Author: Allie Haakenson

What a great semester in Ed Tech! Technology in the classroom is becoming more and more predominant. As I write this, we are going through the coronavirus pandemic where all schools were forced to go online. I am so glad the University of Portland requires their education students to take this technology class. I have learned so much throughout this semester and feel more confident using and implementing technology in my future classroom. I have learned to create content on multiple platforms and applications that are easy to use and easily accessible for students and parents/guardians. Technology is all around us and is always changing so, as educators we must make sure to incorporate it effectively as well as making sure the content is meaningful and has a purpose for the students. This class has shown me that technology in the classroom can be engaging, culturally responsive as well as build community.

In the following section, are examples of the work I did throughout the semester that I plan to implement into my future classroom.

Skeletal System Mini-Unit

For this lesson, I decided to use Google Sites to create a website that will allow me to communicate with students and parents or guardians as we are distance learning. I really enjoy using Google Sites because it is easy to create and easily accessible to students and parents/guardians. On the website, is a science lesson that is focused on the skeletal system where students will become bone experts and will be able to answer the question: “why do humans need bones?”

Storyline Online Lesson

For this lesson, I learned how to use an application called Edpuzzle. Before taking this class, I had never heard of it before and now it’s one of my favorite tools to use in the classroom. I really enjoyed using Edpuzzle and will definitely use it for future lessons. Edpuzzle is easy to use and makes videos more engaging. This is a site that allows teachers to go into preexisting videos and add questions, voiceovers, and notes to help keep their learners engaged. It allows teachers to turn videos they may assign into more interactive and meaningful content.  For this learning experience, I chose a video from Storyline Online where students will learn themes about family, adoption, and responsibility. Great book and great tool!

All About Miss H’s 1st Grade Class

Using Book Creator, I published a book for my first grade classroom. This book would be used as a resource for my students to get to know their peers and classmates. This website is very easy to use and I enjoyed making the book. I can see myself using this in my future classroom! Book Creator is a simple tool for teachers and students to create fun and engaging digital books.

Teacher Apps: Padlet vs. Bubbl.us

In this post, we were assigned to look at two different apps and compare them. The apps I chose to use were Padlet and Bubbl.us. Padlet can be used in a classroom to encourage students to share their ideas and have a voice. It gives students who are quiet or shy, the opportunity to feel comfortable sharing their opinions and contributing to the class. I like Padlet and think it is a great tool for students and teachers and could be used for such a wide variety of activities in the classroom. Bubbl.us is also a great tool to use but I would have to say I like Padlet better because it is organized, easy-to-use, and has many different formats.

For my final project, I decided to use Google Sites to create a website that will allow me to communicate with students and parents or guardians as we are distance learning. On the website, I will post a weekly science lesson. This week’s lesson is on the skeletal system where students will become bone experts and will be able to answer the question: “why do humans need bones?”

My target audience is for my students who are in first grade and I wanted to make sure that the website is easy to use and easily accessible.

I used EdPuzzle for an interactive read aloud using a book called “Inside Your Outside” by Dr. Seuss. EdPuzzle is easy to use and makes videos more engaging.

Using Padlet, I had my 1st graders share a fact about bones after they went online and did some research. Padlet provides students with the opportunity to tell the whole class what they have discovered while researching and what they have learned. Padlet can be used in a classroom to encourage students to share their ideas and have a voice. It gives students who are quiet or shy, the opportunity to feel comfortable sharing their opinions and contributing to the class. Padlet allows for all students to be able to see what their classmates are thinking but also provides independent work time. I like Padlet and think it is a great tool for students and teachers and could be used for such a wide variety of activities in the classroom.

Using Book Creator, I published a book for my first grade classroom. This book would be used as a resource for my students to get to know their peers and classmates. This website is very easy to use and I enjoyed making the book. I can see myself using this in my future classroom!

Using Padlet and Bubbl.us, I created a KWL chart about bats. This lesson is geared towards 1st graders where they will be learning more about bats. This lesson provides the students with the opportunity to ask questions and tell the teacher what they want to learn, as well as showing what they already know and what they have learned after the lesson. Padlet is a great way for students to learn in a fun way, while also gaining knowledge and learning new things about bats. Bubbl.us is also a great tool to use but I would have to say I like Padlet better because it is organized, easy-to-use, and has many different formats.

Padlet can be used in a classroom to encourage students to share their ideas and have a voice. It gives students who are quiet or shy, the opportunity to feel comfortable sharing their opinions and contributing to the class. Padlet allows for all students to be able to see what their classmates are thinking but also provides independent work time. I like Padlet and think it is a great tool for students and teachers and could be used for such a wide variety of activities in the classroom.

I really enjoyed using Edpuzzle and will definitely use it for future lessons. Edpuzzle is easy to use and makes videos more engaging. For this lesson, I chose a video from Storyline Online where students will learn themes about family, adoption, and responsibility. After the read aloud, I would ask my students questions like “do all families look alike?”…”How are they sometimes different?”…”What makes a family a family?” I would also introduce the words orphan and adopt and discuss with my first graders. Great book and great tool!

Using Loom, I created a screen recording to look at three different websites that talk about penguins. This lesson is for a first grade classroom where students will be using these three websites to learn and share information with their peers. With all the schools moving online, this tool would be very helpful and easily accessible.

However, I did not know how to get rid of the icons in the bottom left corner and I apologize for my computer noise…

I created a video through Adobe Spark to introduce the topic of penguins to my first grade class. I would use this video at the beginning of the unit. I enjoyed making this video because it was easy to use and had a simple layout. I can definitely see myself incorporating this into the classroom.

I really enjoyed this website. I could definitely see my students and I using this website to easily create and share visual stories.

By Allie Haakenson and Chloe Mar

This lesson is meant to be taught to second graders. It is to be used as an introductory activity to a science unit about the solar system. The students will be taking a pre-assessment to demonstrate how much they know about the solar system, and so that can see how much they learn at the end of the unit. They will then go through pages on each of the planets, including the Sun. Each page has a quick introduction video and a small activity to complete; that highlights the planet. From all the data collected based on the google forms, docs, and slides we can then adjust and plan for what the students seem most interested in and still struggle with.

Stellaluna By Janell Cannon (1993). A fruit bat is separated from her mother and has to survive with a family of birds, mimicking the behavior of this different species. 

I would use this book as an online interactive read aloud with a first grade class, focusing on the following standards:

•  NGSS LS1.B: Growth and Development of Organisms: Adult plants and animals can have young. In many kinds of animals, parents and the offspring themselves engage in behaviors that help the offspring to survive. (1-LS1-2)
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.7: Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas.

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I would use this online read aloud to focus on the behaviors of young birds and bats and how they survive.

After the students finish the online read aloud, they will be asked some questions about the book which will check for their understanding.

After the students have completed the form and we are ready to transition into the next lesson, I would create a picture dictionary with the students about bats and birds such as echolocation, what they eat, why they hang upside down etc. and then have the students complete a venn diagram to compare and contrast behaviors of young bats and birds. We would also brainstorm as a class questions we still had about bats after reading the book and then use additional lessons to read other informational books about bats and draw, write, and share new ideas about bats with the whole class.

This book will build background knowledge of features of a bat (mammals, thumbs, fur, echolocation, nocturnal) would allow for conversation about types of bats (some bats eat fruit, some eat bugs, where do bats that eat mangos live?) as well as predators and prey and why the owl attacked the bats…) 

Integrating literacy and science helps students understand the purpose of reading and writing (to learn and share ideas) and using books to learn science gives context for learning vocabulary such as ‘echolocation.’ 

Authors: Kali Tagomori-Lai and Allie Haakenson

This interactive map will help students (2nd-3rd grade) to understand that there are many outdoor parks that are located in Oregon. The students will be given this map as an instructional piece to help them identify just a few of the state and National parks in Oregon.

They will then be asked to take this map and figure out the distance between their school and the listed state parks. They can also find other state parks that they can identify. At the end, they will have a writing prompt about the outdoors/ nature and submit it for credit.

https://unsplash.com/photos/A–cz3cxstI

Time to put your PEMDAS skills to the test!