TodaysMeet: Unique

What Makes Someone Unique?

UEN:

Standard 2 The students will adopt health-promoting and risk-reducing behaviors to prevent substance abuse.  Discover personal strengths and talents that make one unique.

Education Technology:

Standard 6 Use telecommunications efficiently and effectively to access remote information and communicate with others in support of direct and independent learning and for pursuit of personal interests. (4)

ISTE:

Creative Communicator Students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate to their goals.

The tool that I chose to use was TodaysMeet. It was a nice way to collaborate and ask questions that can be anonymous by students choosing their own nickname.  I could use this now as a different way to test knowledge on what I have taught, maybe if I do a presentation in a class, i could use this as a way of testing or asking questions. This would be a great tool for me to use in the future because I would be able to use this with older grade levels, as a less intimidating way of testing what they know or what I have taught them, it would be a great way to see what I would need to teach about more in depth.  

Pros of this tool is that it is a good way to test knowledge while not being intimidating to the students.  You can use this as a way of figuring out what needs to be taught more in depth.  It is free as well and easy to sign up for.  

Cons of this tool is that it is a bit hard to understand how to work at first, I was confused on how the whole process was supposed to work.  I looked up videos on how it works, once you watch those though it is not bad at all.  

I will use this in my future classrooms when I want to see where the kids understanding are at, where I may want to touch over again.  I would also use this when I want my students to answer questions honestly and they can do that anonymously so they will feel more comfortable to do so.  

My students can use this tool when they want to learn more about something, they could post a question to their fellow classmates, who can answer back.  They could also use this tool as a way of communicating to others, which would be a cool way to collaborate with anyone.   

Prezi: Microorganisms: Viruses

Microorganisms: Viruses

UEN:

Standard 4 The students will understand concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention Explain how viruses differ from other microorganisms.

Education Technology:

Standard 5 Use technology tools (e.g., multimedia authoring, presentation, web tools, digital cameras, scanners) for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. (3, 4)

ISTE:

Knowledge Constructor Students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others.

The tool that I chose to use was Prezi, it is a cool and different way to present information.  This is a great tool to use for me now because it’s fun to make this type of presentations. I could use this now because I am able to make the presentation from anywhere and I can access it at any time.  I would use this tool in my future classrooms when I am teaching any subject, you could make a Prezi for any type of information and it would be a great way to present it. It also moves and changes which I think would be fun for my students to watch and that they would be more able to pay attention to it.   

Pros of this tool would be that you can access it anywhere that you have internet access, you can sign in anywhere and work on it.  It also auto saves which I really liked, I didn’t have to worry about losing any of the work that I had already done.  

Cons of this tool would be that it was a bit difficult to navigate through, you have to make sure that you click the place that you are trying to work on just right or it adds another text box that I didn’t need.  

I will use this tool in my classroom when I am making any type of presentation, it would be a fun way to teach my students information.  When you are presenting the presentations, it is fun because of the transitions that you can choose, which make it fun for the students.

How my students can use this tool is they can make projects with it. It would be a good alternative to the standard powerpoint, it could be more fun for them to make a Prezi, than just a regular powerpoint.   

Podcast: Earths Tilt and Why it Causes Seasons

Earths Tilt and Why It Causes Seasons

UEN:

Standard 2 Students will understand how Earth's tilt on its axis changes the length of daylight and creates the seasons.

Education Technology:

Standard 6 Use telecommunications efficiently and effectively to access remote information and communicate with others in support of direct and independent learning and for pursuit of personal interests. (4)

ISTE:

Creative Communicator Students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate to their goals.

The tool that I chose to use was a Podcast. This would be a fun tool to use when you are presenting information that can be easily understood, with just talking or explanation.  I could use this now when presenting information, it would even be fun to make a podcast on my journey through school and the education program.  This would be fun for my future classroom because it would be information that students would be able to access as many times as they want and they can listen to it as many times as they would like to.  

The Pros of this tool is that it was fun to make and it was exciting to record something that could be listened to over and over again.  I had help with the whole recording process, which was really nice, but otherwise it may have been harder to figure out.

The Cons of this tool is that you have to get the episode almost perfect or right because if you don’t some of the mess ups that you have can be fixed, but not all of them.  You also want to make it sound like you are enjoying yourself and also being yourself, which was a little hard when reading a script.  

I will use this tool in my classroom when my students need to be able to listen to stuff that I have taught.  This is kind of similar to having or taking a recording of a lesson, my students would be able to go over the material as much as they wanted in order to understand.  

My students can use this tool for projects, if they want to make a podcast for a project where they can teach something easily that would be great. They can also make podcasts as a way that they could study for things that they need to remember.  This might help them because they are teaching it and they can also listen to it.  

TikiToki: Significant Events that Shaped Utah

4th Grade: Significant Events that Shaped Utah

UEN:

Standard 2 Students will understand how Utah's history has been shaped by many diverse people, events, and ideas.  Objective 2 Describe ways that Utah has changed over time.

Education Technology:

Standard 6 Use telecommunications efficiently and effectively to access remote information and communicate with others in support of direct and independent learning and for pursuit of personal interests. (4)

ISTE:

Computational Thinker Students develop and employ strategies for understanding and solving problems in ways that leverage the power of technological methods to develop and test solutions.

The tool that I chose to use is TikiToki, it is a place where you can create digital timelines for whatever subject you would like.  This is a good tool because you are able to input the dates that you want the timeline to include and then you put a title and a brief description.  This would be a great tool to use now for projects where dates are important or when making a fun and different way to introduce a timeline.  I can use this tool in my future classroom when I am introducing certain subject where a timeline would be most appropriate.  Like in the TikiToki that I created, I did major events and people who helped shape the Utah that we know today.  

Pros of this tool is that you can set whatever dates you want and it can be as long of a time period as you would like it to be.  It is also nice that you can include websites where the person viewing it can go to for more information.  

Cons of this tool is that it is a bit confusing to navigate at first, it takes a bit of working and messing around to get used to.  You have to put in a day, month, year, and time that things happened which was a little difficult with some of the times that I was adding in.  If you want the free version, you are also only limited to one timeline.  

I will use this tool to present different dates and times that are important to know for my students. It would be a good thing to help them to visualize when things in history occurred.

My students will be able to use this tool when they are making project or even when they are needing to remember important and relevant dates.  They could make their own timelines with their own information that they find important and worthy to remember.  

Storybird: Who, What, Where, When, and Why.

Who What Where When and Why

UEN:

Reading: Literature. Standard 1, 2nd grade Language Arts

Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

Education Technology:

Standard 5: Use technology tools (e.g., multimedia authoring, presentation, web tools, digital cameras, scanners) for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. (3, 4)

ISTE:
Knowledge Constructor Students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others.

The tool that I chose to use was Storybird.  I created a picture book, but you could choose to create a picture book, long form books, or poetry.  This was a great tool for making your own story and/or teaching a subject.  It was a great way to get creative juices flowing and show creativity.  This would be a great tool to use in a classroom and it would also be great to make a story that you could print off and give to my students.  

Pros of this Storybird tool are that you can make any story that you would like to, you can search for beautiful and fun pictures that will go along with the subject of your book.  You can also print out the stories that you create for a decent price.  

Cons of this tool would be the picture choosing selecting.  It was a bit difficult to decide what pictures to use because although the pictures were amazing and wonderful, you could either choose to use a page of all different types of pictures or you could use a specific artists pictures. When you choose between the two types of pictures you can’t go back, at least I couldn’t find a way to do that.  

I would use this in my future classroom by creating fun and personalized books that my students could read.  I think that if I were to do so that would be an awesome way for my future students to feel important and appreciated.  

My students could use this tool if they want to write their own story.  It would be fun for them to use because they could make any type of story with any theme or story line. I think that it would be fun for them to make their own story and then you could possibly print out the stories and share them with my classes every year.       

Youtube: Important National Symbols

Important National Symbols, Landmarks, and Documents

UEN:                                                                                                                              Standard 2 (Citizenship): Students will recognize and practice civic responsibility in the community, state, and nation. Objective 3 Investigate and show how communities, state, and nation are united by symbols that represent citizenship in our nation.

Education Technology:                                                                                                 Standard 8 Use technology resources (e.g., calculators, data collection probes, videos, educational software) for problem-solving, self-directed learning, and extended learning activities. (5, 6)

ISTE:                                                                                                                                  Knowledge Constructor Students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others.

The tool that I chose to use was YouTube.  This was a great and fun tool to use.  I can use this tool now as a student when I want to learn more about what I am learning in my classes, YouTube has millions of videos on any and every type of subject.  I will use this as a future teacher to help illustrate the subjects that i am teaching.  There as so many great videos that people make that can be used to help teach.  

Pros of this tool are that there are millions of videos available to choose from on any subject that you need.  A lot of the videos that are available are made by other teachers, which is great because then you know that you are getting all or most of the information that you are needing.  

Cons of this tool are that there are some videos that people put on YouTube that are inappropriate so you need to view the videos that you are showing  students at least once, if not multiple times.  You would also need to set guidelines and safety features on what the students can view and search for.  

I will use this tool in my classrooms to show information to my students.  It would be a great way for them to access more information.  I could give them more videos that I would like them to watch where they could learn more.  As well as using other users videos, I could make my own videos that the students could watch as well.    

My student will be able to use this tool if they need more information in certain areas.  It would be a great tool or resource for them to use when they need more information or more clarification.  It would also be a good place to make videos that my students could make for projects or fun.