BP8_Links to Comments

Follow this link to my comments on Kim's RILS on Educator Studio/Blog

Follow this link to my comments on Cynthia's RILS on Educator Studio/Blog

ETC_Final_Project_RILS_Join_The_Fight!!!

Educational Uprising...Join the Fight Today!!!!!
Watch below for more details:



For my RILS Final video i decided to produce a persuasive message prompting educators to declare war on the technologically illiterate teachers of America.  Teachers must educate themselves in the ways of technology in order to stay relevant to the new class of student which are filling our classes every year. It is important to incorporate new and innovative strategies of teachings including, but not limited to, Web2.0 tools, Videos, Virtual environments, and other technologies already available to us on the web. Join the fight against boredom. Enlist Today!!!

RILS Blue Print:

Relevant and Innovative Learning Scenario

Name: Joe Marquez

 Brief Overview:

Using interactive power points and teacher created multimedia video, students will learn about forces and Newton’s three laws of motion. Students will view power point slides and participate in interactive classroom activities using football bags, cross bows, and rolling carts to learn about this important standard in physics. Students will then be given a short 5 questions assessment to determine the strength of the lesson.

1. Target Audience-

The students who will participate in this lesson are my 8^th grade science students who range in ages between 12 and 14.

2. Materials–

·       Interactive power point with imbedded videos

·       Projector and Screen

·       iMovie created by me staring Darth Vader and myself  teaching the students about forces.

·       Crossbow to reinforce the idea of potential and kinetic energy

·       Football bags and rolling cart to demonstrate Newton’s three laws of motion

·       5 question assessment

·       Illuminate web based assessment software

·       Document Camera ( students will use this to score their tests)

3. Objectives–

At the end of this lesson students will be able to:

Understand the meaning of the following terms.

·       Forces

·       Net Force

·       Unbalance/Balance Force

·       Newton’s three laws of motion

Analyze situations and identify Newton’s three laws of motion in various scenarios produced in class.

Create a scenario they encounter in their everyday life that shows Newton’s three laws of motion in action. The students will create this scenario using the web2.0 tool MakeBeliefsComix.com, in which they will create a story showing one or all of Newton’s three laws of motion.

1. Procedure–

·       Students will complete a starter asking them to identify various terms dealing with our unit on forces. Go over as a class.

·       Students will Watch a video introducing forces to them staring Darth Vader and myself.

·       Students will participate in a power point lecture introducing them to Forces using slides and videos.

·       Students will actively participate in a classroom activity involving a crossbow, football bags, and rolling cart to demonstrate the differences between Newton’s three laws.

·       Students will take a five question quiz.

·       Quizzes will be scanned by web based assessment program illuminate to analyze student progress.

·       Upon students return to class, I will re-teach any part of the lesson the quiz showed low comprehension.

2. Web 2.0 Tool–

I will be using the web based assessment software known as illuminate to analyze my student’s achievement during this lesson. Illuminated.com is an assessment program which track student’s achievement per class and per school. The student will also be using a web2.0 tool called MakeBeliefsComix.com in which the students will create a four panned comic depicting a scenario in which Newton’s Laws of motion are occurring.

3. Social Participation/Social Learning–

After the students learn about Newton’s three laws from the power point the student will participate in an in class demonstration of what Newton’s three laws look like in the environment. Students will learn about Newton’s first Law by rolling on a cart that suddenly stops, but they do not as they fall into a pile of bags. Students will see Newton’s second law in action as they try to knock me over using force by changing their acceleration. Students will learn about Newton’s third law by running into a wall of bags and seeing what the bags do right back to them.

4. Making Connections–

a)    Previous knowledge will be shown through the opening of the class completing a starter and during the lecture I will be asking the students about situations they have come across while involved in sports or other activities they may be involved in. 

b)    Students will be shown a video staring Darth Vader and myself. The student will love the fact that their teacher is talking to the Dark Lord in their classroom.

c)    Students will participate in in-class activities involving football bags and carts. I will relate these activities to Professional sports they may be watching on Sunday.

d)   Students will use what they learned during the lesson and create a comic using the MakeBeliefsComic.com Web 2.0 tool. Example posted below.

1. Create/Produce –

The Students will create a comic strip using the web2.0 tool on MakeBeliefsComix.com, in which the students will show their knowledge of Newton’s three laws of motion in action. Using the information they have just learned the students will produce a short comic which will inform the other students of the three laws of motion they may encounter outside the classroom. This will be a great activity in which not only the students will be able to apply what they have learned, but share and teach the other students what they have learned by presenting the comic to the class. Example posted below:

2. Assessment –

The students will participate in a 5 question quiz which will help me as instructor determine which parts of the lesson work and what did not.

5-4 correct is Proficient

3 correct is Basic

2 correct is below Basic

1-0 correct is Far below Basic

3. Reflection – The reflection for the RILS must have two parts.

a.     Students will be given a starter on the next school session which will ask them to restate Newton’s three laws in their own words by giving examples they may have seen in their everyday life.

b.     As an educator I will view the results of the assessment and determine which part of the lesson the students need to be re-taught. Any question which has lower than 50% passing rate will be re-taught during the next school session.  

  Educator Studio RILS Link:
http://www.educatorstudio.com/lessons/newtons-three-laws-motion

PE5_Illuminate_MeakeBeliefsComix_Continued

After Playing around with the Web2.0 tool MakeBeliefsComix.com, I have decide that this is a super fun way to have my students prove to me they know what Newton's three laws of motion are. I feel that any student can read a book, memorize, and recite information their teacher has given them. A true test of learning is to see if the students can relate what they have learned to real life situations, this truly shows mastery of the subject material. In MakeBeliefsComix.com i was able to produce a short comic in minutes and email it to myself to prove it can be done. The following comic is what was produced from all of my tinkering.

 Not too shabby if I do say so myself...

Illuminate was a success as well. The students took their quiz and within a matter of minutes I was able to calculate and compare the results of 185 students!!! With this great program i was able to calculate my class averages and see which standards the students are falling behind on. As you can see in the image below, question 2 was the most missed question for all of my classes. The following day after the test was given, i was able to reteach the lesson and give the quiz once more verbally to my students. I feel that this is the best way to help our students truly learn the material.

PE4_Illuminate and MakeBeliefsComix

For my up coming Relevant and Innovative Learning Scenario (RILS) I have decided to use two web2.0 tools which will help me assess student learning within my classroom. I will be using Illuminateed.com to grade and assess my 5 question quiz on Newton's Laws of motion and I will also have my students create a short comic strip on MakeBeliefsComix.com on an everyday occurrence they can associate with one of Newton's three laws of motion. Illuminate is a powerful assessment wich allows teachers from across the distric share benchmarks and data in seconds that would otherwise take weeks or months to collect and distribute.

 Illuminate scans a self created bubble sheet using the in classroom document camera to instantly give you feedback on individual students or the class as a whole. No longer do I need to collect the tests and take time out of my day to find a scanning machine to correct the tests. The information I instantly receive tells me what are the most missed concepts the class needs redirection on, and before the class ends I can begin to retach the students the concepts they are weaker on.

For the students to participate in a web2.0 tool, I have decided to ask them to make a short comic strip on Newtons three laws using the website MakeBeliefsComics.com. This is an easy to use program which allows the students to create a comic strip up to 4 panes to tell a story. The story i have asked my students to tell is one of a real life experience which fits into the category of one of Newton's three laws of motion. I feel that anyone can memorize Newton's three laws, but to really learn it one must be able to identify it in the world around them. Once the student finishes his or her comic the web site allows you to send the link to my email where i can then view and assess the comic they have created. A real fun way to end the lesson.

PE3_iMovie

Oh Yeah!!!

The Video is finished!! It is a little longer than the requested time, but as i was working on the project i realized that if i was going to use this in class, I needed to create a video that was able to convey all the information i needed to say. As I was putting the video together i realized that a lot of time must be put into setting up the filming project. It took a lot of trial and error to get the timing of the conversation between Darth Vader and myself in sync the way i wanted to get it. The green screen that i used in my background should have had more light on it to prevent some unwanted shadows in the background, and I probably could have found a better clip from star wars to use in the background. Over all I believe the video is worth showing to my students and to all of you out there as well. I hope my iMovie skills continue to improve and i become better at producing more movies in the future. I had a lot of fun completing this project and i realized the only way to do something right is to do it wrong at least 10 times!!!




I hope you like it

PE2_ iMovie

After I started watching the videos I decided to produce a video I can actually use in class. I love to incorporate amusing characters which will entice the students to listen to the lesson, but also teach them the standards we need to learn for our up coming test . For this project i decided to introduce my unit on forces by including a character whom is the most known user of "the Force", Darth Vader. I produced a script in which Darth Vader and I discuss the differences between contact and non-contact forces. I decided to go big on this project because my students have learned to expect the best from the lesson i give them. This video includes green screen effects, two dimensional animated effects, and real time video for the background from the movie Star Wars.

This is an ambitious project and i know there bound to be some failures along the way, but i know what doesn't kill me makes me stronger right!! Wish me Luck.

PE1_iMovie

As with most of you when i saw the 3 1/2 hour run time of the Lydia tutorial, my head was swimming trying to figure out how in the world i was going to fit this all into my schedule. But it really was not all that bad because each tutorial was really well produce, had fantastic pace, and really helped me understand iMovie in a way I couldn't on my own. I tried a few YouTube channels on iMovie and they really helped me produce some great looking videos in the first three months of the program. Lynda.com goes above and beyond making the format of iMovie seem simplistic and joyful to use.

It took me a while to realize that we were given a full year subscription to Lynda.com, but after searching through my back emails i found the registration code and i was off to the races. I cant believe how many great tutorials there are on this site. I just wish i had time to view them all... Final Cut Pro X... maybe over winter break :)

BP6_Link to Jena Wayt's Blog

Follow this link to my comments on Jena Wayt's Blog.

BP5_Link to Cynthia Madanski's Blog

Follow this link to my comments on Cynthia Madanski's Blog

BP4_SlideRocket

I love the idea of this open format class because it allows me time to search Web2.0 tools and not feel like I am just wasting my time on the web. I just discovered a new Web2.0 tool called SlideRocket.com and I do believe I have found a great way to collaborate on power points with my fellow science teachers. SlideRocket is a web based program which allows you to upload already created power points my science department has created and allows my colleges and I real world time to work on the power points and make them better. It gets very difficult sending power points to each other through memory sticks and over email because after a while we end up with multiple versions of the same presentation and we forget which is the latest one. With slide rocket we can change a slide and each user can access the newly tweaked presentation. No emails, no memory keys, no more problems with multiple versions of the same document. Slide rocket also allows real time twitter feeds during the presentations so if you have a classroom of computer users they can comment on the presentation as the lecture is going on. They can ask questions or help others out with simpler explanations. Slide rocket also has the ability to allow others to view the presentation on their own, and the site tracks how long each user spends on any one particular page. This can help teachers out to determine what problems or concepts are hardest for their students. This is a great concept for both collaborating with fellow teachers and getting extra help to student who may need it. 

BP3_Prezi

There are many wonderful Web2.0 tools out there that I utilize on a daily basis.  I utilize Google plus to communicate with my group members and we also use Google docs to organize our group projects and thoughts. For my Laptop classrooms i use screentoaster.com, for online screen casting and tutorials, and for project turn ins I use Dropitto.me which utilizes the Dropbox app which is installed on every machine that i own. But one of my all time favorite Web2.0 programs which i use has to be Prezi.com. Prezi is a program much like power point, yet it is completely web based and completely free, which means all my students have a chance to use this fantastic tool. Ever since i found this tool i have become obsessed with it. You can zoom in and out, teeter, magnify, cross-read, and many other unique eye catching effects which will draw the attention of your viewers. I use this tool for my history of the atom unit where the students must create a timeline which tells me the steps scientist had to take to identify the different parts of the atom. In our computer lab we are not allowed to install programs onto the machines, so since it is completely web based there is no program to install, and the students can work on it at home if they are not finished. This is a fantastic tool which i highly recommend you try in and outside of your classroom environment. 
      Prezi allows students to utilize pictures and videos found off the web to create fantastic new elaborate presentations which can be viewed from any computer connected to the internet. I have learned that with this program you can have co-authors who can work along side you to give you new ideas or inspiration in the creating process. This program works great for those students who need a little extra stimuli to get through a particular lesson.

BP2_iGoogle PLE

I have worked on iGoogle before, but not as a resource page. This assignment allowed me to view my home page as a tool i can use to further my web experiences. I always saw iGoogle a a gimmick to get web users to use a Google page as their home screen, but now i see it as a tool which can be used to give one a jump start on their web browsing experience. No longer do they need to travel to Facebook or Twitter to view their feeds. They can have boxes of links to take them directly to the resources or web pages they wish. This is a great organizational tool which allows the amalgamation of both resources and entertainment all at once. The gadget i choose to add on to my iGoogle homepage is the fact of the day. I love to learn odd and strange facts from history because when i find a good one i weave them into my science lessons to intrigue the students. I sometime tell them odd facts right in the middle of a lesson to bring their concentration back to me without drawing attention to that fact. Over all I am very pleased with my progress.