Assignment 9: Diagrams, Maps and Webs

I use visual learning tools all the time. Being a special educator, the use of visual information to augment textual information is a crucial part of my instruction. As in my previous blog entry illustrated, the use of pictures, clipart and video can lead to a wide variety of activities and learning opportunities. These opportunities almost always begin with other visual representations, such as a Venn diagrams, writing and math graphic organizers, and outlines. These diagrams would help my students make connections to their reading, using prior knowledge and existing schema.

My fourth graders get introduced to outlining with several diagrams. We begin in content areas, such as social studies. In reading, I use storyboards, idea maps, and concept webs. These help my students make much needed connections to their reading- connections to the world, connections to other material read and connections to their own lives. Students brainstorm ideas on a simple chart, then they may use a map or web to categorize their ideas or connect those ideas to other ideas. For example, I’ll use a story web of a literary text we are reading to make a connection to another web we had created in social studies. However, because of either program limitations or my own, we had to print hard copies of both and connected them on a poster board instead of on the computer.

In fact, until a few years ago, I hand drew these graphics, failing to use the technology that was right in front of me. Since then, I have created several templates that I use frequently. But I still feel there is more I can do with these technological tools. The trouble lies with using the software. I can find it very difficult to use. I usually used a simple drawing or paint program, and manipulating the tools could be very frustrating. Objects would be hard to change once drawn. Lines and arrows would disappear. Formatting text and graphics together would be very time consuming. Forget trying to teach my students how to make their own. If I was having difficulty, then there was no way I could teach it effectively.

That’s why I would like to get more experience using programs such as Kidspiration. It seems much more user friendly. I could use it to create the graphic templates I employ repeatedly. I could teach my students how to make their own graphic organizers. Using visuals in lessons is an integral part of my program, and I am always looking for ways to enhance or improve this part of my direct instruction. It also provides simple ways to accommodate or modify format and style based on my student’s particular needs.

Assignment 8: Digital Imagery

I have used digital imagery in my classrooms for years; however, it has never been beyond simple decorations or representations. My students would use pictures from the web to decorate pamphlets or brochures they had designed on MS Publisher or Word. I also had them find clipart and pictures from the web and from program files to show representations of vocabulary words in content areas and in literary texts. Within the last few years, I have used digital images to represent steps in a process or classroom routine, putting them in daily schedules or checklists. My students were able to follow the class schedule, predict upcoming events and organize materials. I feel as if these strategies, especially the latter two, were enhancing my students’ learning, providing visual representations to help them understand and remember new concepts. I like encouraging my students’ use of these technologies because they almost never seem to practice these skills at home.

I think home is a great place to show your kids how to access digital images. All a household needs is a computer with an internet connection and a decent printer. Many reasonably priced models are photo printers/copiers. They can scan, copy, and print from computer files or directly from your memory card. There are also thousands of images on the internet to find. It seems to me that many parents are still uncomfortable with this technology and unsure how to use it at home. I have suggested to several parents at meetings that they could make checklists to help their children with executive functioning skills, using digital images to enhance the list. Also with my nonreaders, pictures alone represent the steps in the routine.

Getting images has never been much of and issue for me. I’ve used both photos and clipart in a variety of documents. I would also like to make more use of web cams and other applications like Google Earth. I have little experience with video and movie making. I would like to use this more in my classroom. Performing plays or recording presentations would greatly augment my instruction and enrich their experience.

Technology and Teaching Children to Read (TTCR)

PBS Kids

PBS kids offer great games for learning. They are simply formatted, displayed with contrasting colors and give great feedback.

Starfall.com is a great website. I have used this site in the past with my low readers. Some pages are a little crowded, and my pose some tracking difficulties, but it offers very good phonics practice using word families, and word structure.

Teacher Tap has some great audio of stories online. It contains text formatted so it is easy on the eyes and audio so low readers can follow along. It has a large selection so teachers can make connections across the curriculum.

The power point presentation identified the factors in effective teaching of reading and illustrated ways to use technology to aid instruction.

Assignment #7: Spreadsheets

The Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education website was full of interesting collaborative research projects. They seemed very interesting and easy to implement. They make you a little nervous with the requirements links, but the organizers just want to make sure you are committed to finishing the project.

The projects themselves can be applied to multiple grade levels. There are both secondary and elementary projects. In reading about them, they seem to be easy to maintain once the initial footwork has been done. A teacher would need to make the data collection a regular part of the classroom routine. This opens the door for a wide variety of application opportunities. A variety of reading, expressive, and math skills could be modeled, practiced or perfected. Collecting data; recording and interpreting results; writing conclusions; publishing and posting results using presentation software and web tools; comparing and contrasting data from around the world are only the beginning of the many skills that could be incorporated into the class’ participation.

The Franklin Institute had some good sites linked to show how to incorporate spreadsheets into your classroom. Some links did not work, but many did. They can be a little hard to read, but the step by step instructions given seem easy to follow. The timeline applications were a good introductory activity for spreadsheet use.

The site also had some good instructions for making graphs and charts. Some instructions had visuals to go with the written directions. Those were easier to use for me. If it’s easier for me, then I’ll better be able to explain it to my students. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Navigation from link to link was easy enough, but some pages were not printer friendly. Printing some directions would take a lot of ink.

Finally, I reviewed the site linked to Interactive Spreadsheets. I liked this site because it was simple and user friendly. It showed how to create and use interactive spreadsheets. I had no idea they could be used this way. I had never seen them applied this way. Students could respond to math, reading and language questions in the spreadsheet and it will tell them if their response was correct. A teacher could create a variety of activities on multiple levels. It’s true that it would take some work to establish, but once a number of templates were created, they could be tweaked as needed. The website also has several examples whose links still work, so that helps in not “reinventing the wheel”.

I found this review very educational. I discovered whole new uses for spreadsheets. I liked the interactive activities and the visual stimuli they could generate.

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