New Curriculum Video

Voice Thread - Class Reflection

Check out my REFLECTION on our Multimedia Authoring class. 

The Final Days of Martin Luther King, Jr. - Curriculum Video

Here is my curriculum video on the final days of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life.

Thoughts on Twitter

During class I have been able to add to my PLN and have picked up on numerous ideas for my classroom.  It has been a great way to learn from fellow professionals and their experiences, as well as sharing my own.

A couple of people that I have started following over the past few weeks are Steven Anderson and Mary Beth Hertz.  Each of these educators constantly share tech ideas in the classroom, ideas on best practice, and their thoughts on how education is changing.  These two are among the many teachers I have started following that make it easier to find articles and information from sources I would normally not search.

Another great resource from Twitter has been #edchat #techedchat and other educational hash tags.  The edchat that I participated in was a unique experience and more beneficial than any other professional development I had ever participated in.  Although it moved really fast and left me frantic, I was able to pick up on a lot of great ideas and thoughts from some excellent educators. 

 

I really have come to enjoy Twitter on a number of levels, professionally and personally.  It has become a part of my daily routine as I check my email and Facebook, I have also begun checking my Twitter feed.  I have also downloaded other apps that allow me to save links to articles I read on Twitter.  I have learned a lot from these people I follow and will continue to curate this network and grow my PLN through the use of Twitter. 

Favorite Podcasts

I know this is not an education podcast per say, but Fresh Air from NPR is my favorite podcast.  Interesting people, perspectives, and ideas every nigh.

My other favorite podcast comes from Marketplace Money.  I've learned so much from this podcast when it comes to the economy and it is perfect for a social studies teacher trying to explain the complexities of economics to 8th graders.

Week 3 - Screen Cast

AniMOOOOOTO!

Animoto was great to work with.  I was doing a little work on this project during my plan period and one of the office aids was delivering something and offered me a little help on getting music uploaded to my video.  Pretty cool when a kid is able to teach the teacher.

I really liked this application though.  There are many possibilities with this.  One idea that came to mind would be creating short music video  lessons to recap a chapter or section.  Another idea would be to have students create a movie trailer for a specific time period in history.  Also it could be a great way for struggling learners to put together a presentation that their skill set is better suited for.  The reason I say this is that many of my SPED students and other below grade level learners struggle with PowerPoint and Prezi.  Animoto takes care of many of the aspects these students tend to struggle with.

Overall I was very pleased with this assignment and see this being a great benefit in my future teaching.

Second Thought on Tech

Free Tech Tools for Teachers

Only having browsed freetech4teachers.com for about 15 minutes it was easy to see that there are a plethora of resources available for teachers.  The author of the blog has done a great job highlighting new tools and great tutorials on how to use them.

The tutorials I will benefit a lot from are those dealing with Google.  I use Google quite a bit in my classroom from Google Earth, Sketch, Docs and Forms.  It is great to see that there are many other ways I can utilize these tools I am already very familiar with.

I currently keep a blog of my class' daily happening with links to assignments, quizzes, and flashcards.  I have thought about creating a website that can help students better access resources they would need.  Sometimes I feel a bit limited by my blog, but it has been a great tool this year. 

Curriculum Project

Here is a link to my Curriculum Project.

Google Form

Here is a link to my Google Form on the differences between the Pilgrims and the Puritans.

Google Form

Here is a link to my Google Form on the differences between the Pilgrims and the Puritans.

Hotlist

My hotlist focuses on the earliest religions in America, specifically New England.

Religion in New England

Here is a 'symbaloo' to view the websites I have linked my list to.

What I've Learned

Thus far this class has provided great opportunities to learn about new Internet tools as well as what other teachers are doing in their classrooms.  I enjoyed the Skype conversation I had with LuRene and thought it would be an awesome tool in the classroom.

At the midway point I feel like I've gathered a lot of ideas that I wasn't expecting and that going forward I am excited to put these into action.

Mayflower Sing-Along

Used this video in class and the kids really liked it.  Great review on first colonies!

Curriculum Project

Here is a link to my Curriculum Project topic.

Introduction

My name is Joel Bails and I am a fifth year teacher in the Papillion-La Vista School Districts.  I teach 8th Grade U.S. History and work in several other roles sponsoring both the Student Council and Yearbook Club.  Along with my duties at my school, I also am the assistant coach for the girls and boys golf teams at Papillion-La Vista High School.

I have set up this blog to meet the requirements for and communicate with my classmates in my Internet Resources class.  I am looking forward to discovering new technology that I can use in my classroom.  As well as learning about others are doing in there classrooms.