Using Pinterst in the classroom

Hello readers, today I am going to be talking to you about different ways you can use Pinterest in the classroom and I will share with you an lesson plan I made with that help of Pinterest. One of the ways that you can use Pinterst in the classroom is to look up your grade level and subject area and then pin all of the activities that seem interesting to you. Another way to use Pinterst is that you can make pins of things you find on the internet that way you will always know where to find them. A third way you can use Pinterest in the classroom is by making pins of activities that your students have done, that way other teachers can see and maybe get inspired from your project.

I am now going to talk about the assignment that I made. Here is a link to it: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9EMlEhb--v7M1BtTDNVSzJnc3M/view?usp=sharing

The purpose of this assignment is to make a chart of the different types of weather throughout the week and then answer questions about the weather that they observed. I will now include the steps to do this assignment, along with pictures to help guide you.

First the students must make the table:

 

         

     After they make the table,  they pull up a document labeled "Weather Table Symbols" that I created and emailed to them. It look like this:

Then, while they have the table and the symbols pulled up they copy and paste the weather for the day into the weather table they made. Here's an example of what it should look like when it is done:

 After they have it all filled out, then I had them write a paragraph over 5 questions I told them to answer. Here is an example of what it should look like:

 

After that is done just have them print it off and hand it in. Thank you all for reading my blog. I hope that all of have enjoyed learning some ways to use Pinterest in the classroom. I also hope that you like my assignment that I came up with. Have a nice day!!

10 helpful tools in the classroom

Hello everybody, I am going to be discussing 10 tools that are very helpful in the classroom. I hope you enjoy this post and find some helpful information along the way.

1. Flockdraw- Flockdraw is a tool that allows students to create artwork in a simple and creative way. This tool lets a group of students work on a piece of artwork at the same time. The students can see the artwork update as soon as another student adds something. I could use this tool in my classroom to have students draw the stages meiosis and mitosis. They could also work on it in groups yet on different computers. This will teach them about teamwork and collaboration.

2. Museum Box- Museum Box is a tool that helps give presentations in a fun and interactive way. It starts you out with 8 boxes and if you click one of those 8 boxes it gives you 6 more boxes to put information on. You could have up to 48 or more boxes to put information on. This also lets you embed images and videos into the boxes. My students could make a museum box to talk about a famous scientist or a major scientific breakthrough. This museum box would let them have as many pictures, videos, or information they want.

3. Dvolver- Dvolver is a tool that lets you make a movie. You can choose your characters, theme, setting, music and lines. It then lets you play it for anybody you want. My students could use this to make a movie about bacteria invading an organ. Then they could all present it to the class.

4. Lulu Jr- Lulu Jr. allows students to create and publish their own book. They can also order copies for the class.The students could even become award-winning authors. The students could use this to make a book about any science topic that we have studied so far. We could then print the books and read them aloud in class.

5. Magic Pen- Magic Pen is an interactive physics app. You are given a red ball and you have to get the red ball to the flag. You can draw shapes, hinges, pins, anything you can think of to get the ball to the flag. I could use this with my students when we are going over physics concepts. It would probably help get the abstract concepts across to my middle schoolers.

6.  Chartle- Chartle is a tool that allows you to create charts, tables, graphs ,etc. You can embed and share graphs online. It takes the difficulty out of making charts. My students could use this to make a chart for food groups. They could also use this to make a timeline of events for major scientific breakthroughs.
 

7. eQuizzer- eQuizzer allows you to create quizzes and test easily. It also allows you to monitor your students' scores. I could use this to make quizzes online and give them to my students. Also my students could make quizzes based on some of the questions they are having trouble with then we could go over them in class.

8. Bubbl.us - Bubbl.us allows you to map out you brainstorm visually. If you have an idea you can write it out and plan. You can also add peers to the brainstorm and you can all brainstorm at the same time and keep track of it. I could use this in my classroom to get students to type out what they are thinking and how they are getting to a solution. Their peers could also put their input into the conversation and help brainstorm as well.

9.  Photopeach- Photopeach allows you to create PowerPoints. You can also add background music to the PowerPoint. It also makes it easier for teachers to manage student accounts. I could use Photopeach to get my students to make a PowerPoint with some music. They could make a rap to using Photopeach and add music.

10. Clayanimator- Using this you can make your own claymations (clay animations). It gives the directions and how to do everything such as the props and lighting. My students could make a claymation about a volcano exploding. They could also do a claymation over bacteria.

Thank you all for reading my post over 10 helpful tools in the classroom. I hope it was helpful and you all learned something from this. What are some helpful tools that you use in the classroom?

Social Networking

In this blog I am going to discuss social networking and see what another article thinks of social networking. Here is the link to the article: http://blog.degreed.com/10-ways-social-media-affects-our-mental-health/. In this article it talks about 10 effects that social media can have on us. I will talk about a couple of these. One of those is it is addictive. The article states "Studies show that 63% of Americans log on to Facebook daily, and 40%  log on multiple times each day." That is a lot of people getting on to Facebook each day. I would say that I get on Facebook quite often. What about you? About how many times do you get on Facebook? The article also talks about social media leads to cyberbullying. The article states that "95% of teenagers that use social media and 33% have been victims themselves." I personally do not promote cyberbullying and think that it is disgusting. Have you any of you guys been a victim of cyberbullying?

Intro to my blog

 Hello everybody reading this blog. My name is Hailey Garcia and I am from Hot Springs, Ar. I have a mom, dad, and 3 brothers (2 older and 1 younger). I have 2 dogs and a cat that I love very much. I am a sophomore at Henderson State University. My major is middle school education for math and science. I want to be a teacher because in school I didn't have much confidence in myself and I want to get my students to have the kind of confidence in themselves that I didn't have. I also have a passion for science. I love learning about all of the new discoveries scientists and other people make everyday. I am starting this blog because when I am a teacher I want to be able to look back on how far I have come. Maybe it will give my future self a better day reading this blog. I also may use this blog as a way to vent about stresses of being an education major.

This blog is going to mostly be about my education experience in college. I may go off on a tangent or two but just stay with me. The reason I chose my education experiences in college as my theme is because I know that in high school and even now I sometimes have questions about what the courses are like in college and what my education courses are going to be like. I often get very nervous about student teaching and making lesson plans and such. I have watched this one collection of YouTube videos and they were video blogs called "Scares of Student Teaching." I know that particular collection of videos has calmed me down and gave me some knowledge about student teaching. How about all of you? Is there anything that scares you about being a future educator? Do you have any tips or advice for anybody that is a little nervous or anxious? Go ahead and leave a comment below.