King County Library System

Did you know that the King County Library System has numerous resources on its website for adults and children? By visiting the main page you will see many options for you and your students. Do you have a unit coming up? Don't be limited to the books at your local branch. You can place a hold on books from any location online. You will receive an e-mail when they are ready AND you can decide where you would like your books delivered. Choose from any of their locations!

There are so many ways you can use the King County Library website as a teaching tool and with students. Click on Databases then Kids to access several paid websites for free. Just use your library card number and pin! Visit the Kids Page to access book lists and reviews. Visit Good Books for Kids and rate the stories you have read as a class. Visit the Kidreads blog to comment on the librarians' reviews. Encourage families to read your ratings/comments and to use the site at home.

For this weeks post, explore the website then tell us what you found and what you plan to use in your classroom.

Using Your Teacher Website to Provide Information and Resources

Every teacher in our district has the ability to create a teacher website. Teacher websites can be used to communicate information to parents and students, provide information and resources as documents or links, and to create discussion through a discussion board. Also, photos and videos of students can be added for families to view. (Check with your building secretary to make sure that your students have the electronic permission form on file. Never label a photo with the student's name.) Events can be added to the calendar, practice quizes can be created and grades can be shared as well.

Did you know that there is a video tutorial for SWIFT on the staff access page? There is also a user guide. (Check with your BTS to see if there is a printed copy of the guide in the lab.)

The great thing about SWIFT is that you can decide what you want on your website. When you first login, you see your Profile. On the right you have the option to turn on or off each tab/section. Once you click save changes you will have the tabs at the top of your screen. (Be sure to update your e-mail address to tahomasd.us.)

Did you know that you can lock a document? Any file that is uploaded to the documents section can be locked by clicking on the padlock to the right. You will be prompted to create a password. This password can be shared with individual parents so only they can access the file (audio, video, word document etc.). When someone clicks on the file, they must enter the password in order for the file to open. Remember, when uploading files it is a good idea to change them to a PDF so that parents can open them without needing Word, PowerPoint etc.

For this weeks post: Look at how other teachers in the district are using their SWIFT site. Look at other teachers in your grade level/specialty. Report back how you currently use your site and what you would like to add to enhance your site.

Visit a few SWIFT sites to see a variety of uses:
Glacier Park

Rock Creek

Lake Wilderness

Shadow Lake

Pixie

Pixie is a K-5 software with many capabilities. At its basic, it can be used as a drawing program. Some advanced features include audio recordings, creating slideshows and publishing videos. Pixie offers a variety of activities/templates for use with students. (While in the program select Open, Activities, and then select a subject) Teachers have the ability to create their own activities for students as well. Tech4Learning, the company that makes Pixie has an image website called Pics4Learing. These images can be accessed through Pixie.

Tech4Learning.com has some great resources for teachers using their software. You can visit the Trading Post to access activities/projects that have been created by other teachers. (You need to register to access them.) You can visit the Connect tab to read their blogs and forum. Here they also provide ideas for using Pixie as well as their other software.

While exploring the website I found some helpful pages regarding features, integration, training, and videos. They also have a website, Recipes4Learning, made up of full and partial tutorials. Read a recipe when you want to learn all about the application OR read a snack when you want to know about an individual feature. Click on Recipes or Snacks, select your level by clicking on the diamonds (1, 2, or 3) and then select Pixie 2. Finally, choose your tutorial. (I would suggest clicking on the PDF icon or Get Printable Version so you can view it full screen. Otherwise it opens in a small window that cannot be maxamized.)

For this weeks post, visit Tech4Learning and explore the resources available. Use any of the links provided above and share how you plan to use (or have used) Pixie with your students connected to your grade level curriculum. (Remember Pixie is available on classroom teacher laptops and in the computer labs.)

Discovery Education Streaming

Discovery Education Streaming (or as you may remember it United Streaming) is a great resource for integrating media into our curriculum. DE is not just videos. There are images, songs, sound effects, presentations. The list just goes on and on!

The first step is logging in to the site. If you do not remember your username, click on forgot username and try entering your old wednet.edu e-mail address IF your current e-mail address is not recognized. If you have never used DE before, there are directions here. Click on the Discovery Streaming new account setup document.

Once you log in to the site , click on SEARCH without even putting anything into the search bar. On the left you will see multiple ways to refine your search. Not only can you search by subject and grade level, but you can refine it even more by selecting the media type.

Once you begin to find media you would like to use, save it to "My DE" for future use. I created folders for reading, math and integrated units. Within integrated units I created three seperate folders for each unit full of age appropriate resources! Teachers can download these resources and insert them into PowerPoint presenations or other software/Web 2.0 tools. You can allow your students to access DE from home by requesting usernames and passwords. Students can download resources and use them for presentations as well. (Please Note: Teachers and students may NOT post any of DE's media resources online such as on blogs or websites. DE's resources are for classroom use.)

When sharing DE videos in the classroom, you will want to make sure you have your Ethernet cord plugged in or that you have downloaded the video to a CD, DVD or external drive to play the video from your computer. Otherwise your video may not buffer properly. (For instance, you audio and video may not align.) View the video in segments instead of full video so that the video will stop and allow you to discuss information with your students. We all know how important it is to stop and process information.

For this weeks post, tell us how you use or plan to use DE in your classroom. Explore the site first and search for various subjects and/or integrated unit topics. Ask your colleagues how they use DE and share their ideas with us as well!

Digital Cameras-A Tool to Teach Skills & Assess Learning

Monday, Kimberly and I attended a professional development session hosted by OSPI. During that time we were able to look at the DRAFT EdTech Assessments or CBAs. (Districts are not required to use the EdTech CBAs.) It was a great opportunity to see how the state is approaching the assessment of student progress toward the technology standards. This experience will help us as we begin to plan how we will assess students in our district in the future.

During our session we reviewed the Educational Technology Standards (Quick Reference). It's a great way to see all the state tech standards for K-12. (Can you believe it's only 4 pages!) After, we were given 3 scenarios and asked if each was aligned to the educational technology standards. Here is one of the scenarios:

In Mr. Carson’s Kindergarten class, students have been learning about shapes (triangles, circles, and squares). As part of his assessment of student learning, he gives pairs of students a digital camera and asks them to take pictures of triangles they find on the playground.

Using digital cameras is a great way to assess student learning. (You can accomplish this with one digital camera using either the photo or video setting!) Their use by students is also a great opportunity to teach students the correct vocabulary to describe digital technologies-GLE 2.2.1, use digital equipment effectively (Use the strap!)-GLE 2.2.2, identify and solve common problems related to digital equipment -GLE 2.2.2, and to share their learning through a digital product-GLE 1.3.3. What a great way to teach so many skills!

For this week's post, explain how your students could use digital cameras to demonstrate their learning in any content area. (Remember, you can still earn clock hours!)