Discovering Something New
EduTecher.com
I chose to research websites at eduTecher.com. I am continually amazed at how much is available on the internet for teachers to use. I am grateful that there are sites like eduTecher that organize websites by subject. For example, being able to choose a webpage that specifically focuses on social studies for elementary or math for jr. high really helps a teacher find what is needed without being totally overwhelmed.
From the eduTecher home page I clicked on “links”. That took me to the next page where I was able to choose the subject and grade range I wanted to focus on. I chose “special ed.” for “elementary”. A list of 64 sites with descriptions of each came up. I then scrolled through the sites and read about them to see which ones were of interest to me. I chose to investigate BooksShouldBeFree.com. The description stated that it “is a great website that offers thousands of audiobooks that can be downloaded in MP3, iTunes, and iPod formats. The site is easy to search and has a ton of books that are read in school. This is a great resource for students who need assistance reading, or just for people who like listening to books.” Being a first grade teacher, I get children in my class at all different reading levels. This site interested me for my non-readers and my special ed. students. When a student has the opportunity to listent to a book when they are not able to read it themselves they can still participate in a lesson.
I then decided to search “math” for “elementary” to see what options were avaialable. A list of 133 sites cameup . I chose to look at a site called Count Us In. The description for this class said “A simple site with 15 flash-based math games that help to make learning math concepts fun. Easy to navigate and understand the rules for each of the games.” Because first graders are still young, I liked the idea of having a simple site that they can learn or practice on that is easy for them to navigate without much help from the teacher. Because it is so important for students to memorize math facts, I thought I would look into this site to see if it was fun, helped students to learn and was easy to navigate.
BooksShouldBeFree.com
This site has 1000’s of books available to listen to rather than to read. Teachers can use this site for their non-readers and their special ed. students. This allows students to be able to listen to a story and then participate in a lesson like the other students in the class even though they are not able to read. All the books on the site are free which is a huge advantage for teachers who do not have a lot of disposable income. The site also does not require registration in order to access it. All information is easily accessible to anyone who wants to use it. The left side of the site lists categories to choose from. They include genres, popular genres and languages. There are many genres to choose from. An educator can then narrow the search to audio books, ebooks or both depending on what they are specifically wanting. Once you choose your genre, language and book type, several pages of books appear. The books, however, are not listed in alphabetical order or by author. There is just a random list which can make it difficult for a teacher to find a specific book. The books are also not listed by age range. For example, I chose audio children’s books in English. A list appeared of different books but I would not be able to tell what age they were specific for without researching outside sources. The site does have a search field at the top of the page that allows you to search by author, title or keyword. I searched for Dr. Seuss. The search resulted in a list of places I could find audio books by Dr. Seuss, none of which were on the BooksShouldBeFree.com site. It did list three other books not related to Dr. Seuss that could be found on the site.
I was initially excited about this site because the books are free and audible. However, after delving into the site I realized it would be difficult for educators to use this because of the way it is set up. However, for someone who just wants to listen to books for free in a certain genre and does not really have a specific book in mind, then this site is perfect. Users wanting to know more about a book listed on the site can click on the book to see a description. The description page also includes the author and the dates the author lived. It includes a blurb of the first page from the book as well. Further down the page is where you download the book to listen to it. Interested listeners can choose to download to MP3, iTunes podcast, iPod/iPhone M4b or RSS feed. They can also simply listen to it from their computer as well. The different genres the book is classified under are defined. I also like that the site has reviews listed for each book for interested readers. BooksShouldBeFree.com is a great site for someone who enjoys listening to books and has time to look around. It is not a great site for an educator looking for books for certain ages. I am going to email the makers of this site and suggest that they eventually add an age category for the books they list under the children’s genre. I believe this would make the site more useful for educators.
Count Us In
This site is a very simple and easy to use site for young elementary age students. The games on the site support the math concepts being taught in kindergarten and first grade. Registration is not required for use with this site. Students can choose from 15 different games. Each game supports a different skill. When the game is chosen, the student can then click on the directions for that specific game to find out how to play. Once they know how to paly, then they click play to actually start participating. The graphics are cute and there is no sound. Children who are used to games with lots of sound and complicated graphics may find this game boring. However, because of its simplicity, this is a great game for young children to learn on who have not been exposed to a lot of games on the computer. A list of concepts is provided on the site for educators so they know what topic each game focuses on.
Based on the skill being taught, the teacher can then assign a certain game for the students to play as practice. Instructors can also click on other resources to find alternate ways to teach the topic being taught in that specific game.
I would recommend this game for very young students as a way to review basic math skills in an uncomplicated format on the computer. This site can be downloaded onto pcs or macs depending on what is available.
Untangling the Web
I chose to investigate ClassDojo as discussed in Untangling the Web by Steve Dembo and Adam Bellow. I wanted to see if this classroom management site was as easy to use as the authors said it was. I also wanted to find out for myself if the site would be an effective behavior management tool. The following describes what I found:
ClassDojo.com
This classroom management site allows teachers to keep track of a child’s behavior in different categories. The teacher must first register and log in to create a classroom management system. Once the classroom is set up, the teachers can invite parents and students to be able to log in as well with a secret code. Only the teacher can view what has been recorded for all students. Parents and students can only view their specific information. Once a family has accepted the invitation to be part of ClassDojo, then the student can create their own avatar at home. The teacher decides what behavior he/she wants to assess. For example, being on time, participation, helping others or whatever the teacher chooses. Then each time a child does those actions, the teacher can reward points to the students. If a student is struggling with one of the behaviors then the teacher can record that as well and a point is taken away. Then if a teacher wants to see how a certain child is doing, he/she can click on that child and view their report. If the teacher wants to view how the class as a whole is doing, then they click on whole class and view the report.
This program also allows teachers to record attendance for each day. Teachers can also send group messages to the parents. Because students and parents have access to the student’s record in ClassDojo, a teacher can use this as a way of reporting to parents about behaviors a student is doing well at and a behavior a student is struggling with. The point system can really motivate students to want to behave well. A plus about this program is that the site can connect to my mobile device, that way I can record behaviors no matter where I am on campus and not have to remember to do it when I can back to my classroom computer. I can also send messages to parents at any time of day as without having to be at a computer. Once a teacher registers their school, then you can invite other teachers at their school to use ClassDojo as well. When I registered my name and entered my school, a list of teachers already using ClassDojo appeared and how long they have been using it. Knowing that another teacher is using this site is a great resource to get ideas about how useful and successful it is for them. The site is very user friendly. The fact that the students get to create their own avatar helps the students to engage in the program as well. I think this is an excellent site that I plan on using this next school year.
