My group got to do the role play with the flip video cameras. It was pretty sweet to have such a small camera devise that you could use in the classroom that is some what of a reasonable price. It can be cost effective if you got like a classroom set of say 5 or 6 and use grants to earn the money to get the devices. I thought it was pretty sweet idea though however. I would like to utilize this in my classroom and I think that it would be a great motivation for the students. They would love to use these and to record themselves. And there is so many different curriculum ideas that you could integrate them into the classroom and course content. I really want to look into to them to get for my future classroom. That is a technology that I am comfortable with and that I know i can use efficiently and effectively for my students. Technology in the classroom can be extremely effective when it is used properly and when you can get the means to use it. I need to really learn how to write grants so that i can be able to acquire all of these new technologies into the classroom. It would be such benefit and highly effective and i want to be able to use them in any grade level that I will be able to teach.
It was nice to be able to talk through a discussion like that as well because it was good to see different view points to the same subject and try and look and technology from all different view points and angles. It was good to be able to talk through it and really get a good look at what could be going on in your future job when trying to convince others that technology is good and that it needs to be in the classroom. So i think that it was good practice to talk through and practice dialogue.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
Website Evaluations
Today we did website evaluations and I thought it was a good chance or us to be able to really get down and look deeper into websites that we normally wouldn't have. I thought that the forms were pretty good. I liked the cyberguild evaluation the best because i thought it was the most thorough and provided the most critical information to look at. It was nice to go and look for the information that it was asking for to honestly see if it was a credible site or not.
I don't know if i found any hidden secrets, but i did find that i haven't been looking at websites close enough for their credibility. I was interesting to see what sites had authors, or creators, when they were last updated etc. I found some good websites that I actually really liked to and that i want to use and implement into my future classroom. So i thought that that was really exciting and good :D
I think that it is important to go and look at the websites that you are using or that you want your students to use as well. As a teacher it is our responsibility to make sure that what we are using or putting in front of our students is accurate and appropriate for them. By doing website evaluations you are doing the necessary research that it takes in order to find those websites that you are able to use. You need to show your parents and students that you are really preparing valuable and educational material and websites for their children. You your self need to be credible so you have to find information that is creditable as well.
Yes, i think if the website is a .org, or .edu or .gov i wouldn't go through a proper evaluation of the website because it is pretty much already done that for you in order to be one of those sites. I mean there are small chances that the sites aren't but for the most part they are going to be creditable. I would check all of the .com's out and really take a hard look at those websites before pulling information and using information from those sites.
I don't know if i found any hidden secrets, but i did find that i haven't been looking at websites close enough for their credibility. I was interesting to see what sites had authors, or creators, when they were last updated etc. I found some good websites that I actually really liked to and that i want to use and implement into my future classroom. So i thought that that was really exciting and good :D
I think that it is important to go and look at the websites that you are using or that you want your students to use as well. As a teacher it is our responsibility to make sure that what we are using or putting in front of our students is accurate and appropriate for them. By doing website evaluations you are doing the necessary research that it takes in order to find those websites that you are able to use. You need to show your parents and students that you are really preparing valuable and educational material and websites for their children. You your self need to be credible so you have to find information that is creditable as well.
Yes, i think if the website is a .org, or .edu or .gov i wouldn't go through a proper evaluation of the website because it is pretty much already done that for you in order to be one of those sites. I mean there are small chances that the sites aren't but for the most part they are going to be creditable. I would check all of the .com's out and really take a hard look at those websites before pulling information and using information from those sites.
Instructional Architect
Today we learned about the instructional architect technology to use in the classroom and to develop them into a way to create a webquest lesson plan for our students. I thought that it was a very helpful tool, although I did think it was really hard to find resources, at least for my particular lesson plan. I didn't like the search engine that was used in the system because it didn't really allow me to search how I wanted to and then when i did put in a search it came up with things that didn't pertain to my topic at all. So I found that to be some what challenging for me to figure something out. But I keep searching and used google as well, and found information that i could use. So I thought that it was really interesting and it is going to be a great tool to use in the classroom and Im excited to use it. I think that it is going to be a very motivational and exciting tool for the students to want to use and will want to learn about everything that you want them to. I'm really hoping that my computer skills will latter get better because of know I'm struggling with how to exactly do everything that I want to and how I want it to work. So that is a frustration for me, my own technology incompetence haha But it will be a good thing once I can figure everything else out. It is a great tool to utilize in the classroom and I can't wait to use it to my advantage latter on in the future.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Webquest
Today we learned about webquest and how to find different lessons that you could incorporate into your classroom. I thought that it was a pretty sweet website to use for your class. There was something for pretty much any content area for any grade level. The only thing is that it is kind of a hit and miss, because you might need or want a specific lesson but it won't be on the webquest. So its a matter of finding something to use that is already there. I thought that it was good for the classroom and a great way to integrate technology into the classroom. For the most part i thought that they were really good for for the students. However, i thought that some of the webquests that were on there weren't really something that you did online. They were things that would needed to be done in the classroom with other materials and not on-line. I understand that that needs to happen sometimes as well, I just thought that some of them could of been more involved on line and not so much based in the classroom. But for the most part I really liked the idea and it is something that I think the students would love to work on in the classroom. It seems like it would be really beneficial to the students as well as being very motivational to the students as well. I would love to create a new webquest for my own lesson sometime and really develop a good lesson for my own students as well as for future teachers. I really liked how it incorporates and integrates more than one subject area and made it a great learning experience for the students. :D
Monday, March 29, 2010
Science Sim
This was a really interesting activity today to do for sure. I found it honestly pretty frustrating because it was taking forever to down load and there was a lot of problems with the system. Once we actually got it in was pretty cool and what the doctorate student explained to us to how it could be used seems like it should be pretty sweet. Having the tutoring and classroom in the game could be very helpful. You could use it to better help you out and practice what you would do or say in that classroom situation. I liked how he said if you are tech savvy that you could set up different little worlds and teach others about pretty much anything that you would want to create through the program. I think that this seems kind of for older children and I honestly don't know if i would or how i would use it effectively with my little kindergartners. But i think maybe once I'm more exposed to it and get use to working with it then maybe i could utilize it more efficiently. I'm not a huge gamer type of person so to me it was more of a stress thing that a helpful thing. But that might just come with time. Hopefully, will just have to wait and see.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Today we learned how to create a class survey on google. It was relatively easy to create which I was really surprised about. I thought it would be much harder to create something like that and it totally wasn't. I think that this would be a great way to incorporate technology into the classroom because you could have them answer it from their home computer or a family email as well as having them answer them on the school computer under your name. I also think that it could be useful to put the survey up on the smart board and then just have them answer the questions on a piece of paper or something to get an entire class survey. So I think that it is a very useful tool and you can get a lot of valuable information from it.
It was fun to answer questions that others had created and then to see what their responses to your questions where. It was exciting to just wait and see who was gonna say what. So i could see this being very motivational to students as well because it was so motivational to me!
This is my first survery!
https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dHN5WlluM1JZQks4MDFfZFRFcV9RSXc6MA
It was fun to answer questions that others had created and then to see what their responses to your questions where. It was exciting to just wait and see who was gonna say what. So i could see this being very motivational to students as well because it was so motivational to me!
This is my first survery!
https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dHN5WlluM1JZQks4MDFfZFRFcV9RSXc6MA
Monday, March 1, 2010
Spreadsheets
Today we learned how to make a grade book on word excel and I'm not gonna lie it was a little frustrating. I haven't had to use excel sense high school in my last computer class and that was three years ago. So I had totally forgot how to even use the basics of excel and it took me awhile and a little help from those around me to actually get to the point as to where i was starting to understand and feel comfortable with using the program again. I think that it is a good way to create your grade book for school, it is just something that i am going to have to fiddle with and get more comfortable with so that I can use it in the future. The functions are good to know because it makes your life so much easier when it comes to calculating grades for the entire class. It will be extremely helpful, the only problem is that I'm not sure how to set up the different formulas and functions in the program for figuring out different things. So that is something that I need to figure out how to do.
I also think that the cell phone poll is pretty sweet. This would be something awesome to do in the upper grades and something that I think the kids would LOVE to do!! I couldn't really do this in an Elementary Classroom because none of my little students are going to have cell phones. But I think for future references and for other projects at school or work or something then I think that it would be a sweet thing to do. Its fast its simple and I think that it is something that would be very motivaional to those who would be able to use it.
I also think that the cell phone poll is pretty sweet. This would be something awesome to do in the upper grades and something that I think the kids would LOVE to do!! I couldn't really do this in an Elementary Classroom because none of my little students are going to have cell phones. But I think for future references and for other projects at school or work or something then I think that it would be a sweet thing to do. Its fast its simple and I think that it is something that would be very motivaional to those who would be able to use it.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Word Doc and Word Processing Systems
I have never used, or knew about, the word doc system on google. It is a really cool system to use for school and it makes life a whole lot easier when you are working with a partner on a project or paper. I thought it was cool that you could see the other persons additions, and changes right in front of your face. It is something that will really come in handy in the classroom. I can see myself as a teacher being able to utilize this tool in the classroom and set up group projects through this program. It was some what easy to use and once I figured it out it was easier to navigate through and figure out how it worked. I think it would be fun to have the kids to a book report or something similar to what we did in class. Do a collaborate research paper with a partner on a particular subject. This way the students would be able to work on the project at the same time and work together even if they are not in the same room. They could get their paper done without having to get together. Its more time efficient and also it helps out those students who might not have the transportation to get to a meeting time. Also I think that it is helpful as the teacher, to make sure that the students invite you. It can be used as a ruff draft tool for you to edit, or just as a way of assessing them and correcting their papers. You wouldn't even need a hard copy of their report because it would be right there in front of you.
I also really like the offline story composition papers. I thought it was a great way to get the kids up and out of their seats, as well as getting them writing, and thinking outside of the box. I loved that the kids got to make the story their own by adding their own personality and twist to the story. I think that it would be a motivational activity for the students as well. I would want to incorporate a variety of writing task with this method. It was really good to see and hear. I also liked knowing about the editing tool that is in word as well. I didn't know that that was there and that is something that I think will make not only my future school work a lot easier but also my classroom work easier as well.
I also really like the offline story composition papers. I thought it was a great way to get the kids up and out of their seats, as well as getting them writing, and thinking outside of the box. I loved that the kids got to make the story their own by adding their own personality and twist to the story. I think that it would be a motivational activity for the students as well. I would want to incorporate a variety of writing task with this method. It was really good to see and hear. I also liked knowing about the editing tool that is in word as well. I didn't know that that was there and that is something that I think will make not only my future school work a lot easier but also my classroom work easier as well.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
YETC Resources
It was really interesting to see how many different resources are available for teachers in the YETC. It is so exciting to see what is available to use and what can be utilized in the classroom. I'm not the most technology inclined person, so it is helpful and not as intimidating to add technology in the classroom when it is so accessible and ready at our finger tips. I need to go out and explore more on these websites so i can feel comfortable about what I can bring into the classroom and hopefully get my kids engaged into my lessons a lot more.
I especially liked the website at pioneer-library.org and finding all of the media resources available that you can use with video's. I especially liked the tab that you could click on that has the Utah State Core K-2. There was a lot of links to videos in every content area in those three grades. I like how it has your educational videos like Magic School Bus, Bill Nye the science guy, etc.
I thought that the link to the Utah Coalition for Educational Technology under Nathans Educational Treasures was way cool. I found a sweet link to a typing center, that was free, and was really helpful for those students who are struggling with their typing skills. They had lessons, games, and tests that you could have your students work on and learn how to type on the computer. I thought that this was such a useful tool because with a technological age our students need to know these skills to be able to function in the classroom.
Another one of my favorite sites was the spellingcity.com I'm not the best speller and if feel like this would have been a great and motivational site for me to have more drive to learn proper spelling and learn how to spell actually. haha I liked how it showed you the letters, said it out loud so you could hear it, and then gave you a sentence with the spelling word in context. It will be a very useful tool that I can utilize and get my kids working on so that they can enjoy spelling and be motivational to the students.
And finally I really liked the links to the fast worksheet makers. It was very easy to use, it was fast, and I loved the fact that I can make worksheets that individualized for my students. I think it is so important to make your students have the individual and personal education that they need and deserve and I love that i can make that possible, in a faster manner, and still give my students the best education possible.
I especially liked the website at pioneer-library.org and finding all of the media resources available that you can use with video's. I especially liked the tab that you could click on that has the Utah State Core K-2. There was a lot of links to videos in every content area in those three grades. I like how it has your educational videos like Magic School Bus, Bill Nye the science guy, etc.
I thought that the link to the Utah Coalition for Educational Technology under Nathans Educational Treasures was way cool. I found a sweet link to a typing center, that was free, and was really helpful for those students who are struggling with their typing skills. They had lessons, games, and tests that you could have your students work on and learn how to type on the computer. I thought that this was such a useful tool because with a technological age our students need to know these skills to be able to function in the classroom.
Another one of my favorite sites was the spellingcity.com I'm not the best speller and if feel like this would have been a great and motivational site for me to have more drive to learn proper spelling and learn how to spell actually. haha I liked how it showed you the letters, said it out loud so you could hear it, and then gave you a sentence with the spelling word in context. It will be a very useful tool that I can utilize and get my kids working on so that they can enjoy spelling and be motivational to the students.
And finally I really liked the links to the fast worksheet makers. It was very easy to use, it was fast, and I loved the fact that I can make worksheets that individualized for my students. I think it is so important to make your students have the individual and personal education that they need and deserve and I love that i can make that possible, in a faster manner, and still give my students the best education possible.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)