Upon reflection, I think that my original goal of creating a classroom web site as a portal for parents to be able to receive information from me was inappropriate. At the time it was for me a lofty goal. I now would like to change my goal from a one way communication tool to a real time two way tool for parents, students and teachers. I now would like to have a website that includes a blog and possibly a chat room. Through our SIG research we found a sites that allow teachers to have a classroom blog and the students to have their own blog sites. I think this would create a whole new level of understanding for parents and a great way for them to be able to interact with their child and our classroom and not have to be in the room. I also feel it would be a great place for students to showcase projects that they are working on in class or share a video of them reading an original story! http://victoria-miriamsmoments.blogspot.com/This is very exciting and I can not wait to begin work on this project with Karmin!
In terms of teaching strategies I have come to realize that the content not the gadget is what is important. How I can make the gadget work for me to make learning more accessible for my students. I do however feel that I came to this realization only after learning what types of technologies are available. Using technology gets a quicker response between teacher and student it allows for more time on task versus the traditional methods. I feel that I am a better teacher when I can reach more students and customize their learning and that is what I feel the I pad allows me to do. I now need 24 more!
One assignment that made great impact on my teaching is social networking (Panwapa), I immediately brought that to my classroom and shared it as well as sharing it at home with my youngest. I have used Facebook for a long time but had never realized all the features it has. I had never tried Twitter before and I think that it may become a new favorite of mine. Another assignment that was powerful was the I google page and the RSS feeds, I never even knew that they existed and I now check them daily. I also really liked learning about the cloud and using Google docs has been a fun way to work with a group. Zoho was not as fun, I was trying to use a few different computers and it was not reliable.
I do not feel that I met the goal of creating the classroom website, but I am glad because I have a whole new vision of what I want and I also think I will be able to create it. One of my other goals was to write some grants to increase the amount of technology in my classroom and I have done that as well as submitting to Digital wish list and teachers wish list. I am always looking for new ideas though! Another goal was to increase the effective use of technology in my classroom and I feel that my teaching and my understanding of how and why to use technology has changed. I am not using technology because it is cool...although it is, I am using it to help me reach the students more effectively.
I do have some new goals. I would like to create a blog site and start to allow children to add their own sites. I would like to spend some time creating a letter to parents sharing some of the wonderful things I have learned and I would like to spend some time sharing some of those ideas with my fellow teachers. I think that the I google page and some of the apps that we have found could be helpful to them. Finally, I would love to set aside some time each week to find new ways to reach my students using technology.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
SIG Presentation: classroom communication via a Web site
Our SIG presentation, eventhough I didn't get to present it (which was really ok by me), was one of my favorite assignments our group worked well together and my vision for my classroom and it's website changed. I now feel that a Blog or Chat room would be an awesome addition to a website. Our presentation was done in Google Doc's and we put it into a presentation. We added notes to the Presentation together at Panera the day our class was canceled so if you view it you can open the speaker notes to see what we were going to say. Hope you enjoy!
https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AVAZW0EFoL5aZGRxdHRnZm5fMGZuOTlyd2c3&hl=en&authkey=CMirn-wC
https://docs.google.com/#home
https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AVAZW0EFoL5aZGRxdHRnZm5fMGZuOTlyd2c3&hl=en&authkey=CMirn-wC
https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AVAZW0EFoL5aZGRxdHRnZm5fMGZuOTlyd2c3&hl=en&authkey=CMirn-wC
https://docs.google.com/#home
https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AVAZW0EFoL5aZGRxdHRnZm5fMGZuOTlyd2c3&hl=en&authkey=CMirn-wC
Mobile Learning
I would like to discuss mobile learning and how it has and will affect my teaching and learning in my classroom. I chose mobile learning because I feel that as a First Grade teacher and a person who just bought an Ipad it is more relevant than Cloud computing. I will not rule out the cloud for first graders but I would like to spend some more time learning before I unleash them in the cloud!
Mobile learning is an exciting new way to think of education. I feel that as teachers we sometimes fall back to the way that we were taught. I have gained a new zest and so much new information. I can not wait for a weekend or Spring Break to get back in and mess around with some of the new sites we have experienced. I think that the app that I found that I can tape the childrens fluency reading a passage and download it to I tunes will make a huge difference in the childrens reading fluency. http://www.fluencytimer.net/ It is not free but 3.99 from the Mac app store and I need only one subscription for my classroom. I will be able to take the student in the corner of the room away from all distractions and get some good data that will help the student improve as a reader, how cool is that!
I feel that mobile learning is already impacting my classroom. I have new rules too! We have had to discuss that you can not just walk around with the I pad...it can fall and break! My students came in to conferences this week looked around and went straight for the I pad. I think this speaks volumes, they are so intrigued and motivated to learn while using this device they want to "play" on it during their free time. I am hopeful that I can get a few more. I feel that the I pad is influencing my classroom currently, I am using it to allow students who would normally not work together ("gifted" and "special needs") and they are both getting their accademic needs met. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ace-kids-math-games-hd-free/id367798719?mt=8 I use the I pad for some students to write during our phonics drills so that they can make the text glow. I also use it during our center time so that the children are working on skills that we have learned in class and they are practicing those skills. I found a Top it app and the kids love it. We use Everyday math and it is a game that they play often but I have some children that are pulled out during that time for extra reading help, this allows me to be able to let those children practice their skills at a different time. http://www.filecluster.com/iPhone/Everyday-Mathematics-Addition-Top-It-126357.html. I do not feel that I have totally implemented this technology, I am always looking for ways to inhance what we are doing in the classroom. I also feel that having a COW would be awesome. I now have a wirless hub and I have used the mobile lab to publish books once before but it was a bit of a disaster because the children were not able to use a web based program and the template we created just didn't work. I have found a few publishing sites that I think the kids would really enjoy and we could do a few together so that they feel comfortable and then try again. http://www.zooburst.com/
I am looking for ways to try to get some more I pads in the classroom as well as flip cameras and a COW. I am attempting to write some grants. I am finding that many local grants have a 300. limit or need matching funds from the district so I am looking into some other possibilities. This year I wrote a grants or asked for assistance from Barry/Calhoun ISD, Meemic, Discovery Education, Digital wish list and Teachers wish list. I will continue to look, I am going to try to deal dirrectly with Best Buy and the Mac store next. Wish me luck!
Mobile learning is an exciting new way to think of education. I feel that as teachers we sometimes fall back to the way that we were taught. I have gained a new zest and so much new information. I can not wait for a weekend or Spring Break to get back in and mess around with some of the new sites we have experienced. I think that the app that I found that I can tape the childrens fluency reading a passage and download it to I tunes will make a huge difference in the childrens reading fluency. http://www.fluencytimer.net/ It is not free but 3.99 from the Mac app store and I need only one subscription for my classroom. I will be able to take the student in the corner of the room away from all distractions and get some good data that will help the student improve as a reader, how cool is that!
I feel that mobile learning is already impacting my classroom. I have new rules too! We have had to discuss that you can not just walk around with the I pad...it can fall and break! My students came in to conferences this week looked around and went straight for the I pad. I think this speaks volumes, they are so intrigued and motivated to learn while using this device they want to "play" on it during their free time. I am hopeful that I can get a few more. I feel that the I pad is influencing my classroom currently, I am using it to allow students who would normally not work together ("gifted" and "special needs") and they are both getting their accademic needs met. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ace-kids-math-games-hd-free/id367798719?mt=8 I use the I pad for some students to write during our phonics drills so that they can make the text glow. I also use it during our center time so that the children are working on skills that we have learned in class and they are practicing those skills. I found a Top it app and the kids love it. We use Everyday math and it is a game that they play often but I have some children that are pulled out during that time for extra reading help, this allows me to be able to let those children practice their skills at a different time. http://www.filecluster.com/iPhone/Everyday-Mathematics-Addition-Top-It-126357.html. I do not feel that I have totally implemented this technology, I am always looking for ways to inhance what we are doing in the classroom. I also feel that having a COW would be awesome. I now have a wirless hub and I have used the mobile lab to publish books once before but it was a bit of a disaster because the children were not able to use a web based program and the template we created just didn't work. I have found a few publishing sites that I think the kids would really enjoy and we could do a few together so that they feel comfortable and then try again. http://www.zooburst.com/
I am looking for ways to try to get some more I pads in the classroom as well as flip cameras and a COW. I am attempting to write some grants. I am finding that many local grants have a 300. limit or need matching funds from the district so I am looking into some other possibilities. This year I wrote a grants or asked for assistance from Barry/Calhoun ISD, Meemic, Discovery Education, Digital wish list and Teachers wish list. I will continue to look, I am going to try to deal dirrectly with Best Buy and the Mac store next. Wish me luck!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
PC Maintence
I am so excited to tell my husband that we can get anti spyware, and anti virus software for free. We have always used Norton Anti virus and the subscription just expired. I think we will look into Avast! or Grioft's AVG, I did run the Windows clean up! I knew to get rid of cookies but wow I didn't relaize how much residual info is left on the computer. It continually suprises me that anti virus software is free. I really enjoyed the format of Atomic learning. I watched quite a few clips I found my self straying from the topic, I will have to spend some more time on this site later.
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