Middletown Elementary
Tech Challenge

Challenge: Podcasts, Wikis & Pinterest

Thank you for participating in the Elementary Tech Challenge! You’ll be entered to win an iPad2 or other awesome prizes by commenting on this post or any of the previous posts. The challenge for today has an interactive element. You can choose a topic you’d like to explore for today, or you could recommend your own technology resource by commenting below.

Podcasts
A podcast is an audio recording. You can listen to podcasts and also create them. Podcasts are fun to incorporate and easy to make. Try creating a podcast on Podomatic. Listen to podcasts about Space  from the NASA Space Place. Also, check out the Scientific American for 60 Second Science Podcasts!

Wikis
A wiki is a space where you can create an online collection of information: text, images, links, etc. Wikis are useful because of their adaptive nature. You can set up a wiki where students can work collaboratively to add information to it. Another idea for a wiki might include keeping an online collection of data (websites, SmartBoard files, teaching resources, etc.) to share with colleagues. Wikis can be as general or specific as you want! You might consider creating a wiki to coincide with a marking period theme or a new concept that you;re teaching. A great resource for the creation of wikis is Wikispaces, which is free for teachers. Try making a wiki today!

Pinterest*
Pinterest is an online pinboard where teachers can locate creative ideas to incorporate into the classroom. The idea is to create a space online where you can organize images, websites, blog posts, etc. into pinboards that you categorize. You can “pin” (or post)  things that you like, create and delete your own pinboards, and explore pinboards created by other users. There is also a social element to Pinterest because you can “follow” other pinners, “repin” their pins, “like” their pins and collaborate via comments on their pins. Although it might sound complex and foreign, Pinterest is incredibly intuitive, refreshing and inspirational.

Since Pinterest is invitation-only, you need to request an invite to join and create an account, or you can get invited by someone who has a Pinterest account. THowever, even without a Pinterest account you’re still able to gain fantastic inspiration from the site!

Pinterest has endless applications for teaching! The emergence of dialogue about Pinterest and education is apparent in Pearson’s article titled Four Ways to Use Pintererest in Education. Get ideas and inspiration for your classroom regarding:

-concept-specific teaching strategies

-centers

-bulletin boards

-holiday observations & celebrations

-classroom management

-organization

-classroom library organization

-graphic organizers

-tactile and hands-on activities

-multisensory lessons

-lesson plans

-project ideas

(*Since Pinterest is new & upcoming, it is not yet ready for use by children. This website is recommended for teacher-use only, to gain inspiration and ideas!)

Some Ideas for Integration: 

• Incorporate podcasts into a listening center
• Prepare for Poetry Month (April) with a poem podcast
• Use a wiki to organize a themed unit online
• Provide an opportunity for students to create podcasts
• Explore Pinterest for an idea to integrate

How to Accomplish this Challenge Item:
1. Explore one of the resources mentioned above OR post your own resource to share with others below
2. Comment on this post (How do you plan on incoporating a wiki or podcast? Which technology tool featured during the challenge was your favorite? Which resources did your students enjoy?

Remember to comment below! If you have any questions, please email me at katzgrauk@middletownk12.org. Again, thank you so much for participating in this challenge!

Challenge: Kerpoof

Kerpoof is a great resource for the elementary classroom because it provides an online space where students can create movies, drawing, pictures, cards, stories and more. There is section designated for educators where you can locate lesson plans, ideas for your classroom, the Kerpoof newsletter, and most importantly, integration strategies for meeting the Common Core standards with Kerpoof activities. Kerpoof is fun to use, for teachers and students, and provides a wonderful outlet for creativity while meeting  your teaching objectives.

Some Ideas for Integration:

• Invite your class to make cards (for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, etc.)
• Make your word wall interactive by using the drawing tool - have students illustrate a picture to coincide with word meaning
• Publish a writing piece on Kerpoof
• Incorporate Kerpoof into a center
• Use games on Kerpoof as a reward for good choices or behavior
• Teach a mini-lesson with Kerpoof (any subject area)
• Provide an opportunity for students to create a movie as part of a PBL
• Prepare for Earth Day (4/22) with this lesson
• Check out Kerpoof’s integration suggestions

How to Accomplish this Challenge Item:
1. Explore Kerpoof
2. Create a teacher account on Kerpoof http://www.kerpoof.com//teach?c=accounts. Teachers can easily create a free account! You also have the ability to register students.
3. Incorporate a creation tool from Kerpoof
4. Comment on how you integrated the resource (Did you like Kerpoof? Which tool did you integrate? How will you use Kerpoof in the future?)

Thank you for reading this post. If you have any questions, please comment below or email me at katzgrauk@middletownk12.org. Tomorrow is the last day of the Tech Challenge! Be sure to comment (on any post) for a chance to win an iPad2 and other awesome prizes!

Challenge: Make a video using Animoto

Animoto is a tool for creating videos in your classroom. It is fun for teachers to present information using Animoto because you can add images, clips, text and music to your video. This resource can also be utilized as a creation tool for students. Although making videos might sound complicated and involved, Animoto makes accomplishing this task so simple! With a fun, intuitive, and uncluttered interface, Animoto is a tech tool worth checking out and integrating into your classroom!

Some Ideas for Integration:

• (Grades 3-5) Create an NJAsk Strategy Video
• Add a video component to a PBL (commercial/advertisement, etc.)
• Present a mini-lesson using Animoto
• Introduce a new skill or concept
• Share expectations for a project using a short video
• Review rules and procedures using a video clip (class trip, science safety, classroom rules, etc.)
• Invite students to create a digital book review using a short video
• Infuse Animoto into your centers
• Allow students to create Superstar of the Week videos
• Make short “Happy Birthday” videos to celebrate classroom birthdays
• Use Animoto to digitally depict Word Walls and create activities that coincide

To create a video:
1. Sign in and click create video
2. Select a style for your video or skip this step
3. Continue to create your video by working through the 4 tabs that read “Change Style,” “Choose Music,” “Add Pics & Vids,” and “Add Text”
4. Once you have achieved how you would like your video to appear, click “Produce Video”
5. After your video is produced, you can email it, download it, share it (on Twitter, etc.)

How to Accomplish this Challenge Item:
1. Create an educator account. Animoto is free for teachers (you can create up to 50 student accounts in addition to your account). Registration is quick and simple! Click here to register for a teacher account.
2. Make a video or provide an opportunity for students to create a video using Animoto
3. Comment on this post (How did you incorporate Animoto? Did you create a video? Did your students?)

Thank you for reading this post! There are only 3 days left of the challenge so please be sure to comment below (and on any other post so far this month) for a chance to win an iPad2 and other awesome prizes! If you have a question, please comment below or email me  at katzgrauk@middletownk12.org.

Challenge: Create A Graph

Create A Graph is an online graph generator where you can quickly make bar graphs, line graphs, area graphs, X-Y plots and pie charts. This resource is free and user-friendly! Also, there is no login or registration so you can quickly get started using this resource.

Create A Graph is very easy to navigate. To begin, select the graph type (bar, line, area, X-Y or pie). Next, you will use 5 tabs to generate your graph: Design, Data, Labels, Preview and Print/Save. Click on the design tab to edit the appearance of your graph. Select the data tab to input graph information. With the label tab, you can add labels to your graph. Click update as your work on your graph and view changes at anytime during the creation process by selecting the preview tab. Lastly, once you click the print/save tab, you can print, download or email your graph.

The simplicity of Create A Graph makes this tool a great option for elementary school students. Graphing appears in the second grade Common Core Standards. For additional information about how to utilize Create A Graph, click here to read a comprehensive tutorial.


Some Ideas for Integration:

• Conduct a survey and use Create A Graph to publish the results
• Use Create A Graph to teach a Graphing mini-lesson
• Integrate Create A Graph as a Math Center on laptops
• Compare completed graphs (with other students, classes, etc.)
• Add a graph component to a PBL

How to Accomplish this Challenge Item:
1. Use Create A Graph to produce a graph
2. Comment on this post for a chance to win an Ipad2 and other great prizes! (How did you incorporate Create A Graph? How did you display your graph? Did your students find Create A Graph easy to use?)

Thank you for reading this post! Remember to comment below (and on any other post so far this month) for a chance to win an iPad2! If you have a question, please comment below or email me  at katzgrauk@middletownk12.org.

There is only one week left of the Elementary Tech Challenge! Thank you for continuing to check out the resources and tools available for teachers. Keep reading to learn more about how Google applications can be useful for educators.

Challenge: Integrate a tool from Google for Educators

Google could easily comprise a month-long tech challenge of its own! Although Google is known for their search engine, there are many other useful products offered, and although some of them have already been mentioned on the Tech Challenge, YouTube EDU, Google Maps, and Google Earth, there are many more to consider incorporating in your teaching. This post will highlight some additional tools for elementary teachers provided by Google.

Google Docs:

This is a word processor, presentation and spreadsheet creator (think Microsoft Word/PowerPoint/Excel but free and online, and of course, by Google). Once you type in your username and password, you are ready to get started creating (there is no software to download). Since everything is stored online, your documents are accessible from anywhere! Any edits that you make to your Google Docs are automatically saved so there is no need to worry about intermittently hitting save. Since this does it for you losing your work is one less thing on your mind. Also, you can “share” your documents with others by entering their email. This is great for online collaboration. Using Google Docs is easy, intuitive, and extensively useful. You might consider using Google Docs for lesson plans (access them at school, home, etc.), sharing PLC ideas, and for other collaborative purposes. Learn more about Google Docs by clicking here to watch a presentation, a YouTube video, and to learn tips and tricks!


Google Books:

Google Books allows you to access and preview or read books. In the classroom, this tool can be used to locate information for PBLs and projects. It could also be used to project a text to read whole-group and to teach a mini-lesson with examples from a text.  

Google Calendar:

Google Calendar is a great way to stay organized. You can set up calendars for different uses. A personal calendar is a good tool for keeping track of phone calls, meetings, school events, class trips, school opening/closing dates, etc. Also, you might also consider setting up a Google Calendar for your students and parents with information about when projects are due, assessment dates, and classroom events (class parties, trips, etc.).

Custom Search Enginge:

This tool allows you to create a customized search engine for your students. This tool helps to provide a safe search option for students because only preselected websites (by you) will be utilized in their search. 

Webinars by Google:

Google provides webinars specifically for teachers about using their products. You can sign up for future webinars or watch archived presentations.

Google Posters:

Try displaying some of these printable posters in your classroom as a reference for your students as they use Google.

Resources for teaching students to search:
Here are resources for helping students become familiar with vocabulary related to the internet and also the process of searching.

How to Accomplish this Challenge Item:
1. Explore the resources offered by Google
2. Integrate one of these tools into your teaching
3. Comment on this post (Which of the Google tools do you anticipate being the most useful in your classroom? Have you used any of these tools before?)

Thank you for reading this post! If you have any questions, comment below or email katzgrauk@middletownk12.org. Comment on this post for a chance to win an iPad and other great prizes!

Challenge: Plan an Online Class Trip

Field trips seem to provide one of the most memorable experiences for students! Given all of the technology and great resources, the definition of class trip has now expanded to include online or virtual class trips too. Although this doesn’t truly replace the conventional class trip, online trips can be a way to enhance learning and classroom engagement. Using technology, the opportunity to “travel” beyond the walls of the classroom can be accomplished using Google Earth, Google Maps, webcams or pre-planned virtual trips (i.e. Scholastic).

Google Maps is an amazing tool. There are two ways to view the map, earth or satellite view. Underneath those buttons, you can select and deselect what you would like to view on the map. So for example you can select to view pictures, videos, and webcams for places on the map.

Another resource to explore is Google Earth. Although Google Earth requires a download, you can use some of the features without downloading anything. For example, you might start using it by exploring the Google Earth gallery.

Webcams are cameras placed at a destination that are constantly recording. These are exceptionally exciting because you can see a place in real time (so it is different from a pre-recorded video of an area).

Some ideas for integration:

• Connect your class trip with your core novel (if possible, “visit” where the story takes place)
• Create a cross-curricular lesson: write about a place you visit
• Invite students to record virtual class trips: keep a travel journal or a passport
• Incorporate trips to places with historical meaning as part of a Social Studies lesson
• Calculate distances to add a mathematical element 

Here are some resources to help you get started:
Take a Virtual Field Trip to Ellis Island with Scholastic (on March 29, 2012)

Google Maps

Google Earth Gallery

Archived Scholastic 17th Century Colonial America Virtual Field Trip


Here is an awesome list of webcams contributed by Michelle Grezner:

National Park Service Webcams

Monterey Bay Aquarium
 
Georgia Aquarium 

National Zoo

San Diego Zoo

Mount St. Helens

Statue of Liberty


How to Accomplish this Challenge:
1. Select a resource to use for your online trip
2. Plan your trip and visit your destination  
3. Comment on this post (Where did you go? Which tech tool did you use to accomplish your virtual field trip? Where else would you consider visiting?)

Thank you for reading this post! If you have any questions please comment on this post, or email me at katzgrauk@middletownk12.org. Remember to comment (anytime this month) for a chance to win an iPad2 and other great prizes!

Challenge: Thinkfinity

Thinkfinity is a vast online collection of teaching resources. Student interactives, webinars, videos, lesson plans, and Common Core standards alignment materials are some examples of the types of resources available. Content for Thinkfinity is contributed by many reputable partners including: National Geographic Education, AAAS Science NetLinks, EconEdLinks, Smithsonian’s History Explorer, Wonderopolis, NCTM Illuminations, and ReadWriteThink (featured in a previous Tech Challenge post). Each of these partners addresses a different subject area and offers high-quality tools. Therefore, Thinkfinity is a great resource for elementary teachers!

Since there an overwhelming quantity of materials on Thinkfinity & their partner websites, here are a few resource highlights that you will help you get started:
Click here to search student interactives
Click here to search for materials by standard on Thinkfinity!
Click here to explore games

Check out some of the content partner websites for subject-specific resources:
NCTM Illuminations 
National Geographic Education
AAAS Science NetLinks
EconEdLinks
Smithsonian’s History Explorer
Wonderopolis
ReadWriteThink (also featured in a previous Tech Challenge post)

Some ideas for integration:

• Visit the daily wonder on Wonderopolis
• Check out the “Today in History” on Thinkfinity
• Use the interactive tools for centers and modeling (Like the ReadWriteThink interactives, the math online manipulatives contributed by Illuminations are excellent for keeping students engaged.) 
• Explore a webinar, join a discussion or get involved with professional development
• Play a game (during recess, as a reward, whole group/small group on the SmartBoard/laptop/desktop)

How to Accomplish this Challenge Item:
1. Explore Thinkfinity and locate an interactive resource or relevant tool to engage your students with technology
2. Integrate your selected tool into your teaching
3. Comment on this post (What types of resources did you find most intriguing on Thinkfinity? Which is your favorite resource? Have you used Thinkfinity before? Did you find it user-friendly?)

Thank you for reading this post! If you have any questions please comment on this post, or email me at katzgrauk@middletownk12.org. Remember to comment (anytime this month) for a chance to win an iPad2 and other great prizes!

Tweets. Followers. Hashtags. Tweetups. If Twitter had a word wall, these terms would definitely be on it! Twitter is a great resource that is a valuable tool for educators interested in both gathering and also sharing information.

Tweets:
Twitter is a space where you can easily and efficiently create posts, called tweets, to share online. There are two ways to tweet: by simply posting your message or by tweeting at someone. (This comes in handy — for example, I tweeted @StoryBird with a question about their product and they quickly responded!).

Followers:
You can follow people on Twitter: people you know, work with, experts, etc.

Hashtags:
Hashtags, which are simply a pound sign (#) with a string of characters following it, which are used in posts to make it simple to search for topics (our district hashtag is #mtwnchat). When you create a tweet, you can type in the hashtag at the end of your message.

Tweetups:
Tweetups can be described as twitter meetups or live chats. They are scheduled ahead of time and you can participate in them by using a hashtag. These events typically last an hour. For example, on March 1st, there was a #mtwnchat live chat where a discussion was hosted online and individuals participated simply by tweeting with those hashtags appended.

Although all this might seem complicated, Twitter is really very simple to use. It is much less involved than many other apps and other social networking sites. Since tweets are limited to 140 characters, posts are inherently brief.

Twitter has a great role in the exchange of information in the 21st century. It has become a mainstream method of interacting with others online, sharing news, and reaching out to people or companies.

Create a Twitter account to get started! When you register, consider creating a name that is related to what you do or incorporates your name  (i.e. I use @MrsKatzgrau specifically for teaching-related purposes).

Next, find others to follow. Marc Seigel (@DaretoChem) provided a great link on the Secondary Challenge blog for accomplishing this, http://cybraryman.com/plnstars.html.

Here are some tweeters from Middletown:



Twitter can be a great tool even if you decide against creating an account. Click here: https://twitter.com/#!/search-home to search for topics related to education.

Check out this article for a hashtag dictionary: http://edudemic.com/2011/10/twitter-hashtag-dictionary/
Some useful education hashtags to get started with include: #mtwnchat, #elemchat, #edtech, #ntchat

Some Ideas for Integration:

• Search for experts (i.e. @nasa) to locate current information and resources

• Tweet about happenings in your classroom or school

• Tweet to ask questions and get answers (tweet at an author, scientist, etc. to access knowledge)

How to Accomplish this Challenge:

1. Explore Twitter: create a Twitter account OR utilize Twitter to search a topic relevant to teaching
2. Use Twitter to follow fellow teachers, participate in a live chat, tweet about education/teaching, etc. 
3. Comment on this post! (Did you create an account on Twitter or use it to search? How else can Twitter be applied to teaching?) 

Thank you for reading this post! If you have any questions please comment on this post, or email me at katzgrauk@middletownk12.org. Remember to comment (anytime this month) for a chance to win an iPad2 and other great prizes!

Challenge: Create a Glog

Glogster is an interactive poster creation tool. Although Glogster has been around for about 5 years, Glogster EDU is a more recent edition that debuted in 2009. This school appropriate version provides a great option for teachers and students. The products (posters) of Glogster are called Glogs. These are fun and simple to create and provide another way for students to interact with technology in your classroom.

An account is required to get started with Glogster. The free option for is simply called the “Single Free” account. This option will allow you (or your students) to individually create and save glogs. The free option is a great place to start with Glogster EDU and there are many ways to creatively incorporate this resource into your teaching!

Fun Features:

• Search through the “Glogopedia” for glog ideas and inspiration
• Upload files from your computer (videos, text, photos, etc.)
• Insert text, images, graphics, video, sound, and more
• Auto-save feature

Some Ideas for Integration:

• Create a Spring or an Earth Day glog
• Make a poster to introduce a skill, concept or idea (i.e. onomatopoeia, similes, metaphor, etc.)
• Try creating an interactive word wall poster
• (Grades 3-5) Create an NJASK strategy glog
• Create a glog about a field trip, assembly, or upcoming event
• Invite students to co-create glogs with you (maybe use a rubric to assess their glog)
• Review for an assessment with a glog
• Make a lesson multi-sensory with a glog
• Provide an opportunity for students to create glog collaboratively (PBL, math/science investigation, etc.)

How to Accomplish this Challenge Item:
1. Make an account on Glogster EDU (scroll down to where it reads: “Register Free”)
2. Create a glog or provide an opportunity for your students to make a glog
3. Comment on this post (What was the subject of your glog? Have you used this resource before? Did you find it user-friendly?)

Thank you for reading this post! If you have any questions please comment on this post, or email me at katzgrauk@middletownk12.org. Remember to comment (anytime this month) for a chance to win an iPad2 and other great prizes!