Website

Here is my finished website on Rocks and the rock cycle.

Video

Here is my video on Chemical and Physical Changes.

Evidence of Networking Participation

Here is a screen cast of some of the blogs that I commented on and the discussion board on blackboard.

WebQuest

Here is a webquest that I created on plant and animal cells. I would have the students complete this webquest after we finished learning about the organelles of both plant and animal cells. I will then teach the class how to make a webquest and have them make a webquest about cell division as a practice. After we master making webquest's we will utilize them at the end of units as a means of studying and getting ready for tests.

Personal Learning Network

Here is my PLN. It is a work in progress but I hope to expand on it as my education at BW continues.

Google Earth Virtual Tour

 Here is the link to my Virtual Tour.  This tour is based on plate tectonics and the students will investigate sea-floor spreading, transform boundaries, convergent boundaries, divergent boundaries, and hot spot volcanoes. The student will visit the Mid-ocean ridge, San Andreas Fault, and the Hawaiian Islands. To enhance the students learning I will assign them to do the same thing I did, but i will show them how to download the USGS overlay for google maps where it shows where all plate boundaries are and the most recent earthquakes. I will then have them create a tour showing where each type of boundary is located around the word and use the overlay to determin which boundary produces the most earthquakes.

Wiki-Lesson Post

Here is a link to my WIKI lesson post. Click Here

Screencasting

I just have to say screen casting is awesome. I used Jing to create this screen cast for my class to use as a study tool. This screen cast is about Punnett squares and the difference between genotype and phenotype. I posted the link to my school webpage so the students can use it if they needed it to study for the upcoming test on Wednesday. Next unit I am going to have the students create a screen cast themselves covering different parts of the earth science unit and then post those to my website as a study tool for the test. Screen casting is also useful for students who are absent so they can get the material they missed in class.

Podcast

Here is a podcast that I created for my science class. This is a sample as to what I would expect my students to do. My podcast is about the stages of mitosis. I would share my podcast with the class as a sample and assign each group a specific topic on cells to make a podcast about. For example one group would do a podcast on the organelles of a cell, the other would do one on  the differences between plant and animal cells and another group would do one on Meiosis… and so on.  The class would post their casts on the classroom blog and can refer to the pod casts for future reference. I used garage band for Mac to make this podcast. 

SLIDE SHOW

Hello there! Today in class we did a mitosis lab as an intro into cell division. So as they were looking through the micro slide viewers I had them take pictures of each slide using my digital camera. Once they learn the terms for mitosis we will upload the pictures to Picasa and then use Flixtime to make a slide show to label and show the different stages of mitosis. This will be a great way to integrate technology into the school. Also it will be safe because no student’s faces will be in the photos.
Here is what the slide show may look like!
Enjoy!

Using web 2.0 tools to create a Quiz.

Hey everyone! I used proprofs to create this quiz. I can use this tool in a variety of ways. One cool way I can think of is to be used as a pre-assessment and post -assessment tool for a unit. It is always crazy when you give the students a pre-assessment where they get a majority of the answers wrong and they are all bummed out. And then give them the post-assessment after and compare the results to show how much they learned in that period of time. So that being said this will be a cool tool to use so they can have instant feedback and intrinsically motivate them to keep working hard.
I can also have each lab group create their own test and challenge the other groups in the class to try their test. Middle School Students love to be competitive.

Cells » test maker

Google Docs Intergration

Hey everybody! One innovative use I thought of for Google Docs was to use it as a detention tracker. You can create a spreadsheet with all your students’ names on it and share it with other teachers in your team and the principal to track detentions. At my school after 5 detentions the student is sent to the office. So this would be an easy way to track this live.

My next innovative way to use Google Docs is to have the students work on a presentation from home. For this example the student would be assigned a specific slide for the scientific method and do the research and complete their slide at home. When we return the next day the students will present their slideshow in class.
Here is a mock up of what the students would do.

Web 2.0 Tools Research Review.

Hey everyone I came across this cool web tool for graphing.  I teach science and can think of numerous times when I wish my students created neater legible graphs.  I would have the students use this website to create a graph during our Denisty Lab.  I would have the students perform the lab using density cubes and record their data on their lab write up paper. After the lab is complete I would have the students transfer their data in the create a graph website. They would turn in their graph along with their lab write up for full credit.

Now I would not expect them to just go and know how to use this tool. I would of course have to model how to complete the graphs first and them have them input their data.

This tool would be beneficial for Math and Social Studies teachers also. Because we all know graphs are on the O.A.A. test.