Arsen's+Page

Decmeber 19th, 2010

Hi All! Great work and great year. Hopefully this will help you reflect: []

Honestly, I always regret that our lives are so hectic that we don't have more time to spend at this station and share ideas. Still, I am grateful for all that we managed to accomplish.

Although we often think we know our students we never know enough about them. Using student surveys is definitely something I will take from this course and this station and try to get to know my students better and use that information to differentiate my instruction.

Looking your presentations about UDL helped me greatly in gaining better understanding of it. Also, most of you used Prezi to create your presentation and that encouraged me to use it myself and I already used it with my students. Interestingly, as suggested in the "theory" of UDL, for some students Prezi works wonderfully and helps them organize their thinking, for others it is a bit too chaotic.

Speaking of organizing thoughts I would like to share  [|Wordle] with you. Great way to visually organize concepts!

Lastly, I would like to recommend a book "Drive" by Daniel H. Pink. It is not about UDL or DI but it will surely help you with reaching out to all of your students!

All the best to all in 2011!

December 5th, 2010

As a grade 3 homeroom teacher I am primarily responsible for teaching Mathematics, Language Arts, and “Units of Inquiry” (a mix of social and natural sciences). Therefore, I will attempt to locate and identify a variety of resources that integrate technology in these subject areas and help differentiate instruction in terms of readiness, interest, and learning profile. Language Arts / Reading A-Z / [] Unfortunately this is not a free website. However, if you are K-5 teacher, it is one worth asking your school to invest in. What it offers is a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction books organized according to the reading levels from A-Z. Those letters have their equivalent in DRA levels (up to 50) and Fountas and Pinnell (up to U-W). There are numerous ways in which this source can be used in your classroom. Based on students’ readiness, you can divide students into appropriate groups and assign each group a reading that is at their level. For each book there is a number of questions and activities focusing on expanding vocabulary, grammar, basic comprehension, more complex interpretation and discussion. This way, in each group students working on the same text can be responsible for answering different questions, focusing on their learning needs. Since there is a great variety of books offered there is an opportunity of grouping students according to their interests. In terms of UDL and DI I would say that Reading A-Z allows for flexible grouping and ensures that each student is working in his or her zone of proximal development. Language Arts / Tumble Books Library / [] Tumble Books Library is even pricier than Reading A-Z but it is an outstanding resource. It offers animated talking picture books. As the narrators read the text the sentences are highlighted on the screen, and there are 3 sizes of text to choose from. Narration can also be switched off so that students can read on their own. There are also books available in French and Spanish. Similarly to Reading A-Z, books are leveled, they are accompanied by written and audio quizzes, educational games, and templates for writing a book report. Again, there is so many ways to implement this resource and so many benefits for various types of learners. I feel that my ELL students are having a huge benefit from Tumble Books, as the use of images, audio, and text together is helping them follow the texts they otherwise would not be able to. In terms of UDL and DI I would say that Tumble Books Library allows us to use tools that benefit students with special needs, such as using audio and increasing the text size on the screen, but at the same time conduct a lesson that is beneficial for all students in the classroom. Mathematics / BBC’s Bitesize / [] Math games are very effective tool for securing math skills. This website offers a number of games that cover a variety of math skills from different math strands. For each game there is an option of three levels of difficulty. By the way, this is a free resource! A great way to implement this resource is to teach a certain skill and then allow students to practice it by playing a game. Again, in terms of UDL and DI I would say that Bitesize provides an option of presenting material in a different way, through a game. Also, with three levels of difficulty we can have all students playing the same game and still have them all appropriately challenged. Mathematics / “No Name” by McGraw-Hill / [] This is a great resource from the McGraw-Hill. It somewhat resembles MS Paint but offers a number of math tools. We could call them “virtual manipulatives”. Students can draw lines, measure them with a ruler using both metric and US customary units, and measure angles with protractor. They can practice telling time with analog and digital clock, practice using scale, counting, money, fractions, etc. Although it looks very simple it is very effective. Implementation of this tool can take various forms. If a teacher does not have certain manipulative in the classroom this is a great replacement. It could be used to visually represent and introduce new concepts and then to be handed over to students for practice. Connecting to UDL and DI I would say that this tool provides great visual representation that can be very beneficial for ELLs and visual learners. Sciences / National Geographic / [] This is a great website with articles written in a language younger students can read and understand. It had many informational video, photos, activates, and games that are developing cross-curricular skills and understanding. I would use this site as a trusted and appropriate resource for my students to conduct research. In terms of UDL and DI I think that use of this website can benefit a variety of learners. Those who love to read can choose from a number of great articles, others can watch videos and images. Working together, students can help each other get most out of this resource and build understanding of a certain concept.

Hi All!

I look forward to collaborating with all of you. I have to make an excuse for myself right away. I have extremely busy week ahead of me. Still, I will try to contribute to our group as much as I can.

Regards,

Arsen

Nov. 28/10

Hi Guys,

I enjoyed watching and listening to your presentations. Great Work!!!

I tried using Prezi for the first time and, although it is an easy program to use, I had some difficulties and it was slightly time consuming. Well, live and learn! However, once I was done with Prezi I wanted to add sound and make my presentation into a movie. Using a work computer I was not able to download any program and I ended up using an add-on for Firefox that lets you record for 1 minute only and eats up last couple of seconds of each cast. The catch is, it does not stop you after that 1 minute, it just freezes your computer once you try to save your work (that was over a minute).

In any case, you can see my [|Prezi]

or, if you have the nerves to listen to my lovely voice as well, you can watch my[| video]

Cheers,

Arsen