Goolge Site

I had never created a website before and after looking around at what Google sites has to offer, I like the idea a lot.  My husband had created a website for himself, as he is a part-time real estate agent and it has the homes he has listed for sale on it.  I had never thought of creating a website for myself, but after exploring Goolge sites I am all for the idea especially when I become a teacher.  What a neat way to share information with your students, their parents and even other educators.  I feel that having the website will be very helpful in my career as a teacher.  

With Goolge Sites you can create pages, share links from other websites and also share your Goolge Documents by providing the link for the person to click on.  

By creating this website and sharing other links and documents, it follows a lot of NSTE guidelines: Inspire and facilitate student learning and creativity, modeling digital age work, promoting and modeling digital responsibility and engaging in professional growth.

For a link to my website Click Here

Rubrics

Until doing this activity for myself, I didn't have a complete grasp on the concept of a rubric.  For a couple of my step-daughters homework assignments last year she would have a rubric to go along with the assignment, which I didn't completely understand.  Just what is a rubric?  It is a way that teachers can communicate their expectations for a particular assignment, provide feedback on a work in progress, and will show how the final grade will be determined.  A rubric isn't just used as a grading tool, but as a teaching and self-evaluation guide.  Now that I understand a rubric, I feel that it will better allow me to help my step-daughter with her homework and also will benefit me in my career as a teacher.  

You can create a rubric using the Mircosoft Excel program (if you are feeling creative, lol) or with the assistance of RubiStar which is a FREE tool for one to create rubrics on the web.  After your rubric is created and you are ready to share it with others you can print it off, save it to their website, save it on your pc and then share it with others through your GoogleDocs, by making it public, and giving access to the people who have the link to view the document.

To view the Rubric I created Click Here

ISTE Standard

2d.  By creating and using rubrics you are using digital age learning experiences and assessments that provides the students with a certain form and standard for completing their work which the results are used to inform them of how they are doing, what they need to work on more or what they have mastered and to use as a teaching guide individually.

3c.  Creating the rubric and sharing it online with parents, enables you to communicate relevant information so they can be more involved of their child's work and grades and see exactly how the student is being assessed, so they are not surprised at the end result.

Google Earth

After I installed Google Earth, I played around with it.  I was able to locate my house, the picture was low resolution compared when looking at the Taj Mahal, the images were higher resolution and when zoomed in there was more detail and image was more clear compared to that of my home.

The map I created for my field trip to Washington, D.C. with Google Maps was able to be uploaded to Google Earth by uploading it as a KML (Keyhole Markup Language).  This is a file format that is used for storing and modeling geographic features and also models for display in Google Earth.  One can port information to Google Earth from Google Maps with use of KML file.  KML files can be displayed in both Google Earth and Google Maps.  One would want to display the information from Maps to Earth for a more detailed viewing experience.  Instead of just being able to see a plot of a point of interest on a map, Google Earth gives you a 3-D viewing experience of a landmark or from the original space view.  If you would like to see a place in 3-D that you probably won't get the opportunity to see in person, see it for yourself in a
3-D experience in Google Earth.

Click Here to view the map for the field trip to Washington, D.C.

Click Here to view a sample lesson plan for this field trip.

Google Maps

I have decided to take my class on a tour of Washington, D.C. Click on the link below to access a list of the places we will visit as well as a map with the points of interest.
Map of Washington D.C. Tour

This activity follows the NETS T Standard 3b and 3a.  By creating an itinerary and including a map of the location of the places, it allows for collaboration with parents and a way to communicate important information and ideas to them by using a variety of digital technology, formats, and tool.s

Jing Screencast

How to access Google Docs (Jing Video)


By using Jing I was able to create a digital movie without using a digital camera, which before this activity I never knew how to do.  After clicking capture to initiate the capture process, you can specify the area by clicking and dragging the mouse.  Once the area is highlighted the size can be adjusted by clicking and dragging the borders of the capture area.  Hold the Ctrl key or Shift key as you drag to snap to standard dimensions.  There are two options for saving a screen capture, one saves it the Jing clipboard and can be accessed in the Jing history and the second is you can customize where you want your screen capture saved whether it be on the desktop or a different location on your computer.  The screen capture is located
Your screen cast can be pushed to the internet by clicking the Share via Screencast.com button, the content is then uploaded to your account on screencast.com and once your upload it you will receive a link your capture.  The Jing Screen cast video is a Shockwave Flash Object.  Snagit creates the video inMPEG-4 format.  The Jing Sun has 3 prongs: 1st prong is to capture, 2nd prong accesses your history and the third prong is for the settings.

BatchGeo Part 1

By making a spreadsheet on Excel and entering address information then using BatchGeo a map was created showing everyone's location.

View BatchGeo Map in a full screen map


To view the full-version of my BatchGeo Map click here

 This activity and other activities that I have done thus far in this class, enables and prepares me to become a 21st Century Educator.  I will have the ability to facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity, design and develop modern/digital age learning experiences and assessments, I can exhibit my knowledge and skills through digital age work and learning, promote responsibility, develop and model cultural understanding by engaging with other cultures and by promoting and demonstrating effective use of digital tools and resources.
    With teaching Elementary Education I would be able to use program to have the students list where their parent(s) were born and then I could put the information into a spreadsheet and let them see on the map where everyone's parent(s) were from.  I'm sure I could find/think of other ideas to be able to create a map as a visual aid teaching aid for my more visual learners.


NETS-T Standard
2c:  I have the ability to customize this learning activity to address the different learning styles of the children within the classroom.
3a: This activity shows the ability to transfer current knowledge to new technologies and situations.

Jing Image

With Jing you are given the ability to capture screen shots and record video and share them with anyone-instantly.  With this program you can mark up your screenshot with text box, arrow, highlight or picture caption.    Jing also allows you to make a video with the screen cast and will show everything from mouse movements to a complete tutorial with audio and visual.

I chose to the snipping tool for my screenshot.





To access my screencast image, click here.


NETS-T Standard
2a
With Jing, it gives you the ability to design/adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.  You have the ability to create a tutorial with a video or go through the process as a screenshot, live in front of the students and can share it they can access it and the parents can access it as well.