Interwrite Mobi - Well, i took some time to get to know it and what do you know?! It's features are very similar to SMART Notebook! There are some differences: location of buttons, submenus, interactivity modes, nice additional features that I'll discuss later. All I had to do was sit down and take 15 minutes nad just look throught the buttons and play with a few of the features.
Reminds me of other teachers. 1) Some are not taking the time to even LOOK. I believe if they just take time and LOOK at the different tools they have at hand they could develop an interest in it, use it themselves and then use it effectively with students. 2) Others teacher won't TOUCH the different tools. They have been to the "trainings" and used it at that time, but then just leave them alone. They don't take the next step in using it themselves which will hopefully translate into using it with students.
I have read a lot about educators, admin and faculty, saying things like, "Oh, that is great for you. Keep it up and I'll make sure you have all you need. But, I'll come to you for help if I use it myself." What do you mean "IF?" It should be "WHEN."
(take a breath) Moving on.
Twitter/PLN- I have really enjoyed my PLN in twitter. I received a tweet from @frankiesuther on 11-3 about static electricity!
It was exactly what we were beginning to do in my classroom. They loved the balloon, sweater and wall simulation. They could see the microscopic charges moving from one object to the other. I saw plenty lights come on during this activity.
After school, I looked at the site a little more to see what else it had. I found Electric Field Hockey! Electric fields were next on the list so I downloaded the simulation and used it as a research/assessment activity. The students were amazed. At one time, every student wanted to come to the board and try it. In one class, the novelty very quickly wore off and several students were not paying attention. I tried my best to bring them back into the conversation we were having, but no go and more students quickly dropped out. So, unfortunately I had to stop the simulation and move on. I felt a bit frustrated, but I know that whole group discussions leave out quieter students and those who don't have the necessary background or even the words to use during the discussion. So I will bring it back at a time when smaller groups can play with it and discuss it among themselves.
BTW, my other class, ATE IT UP! Every student had eyes on the board and trying to figure out how to win. On the 12th try, a student won. The whole class cheered for her and she was beaming from ear to ear. It was great to see the community lift up a fellow student.
We worked on a collaborative project with 2... (if you have been reading this blog you can probably guess who. I won't tell you right now). This project is about Ben Harper's song "With My Own Two Hands". We were given the the task to create some artwork and captions that fit the last two stanzas of the song and send them to be compile for an Animoto video. Since we have made a few of these videos before, we were in. We listened to the song a few times and discussed what we could do to change the world with our hands. I was kind of surprised that it took more time to draw out of them what THEY could do, but I believe the majority began to understand and were busy drawing and writing. I'll put a link to the finished product in a future post.
Did you guess who yet? I'll tell you... later.
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