Author: Ysabelle Saguin

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

The opportunity to integrate technology into a classroom provides endless modes to increase the accessibility of information for all students. The ability to use computers, tablets, and virtual reality acts as platforms for endless websites that can be integrated into a classroom. I believe that this class has broken down my previous nervousness about using technology for education. I now have many different tools I can use for presentations, projects, and assessments in my classroom in the future. I believe that my students will benefit from the diversity of resources and my increased knowledge on how to utilize them. From the beginning of the semester, I have grown in my confidence in finding new tools and trying new things in my classroom.

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 really enjoyed the format of this class. Each day was a new technology and we were given ample time to test them out on our own. This self-directed method of teaching worked really well for my preferred learning style and I really enjoyed exploring the new tools. I believe that my students will respond similarly. I plan on using a lot of Project Based Learning assignments with technology in the future.

This is a Co-Post by Caroline Halvorson, Ysabelle Saguin, and Rylee Seekins

We presented to teachers about how to use MyMaps as a tool in different classrooms. The goal was to have a general understanding of how to use the tool as well as different ways it can be applied. The variety of uses can improve any lesson that incorporates maps, particularly in social studies. Geography and political climate can be studied using this tool as well as historical landmarks. This is an easy to utilize tool in a 3rd-5th grade classroom.

Edpuzzle is a really interesting tool that I have seen being used in classrooms to allow students to interact with videos through guided questions and comments created by their teacher. Video has become an increasingly utilized tool in classrooms as it engages students in a. Teachers can add voiceover or comments to the videos to talk about different parts, create live quizzes, and assign it to your class with one button. Edpuzzle also allows teachers to modify already created Edpuzzle videos from other teachers or just show already created ones directly. This tool would be a great way to personalize public videos for your classroom and I can definitely see myself using it in the future as pre-tests, formal, and informal assessments.

This Edpuzzle that I have created uses a Crash Course Youtube video about Weather in Space and guides students through the video via multiple choice and open-ended questions.

Co-Authors: Ysabelle Saguin and Caroline Halvorson

In today’s class, we learned how to create a video for a class based on a lesson and we decided to use this as an opportunity to create a review for a lesson. In this video, we went over the various anatomy parts of a flower that our students could view at home to review and study. Creating videos for students is a great tool to be utilized in a classroom as it allows teachers to give tutorials to students, teach lessons, tell stories, and can also be used by students for projects. We can see ourselves using video in our classrooms often and plan on educating our students on proper etiquette and utility.

Thinglink is a very cool tool that allows students to interact on a more personal way with their learning. With the ability for the teacher to input all information they they would like their students to learn, the research process for students is streamlined. This is a great way to present information in a new way with the ability to use virtual reality creating an exciting experience for students. I can see myself using this software to teach a variety of subjects, such as science like with this flower anatomy lesson, with geography and social studies to tour a setting, as well as for history. I really enjoyed creating and look forward to using it in the future.

Google’s Tour Creator is also another wonderful tool that I can see myself using in the classroom to give tours of cities. This can easily show students historical information as well as social aspects. The ability to connect it to VR devices is also an interesting way to bring it into a classroom and would be very exciting for students to use with their own creations.

Mouse over the image to interact with it!

Photo Credit: Tulip Cross Section by r reeves

AdobeSpark and Sway are both wonderful tools that I can see myself using in my classroom! They both are easy to use websites that can be utilized in many ways for students. I can see myself teaching AdobeSpark more to my students as it is more straightforward and trouble shooting would be a lot easier. Adding photos directly from adobe is easy, and the site can also be utilized for many other projects, other than website design. The site also seems simpler in terms of themes. It is simple and could even be used as a stepping stone to other tools such as Sway.

Growing up in the Bay Area was a wonderful privilege I will always be grateful for. I was exposed to many different cultures and customs, and had great opportunities to immerse myself in educational programs and experiences. Putting together this presentation on Sway was surprisingly easy and straightforward. The program is definitely user friendly and allows creative freedom. I can definitely see myself using this resource for presentation in my classroom in the future.

Cover Image: Moonrise San Fransisco Bay

Toontastic seems like a great tool to use with students to assess their content knowledge. You can have them retell stories, as I have modeled above, create their own stories around learning, demonstrate new ideas, or to teach others with a “how to” video. This tool is simple to explain and I can see myself using it with mid to upper elementary school students. The characters are fairly straight forward to create and narration is a great aspect, however, it is quite limiting in some respects. The students would be limited to using the music and movements in the app, and would only be able to use it on mobile devices. Otherwise, it is an interesting tool I look forward to implementing in my classroom.

This padlet is designed to help students delve deeper into stories that they have been reading, perhaps after reading them as a mini report, or just to organize their thoughts. It is an easy way to evaluate the students’ thinking and guide them along the way through the use of comments from the teacher. Comments can also be utilized by students to ask their peers questions and comment on their ideas with support and constructive criticism.

Cover Image: Books by Vicente

This google site I created was a great way to synthesize different resources onto one accessible site. I loved how all of the different forms of activities modified their formats to fit on the site. I can definitely see myself using this resource later and creating other sites for my students, whether it be for projects, lessons, or even as a database for other teachers.

This map is designed to help fifth graders learn the main crops in each region in the US. This can be tied with a health, social studies, or map unit.

Students can compare the different regions of the US and use previous knowledge about the terrain and weather of the different regions to try to predict why these crops are able to grow. They can try to figure out which crops are the most prevalent in the US and which are the most uncommon.

Cover Photo: Thorn

This is a co-post by: Ysabelle Saguin and Caroline Halvorson

Target Student Audience: 2nd grade class

Lesson goals: Students will explore the book and its world through links to external resources

Students can each have a copy with the links and access the material on their individual devices or could be used as a whole class on a shared teacher device.

Header Photo: Macy’s 2014 Thanksgiving Day Parade