Assigned Teacher Part 2: Shelly Terrell "Teacher Reboot

Assigned teacher part 2:  Shelly Terrell Teacher Reboot

Comment #1

I chose to listen to a webinar recording that she had listed on her blog that was titled Active Learning with Mobile Devices. This webinar focused on getting students moving and engaged with the use of mobile devices. Ms Terrell says that by using mobile devices the kids are active and it helps with classroom management because when kids are still they get stressed, their moods change, and their minds wander. She suggests many different activities that the students can do with their mobile devices. They can mingle with other students by partnering up and doing an activity and then switching to a different partner. They can go on scavenger hunts and compile digital audio and video scrapbooks. They can search for answers around the classroom by using QR scanners and scanning codes placed by the teacher. Many of these activities can be performed without internet connection if the apps are downloaded ahead of time. She made a comment that I will always try to remember. The comment was to never use the word n=homework but to use the word “challenge” instead. She said that homework has a negative connotation but kids like a challenge so assign challenges for the students to do at home with their mobile devices that they can bring in and share the next day with the class. Since the students are already glued to their mobile devices they enjoy using them to complete their challenges.

Here is the link to the webinarActive Learning with Mobile Devices .

Comment #2

The post that I read was Fostering Meaningful Peer Collaboration with Digital Tools posted on Jan 15, 2014. In this post she included a quote, Ït is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed" -Napoleon Hill. This quote is the essence behind peer collaboration. Using digital tools id the way that students today prefer to communicate. Using digital tools for student collaboration will help to encourage students to share and enhance their learning experience. She shared a list of Google tools and apps that she suggested that teachers should use. The list included:

• Google Communities- Participants can share videos, images, links, & and more. They can edit their posts and include hashtags to organize information. You can create threads to categorize posts.
• Google HangOuts- Up to 10 can collaborate through voice and video. They can screen share and create/edit documents, presentations, audio, and so much more. If you choose, record the meeting. When you end the broadcast, the video automatically goes to your Youtube channel. Students will love the fun features, such as making themselves into a meme or dressing themselves in virtual hats, ties, crowns, and other accessories. 
• Google Drive- 15 gb free, create documents, presentations, spreadsheets, and forms. Integrate apps and scripts that allow you to do so much more like grade with a rubric, add voice feedback, draw, or calculate grades quickly.
• Goobric- a script that allows you to grade essays quickly with a rubric.
• Research- this feature is located in your Google Doc under Tools. Find creative common resources to use, research scholarly articles, and cite in MLA/APA/Chicago style.

This was the first time that I had been able to leave a comment for Ms. Shelly so my comment was: "Hi Shelly, my name is Allison Sells and I am taking EDM510, a graduate level educational media class, at the University of South Alabama. I have read many of your post and watch a webinar that you participated in dealing with using digital tools to communicate with your students and to enhance the classroom. In this class I have been required to blog weekly and to connect globally with other students. I have been reading your blog for the last weeks and I have posted a summary of what I have read to http://sellselizabethedm310.blogspot.com/”  We have also participated in many collaborative projects with class members. The tool that we use the most is Google Drive. I have found it very easy to use and very effective in allowing a group to add to and edit a project. Our professor is also able to see who did what parts of the project. We had one group meeting on Google Hangouts. This was a trial and error attempt that was only somewhat successful for the whole group and we have not really had time to do it again. Thank you so much for sharing all of your ideas. I have gained so much great information that I will take with me into my own classroom after graduation."