Rekonen's 23 Things Blog

iMovie

2008-04-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

I had my pre-AP class do a History Day project last trimester. Most students chose to create 3-sided display boards. However, one group of two girls made a documentary using iMovie. They made a great team because one of the girls gathered the data and did the interviews and the other one was experienced with the technology. I definitely need to brush up on my iMovie skills because I really couldn't offer them any help. I was most impressed by the finished product, which included pictures, movies, captions, sub-titles, songs, and narration. I would certainly like to become more skilled with this program. It is a great format for presenting research.

Thing 26: Digital Map Collections

2008-04-15T06:19:00.000-07:00

Google Earth is one of the most exciting parts of my new Mac. It has brought a whole new life to the old game of spinning a globe, pointing your finger, and saying that one day I will live there. I have used it just for recreation so far. What does the Grand Canyon look like? Where should I visit on my trip to LA? I want to relive old memories from trips I've taken....

There are definitely ways that I can incorporate Google Earth into my curriculum, however. What a great tool it is. Next year, in cahoots with my new SmartBoard, I would like to use this program to show the students what the earth really looks like, and how World History played out on the same land that is around today but just in a different time.

It would also be a great tool to use to get my advisories attention. The kids need movement and imagery and a "wow" factor. Google Earth is one program that can give them this...along with some real learning!

Thing 18: One Student Thing: SmartBoards

2008-04-15T06:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday a Smartboard rolled into my classroom. Our school has 10 new smartboards this year and I was not chosen as one of the lucky teacher who recieved one. However, one of the lucky teachers did not utilize it very well, and after listening to the students yell "Give it to Ms. Rekonen!" all year, we finally arranged for it to be in my classroom. I didn't even mind that I didn't have one except that I found it irritating to listen to the students constantly say "Why didn't YOU get a Smartboard?!??" I often told them that I didn't need one. What would I use it for? Well, there answer to me was "everything!". The students informed me that a smartboard in the classroom would be VERY useful. I could project maps on whim, I could show video on something other than the television way off in the corner, I could show them websites and photos, I could use it like a whiteboard to write Cornell Notes...I could do everything! Every time I roll out the creaky old overhead projector I certainly "hear it". The students are definitley excited about all of Humboldt's Smartboards, and now I am, too.

Now, if I can just get the computer guy in here to install the software....

Thing 16: Using MNLink

2008-04-15T06:06:00.000-07:00

Inter Library Loan was first introduced to me in college. I didn't get a chance to use it very often due to my tendency to procrastinate, but it was a great tool to have. I went to college at Minnesota State University, Mankato and we had a fabulous library. I made friends with the quirky librarian and appreciated a lot of what the library had to offer...especially that it was open late during finals week for us "crammers".

I think that using such a tool like ILL with high school students is a fascinating idea. Imagine it...how far past "Google it" can you get other than using sources that are so obscure that it is only available at certain libraries throughout the state! I think that the students would find it exciting to have in thier hands such unique sources. I just hope they don't lose them!

2008-04-09T14:45:00.000-07:00

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Thing 14 and Thing 15

2008-04-09T13:23:00.001-07:00

Please see prior blogs.

Thing 13: Subscription Databases

2008-04-09T13:19:00.000-07:00

Ever since being introduced to the SPPS subscription databases, or Online Learning Resources, I have been a huge fan. My favorite is ABC-CLIO but I am a new user of United Streaming and directed my History Day students to the others. I think that this is a great use of district resources and I hope that they become even more popular in the future. During our presentation I showed them to the staff at Humboldt and I was very surprised that most of the staff didn't know about them. I wish that they were advertised better and utilized even more.

MILP Presentation

2008-04-09T13:14:00.000-07:00

Humboldt Sr. High offers teachers 1/2 hour staff development sessions once a month during our lunch hour. The Humboldt MILP Crew, Marilyn, Carmen, Matt and I presented to our staff about the best of the best of MILP. I spoke about the 3 R's. I wanted to talk about Del.icio.us as well, but we ran out of time. It was such a nice experience to share information about MILP with our colleagues and I hope that some of them join the project next year.

Topics shared:
3 R's
Research Process
Level 4 questions
RPC

Thing 12: Search Engines

2008-03-12T14:29:00.000-07:00

For some reason I always use Google as my search engine of choice. I'm not quite sure, maybe it's because Google is so clutter-free. Yahoo and ask have a lot more going on on their pages. Hmmmm....here's the test: Ask vs. Google.....

Interesting! Ask has this lovely page with images, news, encyclopedia entries and dictionary definitions right there for you! This is different than Google, where you have to add an extra "click" to get to these things. I think that it's time for me to use more ask.com!

Thing 11: GOOGLE

2008-03-12T13:17:00.001-07:00

I love Google. I love Gmail, I love Blogger, I love Reader, I use the search, I appreciate the little artwork on special days, I think Google Earth is absolutely amazing, I have begun to use Google Scholar with my students, and I love Marilyn's photos on Picasa. Before MILP I had no idea of how useful, versatile, and PROFESSIONAL Google truly is. Blogger, Reader, and Scholar were all new to me. My students are also learning more about the usefulness of google (and that "google" is NOT a "source"!)

Thing 10: Copyright and Plagiarism

2008-03-12T13:12:00.000-07:00

Oh wow, it sure is hard to keep on top of plagiarism with the students. I mean, it is pretty easy to spot, but it is hard to explain and to direct them towards responsible use. My students do a few research projects in my class and this is the ongoing struggle. It becomes especially difficult with students with learning disabilities or low reading levels and writing skills. I could spend weeks on lessons about how to write information "in your own words" and how to create work based off of information learned from several different sources.

I'm still plugging away, however! Any advice on this subject would be welcomed!

del.icio.us!!!

2008-03-12T13:08:00.000-07:00

I am now a new del.icio.us user and it is fabulous! What a great tool. When I first heard about it I didn't see its value. However, as a social studies teacher, there are so many websites out there to use and del.icio.us is a tool to help me not only tag and remember these sites but to organize them as well. The only thing that I want to do now it install the tools onto my other computer, too. Yay for del.icio.us!

Reliable Resources

2008-02-04T16:15:00.000-08:00

I have been talking to my students a lot about reliable resources. They are gaining an understanding of what those mean and most of them chime in when I say "We need to make sure that are sources are what??? Reliable!" I also developed a "Source Sheet" where they keep track of their sources and include bibliographical info, an annotation, and an explanation of WHY they think that the source is reliable. Examples: the domain is .edu. It was on an online learning resource database.

Online Learning Resources

2008-02-04T16:13:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday Marilyn, our Library Media Specialist, team taught with me. She helped my class discover how to use the online card catalog and the online learning resources. It was a great experience! The students are working on a History Day project. The OLR's will help them to find reliable resources and primary documents, two of the cornerstone for History Day! Awesome!

Also, the students now have the website, connect.spps.org memorized! Yay!

Thing 9. Streaming Video

2008-01-02T08:27:00.000-08:00

I am all signed up for United Streaming and am marveling at the plethora of available videos! I will definitely be showing them when I am absent at training sessions and to enhance my curriculum. WOW! What a great tool!

Thing 8. Dribbling Lessons for Information Literacy

2008-01-02T04:53:00.001-08:00

Wow, these dribbling lessons are definitely something to use in the classroom. I hope to use my first one on Friday along with the RPC. Wish me luck!

Thing 21. YouTube and More

2008-01-01T18:48:00.000-08:00

I have directed some of my students to YouTube for their research projects. I find it especially effective for students with learning disabilities who learn easier through visual aids rather than reading, especially off of a computer screen. It is exciting to be able to show a student how to use it for educational purposes and a little bit fun when I approach them and they think that I am going to yell at them for being on the YouTube site but instead show them all of the good stuff on there!

Anticipations of the RPC

2008-01-01T18:45:00.000-08:00

On Friday I will introduce the RPC to my students so that they can use it to help them with their History Day Projects. I am really impressed that the PRC does such a great job of having very practical goals and deadlines. The correspond exactly with the demands of the project and the assignments that I will grade for the project. I will keep you all posted on how the students react to the RPC!

Thing 6

2007-12-20T07:02:00.000-08:00

Thing 6. Teacher Guide to the Research Project Calculator

I have gone through many ups and downs with learning about the Research Project Calculator. Right now I am at an "up" with it because I finally feel like I know enough about it and understand it enough to effectively use it in my classroom. I was daunted by the idea of using it with all of my classes, but finally came to the conclusion to just use it with my Pre-AP class for their History Day projects. The RPC will be such an asset to the History Day project for several different reasons. I am excited about my ideas to incorporate assignments about each step on the RPC. I was really helped out by last week's MILP meeting and the handouts given by the teacher who already has incorporated the RPC into his classroom. Thanks!

Thing 5

2007-12-20T06:03:00.000-08:00

Thing 5. Create and Maintain a Teacher Web Page

On November 7, Leslie came to Humboldt to help us set up our Urban Planet teacher web pages. I really like that the teachers can have web pages. I have seen them be very effective in helping out the students, especially those who have a lot of absences. I am excited to become a teacher who has a very nice and useful website. I have a website now, but it does not have a lot of information on it. Leslie will be coming back to Humboldt again to give us time and help with making our website even better.

Even though I want to have a useful website, I know that it will take some time to get to that point. Right now there isn't a lot of time to work on it. I know that once I put some time into it it will be extremely easy to update and will save me time in the end. Some day!

The link isn't up on the Humboldt website yet. It will be soon, however.

Thing 1, Thing 2, Thing 3, Thing 4

2007-10-02T18:50:00.000-07:00

Thing 1: What Are You Talking About?Understanding Information Literacy
Begin the project by thinking about information literacy & what it means to you and your students.
Check out the Standards we keep talking about and learn our vocabulary.
* Check! Done at Orientation and thing a lot about the 3 R's.

Thing 2: Create Your Blog & Post About It
We want to know about your discoveries, your ideas, your thoughts on the project, and more.
Weekly posts will do all this. And remember--at least one post a week will get your name in our monthly drawing for door prizes!
* Check! You're lookin' at it!

Thing 3: RSS & Newsreaders
Keep up with your fellow MILI bloggers by setting up a Bloglines account.
Add a feed to your blog.
* Check! I used Google Reader because I have a Gmail account (and P.S., I LOVE it!) and I found it to be surprisingly easy! I just followed the directions in the email we got from Ann and all new postings pop right up for me! Yay!

Thing 4: Get to Know Your Public Library
Public libraries are a wealth of information resources both in person and virtually. And they are there when you can't be. Take time to learn more.
Introduce your students to the world of the public library. That library card really is a key to knowledge.
* Half of a check! I am a user of my local libraries (the Rondo Community Center being my favorite). The are so helpful for teachers and have a great selection of social studies materials for my classroom. I am excited to utilize them to help me pull resources and to use their bookmobile! I still need to talk to my students about the wonders of the library, but I will wait a couple of weeks until we get deep into the research process.

Pre-test

2007-09-28T12:07:00.001-07:00

I administered the pre-test to all of my students on Monday. I used the online version and I think that that was helpful. I tried to carefully explain to my students that the test would be hard and they aren't expected to know any of the answers. Because the students like to use computers, none of them shut down and stopped taking the test. A few began to quickly check "I don't know" for each one, but most of them read each question carefully and considered each answer.

Just by looking over shoulders at their work, I was able to see that we all have a LOT to learn! I will be so excited when the students pass this test at the end of this project!

Installing the projector

2007-09-28T10:04:00.000-07:00

A colleague of mine has a projector just like the ones we all have, but she got it from a different source. She mounted hers onto the ceiling by replacing a ceiling tile with a panel of plywood and screwing it to the plywood. An extension cord runs across the ceiling and down the wall to complete the set-up!

I love my equipment!

2007-09-28T10:03:00.000-07:00

I LOVE my new equipment! My first Powerpoint Presentation in the classroom was very successful. I was able to use visuals and show websites...things I was never able to do with my overhead projector!

Rekonen's First Blog

2007-09-12T16:48:00.000-07:00

As a member of the Metronet Information Literacy Project, I will be blogging about my experiences in the project for the purposes of accountability and information sharing.