Technology Education: When Classroom Technology Needs Troubleshooting & You're Stressed Out!

One of the most common gripes of teachers working to integrate technology into their classroom is that they find themselves troubleshooting technology more than instructing.

I would be reporting from some alien nation if I didn't acknowledge and agree with you that working with technology will bring some technical issues. Add into that equation the variable of children!

The first step in dealing with this problem is accepting this so that when it happens it doesn't cause you any anxiety or stress.

One way to combat some of the stress is to always encourage students to save often for "when" the computer malfunctions, not "if" it will happen.

I also have a string of comments available for problem times:

"Bummer."

"Man, I hate when that happens!"

"Why don't you try another computer?"

"I sure hope you saved recently."

"I bet next time you'll save!"

Another way to deal with the technical issues is to use your students as the experts. As you troubleshoot an issue with a student, talk out loud and explain what you are doing. Then when the issue arises again, send that child to help the other. Remembering that the students of today have always had technology and technological issues as a part of their life, they are very understanding and patient....more than we are as adults!

By using these couple strategies you may find that you feel less stressed as you acknowledge that technological issues are just a fact of life when you use multiple computers with a class of children.

Would you like other tips for using technology in your classroom? Sign up for weekly tips at http://turningtoysintotools.com

Teaching Seasons With Technology in Early Childhood Classrooms: Integrating Science and Technology

A Michigan radio commercial announces that the "Greatest Show on Earth" happens every fall. I ask children to identify this show. You don't need a ticket. It happens outside. You can probably see part of the show from your bedroom window. There's no age limit. This show is enjoyed by people of all ages.

Reinforcing the concept of seasons is often found in the autumn months of early childhood classrooms.

Using a drawing program such as KidPix, children can show their understanding of seasons while improving their concentration, dexterity with the mouse and knowledge of drawing tools.

We begin with the line tool to cut the screen into quadrants. Then with the alphabet stamper we put one season name into each quarter. With the "wacky paintbrush" bare branch trees can be added to each section. Finally, using the spray can in the "wacky paintbrush" tools we can add the proper leaves to each section. Lots of colors for the autumn trees. No leaves for winter. Bright green leaves for the new emerging leaves of spring along with some pink for all the flowering trees, and then full green for the summer.

I encourage writing the names of the seasons in a location where children can see them from their computer work stations.

With first graders, each season can be elaborated upon with the background, by adding some seasonal stamps and some common weather.

While this project can be difficult for kindergarten students at the very beginning of the year I often begin the week prior by just making a collection of fall trees all over the screen and spray painting them with the proper fall leaf colors. This helps the students be able to easily create the trees when having to segment them for each season.

After printing in color, I staple each paper to construction paper to emphasize how important our work on the computer has been. Regularly I hear from parents who hang the matted work on the refrigerator and around the house. As this becomes the practice, I see children putting in extra effort in order to have a work of art to proudly take home with them.

Visit http://kindergartentechnologyideas.com/ for examples of this project and many more.

Kathy Cothran is an elementary media specialist committed to helping teachers turn toys into learning tools. Her vast teaching experience ranges from preschool through Master's level education classes.

Connection Between Podcasting and Reading Fluency: Teaching With Technology, Podcasts, & Reading

It doesn't sound earth shattering that the more that children read aloud, the more fluently they will read. That is pretty basic. But the question is, "How can we motivate students to practice reading aloud?"

In the "olden" days teacher would give students a tape recorder and have children read into it. In today's technology age there is a whole new dimension and reason for improving reading fluency. The trick is to activate student enthusiasm for a project! Creating audio tracks to be shared with the world as a podcast is an excellent motivator. Not that improving reading fluency for the teacher isn't motivation enough for students, but by making the audience world wide highly changes student drive and performance.

Any piece of writing can become a podcast. It doesn't have to be long. Quite simply, the writing may only be a few sentences. In this case, all of the children, or a group of students may be responding to something in common. The response might be to book, to an informational topic, or just a creative response to a question. Have the child write it, practice it, and then record it. This can be through a computer and microphone or through a voice recorder and then uploaded to a computer.

A longer, more involved piece of work might include an interview between a narrator and a historical figure, a complete written piece, or interpretation of a concept.

Whatever the length, students will practice, record, listen, practice, record again until the piece is error free for the world to hear. And this practicing is actually a practice in reading fluency which can happen without students even knowing that is one of your biggest goals in the project!

The more projects and compilations of student voices and responses that your class creates, the more savvy your students will become in their podcasting skills. To make this especially easy, choose a couple students to become your podcasting experts who can help teach the other students. Before long your class will be creating podcasts and audio tracks effortlessly and you will notice that the reading fluency of your students improves greatly. The other advantage you will find is that students will be asking for more projects of this nature! Amazing learning happens when students ask for more....I've never had a student come up and ask me for another worksheet to complete!

Inspire your students to become fluent readers by using this tool to share with the world.

Visit http://ipodsatschool.com/ to hear some podcasts by children and download a free sampler.

Columbus Day: Easy Technology Ideas for a Hallway Display and for Podcasting with Reader’s Theater

As mid-October approaches there are teachers all over looking for some new and interesting manner of presenting the story of Christopher Columbus. How many times can you read the same book?

How about engaging your students and exciting them by creating a podcast that can be posted online for the world (or at least their parents and grandparents) to listen?

Simply choose a reader's theater script that you like. There are many available online for free.

Practice, practice, and then practice some more.

When you are ready to record there are a few methods:
1. Hook a microphone directly to the computer and record. The two most common applications for recording are GarageBand and Audacity.
2. Attach a voice recorder to your iPod and record. Griffin makes a nice one. (Be sure to set the quality to the best for recording so that the voices import correctly. If you end up with chipmunk voices in GarageBand you'll have to burn a CD with the audio tracks and then import.)
3. Use an actual voice recorder that then hooks to your computer.

After getting the best recordings, import the tracks, edit if necessary, and compile into a single track.

Post online for everyone to hear!

When kids know that their voices will be heard from anywhere in the world they have a real purpose for improving their reading fluency.

Another idea for celebrating Columbus Day is to build the three big ships on the hallway wall. Take each child's photograph. Using only the face, have each student create one of the people sailing with Columbus on the journey. The person should be dressed for the proper time era and/or position on the boat. Hang them all up on the ships! A slogan might be: Cruisin' With Columbus.

Make these Columbus Day lessons some that your children will always remember!

Teaching Latitude and Longitude to Elementary Students Using Technology

Teaching children about latitude and longitude is challenging at best. Asking children to visualize imaginary and invisible lines that only seem to exist on a map is beyond many young minds.

When I came across the Confluence Project web site I was ecstatic! Now this was something that younger children could relate to and understand!

Alex Jarrett started the Confluence Project in 1996. He became interested in the unique spots on earth where the integer degrees of latitude and longitude intersect. What would be at each unique spot?

I begin my one-hour lesson with the globe. We look at it. Practice saying longitude and latitude while trying to remember which is which. I give a tip that the “flat” lines rhyme with latitude....flatitude, latitude. The long, up and down lines, begin with the word “long.” I find that even fourth and fifth graders need review on these terms.

Next we discuss the uses of latitude and longitude in regards to finding locations and absolute location.

At this point I like to talk about the various gps devices that are commonly found in households today including the navigation systems in cars and hand-held GPS units.

Next I share some background information about the fun adventure of geo-caching which is a treasure hunt all over the world using given latitude and longitude. Often I find one child who has heard of this before.

Finally, I discuss the Confluence project. We talk about the term confluence. Most often the term is used to define the meeting place between two rivers or two sections within one river. In the case of the Confluence latitude and longitude project, it is where the whole number latitude and longitude lines meet.

My first lesson on this topic usually focuses on our own state so I give a handout with the web address and the confluences of Michigan with the direction to check out each location. I first show a couple of the locations and share the neat stories that are shared in finding the confluences. And, of course, we find the one closest to our home.

Send your students out to actually “see” where latitude and longitude meet. This makes those invisible lines have meaning! As I’ve done this lesson over and over during the past I find the adults and parents walking by even more intrigued by the Confluence Project and the idea of being able to see each meeting place.

Visit http://www.confluence.org

Just before sending the students off at the end of class I remind them to share this idea at the dinner table when Mom and Dad ask what they learned in school today! Bet they can stump their parents by mentioning “Confluence” and kids love doing that!

Vocabulary Podcasts

Wouldn't podcasting bring new enthusiasm to vocabulary lessons?

Let's see if we can't reinforce required vocabulary in a fun, engaging manner.

The idea is based on Sesame Street's podcast "What's the Word on the Street" which you can view here: http://www.sesamestreet.org/podcasts/

To do this with a class, assign 1-3 words per child.
Have students find the definition, write a descriptive sentence, and find the pronunciation, and use the word in context.
Next the student finds an image from either the real world, internet, draw one, or photograph it.

Finally the student uses Garage Band (or some alternative) to create a podcast.
Then share with the class and the world!

Need More Technology in Your Classroom?

I was excited when I came across this resource and just had to share with you!

Ok....it is Friday night after the first full week of school (at least for us here in Michigan.) I'll admit to being wiped out! Yet, I was listening to a podcast earlier and thought of you.

Did you know you can make a wish for technology and then corporations or private sources can grant your wishes?

The name of the group is Digital Wish. They recognize the fact that as technology infiltrates every aspect of our lives, the funding for technology isn't keeping up to speed. Hence, many educators are sitting in classrooms or media centers with excellent ideas, the desire to implement, and no technology to support their needs.

I've made my wishlist. Now I have to spread the word to my community that we have specific wishes on this site. I have put a link on my school website. Multiple teachers from a school can register too!

I'm always teaching my own daughters that dreams can come true. And when it comes to the technology needs at my own school, we need a few wishes to come true!

What do you have to lose? Nothing.
What do you have to gain? Possibly some new gadgets for your classroom!

Create a profile, add some items to your wish list, and let the people behind the scenes at this website find some donors to help make your technology dreams comes true!

When you visit the site, if you search for me, you can see what types of items I put on my wish list!

Reinforcing Word Processing Skills While Focussing on Constitution Week

By the time children reach third through fifth grade, word processing becomes an imperative skill.

While it isn’t all that much fun to teach or practice, without formal instruction on some key elements you will find students pushing the space bar to attempt to find the center. You’ll also find students forgetting to put a space after a comma or period. In addition, many kids will push the return button at the end of each line.

In regards to formatting text, I have a couple rules that I enforce with my students. First, the font must be one that uses upper and lower case letters. Second, the font must be easy to read for the average person.

Another interesting item to note is that there should only be one space after a period. In the olden days of typewriters, two spaces was standard. Now the rule is to only use one space as the letters are of proporational width. I have found many adults aren’t aware of this shift in standard typing practices as we grew up learning on typewriters!

A fun way to teach, practice, and reinforce word processing skills is to use the Preamble of the Constitution. After a lesson about the Preamble (which could include a book called “We the Kids” by David Catrow or the Schoolhouse Rock video about the Preamble) I give instruction for creating a one-page poster. Instruction includes how to center, change the font, size and color of the text, spell check, and add clip art. Next I give each child a typed copy of the Preamble.

Students work individually to create their one-page poster of the Preamble. After deciding that all of the elements are arranged on the page in an appealing manner the document is printed in color. Staple these to red or blue construction paper and you have an excellent bulletin board to aid in the celebration of Constitution Week!

And Now....The Rest of the Story

And now.....the rest of the story.....

the mouse story that is.....

It is only fitting that "The Original Gadget Girl" would have some gadget related ending to the mouse story...

So, you know I had a critter visit me a while back.

I set the girly traps...

It appeared that nothing happened.

One of the traps did have the little red indicator move from the set mark, but not quite to the "mouse caught" section. So, after figuring out what to do, I picked up the trap a few days ago and shook it. I figured that if a mouse was in there, I'd hear it slide around as I moved the trap.

Nothing. Zip. Zero. Nada.....

So, I set it back down in its spot by my computer on the floor.

Yesterday I was instant messaging with my friend and I mentioned that there seemed to be a funky smell around my computer area.

I removed the kids' shoes from the area (a likely suspect....)

Tonight, after spending 4 hours at a school fundraiser at Chuck E Cheese.....(yes, at least three hours longer than I would have liked...) I come home, check my email, and decide that the funky smell from yesterday is even worse tonight.

I convince myself, and my 10 year old, Kate, that the funky smell must be the peanut butter I had to use to bait the trap.

With Kate sitting next to me, I decide to throw away the trap. People told me these kind don't work anyway. I reach down, pick up the trap, flip it around, and just as it is over my computer keyboard, black liquidy gunk starts running all over my keyboard and coats my new pair of pants! This is the most horrific stench I've ever smelled!

I'm pretty positive that I've caught the mouse and now have decomposed mouse guts inside my computer keyboard!

I've disinfected the keyboard (even spraying lysol onto it) and now we have the beautiful scent of incense filling our dining room, and as I read this to Kate, she is making barfing noises and my new pants are in the washer!

What Am I Reading Now?

Before I begin telling you about my newest additions to "My Nightstand" I want to give you just a moment of reflection and update: The stinkin' mouse is taunting me by attacking my nightstand! EWWWWW! He's made it upstairs (which I convinced my daughters he couldn't do.....and he's chewed up one of those neck relaxers that you microwave and hang around your neck to relax those muscles....Just to know he likes hangin' out next to my bed is yucky! So many of you gave me your stories and input on how to end my battle with the mouse that now I have a full array of weapons working for me (except for the snap trap....sorry Matt, can't bring myself to have to pick up the thing.....yet.)

Anyway, in the last month I've read a couple great books. One of them, "The Shack" I've actually purchased at least 6 copies as I keep giving it away.

If you've ever wondered about some of the big questions of religion and life, then this book is for you. If you've ever wondered how good and evil can be seen in the eyes of God, then you might like this. I'm not here to tell you what to believe or think, but when a book really makes me think, then I need to pass that on to my friends.

"The Shack" is written by William P. Young and you can link to it from my "What Am I Reading" pages on my website: http://originalgadgetgirl.com

I've shared this book with my family and friends and watched my sister and brother-in-law both try to read the same book over this past weekend!

The other book is "The Choice" by Nicholas Sparks. None of us ever want to make this choice and all of us would struggle. I'd like to be able to someday have a relationship like the one in this book.

So, while the world is filled with so many other things to eat away at our time, I hope you find a few minutes to refresh yourself with some quality reading.

I highly recommend both of these books and you can find a link to them at:
http://originalgadgetgirl.com

Books on SALE!

School is back in session and you see all of those faces looking at you, ready to learn, and expecting you to make it fun for them.....does that sound familiar? Each day the children show up to see what type of entertainment you can perform to catch their attention and trick them into learning?
In honor of those "eager to learn" faces and all of the new clothes, shoes, backpacks, and lunch boxes I have decided to help you create some learning experiences that seem like fun while meeting your learning standards. All you have to do is copy the pages that meet your needs and give them to the students. These activities are ready to use without tons of prep work.

I am offering you 25% off of all the ebooks and electronic lesson plans that are available on my sites!

Simply click on the ebooks that you'd like, and then use the coupon code BACKTOSCHOOL when you check out! It is that easy.

Your students will thank you and will continue to show up with increased enthusiasm and you won't have to search high and low and work late into the night to design another lesson!

Go to http://turningtoysintotools.com and http://www.technologylessonsforteachers.com and remember to enter the coupon code BACKTOSCHOOL when you check out! The sale is only happening from today until Saturday...so act fast!