Sivers' Stories

My district is uses the google apps suite so I decided to investigate the google docs, voice typing. I never knew this was an option and am so mad I didn't!  I thoroughly enjoyed testing it out. It was so easy to use. As I got going, I realized that I needed to say when I wanted a period or comma, which makes sense. I also spoke very slowly at first and soon realized that it is extremely accurate and that I could speak at a normal rate.  There are a multitude of ways in which I could use this tool with my students. As I mentioned in my example, I have many students who have great ideas for stories but have difficulty getting it on the paper. If I am looking to assess content, this tool would be an excellent modification for students. Some of our writing standards include spelling and conventions, which the audio tool takes care of for you, so a separate rubric would need to be developed for those using the voice typing. I also have students that struggle with their handwriti...

When twitter first came out I immediately joined. At first, I did it just because it was new and cool. I didn't really use it for anything productive. It lost its luster after a while and I sort of pushed it aside. As I begin to look for more ways to communicate with parents things we do in the classroom as a whole I turned to twitter to do so. I find it so easy to snap a picture and tweet it out. Parents can then see in real time, what their child is doing that day. Twitter also has provided me with a way to network with other teachers and see what they are doing in their classrooms. It provides me with new insights and ideas to incorporate into my own teaching. Twitter also gives me the unique opportunity to communicate with other teaching professionals, besides teachers, to enhance my craft.  I haven't really delved deep into twitter besides tweeting, retweeting and tagging in my posts. I decided to check out the advanced search option. I never new this existed so I w...

I decided to explore the google suite of apps. We are a google district and rely on the use of chromebooks, so I thought it best to explore what google has to offer. The google app that I think would be most beneficial to my 1st graders would be google slides. In writing, we focus on making a quick sketch and then writing. I feel as though google sheets could be set up in a way that students could draw their picture and accompany it with writing and then continue this process across several pages. I then thought it would be interesting to have them record their voices reading their writing while clicking through the slides.  The main value I see in blogging is that it provides a way for students to share their work with their parents. We do so much during the school day that (as some could imagine with a 1st grader) may or may not make it home. Also, when things come home it is difficult for some to keep all the work for long periods of time. Blogging allows for parents to hav...

My name is Tori Sivers and I teach 1st grade at Van Buren Elementary in Baldwinsville, NY. I have been teaching for 9 years, 5 of those in Bville. I have only ever taught 1st grade and cannot see myself teaching anything else! I am taking Cool Tools for the 1st time. I was interested in taking this course because I want to incorporate more ways in which to include meaningful technology into my classroom. Being that I teach 1st grade, I struggle with knowing what a 1st grader can handle, technology wise, and am interested in learning more!