Remind101 - Text Messaging Service

Remind101 is a Text Messaging service that allows teachers to easily setup classrooms to text message students and parents and remind them of events, homework, and/or to study for an important test.  Using the service is simple because is allows you to provide students a code for each class that you set up.  They can then text that code and will be added to your list. 

Based on my previous post this seems like the best way to use cell phone technology outside the classroom.  I have the information of my students who get text messages, but have not had time to do anything with it.  With this service, it takes out the step of logging the information into an excel spreadsheet and then into my email when I would use something like TextServ.

Give Remind101 a try, and to learn more, watch the videos below.  And as always, read the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Remind101 from remind101 on Vimeo.


remind101 tutorial from remind101 on Vimeo.

My Student's Used Their Cell Phones in Class....GASP!

Yesterday it finally happened....I allowed students to use their cell phones as part of a lesson I was doing in class.  Something frowned upon in several schools across the country.  The use of the cell phones was minimal, as I will explain below, but it was a freeing experience trying something that last time I was in the classroom I never would have thought about doing.

The lesson was on Population Density.  I was explaining to the students how density can be vital in understanding various aspects of human geography.  High density can help explain crime rates, pollution, innovation, etc.  The opposite COULD be true about low density countries.  Within the lesson was an activity where students were to calculate the population density of several countries.

As I was explaining the assignment and doing a sample, it happened...

"Mr. Zimmer, can we use the calculators on our phones?" 

Without a thought, I replied with a resounding, "Sure." 

I had some calculators that I borrowed from the math department, but not enough that could type in digits for statistics that were in the hundreds of millions and even billions.  In previous years, I would have said no, but at the same time, phones and iPods with good calculators did not exist a few years ago, and not nearly as numerous.  So I found myself adapting to the generation of students I had.  Of course at the same time, the pressure was on me now to monitor the students and ensure that the phones were being used in a proper manner. 

I have to say that it was a great first experience.  I was always worried about students getting off task with them, but like all classrooms, if you just walk around the room and keep students guessing where you will step next, they will stay on the task you require to avoid getting in trouble.

No issues, no problems, and a successful experience using a technology that is readily available to so many students of this generation, yet banned in so many classrooms.

Putting EdTech into Practice - Document Camera

After two years of helping teachers utilize a document camera and providing ideas for how they could use them, it became my turn when I got back into the classroom.  Unfortunately the classroom setup is a little odd, but utilizing other tools, I am able to use the camera in an effective manner with my students.

I am a fan of my document camera and you can learn more about the model I use and ways to use one by reading some blog posts about it. Granted I have not completely reached full potential with its use in the classroom, but I am getting to the point where I or my students use one everyday.

Below are some of the ways that I have been using the Document Camera in the classroom:
1.) I had students graph data related to population growth in the United States.  I was able to easily go through the procedures on how to label the graph by placing it under the document camera.  I also was able to take graphs from previous classes and showcase them so that students had a good idea of what I was looking for.  Using the image capture I took pictures of them so that I have them for later.

2.) Students are always asking "What page is that on?"  Using the document camera I am able to easily show the page to the students, and highlight the area they should be looking.  It has been great when discussing images and charts that are in the book...something that was much more difficult when I did not have one.

3.) I gave a test and when I was done grading the test I was able to share the various levels of responses with the classes and obscure the name of whose test it was.  Students were then able to see what I was and was not looking for in their answers.  With transparencies that was possible to do, but it was time consuming.

4.) Every handout that I use I could easily display a copy on the board for my students to utilize.

5.) Instead of having students answer questions aloud, I have students come to the board as they are working and "write" responses to questions that they have completed and then as a class we can discuss them.

I have realized that the best aspect of a Document Camera is the ability to view larger what my students are also looking at.  It makes discussing topics much easier and more beneficial in engaging my students.

How are you using a Document Camera?

I Will Still Use Power Point

If you follow this blog regularly, then you know that I am adamant about the misuse of Power Point in the classroom.  We have used and abused it beyond how it was intended and we are using it in a manner that hinders the educational process.  I prefer to use other methods and in a previous post I shared several other options.

This year though, I will be using Power Point....but for a completely different reason.  This year I am using Power Point as a method of sharing my daily agenda, homework, and "I Can" statements that are required.  I have realized this is so much easier then writing everything on the board each morning or afternoon.  I can do it in advance and have it ready for when students enter the room.  Students know exactly where to look and know exactly what they will be learning in my classroom each day.  I can then save them and post them to my website each week if necessary so that students know what we did if they missed school.

I suggest you try this if you have access to a projector or your computer is hooked to the TV and see if it is something that helps you in your classroom.

Start the New School Year Using Social Media

Finally back to the blog after a month long vacation during the month of July.  I needed the break to be with family and friends and take a break from anything work related for a while.  Since I am going back into the classroom this coming school year, allow me to share how I am going to be using Social Media with my students to start off the posts for the month of August.

The 2011-2012 school year is just around the corner.  My school year will be very different.  It will be tough adjusting to life back in the classroom after being out of it for two years.  There are several things that will take getting re-used to: Duty schedule, lesson plans, grading papers, discipline, etc.  But they are all expectations of being a teacher.

Over the past two years I have learned a lot about integrating technology in the classroom, but I have also learned about my personal teaching philosophy and what it means to be a teacher.  I recognized so many flaws in my teaching strategies when provided the opportunity to be on the outside looking in.  I noticed damaging characteristics of my personality that interfered with my ability to enjoy being a teacher.  Hopefully this coming school year will allow me to put in to practice all that I have learned and reflected on.

One of the new strategies I learned about was utilizing social media in the classroom.  My last year in the classroom, all these social media tools existed.  They were there for me to use with students and parents, but no one was telling me how to use them.  Through personal professional development, collaborating online with other teachers, and attending conferences, I learned so much about how to use these social media tools.  This coming school year, I will be working at integrating a classroom Blog, Facebook Page, and Twitter Feed.

Why all three?  Because not every parent has a Twitter or Facebook account.  Not every student has, or is permitted to have a Facebook Account.  The blog allows me to easily share the same information with those students and parents who do not utilize social networking.  You are probably thinking to yourself: "That sure is a lot of repeating information."  Yeah, it is, but I can use a site like Twitterfeed, and have my blog posts automatically posted to the classroom Facebook and Twitter pages.  Therefore I am really only updating one site, and if necessary I can post separately.

Setting this up is fairly easy.  All I needed was my RSS feed for my blog, my Twitter Username, and my Facebook Page Address.  You can learn more about linking your blog to Facebook using Twitterfeed here and linking your blog to Twitter using Twitterfeed here.  This process really will help to synchronize the communication with students and parents.

Another great feature of Twitter is the ability to create a hashtag; which is typing a "#" before text that is used in your tweet.  For example, I use #MrZimHCCHS for my classroom Twitter feed.  The hashtag categorizes tweets.  If a parent or student does not have a Twitter account, they can still visit the Twitter homepage and type in the hashtag for the classroom Twitter feed in the search bar.  This is great because students can still use the service without having to join the site.  The other great thing about Twitterfeed is that you can include the hashtag in the automated tweets of the posts from the classroom blog, therefore students who don't have an account don't miss out on information if they prefer to check Twitter.

When it comes to the Facebook page, I created a separate profile where I only show "My Info" and include in the information that the page will not be used to connect with friends, parents, and students, only to create my Classroom Facebook Page.  In the settings for my Facebook page I made it to where I am the only one who can post statuses, links, pictures, notes, and videos on the wall.  Students and parents will be able to comment, but that is it.  If desired, notifications can be setup to receive emails when comments are made.

So when it comes to "policing" the social media, what do I do?  I require the students to sign a set of rules related to social media, and that bad behavior on the page is just like bad behavior in the classroom.  I also will show students how to make their own Facebook pages private so that I (and questionable people) don't have access to their page, therefore protecting myself from communicating with students outside of the Classroom Facebook page. 

With the growth of mobile technology, students can download a Twitter app and the Facebook app and easily follow our social media classroom and not miss out on anything I share.  Students interested in RSS can download a Reader app to get blog updates as well.  I am sure that I will run into some issues in my move towards using social media, but I am expecting them to happen and am preparing myself for ways to handle them. 

My Classroom blog is just getting going, so not much is on it.  Same goes for my Classroom Twitter and Classroom Facebook Page.  You might not want to use all three like me, but I highly encourage you to embrace one method and utilize it in your classroom.  Using social media is not specific to high school either.  Parents of all grades would like some form of alternate communication to connect with their child's classroom.  You might even survey parents at an open house to see which they would prefer.

Need further assistance?  Contact me on Twitter and lets work together!