EDIT 2000

While SMART Technologies isn't entirely new, it may be new to some of you. Today, you're going to spend the first 30 minutes of class exploring different SMART Activities. (Hint, here's a great list to check out.) Then we'll spend the next 30 minutes taking turns showcasing what we've learned. For this in-class, group activity, you may pair up into groups of 3 or 4. Each group will have 5 minutes to present their exploration findings. Note that this is your final Exploration Task for the course. Attendance is required to receive full points.

Preparing for the Showcase

What is the showcase?

The showcase is an opportunity to see and be seen. Take a look at what your classmates have done this semester and share the work for which you are most proud. We’ll eat, talk, visit, and reflect on the work we’ve done this semester. Think of a creative way to decorate your workspace. At minimum – you’ll need a creative name tag. Former students have printed out sample work from portfolios, brought refreshments, or had some clever reason why students should visit their workspace.

Review the portfolio checklist – make sure you have everything completed. I have shared individual checklist reports with you so that you know what you're missing.

For Thursday

1. Post a short description of your SMART exploration on your portfolio as "Emerging Tools;" include a link and short paragraph about how you would use the lesson or tool
2. Thursday is our last day of class; be prepared to show off your portfolio

Course Evaluation

The Course Evaluation Form is now open. Be sure to complete it when you have a chance.

Don't forget! We're not meeting face to face today, but TLAT #2 is due (I'll be grading tonight!) and you'll complete today's activities on your own. We're starting the last major section of our class over Problem Solving & Critical Thinking tools.

Exploring Thinkfinity

One of the uses of technology that many of us are very familiar with is the use of online resources for research activities. This task will help you to locate online resources to use in your grade/content area. First, we will preview several reliable educational resources. Don't forget to refer to the Georgia Performance Standards for your subject/grade level before moving on with this task (it will make it easier in the long run.)

There are many online resources that teachers use to collect tools and information. Today, we'll explore Thinkfinity. Here, we'll find resources for all content areas and all grade levels. So everyone in our class should be able to find something they can use. First, let's watch this overview of Thinkfinity. Then we'll watch the detailed tutorial that really explains how to incorporate web resources in classrooms.

Using what you learned from the video to explore the resources within Thinkfinity, spend about 15 minutes exploring the site to see what you can find. Try and focus on student interactive materials like the ones demonstrated in the detailed tutorial.

Creating an Enrichment Kit

One of the problems in education is the issue of “summer learning loss.” As a teacher, parents will look to you for ideas on how to prevent this “learning loss”. To help solve this problem, your task is to locate 8-10 exceptional web-based resources that a student from your grade/content area could use over the summer to enrich (NOT remediate -- look at what they'll be learning the next year after you've taught them) what they have learned in your class during the school year. You can focus on one topic or a multitude of topics. If you are focusing on elementary grades – you can focus on multiple subjects. These resources should include games and other interactive resources. Your resources should not be a set of webpages that contain only text. The Thinkfinity site is a great place to find interactive activities for any subject or grade level. (Hint – on any of the partner sites – look for words like “student interactive”).

As you locate your resources, add them to a new webpage on your portfolio called “Summer Tool Kit.” For each resource, provide the title of the resource, the web link, and a short description of how this tool can be used (make sure to decide if your audience for your descriptions is students or parents).

Once you have finished collecting your resources, write a 2-3 paragraph letter to parents describing the summer enrichment kit that you have developed. Give them highlights of what they will find in the kit, suggestions for how they might use it, and a link to your Summer ToolKit webpage. (If you are teaching high school students you might want to talk to them in the letter instead of parents). You can attach the letter to the webpage. Here’s an example for an elementary Spanish student (the parent letter is attached at the bottom of the linked page). Here is an example of the same assignment for elementary language arts. In this example, the student used a social bookmarking tool called Delicious to collect and organize her resources – then, of course, she attached the parent letter to the bottom of the page. If you’d like to organize your resources using this tool (instead of simply listing them with descriptions on your website) – you can learn how to use it here.

For Next Week

1. Complete your Enrichment Kit; it is due on Thursday, April 12.

Supporting Student Content Learning

Chapter 2 talked about content learning. What does that mean? What does it mean to you? What does it mean with regard to your subject? What’s the difference between structural and procedural knowledge? Using the guidelines for designing opportunities to learn content from your text, which of these 5 guidelines do you feel you don’t see enough of here at UGA? Which do you see followed frequently? Which matters most to you? Complete the class survey to weigh-in on the discussion.

Creating a Commercial

Step One

Talk with classmates who are learning the same tool as you. What did they discover? What are they planning to highlight in their commercial? Is this person someone you’d like to partner up with for this project or would you rather work on this alone?

Step Two

Plan what you are going to include in your commercial. You’re selling a product and teaching us a little about it. Think of it as an infomercial. If you need some inspiration, check out this example:


Don't you want a Snuggie now?! Won't it change your life?! Billy Mays was the king of infomercials. As much as we laugh at those clips, it works! People buy the products. For more inspiration, check out Time Magazine's "25 Worst (We Mean Best) Informercials."

Spend some time planning out your commercial. Ask yourself:

1. Who is your audience?
2. Why do they need this tool?
3. What features of the tool are the most important?
4. How can you make the tool exciting for you audience?

Step Three

Learn to use Jing. You’ll likely want to test out Jing a few times to make sure everything is recording properly and you're comfortable using the software.

Keep your commercial to less than 2 minutes. You can have your tool as the screen image the entire time you are talking about the tool or you can have some powerpoint slides or other images to use along with the actual tool. Be creative! You can use another tool to create the finished commercial.

For Thursday

1. Create your commercial
2. Create a new page on your website called, “Communication and Collaboration”
1. Write a short description of your selected tool
2. Provide a link to the tool's website
3. Embed your commercial