Activities that I could use clickers in my classroom are as follows:
1. Clickers can be used to take attendance. Directly, the teacher asks the question, "Are you here today?" and students respond. Or indirectly, the teacher observes which students used their clickers each day.
2. Clickers can be used to assess students on a multiple choice test or quiz. The teacher posts the test on an overhead or smartboard and students read and respond by pressing the button that corresponds with their answers. The scores are calculated for the teacher quickly and it helps lead the direction the teacher will take in the lesson. Do I move on? Do I need to go back and reteach?
3. Clickers can be used for homework. Some types of clickers will allow students to answer questions outside of class and submit the answers the next day at the beginning of class. The teacher can tell quickly who did their homework and if students understood their homework.
4. Clickers can be used for peer instruction. The teacher gives the class a question. The students think about the question silently and transmit it when they are ready. The teacher quickly checks the responses and if a lot of students choose the wrong answer the teacher will have the students turn and discuss the question with their partner. After the discussion, the teacher will have the students submit their answers again. This often leads to students choosing the correct answer.
5. Clickers can be used for bell ringers. The teacher quickly posts the questions up and students respond. There is no taking out paper and pencils. The teacher can assess learning from yesterday quickly and know which direction to take with teaching.
6. Clickers can be used for exit slips. After the teacher has taught the lesson and students have had time to complete assignments, the teacher can ask a few questions to check for student understanding of the lesson. If most students choose the correct answer, the teacher knows the lesson was successful. If many students choose the wrong answers, the teacher knows he/she needs to reteach before moving on.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Favorite Instructional Sites
Two of my favorite instructional sites are National Geographic Kids and Gamequarium.
National Geographic Kids located at http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/?source=NavKidsHome
is a great website for students of all ages, especially Kindergarten through 6th grade, to explore and learn. It is packed full of information about animals and pets, science, geography, history, and health. Just about any information a child is looking for can be found on this website. It is kept up-to-date and is user-friendly. The website is colorful and inviting. It even won the Parent Choice Award in 2008. There is also a Little Kids link for preschool age children to learn and have fun.
The next site is Gamequarium located at http://www.gamequarium.org/. Just because it has game in the title, don't let that fool you! This site is for Pre-K through 6th grade. It contains information on Reading, Math, Language Arts, Handwriting, Music, Safety, Social Studies, Science, Spanish, Technology, and Writing. Students can watch videos related to their subject of interest. They can also listen and read along to books. It is full of useful, interactive learning. There are even worksheets to print out. There is a parent link where parents can go and learn about ways to help their child and my favorite part a Teacher Resource section. There are back to school ideas, bulletin board ideas, classroom management,
Web 2.0 tabs, writing promts and so much more. I hope you will try out these sites and let me know what you think.
National Geographic Kids located at http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/?source=NavKidsHome
is a great website for students of all ages, especially Kindergarten through 6th grade, to explore and learn. It is packed full of information about animals and pets, science, geography, history, and health. Just about any information a child is looking for can be found on this website. It is kept up-to-date and is user-friendly. The website is colorful and inviting. It even won the Parent Choice Award in 2008. There is also a Little Kids link for preschool age children to learn and have fun.
The next site is Gamequarium located at http://www.gamequarium.org/. Just because it has game in the title, don't let that fool you! This site is for Pre-K through 6th grade. It contains information on Reading, Math, Language Arts, Handwriting, Music, Safety, Social Studies, Science, Spanish, Technology, and Writing. Students can watch videos related to their subject of interest. They can also listen and read along to books. It is full of useful, interactive learning. There are even worksheets to print out. There is a parent link where parents can go and learn about ways to help their child and my favorite part a Teacher Resource section. There are back to school ideas, bulletin board ideas, classroom management,
Web 2.0 tabs, writing promts and so much more. I hope you will try out these sites and let me know what you think.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Web 2.0 sites
Two Web 2.0 sites I would recommend for use in my classroom are Little Bird Tales and Sweet Search 4 Me. Little Bird Tales at http://littlebirdtales.com/ lets you capture your child's voice and any artwork or pictures made by your child or students. It is easy to use and very kid-friendly. This site can be used with Pre-K up to any age, but I would recommend up to 4th grade. Older students would want something a little more challenging.
This site would be great to use with my 2nd graders. They love to create art and it would be great to capture their voice narrating their picture or artwork for a keepsake. Making a movie with their own ideas and creativity, would make learning more fun.
The next site, Sweet Search 4 Me at http://sweetsearch4me.com/, is a search engine for emerging learners. This site searches only web sites that have been approved by research experts, librarians, and teachers that are appropriate for young users. Only the best sites for elementary students are included.
This would be great for students just learning to use the computer and K-5th grade students researching ideas for a project. It would allow them to just view sites that are kid-friendly and would keep them from going to sites they should not view.
I would use this with my 2nd graders. I wish I knew about this site when my students did a project on the solar system. I will use this site next time.
This site would be great to use with my 2nd graders. They love to create art and it would be great to capture their voice narrating their picture or artwork for a keepsake. Making a movie with their own ideas and creativity, would make learning more fun.
The next site, Sweet Search 4 Me at http://sweetsearch4me.com/, is a search engine for emerging learners. This site searches only web sites that have been approved by research experts, librarians, and teachers that are appropriate for young users. Only the best sites for elementary students are included.
This would be great for students just learning to use the computer and K-5th grade students researching ideas for a project. It would allow them to just view sites that are kid-friendly and would keep them from going to sites they should not view.
I would use this with my 2nd graders. I wish I knew about this site when my students did a project on the solar system. I will use this site next time.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
My Top Three Intelligences
My top three intelligences were logic/math, nature, and self. I have to agree with the first one. I do love mathematical concepts, puzzles, and manipulative games. Math was my favorite subject in school and is one of my favorite subjects to teach.
When reading down the list of items to incorporate in my lessons, I realize I already do a lot of them. I have the students do word sorts with their spelling words daily, we always predict what our story will be about and stop and predict during reading. Personally, I always outline what I am going to write before doing it.
My second top intelligence was nature. I love being outdoors, but do not know the names of trees, flowers, and birds...only some of them. I enjoy jogging and hiking and taking in the beautiful scenery. Everytime I visit a new place I always find an area that has breath-taking scenery. I incorporate nature into my lessons by planting flowers, making aquariums, making worm beds, and making compost piles. The students also love to read about animals so I try to find nonfiction books on different types of animals to add to centers.
Our last reading lesson was on bees. The students were so enthusiastic about learning about the bee. They asked more questions than could be answered in our reading. This gave me the idea to list the questions students had, assign a question for each student to research and bring back to class. They loved it.
My third intelligence was intrapersonal. I have a good sense of self, but do not like being alone. I scored the same for interpersonal/social. I feel I am more of a social person. I love being around people and sharing ideas and stories. In my classroom, we spend a lot of time doing group projects. I just feel like students learn so much more from each other than they could learn on their own.
I found this site on the web very informative. Thought it would be good to add to this post.
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/mi/index_sub3.html
When reading down the list of items to incorporate in my lessons, I realize I already do a lot of them. I have the students do word sorts with their spelling words daily, we always predict what our story will be about and stop and predict during reading. Personally, I always outline what I am going to write before doing it.
My second top intelligence was nature. I love being outdoors, but do not know the names of trees, flowers, and birds...only some of them. I enjoy jogging and hiking and taking in the beautiful scenery. Everytime I visit a new place I always find an area that has breath-taking scenery. I incorporate nature into my lessons by planting flowers, making aquariums, making worm beds, and making compost piles. The students also love to read about animals so I try to find nonfiction books on different types of animals to add to centers.
Our last reading lesson was on bees. The students were so enthusiastic about learning about the bee. They asked more questions than could be answered in our reading. This gave me the idea to list the questions students had, assign a question for each student to research and bring back to class. They loved it.
My third intelligence was intrapersonal. I have a good sense of self, but do not like being alone. I scored the same for interpersonal/social. I feel I am more of a social person. I love being around people and sharing ideas and stories. In my classroom, we spend a lot of time doing group projects. I just feel like students learn so much more from each other than they could learn on their own.
I found this site on the web very informative. Thought it would be good to add to this post.
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/mi/index_sub3.html
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