Weebly

Tome,thistechnologywassortoflikeawikiImadeafewyearsago,exceptwithmore
ofawebsitelayout.Itwaseasytousefollowingthepromptsandgoingthrougheachelements
functionsonestepatatime.ThesiteImadeisforaunitonpolynomials,withthemaincontent
beingafewtopicsthatwetypicallycoverindicatedonthehomepageofthesite.Icould
definitelyusethisnextyearforthatunit.IthinkIwouldintroduceitbrieflybeforelettingthem
looseonthesite.Theywouldhavetogoinordersotheterminologymakessensebutafter
findingthecontentandreviewingit,wecoulddoaPlickersorKahoot!toassessifitworked.
ThedocumentIuploadedworksasaquiztheycouldtypetheiranswersinaworddocand
uploadittomeonthesite.EventuallyIcouldmakethishomepagenestedunderanewpage
ifIcreatedmoreunitsforthisgrade.Therearealotofdirectionsthiscouldgo.
Icouldeasilyteachthistechnologytomystudents.IknowsomewouldstrugglebutI
thinkgoingonemodule/elementatatimeworkswell.Theycouldresearchtheirowncontentto
addasadoc,oravideo,connectingtowhattheylearned.Andthatcouldactasanassessment
formetoseethattheyunderstoodthematerialandwhatwewerecovering,basedonthe
qualityoftheiruploadstotheirownsites.Theycouldalsoworkingroupswitheachone
coveringadifferentpartofasection,andthenhaveeachgrouprotateandcompleteeachother
groupsassignmentstheyposted.Ithinkthatmightbeabetteroption.Icouldgoandleave
feedbackintotheircontactformsonwhattheyshouldchangeforabettergrade,etc.They
wouldprobablyneedarubricofsortsforaprojectlikethis,whichsortofconnectstotheuseof
ForAllRubricstemplates.
Usingtechnologylikethiscouldcertainlyhavesomecrosscurricularaspects.Thisgoes
intowebdevelopmentinsomerespects,butmostlytheskillsnecessarytothriveusingtodays
technology:Howtoembedavideo,uploadasaveddoc/pdf,designaesthetically,etc.
IfollowedtherubricprovidedandincludedallmaterialsbutIcouldaddmorepagesthat
thesmallersectionsonthehomepagelinktoforincreasednavigability,butIdalsoliketocreate
moremodulesonthosepages.Forabasicsetupthough,thesiteisokay.

ForAllRubrics

Ihadntheardorthoughtofatechnologythatmakesaeditablerubrictemplate.This
seemsusefulforanumberofreasons,butprimarilythatitstreamlinestheprocessofcreation
andseemsefficient.Iwouldconsiderusingrubricsforprojectsorlargerassignments,rather
thandaytodaymathpractice.Creatingrubricshavealwaysfeltlikemoreworkthanitwas
worth(Idoofcourseunderstandtheusefulnessindelineatingexactexpectationstostudents)
perrubric.However,havinghadtocreateoneforthisassignment,itreallywasntallthatbad.
ThisistypicalofmeforworkavoidancebeforefindingoutitreallywaseasierthanIperceivedto
beginwith.WhileIwasnavigatingandattemptingtofigureouthowthesite/technologyworks,I
prettymuchjusthadtotrudgethroughitandpieceittogether.Iusuallylearnthiswaytrialand
error.Itwasrelativelyeasyafterafewminutes.

Imunsureofhowthiswouldbeapplicableforstudentstouse.Theycouldpotentially
createtheirowncriteriaforpeerassessmentsforpartnerorgroupwork.Additionally,to
exemplifytheirownmasteryofsomecontent,theactofcreatingagoodrubricforanobjective
wouldbeitsownformofassessmentofmastery.Touserubriccreationasitsownformof
assessment(assessingtheirunderstandingofatopicbytheircreationofarubricforatask
relatedtothecontent)studentswouldneedverygoodsetofexamplesrangingfromperfectto
poorincludingcommonmistakesofvaryingdegrees.Anotherideacouldbeforstudentsto
createarubricasaclassforclassroombehavioratthebeginningoftheyearasameansfor
studentstococonstructtheclassroomrules.Thiswouldbeefficientonmultiplelevelsto
introducethetechnology,createstudentmaderules,assessstudentscomfortabilityusing
technology,etc.
ThisassignmenthashelpedmesynthesizetheskillsIhadtousetocompletethe
assignmentwithhowstudentuseofcreatingrubricscouldbebeneficialonmultiplelevels.I
thinkIwouldneedtobebetteratcreatingrubricsingeneral,butthesite,ForAllRubricswas
easytouseandmakescreatingrubricsaneasytask.

PollingDoodle,Answergarden,surveymonkey

IhadminimalexperienceusingsurveyMonkeybefore,butneitheroftheothertwo.Ican
seehowsurveymonkeywouldbebeneficialtopollstudentsonavarietyoftopics.Itcouldeven
beusedtoassess,butIthinkIwoulduseitprimarilyfordatacollectiontoinformcommunityor
tomakedecisionsasaclass.DoodlewasnewtomeandIthinkitcouldbeusefulinscheduling
forstudents,perhapsafterschoolor1on1helpsessions.Schedulingwithinthedistrictfor
meetingsandsuchareusuallyhandledthroughgoogleandIimagineotherteachersor
administrationwouldbemorecomfortablethatway.Perhapsthatwouldonlybeatfirstas
Doodlerequireslittleworkfromaparticipantotherthanansweringanemail.
MostofallIlikedtheopenendednessofAnswergarden.OftentimesinMaththereis
onecorrectanswerbutmanywaystogetthere.Iamalwaysopentoanyroadthatgetsthere,
soIthinkthistoolwouldbeagoodavenuetoallowforstudentsvariedwaysofthinking.
SurveyMonkeyimpressedmealittlebecauseIhadntrealizedallofthedifferentformatsfor
pollingthedifferentsetsofoptionsforanswers.
IwilllikelyuseAnswerGardenwhenapplicable,orasitpertainstomycontent.
SurveyMonkeyIwillprobablyuseatthebeginningoftheyeartogettoknowmystudentsand
foradatacollectiontoolthatIwilluseformygraduateprogramsactionresearchproject.

VerticalAlignment

Mydistricthasntputanyspecifictechnologyrequirements,buteveryadministrator
expectsustoimplementtechnologywhereapplicable.Idothinktheseareagoodidea.Our
districtsloganormottoisEachstudentrealworldready.Withtheprogressoftechnologyand
thechangingoftypesofjobsandcareersthatourmarkethasprogressedtowards,havinga

widerangeoftechnologicalexperienceswillallowstudentstobeabletohandlenewformatsas
theyentertheworkforce.Thesestandardsmakeitsothatteachersprovidethatexperiencethat
willgivestudentsthetoolsnecessarytofunctioninafuturejobmarket.

Quizlet

Ihaveusedquizletoncebefore,usingtheflashcardgame.Iactuallyenjoyedthescatter
gamebetterwhereyouhavetosearchbothdefinitionsandtermsinordertodraganddropto
eliminatethem.Ithinkthistoolsolidifiesthevocabularybetterthanothersbecauseitcoulduse
eitherdirection,definitiontowordorwordtodefinition.
Thisisagoodtooltoallowfortheuseoftechnologyforstudents,buttoalsohavea
friendlycompetitionasitrecordsthehighscoreforeachgame.Somestudentsshyawayfrom
thisbutsinceQuizlethasdifferentmodesastudentnotinterestedincompetingcouldstill
participateandusethematerialthroughflashcardsortest.
IhavewantedtomakeabiggeremphasisonvocabularyinmyclassesthanIpreviously
have,sothistoolwouldbeagoodonetouseeachchapter.Ithinkonceatthebeginningofthe
unitasanintroduction,andthenagainaftermosttermshavebeencoveredsothatstudentscan
actualizethegrowththeyvemade.Itisalsoveryuserfriendlywithfewtonoplacestogetstuck.

Padlet

Ifirstlearnedaboutpadletthroughmygraduateprogram.Wemainlyusedthisasan
informalyearbookthroughoutourtimetogether.Ihavesinceuseditinmyclassroomasa
vocabularytoolforstudentstolookupandpostdefinitionsorexamplesofkeytermsfortheunit.
Ialsouseditasacommunitybuilderforwhatstudentsliketodointheirfreetime,orreally
anythingaboutthemselvesthatothersprobablywouldntknow.
Iwouldusethisagaininthefuturelikelasttime.IthinkIwillavoidusingitasvocabulary
thoughsinceInowhavebettermeans,mentionedabove.Itisalsoimportanttomonitorwhile
studentsareusingthissotheyarentbeingdisrespectfultoothers.Ihadtodeleteafewposts
asadminlasttime.Thiscouldbeavoidedwithclearerexpectationsforuse.
Ithinkitspossiblyevenbetterasayearbookforeachclass.Likeeachclasscouldhave
anewpageforeachproject,fieldtrip,majororminorevent,andthenitcouldbeexportedasa
fileorattachmentforeachstudenttohaveforourtimetogether.Ilikethisideabecauseitsan
artifactforlearningandforgrowingasacommunitythroughouttheyear.Theycouldbeprinted
attheendafterexportingasapdforpictureandcompiledtoapersonalclassyearbookforeach
student.

Animoto

Ididntfindthistoolasusefulassomeoftheothers.Itisquiteuserfriendly,buta
sequenceofpicturesinmathhasahardtimedoingmuchjustice.Icouldseehowthiswouldbe
usedasanintrotoaunitperhaps.MostofallIthinkstudentscouldcreatetheirownanimoto
relatingtosomecontent.Iwouldmaybehavethemscreenshotdifferenttypesofpolynomials
(asitpertainstotheunitIvebeenreferringtointhiscourse)andtheirgraphstoshowthe
similaritiesandpatternstheymakeasthedegreeisincreased,aswellashowchangesinthe
equationtransformseachgraph.
Aswithmostplatformstherewouldbealearningperiodofexposureandpracticebefore
Icouldexpectallstudentstobeabletocreateafullvideo.Overallthisisntabadtooltohavea
slideshowwithmusicinvolved.AndIseethatifyoupayyoucaninsertprobablyanysonginto
it.Animotoprobablyhasthemostapplicationsforchroniclingtheprogressofstudentworkor
projectsIwouldthink.IseethevalueofthistoolbutIwouldneedtogetcreativetouseitwith
mathcontent.

Meograph

Ameographseemsveryusefultomydisciplinesinceitallowsyoutonarrateoverthe
slides.Icanseetheobviousconnectiontoahistoryclasswithtimelinesandall,butevenjustas
astepbysteptutorialonaproceduremakesitvaluable.Itdidnttakeverylongtocreatethe
picturesIusedandInarratedoverthemtodescribetheprocessofsolvinganequations.Math
contentusesmanyalgorithmssoitmakessensetousetutorialsinthisway.
Thisisauserfriendlyenoughplatformtobeabletoteachstudentshowtouseit.They
coulddemonstratetheirunderstandingofatopicbycreatingoneofthese.Ireallylikethe
timelineandmapfeatures(givesitawhenandawhere).Notmuchextratimewouldbeneeded
todemonstrateandpracticetheuseofaMeographforstudentstobeabletouseit.This
technologyalsohitsattheskillsofuploadingpicturesorcopyingandpastingurlstoembed
mediaintoanewplatform.Mostofthesetoolsseemtohavethatfeatureofplugnplaybut
withfiles.Anassignmentorprojectcouldbeforstudentstocreateoneofthesebasedonthe
mainobjectivesortargetsofalesson.Theirabilitytoconnecttothematerialwouldbe
assessed,butcompletionofthetechnologyaspectmightmakesomestudentsshineevenif
theyarentnecessarilycontentmasters.Theuseoftechnologylendsitselfwellforpartnersor
smallgroupswithsmallprojects.