Portfolio 21 Things for 21st century teachers Final Submission

1. Welcome or Landing Page: http://www.digbelyea.blogspot.com/
2. Google Document: http://digbelyea.blogspot.com/2013/02/thing-2-google-drive-link-embedded-in.html
3. Diigo Links: The link to my Diigo account is found on the right under my blog archive and just above my Creative Commons license.
4. Accessibility Piece: I added a VozMe “Hear this Post” link to my blog by using the instructions on http://vozme.com/webmasters.php?lang=en. I figured out how to add a button in the header of each blog post so when a person clicks on it, vozme will read the words on the page. It doesn’t read it using proper breathing points and punctuation, but at least the words are said out loud to help people who struggle with vocabulary and reading use my blog. Check out http://digbelyea.blogspot.com/2013/02/portfolio-piece-thing-6-adding-vozme.html
5. Digital Citizenship: I created digital citizenship page outlining a great link to Common Sense Media which has resources for teaching digital citizenship. http://digbelyea.blogspot.com/p/digital-citizenship.html
6. Creative Commons License: This is found on the right under blog archive and my Evernote and Diigo links
7. Digital Images:http://digbelyea.blogspot.com/p/about-me.html
8. Digital Story: http://digbelyea.blogspot.com/2013/02/thing-19-digital-story-how-to-use.html
9. Presentation:.http://digbelyea.blogspot.com/2013/02/thing-11-portfolio-piece-general.html
10. Rubric: http://digbelyea.blogspot.com/2013/02/thing-12-portfolio-piece-rubric-for.html
11. Interactive Activity: http://digbelyea.blogspot.com/2013/01/thing-13-flashcards-portfolio-piece.html
12. Video or Audio Resource: http://digbelyea.blogspot.com/2013/02/thing-20-portofolio-piece-carla-belyea.html
13. Productivity Tool: I have included a link to my Evernote “For Teachers” notebook because I would like to connect my readers to the great blogs I read and write notes about. Hopefully they will share with me in return.
14. Research & Reference Tool: I included a link to the Michigan Electronic Library so they have a quick link to the databases that mel.org has available.
15. RSS Feed: I have an RSS feed to posts and comments on the right hand side at the top of the column there.
16. Virtual Classroom:  I created a site use and expectations page outlining how visitors should use my site. http://www.digbelyea.blogspot.com/p/site-use-and-expectations.html
17. Visual Organizers: http://digbelyea.blogspot.com/2013/02/thing-8-visual-learning-using-bubblus.html
18. Screencast: http://digbelyea.blogspot.com/2013/02/thing-20-portfolio-piece-video-for.html
19. Finally:  I have been and will continue to use my web presences to connect with students, parents, co-workers, and other people interested in the technological and educational ideas I write and share about. It has been exciting to get more resources to use as I become more proficient in technology use.

To submit your final portfolio, include the following in your submission:

1. A link to your web presence site. #1 http://digbelyea.blogspot.com/
2. Provide your answers to the five questions that are listed in blue on the Portfolio Checklist; include each question's assigned number before each question (#4, #5, #13, #14, #19).

Portfolio Piece Thing 6 Adding VozMe link to blog

I found instructions at VozMe for Webmasters.  I wanted to include a text to speech button so users could listen to the blog posting if they wanted to. Now I know VozMe is not probably the best text to speech tool as far as fluent reading with proper stops in a sentence for breathing and punctuation but it gives another tool to help all people be able to access my blog. I did make one change to the directions. The original directions on line 3 said <div class='post footer'> but I wanted my readers to see this link when they first opened my blog posts, not when they have already looked at it.  I want to anticipate what my readers needs are, rather than giving them a resource when it is too late.  So I found <div class='post-header-line-1'/> instead and now there is a button that a reader can press to hear the post read to them.

Portfolio Piece Thing 8 Visual Learning using Bubbl.us

I love Bubbl.us for creating mind maps and other connected representations for students to use. I created this connected spoke activity to help students see how balanced they were in their work.

Capstone 15-21: Research paper on Educational Technology

In the last seven things, there were many different ways to get resources and to share them with others that are interested in the same things.  The Michigan Electronic Library is an awesome tool with full text articles about all areas of thought. It has improved my practice by giving me access to materials that I wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford.

The Michigan Electronic Library provides an excellent collection of databases that students can use to take notes and summarize a topic. With these summaries, a student can identify similarities and differences between author’s writing and generate and test hypotheses about their thesis statement for their research based on what they have read. Having a wide body of peer-reviewed articles to chose from that have been verified for use in research helps students to create better research papers.

Objective:
Students will create a research project about a current or new technology using the Michigan Electronic Library.  Students will use Evernote to create notebook of their research. They will cite their sources using MLA format. Students will share their reports in a short video presentation.

Introduction:
Students have many different technology resources around them. Helping a young person understand the background and growth of a current technology will help that young person to better use the technology in the present. This project will put together research using digital tools like the Michigan Electronic Library and screencasting for effective communication of ideas that they have learned.

Standards Used:
http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/nets-s-standards.pdf?sfvrsn=2

2. Communication and Collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including
at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.
a. Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media
b. Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats

3. Research and Information Fluency
Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.
a. Plan strategies to guide inquiry
b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media
c. Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks
d. Process data and report results


Materials:
internet access, computer, ip address in Michigan, login information for Evernote.

Activity:
Students will be introduced to the databases in the Michigan Electronic Library. The teacher will discuss the merits of the Academic OneFile and Expanded Academic: ASAP databases for research.  Students will create, if necessary, and use their Evernote account to clip articles for their research project.. Students will download the “add to Evernote” button to their toolbar.

Students will write a hypothesis about educational technology that they want to research. They will develop a thesis statement based on that hypothesis. Once students have developed an initial thesis statement, they will be directed to search for articles that both support and refute that thesis statement. We will discuss how to tag articles in order to categorize based on similarities and differences. and to write notes about the articles that are clipped to their Evernote account. Students will be asked to expand on their tagged similarities and differences between individual articles in their notes in their Evernote notebook. Students will accumulate sufficient articles to develop a basis for the body and conclusion of their research paper.

Practice:
Students will revise their thesis statement based on their research and develop their logical argument to support their hypothesis. They will create a research paper using a word processing software package. Students will perform peer edits on 2 other students papers in the classroom using the attached rubric.

Assessment:
Students will revise their research papers based on their peer edits. They will submit their papers for assessment by the teaching using the same rubric used by the students. Students will create a 2 to 3 minute screen cast using Windows Movie Maker, Ink2go, Jing, or Screen-cast-o-matic. These screencasts will be used to assess the student’s understanding of their research topic. Students will be assessed using the video production rubric.

Resources:

Research Paper Rubric on Google Drive

Video Production Rubric

Thing 20 Portofolio Piece: Carla Belyea on Youtube

I have been creating many different video resources for my students on Youtube. You can follow my channel at Carla Belyea on Youtube

Thing 21 Portfolio Piece: Video for General definitions of Trigonometric Functions

I created this video for my Algebra 2 class on how to calculate sine, cosine, tangent, cosecant, secant, and cotangent values.  General Definitions of Trigonometric Functions

Thing 14 Portfolio Piece: Evernote notebook link

I have edited my html for my template to include a link to my Evernote notebook "For Teachers".

Thing 12 Portfolio Piece: Rubric for project

I created a rubric for a Right Triangle Project. It can be found at Right Triangle Application Project Rubric

This rubric can be used by math students to critique and assess their project as they develop some connections to non-linguistic representations of right triangles.

Thing 11 Portfolio Piece: General Education Planning Prezi

My seniors are creating their own college plan in a written form. I discussed how to select general education classes given an example from Andrews University. I used Prezi to connect them to each step of the way to fulfilling general education requirements.

General Education Planning

Thing 2: Google Drive link embedded in web presence

My students in my Algebra 2 class can go to our quarterly plan that is a Google Drive document embedded in our Algebra 2 web presence. This quarterly plan gives them the goals for each day, the in class and out of class assignments, and links to any additional resources. The link to the page with this document is Algebra 2 Quarterly plan, syllabus, and course content .

Thing 19 Digital Story: How to use Twitter for Personal and Professional Growth

I am so glad that http://pics.tech4learning.com/ , www.morguefile.com/, and www.flickr.com exist with individuals who use Creative Commons licenses for others to use their photos.

Watch my digital story at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLeLDk_or5k

Things 8-14 Capstone Project: Using Digital Images with Right Triangle Real World Applications

Helping students connect with non-linguistic representations of the sometimes abstract concepts in math is my goal. I would like to use digital photos as a way for students to summarize what they have learned, identify similarities and differences, and generate and test hypothesis about right triangles. With today's electronic devices that so many students have, I want to have them do a cooperative project where they use photos and information about the photo or video to create story problems for math. Using technology like cameras, cell phones, smart phones, and tablets with photography capabilities, I can help students connect the technology they already own with real world contexts and hopefully will be generalizable to later learning.


Right Triangle Real World Applications

Objective:
Students will use photos of real world applications of right triangles to determine lengths of the legs or hypotenuse or the angle measure of the incline or decline. Create digital images that connect mathematics with real life.

Introduction:
Students have been introduced to the Pythagorean theorem and fundamental trigonometric identities of sine, cosine, and tangent. This lesson will allow students to connect their knowledge of the Pythagorean theorem and trigonometry in order to find find unknowns involving right triangles. Real life applications of right triangles are used in construction, manufacturing, quilt design, home improvements, land surveying, and other areas.

Standards Used:
http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/nets-s-standards.pdf?sfvrsn=2

NETS-S: 1a, b, c; 2a, b, d; 3a, b, c, d; 4a, b, c, d; 5b, c

Materials:

Digital camera, presentation software, clinometer, trundle wheel or measuring tape

Activity:
Students will create a project that contains 20 real life photos of right triangles. Students will use a clinometer and trundle wheel or measuring tape to measure the triangle leg lengths and/or angle of inclination or declination. Students will create story problems that use the photos and real world information. Students will create triangle overlays on the real life pictures.  Students will create worked examples to accompany their initial picture and overlay.  These story problems and photos will be used by other students to understand the Pythagorean theorem and sine, cosine, and tangent. Students will create a presentation using Prezi or another presentation software package to show their photos to the class. Students will share their presentations on the class website so that students in other schools can make use of them.


Practice:
Students will work through a presentation of another group in the classroom. They will compare their worked answers with the creators worked examples.

Assessment:
Students will critique the presentation using the attached rubric. Students will make adjustments to their presentations based on classmates critiques. The teacher will critique the presentation after final edits are completed.

Rubric:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Avkkz2Vwt_UrdFZqNmxob29XaE12U2VGZnRRM19pcEE&usp=sharing

Resources:

How to make a clinometer:
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Clinometer

Outdoor learning idea:
http://numberloving.com/2012/03/05/outdoor-learning-the-first-instalment/

Pages about triangle applications:
http://jwilson.coe.uga.edu/emt668/emat6680.folders/brooks/6690stuff/righttriangle/Applicationpp.html

http://jwilson.coe.uga.edu/emt668/emat6680.folders/brooks/6690stuff/righttriangle/FinalReview.html

Thing 13 Flashcards Portfolio piece

I uploaded the link to my Rational Equations flashcards on my Algebra 2 site. I hope my juniors can use those flashcards to get better and reducing rational expressions.

Portfolio piece: Thing 6: VozMe text to speech tool

Today I experimented with VozMe. I am not sure I would use it a lot but there are some students who would benefit from hearing the text that is in their textbooks before coming to class but who may not have the reading skills at the level needed to understand the content that is written. They would understand the spoken word however and that would be great for them.

Portfolio Piece Thing 4: Communication Tools

I have altered the html code on my blogger site so my twitter widget is front and center with a link to "follow @carlasinspirati" on twitter.  I think it is a great to way to connect with individuals who read the posts on my website.