School/District: Davisville Middle School/North Kingstown, Rhode Island
Within our school/district we have access to all open sources, free and public videoconferencing, streaming, photo sharing sites, video sharing sites, document sharing sites, podcasts, blogs, wikis, social networking sites.
Davisville Middle School owns 2 Laptop carts Chromebooks
Four teachers within the building have been selected for “Model Classrooms” using Chromebooks
(24 teachers from 42 applicants within the district were selected for district-wide Model Classrooms)
I am not aware of any specific software (nor is my tech guy) that the district has purchased and made available to any of the above web 2.0 tools
Sandra Makielski's Five Favorite Digital Tools
It's never too late to experiment. The following five sites have proven invaluable tools for teachers. They are user friendly and easy to manage. Visit these digital tool sites to bring the world of technology into your classroom.
What can I do with Weebly?
- Easily create a classroom website & blog
- Manage your students' accounts
- Accept homework assignments online
- Keep your parents up to date
Screencastify is a simple video screen capture software for Chrome. Just press record and the content of your tab, webcam or desktop is recorded. Easily create screencasts for video tutorials, record presentations etc.
Screencastify does not depend on any plugins (like Java, Flash or others), so runs on all platforms that run Chrome (Linux, Windows, OS X) or ChromeOS (Chromebooks and Chromeboxes).
Screencastify does not depend on any plugins (like Java, Flash or others), so runs on all platforms that run Chrome (Linux, Windows, OS X) or ChromeOS (Chromebooks and Chromeboxes).
Connect and communicate with educators around the world!
Expand your professional network! Get started today.
Expand your professional network! Get started today.
IXL is a web-based program that targets MATH for all grades K-12 with problems based on the common core standards. The math problems have a wide variety of question types, from word problems to interactive graphing. A great feature IXL provides is if a child gets the wrong answer, IXL explains why. Students can also choose to watch a video explanation for the problem using different numbers. IXL provides insightful reporting that tracks student progress which helps the teacher provide immediate feedback to students in need.
The web’s leading FREE school-to-home communications tool!
SchoolNotes provides teachers with a virtual environment, giving the ability to post classroom or school oriented information. This information is accessible anywhere there is an internet connection giving both parents and students the opportunity to keep in touch with what is happening in the classroom.
SchoolNotes provides teachers with a virtual environment, giving the ability to post classroom or school oriented information. This information is accessible anywhere there is an internet connection giving both parents and students the opportunity to keep in touch with what is happening in the classroom.
Survey of Teachers in the Building: FAVORITE WEBSITES
· Time Magazine.com archives
· Dogonews.com/class/warburton
· Edutopia.org
· Kidshealth.org
· Kidsstopandshop.com
· AskRI.org
· Sirs Researcher
· Commonsense.org
· K12reader
· Readinga-z (subscription)
· SproutEnglish (subscription)
· Khan Academy
· IXL (subscription )
· Quizlets (3 people)
· Ed.helper
· Scholastic
· YouTube (4 people)
· TeacherTube
· Ereading
· Gcfleamfree.org
· Wikispaces, googledocs, web-based keyboarding, quizstar, MS office suite, bibme.org (from the keyboarding teacher)
· Newschoolnotes.com
· Studyjams.scholastic.com/
· Explorelearning.com
· Sumdog.com
· Mathdrills.com
· Time Magazine.com archives
· Dogonews.com/class/warburton
· Edutopia.org
· Kidshealth.org
· Kidsstopandshop.com
· AskRI.org
· Sirs Researcher
· Commonsense.org
· K12reader
· Readinga-z (subscription)
· SproutEnglish (subscription)
· Khan Academy
· IXL (subscription )
· Quizlets (3 people)
· Ed.helper
· Scholastic
· YouTube (4 people)
· TeacherTube
· Ereading
· Gcfleamfree.org
· Wikispaces, googledocs, web-based keyboarding, quizstar, MS office suite, bibme.org (from the keyboarding teacher)
· Newschoolnotes.com
· Studyjams.scholastic.com/
· Explorelearning.com
· Sumdog.com
· Mathdrills.com
Survey of Teachers in the Building: FAVORITE PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY
· Laptop/touchpad (6 people)
· Epson projector (2 people)
· SMARTboard (5 people)
· Google Apps
· Desktop computer (2 people)
· Overhead projector (3 people)
· Chromebook
· iPhone, iPad (2 people0
· AquosBoard
School Website
Very few people are maintaining the school website page. We recently switched to a new format and there are only two trained people in the building. I have not had the time or desire to learn the new format
Teacher Website
For the past five years I have used newschoolnotes.com as my main form of communication with parents. Each week I post assignments, rubrics, newsletters, etc. I guess you could say that I am a creature of habit.
Current Use of Technology
I have recently had an AquosBoard installed in my classroom. Having access to YouTube has been fantastic.
We have a computer lab (often booked), a laptop cart (computers do not consistently work nor does the WiFi in our classroom).
Six desktop computers in the classroom (again, can be unpredictable – not able to print, sometimes shut down)
Use of technology in my curriculum ranges from word processing to research. In order to have computer access within my room, I often will operate centers – dividing the students into three groups: one group on the computer, one group working independently, one group working with me.
We have recently purchased new text books that we access online. The problem: 22 students out of 90 do not have computer access (or if they do it is limited to word processing) at home. This means that I must print out sections of the book if I assign it as homework.
Global e-Learning Sites
I reviewed all sites listed and I have access to all of them at school.
System for Evaluating Student Technology
The key boarding teacher uses a statewide assessment for evaluating the 8th grade students. I think the results have been shared with the staff once in the past 5 years.
Student Suggestions
Chromebooks – especially now that our text books are online
In general, MORE access both at school and at home
Many of my students do NOT want a technology component to an assignment outside of word processing because of their lack of access to technology
Wish List for Tools
The district is planning to provide all teachers with Chromebooks next year. Many teachers said they were perfectly happy with their desktop computers and would rather have a SmartBoard/AquosBoard or a projector (half the teachers are still stuck using a chalkboard and overhead projector).
The following year the district is planning to introduce one-to-one devices for the students --- This is two years too late for my current seventh graders who cannot access their text books on line.
The globalized lesson plan that I incorporated technology into was my lesson on population pyramids. Using data from 40 different countries, students created a modified population pyramid with rulers and crayons. Students then grouped themselves based on type of pyramid (slow, rapid, negative growth). In their groups, they reviewed characteristics of their pyramid type. As a whole group, we located each country on a world map and labeled each country with one of three colors to represent slow, rapid, and negative growth pyramids. We discussed observations and made inferences. On day two, students used classroom computers to explore the following website: http://populationpyramid.net/ . Using this website, students viewed their country’s pyramid in 1950, 2000, and 2050 (most couldn’t resist—they took a peek at 2100). Again, students made written observations and inferences.
I have done the above lesson every year for more than a decade. I had never incorporated this website: http://populationpyramid.net/ . Working with 6 computers at a time can be tricky from a management standpoint but because of this assignment, I made it work for this lesson and I am pleased with the results. Students couldn’t wait to check out their country: past, present, and future. This website actually created more questions because as demographers, students wanted to know why some changes were so dramatic. The United Arab Emirates had the most unique pyramid and in turn, generated the most conversation. I could have done a few as demos on my AquosBoard but students love to do their own clicking. Since each student had a different country, there was a lot sharing and peeking at their neighbor’s computers – another good thing. I learned that using technology can generate excitement, provide large amounts of data over a long period of time, provide data for countries other than our own, and help my students to generate more questions thus taking them beyond the lesson.
This website is not an official U.S. Department of State website. The views and/or information presented
are the grantee's own and do not necessarily represent the
Teachers for Global Classrooms program, IREX, or the U.S. Department of State.
are the grantee's own and do not necessarily represent the
Teachers for Global Classrooms program, IREX, or the U.S. Department of State.