Teachers begin using cell phones for class lessons

My daughter, a senior in college, sent me this link today after we had discussed more use of technology in the classroom on Thanksgiving Day .  An interesting concept and creative use of the phones which we all know are there!

Yahoo! Tech Article 

Saturday Morning Tweets - Idea!

I have been spending most of this holiday weekend Saturday morning navigating through many of the Twitter members and lists of users. I had been able to make contact with several fellow science teachers across the US and am now following many lists. In time I do hope to be able to share some new tools and successful strategies that I will be using in the classroom.

I think my first project will be to incorporate student use of Web 2.0 tools into the annual National Parks Project which is the climax of our Geology Unit. In this project I ask the students to research and explore a US National Park of their own choosing, within several parameters. From there they are to apply many of the geologic concepts of plate movement, faulting, mountain building, volcanoes, weathering and erosion and so forth, to the actual natural geologic formation of their chosen park. The real assessment is to determine if the students can apply what they learned in class to a real world situation. My overall theme for the year is "How does this relate to the world around you?", and this project takes the knowledge of geologic processes and allows them to explain using a National Park as their subject. They have the most fun building 3-D models of their park or a specific feature of their park, such as Old Faithful, Half Dome, Grand Canyon, Delicate Arch and so forth. I use the USGS web site Tour of Park Geology as a starting point for the project.

I now have to give some thought as to how to use more Web 2.0 tools for them to use, such as presentation media, a blog site, Animoto videos, etc, as a way for them to share their info. I hope to find a way to attach the assignment sheet to this post so that I can share and hopefully get some feedback as well!

Using Animoto

Just played with yet another online tool called Animoto which allows one to create slide shows to music. I uploaded my own pics and music for a quick 30-second video. I know there was a way to get a full license as a teacher but for some reason that did not yet take. Will work on it!

Desert Scenery

Google-Proof Questioning

Google-Proof Questioning

I found this blog site called The Electric Educator while exploring all the resources out there, and it caught me as pertinent, especially since I’ve been reading on the new Bloom’s Taxonomy for the 21st Century skills. As I have been learning many of these new skills and jargon for 21C, and probably just barely on the “knowledge” level of the hierarchy, I thought that this was interesting for my own thinking and approach in the classroom.

I know I have been frustrated at times by the simple “cut and paste” of many student reports, and wished I could find a way to help wean them off that approach to web research. Actually designing the web-quest activity for the higher level thinking skills and actively encouraging the students to truly research, understand, analyze and then create (synthesize) their product just makes so much more sense. I have a major project coming up, and will take a closer look at the tasks and work I am asking students to create. It’ll be interesting to see how this unfolds!

It’s been a busy week for me with 1st Q grades being due, assessments to score, and trying to keep up with the 21st Century Skills course I am taking. At times it seems overwhelming with so much to do – I can’t remember a time when I’ve been in school until 5 or 6 pm at night, every night…even Fridays. But overall the work is rewarding in the sense that I feel that I am making progress in my quest to make better use of the technology in the classroom.

I’ve made good progress on my classroom blog site, and have formally introduced it to my classes. For now it is informational, with links to sites that will come in handy as we go through the year – project research sites, etc. I did give an assignment for a Study Island activity for my students as we work to review science material they have used in grades 6 and 7 at the Middle School.
In time I want to have the kids use the site as a discussion forum, until I can find a better way to do this.

Feel free to browse the site and offer suggestions for improvement –
Mr.Ruggiero's Science 8-2

I want to give special thanks to a fellow science teacher at the Parker Middle School in Reading, MA who has helped me in wading through the myriad mix of technology, and in introducing me to some new techniques and tools.

I try to post 2-3 times a week onto the site, and upload drawings, pictures and even shots from the Smart Board (another new technology for me) so that I can provide the week at a glance for my kids.

The social networking sites have been interesting, and as with anything else, I need to sort through what links seem most appropriate at this time, and try to explore and reach out in a somewhat organized fashion. I have joined the ISTE 2010 Conference Ning, as well as teacherlinx.com and hope to find these sites useful in making contacts and getting the inspiration I need!

A New Blog for Classroom Use

I'm busy trying to learn another blog site that I am hoping to use for my classroom use and communications with my kids. I started a main page, added links and announcements, and am hoping to get this up and running by Christmas. In the meantime I am using the site as 'training' for my blog creation skills. Feel free to check it out. It is a Blog tool that should be accessible in most schools with the security firewall. My plan is to look at other teacher blog sites for ideas on how to effectively use these, and add more pertinent info!

Mr. Ruggiero's Science 8-2