Assessment Form

I created a form through Google which surveyed my students on their classroom experience throughout this school year. I was initially somewhat confused about how to integrate this assignment into the classroom environment, but feel that I've learned yet another valuable teaching tool. I've both embedded the form within this post, and also provided a link. Utilizing the feature to change the theme of the survey seemed to really spice up the aesthetic properties of the survey.

ISTE NETS Standards covered:

3. A-D

What did I do? Created a form through Google to survey my students on their experience within my classroom.

What did I learn? How to create a form that I could utilize for various reasons both personally and professionally.

How could I apply this? There are numerous ways this could be utilized by teachers to facilitate feedback from both students and fellow staff members.

Rubistar Assessment Rubric

I created a rubric for independent reading for my elementary special needs students through Rubistar. This assignment will definitely help me create more rubrics in the future. I really liked the simple format of the website and the ease of use.

Link to my Rubric

What did I do? Created a rubric to assess independent reading.
What I learned? How to create an on-line rubric that will help guide assessment in my special needs classroom.
How could I use it? I could use this rubric to assess independent reading success within my classroom.

ISTE NETS Standards covered:

I felt this assignment best matched with 2. A-D as it gave me the opportunity to design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences within my classroom.

Organizing Tools Article

I just finished reading the Organizing Tools article, and I must say I was inspired. At this point in the school year, I don't see the benefit of starting a blog/website for my class, but will definitely spend some time this summer setting up a website devoted to my class that is beneficial to all parties involved (myself, students, and parents). Should be a fun way to get more organized, and eliminate the need to send so many things home w/ students on a daily basis. A very cool tool that all teachers should implement! As the article stated, "if you're not on-line, you're not relevant."

Visual Ranking Project

For my most recent project, I put together a visual ranking activity for my elementary special needs students. Tomorrow, we are reading/watching an interactive story called the "The Great Race" which is about the Chinese Zodiac calendar. For this project, I set up a list of all the animals within the story, and the students will be required to put the animals in the correct order. This is a great high level thinking skill especially for my students.

Visual Ranking Link to my project

Team Id: Mr. J's Kids
Password: ruthie45

ISTE NETS Standards covered:

2 a. - design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.

b.	develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress.
c.	customize and personalize learning activities to address students' diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources.
	provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching. 3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society. Teachers: a. demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations. b. collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation. c. communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats. d. model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning.

Podcast on Planets

Hey everyone! This was an interesting activity, I've always listened to podcasts about sports, music, etc., but never considered actually recording one myself. As I work with elementary special needs students, this may be a bit of a stretch for something that I could incorporate into MY classroom, but a very cool technological tool to have within my teaching arsenal. I chose a subject that my students are interested in which is the solar system. As I teach mainly RLA & Math with my students, I always look for ways to incorporate Science & Social Studies into my curriculum as much as possible. I gathered most of my script from here.

Link to my Podcast!

Software used to record podcast

Standards Covered:

3. A-D

Thanks for taking the time to listen to my podcast!

My Prezi Presentation

Short Vowel Sounds on Prezi

Hey guys! It feels like it's been awhile since I've posted something, but nonetheless, I'm back with my Prezi presentation for all those who missed me. I've been trying to enjoy this Spring Break as much as possible but have spent a large part of both days at school catching up on paperwork. I played around with this presentation for a few days, and found it to be very interesting, frustrating, but yet effective to utilize within the classroom. I downloaded the software from Prezi's website. I'm not sure if it was the newness of this presentation software, but I'm definitely a PowerPoint presentation type of guy through and through. I wish that you could move things grouped together more easily, as I wanted my presentation to have the look of the Olympic rings, but after moving things here, there, and a bit of everywhere. I decided I would just have to be content with the placement of my paths. One great tool that I feel Prezi could be used for would be to develop word/story webs. It's a great tool like PowerPoint as you can present knowledge in an interesting format that will attract students, but I just felt it didn't have the flexibility that comes w/ PP. But it's undoubtedly, a great tool to have in any teacher's presentation arsenel.

ISTE NETS Standards covered:

1. A-D
2. A-D
3. 3 A

A video that I downloaded and posted...

I was able to download a video on training boxer puppies from YouTube. I downloaded through the file through a software program titled YouTube Downloaded, which I found here.

When saved, the file became MPEG-4 movie that plays through my Quicktime program.

This is a great tool that I could use to show videos to my students that would be relevant to a lesson we are covering because unfortunately access to YouTube is blocked by my county.

ISTE-NETS Standards covered:

3 A-D

I believe this activity demonstrates my fluency in technology systems and how to transfer current knowledge to new technologies and situations. This tool could also be utilized to collaborate with fellow teachers, students, and parents.

Photo Story

I also took the personal route on our Photo Story assignment. I chose to document the life of my white boxer, Sampson, through the first 1 1/2 years of his life. As you can see from the video, he has grown alot over these eighteen months, and continues to get bigger and bigger! He truly lives up to the mantra of a "man's best friend." I hope you enjoy seeing his growth and development of the course of my video. Thanks for taking the time to check out my video.

For this assignment, I used the Microsoft Photo Story 3 software. It can be found here.

YouTube Link

ISTE NETS Standards Covered:


1. Faciliate and inspire student learning and creativity

A. Promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking.
C. Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students'
conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes.
D. Model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students,
colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments.

3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning

A. Demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to
technologies and situations.

My directorial debut!

I utilized the Windows Movie Maker program which I have used before to make home made dvd videos of my baby (my boxer) to send to extended family as Christmas gifts. I felt this activity was fun yet practicle. Below I've included the links to all the various places on the web that the video can be viewed from. Please feel free to provide me with any feedback.

YouTube Link

ScreenCastLink

GoogleDocs Link



Standards Covered:


1A & 1B

2 A-D


Honestly I'm not sure there was any ISTE standard that utilizing a film to present a lesson wouldn't cover. A very cool feature! Thanks for viewing!

Jeopardy Game

Here is my Jeopardy PowerPoint presentation that I completed on antonyms, synonyms, and analogies. We recently covered these concepts in my elementary special needs classroom. I feel as though I will definitely look to incorporate more games like this into my lessons. All these skills are covered within the following CSO standards for West Virginia;

RLA.O.1.1.7

RLA.O.2.1.2
RLA.O.3.1.2

This type of activity spans across grade levels. I feel as though this activity covered several ISTE standards as well, such as;

2A - design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.

2C - customize and personalize learning activities to address students' diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources.

2D - provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching.

FTP Link to Presentation

ScreenCast Link to Presentation

Link to template used for PowerPoint

GoogleDocs Link to Presentation

Animation 2 (The Cat In The Hat)

Since we have been celebrating the birth of Dr. Seuss all week in my classroom. I thought it would be fun to incorporate one of his classic stories into this activity. Hope you enjoy!

Link:

Google Docs Link to Animation 2

FTP Link to Animation 2

Standard Covered:

2A - I believe this assignment as well as the Animation 1 assignment both are relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources that promote student learning and creativity. (Definitely the creativity!)

Thanks for checking out my post!

Wordle 2.0

Above is a snipped image of my tags from my delicious account.

Standard: 1A - I feel as though this activity promotes creative and innovative thinking.

Thanks for checking out my post!

PowerPoint Animation 1

I chose to complete my PowerPoint Animation on my favorite NBA basketball player, Earl Boykins. I could use this animation as a tool to teach my elementary special needs students the names of various body parts.

Links:

Google Docs Link to PowerPoint Animation 1

FTP Link to PowerPoint Animation 1

I believe this activity met the standard 2a as I designed a relevant learning experience that incorporated digital tools and resources.

Thanks for taking time to check out my post!

Ignite Format Presentation

What a fun afternoon...I think I got it though. Thanks for viewing my embedded presentation on short and long vowels presented in ignite format.

Embedded Presentation

Standards Covered:

2 - A, B, & C
3 - A

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Short Vowel Sounds Power Point

View more presentations from jslonaker12.

Power Point Presentation

For my PowerPoint presentation, I presented a lesson on the short vowel sounds. This is a PowerPoint that I can utilize with my elementary special needs students. This assignment helped me to become motivated to be more proficient with PowerPoint as I haven't used the program in awhile and would like to sharpen my skills. It's a great tool for presenting lessons to my particular group of students.

My Short Vowel Sounds PowerPoint Presentation

Thanks for looking!

Standards Covered:

2 - A, B, and C
3 - A

Social Networking Site for Educators

I just came across a social networking site dedicated for educators. Check it out!

I just registered, so I'll give it a try here soon.

Frustrated with.....

My effort on our Image Quiz!!! A 60%? I was expecting an easy 100%, but it's all good. I think the question about how many graphs confused me, I wasn't sure whether to consider both venn diagrams on Crappy Graphs as one or not. Nonetheless, I think I'll do just fine in this course.

Secondly, I'm beginning to understand how boring and frustrating being unemployed must be. I want to be back in school working with my students! But we are closed again tomorrow, and the rumor is the kids won't likely be there Wednesday, but teachers will have to report in order to make up Monday's Staff Development hours. I was able to get into my building this morning, and was able to get tons of things done before the custodial staff ran me off.

And a left field topic, the NBA All-Star Weekend was an absolute joke. Saturday's events were very boring, and the game really doesn't attract my attention like it used to, and cannot compete to the MLB All-Star game. And last but not least, my favorite basketball team, Washington Wizards, traded my favorite player to Dallas for pretty much next to nothing. I feel the organization does not care about it's fans who spend hard earned money to support that team!

I feel much better....:)

New Web 2.0 Article

I just finished reading the chapter on Flickr this morning. It's a very interesting site. I plan on uploading all my photos to it today, and do some exploring. But as I was searching the web, I came across an article related to Flickr's co-founder who is launching a new web-based game, Glitch.

Flickr co-founder rolling out new on-line game

Thanks!

Wordle

I completed a Wordle for both my Delicious tags and some random words that came to mind. This is my first attempt with HTML, but should be as simple as copying and pasting. Let's cross our fingers...And it worked perfectly. Pretty cool tool. Thanks for checking out my post!

My Delicious Wordle:

My Personal Wordle:

Standard Covered:

3C - I felt as though this activity was a great way to communicate information and ideas effectively. Plus, I'm sure my students would think it was pretty cool to use Wordle for an activity with spelling/sight/vocab words.

Awesome Web 2.0 Program

While searching here to find a program to convert my media, I found an awesome new program called KeyLemon, which is a program that uses facial recognition software rather than having to remember or actually store your passwords on your computer. To utilize this software, you obviously have to have a webcam compatible computer. The free trial version is available to test out though before making the decision to purchase the software. Check it out if you get a chance.

Picasso Self-Image

While I'm waiting for my .swf file to convert to a .wmv, I decided I would go ahead and post my self-portrait. I feel this self-portrait is a good representation of myself as I consider myself a little silly, yet serious when I need to be. And I also included as much color as possible as I feel I'm a bright, vibrant person. This was a very fun, creative activity. Thanks for checking out my blog post.

Link to portrait: http://www.mrpicassohead.com/search.html?skin=original&query=Justin+Slonaker&x=19&y=5

Link to program utilized to create portrait: http://www.mrpicassohead.com/create.html

Standard Covered:

3A - I believe this activity was a way to demonstrate fluency in technology.

I'm not sure how I could use an activity like this within a special needs classroom in regards to my students' content standards, but it would definitely be a fun activity that I'm sure they would enjoy!

Jing Screencast

What a cool activity! I am actually having fun with this. It's much better than being out in the cold shoveling, though that's next on my to-do list. I provided a link to my screencast of myself snipping several images from the internet, and inserting them into a blog post. I saved the screencast to both my Google Doc's page, and also to screencast.com. I have provided links to both just incase. Thanks for checking out my blog spot. And I decided not to delete my initial post, as I feel it shows my process and that learning is definitely going on over here! :)

Link to simply view: http://www.screencast.com/users/jslonaker12

Link to download & view: http://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0Bym0ogu-aFsUNzljYzBhYTUtZDlmNC00NGJhLWEzZGYtNWVhYmY0NzdlNjU0&hl=en

Tools of the trade:

Images snipped from: http://www.fcrr.org/curriculum/PDF/G2-3/2-3PA_1.pdf

Jing: http://www.jingproject.com/

Host of screencast: http://www.screencast.com/


Standards Covered:

3 - A

This was an activity that undoubtedly displayed my fluency in technology systems, and the ability to transfer current knowledge to new technologies. A great way to share technology with your friends, family, and co-workers.

Second go-round!

Here we go again. This is my Jing video footage of myself snipping an image from the internet, and inserting it into my blog post. So this will make three blog posts for one assignment :) Nonetheless, thanks for checking out my blog post.

Standards Covered:

2. A-D

Making video of myself posting snipped image into blog.

Sorry for the long title. I am currently "filming" my video of myself snipping several images and inserting them into a blog post. Just one of the many cool Web 2.0 features that I've learned through this course. Thanks for checking out my post!

Jing Image

Here is my image that I created with Jing. Very cool program! Another great tool that I've learned that I can utilize with my new Smart Board. I chose an activity that would be fitting for my special education elementary students. Having my students pay attention to detail and show some critical thinking skills is a great skill set that will help them succeed. Thanks for checking out my Jing!

No laptop :)

I hope everyone survived the blizzard. I haven't been out of my townhouse except to shovel our cars out since Thursday evening. And with this next storm coming tomorrow night, I'm not sure when I will get out. Nonethless, the little thing that connects my AC adapter to my laptop broke and fell into my laptop on Friday morning, so I'm without my laptop until I can get it fixed ($150 for a $3 part & labor!!!). Thankfully my lovely fiance has a laptop that I can utilize for this course and lesson plans for whenever we get back to school. Just a personal blog post, will be putting up my Piacasso image here soon (whenever I receive it in my inbox, had to do a second one since my first was stored on my laptop) and will see what this Jing is all about. Best wishes!

NAEP Data Mathematics Chart (WV Vs. National Average)

Hey guys! I found this assignment to be interesting to complete, but very unfortunate to see as a WV educator. When we reviewed our WESTEST data at the beginning of this year for our particular school, our prinicpal brought up our huge Math deficit we are showing in regards to our schools in our county, state, and nation. I've tried to differentiate my instruction as much as possible in all my subjects, but especially in Math. If you think students are having a problem with Math, imagine how low special education students are performing on the same standardized tests, where they are held as accountable as gen. ed. students (so unfair!!!). I've included links to both of my charts/summary on my Google Docs page, where data was gathered from, and my graphing tool utilized. Thanks for checking my blog!

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ASm0ogu-aFsUZGd3NXNxOXNfOHhjZmN2cmY5&hl=en (8th Grade Chart/Summary)

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ASm0ogu-aFsUZGd3NXNxOXNfMTBjNHpyZjJmYw&hl=en (4th Grade Chart/Summary)

http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/states/ (NAEP Data)

http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/graphing/classic/ (Graphing Tool)

Line Diagram

Yo! What a day at school, the kiddos were very excited to learn school was cancelled for tomorrow. I've found it's a double edged sword for me. Do I enjoy a paid Friday off to spend with my family? Yes, but I miss my students, and often find myself being concerned with their safety and health when not at school which makes it hard to truly enjoy your time off. Nonetheless, should give me some time to keep up on course work. But I have embedded my line graph, and also provided a hyperlink. Thanks for checking my blog!

http://crappygraphs.com/user_graphs/?id=5320

Delicious tags!

I finally understand how these tags w/ Delicious work! And wow! Very cool Web 2.0 feature!

Added some new gadgets!

Taking a break from writing lesson plans, and added some new gadgets to my blog. Some pretty cool features are available, and very easy to add.

Read first chapter of Web 2.0 for Schools

I was able to catch up on some things today with the snow day here in Berkeley County. One of the things I was able to scratch off my to-do list was to read the first chapter of Web 2.0 for Schools. Very interesting, yet easy read. Looking forward to reading more, and grasping this Web 2.0 movement!

"Look at my drawing Mom!"

Sorry for the cheesy title, but I would always say this when I came home from school on days we had Art class. I put together a collage of our tools by snipping the images, and then posting them into Paint. I used several paint tools such as fill with color, paste from, text, etc. My file is a .jpeg file that opens with Windows Photo Gallery, and is 74KB in size. Also, from yesterday's activities, I believe I forgot to mention five tools that we may seem in an image program such as Paint. Without taking the easy route and looking at Paint, I would say copy, paste, cut, edit, undo, crop image, etc. Along with adding the actual image to this blog post, I added a link to my GoogleDocs as well. Another cool activity! Thanks for looking.

http://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0Bym0ogu-aFsUY2RjOGY4NGItNWY0YS00MDI1LTg4MjgtODJkYjFmY2Y5ZDI2&hl=en

Created Graphic

I have posted an activity that I could utilize teaching a lesson on opposites with my elementary special needs students. I considered using any of the Microsoft Office programs, but as several of my fellow classmates mentioned, I felt most comfortable using Microsoft Word. Rather than saving as a .doc file, I chose to go out of my "box" and publish as a PDF file. The PDF file is 120 KB. This file would be a great tool to use with a Smart Board. I love utilizing graphics found on-line and in programs to incorporate into my lessons and assessments. Most students, especially elementary aged special needs students respond well to graphics and the inclusion colors more than the standard black type on white paper. The graphic file utilized in my document is SmartArt graphic found within Microsoft Office products (or at least Microsoft Word). This was the first team I've used this tool, so I'm very excited to have learned a tool to utilize. I felt this assignment was very purposeful as not only did I create a graphic that I can and will utilize with my students, but also discovered a new tool. http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0Bym0ogu-aFsUNDdjMTM5MWUtMTViYi00NTA3LWEwMzYtNWQ1ODZkMjAyNzJk&hl=en


Standards Covered:

2. A-D
3. A-D

Image of Snipping Tool

Here is an image that I snipped of my delicious webpage. This is a tool that I definitely feel I can use within my profession. Looking forward to learning more about the benefits of snipping. Thanks for looking!

Standards Covered:

2. A-D

This feature is delicious!

This whole delicious thing is a great tool. I've been using it alot today with making my lesson plans for the week. I really like the ease of it. I'm starting to understand how the tags can be beneficial. Another tool I've learned through this course!

Some new links on Delicious!

Hey guys! Added some new links to my delicious page. Some great resources for utilizing the SMART Board in your classroom. Take a look if you get the chance. Thanks!

Original & New Image

Hey guys! This activity was a bit confusing to me,and I'm still not sure that I did exactly what was expected from us. I'm fortunate enough to have a Smart Board in my room so any image I want to pull can be displayed and manipulated by myself or my students. As you can see I manipulated a map of the local area to only show West Virginia. All I know is that it's been an exhausting week, and my brain needs a break from blogging, assessing, and any stress. I'm off to Red Lobster and a movie! Have a great weekend everyone!

My Idea!

Hey guys! Back with another post for my course. I would like to complete a media presentation on the importance/impact of Smart Boards in the classroom. I have had one in my classroom for nearly two months, and they are finally being installed (Thank the lord!!!) this week. I can't wait for the opportunity to incorporate it into my daily lessons with my students. I want to learn as much as I can about the benefits of utilizing a Smart Board in the classroom so that I am sure I'm taking full advantage of all it's capabilities.

My Delicious Account!

Just set up my delicious account! I thought I was fairly web/technology savvy before this course started, but am learning quickly that there are so many interesting resources out there that I was unaware of. Very cool! As an educator, learning new things is one of the most important aspects of my life. I have attached a link to my account.

http://delicious.com/jslonaker12

Thanks for checking out my post!

resume

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ASm0ogu-aFsUZGd3NXNxOXNfMmd6azI5NGdk&hl=en

Just trying this again!

Resume Post

Hello everyone! I've posted the link to my first teaching resume. When I look at this resume, I'm sure I didn't get my position based solely on it, as it lacked depth. But with two years under my belt, my resume has definitely become more well-rounded in the teaching profession. I love the school and position that I'm in, so hopefully updating my resume isn't something I'll have to concern myself with for a long time to come.

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ASm0ogu-aFsUZGd3NXNxOXNfMmd6azI5NGdk&hl=en

Hope this works! Thanks for taking a look!

Welcome!

Hello everyone! This is my blog for my EDUC 6305 through Fairmont State University. I'm really looking forward to this class as it seems very technology based and challenging. I was very excited to see we didn't need a textbook for this class! A little information about myself, I'm a 26 year old Special Education teacher at Berkeley Heights Elementary School in Martinsburg, WV. My girlfriend and I have a wonderful white boxer named Sampson. I'm a sports fanatic! I love the Washington Wizards, Miami Dolphins, and Baltimore Orioles. I'm well traveled! I've visited places such as Dominican Republic, Jamaica (x2), Bahamas, Cancun, and Hawaii. We are currently looking to book our next trip for this semester. I look forward to networking with my peers in this course. Best of luck to everyone!