POST #3: Share a resource

The resource I chose to use was Teaching Books.net. I logged in using the school password, scrolled down and started a search. I chose my grade level, (7-12), and science as my topic.  I thought for a moment that I might be getting only fictional works, but as I continued to search it became evident that nonfictional resources were also available.  I found a wonderful resource geared toward teens on the third page entitled “Going Blue”.  I have always wanted to incorporate more material about the ocean and the health of the ocean in my classroom, although it is not in the Iowa Core.  I plan to start the school year with this resource, using the lesson plan provided.  As students complete a service project using the guidelines in the lesson plan, we will have a reference for the remainder of the year as we investigate other topics in science. Hopefully, this will increase their retention of science and initiate awareness of how their daily choices affect an area of the Earth that is important to us all.

Link for the book: http://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tid=21148
Lesson plan link: http://www.freespirit.com/files/OTHER/Introduction.pdf

I spent some time looking at iCLIPART. This is a resource that I had not spent any time looking at in the past. I plan to use this resource when I make worksheets for my reading groups. My worksheets have been pretty plain in the past. I think this will jazz them up a little bit. I will also use this resource when we are working on our research papers. My students have to do some papers and power points in their gen. ed. classes. We struggle to find good pictures to put into these projects. My students spend too much time clicking on different websites to look for pictures. It will save a lot of time to go to this resource to find our pictures. We can find clip art, pictures, or animations to use. They will love this.
I think the added benefit of being able to download different fonts will be fun. I know that my students like to look at the fonts that are pre-programmed on the computer, so being able to look at so many more and download their favorites will get them excited.

I will be using StarWalk Kids Media to enhance our digital literacy curriculum. To reach the website, I went to Heartland AEA’s Library and Digital Resources webpage, then clicked on Online Resources in the left margin, then chose “K-5th.” This takes you to a Mackin Via login page where I used our district username and password. I clicked on the View Groups tab and chose CyberSmarts. This brings up a list of 5 ebooks and a description of each. Clicking on More Info displays a page listing details of the book, including lexile and interest level.

The 5 ebooks include Avoiding Predators Online, Playing Games Online, Protecting Your Privacy Online, Stopping Cyberbulling and Using Social Media. Each ebook is 24 pages long and is geared toward 4th grade through middle school students. When the book is open, each page of text has an accompanying photograph following it on the next page. For each page, their are several options in a menu in the left margin: Vocabulary words, which when clicked display the definition with the option of having it read to you by the computer; Learn More, which provides interesting facts and trivia through charts, lists and graphs; Instructional Support for the teacher which includes pretests, lesson plans, and .pdf’s; and Resources such as a list of supporting websites. At the top of the page is an email icon that when selected will display a sample problem email and offer 3 choices of how to deal with it.

I will probably present one of these books in an Instructor-Led lesson to show them how to navigate the ebooks, then I will use the remaining 4 books in my centers to work independently or in partners. The overall objective is for students to become more tech savvy and safe when online.

Like few others I had trouble logging in.  I know our school has username and password but just don't know it.  So, I went to BookFlix and got their trial version.  From the course BookFlix really interested me.  I would use this resource for K thru 3rd.  I loved how the words were highlighted as being read.  2nd and 3rd graders could listen to the story as well.  It would give them different options instead them always having to read.  Once they heard the story read to them.  They could go back and read it to themselves.  Doing this there might be something they missed when listening to the story.   So it will make it easier for Kindergarters and 1st graders to follow along.  Only having a few words on each page I think will help keep their attention.  The pictures on each page went with each part of the story very well.  When at the main menu and you can choose a category there are so many different choices.  Students can pick different books that interest them.  After choosing a story there is activities students can do.  Which students will enjoy doing and be able to do.  When choosing a story right beside it.  It shows students fiction and non fiction stories.  It shows students how books can relate to each other.  If students choose to read the story themselves.  Having information about the author, students then can find out more information about the author.  I really enjoyed exploring BookFlix and it will be great resource that the students can go log in on their own.  

I went to Soundzabound (www.soundzabound.com) and explored different projects and examples.   All you need is your school’s username and password and you are in!  I then went to student productions, project examples and soundz audio below the demo on using Soundzabound on the ipad.  There is also a tutorials button you can check out if you need more help.  The tutorial I looked at was one on “Create a podcast in Garageband.”

 My students usually use Garageband to make podcasts and this resource would help enhance those products.  I teach freshmen English.  One of the problems that I have encountered with students is that they take too much time on finding pictures and music and not enough on the content of the project.  Showing how to use Soundzabound should help this problem.  By using the category search tool, students should be able to narrow down the sounds easier and faster than in the past.  The objective of the podcast is to relate information to their other classmates in a fun way.  As a class, we have many conversations about what tone means and how it is achieved in many different medias.  Music is a very easy way for students to identify or create the tone they want.  Soundzabound can help achieve this.

I thought this was a challenge to try and get through all the resources.  I picked out a few to use on a project that we do in 2nd grade every year.  Students do a report on penguins.  They pick a penguin and come up with some research and write a report.  They aren’t detailed reports as it is their first shot at it.  We could use Bookflix to locate books on Antarctica. I logged onto Bookflix and searched through books to find ones that would apply.  Anytime you can tie literature into what you are learning, fiction or non fiction., it enhances student learning and engagement.  I would have several books pulled up on different Ipads for students to read when they finish early or during small group time.  This is an amazing resource that I don’t use enough.

I chose Iclipart and did a general search for state flags.  We do a pamphlet on a state that the student picks.  This would be a great tool for kids to find their state flag with an easy general search and be able to legally use it in their pamphlet.  This is all done with everyone at one sight.  Teaching 2nd grade, keeping everyone on the same page is a must.  

The resource that I went to was BookFLIX. BookFLIX is targeted to PreK-3. It is a site where students can listen and read along with different books. How I accessed it was I went to www.iowaaeaonline.org and clicked on BookFLIX. I had to enter my district username and password. One of the books that I looked at was Just a few words Mr. Lincoln. I picked this book because I felt I could use it in a second grade classroom when we talk about Presidents Day. the direct link is http://bkflix.grolier.com/pb/bkcat09b. The overall outcome would be for the students to learn more about President Lincoln. Also we could as a class do the other book that is linked to it to continue the discussion about Mr. Lincoln.

Like other students taking this course, at least one, I am a substitute teacher and do not have access to the online media resources. I do not have a username or password. I did attempt to go to their website but failed for the previous reason stated. I also called ProQuest for assistance but they were already closed. If I could utilize one of the AEA Online Media resources I would use CultureGrams. I want to do a unit on life in Afghanistan. I am a Persian Gulf War veteran and learned a lot of information about how Saudi Arabians lived during my 6 months of service in their world. I believe during a unit on how other people around the world live would be very interesting to 3rd graders. First I would utilize the Kids Edition of CultureGrams. The Kids edition is used for upper elementary and middle school students. The first area of Afghanistan life myself and my students would research would be their culture. Just a couple things we would research would be goals and values of their society. Next, I would want my students to collect information in order to complete a comparison and contrast of “life of the kids”.  This way they can see how different or alike kids of other places are. Finally, I would want to have someone like a soldier that has served over in Afghanistan come in and talk to the students. This individual would tell what they visualized as far as how the Afghans lived after or before the war began. They would give their perspective. No gory details pertaining to anything else would be talked about. Of course, I’m sure I would have to get the individual approved to speak.

The resource I would like to share is ICLIPART.  Use this link to get you to the login page for ICLIPART: http://schools.iclipart.com/iowa/.  Or you can search the Heartland online website, look on the left hand side for the ICLIPART and follow the links.  The Ankeny schools art department is going through their ciruculm review this year.  It is great to have a resource like this that we can use to find images that we can use in our classrooms.  I plan on using ICLIPART in all of my demonstrations for each of my projects.  There is also a project in my classroom where the students will be puting together a powerpoint project....the ICLIPART will become a great resource for images for the students to enhance their powerpoints.  It is also nice to find a place where it is easy to find images that you may be looking for,and also the piece of mind that there are no worries of copyright.  I would like to take more professional development on a few other areas that I would like to use in my classroom as well.  I enjoy reading through the topic thread and seeing how other teachers are using your resources.  

Since I am a substitute teacher, I do not have a specific log in and password to be able to use this in the classroom.  The only time I have had access in the classroom was when a teacher left their specific password for me to use to access something.  The specific teacher I am thinking about used the 'Learn 360' from the AEA online resources and this was beneficial.  I know my wife has talked a lot about using 'Book Flix' with the younger students.  

The resource that I went to was BookFLIX.   One of the books that we have used and will continue to use  is "So You Want To Be President?"  the direct link is http://http://bkflix.grolier.com/p/node-33980/bk0050pr We introduced  Bookflix to our student last year right before Presidents Day.  All classes and students just loved this book and asked if they could watch the book again and for months we couldn't keep our copies of the books on the shelf.  This is a great resource to keep kids attention and also to make reading a fun choice.  The only problem we had is that sometimes, depending on the time of the day, Bookflix can be very slow at times.  We have checked with out IT person and they say that its not our internet but just how bookflix runs.  We will need to find the book ahead of time and let the book play so that the buffering doesn't interfere with the showing time.

It is not possible for me to get on to AEA Online to use the resources as am a Substitute in various school districts.  One of the reasons I took this class was to find out about all the resources available as I feel like the primary school I sub in underutilizes AEA resources in the classroom.  Very few teachers I've worked with take advantage of these wonderful resources.

Having said that I often refer kids to Kahn Academy to help them with math.  Having tutored a few kids in math I set accounts with them on Kahn so they can do practice on their own and I can monitor their work  I have not been to the Science section but I understand it is very good also.  For many students just hearing a lesson from a different voice, hearing a topic described in a different way, can open their eyes.  I believe that is one of the best ways the internet can be utilized in the classroom.  While people talk about differentiating in the classroom, I think some kids will just not connect with some teachers.  If you have the ability to offer those kids a resource that would help them understand the topic, they might then still have success in the classroom.  I would hope that would be the goal of every teacher, for their kids to have success in their classroom so they can later have success in life.

I looked at the Kids Search through EBSCO host.  In order to get to the site, I went to the AEA website and clicked on the Educator Tab.  Once I was on the tab, I went to Online Resources.  When the resource page came up, it had different options for the various grade levels (K-5, 6-8, 9-12, and Educators).  I selected the K-5 tab and went to Kids Search and was asked to sign in.  Once signed in, the page is very kid friendly for the younger students.  I liked on "Images/Videos" then typed "Iowa" into the search area. Once the images came up, I clicked on the tab for "Maps and Flags".  This source brought up seven different images that students can look at and they can see what the flag of the state looks like for the different states.  

The grade levels can vary on this website which is nice.  The section that I looked at is for the elementary level through 5th grade. This resource will be very helpful in my DK classroom, because we study the United States.  It will be nice to show the students pictures other than just the ones from books I have checked out from the library. Since the school I teach at is close to Des Moines, I can show the students a map from this resource that shows how far Ankeny is from Des Moines then we can measure and incorporate Math into the lesson. Also, I like this site/resource for when we study animals and the students will be able to see various animals (baby or adult) through the images. This resource allows students to see images of the different things to help them with the visual aspect of learning.

The resource that I chose to look at first was TeachingBooks.net.  I searched for Math and narrowed my search to grade levels 7-12.  I looked through many of the books listed and finally decided to dig in to "Countdown: Six kids vie for glory at the world's toughest Math Competition."  My first thought was that it would be very difficult for me to have kids read a book in a math class because they do so much of that already in other courses, but the more I thought about it I realized that most of the time my kids really don't understand how things connect outside of the classroom.  This has always been a struggle for me.  I have many students come back after they graduate and tell me how they used certain things that they learned in my class, and they never really appreciated it until then.  That’s great, but I want them to appreciate it before they leave the high school.  I can tell them about it and show them some examples, but until they read or discover it for themselves, it will never be a reality in their minds.  I feel like these resources can help show the students the important impact that our subjects can have on the world on both small and large scales.  I love the lesson plans that come with each book on this resource and it all should be very useful.

Every year I teach states and capitols to my fourth graders.  I was so excited to learn about CultureGrams!  Once I clicked on CultureGrams, I found out it had a wealth of knowledge about the states and capitols. When I went into that area of the site I was amazed at how much information was available for the kids to read and/listen to with headphones.  Even though I teach fourth grade I have students who are struggling readers and for them to be able to listen to the information is phenomenon.
We study the states by regions.  Using CultureGrams they will be able to research and collect information on a state of their choice. Then they can share their information with the class or a small group.

I went to Iowa AEA online and then clicked on the tab for Teacher Resources.  Then I went to the Teen Health and Wellness link.  From there you need to scroll to the bottom and click on "Librarian/Educator Resources". There are bully prevention posters, bookmarks and a powerpoint presentation to be used from this site.  Cyber bullying is an issue that hits close to home as a neighboring school just experienced a suicide as a result of this.  I would like to assist in preventing and stopping all types of bullying and advocating for awareness on this topic.  I would plan on placing posters and handing out bookmarks to the students at our school as well as show the powerpoint presentation on our television in the lobby.  I will also share the presentation with your Health teacher so she may also use it in her classroom.

My effort will be to use the Learning 360.  I have already been showing videos that pertain to classes that I have observed.  Just having that 'on' during the day as people come into the library will be noticed and curiosity will be raised.  From that curiosity I will teach them all that Learning 360 has to offer teachers and students.  

Elem grades will be shown this as they need research and let me know what subject matter that are studying.  I realize this is rather simplistic but time is a challenge and I use those teachable moments.

I found that many of the resources would be extremely useful in my classroom.  I enjoyed spending time on culturegrams which I can see be used with my third grade classes.  They do a project at the end of the year which they research animals and the land they come from such as countries in Africa http://online.culturegrams.com/kids/kids_country_sub_categories.php?contid=1&wmn=Africa&cid=120&cn=Madagascar&KidsSubCatID=1

The web site was well laid out for struggling readers.  I found the page to be intriguing, and it was very well planned to research information.  For instance, if the student needs to find the flag they are not spending 30 minutes looking for when to find the colors of Madagascar's flag.  The page is very well labeled and many interesting facts.  I was also happy that there was an option to have the text read to them.  If we are truly testing what they are understanding about the country then reading should not be a hurdle.  This allows my students to do their assignment with less teacher input.  Last,  I enjoy the videos, photos and other little tidbits like interview that put a personal touch and make the student feel closer to a project.

I find myself subbing for the Agriculture class for both of the schools systems I teach for. The AEA Online Resources has an abundance of information on this subject. Besides the data regarding the state as a whole the principle resource for Iowa is the crops and animals they grow and ship throughout the US.

I found the Learn360 to be most valuable with videos that show our states crops vividly. I would go to this area and bring up our state of Iowa and the videos at the URL http://www.learn360.com/FeaturedVideos.aspx?module=0&blockitem=2&contentId=1111532
Many different types of fruits and vegetables are listed and the video that tells all about it. The Learn360 also has PowerPoint presentations for lecture and worksheets that will test them on what they have learned in the video and or the presentations. Learn360 will be a favorite in this class.

Again, as others have said, we substitute teachers really have little to say about what plans the classroom we're in use.  I am lucky if I can even get on the computer the teacher uses. There are always confidentiality issues. If I were the teacher I would surely use BookFlix.  What a fun way to learn facts from fiction.  I love it!  Sadly, I don't plan to ever have a full time classroom to use it in nor will I have the need to use it for myself.  I don't have a 12 yr. old to help me with username and password for the school. I do think all the resources are amazing and very nearly overwhelming.  I admire those teachers who are able to put these new resources to good use. I only wish they were available to us non teacher folks.