Excel

Microsoft Excel is a commercial spreadsheet application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications.

Excel can be used for storing, organizing and manipulating data.

             What I did
For this assignment,I visited the NCES site to assess and analyze the data on state comparisons to see how my state (Virginia) is faring in the educational landscape.

After looking at the data,I exported it to my computer and then followed the steps provided by my instructor to install the "Data Analysis Tool Pack In Excel".
My Data Analysis included a Descriptive Statistics,this really helped me to get a clear picture or idea of how well my state is doing.

After sorting the data I realized that Virginia is doing quite well in the educational landscape we are well within the first 10 states in most  rankings.In the 2011 reading scores for 4th grades, we were ranked 9th with only 8 states above us and 41 states below us.

To view the descriptive Statistics please click here
To view my states position  please click here
To  view a scatter plot of the data please click here

Google Sites

Google Sites  is a completely online-based tool that allows you to create a simple or extensive web site. With a few clicks, you can create multiple pages, embed rich content, and even allow others (including students) to add and collaborate on content.


This web site creation tool is one of the simplest available and one of the most flexible. You can create a complex hierarchy of content, include multiple preps on a single site, upload files, and even make blog-like announcements. Additionally it brings together all of the other great Google tools - letting you easily embed Google Docs, Calendar, Picasa albums, and much more.

    What I did
This week I created a Google Site using my SU email account.This is something I will definitely use in future as a classroom teacher to not only communicate with my students but with their parents as well.

I added some information about myself, the best way to contact me, Rubrics for the class to help students stay on task,  as well as my Resume.

This assignment is in line with the ISTE-NETS-T Standards  3-a,b,and c which states : "Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society."

 Teachers:

a. demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations

b. collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student successand innovation

c. communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats.

To access my account please click here

Rubrics-Rubistar

Rubrics are a powerful, authentic tool used to assess students' work. This scoring tool lists specific criteria for a project or piece of work. The criterion helps students to have a concrete understanding and visualization of "what counts". Each standard or criteria also includes a gradation scale of quality. The rating scale could be numerical, qualitative, or a combination of both. Rubrics seek to evaluate assignments based on the sum of a full range of criteria rather than a single numerical score.

For this assignment we were introduced to Rubistar. RubiStar is a tool to help the teacher who wants to use rubrics but does not have the time to develop them from scratch. 

While many teachers want to use rubrics or are experimenting with writing rubrics, they can be quite time-consuming to develop. RubiStar is a tool to help the teacher who wants to use rubrics but does not have the time to develop them from scratch. RubiStar provides generic rubrics that can simply be printed and used for many typical projects and research assignments. The unique thing about RubiStar, however, is that it provides these generic rubrics in a format that can be customized. The teacher can change almost all suggested text in the rubric to make it fit their own project.

 RubiStar also does away with the tedious typing of similar content across all the various quality rating. When you choose a category to evaluate, all the quality ratings are filled in and are ready to customize. 

             What I did

I signed up for an account on RubiStar and created a rubric for my future students.For this rubric,I choose assess students work based on Mathematical Concepts, Reasoning,Errors,Terminology ,Notation.as well as Strategies and Procedures.

I then saved my rubric as a permanent file and also shared it on Google documents.

To access my rubric please click here

Google Forms - Self Grading Quiz

Google Forms have a lot of uses  one of which is :
Google Forms will allow you to quickly create assessments like class tests and quizzes .  You can set these assessments to be self-grading as well, saving you time in grading assessments and allowing you to spend more time analyzing the data to improve student learning.

What I did

For this assignment, I created a multiple choice quiz in Algebra and emailed the quiz questions to a couple of people to answer.Their answers were automatically updated to my spread sheet.I then created the answer key and entered the formula and Google forms did the rest of the work by grading the responses.I was also able to use Google forms to find the average of each persons work.

How I Will Use Google Forms in my Classroom.

• Pre-testing students

• Post-testing students

• Checking for student understanding and learning in the middle of a unit

To take my quiz please click here

To access my spreadsheet please click here

Google Forms

Our assignment this week was on the use of Google Forms.

Google forms are a useful tool to help you plan events, send a survey, give students a quiz, or collect other information in an easy, streamlined way. A Google form is automatically connected to a spreadsheet with the same title.You can create and share a form from your Documents List or from any existing spreadsheet. When you send or share a form, recipients’ responses will automatically be collected in that spreadsheet.

I created a Google Form titled "My Relationship with Mathematics".As a future secondary math teacher,this form will help me know how my new Algebra  students view and feel about the subject I teach.Based on this I can modify my teaching styles effectively to help them grow to love and appreciate math better.After creating the forms I was able to embed it in my blog and website.I can also email the link to students and parents as well as share the forms through Google docs.To access my Google Forms please click here

Photostory and YouTube

For this assignment,we were introduced to Photo Story. Microsoft Photo Story is a free application that allows users to create a visual story (show and tell presentation) from their digital photos.The software uses the Ken Burns Effect on digital photos and allows adding narration, effects, transitions and background music to create a Windows Media Video movie file with pan and zoom effects. Once a photo story has been made it can be played on a PC using Windows Media Player.
For this activity I choose to make a PowerPoint presentation on the Kente Cloth which is a traditional cloth which is made by and also mostly worn by my tribe in Ghana which is the Ashanti Tribe.My PowerPoint presentation had 21 slides in all.After this I downloaded a free online version of the  Microsoft Photo Story and made a video of my presentation.I then uploaded this video on YouTube through my gmail account.

To access my video on YouTube please click here



You may also view my video below

Power Point

PowerPoint is one of the greatest computer programs to learn. It is a presentation software program that is part of the Microsoft Office package.PowerPoint uses a graphical approach to presentations in the form of slide shows that accompany the oral delivery of the topic. This program is widely used in business and classrooms and is an effective tool when used for training purposes. 

What I did 

For this assignment I created a power point on how to find the slope of any given line for my Algebra 1 class.After which I created a dropbox account for the first time. Dropbox is a simple online virtual storage utility that allows you to make your files accessible from almost anywhere.It is designed for those who are tired of e-mailing files to themselves and carrying around flash drives. You can put your documents, photos, and media into your dropbox folder on one computer and they'll automatically appear on any of your other computers that also have dropbox. Dropbox shared folders also allow you to share photos and videos, or work together on projects and reports with your friends online.Anything in your Dropbox will stay up to date across all of your computers and mobile devices and your information is always where you need it.After creating the dropbox account, I placed my powerpoint presentation in the public folder of my dropbox which generated a URL for my work.To access my Powerpoint on slope please click here

Applications

As a future math teacher I will definitely incorporate  powerpoint presentations in my lesson plans to enhance the effectiveness of classroom instruction.This is in line with the first three standards of the ISTE.NETS.T which are;

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

2.Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

3.Model Digital-Age Work and Learning

Some of the benefits of using powerpoint presentations in the classroom include:

• Main points can be emphasized and the presentation itself can be enhanced by using graphics, animation, or sound.

• Add flair to presentations with slide and bullet transitions and animated effects.

• Presentations can be used to make lessons more organized and flexible.

• Text on a PowerPoint presentation is much easier for students to read than trying to read notes that are written on an overhead projector or chalkboard.

• Student interest can be stimulated through the use of graphics and cartoons.

• Variety is the key to keeping the attention of students.

• Many tools are available for use with PowerPoint, so experiment to see what works best for you and your students.