How+can+we+incorporate+more+student+technology+use+in+our+classrooms?

=Agenda=

Please add or change as you see fit. All ideas are welcome.


 * Purpose:** Brainstorm ways to have students be hands-on with technology in our lessons


 * Objective:** Incorporate TA TEKS into our lessons while teaching our subject TEKS


 * Grade Levels:** 7-8


 * Facilitator's Name:** KDLS


 * Community members:** Diane 2010, JEHarris, QueenP, Mike304 (gave me responses as wiki site would not let him log on this time)


 * I. Discuss your subject TEKS and what they require for technology.**

1. My TEKS say to incorporate technology but are not specific in how to do it. 2. My TEKS say about the same thing. It says use technology in learning but doesn't get too specific. I think it probably wants more student involvement, but leaves it very open to interpretation. It doesn't really say "DO THIS" like the TA TEKS. 3. Career Connections requires students to go online, take tests about career interests and create a profile and portfolio that can be sent to the high school counselors. It is a semester long project. 4. Social Studies at my school is to teach a lot of the TA TEKS, but I only have two student stations that are old and slow, so we don't do a lot with this. I use a lot of power points and presentations for my students, but they don't usually create the projects to use the technology in class.

===**II. Activities (Include the purpose, description, steps and approx. time of each activity) You may add your own or edit another persons.** //What is an activity you do to include more student use of technology in your class?//===

1. Have students create a power point in their groups in place of a written book reports. After choosing an approved book and reading it, the group will create a power point presentation that includes a book cover, summary of the book, a review of the book, two of the most interesting characters, an alternate ending, a short biography of the author and one "If you liked this book, you should read ". The slides should contain graphics to illustrate each one clearly. At least one of the slide should be student created with paint or another program. This will take approximately 4-5 weeks (if it is spread out by working on it one or two class days each week). Each presentation will have 8-10 slides. Ideas are needed that will link this to other subjects or TEKS.

2. Have the class divided into small groups of 2 or 3. When doing an informal research project over an appropriate subject (i.e. famous authors, famous people, events in history, etc), the groups can work "together" without actually being together by creating or having a previously made wiki. They can create a bibliography page for their topic and add information as they come across it at home or wherever they happen to be researching. This could be an on-going, long-term project (three weeks or longer) that the groups work on as their time permits. It could be a strictly "at-home" project or a combination of homework and classwork. They could even add links to sites dedicated to the topic. At a previously determined time, the page will be presented to the class. This also gives the students who don't have computers in their homes a chance to do the work either at the public or school library or use a friend's or family member's computer.