Author: Nicole Baer

When I first started this class I was pretty nervous because I am not the best at working with technology and creating new material on different platforms. After going through this class I have become much more confident in working with technology and now feel that I will be able to learn new platforms more easily in the future. Most of what we have learned in this class can very easily be transferred into the teaching world, and I plan on doing just that. We live in a world that is becoming more reliant on technology, and because of this, I have found that it is important to get students acclimated to using it as fast as possible. Technology can be seen as a negative thing to be used in classrooms, especially with younger students, but I now believe that it is an important aspect of the curriculum and will be embraced by students of any age. This class has really shown me how to incorporate technology appropriately into my lessons and how to make that use of technology fun and relatable to the subject material.

Literary Genres: Bubbl.us VS Wakelet

How do Seeds Sprout?

All I really Need!

Featured image by David on Pixabay

For my final project I decided to create a kindergarten lesson on needs vs wants. I started with the learning target: K.4 Distinguish between personal wants and needs. This website uses many different technology tools to help students better understand the material. Students are given information on wants and needs in the forms of text and videos and are asked to reiterate the information they learn using different platforms. The use of the first technology, a quiz on google slides, allows for the teacher to see if the students understand the material from the video. This section is a pre-assessment as the actual teaching of the material does not come until the next page. Students are given multiple opportunities to share their thinking with the teacher and, in one occasion, the class. The use of multiple assessments and activities allows the teacher to have a better understanding of where each student is individually and give individualized feedback.

I chose to use Google Sites as my main technology tool and platform because I believe it is an easy tool to use that allows for me to structure my content in any way I want. When creating my lesson I strived to make it easily accessible and easy to navigate as I am teaching younger students. This platform can allows for content to be broken up into pages, so students do not get too overwhelmed with the amount of information being presented and can take their time doing the assigned activities. In addition to using Google Sites I used Google Slides, Google Forms, and Padlet to create instructional activities and assessments to aid the information being presented. The use of Padlet gives students who may need a little more assistance a chance to see examples of their classmates’ work and encourages all students to participate in discussions by having a shoutout section. My goal from using these tools and platform is that students learn the material in an easier, and hopefully more accessible, way than with just traditional teaching.

Featured Image by Mohamed Hassan on Pixabay

This lesson is for younger students, kindergarten through second grade. I used Book Creator to create a book about the lifecycle of butterflies. If I was doing this for an actual lesson i would have students make their own Butterfly Book and have them put in projects we have been working on related to butterflies. I really liked using this tool to create a book for students, it was easy and fun to use!

Featured Image by Jondolar Schnurr on Pixabay

When looking at the different apps to use, I wanted to try and compare two with distinctly different styles and features. I decided to try out Wakelet because I liked that you can add links to websites and videos instead of just writing down information. On the other hand, I liked Bubbl.us because it formed the information into a mind map that I could control the structure of. I found both apps fairly easy to navigate and enjoyed the features of each one. It is hard to choose which app I preferred as they are so different from each other, but I would have to say that I enjoyed using Wakelet more than Bubbl.us. Having worked with younger elementary students, (and probably working with them in the future) I think that the use of visuals, including pictures and videos, is very important when teaching to those younger students. I also think Wakelet was just more fun to use and had a lot more variety for what you can create. In the future, I could see myself using Wakelet with younger grades to teach any lesson, especially a literary genre lesson, and may even use it to have students create their own projects.

Featured photo by Clarissa Bell on Pixabay

For my EdPuzzle lesson I decided to use the Crash Course Kids video Feed Me on YouTube. This lesson is geared towards younger students, so kinder through first grade and is about animal eating habits. Students are taught what an omnivore, herbivore, and carnivore is as well as how plants get and use their energy.

I really enjoyed using EdPuzzle because it was easy to work and allowed for a lot of flexibility in how you can ask questions or put in comments. I will definitely be using this program as an educator as I feel it is a fun way to get the information across in an easy way that still allows the teacher to have full control of the lesson.

Featured image by Christine Sponchia on Pixabay

Using Adobe Spark and the Quicktime player I created a lesson on how seeds sprout for a kindergarten class. With schools moving to online classes and teachers having to accommodate for and switch around their teaching, I think using these programs are very helpful, I was able to record myself teaching the lesson and provide pictures that could help students better understand what I am talking about. Using these programs is an easy way to teach a lesson in a very accessible way.

Featured Image by Sarah Richter on Pixabay

Using Adobe Spark I have created a mini lesson about the planets in our solar system. I think Adobe Spark is a cool tool to use when creating a lesson because it easily allows the teacher to easily create visuals for the lesson and shows the information in a fun way. I liked using Adobe Spark because of how easy it made everything, but I feel like it could include some more ways to really personalize the video you are trying to make.

Featured image by 024-657-834 on Pixabay

I am from California

I am from blue skies and beautiful views

From beach days

That turn into bonfire nights

I am from barbecues in the summer

With laughter and water fights

I am from the rolling golden hills

And the tall redwood trees

I am from a place of sunshine

That will forever be my home

I enjoyed using Adobe Spark to create my “I Am From” poem. I like how easy the website is to use, having a lot of different options for the way you can set up your page. I also really like how the site has an area where you can search for free images and gives credit to the owner of the images. I think this application would be a fun and easy tool to use in a classroom setting where you could have students making their own stories or “I Am From” poems.

Featured image by Christoph Partsch on Pixabay

Ocean Lesson by Nicole Baer

This website is designed for kindergarten students as they start a unit on the ocean. The lessons provide information on marine animals in their natural habitat, the five ocean layers, and provides different ways that students can help conserve the ocean. Through this website it is my hope that students develop a newfound curiosity for the ocean, including its creatures, and develop an understanding of the harmful effects humans have on the ocean, and ways they can participate in the conserving of the ocean.

Featured image by Claudia14 on Pixabay

This post-assessment is intended for kindergarten students who have been learning about making healthy choices. The choice of lesson is based off of Oregon Standard: HE.7.K.1- Identify healthy practices and behaviors that maintain or improve personal health. In line with the standard, students are asked to read the questions and choose the healthier option. This post-assessment would be given in a 1:1 environment at the end of the lesson to see what information the students understand from the previous and current lessons. The use of the 1:1 environment would allow for the teacher to assist each student and answer questions when needed. Depending on the results of this post-assessment, the teacher can decide to move deeper into the lessons or refresh on the tested information.

Featured image by Silviarita on Pixabay

Using Tour Creator I have created a virtual tour of some key places in San Ramon, CA. This could be used in a community lesson to show students different places in the city they live and provide new information about those places. If this is a decided activity to do in the classroom, the students could create their own tour of the places they think of as their community.

Featured image by Drei Kubik on Pixabay

This is a interactive Google Slides quiz about how colors correspond with feelings. This quiz is for kindergarten through first grade and will be used to test the students on their knowledge of the different colors and which of those colors go with what emotion. Students will be given a scenario about how a classmate is feeling and will have to choose the correct color for each classmate’s emotion.

Featured Image by Gino Crescoli on Pixabay