Classroom+Integration

I work closely with teachers to plan classroom lessons that will allow them to utilize technology to engage and motivate their students. It is always my goal for the teachers to understand that technology should not be a component that is simply added onto a lesson or unit. It should take the place of something else in order to meet the objectives of the lesson. Instructional activities are based on the curriculum, district and state standards and the ISTE National Education Technology Standards for Teachers and Students.
 * Classroom Integration **

**This is a small sampling: ** **__Progressive Story Project__ **  I began this project last year. It is a shared writing experience in which students in classes from around the world are grouped in order to create a story together. The story is passed from one class to the next so that they can add on to the story. In the end, Voicethreads are created with illustrations and narrations from each of the classes. This spring over 100 classes participated. http://writeyourstory.wikispaces.com/  __**Storybird Projects:**__  A Storybird that was passed back and forth between a group in Mrs. Plever's second grade class and a group in Mrs. Griffith's second grade in NY. They connected via Skype at the beginning and end. The artist who created the pictures for the collection found the book and contacted us. He Skyped into the class to talk about being an artist and answered many questions. He also sent an original painting inspired by the story written by the students. **I was asked to be a guest author on the Storybird Blog to feature the project: ** ** @http://blog.storybird.com/2010/06/collaborative-storytelling%E2%80%94teacher-edition/ ** media type="custom" key="6781869"  <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Please visit my Teacher Resource Wiki to find MANY examples of student work using a variety of technology tools to enhance instruction: @http://tinyurl.com/ya94j6v **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">The third grade students at Hillside wrote Storybirds by passing them back and forth with students in Wisconsin. They were placed into groups and paired with a group at Horace Mann Elementary. Over a few weeks, they took turns choosing artwork and adding to the stories. The Patriot News even ran a story about the project. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">One of the Storybirds: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">media type="custom" key="6782013"

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">The Patriot News featured an article about the story. The best part about it was that the reporter "got it!" She focused on the writing part of the project and understood how the technology was simply the tool we used in order to collaborate and create. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Students wrote stories and then used tools such as Mixbook, Blabberize, Green Screen and Voicethread to publish them.
 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Digital Storytelling: __**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Grade 1 media type="custom" key="6782723" media type="custom" key="6782735" <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Grade 2 media type="custom" key="6750839" media type="custom" key="6750841" <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Grade 3 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">media type="custom" key="6750847" <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">media type="custom" key="6750853" <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">media type="custom" key="6750701" <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Grade 4 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">media type="custom" key="6750857" <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">media type="custom" key="6750861" <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">media type="custom" key="6750871"

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">The following are projects in which students were given an assignment to research something and find a way to report about it.
 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;"> Reports __**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;"> Explorer Reports

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;"> media type="custom" key="6750877" <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;"> Benjamin Franklin <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;"> media type="custom" key="6750881" <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;"> Animal Report <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;"> media type="custom" key="6750889" <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;"> US Regions <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;"> media type="custom" key="6750895"