Work+Samples

__Click HERE to return to my home page__

WORK SAMPLES
Note: This is just a small sampling of ways I have integrated technology into the classroom. There are literally limitless forms of technology available, much of which I have also tried and much of which I haven't yet. I could spend the rest of my life exploring ways to use technology in the classroom and still not scratch the surface. Technology drives our future. That's why it's so critical to use it daily and to constantly discover and try new forms as we facilitate making our students (and ourselves) 21st Century learners. Part of my job as a facilitator is to go beyond what I've already discovered and to constantly find new and innovative ways to incorporate technology into the classroom. It's a daily quest and I love it!

Voki
Voki is a tool that allows students to create avitars that can speak messages of up to one minute that the students record themselves. For example, students can create a one minute statement by a historical figure such as Abraham Lincoln as part of a social studies project. They can do a one minute introduction of themselves as part of an English class. Or students can design a Voki based on a character they are reading in a novel or short story. The possibilities are endless and the process is fun!

Click HERE to see a recent Voki project of mine.

Return to top of page Return to home page

[|Hypermedia Research Paper Project]
Gone are the days of the old fashoned research paper. Check out this paper I wrote for my hypermedia graduate school class. Yes, it's about hypermedia, but...even more importantly...it actually IS hypermedia. Don't pay nearly as much attention to the text of the paper as you do to the multiple hyperlinks that will take you on a virtual tour of the topic ranging well beyond anything I wrote. **Please hover over and CLICK every picture and every word that is boxed in or underlined to understand how this is FAR more than a paper. It's a total hypermedia experience that takes readers far beyond the basics of the paper.** Although this is a personal paper of mine, I am prepared to teach how to write a hypermedia-enhanced paper to any class of any grade level and to facilitate the process. After students create a project or two like this, a traditional research paper will be as dull as a steak without the A-1!

[|To see this hypermedia paper, click HERE].

Return to top of page Return to home page

[|Peer Editing and Teacher Grading Using Adobe Buzzword]
This is an example of how an entire class or small groups in class can edit each other's papers online. Students and the teacher may log on anytime from any internet connection to make comments after the author has turned on sharing permissions. This gives the author total control of how soon the document is shared. Annotations and suggested corrections can be made right on the screen without affecting the original text. The original writer still has the choice of how to make the final edit and when to cease giving others permission to comment. Additionally, the teacher may grade the paper using Buzzword, this eliminating the need for printing. Yes, it's possible to have a paperless paper! This is an example of how this form of hypermedia is being used in my class on a regular basis. You'll notice how several students have made comments and also how I have made comments on the paper while grading it. The hyperlinks attached to the annotations will take you to the specific comments. This hypermedia tool is available for free at [|www.acrobat.com]

[|Click HERE to see how students and I are using this hypermedia tool in my classroom. Click the numbers beside the paper to read the peer comments.]

[|Click HERE to see how Buzzword looks on screen as students are peer editing papers online from ANYWHERE! Notice how each student has their own color.]

Return to top of page Return to home page

Martin Luther King: I Have a Dream Speech Analysis
I have used this lesson plan in debate class for a lesson on the analysis of speech rhetoric, although it works very well as a social studies plan for middle school or high school. It contains interactive video and audio.

To view the plan and the hypermedia links to the resources I used, click HERE.

Return to top of page Return to home page

** Martin Luther King: Is the Dream Still Alive?: A technology filled lesson plan leading to an online debate **
This is a ten day lesson plan designed for a middle school or high school social studies or debate class. It involves researching the life and mission of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and ultimately debating students from another school via an online videoconference using a service such as Skype.

Click HERE to see the lesson plan.

Return to top of page Return to home page

[|Speech and Seminar Evaluation Tool]
This is a tool I created using Excel that allows a teacher (or a student with a computer) to keep track of and evaluate the comments or speeches that are made in a class discussion or seminar. It indicates the order in which a student spoke and allows for both a rubric score and a comment on each speech or discussion point to be referred to later for grading (teacher) or reflecting (student). The color codes represent the topic(s) on which the student spoke and whether the student supported or opposed the topic or question being presented.

[|Click HERE to see a screenshot of the Speech and Seminar Evaluation tool]

Return to top of page Return to home page