Mark's+Wiki

== =Assignment One: Mark's Bio=

My name is Mark Allyn, and I teach 5th grade at the Runkle School. I've been at Runkle since 1999 and just finished teaching my 9th class. My classroom is a self-contained classroom, so they are stuck with me all day, and vice versa. Since beginning teaching, I have set goals to integrate technology across curriculums, and to use technology to enhance the learning process. Unfortunately, this hasn't happened, due to a variety of issues we are all familiar with (crashed network, dated hardware, not enough minutes in the school day, etc). So, I'm taking this class (non credit, PDP only) and a second EDCO class, "What's your container? Blogs, Wikis, and Social Networks in the Classroom" to jumpstart my interest in using technology more in my classroom.

This year, we went to the computer lab 10-15 times throughout the year. Because we are currently residing at OLS on route 9, my classroom computer station is far from ideal, only two computers, no wireless (there is a computer cart on my floor, but without adequate wireless capability, it's easier to go to the lab). In the lab, we worked on typing basics, word processing, research in ancient Egypt and astronomy. For example, we used the application glogster to make glogs (interactive online posters) based on research we collected on the moon. In the past, we have completed projects using iMove and Garageband.

Outside school, I'm a single dad raising a beautiful 3 year old named Macari. We spend our summers on Skaneateles lake, in a small town with the same name in central New York. I also have two beagle, Louie and Annie. I've had Louie for seven years, and we just adopted Annie from as shelter. She is around two, and was on a list to be euthanized at the shelter where she was dropped off, because her mange and heartworm were both very serious. But, her love and charm warmed the hearts of the shelter employees, who supposedly contributed some of their own money to pay for the needed treatments.



=ASSIGNMENT #2: Using google books= In 5th grade, we spend six weeks researching particular topics related to ancient Egypt. In the past, kids have studied the Pyramids, medicine, boating, jewelry, warfare, and various rulers, such as Hatshepsetsut and Ramses II. For research, we use books from the school library and we also spend three days in the computer lab, gathering information from posted websites approved by the teachers. This system works okay, but there are many, many published books out there that the Runkle Library doesn't include in their catalog. Many of our books are outdated or are worn out. It would be great to allow students to hunt down other books that might be available either online or at the Brookline Library.

Google books would work well for this. Let's say a student selected boats in ancient Egypt. I know that our books don't have a lot of information about books, so the student could use google books to see what's out there:

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Now, this student can see other books out there, either for purchase or what local libraries may carry the book. As many of our books are getting old and the information can be outdated, the student can limit the search to books published in the 21st century.



= ASSIGNMENT #3: Adding a widget or google gadget to your homepage and embedding a map =

media type="custom" key="10012835"

media type="custom" key="10012841"

Google Map of Skaneateles NY media type="googlemap" key="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=217321267345260180849.0004a8458eb9d41b21028&ie=UTF8&ll=42.951207,-76.424735&spn=0.022365,0.016789&output=embed" width="425" height="350" Mark - This should be embedded not linked.

I THINK I FIXED IT!!

=ASSIGNMENT #4=

Lesson: The Settlement of Jamestown, using the online game //[|Settlement Of Jamestown.]//

For this lesson, I would begin with a wordsplash, a graphic organizer that allows kids to work together to brainstorm and and share prior knowledge. I would give each table group a wordsplash, assign a scribe, and give the students five minutes to complete the wordsplash. After five minutes, I would review their wordsplashes as a class, putting correct information on an overhead of the Jamestown wordsplash on the board. For more on wordsplashes, click [|here].

Next, we will read about the settlement of Jamestown using the 5th grade social studies text. Students will give a thumbs up each time they hear one of the words from the wordsplash.

After reading from the text, we will travel to the computer lab. Using the smart board in the lab, I will introduce the website to the class, and play through the first two "scenes," involving where to land and first contact with the Natives. While at each scene, I will explore each of the tabs (ask a colonist, ask a Native, consult the charter, etc.)

After this brief intro, I will divide students into pairs. I will tell students that they will be graded based on their "score" and the report they receive at conclusion of the game.

After students play the game, as a class we will come back to the smart board to compare the "Jamestown" colonies they made to the historical Jamestown.

At the end of the lesson, we will go to the "Now we know..." section, and students can learn from the mistakes of history so they do not repeat them if they choose to play this game again at home or during free time or indoor recess **(This section was adapted from the actual website).**

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=Assignment #5=

1. If I decide to get a premium membership, I may use Spellingcity. I would use it in conjunction with important vocabulary from each curriculum for the week.. Every Monday, I would provide students with 10 important words related to next week's class work. Over the course of the week, students would be responsible in learning the spelling and meaning of each word. (This would be HW). The website allows for practice of spelling and vocabulary, including games. On Friday, I would give a quick spelling and vocabulary assessment on the board, or maybe the website.

2. 5th graders often struggle with math vocabulary, especially in the beginning of the year, with words such as factor, prime number, multiple, composite number, etc. A flashcard program like word stash.com would allow me to make up review sets of math vocabulary, that I could print out, cut, and put on a ring, and add to my math resource area. When a child forgets a word, he or she can go and flip through the flashcard ring to review the particular word.

3. Simultaneous Stanza Reader would be a great tool to use with ELL students that are new to English, when they are not in the ELL classroom, but the language in the class is still too difficult for them tom follow. With this program, students can practice decoding and pronouncing text, building their vocabulary and their understanding of English. These students can be especially difficult, because they want to participate in the curriculum, but their language abilities are still behind the level of class content. Programs like SSR help build language skills, rather than having a student try to participate in a lesson that just leads to frustration. I do know that this is just part of the process of learning a language, but having a couple of activities for ELL students for certain instances or lessons is important.

Podcast: Here's a podcast I made for a visit to another planet. Thanks for the help with the narration Alyssa! media type="file" key="Pluto Podcast.m4a" width="300" height="50"