I wanted to share a really cool piece of technology with you that we have access to at LCPS.  Our students can also access this technology for home use through LCPS as well.

It's called Read & Write Web.  This technology, through TextHelp, allows students to have the computer read an article on the web aloud.  The students can highlight difficult vocabulary and the program will create a list of these words along with pictures to illustrate.

This program is available for all students in our district.  It's a great way for parents to help their children at home by installing it on home computers.  For example, if there child is responsible for doing a current event for their social studies class, the child can look up the article on the net, click the tab with Read & Write web application, and listen to the article being read to them.  Once the student clicks on the tab, the icon bar appears and allow the student easy access to the program.  The voice can also be changed to read in an Spanish accent, by choosing 'Spanish Paulina' on the dropdown menu.

The reading isn't perfect and numbers are read exactly as they are written, but the main idea comes across.

Below is a screen shot of an article I found on lobotomies.

(The really cool part of this technology, is there is an app for Google docs too.  I'm working on getting this temperamental Mac to cooperate with this installation.)

Voicethread

This is a cool website that you can use that is similar to a powerpoint with a narration. You'll have to register with the site and you can only complete 3 voicethreads before you have to begin paying for them.

I took pictures of my classroom to demonstrate how it is set up and how students and teachers can check-out and return materials.

This was an option as a project for my reading students last year in place of a book report.  The kids had fun with their projects and it was an interesting experience for the ELL kids to actually listen to themselves speak.



Tonya Voicethread...click here
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Dropbox-Critical Reading Powerpoint

With this assignment, I used a Powerpoint I created last year for an 11th grade English class on Critical Reading.

It was super boring.  I took this opportunity to jazz it up a bit. I did a voice-over for each slide.  This way, I can post this to my school website.  Both parents and students can view the Ppt and get a better idea of meaning because I am doing the talking.

I also discovered a new website for sound bites.  I needed a puking sound for one of my slides. (Curious now?  LOL?)  I found freesound.org.  You register with a user name a password and you have access to thousands of different sound bites.  There is also a forum where you can see others that that 'enjoy' the same sounds you do and you can make comments regarding specific sound bites.

I had no idea that there was such a sound site until I needed it---one more thing I have discovered in this class.

Dropbox is pretty cool and was something that my Mac would actually do.  (After this class, I am seriously frustrated with this computer and I am considering alternatives.)

Redoing this powerpoint took a great deal of time.  The recording device on this crazy Mac would not let me stop and start the recordings.  If I goofed on the 10th slide, I had to go all the way back to slide 1 and start over.

The final slide has references for students to follow, including a site with Critical Reading practice tests.

Critical Reading Movie

It seems I am having technical difficulties getting this link to work.  Perhaps it won't link it because it was saved as a movie. I'm going to just try to save it as a powerpoint and link it that way.

           Critical Reading 2012.mov         

For some reason, I cannot get it to link.  I will troubleshoot some more.  I apologize for  all of the shares.  :(

Whoa!!  This was really cool and much easier than I expected.  I keep incorrectly thinking these assignments will be exponentially more difficult. This was so neat.

I will use this with my reading class except have the students input places they have lived, other than Leesburg or input their relatives that live in different places.  I could also see using this to track a character's travels while we read a novel. 

This technology will help my students activate a schema about a setting and conjure up some background knowledge relating to the towns and cities about where our characters live.

Batchgeo of our Class

I am thinking that I'm starting to feel more comfortable with some of this vocabulary too.  To insert this map image, I used my capture feature.  I would have never done this before.  I'm really out of my comfort zone but it's getting better.

Jing Image--Holy Cow!!! finally!!!

Well this has been an ordeal and without the help of my husband, I'd still be scratching my head and gnashing my teeth.  I had to go to using his HP laptop to install Jing.  My Mac wouldn't support it.

But here it is and I think it's pretty cool.  As you can see, I'm pretty psyched about www.studygs.net because I use it so much.  I chose one of the interactive features that allows a student to get an idea of how they spend their time in a 24-hour period.

I think that efficient time management is an important skill for everyone.  Just like counting calories, time management is a tricky thing unless it is brought to the forefront of our attention.

Take a look at my Jing and see if you agree.

Time Management Graphic

The very cool thing about Jing is that the image is saved right on my computer in the history!!  I just hover over the sun and click 'history'.  Cool!!!

 

Sharing the image was easy with screencast. 

I think this assignment pertains greatly to #2 in the iste.nets.t standards, especially for me.  I am definitely not tech-savvy.  This has helped me to troubleshoot and go way beyond my comfort level to explore and learn this new technology.  It's not new to most, but to me, it's an incredibly new discovery.  This lesson helped me to a) design and adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources. 

Diigo and Social Bookmarking

Diigo can offer a more convenient way to bookmark pages that you use frequently or want to easily refer to at a later time.  The use of Diigo is simple and convenient.

I'm not too familiar with social media; however, the thread I see between FaceBook and social bookmarking is how a person can get a picture of someone's preferences, likes and dislikes.  Through FB, a person must 'like' a page for it to be recognized and seen by the 'friends' on the account.

Via Diigo, someone can get more detailed glimpse of personal and workplace preferences with the pages that are bookmarked and categorized.

Web 2.0 allows for connection and engagement of all members seeing the Diigo pages.  For educational or classroom purposes, teachers can have an interactive 'discussion' while students are actively reading---making reading more fun and more relevant to real life for students.

One no longer needs to use a flash drive to store important web pages or cut and paste parts of pages and save to a Word document.  Diigo would also allow me to keep parents informed about current articles and information related to current educational research.

Click this link to see the start of my Diigo library.

Tonya's Diigo

2012 One Book One Community Book Title Revealed

http://diigo.com/0su9p

This is the link to Loudoun County Public Libraries' new One Book One Community page.

The purpose of the program is like a giant book club--to get everyone reading and talking the same book.

When the Emperor Was Devine by Julie Otsuka starts in 1942 with the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

She will be visiting the Cascades Library in Loudoun on October 3.

Cornell Notetaking Method Custom PDF Generator

I was looking around for ideas to help my students take better notes.  The Cornell method is a succinct way to take notes.  This site allows the students to format their own note-taking pages--number of lines per inch, blank, or graph.  It's awesome!!!  Just wanted to share.  It's great for the high school student but can be modified for elementary or middle school kids.  :)

Cornell Notetaking Method Custom PDF Generator

Picasso Head

This was awesome!!  I'm thinking about using this twice in my own classroom.

The first time, I will use this with my students will be next week and it will be interesting to find out why students chose the characteristics they selected.

We will repeat this exercise at the end of the school year and look at how they now see themselves.  Comparing the two images could give a little insight as to how they feel they have progressed in their reading skills and in their self confidence.

When high school age kids enter a reading class, they almost always lack confidence in themselves and in their abilities.  I'm hoping they will feel better at the end of year.

In my image, I chose to be winking one eye because this represents the fun I have in my classroom.  I enjoy my job and I hope that comes across to my students.  They need to understand that reading is fun and useful.

I chose the hair because it's about the same length as what I have now.  I hope to have all four of the hairs on my head to someday be long and luxurious.

I played with making the face small and huge.  That was funny!  I lost a teeny bit of weight over the summer, but will soon be back up to my 'regulation teaching weight' shortly.  That's why it was fun to experiment with the chin.  LOL!!!   It seems, in a school, there is always food around somewhere.

Click here to create your very own special self-portrait!    Picassohead

Click here to see the gallery of Picassoheads and to see where mine is.
Tonya's Picasso

What a great way for my students to use technology and show me how they see themselves!!!

This activity encompasses portions of iste.nets t Standard #2 

-Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments.

a) Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.  

c) Customize and personalize learning activities to address students' diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources.  

Revisit Resume

Wow!  I was kind of shocked that my resume that landed me my current job got such a crummy score the first time around.  I used a resume book as a reference to put it together when I got hired three years ago as a reading specialist.  I have since included my current responsibilities.  All things listed relate to what I do and I purposely included responsibilities and duties that lend to a teaching profession.

I think this resume review site is pretty cool; however, the site does seem to focus on the frequency of certain words throughout the resume.  I noticed how the job suggestions listed some sort of software specialist for me.  I think the site just noticed my current job as a reading specialist and focused on that.  

I had not listed references on my resume; however, I had listed REFERENCES "Available upon request" on it.  One of the suggestions was to remove my references from the resume.  My score went from a C+ to a B- once I removed those words.

I am pretty old(as it said in the corrections LOL!) and have had few jobs with many responsibilities.  It's difficult to keep it short when the jobs you have held include responsibilities you feel relevant to the job you are seeking.  

This site is a great way to get general feedback about your resume.  It is probably a good idea to check several references and have someone proof your resume before it goes public.  :)