SusanCoulter

Susan Coulter toc

About
Welcome TIMAC Cohort 7 Fall 2010

This year I am excited to be part of OTAN's first Online Teaching Academy (OTAC). I will be assisting as a Distance Teaching Mentor supporting participants as they create their own online or blended course material using Moodle as a course management system. Be sure to check out my Web site at @http://coultersc.weebly.com/

http://acetabp.weebly.com/unemployment.html

Topics during the Possibilities Presentation
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 * ABE Resource Web site on Weebly
 * Moodle

Newsletter article in 2009
Susan Coulter, ABE Teacher with a Passion for Technology Integration OTAN Online Connections Newsletter, Winter 2009

1. Tell us about the ways you integrate technology in your classroom on a weekly basis.


 * Most group work centers around our SmartBoard. Reading and Vocabulary books are scanned to the Smartboard and students work as a group to answer questions by moving words, matching words, or completing crossword puzzles. The SmartBoard helps to keep students on task and working cooperatively with others. Reading selections and vocabulary are recorded on CDs that students can check out. Our school has a United Streaming license. Tomorrow I will be showing a video on comma rules. I print out Bingo cards for our weekly 504 Essential Vocabulary lesson that helps students learn the vocabulary words for Friday’s test. Sometimes I’ll put up a Quia activity up on the board and students will compete in teams playing Quia’s version of “Who wants to be a Millionaire?” We pass the Airliner slate from group to group. It can be pretty exciting. **

2. Tell us about the Web site you created on GEOCITIES? What prompted you to create it? How do you and your students use it? http://coultersc.weebly.com/


 * Students use our website both in class and at home to study vocabulary words or to practice skills they learn in class. Our website also includes links to search engines, dictionaries, translators, bus schedules, Mapquest, and the county library system. **[[image:SusanCoulterTIMAC.0405.jpg width="426" height="328" align="right" caption="Susan Coulter as Technology Integration Mentor in 2005"]]

3. Describe how you helped your student with recording medical terminology teachers saying all the hard-to-pronounce terms and making them into MP3 files for your student to listen to for practice.


 * Most projects are created to meet student needs. I had a student who wanted help in reading. She was also taking the Pharmacy Tech class and was having difficulty pronouncing drug names. I found a teacher who could help and gave him a digital voice recorder. He recorded a few pages each day. I converted the audio to MP3 files and transferred them to her Ipod. She was delighted. **

4. Tell us about how you use Excel to teach budgeting and to engage your students in learning with a BINGO style activity.


 * Budgeting is still a project in progress. I use the Bingo cards to reinforce vocabulary we learn in class. A majority of the students seem to remember the vocabulary after a few games. **

5. Tell us about the new project – Mission Technology podcasts? Whose idea was it? What is the goal/purpose of this project? What equipment and software are you using? How will you fit this into your busy schedule? Is there a URL where we can check them out?


 * Our ABE program offers a technology certificate for those students who demonstrate specified competencies. Our computers were recently updated to Office 2007 and that means most of our tutorials need to be updated. Many of our students transition from the ESL program and because of the language problems, need lots of screenshots in the tutorials. I like to watch technology podcasts on iTunes and thought we could make our own low-tech podcasts. I always enjoy a new challenge. Our first mission is to write a thank you letter to businesses in the community who generously provide newspapers for our classroom. I’m using a MAC program called ScreenFlow but I think SmartBoard’s Notebook 10 recorder would work just as well. Nothing has been posted yet, but we will probably post a link on our Geocities website. This project is in its infancy. **

6. What are your favorite software titles? How do you use them?


 * We use Platoweb, Reading Horizons, and Microsoft Office. We use Platoweb with students who have at least a third grade reading level. Reading Horizons is for ESL students and native speakers with a reading level below 3.0. **

7. What are your favorite technology gadgets/hardware/AV equipment? How do you use them?


 * I’d have to say the SmartBoard, Airliner slate, digital camera and scanner. I scan lessons, worksheets, and student writing into Smartboard notebook files. They can be used over and over. Sometimes students want to scan a photo to send in an email or use in a PowerPoint project. **

8. Why do you choose to use technology in your ABE classes? What is your philosophy of adult learners in your class using technology?


 * A majority of students in the ABE classroom have known failure. Technology projects build self-esteem and pride. **

9. What are some challenges in your attempts to use technology with students?


 * Many students have varying work schedules and family responsibilities that prevent them from attending everyday. Others are focused on passing entrance tests for various vocational classes. **

10. What are some successes in your attempts to use technology with students?


 * Research project - As a class we searched the Internet for information on Elvis Presley. We printed out several different articles and I made [[image:SusanCoulterTIMAC.0405.a.jpg width="478" height="335" align="right" caption="Susan Coulter as a Technology Integration Mentor in 2005"]]copies for the class. We read the articles during morning reading and students highlighted important information. One student acted as a recorder. We wrote one section at a time. I divided the class into 5 groups each taking a section. We filmed each group speaking the first few lines of their section so people could see who was talking during the project. I put each group on a different computer and they had to first record the audio. Everyone in the group had to read a section. They then had to find pictures to show during the audio. Some groups also added music. When they were finished, I combined the video from each group into a movie. They were extremely proud of their project. **


 * PowerPoint - Students were asked to create a Powerpoint about their lives. Everyday I would talk about one small part of PowerPoint, (background, text, adding graphics, animation) and then let the students experiment on the computers. Students brought in pictures, which they scanned. At the end, all PowerPoint projects were combined into one. The final project was shown at Open House and students brought their families in to show them what they had done. **


 * Video of Reading Lesson - We took a couple of our reading lessons from the Challenger book and had students volunteer for different parts in the story. Everyone either read part of the narration or had lines in the dialog. I taped a short section each day. Students worked hard to make sure they read their parts correctly and they were very proud to see themselves in the movie. **

11. You have mentored fellow-teachers through TIMAC. Give us a short description of that project. Do you continue to mentor these or other teachers? Is this done formally or informally?

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 * My TIMAC mentee, Debbie Jensen, wanted an interactive website where students could find activities to help them practice new skills. We both got Quia trial accounts and started creating pages for lessons we were teaching. We got carried away. We were using the same textbooks in class and decided to combine efforts. We presented our idea to our department and soon everyone was getting involved. I gave a couple of inservices to help teachers set up their own webpages. Enthusiasm can be contagious. Debbie and I still work together informally, and we both benefit from each other’s knowledge and skill. **

12. What would you advise an ABE teacher who is interested in integrating technology in her ABE classes but feels that she lacks skills and does not know where to start?


 * Start with something small. Check out online resources and tutorials. Network, Network, Network.Identify individuals who can help you and don’t be afraid to ask. Quia is a wonderful place to start. There are so many activities you can easily create **.

13. Anything else you’d like to add?


 * We are very fortunate to have a director, who values technology in the classroom and keeps us on the cutting edge. My classroom is equipped with 20 desktop computers with Internet access, a scanner, digital camera, a SmartBoard and Airliner slate. Each year our equipment or software is updated. This year our computers were updated to Office 2007. We use Plato software, and we have designed our own learning paths to meet our curriculum needs. When students are not involved in group work at the SmartBoard, they are working on their individualized learning paths on Plato. **


 * [|Baldwin Park ACE Web site] **