I have already tried out and adopted one of the templates for our afterschool science program.
The students were so engaged and excited about completing the HyperDocs project on Climate Change, they didn't want to leave the classroom when the time was up!
More on Google tools and Google tutorials visit Richard's blog and youtube channel.
It will be probably sixth or seventh semester of me teaching the science and technology methods course. It has been quite an adventure on its own. I love science and more now being involved in the environmental/sustainability science. I will be teaching Sustainability Literacy for Social Change course in the Fall of 2018.
This semester parallelly to teaching the course I also challenged myself to explore the technology program I used a lot in different ways and in different classes - VoiceThread. I decided to get a Voicethread certification. I completed a 2-week course and now have to finish a project with the teacher candidates. I chose my science methods classes as I came up with an idea of running a Virtual Science Fair. Teacher candidates from my classes usually have their fieldwork at Bishop Dunn Memorial School. They usually run their Science Fair in the Spring and my classes usually contribute to the Science Fair through designing their own projects and then through judging students' projects. So --- I decided, that in the Fall, I will provide teacher candidates an opportunity to select their Science Fair project ideas, conduct their scientific methods, create digital posters and share them via Voicethread.
This month is devoted to working on the Science Fair projects. I created Guides, rubrics, video-tutorials, invited science consultant, Mr. Love, to speak about the scientific method.
Last Tuesday, one of my research students, Kelsey, taught the class peers: how to sign up, create Voicethread slides, add links and images and the ways of recording comments. We are set to go with the Virtual Science Fair project on the Voicethread.
This project is over. So is my Voicethread certification challenge. I completed a Voicethread training course, engaged my classes in the Virtual Science Fair project via Voicethread, practice students' skills in designing their Voicethread stories from simple (About me) to more complex, their Science Fair posters, presentations and their communication with each other on their SF projects. It turned out to be challenging and enjoyable at the same time! I am now a Certified Voicethread Educator. Here is my badge:
I enjoy reading blogs and listening to the podcasts of Vicki Davis -- the famous Cool Cat Teacher. Her new podcast was based on the interview with the inventor of the Learning Journey Model Mark Engstrom @markaengstrom Head of Middle School and Upper School at Allen Academy in Bryan, Texas. It is a thought-provoking conversation and inspiring dialog of two tech-savvy educators about transformational learning in the digital age. Worth-while reading and listening!
I am following the writing of the blogger Richard Byrne Free Educational Technology for Teachers. Richard is ahead of everybody in announcing the innovations and discoveries in the field of educational technology. Today he shared a video about the new Google EARTH (Not every browser can handle the new program). It is AMAZING!
