Tool # 9

1. Why do you think it is important to tie the technology to the objective? Everything must be based on an objective to hold students accountable.
2. Why should we hold students accountable for the stations/centers? To stay focused on the task at hand and produce meaningful products.
3. Visit 2 of the applicable links to interactive websites for your content/grade level. Which sites did you like. How could you use them as stations? How can you hold the students accountable for their time in these stations? I like the Time For Kids Website and Animoto. On the TFK site students would be responsible for finding a current event and writing their opinion. They could even chose to write an essay. Students would be held accountable for making sure they had a clear claim, support points with evidence, and a conclusion. Students would create an Animoto after a social studies lesson on explorers or native americans. Students will be held accountable through a teacher created timeline and rubric.
4. List two to three apps you found for the iPod Touch/iPad that you can use in your classroom. What do you see that station looking like? How can you hold the students accountable for their time in these stations? I would like to use Word Catcher and Free Books in my classroom. Word Catcher allows students to make words out of falling letters. This is similar to Boggle and Scrabble. They could use this station during free time and write down a list of the words found. Maybe play with a partner to see how many words could be made within a certain time. With Free Books students can chose and download from over 23,00 books. They can highlight, bookmark, or even use the dictionary. I would have students use the bookmark feature to show me the progress they have made. This would hold them accountable and if they were not reading a reasonable amount of pages the IPad privilege would be lost.
5. What about other ways to use the iPod Touch/iPad? Share another way you can see your students using the device as a station. Save the same book on all four and create a book club.