Class 23: PPT Games--creating question slides

Note: Today is the due date for your Kidspiration/Inspiration project.
Today we will focus on the PPT Games Assignment. Let's spend some time looking at the description now that you have had the opportunity to take a look at last semesters ppt games.

After we discuss the rubric/requirements for the ppt games project, we will have some of you share the your game story.

On Monday bring your completed Learning Puzzle for Your PowerPoint Game chart to class as well.

Agenda for PowerPoint Game project: (this agenda is tentative. We may make adjustments based on how our works go. )

Friday, Feb 29:

• Download the game template
• Creating question slides
• Creating the headquarters to access your question slides

Monday, Mar 3:

• Begin customizing the game template
• Write your game directions
• Finish the basic slides: objectives, game pieces, copyright notice, credits, etc.
• Write 3 questions to use in your game (on scratch paper) and bring to class.

Wednesday, Mar 5th:

• Write and refine questions for your game

Friday, Mar 7th:

• In classroom independent working day

Monday, Mar 10th -- Friday, Mar 14th: spring break! yay~!

Monday, Mar 17th:

• Peer review of Games

Wednesday, Mar 19th: Due of the game project before the class starts

Class 22: PowerPoint Games

Behaviorism, Constructionvism & Constructionism

We talked about learning theories of behaviorism and constructionvism in our learning puzzle class. Now we are going to talk constructionism and its use in the classroom. So, what is the difference among these theories? The term of "constructionism" was first developed by Papert in 1991. Based on Piaget's constructivism, he argued that kids learn things more by actually engaging the process of building the artifacts, which is, learning by doing. To know more about constructionism, see here and here.

PowerPoint Games

Today we'll talk about PowerPoint games: what they are and how they help students construct their own knowledge by building the artifacts while learning-- constructionism.

What were your favorite games? What characteristics made them your favorite? What experience do you have with instructional games? Are the characteristics of your favorite games found in most instructional games? How can PowerPoint be used to create an instructional game for your subject area?
It's important to know a little bit of background on the PowerPoint games project before we begin. Dr. Lloyd Rieber - a professor in my department - wrote a paper on this very topic. Many EDIT 2000 students have created their own games and more and more K-12 classrooms are using PowerPoint games as a way to address content standards through constructionism.
You'll want to view some sample games from the Homemade PowerPoint Games website and previous EDIT2000 students' works. After viewing several, you'll want to get started on your game. You'll need to look over the project assignment and use learning puzzle chart to organize the content that you are going to present with PowerPoint Game. You will use this template to create your own game.

Class activity
Review a PowerPoint game by group:
Form your group by the subject area you choose:
Science, math, history, Kindergarten,art, English literature, etc. The group should include 2-5 people. If you cannot find another group member, choose a group with a similar area with yours. If your group size is over 5, divide it into two groups.

Choose a PowerPoint game from the previous students' websites or the Homemade PowerPoint Game site. Note: The subject area of the game should be similar to your own subject area.

Discuss within your group about
1.Did the technology get in the way or enhance the way the subject was being taught?
2. How would you change the questions in order to enhance the ppt game?
3. What do you think they did well and would incorporate into your powerpoint game?
4. How do you think you would use powerpoint games in your classroom?
5. Is the game fun? Why?
6. What makes a game fun?

Present your group reviews in the class. You will:

• Talk about the game you reviewed in groups.
• You will first introduce the game to the class by opening the game and playing for a while;
• After the introduction, you will want to answer the questions that you just discussed about.
  

For Friday:

• Come up a story for your own game.
  
• On Wednesday and Friday' class, each one of you will have four minutes presentation on your story and the curriculum standards. You can create a short PowerPoint slide or use Microsoft Word to provide visual cues for your classmates.
• Your Kidspiration/Inspiration is due on Friday.
  

Class 21: Inspiration/Kispiration Project Description

Your "All About Me" class practice for Inspiration is due today. This practice has provided you with an opportunity to learn how to use the program. You should have already uploaded your product before the class.

Today we will discuss the Inspiration/Kidspiration Project description.

On Wednesday, we will begin discussing the concepts that will need to be addressed before we begin our PowerPoint Games Assignment.

Note: Your Inspiration/Kidspiration Project is due Friday, Feb 29th at the beginning of class. You should upload each activity and each teacher information sheet to the webCT and then upload them to your web portfolio. You will be able to upload your project from 1:00 pm today to 12:20 pm Friday.

You need to upload four pieces to WebCT:

• Two activities (They should be in isf format or kid format so that I can open it on my computer)
  
• you need to use both Inspiration and Kidspiration to create these two activities, which means, you are going to create one of them using Inspiration, and the other one using Kidspiration. Plus, one activity should be individual or small group activity, when the other should be a whole class activity.
  
• Two teacher information sheets (one for each activity)
• For your Teacher Information Sheet the Technology Integration Standard addressed is:"Uses brainstorming/webbing software in planning, organizing, and prewriting. " You can find more technology integration standards from ISTE standards for technology integration. This is from the Technology Integration Standards on the Georgia Learning Connections website. Your content standards should come from the Georgia Performance Standardsor QCC (Quality Core Curriculum Standards and Resources).

You will also need to upload your projects and teacher information sheets to your web portfolio and briefly describe them.

Class 20: Kidspiration

Today we'll learn how to create an activity in Kidspiration and work in teams of two to 3 to create an example of project ideas. Here are some more ideas from the Inspiration website. You will have the remainder of class to work on your own.

Your Inspiration/Kidspiration Project is due Friday, Feb 29th at the beginning of class. You should upload each activity and each teacher information sheet to the webCT and then upload them to your web portfolio.
For your Teacher Information Sheet the Technology Integration Standard addressed is:"Uses brainstorming/webbing software in planning, organizing, and prewriting. " This is from the Technology Integration Standards on the Georgia Learning Connections website. Your content standards should come from the Georgia Performance Standardsor QCC (Quality Core Curriculum Standards and Resources

). This page can also help you to find Georgia Performance Standards and suitable Kidspiration/Inspiration activities/templates.

Click here to find more examples.

Note: The webCT submission for the "All about me" class activity now is opening. Please upload it before class on Monday, Feb25th.

Class 19: Inspiration/Kidspiration

Your understanding of technology's place in the classroom is really starting to come together. You are learning that technology is not used in K-12 classrooms just to make learning more fun. Technology tools can be used in conjunction with good teaching strategies to address various learning styles and student needs.

Today we will be looking at visual learning software to create concept maps -- Inspiration and Kidspiration. Both tools allow PreK-12 students to see a concept and its connecting themes and ideas. During class today, we will create an "All About Me" concept map. You will need to submit it to me via WebCT before Monday, Feb 25, as part of the class participation.

For the class project, you'll create two (2) activities for your subject area/grade level -- one for a whole group lesson and one for a small group or individual lesson. This will be due on Friday, Feb 29th. In the previous semesters, I asked students to use Inspiration if they chose to focus on grade 6 or greater, and to use Kidspiration if they chose to focus on pre-K to Grade 5. But since you may not be assigned the same grade level as you proposed in this class, you will need to use both Inspiration and Kidspiration to create these two activities, which means, you are going to create one of them using Inspiration, and the other one using Kidspiration.


You'll also want to download a 30 day trial Inspiration and Kidspiration from this website so you can work on the assignment outside of the lab.

Sample works:

• Sample 1
• Sample 2
  

Class 18: Wrap up your Productivity Tools project

Today we are going to wrap up our productivity tools project.
Your final submittal should include two parts:
Part 1:
You need to write a reflection on this project, including what you learned from creating these objects, how you think they can be used in the classroom, and at least two lesson plans found online as examples of using these productivity tools. These lesson plans should use the tools in a LoTi 2 or greater level. These lesson plans can be found from the Educator resources sites, which are on the right side of this blog. You can also google and find lesson plans that you want.
Your reflection should be no less than 450 words. It needs to be put on your productivity tool page of your web-portfolio. This page should also include at least 3 screenshots for your products.
In addition, all the nine objects should be converted to PDF files and then uploaded to your web-portfolio. The reason that you need to convert them to PDF files is for people who may not have the same Microsoft Office software can open and view your products.

Sample reflection pages:

• Sample 1
• Sample 2
• Sample 3 (Note: this one did not convert files into PDF, which caused some points taken off, but other parts were very good)
  
• Sample 4 (Note: This one didn't mention the LoTi level in the lesson plans, which also caused points off, but other than that, it was really good).
• Sample 5
  

Part 2:
Your works will be submitted to WebCT. You will be able to submit them from 11:00 am, Feb 18th, Monday to 12:20 pm , Feb 20, Wednesday.

You will need to submit the following documents: (Note: these files should be in the original Microsoft Office file format)

# Brochure/Newsletter
# Calendar for March 2008
# Attendance sheet
# Grade sheet
# Excel Pictography
# Seating chart
# Business card/Student name tag
# Certificate * 2 / Hall pass *2
# Worksheet
# The word document of your reflection. At the beginning of this word document, please indicate your productivity page's URL.

Note: Please put your name in each file's name that you submit.

Before you submit your projects, you need to find a partner and review each other's work. You should be responsible to check your partner's work according to the project rubric, and to give suggestions on how his/her work can be improved.

On Wednesday, we are going to talk about our second project: Inspiration and Kidspiration.

Class 17: Seating Chart, Screen shots, Converting to PDF, and writing reflection

Today, we are going to:

• Make screenshot of your projects
• Upload all your nine objects to your web-portfolios
  
• Write reflections

MS PowerPoint is a dynamic software tool that allows one to create presentations. PowerPoint provides you with the opportunity to list information, display graphics (including animations), concept maps, and tables. Short movies, hyperlinks, and music may also be embedded in PowerPoint presentations.We will spend more class time on learning about PowerPoint later in the semester. For this part of the Productivity Tools project you will learn to use the drawing tools in PowerPoint to create a seating chart. Don't forget that these same drawing tools can be used in all Office applications (Word, Excel, etc.)

Requirement for this object:
Layout of classroom, including: 20 desks, teacher work area, 3 computers, other classroom furniture.
Sample work

Here are some sites which provide more information about PowerPoint:
PowerPoint in the Classroom
Integrating PowerPoint
Using PowerPoint in the Classroom

Make a screenshot
Please use the handout to make the screenshot for your objects. You will need at least three screenshots to put on your reflection page. You can also watch the video to see how to make a screenshot.


On Monday, you will review each other's works in pairs. You should be responsible to find out the missing parts in your partner's work, and to give suggestions on how his/her work can be improved.

Your works will be submitted to WebCT. You will be able to submit them from 11 am, Feb 19th, Monday to 12:20 pm , Feb 21st, Wednesday.

You will need to submit the following documents:

# Brochure/Newsletter
# Calendar for March 2008
# Attendance sheet
# Grade sheet
# Excel Pictography
# Seating chart
# Business card/Student name tag
# Certificate * 2 / Hall pass *2
# Worksheet
# The word document of your reflection. At the beginning of this word document, please indicate your productivity page's URL.

Note: Please put your name in each file's name that you submit.

Class 16: Excel Pictography and Seating Chart

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today we will work on Excel Pictograph and Seating Chart.
On Monday, we worked with Excel to create our grading sheet and attendance sheet. Today we are going to continue our work with Excel, to create some diagram with it.

What is a pictograph? A graphical representation that shows numerical information by using picture symbols. A form of bar graph with the bars replaced by rows or columns of symbols.

Note: Here is an example of pictograph.
I have also posted a link to an example of a pictograph on our Productivity Tools Description.

In order to orient ourselves, I have provided a link to a video regarding how to create a pictograph. It is called "Making a Pictograph in Excel." The tutorial we will be using to create our pictograph is called "An "excel"lent way to create pictographs for younger students."

Make sure you are using the rubric as a guide to make sure that you are meeting the requirements for Productivity Tools Assignment.

On Friday, please make sure you bring every object that you have created to the class, because we are going to:

• Make screenshot of your projects
• Upload all your nine objects to your web-portfolios
  
• Write reflections

Class 15: Working on Worksheet, Attendance Sheet and Grade Sheet

I hope you all had a good weekend. By now you should have already finished the following objects:

• Certificate * 2 / Hall pass *2 (no matter what you choose to work with , the total products for this object will be two).
  
• Business card/Student name tag
• Calendar for March
• Brochure/Newsletter

On Friday, Anita had you devide into groups and explored different aspects of working on the Brochure/Newsletter object. I think that was a very good strategy and should have helped you to know more about the requirements for this object.

Today we will first talk about worksheet, and then we will have you work on the attendance sheet and grade sheet. You should have brought your handouts about creating attendance sheet and grade sheet, which I gave you on last Wednesday.
Useful links:

• Puzzle Maker
• Worksheets for Teachers
• You can also find other useful worksheet tempaltes or puzzle makers for your own subject area and grade level with Google!

When you are creating crossword puzzles, some computers (usually are Macs) or programs don't allow you to copy the puzzle and then paste it to a Word document. In this situation, you can choose "File"-->"Print"-->"PDF", and then your webpage puzzle will be converted into a PDF file.

Grade book and Attendance Sheet
Your final object for these two sheets will be in the same XLS file as the following:
* An attendance sheet for 8 students calculating the number of absences for a 5 day period.

* A grade sheet for the same 8 students calculating their grade average for five assignments.

* Both of the sheets need to alphabetized (use the "sort" function in the menu to do this) by the last name. The workbook sheet tabs must be labeled.

On Wednesday, we are going to work on :

• Working on:
• Excel Pictography
• Seating chart

Please bring your Pictography handout on Wednesday.

Class 14: Work on Brochure/Newsletter and working sheet

By now you should have finished with the objects that we worked on Wednesday:

• Certificate * 2 / Hall pass *2 (no matter what you choose to work with , the total products for this object will be two).
  
• Business card/Student name tag
• Calendar for March

Please remember that you should always match your project content with the subject area and grade level that you chose.

Have questions about your project?
I created a "Productivity Tools Q/A " thread on your WebCT discussion board. Please paste your questions there and help to solve other people's questions. Learning is a collebrative process. We should use other people's knowledge and be willing to help others.

Today we will work on:

• Brochure/Newsletter
• Microsoft Template Gallery for PCs
• Microsoft Template Gallery for Macs
• Worksheet
• ‧ Puzzle Maker
• Remember you can always google for some good resources for teacher by yourself!

On Monday, we are going to work on :

• Attendance sheet
• Grade sheet

Please bring the handouts that you got on Wednesday with you.

Class 13: Productivity Tools-- Introduction

Please turn in your "Advanced Organizer" today.

How to upload your PowerPoint presentation to your web portfolio?

Introduction to Productivity Tools
We have already finished our foundation part for the EDIT2000 class. We learned some pieces of learning theories, standards, teaching strategies and resources & tools. Now we will use these learned pieces to start working with our first class project: Productivity Tools. From now on, you will work on six hands-on projects considering the students in your selected subject area and grade level as your project audience.

You'll use various productivity tools: Word, Excel, and PowerPoint to prepare materials for your class. Use the link to the productivity tools project description to get the specifics on the deliverable you will create.

Sample student works:

• sample 1
• sample 2
  

Remember: there are always a lot of good and free resources online!
‧ Microsoft Template Gallery for PCs
‧ Microsoft Template Gallery for Macs
‧ GLC Resources for First-Year Teachers
‧ GLC Templates
‧ Education World Templates
‧Super Kids Math Worksheet Creator
‧ Puzzle Maker
‧ Spreadsheet ideas
‧ Inner Geek Tutorials (Element K)

You need to first complete all nine projects and then upload them to your web-portfolios. After that, you need to write a reflection about this project.

To keep us on track, this is our agenda for the following two weeks:

Today:

• introduction to Productivity tools;
• working on:
• Certificate * 2 / Hall pass *2
• Business card/Student name tag
• Calendar for March

• Resources
• Templates for Certificate
• On GLC
  
• On Education World
• PC templates
• Mac templates
  

Friday, Feb 8:

• Independent working day (attendance required):
• Brochure/Newsletter
• Worksheet

Monday, Feb 11:

• Working on:
• Attendance sheet
• Grade sheet

Wednesday, Feb 13

• Working on:
• Excel Pictography
• Seating chart

Friday, Feb 15

• Make screenshot for your projects
• Write reflections
  

Monday, Feb 18:

• Peer review (group in paris to check each other's work. Make sure everything is there.)

Wednesday, Feb 21:
Turn in your projects before the class starts.




Before you begin working on your materials, you'll sit in a short lesson on using templates to streamline your work. This will help you to create your newsletter, calendar, business cards, and certificates. Make sure to save a copy of each completed artifact to your assignments folder on your key drive, or send it to your gmail. It will be easier for you if you name your files as what they are (i.e. the calendar could be called "calendar.doc")

Class 12: LoTi Level

We had very good group presentations on Friday about: the Google Earth and the Smartboard.
Today we will have the last but not the least: Wiki group presentation!

I believe all of us have learned something from other groups' presentations. I also learned a lot. For example, I hadn't known how the Smartboard catches the fingers' motion until last Friday. I also hadn't known that you could actually use the Google Earth and Wikipedia together until last Friday! There are so many technologies and tools available for us to explore and to use in our classroom. But as some of you addressed, sometimes technologies can hinder students' learning, and some may not be suitable for certain types of students. To what level should we apply technologies in our classroom? What type of technology will the teacher use to meet the needs of their students?
There are standards regarding the use of technology in the classroom. The Levels of Technology Implementation (LOTI) is used to quantify what is going on in the classroom. You'll be referring to these levels, along with standards, in all facets of your project work for our class. We will use the information from the LoTi website, the assessment tool used at the Georgia Department of Education for technology use and integration in K-12 classrooms. We will discuss the different levels of technology use and integration in K-12 classrooms. Please feel free to use the handouts as we are discussing the different levels.

Class activity:
Post at least one example of using technology in your classroom (suiting your own subject area and grade level) to WebCT and explain why you think it is at this LoTI Level. You can use the resources listed on the class blogsite to search lesson plan and to get ideas.

To do list:

• Read Chapter 10: Productivity Tools
• Please fill out your advance organizer and turn it in on Wednesday.