EDMODO, TWITTER, and now Moodle

Well, I have been trying to keep up with the pace of technology and these new Digitial Citizens, however, it is tough.  Last year, I began with Twitter, blogging, and Edmodo.  This year, my new goal is to have a Moodle up and running by my 30th birthday...January 7th!  I implemented an algebra lesson with the "Flipped Classroom" approach, and I think it went pretty well.  Thanks to Kahn Academy and Edmodo, I was able to create a "lesson" on Edmodo and have kids watch 3 short videos.  We discussed, did examples, and prepared mini lessons for groups of kids to perform to show what they learned that week.  The biggest excitement came when I saw that kids were re-watching and posting comments about the videos in their own time.  It showed me that kids were engaged and exited to continue their learning from their homes.  I hope to continue that excitement with this L.A. Moodle and see how much the kids can teach me as well!  Here is a video that was shared in one of my Moodle Classes.  It nicely summarizes the shift in education from the individual learning using paper and pencil, to the Digital Collaborator using the WEB to continue their education outside of the classroom.

A Vision of K-12 Students Today

Welcome to 6th Grade Video for Multimedia Course

Welcome to 6th Grade: First Day Video for Upcoming 5th Graders into 6th Grade.

I wanted to pump up my kids for the year so with a little motivation from my teacher Rich Kiker I created this short video.  ENJOY!

Shadow Show- Morrison's Class 7

Video clip of a successful SHADOW SHOW during our Light and Color Unit in Science Class 1 (2012).

Animoto, Xtranormal, Creaza, and Prezi SUCCESS

I had to share how successful and engaged my students were when they presented their book report projects this past week.  Instead of the boring 5 paragraph essay, I gave my students the option to summarize the narrative elements of their story through any WEB 2.0 Presentation Tool.  There were kids who still used Power Point, which was fine, however, the kids that tended to not give 100% on my past two reports, came through with flying colors.  I had hilarious Xtranormal and Animoto cartoons, I had a trivia gave after a Power Point Presentation, and I had a comic strip before my eyes with Creaza detailing the events of the story.  I also received every project on time and at least 8 early.  Here is a link to my list of options    https://docs.google.com/documnt/d/1UhNVpYcrztU3c-_tSrcTvhZ0oi9SnfFt1lD-d7e9xCg/edit and a link to my rubric https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aj-DYftulDArdDdpdnBaMlJpR0pySVVVWHBkbzFHOGc


I believe that we were so successful because I gave my kids CHOICE, and I gave them something NOVEL.  They had never been asked to use these WEB 2.0 TOOLS and they told me that it was FUN to CREATE online.  The last bonus was that many of these programs, (except Power Point), were free and web-based.  Therefore, kids could work on them at school just as easy and safely as they did at home.

I will definitely do this next year and continue to add more presentation tools to my list.

Glogster...

Xtranormal

Feel free to email me with any questions:

morrisgh@npenn.org

Miss Gabrielle Morrison

Streetlights of the Sustainable Future

Wow!  I just read an interesting article on how we can use algae, dead batteries and even dog feces to generate energy for street lights.  Pretty ingenious don't you think?! Check out this article for an amazing way to reuse "waste".
Streetlights of the Sustainable Future

WEB 2.0 Book Report and Technology Course Improves Teaching...

Well, I have continued to apply what I have been learning in my wonderful Rich Kiker courses at the MCIU.  Not only are parents able to follow me and read my blogs, but the kids are more engaged as they create interactive posters and reports.  I let the kids recently explore a variety of WEB 2.0 presentation sites.  I told them to explore, learn, talk to each other, and eventually SHOW ME how to create a project and the use the program.  To my delight, kids were clicking and showing and doing.  I did not see any off task behavior.  I even had a few kids starting on their book report project because they had found a site and had finished their book report book early.  I heard a lot of, "How did you do..." and "Look at what I did!"  There was a lot of excitement for those 30 minutes in the Computer Lab.  I even had two kids ask if they could use additional programs that I had not listed.  I hope to see Movie Maker and Prezi used.  I hope to have kids use Prezi to present information from our Science unit on Light and Color too. 

I am also getting more and more quick professional development through Twitter, Google  Plus, Edmodo, and Google reader.  It is overwhelming at times, but at other times, I can skim and pick up small things as time allows.  I have installed the Google Reader on my phone which acts like an RSS feed and brings all the blogs I follow to my finger tips.  Here is where I keep up to date on current events and new educational and technological advancements.  Also, I have copied some articles from Time to share with kids on Global Warming, and my Google Reader continues to "feed" me Global Warming articles and other informative articles to keep me in the loop so I can teach the most up to date information.

The only thing I have not been successful with is getting my students and parents to follow me @MissMorrision123 on Twitter.  I think with time, I will get more and more parents who are already familiar with Twitter so that when they come to my class they will easily know how to follow me.  Our principal, Joe Mazza, has created numerous opportunities for parents to come and learn about Twitter and other new ways to keep in touch with the school and teachers.  These things take time, especially with those families that do not have Internet access.

Please do not forget to FOLLOW ME on Twitter AND RESPOND TO MY BLOGS. :/

Earth Day 2012

Earth Day 2012