Author: Sabrina Pangelinan

1. What did you learn about the intersection of technology and instruction? What was your progress on becoming a “tech-savvy” teacher?

Integrating technology has always been difficult for me because as a student, I grew up working with worksheets and textbooks. The use of technology was only offered as a special or not at all. So, it is interesting how schools are being more tech-savvy now. I am amazed at how many educational technology tools I could use for different lessons in my classroom. It is another way for students to be creative and use it in a collaborative way. Also, it is a great way for students to be engaged with the content and be used to create something meaningful. Additionally, it will be interesting to see what projects students come up with by using these technology tools. My progress on becoming a “tech-savvy” teacher has grown immensely! It is amazing how educational technology tools have grown throughout the years. I love how we can add questions to educational videos for students to answer, to create a my map to show a variety of things like the Oregon Trail or the landmarks around the world, to use thinglink to present information about any topic and to use padlet to post answers to questions about any lesson. Learning about all the different technology tools we could use in the classroom is valuable because now we can create lessons without having to worry about how the technology tool works. Being exposed to all these tools is beneficial, we just need to put in the work to create meaningful content for our students.

1. This class was driven by mini-projects instead of test and papers. How did you respond? What does that tell you about student motivation?

I didn’t know how this class would go, but I actually enjoyed it and learned so much about how I could integrate technology tools into my classroom. I loved how we learned about a new technology tool every week and played around with each one in order to create one of our own in the end. Also, learning how others used these tools was insightful because I got to see different projects using the same technology tool! I felt more engaged with the content because I was adding my own creative ideas to present my knowledge of the technology tool. It was fun exploring these technology tools and creating either lessons or information about me with them! I feel like students are motivated to do something if the content is relatable and meaningful. The more engaging teachers make learning, the more likely they will be motivated to produce something worthy. Also, being able to work as a group allows students to work together to make the most out of a lesson. If you based this class on tests and essays, I don’t think we would’ve seen the fun in using technology in the classroom. I know I was more motivated to learn about each technology tool each week because it allowed me to create something that I could use in my future classroom. So, I liked this style of learning and I enjoyed all the different technology tools you introduced to us. Additionally, it was nice to see all the different ways everyone used the technology tools compared to mine.

By: Samantha Laughlin & Sabrina Pangelinan

For our final project, we created a lesson for 3rd grade students. This lesson is intended to be part of a larger unit on genre studies. This particular lesson focuses on the Folk Tale genre and explores the different types of tales, or sub-genres. Students work in groups to explore one type of Folk Tale. Each group is given a ThingLink with a variety of different resources to explore. Students will work within their groups to analyze the information provided within the ThingLink and then record their responses using Padlet. A link to Padlet has been provided to each student that has questions posted for each sub-genre. Students will record their responses in real time and will be able view each groups’ answers. This information will be gathered and used in a next lesson that explores the entire genre and involves group discussion.

Thinglink is a great tool for this project because it allows content to be presented to students in a variety of ways. In our ThingLinks, students are given multimodal access through pictures, videos and textual information. Padlet allows students to record their answers, share their information and view the other groups’ findings. This is an easy outlet for students to record their information and for the teacher to observe and respond in real time.

Explore your genre below and record your answers here: https://padlet.com/jessbri31/dmkkub93jx2w

Legends

Fables

Tall Tales

Fairy Tales

Myths

I decided to use Edpuzzle to present the differences between a non-fiction book and a fiction book. Edpuzzle is a great resource to present informational videos and allow students to answer questions as they watch the video! You can crop the video to remove unnecessary clips, you can record yourself talking throughout the video if you don’t like the way the narrator of the video presents the information or you can add audio notes throughout the video (the video will stop to make the viewer listen to it), and you can add open-ended questions, multiple choice questions, or make comments throughout the video. Also, you can access different channels on Edpuzzle, so there are many choices! Overall, it is a great tool that I will definitely use in my classroom so students can be engaged with the video rather than just watching it.

My YouTube video can be used for the general audience, but I would use this in my classroom as a Social Studies lesson. So, I would share the my maps that I created, have the students follow along as the video plays and frequently pause it to see that the students are on the same page as the video. I really enjoyed using this app because it can help teachers teach a lesson without having the teacher be at the computer the whole time. This way, teachers can monitor what students are doing on their computers and make sure they are all on the same page as the video. It is easy to create and access. This is definitely something I would use in the future!

My Thinglink features information, images, and videos of a famous tourist attraction/dive site on Saipan called “The Grotto”. Personally, I have been there over 5 times and it is an exhausting experience. For one thing, you have to hike down 100+ stairs! Another thing is that you have to walk on rocks to get to the jump-off rock and waves are literally going past you as you try to walk to it. There is a rope you can hold onto while swimming, but other than that, you either stay in the water swimming or find a rock to sit on. The hassle of climbing onto the jump-off rock sucks because you have to wait for the waves to pick you up. The struggle to walk up those 100+ stairs while you’re wet is killer too! I mean I love swimming at the Grotto, but it is a workout. I have never gone diving before, but I will someday and will most likely be the Grotto, so I can’t wait for that experience.

Thinglink and Google Tour Creator are great programs to create informational tours of places we have or haven’t seen! But I would use Thinglink in my classroom because it’s easier to navigate and is not so limited when it comes to adding pictures/videos. Basically, you can do so many things with Thinglink and relate it to so many different subjects.

Both programs are really great resources for many things! But I liked the Adobe Spark Page the most because the formatting of the actual project was easier to navigate through and simpler than Sway. Another thing I liked about Adobe Spark Page is that the editing process was much easier to navigate through and fix than Sway (I had to redo a few things multiple times on Sway because when I tried to edit the format, it changed the final layout). The last thing I liked about Adobe Spark Page is that it’s not limited when it comes to creating/customizing your actual product, but in Sway, their customization choices are limited.

Sway is an online program for Microsoft. It is easy to use and serves many different purposes like telling a story through words, pictures, and/or videos. I created a project with sway about where I am from. When it comes to where I am from, I am not shy about it. Although it is not known to many, it means the world to me. Saipan is my home and is where I plan to be. In my sway, you will see where and how small my island is, the community college I graduated from, and all the beautiful beaches and sightseeing hangouts. Doing this made me even more homesick, but I can’t wait for the day to get on that plane and head back HOME 🙂

This Adobe Spark Video serves as a book talk/introduction for the Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone book. Depending on your students’ reading levels, I would read the text aloud as the video plays so students will know what each part talks about (or record your voice on the website). You could use this tool to book talk/introduce any book you decide to read as a class so students get an idea of what they will read.

Who doesn’t love Dr. Seuss? He has a holiday named after him on his birthday, March 2nd! I believe it is important to acknowledge him and appreciate all the children’s books he has created. One way I could acknowledge and appreciate Dr. Seuss’ work is by doing a KWL chart using Padlet about him with my students on his birthday/holiday. First, we would meet together as a group and discuss what we know about Dr. Seuss and come up with questions on what we want to know about him (we would add the information to Padlet). Then, I would pass out a sheet full of facts about Dr. Seuss and have students go over it with a partner. Lastly, we would come back together, answer the questions we wanted to know and add them to Padlet.

This is our first attempt at using Google Sites. Our site contains different technology activities to use in your classroom. Some are created by us, and others have been created by others that we really like. Enjoy!

by Lauryn Nakashima & Sabrina Pangelinan

This can be used as a geography lesson to introduce students to the different wonders of the world. As a class, they can compare and contrast similarities and differences between the different landmarks.

Start by clicking an icon on the map to view the different wonders where you can find pictures/videos, read brief descriptions, and visit links to learn more about them.

by Sabrina Pangelinan & Lauryn Nakashima

For our post, we are doing a “Name That Island” review, meant for fourth graders, where the student will need to drag the corresponding name to the correct island in the picture.  This is meant to be a review where as a class, we have learned where the islands are located previously.  The goal for the students is to be able to name all the Hawaiian Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands.  To use it with our students, we would have them use their computers to access the editable PowerPoint.  The students will then go through it and drag the name of the island to the correct island in the picture next to it.