be limited. These are all things that need to be considered when planning a WebQuest as part of a curricular unit. Some pros of using a WebQuest are that they are highly motivational, interactive, and can enhance critical thinking strategies. They can even foster a critical theory of teaching by presenting a question or topic from all different perspectives. Students can become critical thinkers by reading from all different points of view on a given topic and can develop their own opinions about it. Some cons have already been discussed such as availability of resources and the fact that these types of activities can be time-consuming. Also, creating them can be daunting. However, it can be argued that since there are so many WebQuests online already, modifying a pre-existing one can be quick and simple. Assessing students’ progress can be challenging as well, but one could argue this, too! There are tons of rubrics and WebQuest creating websites that have these templates ready to use! Overall, a WebQuest can be a fun and engaging opportunity to extend or enhance a current unit of study. It can be used to liven up a seemingly boring topic or a topic that is usually “breezed” over during the school year. Sadly, I have not used WebQuests in my classroom before. After becoming more informed about their use, I will definitely have to try this next school year! Plus, I am already creating one using a unit of study in the fourth grade curriculum, so half of the work is already done! Genevieve

6. My Movie

7. Movie Maker Reading Clip

8. NETS Reading Activity My initial thought about the new set of standards was "Oh no, not more standards...". As teachers, we already have so much to think about and fit into a school year in terms of standards that I honestly have a negative reaction to that word (standards) every time I hear it. However, when I looked more closely at these new standards, they seemed to make sense and also seem very beneficial. One benefit I noticed right away was the "Communication and Collaboration" section. I believe that in order for students to be successful in a world that is embracing technology and its advancements, they must be knowledgeable about how to communicate with others effectively using a variety of formats. In this day and age, online social sites are encouraging communication and giving us the ability to reach out to one another. However, there are not many regulations academically that help us educators teach the correct way to collaborate using the Internet. In fact, most online social sites are blocked (and for good reason!), which really impedes our ability to teach ethical and correct communication. This does not rule out ALL forms of communication, just the social networking sites. It is our job as educators to provide opportunities for students to collaborate and communicate using technology in other formats. It is also our job to educate students about the dangers of social networking and also to provide some guidance, even if we can't monitor them. The one problem I had with this set of standards is that they seem very broad and generalized. I may be looking at a condensed version of the standards, but to me they need to be more specific. Another question that arises is "How should the teachers be prepared to incorporate these standards? Is there professional development offered by ISTE or is that being handled on a more local basis?" For me, I am already confused by some of the technology "lingo" reading these standards. I am the type of teacher who will seek out knowledge of new technology and resources, but does every teacher know and/or have access to this type of knowledge? Genevieve

9. Refreshing the ISTE Technology Standards Heather, I completely see your point and would also like to know the answer to your question! When I read this same paragraph, I thought the very same thing. When we were growing up in the elementary classroom, I don't even remember having computers! Once I got into high school, I remember having access to the computer lab, but using the Internet was not allowed and I could barely type using Microsoft Word! I distinctly remember taking a typing course and building my Words Per Minute so that I could become an efficient typer....I even use some of these strategies today when typing! My question for the CEO would be, "How are you going to ensure that students from underprivileged backgrounds have access to technology outside of the classroom and can reach the same achievements as those students who do have access to all forms of technology?" These standards, as well as any national/state academic standards for any subject area, are only concentrating on learning in the classroom. This relates to the controversial topic of holding parents and families accountable for academic growth as well as schools and teachers. As much as I would love for standards to address these concerns, it is going to be a long time before accountability is put onto the parents of students through national standards. It is also very difficult to measure without involving federal and state governments.

10. New Literacies Paper

11. New Literacies: Comic Strip Comic strips are a great tool to use with reluctant readers and writers. I have had experience with students who have poor reading and writing skills, but who love to draw or create a product. www.bitstripsforschool.com is a great resource to incorporate reading and writing into my “toolbox” for struggling readers and writers. I’ve always encouraged these particular students to create their own comic strips, but this website makes it ten times easier. With this particular comic I’ve created, I would use it as “Back-to-School” ice-breaker activity. We could discuss which strips we relate the most with or if we would change/add to the comic. Students could then create their own Back-to-School comic strips which they could present to their parents at Back-to-School night.

12. New Literacies: Google Earth In our unit on Africa in Social Studies, Google Maps could be used to explore the different countries discussed. We could go on a virtual field trip of places from the pyramids of Egypt to the Ionian Sea. We could investigate the animals, architecture, landscapes, and even sunsets through satellite pictures. There is so much to see and do using Google Maps. Google Earth can also be used in conjunction with Google Maps. The virtual tours are another great way to” visit” places around the earth, especially places you cannot physically take your students on a field trip. Google Earth is great for geography and the interactive globe can be used in almost any subject. You can use any of tools on the Google Earth tool bar to enrich your experience. Tools such as “sunlight across a landscape” and “historical imagery” I find to be very useful when talking about how the earth changes over time. You can even check out the earth, sky, Mars, and the moon at any given point/place in time! Lessons on star constellations, phases of the moon, and rotation of the Earth can be truly enhanced by using Google Earth. It is truly amazing what you can do with Google Earth.

13. Photostory

14. Reflections Nikki and Heather, I also teach 4th grade! What are the chances that half of the class teaches the same grade? :) I also really like the concept of teaching geography and travel using Google Maps. I have shown the students how to look up their addresses and see their homes, but I never thought of teaching it using a traveling angle! I will definitely utilize Google Maps when I teach my unit on Africa in social studies next school year. It seems like a very valuable resource. There is alot for me to learn from this class. I especially enjoyed learning about Google docs. It seems like a very interactive tool for classroom use. I will definitely use this in my classroom for "getting to know you" type activities in the beginning of the school year. The students love to use technology and this is a great way to grab their interest early on. What is also great about Google Docs is that you can have students not only answer multiple choice questions, but they can also write a short answer to any question you might ask. This will give you an idea of their writing style and experience with typing. I love the idea of incorporating this into centers....technology center is the one I have the most trouble monitoring! :) Yes, definitely! With everyone so excited about Google Docs, I think we overlooked the acrostic poem and all the neat stuff Windows 7 has to offer! My school does not have Windows 7 and I'm a little jealous of those who do :) I've been trying to apply things learned in class using my computer and it just isn't the same, unfortunately. Thursday's class was very exciting to me. I specifically wanted to take this class because I feel like I know almost nothing about new technology. I was very intrigued with all of the offerings that Google has. I feel as if I have been missing out on such valuable resources as Google Docs and Google maps! I was also very happy about learning about the citation tab in Microsoft Word. This is something that is very helpful to me as a student and I will utilize it as needed.The Google Document that I started to create in class is going to be extremely useful to me in the classroom. I know of all these wonderful websites, but rarely use them during instruction. I love the idea of incorporating them into centers, since the technology center is the most difficult to use. Also, creating this document is forcing me to think of what kinds of reading activities they will be (before, during, or after) and why the students will be using the websites (reading for literacy, etc.). I also plan on sharing these websites with my team and even my school if they are interested! I'm excited for the sole reason that I seek out information in order to be a better educator, and this class really helped me in my path. I really enjoyed this class tonight. I have never worked with Movie Maker or Photostory before. Although it took some getting used to, I was able to create another movie on my own after class was over. I found that using my laptop is much more difficult than using the computers in the lab at Towson. I did have some issued with putting titles on every slide. It just did not seem to want to work! One thing that I learned how to do by toying around with the settings was to make my video look "old-fashioned". I thought that was really neat! In addition to learning all of the transitions and how to edit audio, tonight's lesson was very valuable to me. These are great tools to use in any classroom. I plan on using Movie Maker and Photostory in the beginning of the school year this coming fall. I think it would be a great way to introduce myself to my students and I could even incorporate rules and procedures into a presentation. We could also use it to create a presentation at the end of the school year that sums up what a wonderful year we've had! I would like to create a WebQuest based on the story "Finding the Titanic" in the 4th grade language arts curriculum. I want students to research the famous sinking, read biographies of survivors, and even investigate the technical aspects of how the ship actually sank. There are so many different perspectives that could be explored with this story. I would definitely need to make it a long-term project or use it as a jig-saw activity where each group/individual would explore one area. Tuesday's class was very valuable to me. I have had very little experience using Excel in the past and I feel like I learned enough to get me started. I really liked the fact that most of the time, you do not need to retype information into each sheet as long as you know the different "tricks"! I do use EZGrade Pro for my grades, but I think Excel could be used for a variety of data. I will definitely use it when I am tracking student reading levels in the Fall, Winter, and Spring. I can also use it to track fluency rates. This will provide valuable data for my administration provide support my teaching practices.

15. StoryBird

16. Summary of NERAJ Article and Responses This section basically discusses the difference between reading material online and reading material in print and how students differ in their abilities to read each. Students who struggle with reading print material do not necessarily have to have problems with reading online material and vice versa. One thing that online readers must do as they browse for information is to constantly evaluate each website for reliability. Online reading has five major purposes for reading: developing important questions, locating information, critically analyzing information, synthesizing information, and communicating information. This article focuses on the fact that in order to be a successful online reader, you must be able to critically analyze information. Such questions that should be answered by the online reader should be: What is the source? Who is posting these online websites? What do I know about this person/group who is posting this? Are they factual/ reliable sources? Clear, critical evaluation of these websites needs to happen in order for a reader to be successful in reading material online. My question I pose to the group after reading this article is: How does a teacher monitor this critical thinking? Critical thinking is a higher level thinking skill which is often not obtained until students reach the intermediate level or the upper grades in some cases! With technology being such an important component of today's educational system, how do we teach this critical evaluation to our youngsters? Heather, I also often wonder the same thing. I know that in my classroom, we have been using more and more technology in classroom assignments and at-home projects. Unfortunately, without outside funding, teachers have to make do with what they have, even if a student does not have access to technology at home. One thing that I do is I have a coach class once a week after school. I usually pick one topic that I just can't fit into my curriculum and offer a tutorial class on it. Once, I held a class on how to make a PowerPoint because I found that there were so many varying levels of knowledge on how to make/use one. Plus, we were creating them in class. About 10 students stayed after school (with parent permission, of course) and learned the basics of how to create one. It didn't take long because the kids were so interested in it! I know every teacher isn't able to stay after school, so this is not the norm in most schools. I also have found that the students who have more experience using the computer or other resources are very willing to help those who have very little experience. Sometimes the students know more than I do! It's amazing what the kids will do for you if you provide them with the opportunity. Colleen, I have not read this article but am now interested! I can't believe I never thought about this concept before. It is completely true! I myself am guilty of allowing students who finish first the opportunity to use the computers or other technology to further their learning. However, I know how much the struggling readers love using the computers and my Promethean Board, so I also make sure to provide many opportunities for them as well. I think I need to balance this use of technology. The more I think about it, the more I realize that the students in the middle are losing out on opportunities for online learning. I agree with both Colleen and Nikki. This is a feasible request for teachers. Knowledge of technology is an essential skill for students in today's world because those are the skills they will need when they get a job! It seems like it would be time-consuming to plan, but no more so than creating or locating a worksheet. I have found that creating a Flipchart everyday for use during instruction was at first very time-consuming. But over time, it became easier to use and the students love using the Promethean Board. It is also much easier to use than my whiteboards believe it or not!

17. My WebQuest Link to my WebQuest - http://questgarden.com/128/19/0/110622182401/

18. My Wiki page My Wiki Space address - http://gfitzgerald.wikispaces.com/

19. My Wordle My Wordle can be used to teach character traits. I would either post this in the classroom during a lesson on character traits, or I could have the students create their own. They could make a list of character traits they’ve learned like the Wordle I created below, or they could make a Wordle based on character traits of a character in a story we read. There are many other uses for creating/using Wordles. Students in the primary grades could use them for learning or remembering their sight words. Students in the intermediate grades could create a wordle using vocabulary in science or social studies. It could be a great studying tool! Students in any grade could create a Wordle based on character education words. They could even determine importance of each word by typing in the character words they deem the most important in character education over and over again. Students in middle and high school can use Wordle to create presentations for classes such as Literature, Science, History, and so on. Wordle can be used in many different ways. It is a great tool in particular for vocabulary and sight word development.

20. 10 Reading Websites Storyline Online – www.storylineonline.net Three Little Plays - http://www.starfall.com/n/level-c/plays/load.htm?f Cyberchase - http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/how_started.html Eword Game - http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmr06/ewordgame/index.html?grade=4&theme=1&selection=4 Awesome Antonyms Match-up - http://www.quia.com/mc/44806.html Visual Dictionary Online - http://visual.merriam-webster.com/ Roy the Zebra - http://www.roythezebra.com/ Book Adventure - http://www.bookadventure.com/ The Reading Matrix - http://www.readingmatrix.com/directory/pages/Reading_Comprehension_Intermediate/ Aesop’s Fables - http://www.umass.edu/aesop/fables.php