Archive | Guest bloggers RSS feed for this section

Spreading a Love of Language Learning through Glogster EDU

15 May

Guest post by Audrey Misiano, World Language teacher and advisor of the Peace Through Language Club in the Marcellus Central School District

Marcellus Central School District’s Peace Through Language (PTL) Club is using Glogster EDU to share student created resources with elementary teachers in our district. The club’s Glogs will also be public for global use. Our mission is to promote peace by spreading the love of language learning. We are committed to providing free resources created for language learners and by language learners.

As the PTL Club advisor, I have been struggling to figure out the best options for sharing the club’s content in an organized fashion that is inviting to students and teachers alike. We already share our videos on our school’s computer network, but the club members have been creating projects in anticipation of sharing globally. Glogster EDU is allowing us to meet all these needs in a creative, aesthetically pleasing way.

You can see our first Glog offers a one-stop portal providing access to most of our resources. A tenth grade club member designed our logo found in the center of the Glog. To the left of the logo, you will find links to PTL resources organized by language. To the right of the logo is the video introduction to our club. The instrumental music is by a ninth grade club member who plays the mandolin.

Next, you’ll find the Spanish Daily Routine Song. Two students in my Spanish 2 class created the video for a project on reflexive verbs. The students used special software to create and loop the instrumental portion to accompany their original tune. The project rubric had a bonus point for humor that was quickly awarded!

The French prepositions video is a combined effort between the French Honor Society and the PTL Club. Under the direction of Robin Brown and Jessica Cuello, the French Honor Society created an original book. Students illustrated the book and wrote the sentences to match their illustrations. The yellow butterfly is native to Haiti and the other illustrations were designed to reflect Haiti as well. The French Honor Society raised funds to print, bind and ship 40 copies of the book to Saint Joseph’s School in Tibeau, Haiti. The PTL Club scanned the book and imported it into iMovie to add audio. This is the second year that the French Honor Society has created and sent educational products to Tibeau, Haiti. The PTL Club is very excited about future combined projects!

The English Alphabet and Vowels video was our first video created from member’s alphabet PowerPoints. The singing is by volunteer PTL students in grades 7-12 accompanied by the talented ninth grade mandolin player. The Spanish Celestial Bodies and Colors project was made by a 7th grade Exploratory Language student who is also a PTL Club officer. Her voice is the one you hear on the video.

Finally, we have added a few other links to our Glog that can be found by clicking certain images. Happy clicking! It is always fun to see how many hyperlinks there are hidden in a Glog!

Another thing to love about Glogster EDU is that you can mix up all different types of content in one neat package and share it globally…all within minutes! Club members are looking forward to doing just that as we move forward with our projects. We plan to create glogs organized by themes to best meet the needs of the seventeen teachers looking to provide more language exposure at the elementary level.

Until next time, happy Glogging!

In the words of a Glogster EDU flipper…

22 Mar
Today, I’ll let Glogster EDU Ambassador Lisa Salyer tell you in her in her own words how she uses Glogster EDU for flipped teaching. Take it away, Lisa!

When I discovered Glogster EDU,  I was struggling with how to incorporate meaningful higher level activities and project- based learning methods into my classroom.  Most educational software is limited to rote practice and memorization.  Glogster EDU is the only platform that I have found that allows for organization of teacher lessons, student projects, etc.

Glogster EDU is the absolute perfect platform for the flipped approach.  I think it is so important to demonstrate how you can create Glogs to meet diverse learning styles.  When possible I try to include a story, song, poetry, quotes, instructional podcasts, interactive practice, and enrichment through student creation of Glogs.

Oh! The Place You'll Go

I strive to design my own Glogs so that students who are absent can access the Glog and make up the lesson at home.  My goal in creating Glogs vary; however, my instructional Glogs aim to set purpose, provide review, instruct, and provide guided/independent practice.  I am also able to extend and remediate through Glogs.

As for preparing, recording and assembling,  a teacher must be motivated to do this during evenings and weekends.  With that being said, once you establish your core then enriching and making changes is easily done!  I try to find podcasts that already meet my instructional needs — no need to reinvent the wheel, plus pre-made podcasts save me a huge amount of time. (Click on the Glog thumbnails for examples.)

Night Letters (click on the Voki!

 On those days when I become a facilitator in my class, I feel a great since of accomplishment. My students are all exploring and learning, and I am monitoring, correcting misconceptions, or challenging students to extend their learning.  Some of the proudest moments I have are when  students self-inititate Glogs on topics of interest to them and learn through their own research!

Lisa has generously provided a few of her own Glog presentations:

Language Arts Glogs 

Math Glogs

Famous Americans Glog Project

Student Podcasts <— If you’re only going to click on one link, make it this one! So great.

Thanks so much, Lisa. I’m inspired; are you?

Standardized test prep? Flip it!

20 Mar
Today, Glogster EDU Ambassador Robin Keating shares how she uses the flipped classroom approach to prepare her students for standardized tests.

I have been using Glogster EDU for my flipped classroom often this year.  Presently we are in a review period for our state test, the STAAR.  For each unit, the students view a Glog to review videos and songs, play games, and read notes.  I also include a mystery person for them to identify as an accountability piece.

They have two days to review the Glog material.  On the third day, I assign an in-class project for students to complete based on what they reviewed on the Glog.  With this approach, I don’t have to do whole group instruction; I can plan activities that review the necessary skills while I pull small groups off to the side for more personal attention.   I post all the Glogs on my Wikispace so my students can access them easily.

I love the idea to include a “mystery person” to hold students accountable for reviewing the Glogs. (Hiding Justin Beieber behind an image of a present? Genius!) Robin turns a potentially snore-inducing task like standardized test prep into a fun, hands-on activity that students can move through at their own pace.

Do you incorporate flipped methods into your test prep? Can you think of other ways to make test prep more engaging?

Tomorrow, Glogster EDU Ambassadors will show how they adapt flipped classroom strategies to younger learners. Stay tuned!

Flipping the science classroom

19 Mar
Welcome to flipped week! We canvassed Glogster EDU Ambassadors to see how they are incorporating the flipped classroom approach in their teaching practice, and this week we’re sharing their techniques with you. Today, Cindy Willits, 5th grade teacher at PA Virtual Charter School, describes how she uses Glogster EDU in her science curriculum.

I do science labs with my students online, record the Elluminate (BB Collaborate) session, and put the link to the recording on the Glog. I also use videos of the entire lab broken down and attach lab sheets, etc. on the Glog to offer students the chance to do the lab on their own at home.  These Glogs also serve as a resource for next year!  

Here is my favorite Glog utilizing this approach for science:  

Be sure to click on the Elluminate session link in Cindy’s Glog above. The energy and enthusiasm she brings to her virtual lab is so inspiring!

Those who work in non-virtual schools could provide a video Glog as pre-lab work for students to watch at home, so that they come to class the next day ready to jump right in. Or Glogs could serve as guides for at-home labs, as enrichment activities or extra credit.

What do you think about this flipped approach to science labs? Have you incorporated similar strategies in your own classroom? Please share!

Using Glogster EDU to make the flip

16 Mar

Much has been said (and debated) about the “flipped classroom,”  a pedagogical model in which the traditional classroom structure — lecture in class, homework at home — is “flipped.” Students watch or listen to prerecorded material at home, and engage in collaborative exercises, discussions, and projects  in class. (If you’re not familiar with the idea, this is a good overview.) 

The concept is simple, but in practice, an effective flipped model requires a great deal of preparation upfront. Fortunately, with Khan Academy quickly becoming a household name and the launch of Youtube for Schools, teachers now have access to tens of thousands of quality recordings to help them “make the flip” without necessarily creating all of the instructional material themselves. The question then becomes one of delivery — how to make those resources easily accessible to students and motivating enough so that students actually do the necessary preparations at home.

We hope that Glogster EDU provides you with the answer. It’s quick and easy  to embed instructional videos in a Glog, which students can view from home or wherever they have internet access. The creative format is completely customizable and visually engaging for students. You can embed a podcast in your Glog, link to online resources, or use the data attachment tool (with Glogster EDU Premium) to attach a short quiz to check for comprehension. Students can leave their questions in the Glog comments, so you know exactly what to focus on in class the next day.

There are pros and cons to the flipped classroom, of course (as with any learning model, once size never fits all), but the basic philosophy is one I think we can all get behind: students taking control of their own learning. When class time is reserved for active learning rather than passive note-taking, students get the opportunity to collaborate with their peers and engage with the material in a hands-on way that will lead to authentic, meaningful learning.

Or that’s the goal, anyway. This is where you come into the discussion! Glogster EDUcators, we want to hear from you. Are you a proponent of the flipped model? How do you put it into practice? Do you use Glogster EDU to make the flip, and if so, how?

We’ve asked a few of our Glogster EDU Ambassadors these questions, and next week I’ll be sharing their stories, resources, and sample Glogs. I’d love to include your stories, too — feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.

Stay tuned!

Image from David Truss’s “3 Keys to a Flipped Classroom.” 

Make your textbook interactive with Glogster EDU

31 Jan

Guest post by Glogster EDU Ambassador Rositsa Mineva, a primary English Language Teacher from Stara Zagora, Bulgaria.

In Bulgaria, students start learning English at the age of 8, starting with basic speaking, reading, comprehensive listening, and writing.

When students are this age, they aren’t required to actually write vocabulary. Instead, students memorize words through repetition of new vocabulary, sentences, texts etc. Students need audio and visual aids as much as possible to help them with the learning process.

For a long time, I’ve been brainstorming some ideas on how to facilitate the self training of my students so they can continue to learn, both in and out of the classroom. I discovered that the best way to do this is by supplying them with more audio and visual aids to use at home and in the classroom. From this observation, the idea for a virtual classroom and interactive textbook was born.

Glogster EDU has helped a lot with both. On Glogster EDU, I made my virtual classroom with students. Using the variety of tools on the site,  I could make my textbooks interactive and share them with my students and colleagues (example 1), (example 2).

Making my textbook interactive was quite simple: I needed only to scan the pages of my real textbook as pictures (png, jpeg files), find audio files of my English lessons as mp3 files, find some interesting links in a connection with the topic and main aims of the lesson I was making interactive, and put them together on one page.

See the Glog below for an example.

It’s a fast, easy and fun activity which takes no more than 15 minutes to create. I compiled all units on a contest page.

I also put the link to my interactive textbook on the class wiki and connected it to my Skype information and the school website.

My students can no use their interactive textbook freely at home and listen to lessons and do exercises online. This improves my students’ reading and listening skills and makes learning more fun and engaging. It helps not only  students but parents as well.

Learn more about my internet classroom here.

 

My Internet Classroom

25 Jan

Guest post by Glogster EDU Ambassador Rositsa Mineva, a primary English Language Teacher from Stara Zagora, Bulgaria

To make learning accessible both at home and in school, I created an “internet classroom” for my students using Glogster EDU and a classroom wiki.

While my students are home, I can connect with them through Skype, which is an easy and fast way for me to give directions as well as get student feedback. If I want to communicate with my students outside of the classroom, I give them a link through Skype. They can use internet resources (e-textbooks,  e- tests, online exercises, projects, and other forms of project-based learning on different topics) freely from home. This improves students’ language and time management skills.

Example of a Test Preparation Glog

With Glogster EDU, students have the opportunity to interact in a safe, digital environment. With their student accounts, they can create Glog presentations or simply Glog about a  topic that interests them.

Project-based learning is accessible and fun for students on the site.  This kind of learning fosters teamwork, keeps students engaged in course content, and makes teaching and learning more fun.

This type of activity leads to the development of key skills which real 21st century students need: critical thinking, collaboration, presentation, and digital literacy skills.

Creating a digital learning environment with Glogster EDU, communicating with my students on Skype, and collaborating with them on a class wiki facilitates positive student-teacher relationships and allows both to explore Web 2.0 and learning concepts together.

Here are the resources I use in my online classroom:

My Glogster EDU profile

My class wiki 

E-textbooks 

E-tests 

Online exercises 

Glog projects 

Project-based learning

Glog presentations

Web 2.0 resources wiki

Bridge Learning from Home to School: Create an IT classroom with wiki, Skype, and Glogster

My Internet Classroom Glog

Vote for the 2011 Edublog Awards!

6 Dec

Update: Thanks to your support, Glogster EDU finished in second place! Thanks again to everyone who voted!

Glogster EDU is proud to be nominated for the 2011 Edublog Awards! We’re up for best free web tool.

Vote for Glogster EDU!CLICK HERE TO VOTE.

To vote for Glogster EDU, select “best free web tool” in the nominations category, and then select “Glogster.” You can vote once per day per category from the same IP address. If your school uses one IP address, make sure to remind your teachers and students to vote from home (or from their phones)!

Wondering who else to vote for? We’ve got a few suggestions:

To view all nominations and related links, check out this handy spreadsheet.

Don’t forget – you can vote once per day in each category. Vote as many times as you can before voting closes on 11:59 PM EST on Tuesday,  December 13th. Winners will be announced the following day.

Good luck, everyone! Go Glogster EDU!

Make your Wikis POP with Glogster EDU!

2 Dec

Guest post by Kevin Jarrett of NCS-Tech.

Just about everyone reading this will probably agree that Wikis (websites anyone can edit) are AWESOME, powerful tools that are great for use in education. My personal favorite wiki service, Wikispaces, offers a plethora of features and functionality along with a compelling, simple user interface (UI). They also offer free upgraded wikis to educators. What’s not to like?

Like Wikis...Well, since they are primarily text-based, wikis often lack visual appeal. I am reminded of the quote made famous in the 1990 Dudley Moore comedy Crazy People: “Buy Volvos. They’re boxy, but they’re good.” Wikis, too, are “boxy but good.” A typical wiki will use text content laid out via tables, possibly some embedded images and maybe a few HTML tricks to improve its appearance, but, wikis fundamentally lack direct support for graphical, interactive, animated user interfaces.

That’s where Glogster EDU comes in! Consider, as just one example, the fantastic eToolBox wiki curated by my friend and colleague Dianne Krause (follow her on Twitter -@diannekrause):

WSD eToolbox by Dianne Krause

(To see the Glogster component of Dianne’s wiki in it’s own full-screen glory, click here.)

Whoa! That’s a wiki? You betcha! As you can see the main content area of this wiki is chock full of crisp graphics, helpful animations (try mousing over some of the targets on that page), embedded video and more. That’s the power of Glogster EDU- it’s EASY to create STUNNING designs that help your visitors quickly locate the information they want on a wiki.

Here’s another example, one I did myself, for the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) 2011 convention, the largest gathering of its kind in the world:

Visit the High Tech Hall wiki: http://njea-hth-2011.wikispaces.com/

(And just for comparison sake, be sure to check out the alternate version I developed for iOS and other devices that don’t support Flash. What a difference!)

So how does this work? It’s pretty simple. The Glogster “front end” (as I call it) is built as the last step in the wiki creation process. You will need the wiki page addresses (URLs) for each of the sections (or “targets”) and some idea of how you want to lay out the page. You will use Glogster’s amazingly simple interface (shown below) to insert the link to each section using whatever Glogster design element you want.

Glogster editing interface

In other words, you basically build the Glogster to navigate to the various sections of your wiki by adding elements to the page with hyperlinks. (Doing so creates the nifty “pink circle” animation mouseover effect that confirms for the user they are about to click a hyperlink.) Once the Glog is done, you insert it using the Wikispaces “embed widget” – made even easier since Glogster and Wikispaces “talk to each other” and are directly integrated! See below!

Yep! That’s it! Build your wiki, create your Glog, embed, press OK, you’re done!

Glogster EDU is an amazing, powerful tool that lets you easily create interactive multimedia posters for any purpose. In this post, I’ve talked about how a Glog can enhance a wiki. You could easily use a Glog as a standalone website, since each Glog has its own unique URL. With unlimited storage, a huge collection of available graphics, the ability to upload your own media (images as well as video), and many eye-popping animations, Glogster EDU is a powerful tool for classroom use. One final note: the Glogster EDU learning curve is so gentle that kids teach themselves how to use it. Check out Glogster EDU today!

Kevin Jarrett is a Technology Facilitator, School District Webmaster, and Google Certified Teacher at Northfield Community School in Northfield, NJ.

Using Gloster EDU for Speech-Language Pathology

22 Nov

Guest post by Sean J. Sweeney, M.S., M.Ed., CCC-SLP, a speech-language pathologist, instructional technology specialist, and author of the blog SpeechTechie: Looking at Technology Through a Language Lens. This post first appeared as the final installment in SpeechTechie’s “Glogster EDU Week.”  Click here for the full list of posts.

So why should SLP’s care about Glogster?  You have seen/heard of a lot of potential applications for speech/language therapy over the course of the week, but here are a few more ideas for SLP-related Glogs:

  • Make a Glog with a series of stimulus pictures or videos related to a sound or phonological process, or phonemic awareness skills such as rhyming or recognizing word families —using Glogster’s audio recording feature!
  • Create Glogs to visualize, define and apply vocab lists.
  • Use Glogs to teach complex sentence formulation by developing a Glog each for key conjunctions (e.g. because, so, when, while, etc), or a Glog exploring a theme or topic with multiple featured conjunctions (and use student audio)!
  • Illustrate and demonstrate a repertoire of strategies in a Glog, such as listening, word retreival, or executive function strategies, with videos (perhaps student-created) serving as models/practice of the strategies.
  • Use Glogster as your Speech-Language Program home page linked to your school website, with links to helpful resources.
  • Glogster can be used to lend awareness to issues related to communication disorders and prevention, such as ASHA’s Better Speech and Hearing Month, CASLPA’s May Month, or TBI or Hearing Loss prevention. (Thanks@ndnspeechmom for your tweet regarding this idea).
And without further ado, a few more actual Glogs to serve as examples (click on the image to view the full interactive Glog):
← Older Entries

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 10,271 other followers