tool 11

1. What are your favorite tools you now have in your personal technology toolbox? Briefly describe a particular activity that you will plan for your students using at least one of these new tools.    
    Wall wisher and Stupeflix are two of my favorite tools. As I said in tool five I would like to have student take photos or videos of situations in their every day lives that illustrait a physics concept. They could then use Stupeflix to edit a video together with music, dialog, and text and present it to the rest of the class.

2. How have you transformed your thinking about the learning that will take place in your classroom? How has your vision for your classroom changed? Are you going to need to make any changes to your classroom to accommodate the 21st Century learner?
     I already have the students work together in groups and have thought that one computer or ipad would  help enhance many activities. But there are many situations where it would be beneficial for every student to have access to a digital device at the same time. Unfortunately this is not posible. I realize that each student can have access to a devise by setting up stations and designing projects that carry over a few days, a week, or longer. It will take a lot of planning on my part and managing of the devices.

3. Were there any unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

     I didn't realize how many new resources I would become exposed to. I enjoyed moving through the 11 tool, and I look forward to using the tools I have discovered.

tool 10

1. Discuss at least three things you would want to make sure your students understand about being good digital citizens. 

Good digital citizenship is of the utmost importance for students to understand because there are predators on line that could harm them, everyone leaves behind a digital footprint that cannot be erased, and it is important for students to have the tools to develop healthy, beneficial, and collaborative relationships online.

2. Share at least one of the resources mentioned above or on the Ed Tech website that you plan to use instructionally.
Cool Cat Teacher's Blog on the Deep Web: This has really peaked by interest. I look forward to doing more research on the Deep Web. I have already found web-site I've never seen before with general searches. I definitely what to share this with my students.

3. Explain briefly how you would "teach" the idea of digital citizenship to your students.
I will introduce the topic to them and ask them to discuss what it means to be a good digital citizen in small groups. After the students have had an opportunity to share some of their ideas I will discuss the safety issues and benefits with them. I think it would also be good to have each group do a little research of their own and present their findings.

4. Explain briefly how you plan to share the idea of digital citizenship with your parents.
I will probably send a letter home to parents informing them about being a good digital citizen and what this means for their child. I will require that the students return the letter signed by one of their gardians.

tool 9

1. Why do you think it is important to tie the technology to the objective?
It is important to tie technology to the objective because this makes the objective relavent. Technology is utilized in ever other aspect of the students lives. When students enter the work force, they will be expected to be proficient in the use of technology.

2. Why should we hold students accountable for the stations/centers?
Students should be held accountable for the stations/centers so that as their instructor, I am able to summatively assess their ability to meet the objectives.

3. Visit 2 of the applicable links to interactive websites for your content/grade level. Which sites did you like. How could you use them as stations? How can you hold the students accountable for their time in these stations?
I have been interested in using PhET for sometime now. I would hold the students accountable for their time by providing a worksheet for each student to complete. A hard copy of the worksheet could be the back up plan. I do like the idea of the student using google docs to work on a digital worksheet simultaneously. 
Interactivate looks like a promising site to use for stations in the classroom. Unfortunately I'm having trouble loading the courseware on my computer. My students seem to have trouble integrating math in my physics class. I am interested in some of the courseware on this site for reviewing math concepts that will be prevalent for a new science concept being introduced.

4. List two to three apps you found for the iPod Touch/iPad that you can use in your classroom. What do you see that station looking like? How can you hold the students accountable for their time in these stations?

Flashcard+, Animation creator lite 

I use a word wall in my room. With flashcard plus, as a word from the word wall comes up in a lesson students could make a flash card for the word. This would be particularly useful while introducing a topic and for reviewing a topic before taking a test. Students would be held accountable for making a flash card for the words posted on the word wall. This activity could also be ongoing though out a unit. I could give the students 5-10 minutes either at the beginning of class or at the end of class to make flashcards for the previous lesson. As the unit comes to a close I could then allow time for students to study their flash cards as a review.

I think Animation creator lite has many possibilities. At first I would probably be very specific as to how the students should use this app, such as asking then to create a simple animation of a particular science concept. After the students have become more familiar with this app and are use to applying science concepts while using it I would probably like to have the students use it in a more open end project. For example I would pose a driving question, and the parameters would not be so limiting.

5.What about other ways to use the iPod Touch/iPad? Share another way you can see your students using the device as a station.

I would like to see the students make movies of physics concepts, then provide a physics explanation for what is happening. The Ipads can be used to video. Many of my students have Iphones that can also be used to video. The students could work together in groups using their ipads to edit their movies, add text, and add digrams to strengthen their explanations.

tool 8

1. After watching the videos/tutorials, list two to three things you learned about the device(s) that will be in your classroom this fall.
2. How do you plan to manage the device(s) in your classroom? Do you have ideas/suggestions that others may find useful?

I am more familiar with apple products than I am with pc. I did not find the netbook tutorial useful at at all. I think it wold only be useful for someone who has has never used or seen a laptop before. As for the tutorials on itunes and the ipads I'm sure they have been helpful to many people that are not already familiar with them. I look forward to searching the Spring Branch educational app database.

When it is appropriate for students to use the devices they will work together in small groups. One student from each group will be responsible for retrieving the device and putting it back before the end of the period. When students are working in groups I circulate the room answering questions and assessing their progress, if their are any issues with the devices I will be available to help each group as I move around the room.

tool 7

7. Design a collaborative project with another classroom.

Content objective: 
Students will be able to analyze the relationship between pressure, density, and atmospheric pressure.

What tool(s) you plan to use: 
google docs, today's meet, skype
It would be exciting for students to meet face to face on skype. They could discuss what it is like to live where they live and begin brainstorming on experiment ideas. Today's meet would be a good forum to connect classes during a lesson involving the above concepts. Google docs is the perfect tool for two classes to combine data and collaborate in small groups on a paper.
 
A brief description of the project:
Living in Houston my students and I are at sea level. I think it would be beneficial for students at sea level and student at a higher altitude to work together in designing their own experiments that analyze the relationship between pressure, density, and atmospheric pressure. My students could work with a class in Denver Colorado where the elevation is approximately 5,000 ft above see level.

tool 6

Share your thoughts on how you see the tools being integrated into your classroom. How do you see them encouraging participation?
Below is a link to an account I created on todaysmeet. I would use this tool in oder to pose a question for discussion. In my examples below I asked for examples of a physics concept observed in daily life. I see this encouraging participation by giving the students more wait time to formulate an answer, there is less pressure on students who do not like to speak in front of large groups. Participation could also be made anonymous by numbering the students.
http://todaysmeet.com/physicsFun

Below is a wall I created on Wall wisher. I love this site! It is very accessible. I make use of a word wall in my classroom. This site is a place where I can expand on the concept of a word wall where the students can actively participate in creating at any time.

Created with Wallwisher

tool 5

I used Stupeflix to create the video below. This is a great app for students to edit photos together for presentations. There are countless physics concepts that can be pointed out in the students day to day lives. Having student document events out side of class, edit them together, and discuss them in class would show relevance to day to day life.




I used wordle to create the image below. I have to say I an rather disappointed with the outcome. I copied and pasted the HTML code from the site to ebbed the image here. As you can see the file is rather small and pretty much unreadable.

tool 4

Briefly discuss how you can use the tools in Google Apps with your team or department. How can you incorporate Google Apps as a tool in your classroom? Which tools are you excited about using with students?

I used google docs on projects in my education classes several times. This is an amazing app to use when working on group projects. For one of my projects the four of us had to complete one paper. We sat at a table together writing on one document simultaneously through google docs. When we chose to work from home we could comment on each others' additions to the paper. I have also used google form to create a survey. As a geology student I became familiar with google earth. I am especially excited about this application. I would use all three of these applications in my classroom. I really like the app Sketch up. I have not had the opportunity to use it. When I first saw it I thought that it would be great for my students to build 3-D models of classic physics problems, but the app is designed more for constructing architecture.

tool 3

1. Visit several of the video hosting/streaming sites mentioned above. Share with your readers which sites you found most useful for your content and why:
I found youtube to be the most useful site for finding videos on physics. Teacher tube was slow and some of the videos I was interested in wouldn't load.

2. Using any of the video resources mentioned above, find and select twovideos that may be useful resources in your classroom:
In the video below Dr. Neal deGrasse Tyson talks about what asking the question "Does the Universe have a Purpose?" infers, and what empirical date suggests.



The video below belongs to a series called minute physics. I would use videos from this series to introduce a topic as a quick way to engage the students.


3. Articulate what you learned about copyright and fair use. What was new to you?
It is illegal to use copyright material with out permission or paying for a licence. There are fair use laws that do allow you to use copyright material in certain contexts. I already new the information that was provided on the use of copyright material. It was pertinent for me to know when working on projects at the university. I do think that this is a good lesson to teach to students.

4. How could you use Drop Box in your classroom?
Drop Box is a fast and easy way to share files in my class room. Once I took the time to have students set up their own drop box accounts I could post flipcharts for students access at any time, students could turn in online homework assignments, and I could share videos for students to view on their own time. 

tool 2

Share you thoughts about building and participating in an online community and participating in a PLN:
For tool 2 I chose to sign up with google reader and bookmark blogs that interest me. I personally don't enjoy sitting behind a computer unless it is work related. I found several blogs related to physics, and teaching. My searches pertained to resources that can help me as a physics teacher. I know this will be a useful tool for me when it comes to saving time looking up resource. I have a feeling I will bookmark websites frequently and start sharing them with friends and colleagues.

Two sites I plan to visit often are: Physics and Physical Science Demos, Labs, and Projects for High School Teachers; and Science Daily: Physics News.
Physics and Physical Science Demos... has some great ideas. Many of the posts I read are twists on boring out dated labs that include more technology, and student centered involvement.
In order for me to be the "expert" in my classroom I think that it is important for me to stay up to date on the current research in physics. I will certainly be able to do that by following the Science Daily: Physics News.