The A-Team!
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A-Team
Members
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Bios
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Jeffrey Farley
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Jeff
graduated in 1999 from Coastal Carolina after ten years of chasing the
moon, the sun, and his undergraduate degree. This unconventional path
led him to myriad occupations, locations, people, and experiences. At
the end of this formative period, he dabbled in human resources
management, publishing, and other mean tasks but finally arrived in
Texas and began teaching in January of 2001.
Having
arrived at what would prove to be his calling, he taught 6th, 7th, and
8th grade reading and English for 5½ years in Port Arthur, Texas before
transferring to Marshall Middle School in Beaumont, Texas. read more...
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Troy Humphrey
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Troy
is entering his 22nd year in education, all as a teacher and coach.
After graduating in 1991 from Southwestern Oklahoma State University
with a degree in Social Science Education, Troy spent the next nine
years teaching and coaching in Oklahoma. He has been coaching girls
basketball and teaching history in Texas the past 12 years. Troy is now
employed by Lubbock ISD, where he teaches Geography and is an assistant
coach at Estacado High School. He is currently pursuing his masters in
Educational Leadership at Lamar University.
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Aimee Keller
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Aimee
graduated in 2001 from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in
History. After completing her degree she spent a few years working in
social work before returning to school to become a teacher. Aimee
attended Southwest Texas State University and completed
post-baccalaureate work to obtain her certification. Currently Aimee is a
Human Geography and World Geography Teacher at Westlake High School in
Austin, TX. She is working on her masters in Educational
Administration at Lamar University.
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A-Team’s awesome Web 2.0 Tools for the Classroom
Tool
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Description
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iTunes
U is a useful 2.0 tool that you can use in the classroom. In iTunes U a
user can have a library and download different courses from iTunes U.
One way of using this tool is setting up a course (similar to a book)
for the subject being taught. Within the course you can create units.
Within each unit you can add topics or learning targets. Underneath
each learning target or topic it is possible to add links to
presentation slides, websites, articles, videos, and surveys. As a tool
in the classroom you can set up sections with questions linked with
videos, articles, or other resources and students can use the resource
to answer questions as well as continue their own self-directed research
if they chose to do so.
As
a school principal I would recommend this tool to teachers if the
campus is on a 1:1 initiative with iPads. iTunes U is a great way for
teachers to organize information and for students to access the
information. Unfortunately students will need apple products to use
this program. One reason I would not use iTunes U is if teachers and
students do not have access to apple products. Also this tool does not
allow for discussions by students or teachers only for information to be
posted.
-Aimee Keller-
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Socrative is a student response system that is a great tool in the classroom.
Teachers can create exit tickets, quizzes, games, and exercises students
can access during class. Through this system teachers can get quick
data regarding student knowledge for either continued teaching or
re-teaching. The great thing about this tool is that students can
access these activities through any digital medium. For example students
can use their phones, ipads, computers, or whatever other digital
medium with internet access they have.
As a school principal I would recommend this resource to teachers as it
is an easy way to gather formative assessment data and quickly
determine if students understand the information. One reason I would
not recommend this tool is that it is currently not possible to insert
images into questions which in some subjects and forms of questioning
may be necessary.
-Aimee Keller-
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Word cloud tools like Tagxedo
can be useful for visual learners who need a visual depiction of the
words of emphasis in a text. Teachers can try having students use Tagxedo as an tool in the editing of their written work. They can also have students paste the text of an essay they've written into Tagxedo
to see how often they use particular words or phrases. The students can
then reflect on why they've used a particular word so often.
Tagxedo
is very easy to use and has a wide variety of design options available.
Students can either enter a word list manually or enter a url from
which Tagxedo will produce a word cloud on its own. It can be used
either as study guides, presentation tools or even an assessment format
to demonstrate understating. I foresee many uses for Tagxedo in a 21st
century classroom.-Troy Humphrey-
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Animoto is a video presentation system that is very easy to use. It’s
both easier and faster than creating a PowerPoint presentation and can
yield much more visually satisfying products. Students are afforded a
great selection of images and music on the site or can upload their own
images. Text can be added to the presentation and there is no limit on
how many videos are created. Different priced packages offer upgrades
to full length video ability and educators can sign up for free
accounts.
Animoto
for educators can be utilized to introduce thematic units and activate
student background knowledge and can be used as an alternative narrative
method in the classroom. These presentations can be easily shared
through many social networking sites like Facebook, shared as a web link
or embedded using HTML. Students can be as creative as they wish with
Animoto and personalize their photos with music. Animoto projects allow
students to think critically and thoughtfully about classroom topics in
order to produce a substantive presentation. Student’s videos allow
them to showcase their reflective skills and serve as an evaluation tool
for their teachers.
-Troy Humphrey-
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Edmodo
is a Learning Management System (LMS) that is available for free to
districts, campuses, and individual teachers. With this tool, teachers
can poll students; assign work; grade completed work; maintain grades;
communicate with students, classes, and parents; positively reinforce
students’ efforts; and more. Students can work on assignments within
the Edmodo platform, turn in work 24/7, and even store documents with
the “backpack” - cloud storage - each students is assigned within the
program.
One
of the most powerful elements of Edmodo is the smartphone app. Using
this tool, I have had students compose and submit their work while
sitting in the backseat of their parents’ car on the way to Houston. I
have then graded the same assignment while standing in line at Target
waiting to check out. With this kind of portability and versatility,
Edmodo has the capacity to change the face of education as we have
always known it leading to flipped classrooms and a whole new way of
teaching and assessing kids.- Jeffrey Farley -
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Prezi
is still another useful tool for teachers and students. On the Prezi platform, one can take presentations out of the stale, two-dimensional
framework of PowerPoint and enter a more three-dimensional, 360⁰ realm
that will stimulate classes, audiences, or a very tired PLC meeting at
the end of a long day of teaching. Educators and students can sign up
for free educational accounts with Prezi then create vibrant
presentations that zoom in and out, contain audio and video, and deliver
image and written content in ways that keep the viewers’ eyes engaged
and happy and their minds wondering just where the presentation will
take them next. Teachers can put content into Prezi to keep students
engaged during instruction or to be viewed outside of class by posting a
link to a Prezi into an Edmodo assignment. Likewise, students can
present their findings for formal assessment in a Prezi that they then
present to the class, submit for review by the teacher, or even post the
link in an Edmodo discussion post to share with classmates. Where one
Web 2.0 tool is good, combinations of them only get exponentially
better.
- Jeffrey Farley -
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