BP16_2009123_Tool#6writeboard.com

This tool will come in handy when I have to deal with sites being blocked at school. I love using google docs. I fell in love with them last class. I like that so many people can see the same document and we can save the document on the site so that there aren't 8 different "new versions".
This site is called writeboard.com and as far as I can tell anyone that has access to the web address where the document is being saved can access and edit the document. My students do not have to worry about having an email address to verify who they are and complete the registration process.

I think that this would be a great tool to use to have students start putting their notes together before posting them somewhere else.

BP15_2009123_PeerReviewFranklin

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BP13_2009123_Tool#5Wikispaces

I have been using wikispaces for a couple of years now. Each of my classes has a website where I post the notes, review material, the syllabus and contact information. I thought I was pretty technologically savy with the site...I was wrong. I am revamping it so that students can join, students will be encouraged to add information to the site, add their own notes, discuss various problems and math topics with each other. It has been very one-sided, I believe that by giving students access it will only make it better. I can also embed videos, games, and widgets to help make the site more interactive.



Adding this single game increased the number of students accessing the site this past weekend. I am sure that adding more will only continue to increase their activity. As it is now students hardly ever access it. I want it to be a useful tool for them that they can actually utilize and find beneficial.

BP12_2009123_Tool#4classtool.net

Wow, I love this one!

My students are getting ready for their final exams. This is my least favorite time of year. I go crazy with going over the review questions 5 times a day. My students are tired and I am tired. It usually drives us all a bit batty.

Ok so today I took the vocabulary from they final exam and put all the words and definitions into the arcade game template found on www.classtools.net. I was then able to embed the finished product into my class wikispace. I took my students to the computer lab and they all logged in and practiced their vocabulary. I didn't have students logging onto other sites, they stayed on task and even practiced later on when they were on their own! My hope is that they log in this weekend and by next week have mastered the vocabulary.

Now I just need to figure out how to get some additional games made for them to practice even more.

Click here for full screen version

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BP10_2009122_PeerReviewFranklin

Found at http://travisfranklin17.blogspot.com/2009/12/bp62009112flickr.html

BP_6_2009112_Flickr

Author: Travis Franklin // Category:

I had never really used Flickr before joining this class, but it is a pretty cool tool that has great potential for education. The lesson idea I found came from the Illinois Education and Technology Conference. They brought up the idea of using Flickr as a way to create a virtual field trip for students to experience another location. I think this would be a great idea because with the budget cuts happening in schools right now, field trips are some of the first things to go. I know in my district it was the very first thing they cut and now only three field trips happen each year in my school leaving most kids in our building out of the experience.

You would set up your lesson by either taking pictures, uploading or tagging pictures that have to do with your topic and creating a set of pictures to organize them all in one place. After doing this, you would allow the students to go on and search through the pictures you have added and possibly comment on them. You could do this after a unit and have them comment on the picture what exactly it is a picture of.

For example, I would definitely use this after my unit on ancient Greece and have the kids log in to my set to view the pictures. I would number each picture and give them either a scavenger hunt sheet where they had to plug in the number of each item for their answers or have them go through the pictures in order and write down which structure is represented by each picture. This would be a great way to differentiate the assessment based on which student is doing it.