1. Select one of the web based strategies discussed in these articles or another you are familiar with and integrate it into one of your lessons. Report how the lesson went.
2. Search YouTube and post a video on our blog that you could use in an elementary classroom.
1. I enjoyed and appreciated the Jennifer Hillner article, “How to Use Online Video in Your Classroom”. The author documents how impactful videos can be in a student’s learning. But also, there is such an enormous volume of content that much of it needs to be vetted in order to find an appropriate vehicle for learning. She suggests: limiting searches to respected sources, checking the teachers channel on youtube for tutorials in finding appropriate videos, and searching the educational channel of youtube for videos - especially for younger children. Videos should be short and relevant to the topic. If youtube is too difficult to work with, then there are other options, such as: TeacherTube, SchoolTube, and WatchKnowLearn.
During my lesson planning, I have continually attempted to incorporate videos to aid in student engagement. As an activating activity, a video can be an incredible hook. There are two obstacles: weeding through the huge volumes of videos, and dealing with technology problems in the classroom where internet connections can drop easily and often, or SMART boards can malfunction.
In a science lesson on lunar craters, I scoured YouTube to find a video that would show the surface of the moon. After watching many videos I was able to find a short three minute or so video that showed how lunar craters. The video itself was posted by NASA and thus, a very reputable site. The video would provide a great transition between a mini-lesson the utilized literature and a moon globe. Unfortunately, the SMART board decided to be uncooperative and would not work. I had to spin my laptop around and show the kids the video on a small screen. Less impactful (pun not intended) but yet the students were fascinated to see how all those craters were created. By the time the video ended, the kids were primed and ready to make their own lunar craters.
2. April is poetry month and I have been presenting poetry to my two classes for the past couple of weeks. It has been my goal to inspire my students to read and write poetry. They were hesitant at first but are now loving each and every foray into poetry. In one lesson I explained how poetry is not just the words being read but how they are read. I used the following video.
When I did my unit on a country study, I wracked my brain with how to teach the students the different continents. Ultimately, I found a wonderful youtube video about the 7 continents, which also includes a great definition of the difference between a continent and a country, something I also had a difficult time coming up with on my own.
One lesson on what the 7 continents are turned into my class sharing the song in front of the school at an All School Meeting last month. It was fantastic to see how engaged they were, and how well they remembered it!
I got great feedback from families at the end of the unit. One (much) older sister told me that one student was singing the song so much that her 4th grade sister learned the continents from her!
I enjoyed the Chen article about using iPods to create audio recordings of students reading and then having the students listen to the recordings to help them work on fluency. My lead teacher and I were talking about using a digital audio recorder for just this purpose last week! I’ve tried using an iPad to record students reading before (to help me with running records) and found the screen very distracting to the student – I’m hopeful that the digital audio recorder (which has no screen) will be a less intrusive device.
We’ve been studying space, forces (such as gravity, air resistance, buoyancy, etc.), and the solar system in 2nd grade. I taught the lesson on Mars (taking us on a “trip” to the planet to learn about its size, composition, length of day and year, etc.), then showed two YouTube videos of the launching and landing of different Mars rovers. The kids were so excited to watch the process and were able to think about NASAs rover landing innovations (parachutes, airbags, rocket thrusters) in terms of what they’d learned about atmosphere, gravity, and air resistance.
I could relate mostly to the Branzburg and Hillner articles. We use an interactive white board in my current classroom. All of the points that Branzburg touched on made sense. I use it for almost everything. Since I am in first grade, I usually am the one to do most of the work on the SmartBoard, but I use it as an incentive tool. It is crucial for me to use the SmartBoard for the math program we use because it is interactive. However, instead of the children starring off in space and not listening, I chose children who are focused on the lesson to come up and solve our GoMath problems. I always use Youtube in class. Mostly for random videos because we have a Brainpop Log in at our school. I love Brainpop, which is why I chose to use a free brainpop video and youtube video as well. I loved the idea of teacherstube. I have never even heard of this source. It is great because I don't have to browse through unwanted videos. However, My favorite youtube video that my class knows by heart is by story bots posted here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEStq1e1Qrc
The kids absolutely love this song. My school does fluoride rinsing every Wednesday morning. Since it takes a whole minute I wanted to play something that kept their mind off that terrible taste. Now they know the song basically by heart which came in handy when learning about hours and half hours.
Here is the brain pop jr: http://www.brainpopjr.com/math/data/tallychartsandbargraphs/
1. Select one of the web based strategies discussed in these articles or another you are familiar with and integrate it into one of your lessons. Report how the lesson went.
ReplyDelete2. Search YouTube and post a video on our blog that you could use in an elementary classroom.
ReplyDelete1. I enjoyed and appreciated the Jennifer Hillner article, “How to Use Online Video in Your Classroom”. The author documents how impactful videos can be in a student’s learning. But also, there is such an enormous volume of content that much of it needs to be vetted in order to find an appropriate vehicle for learning. She suggests: limiting searches to respected sources, checking the teachers channel on youtube for tutorials in finding appropriate videos, and searching the educational channel of youtube for videos - especially for younger children. Videos should be short and relevant to the topic. If youtube is too difficult to work with, then there are other options, such as: TeacherTube, SchoolTube, and WatchKnowLearn.
During my lesson planning, I have continually attempted to incorporate videos to aid in student engagement. As an activating activity, a video can be an incredible hook. There are two obstacles: weeding through the huge volumes of videos, and dealing with technology problems in the classroom where internet connections can drop easily and often, or SMART boards can malfunction.
In a science lesson on lunar craters, I scoured YouTube to find a video that would show the surface of the moon. After watching many videos I was able to find a short three minute or so video that showed how lunar craters. The video itself was posted by NASA and thus, a very reputable site. The video would provide a great transition between a mini-lesson the utilized literature and a moon globe. Unfortunately, the SMART board decided to be uncooperative and would not work. I had to spin my laptop around and show the kids the video on a small screen. Less impactful (pun not intended) but yet the students were fascinated to see how all those craters were created. By the time the video ended, the kids were primed and ready to make their own lunar craters.
2. April is poetry month and I have been presenting poetry to my two classes for the past couple of weeks. It has been my goal to inspire my students to read and write poetry. They were hesitant at first but are now loving each and every foray into poetry. In one lesson I explained how poetry is not just the words being read but how they are read. I used the following video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQerZSWZ4hw
That video was adorable! Have you used it and what were the kids' reactions?
ReplyDeleteWhen I did my unit on a country study, I wracked my brain with how to teach the students the different continents. Ultimately, I found a wonderful youtube video about the 7 continents, which also includes a great definition of the difference between a continent and a country, something I also had a difficult time coming up with on my own.
ReplyDeleteOne lesson on what the 7 continents are turned into my class sharing the song in front of the school at an All School Meeting last month. It was fantastic to see how engaged they were, and how well they remembered it!
I got great feedback from families at the end of the unit. One (much) older sister told me that one student was singing the song so much that her 4th grade sister learned the continents from her!
It's only a minute long, and a very catchy tune!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxQ0WLlDxvU
I enjoyed the Chen article about using iPods to create audio recordings of students reading and then having the students listen to the recordings to help them work on fluency. My lead teacher and I were talking about using a digital audio recorder for just this purpose last week! I’ve tried using an iPad to record students reading before (to help me with running records) and found the screen very distracting to the student – I’m hopeful that the digital audio recorder (which has no screen) will be a less intrusive device.
ReplyDeleteWe’ve been studying space, forces (such as gravity, air resistance, buoyancy, etc.), and the solar system in 2nd grade. I taught the lesson on Mars (taking us on a “trip” to the planet to learn about its size, composition, length of day and year, etc.), then showed two YouTube videos of the launching and landing of different Mars rovers. The kids were so excited to watch the process and were able to think about NASAs rover landing innovations (parachutes, airbags, rocket thrusters) in terms of what they’d learned about atmosphere, gravity, and air resistance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAM3kGOAkcc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyktvC7w7Js
I could relate mostly to the Branzburg and Hillner articles. We use an interactive white board in my current classroom. All of the points that Branzburg touched on made sense. I use it for almost everything. Since I am in first grade, I usually am the one to do most of the work on the SmartBoard, but I use it as an incentive tool. It is crucial for me to use the SmartBoard for the math program we use because it is interactive. However, instead of the children starring off in space and not listening, I chose children who are focused on the lesson to come up and solve our GoMath problems.
ReplyDeleteI always use Youtube in class. Mostly for random videos because we have a Brainpop Log in at our school. I love Brainpop, which is why I chose to use a free brainpop video and youtube video as well. I loved the idea of teacherstube. I have never even heard of this source. It is great because I don't have to browse through unwanted videos. However, My favorite youtube video that my class knows by heart is by story bots posted here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEStq1e1Qrc
The kids absolutely love this song. My school does fluoride rinsing every Wednesday morning. Since it takes a whole minute I wanted to play something
that kept their mind off that terrible taste. Now they know the song basically by heart which came in handy when learning about hours and half hours.
Here is the brain pop jr:
http://www.brainpopjr.com/math/data/tallychartsandbargraphs/
From tonight in class it was clear you are an excellent tech user, as well as a teacher. I am sorry I never observed you.
ReplyDelete