FINAL QR CODE PROJECT

For this assignment I decided to create a QR Code project that I could use with my students as a review at the end of our unit on American Symbols which is one of our First grade SOL's.  I tried to use a variety of resources online from videos to pinterest and also I used kid friendly sites so my students would be able to easily use these resources!  Here are the QR codes for the 6 resources I found online!

I also created three of my own resources and created QR codes for those.  I created a QR code for a smartboard review file which is located on my dropbox.  I also created a QR code for an online jigsaw puzzle that I created of the Liberty Bell.   The last QR code is for a photopeach slideshow that I made with pictures of all the American Symbols as a final review for my students.

I really enjoyed creating this American Symbols activity scavenger hunt for my students to use in the future.  I think they are all really fun and also educational activities that I really believe my students will enjoy doing and be engaged in.  I also looked into a QR code scanner and found a free one for the ipad that works great and would be what I used with my students.  For this assignment I used the digital QR codes, but for use in my classroom I would probably print the QR codes and have them around the room for my students to scan and work at their own pace.  I think this will be a really fun and enjoyable activity and I can't wait to do it with my next group of first graders and also share if with my fellow first grade teachers!

Module 4 Assignment 7

Before watching the videos and looking at the powerpoint I was unsure of what BYOD was.  After watching the first video it brought up several good points about BYOD which is "bring your own device".  It pointed out how common place technology is in almost every aspect of our lives but yet at school it is a once in a while tool which doesn't add up.  It also pointed out that with BYOD each student will have to maintain their own device with updates and correct software which saves time and money for the SBO and RTIs.  Another important argument that the video brought up with the temptation with added technology for students not to pay attention to the lesson.  For me personally I think if you are using the technology appropriately students will be effectively engaged and not tempted to focus on other things.

Something I see a lot in my classroom is the high level of exposure to technology that all my students have.  Even at such a young age most only 6 or 7 they have been exposed to more technology than many adults and are comfortable and experienced using it.  I sometimes find it hard to keep my students attention without incorporating technology into a lesson.  They are so accustomed to the stimulation that comes from technology and without it they often quickly lose interest.  For me and my classroom this would be an advantage to BYOD to help keep students active and engaged in the learning process.

One downside that I see to the BYOD would be discrepancy in devices.  The students I teach tend to have a wide range of income including a large population of free/reduced lunch students.  It would be very hard for these parents to be able to provide a device for their student to bring to school, or possibly to provide a high quality device.  This could create a gap between students as far as what technology they would have access to and I can see this as a major downside to BYOD.

Module 4 Assignment 5

This assignment was all about using the "Explain Everything" app.  I really liked a lot of features about the app and I think it was well worth the $2.99.  One feature in particular that I liked was the ability to screen mirror anything you have created so it can be used not only with a smartboard but also with a projector as well.  I also really like how you can connect the "Explain Everything" app with your Dropbox account and then easily import either pictures or videos quickly and easily from Dropbox.

Another feature that I thought would be really useful for me and my first grade class is the ability to upload a document and use the pens and highlighters on the document.  One thing we often do in first grade is interactive notetaking where we have the students highlight or circle different words and draw pictures and different things to our notes to help them remember what we were talking about and the important parts of our notes.  This would be something I could easily make an "Explain Everything" video about for my students and this would allow them to work on interactive notetaking more independently or they could also do it at home as homework allowing me more time in class to work on hands-on activities!


My last favorite feature, although I could continue listing more, is how easy it is to import a powerpoint and then how the app automatically creates it slide for slide so you don't have to spend a ton of time reformatting everything you had already created in powerpoint!

Overall, I really liked this app and I can definitely see myself playing around with it more and incorporating it into my classroom!

Module 4 Assignment 4

This activity was all about creating a Dropbox folder and then sharing either a folder or a link to a file or a folder.  Dropbox is something I am very familiar with using and have used quite frequently.  I have used it both at school to share documents, lessons, or Smartboard files with my colleagues, and I have also used it as an easy way to share photos with family members!

I created a folder and named it with my name and then quickly copy, pasted some files over into it.  Then I simply clicked the share button and typed in an email address and clicked share.  It is a very simple process, which is great and very user friendly.

The next part of the activity was sharing a link in our blog to an activity that we found online.  I used a website that has math enrichment activities for first grade.  I simply copied the link into a document and saved it in my Dropbox folder.  Then I was able to get a link and quickly post it in my blog.  Overall this assignment was very easy to do, and showed how quick and easy it is to share using Dropbox!

Here is a link to an enrichment activity website in my Dropbox!

Module 4 Assignment 3

This assignment was about using Google drive to create a document and then share it using a link in our blog.  I really like Google drive, and using it to create documents is very easy and user friendly.  This is something I do a lot to collaborate with my fellow teachers.  I have never shared a document with them using a link though, and I was surprised doing this assignment how easy it was.

As I looked through the slideshow in the link to get directions on how to do I was surprised at how easy it was.  Also, in the directions it said that sharing a link can be useful in situations where what you are sharing might be too big to attach to an email.  Below find the link to the document that I created it's nothing special, just a quickly typed sentence of what I was doing!



Google Doc

Module 4 Assignment 2

Walker Colt Pruett on PhotoPeach
 
I really enjoyed making the slideshow on PhotoPeach it was a really neat activity!  I choose to do a slide show of pictures of my newborn son, and set the music as a really cute song about babies in the NICU, which is were my son is because he was born premature at 26 weeks.  Using PhotoPeach was VERY simple and easy to use.  It gave easy step by step directions, and made even adding music very simple. I can definitely see myself using this in the future to make picture slideshows in the future!

Module 3 Assignment 7

I really liked the edutopia article it was very informative and offered a lot of information about a technology enhanced classroom.  I really liked the section for tips with getting started.  It suggested that we survey our students to see what types of technology they have, and are familiar with using.  In my class we only really have access to using Ipads so that is what I deal mostly with. I also liked how the article did go through and describe several different types of technology that would be useful in the classroom.  I looked at the apps for Elementary students and the descriptions looked good, however they were all paid apps.

I did download an app called First Grade Learning Games.  I really like this app because it has a variety of different games that are all centered around First graders.  It has a combination of both reading and math games for students to play.  Games about compound words and contractions or for math patterns and adding and subtracting.  This is an app that I could definitely use with my students and they would be very engaged.  I could have all students on the same app, while at the same time targeting specific skills with certain students to reach them where they are in their learning!