Tool #11 Reflection

Reflection:

1. Some of my favorite tools include Jing, Diigo, Spellr, and iMovie. Diigo is probably my fav at the moment, I love how it keeps track of things I'm interested in, post updated comments on news articles I've read, and helps me tag and organize sites I've bookmarked. Along with Diigo, I plan to use Spellr with my kiddos. I think it's a great way for students to demonstrate their understanding, along with their creative side. (Thanks to Holly Walz for that idea!) I'm also planning to make several iMovie's with my students.

2. I'm very excited about this year. I have learned so many new features to share with students. I am definitely more comfortable with the majority of the tools, and feel that they will be very beneficial to all. I myself, still need more practice with a few, but am confident that with continuous use and practice, I will have them down in no time. My classroom has always been a hands-on environment, however, this year it will be more hands-on in the technology department. I not only plan to model/use these tools, but plan to have students use them daily.

After this training, I feel as though my understanding for the importance of technology in the classroom has grown. Through the use of technology, we can travel the world without ever leaving the room. We can give students a visual to connect with. As the saying goes, "a picture's whole a thousands words".

3. For me, I was very surprised how easy many of the tools/features were to navigate. Because of their simpleness, I felt motivated to learn more...to challenge myself to more difficult task. I never thought creating a blog would be fun, or using diigo to tag and bookmark information. I'm now wondering how I ever survived without it.

Tool#2

Creating and participating in a personal learning network is imperative in the field which we have chosen. Our students are communicating through PLN's daily. For many of them, it is a natural part of life. We as educators must stay informed about the technology that is continually changing, along with the changes in education. Through PLN's, this can be done. I not only use my PLN as a way to stay in touch with old friends, I use it to communicate with past professors, fellow Cohort E teachers, my cooperating teacher, and so forth. I communicate with them to ask questions or communicate ideas, read/comment on blogs, complete research, read up on new research, etc. By communicating through them, I became linked to others. As the process continues on, more and more knowledge is accessible and gained. Great ideas and innovations are created through a group of collaborators, not just one mind. So by using PLN's, we as educators can create awesome ways to educate the future. :-) Some of my greatest knowledge comes from simply reading other's educators blogs...there are some really great ideas out there.

5 blogs I commented on:

1. Live 2 Learn & Learn 2 Live (Selma Prewitt)

2. SuperThorn3 (Mario Romero)

3. Miss Perkin's 3rd Grade (Caitlin Perkins)

4. Thornwood Mathemagicians (Lisa Unger)

5. Holly's Thoughts (Holly Walz)

Tool #11

I am very excited to be talking with my students about Digital Citizenship. For me, the best way to teach it, is to model it. I think some of the websites and links listed under tool #11 would be beneficial to read to my students. I think we as a class should be discussing formal reference sites versus blogs or someone's personal website. I would first model it, but using student comments to guide the lesson. Asking students,"where should I start?", "how do you know that information is true?", "how can I verify what I read?", "where did the information come from?" and so forth. We, as a class, should discuss comments written on the web...is the comment kind, opinionated, bullying, rude...is that okay?? Children need to understand they that they should feel safe on the web, and if not, they should be telling a parent or adult. Students should understand the importance of not using other's words without formal citing. They should be taught how to cite and when to cite. All of this will come with time, repetitive practice, discussion, and modeling. I've also been thinking about having students create a power point or iMovie about safely navigating the web, finding reliable sources of info, and being a great digital citizen. I also found a website early that had a pledge/contract for students to sign about promises made for being a good "digital citizen", however, I didn't bookmark it at the time and can't seem to find it. I liked the wording that was used, and I thought it was very kid friendly. For me, teaching Digital Citizenship will be an everyday thing. Just like it was stated in many of the blogs, it's something we should be teaching continuously because the advances in technology will only continue as time goes on.

Tool #10

Sooo many wonderful apps! There are quite a few that I'm addicted, too! Of the free apps listed the ones that grabbed my attention immediately and that I played around with were Math Drills Lite, Advanced Vocab Genius, Glow Coloring, and Read Me Stories. Each has there advantages...most are extremely interactive, full of color, and keep you engaged. However, I didn't think some of them weren't as challenging as they could be. Some of my personal favorite apps are Google Earth, Wikipanion, Word of the Day, Fact of the Day, Paper Toss, Art Lite, Sudoku, and so on. I could go on forever... Apps are great tools for enhancing everyday learning. There very versatile, easy to find and use, and can help students further there knowledge. I think having an array of apps within my classroom for students to use, will not only peek their interest in a topic or subject, but push them to learn more. Art Lite is great for students who want to learn about different types of art, lots of facts, pictures, and explanations. Word of the Day and Fact of the Day is a great way to advance one's vocabulary and one's understanding of the things around them. It's everyday knowledge that just sticks with you, especially when it comes to you through an app. Math drills...you can't go wrong there. I like doing it just to challenge myself. :-)

Tool #9

Executing Jing may take some more practice for me... There are quite a few features to learn more about. I did like that I could add in captions or arrows to point to something particular or important on the screen. I practiced by google mapping directions to my new apartment for a friend who is coming to visit. For the most part, I found it pretty easy to navigate. This tool would be very handy for teaching students how to create a Photostory, finding a particular place on a map, discussing reliable resources found on the net, or when chatting with friends or colleagues. Being able to post a link to them immediately or explain something with visuals, without actually being there...is pretty awesome!!

Skype is another great tool for communication. I personally do not have it downloaded, but my old roommate uses it to talk with a friend of her's who is currently in the military. She's also got quite a few of her family members who live out of state hooked on it. I definitely think this is something worth trying. I jotted down some of the websites listed for educators who want to communicate with other educators. I think it would be so awesome to view another teacher's class from around the world. It would be a great experience for us all.

Tool #8

I love watching videos on youtube! Always entertaining! I think teachertube and schooltube are great resources to find school appropriate material. I also found them helpful when trying to come up with new ideas/activities to use in the classroom. The two videos I chose to place on my blog represent me. I chose one Charlie Brown video and a video of my nephew doing a card trick. I plan to use the Charlie Brown video for a writing activity. Since he does not speak, his feelings and thoughts must be interpreted by those watching. I want my students to watch the video and then write about his actions, or emotions, or maybe writing captions to go along with the video. I would also like to see how the students view Charlie Brown and what he represent...

The video of my nephew gives student a chance to look into my life. I'm very proud of my nephew...he's a cool kid. I think sharing photos and/or videos of family with my students is extremely important. I can also give them a little insight as to how Cam learned to do this trick. It took time, patience, and lots and lots of practice. He never gave up!

Tool #7

I have created several iMovies over the past couple years. I always seem to have to reteach myself the steps for adding in texts, or music, or getting it to upload to the internet, etc. This time it was a little bit easier...however, I did get quite frustrated when applying titles to particular clips. I still couldn't get it to post one on the last clip of my iMovie. The iMovie process itself takes some time, but I always enjoy the outcome. In college, we had to use this feature to video ourselves teaching. I also used this feature toward the end of my student teaching to create an iMovie for the students. They loved seeing themselves on the big screen...its truly a great motivational tool. I will definitely be using this feature in the classroom this year. I've got several ideas brewing at the moment. When we study ecosystems and habitats, I'd like to group the kiddos into partners/groups, and have them come up with a way to teach the class about the ecosystem or habitat their group was assigned. From this, I can make one iMovie that the whole class can enjoy.