Twitter

Ineffective OH NO! (1pts)	Adequate It’s OK (2pts)	Must Use Sign me up! (3pts)
Learning Target Goal	Students can not  unable to use this tool to meet their learning target	Students can see how this tool can be used to meet their learning target	This tool is transparent and students can clearly see how this tool is used and can apply it to their learning
User-Friendly Design	Students have a hard time navigating through the tool and can not easily find what they need	Students can navigate through the tool but have difficulty finding useful tools	Students can easily navigate through tool
Access (Free or Paid)	Communication tool is too expensive and not worth the benefit of the tool and/or is not accessible to students and teachers	Communication tool requires small monthly fee that is worth the use and benefit of the tool and/or easily accessible to students and teachers	Communication tool is free and/or easily accessible to students and teachers
Differentiation	There is no way to accommodate or differentiate for all learners	This tool could be differentiated for a few types of learners	There are many ways this tool could be adapted for all learners
Student Motivation	Students are not/would not be motivated to interact using this tool	Some/few students may be  interested in using this tool	Students are excited to use this tool to interact and communicate
Timely Communication/ Feedback	Communication stream is not easily followed and takes too much practice to learn to be useful	Communication stream may be difficult to follow and manage, or managing feedback is not easily done in a timely manner	Communication stream is easy to follow and access quickly to keep feedback timely
Trackable User Work Record	Student work is not archived or able to be tracked.  There is no way to easily see what each member has contributed.	Student work may be archived OR individual student contributions may be determined	Student work is easily tracked and individual contributions are clearly and easily determined.
Medium	Tool is only available for one or two browser platforms	Tool is available in some browsers and/or devices	Tool is easily used on multiple or all available browsers, mobile devices, and computers
Age Appropriate	Tool is not appropriate for the target age group, either too simplified or too complex	Tool may need to be adapted to fit the target age group	Tool is appropriate for the target age group
Monitoring Capability	Teacher has no means to monitor and remove inappropriate content or comment	Teacher may not be able to monitor, or may not be able to remove inappropriate content	Teacher is easily able to monitor user interaction for appropriateness

I first began this class believing that there was no possible way I could use Twitter in my own classroom with student involvement. I was only viewing the possibilities of using it only for personal learning. As I thought about it more and had many discussions I realized that Twitter could be used by the students as well. Although twitter would be hard to navigate for young children and the tool needs to be adjusted for my target age group twitter has many possibilities for young children to be involved with social media with teacher guidance.

Ways to use with young children:

• Have student's tweet about their day
• Students tweet to app creators by asking questions or comments
• Have student's be interactive with their class while on trips and vacations
• Student's tweet questions to their favorite authors
• Teacher and student's search hashtags to discuss news events
• Student's communicate with other classes from around the world and share their work and experiences

Book Creator

	Ineffective OH NO! (1pts)	Adequate It’s OK (2pts)	Must Use Sign me up! (3pts)
Learning Target Goal	Students can not  unable to use this tool to meet their learning target	Students can see how this tool can be used to meet their learning target	This tool is transparent and students can clearly see how this tool is used and can apply it to their learning
User-Friendly Design	Students have a hard time navigating through the tool and can not easily find what they need	Students can navigate through the tool but have difficulty finding useful tools	Students can easily navigate through tool
Access (Free or Paid)	Communication tool is too expensive and not worth the benefit of the tool and/or is not accessible to students and teachers	Communication tool requires small monthly fee that is worth the use and benefit of the tool and/or easily accessible to students and teachers	Communication tool is free and/or easily accessible to students and teachers
Differentiation	There is no way to accommodate or differentiate for all learners	This tool could be differentiated for a few types of learners	There are many ways this tool could be adapted for all learners
Student Motivation	Students are not/would not be motivated to interact using this tool	Some/few students may be  interested in using this tool	Students are excited to use this tool to interact and communicate
Timely Communication/ Feedback	Communication stream is not easily followed and takes too much practice to learn to be useful	Communication stream may be difficult to follow and manage, or managing feedback is not easily done in a timely manner	Communication stream is easy to follow and access quickly to keep feedback timely
Trackable User Work Record	Student work is not archived or able to be tracked.  There is no way to easily see what each member has contributed.	Student work may be archived OR individual student contributions may be determined	Student work is easily tracked and individual contributions are clearly and easily determined.
Medium	Tool is only available for one or two browser platforms	Tool is available in some browsers and/or devices	Tool is easily used on multiple or all available browsers, mobile devices, and computers
Age Appropriate	Tool is not appropriate for the target age group, either too simplified or too complex	Tool may need to be adapted to fit the target age group	Tool is appropriate for the target age group
Monitoring Capability	Teacher has no means to monitor and remove inappropriate content or comment	Teacher may not be able to monitor, or may not be able to remove inappropriate content	Teacher is easily able to monitor user interaction for appropriateness

Book Creator got a perfect 30 points and here is why! Book creator is a the perfect tool for all students to document their learning, share their creations, be authors, and explain their thinking to solve problems. Book Creator has recently updated their sharing capabilities which now allows ePub sharing to Showbie. Recently, I have begun using book creator for students to illustrate pictures during read-alouds. I have learned a lot by doing this activity with students, much more than I ever would have learned by just having students sit and listen to the story. Book Creator has endless options for creativity. Students are able to draw, type, add pictures, and record their voice in Book Creator allowing many options for adapting and customizing for all students. Book creator is also great for teachers who are looking to create leveled books for their students tailored to their interests. Book creator can be used by any age student and I would highly recommend this app for all teachers. 

Communication Tools Rubric

Here is a link to our communication tools rubric
https://docs.google.com/a/maine.edu/document/d/1bCT3dfn2Qww-iW6_8YteMC2_5Am4ougrZKxKdHF1HGU/edit?usp=sharing

Blogs I Follow Module 3

UMF EDU 568

Module 3 Communication Task

Links to Blogs I follow:

http://www.educationtothecore.com/

http://leadingwithtechnology.wordpress.com

http://iteachwithipads.net

http://wp.me/1rMN4

http://withliteracyinmind.wordpress.com/

http://jprince.org/archives/979

Screenshot of the RSS feed ---------->


Links to Comments on blog posts

http://iteachwithipads.net/2014/10/06/reading-fluency-with-explain-everything/#comment-5491

http://leadingwithtechnology.wordpress.com/2014/04/11/selecting-apps-using-tony-vincents-app-rubric/comment-page-1/#comment-48

http://withliteracyinmind.wordpress.com/2014/10/05/snippets-take-3/comment-page-1/#comment-345

With this communication task I learned a few new things about creating my own blog. I learned how to search for blogs with using specific keywords that would benefit my teaching and would interest me and my teaching style. Also, with this task I messed around in the settings and layout of my blog and found different widgets I could add to my blog. As a part of the task I learned about Adding RSS feed and I chose blogs that I would visit often and reflect on weekly.

As I created this task and I thought about ways I could use a blog in my kindergarten classroom. My students could create work and display their work in a Kidblog using pictures but wait, we have iPads...I bet there is an App for that. Yes, there absolutely is an app for that and it is called Kidblog! So I will spend this weekend looking into the Kidblog app and determining if it would be a way of effectively documenting work, a way of effectively collaborating in my classroom, and most importantly what would I want my students to take away from the experience of blogging.

I have come realize that blogging doesn't have to be a daunting task that takes up most of your evening. It can be a quick and easy way to reflect and decompress after a day. It's a way of stepping back and looking at an activity or maybe a lesson that didn't go well and taking the time to reflect on it. A blog can be used in many different ways to celebrate success, to share creative ideas, or reflect on your day!

Twitter Chat

This week I joined the Twitter Chat #kidscancode. I really enjoy this educational chat because I want to learn knew ways to use coding in my Kindergarten classroom and how to align coding to the common core. I also believe that teaching children to code at an early age will only benefit them in the future. Students are learning to code in middle school just as typing was once a required course.
Coding is like learning a new language and the earlier students are exposed this language the easier it will be for them to learn how to code.

I really enjoy Twitter Chats. Some I enjoy to actively participate in and others I like to sit back and research new findings while the chat unfolds before me. Twitter chats are great for PLN and connecting with other teachers. They are also beneficial for getting new fresh ideas or trying something new in your classroom. I like to see how others are using an app in their classroom and compare it to how I use that same app. Twitter Chats are great for sharing new ideas or even getting insight on an idea you would like to try. I will continue to participate in chats to grow my PLN.

When I think of using Twitter Chats in the classroom I can't think of a successful way to use Twitter Chats in my Kindergarten class directly with the students. In the past, I have done Google Hangouts with another school that does a weekly News discussion that the students direct and run. While the students are participating I would often communicate to the other teacher from the other school if we were ready to respond or if we need more time. Twitter would also serve as a type of advertising for the New Broadcast. This weekly News Show had many schools tuning in to participate and Twitter served as a tool to help the school get the word out about the weekly news topic and reminders.

In middle school I could see Twitter Chats being extremely beneficial to learning. A specific Twitter Chat could be a homework assignment or the teacher could create a class Twitter Chat and topic that the class could participate in to create a new type of communication with students.

I do use Twitter Chats to get new ideas for lessons or new apps to try for student learning. From this weeks Twitter Chat I learned about new ways coding could be tied into math standards and new projects to do with my students to show proficiency in coding and math standards.

I will use Twitter and Twitter Chats to spark my love for new knowledge and fresh new ideas for my classroom!