David Lee EdTech

[gallery] New Classroom ’s Learning Environment Model (Image from New Classroom’s website)

New Classroom is a nonprofit organization that focuses its energy on personalizing learning for students. Most classrooms consists of teacher-led instruction, but students can learn in other different methods. The organization’s website describes three other learning situations:  Collaborative activities where students learn from one another. Online resources that provide lessons, such as tutorials or online teachers. Work done individually with printed materials or computer software. New Classroom’s learning environment model combines all these different learning opportunities to provide students with personalized learning.  I would love to see an example of a classroom that has followed this learning environment model. 

Teachers typically follow a scope and sequence and teach to the middle while doing their best for students at the high and low ends. Our model uses technology to take all the data we have about each child every day. Then we convert it to a unique daily schedule for each student and teacher. -Joel Rose CEO of New Classrooms explains how his TEACH TO ONE model fits technology into Common Core Standards. ( http://www.techlearning.com/article/52563 )

Brianna  Bedessem, our talented ES art teacher in KIS, has designed four amazing images for the Expected School Wide Learning Results . Amanda Willis, our student counselor, and Danielle Rich, our associate principal, asked me to use the images and create banners for the different learning results. I used Apple’s Pages and here are the products of the whole process:  I think we will see these banners around campus next year. 

The 3rd grade team and I collaborated to create passports for their 1900s reenactment of immigrants coming to America.  I created a passport template that included the passport cover and back, visa papers, baggage and interview papers, photo, and immigration information page.  Students would need to change the page color (File > Page Setup > Page Color), insert their image, and type in their immigrant’s information. Students printed their documents, cut them out, and stapled them together to make their passport. 

This project was integrated into a 5th grade classroom, but I can see it being used from 2nd grade on up.  The basis of this project is to have students imagine they are a famous person from the present or the past who needs to create an Edmodo profile. I thought incorporating Edmodo would be more engaging for my elementary school students because they utilize the social networking site daily for their schoolwork.   It was obvious that I could not have all the students create a new Edmodo profile for the project because they only had one email account. So I decided to “create” an Edmodo profile page using Google Presentation.   I went to my actual Edmodo profile and screenshot different areas. I inserted them into my Google presentation. I inserted text boxes and typed “Type something about your person…” to make it similar to how Edmodo gives short directions in their textbox.  What is great about Google presentation is that it allows students to share thei...

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pmSWh2BQco?wmode=transparent&autohide=1&egm=0&hd=1&iv_load_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&showsearch=0&w=500&h=375] Can you imagine the possibilities of using Google Hangouts on Air in education. A student can be sick at home but still gaining crucial information through Google Hangouts on Air! Distant learning just got easier! I plan to test this technology out with teachers next school year. It would be great to see how we can use Hangout on Air with students who are absent. Hangout on Air allows you to record your hangouts and automatically posts them onto your YouTube account. Students at home can watch your lesson live, or visit your YouTube channel to see what they missed.  These students can still collaborate and work with their classmates while at home. There is a Google Doc app that can be installed onto your Hangout, so you can video chat while working on a project together.  This see...