* What are some things that you have learned about effective teaching strategies when integrating technology?
When I watched the 21st century learner video, it really opened my eyes to how important it is to incorporate technology in teaching. Knowing this, one of the most effective teaching strategies that I feel I learned in this class was learning how to use the TPACK model to appropriately integrate technology into teaching and learning. The interactions of technology, pedagogy and content(TPACK) forms the core of the TPACK model(Koehler & Mishra, 2008). When teachers are planning lessons, it’s important to use TPACK. This model starts with teachers looking at the content they need to teach. Then they think of ways to incorporate technology with the content and conceptually think how they are going to tie in the content and technology with their pedagogical philosophies. It can be challenging to tie all this into one lesson but the more teachers are using and thinking of TPACK the easier it will be to make it a part of a daily teaching routine. Another advantage of TPACK is that it helps with differentiated instruction taking place in the classroom and will enable educators to meet the different needs of all learners.
* How did integrating the Internet help you think about and evaluate uses of technology?
Integrating the Internet helped me to realize how many resources there are available on the Internet for teachers to use in their classroom. It made me realize that not utilizing what the Internet has to offer would mean doing a disservice to my students. Additionally, when teaching learners in the 21st century, it is important to teach them about digital citizenship through the Internet. Internet can impact a classroom through the use of differentiated instruction. All learners can learn with the tools the Internet has to offer. This will in turn increase a students motivation to learn along with making all students feel successful. This is the ultimate goal of teaching. The Internet also helps teachers supplement instruction with online learning games and activities as well as avenues for group collaboration. There is an endless list of what the Internet offers to teachers. However, the Internet tools are always changing, websites and programs are always being added and updated. Therefore, it is important for teachers to stay informed about the new technologies that are available on the Internet.
* Which of the assignments that you turned in do you feel really exemplifies good teaching with technology and why?
I think the group presentation really showed the impacts of using interactive whiteboards in a classroom. It is amazing the resources that interactive whiteboards have to offer. They are also supported by research that has been done behind the benefits of using them in the classroom. Students learning while having fun is what an interactive whiteboard is all about. They provide for a rise in student engagement for learning. Additionally, not only did this presentation show how wonderful interactive whiteboards are, it showed how wonderful Google presentation is! I was able to create a wonderful presentation with group members that I have never met! Google presentation allows for easy group collaboration because it is a form of cloud computing that allows anyone to access the same document on any computer and edit/comment a document anyway they wish.
* How have you met your goals established in your Personal Growth Plan?
In my personal growth plan, I stated that "My goal is to give students exposure to the different technologies that are available in order for them to be successful after grade school and into higher education and the workforce." I can definitely say that I have learned about many new resources in this class in order to make this happen. For example: blogs, rss feeds, bookmarking pages, podcasts, social networking sites, Google documents, Flickr, video streaming, are all ways to enhance learning and the list continues!
I also said that "One of my goals is to learn new ideas that I could add to my blog in order for it to be more appealing to my students and parents"
Google calendar is definitely a tool that will really enhance my blog. Also, when following different blogs on my RSS page, I found some new resources that I can add to my resource section of my blog. Also, I can add many images onto my blog using Flicker and Creative Commons.
Another goal that I had was that "To use technology as more of a way to differentiate instruction by finding resources to meet the needs of all learners. Additionally, I stated that I wanted to create more math centers in my classroom and I would love to learn new resources that I could use in these centers and on my smart board." I felt that I accomplished this goal when I discovered many resources on my RSS feed pages. For example, I found a great math game website that I could add to one of my centers. Also, when researching ideas for my SIG presentation, I found new resources that I can use on my IWB to help differentiate my instruction during center work.
Another goal that I had was to "Find new ways to help me stay more organized with my organization in my classroom to be more efficient with my everyday tasks." I feel like I accomplished this goal through the organization lab which gave me some helpful hints of how to keep myself organized. For exampling, a easy system for multi-tasking. Also,the use of Google Calendar will also be a great tool for organization.
My final goal that I listed in my personal growth plan was to "Find other ways for these students to accomplish the same goals I am trying to accomplish with the technology I use without limiting the experience to students who do have the internet." This was one goal that I did not accomplish in this class because everything we covered required having access to the Internet. But, it did help me realize that I can do many more of these activities in my classroom which would prevent students from needing to have the Internet at home.
* Do you have any new goals? What are your plans for reaching your new goals and your long-term goals after this course is over?
Another goal of mine is to continue to expand my personal learning network. My network has already expanded greatly across my teaching career and in this class and I cannot wait to expand this network even further. Additionally, new goals that I want to implement in my classroom is to create a message board on my classroom blog as well as creating a bookmarking page when I assign research projects. Additionally, I want make it a goal of mine to continuing to follow the blogs on my RSS feed page to continue getting new resources to use in my classroom. A third goal of mine is to learn how to us Prezi. In this class, I wish I could have learned more about this program. I am very comfortable using Microsoft Powerpoint but I think I could really make my presentations more engaging using Prezi. Finally, I want to create all 10 of my math units using SMART technology to make all my lessons very interactive. I am anxious to start using the tools I have learned during this class and putting them to use through effective lessons for my students.
Some of my long term professional goals is to complete the Master’s of Teaching and Curriculum Program in August. Before that, in June, I hope to complete my technology courses and receive my technology certificate. Additionally, I want to attend many professional development opportunities for technology that my school district provides. I also want to attend a MACUL conference this year. All in all, I want to be a resource to other teachers in my school district and promote sharing of technological ideas amongst staff members in my school.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Learning Styles
I am both a visual and auditory learner. I remember sitting in lecture classes in college with my notes out in front of me and even though I had all the information in front of me,it helped me to hear the lecture as well. I would then go home and look off my notes. This is what helped me to be successful in college.
For these types of learners in my classroom, I feel what is most effective is for a teacher to display the information visually whether through information in a textbook, information projected on a screen, video clips, radio, voice thread, or tape. Then when this information is being presented or after it is presented, a teacher needs to assign a writing activity or notes that displays the information on paper for students to read at a later time.
Strategies that would not be effective would be having students read a text and take notes by themselves. Or if a teacher is assigning a activity, they will have their students independently read the directions them and complete the activity on their own.
I also feel as though I am a very hands-on tactile/kinesthetic learner. This class is a perfect example because I feel that I really learned the different programs assigned to us when I actually had to explore the websites given to us and create the task assigned.
In my classroom, I find that a lot of my students are this type of learner because of the fact that they grew up in a generation that is constantly "plugged in". Therefore, an example that I use in my classroom when teaching students new vocabulary words is that I have an interactive quiz I created that is attached to my blog to have my students practice their words. I also have my students constantly create hand gestures that describe the words to help them remember the meaning of the words better. I also have my students create skits in social studies to describe some of the events we are studying.
What would hinder the learning of the tactile/kinesthetic learner is if a classroom is set-up like most college lectures a teacher lectures all hour and a student's job is to listen and take notes.
Because teachers can't teach each lesson focusing on every learning style that we have in the classroom, a teacher should try to incorporate all learning styles into their lessons to accommodate every learner. A great way would be to utilize new technologies especially an interactive whiteboard. Another way, especially when assigning a project, a teacher should give different options to assignments that satisfies all learning styles. For example a skit or play, research project, video, paper, brochure, etc. Therefore, all students have the opportunity to learn and reach their highest potential.
For these types of learners in my classroom, I feel what is most effective is for a teacher to display the information visually whether through information in a textbook, information projected on a screen, video clips, radio, voice thread, or tape. Then when this information is being presented or after it is presented, a teacher needs to assign a writing activity or notes that displays the information on paper for students to read at a later time.
Strategies that would not be effective would be having students read a text and take notes by themselves. Or if a teacher is assigning a activity, they will have their students independently read the directions them and complete the activity on their own.
I also feel as though I am a very hands-on tactile/kinesthetic learner. This class is a perfect example because I feel that I really learned the different programs assigned to us when I actually had to explore the websites given to us and create the task assigned.
In my classroom, I find that a lot of my students are this type of learner because of the fact that they grew up in a generation that is constantly "plugged in". Therefore, an example that I use in my classroom when teaching students new vocabulary words is that I have an interactive quiz I created that is attached to my blog to have my students practice their words. I also have my students constantly create hand gestures that describe the words to help them remember the meaning of the words better. I also have my students create skits in social studies to describe some of the events we are studying.
What would hinder the learning of the tactile/kinesthetic learner is if a classroom is set-up like most college lectures a teacher lectures all hour and a student's job is to listen and take notes.
Because teachers can't teach each lesson focusing on every learning style that we have in the classroom, a teacher should try to incorporate all learning styles into their lessons to accommodate every learner. A great way would be to utilize new technologies especially an interactive whiteboard. Another way, especially when assigning a project, a teacher should give different options to assignments that satisfies all learning styles. For example a skit or play, research project, video, paper, brochure, etc. Therefore, all students have the opportunity to learn and reach their highest potential.
Creative Commons Lab
Photo Attribution:
Original Image: "Canada"
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2235/2123523275_983f039f2b_m.jpg
By:Alex Indigo
Releasted under an Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
During my social studies lessons, I use Powerpoint slides to display the notes that I have my students take. I will be able to include images like this on my Powerpoint presentations. We are about to study Canada and this could be a picture I could use on my slides. Also, in math, I use a lot of interactive whiteboard lessons to teach my students new concepts. It is important to relate what I am teaching to the real world, therefore it would be nice to add images to show these real world interactions.
Another way I could use Create Commons is when I assign projects in social studies. It would be a great idea to teach my students about Creative Commons and show them how to add their own pictures and citations to their projects. This would enhance their projects and teach my students about proper citations. Many students are visual learners so pictures will be a great help when having my students present their projects to the class.
Additionally, I run a Student Council at my school. I am always having my students create posters to advertise events that are taking place in our school. Teaching these students about Creative Commons would be very beneficial because they could start creating posters on the computer and adding images to make them more visually appealing.
My Flickr Page
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
PC Maintenance Security Lab
Windows clean-up
This feature cleans your hard drive from all the access baggage that it accumulates and frees up space for your hard drive. What surprised me about this tutorial is that there is so much memory that your hard drive is using that is unnecessary and there is a quick and easy way to help your computer run better. When I ran it on my computer I freed up 296.2 MB!
Blocking SPAM in Google gmail.
What was interesting in this tutorial that you can filter your emails so that spam emails will be deleted automatically without filling your in-box or causing you to take an extra step and having to delete it yourself, if you are proactive about creating filters then you will be saving yourself lots of time trying to clean out your emails. What surprised be how easy it was to report spam emails. I need to do that more often, I normally just delete these emails right away. However, this reminded me that I need to report them to let gmail know that it is spam.
Windows Update
What was interesting is that the default settings on windows computers for updates starts at 3am when my computer is never on. I was able to go back and have my computer install updates at 9pm when my computer is on. Also, many of the updates your computer gives you are just high priority updates. If you want other updates you can go and personally check your updates you wish to have by looking on the windows webiste, this will just make your computer run more efficiently. This just surprised me because I did not even realize this was an option! It is now something very useful for me to keep checking up on to make sure my computer is updated appropriately.
This feature cleans your hard drive from all the access baggage that it accumulates and frees up space for your hard drive. What surprised me about this tutorial is that there is so much memory that your hard drive is using that is unnecessary and there is a quick and easy way to help your computer run better. When I ran it on my computer I freed up 296.2 MB!
Blocking SPAM in Google gmail.
What was interesting in this tutorial that you can filter your emails so that spam emails will be deleted automatically without filling your in-box or causing you to take an extra step and having to delete it yourself, if you are proactive about creating filters then you will be saving yourself lots of time trying to clean out your emails. What surprised be how easy it was to report spam emails. I need to do that more often, I normally just delete these emails right away. However, this reminded me that I need to report them to let gmail know that it is spam.
Windows Update
What was interesting is that the default settings on windows computers for updates starts at 3am when my computer is never on. I was able to go back and have my computer install updates at 9pm when my computer is on. Also, many of the updates your computer gives you are just high priority updates. If you want other updates you can go and personally check your updates you wish to have by looking on the windows webiste, this will just make your computer run more efficiently. This just surprised me because I did not even realize this was an option! It is now something very useful for me to keep checking up on to make sure my computer is updated appropriately.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Getting Things Done
How did you organize your process?
I organize my process using sticky notes or paper. I am always one to make to-do-lists on sticky notes because for me, it is an easy way to quickly make a note of something I need to do. I always prioritize things by what needs to be done first and what needs to be finished last. As a teacher, this is easy for me because I stick them on my desk and when my task is done, I can just throw it away. There is always something new that comes to mind of things I need to do when teaching so it is the most efficient way for me to organize my tasks.
What was it like for you going through the process the first time?
When going through this process, it seemed sort of familiar to me because this is very similar to the process that I already do. It was interesting though to see the other features I can add to my process that I can do electronically that seems very interesting and realistic. I like the inbox option! It is great because I am always getting interrupted during the day. This process seemed a little complex at first but then it made a lot of sense to me.
Do you think that this process will help you? Why or why not?
This process will help me. What I like about it is that is seems very efficient especially for people in the teaching profession. What I like about this process that it includes tasks that need to be completed in the future and how to do about prioritizing them into a nice process. I am someone who is always looking ahead, but what is nice about this process is that it sets priorities so that you don't get too overwhelmed with the tasks you need to complete.
Do you think you will continue this process? If not, what will your process be?
I do think I will continue this process. I think as a teacher, it is especially important to continue this process because there are so many tasks we are faced with having to do everyday that it is critical to stay organized. Also, especially since I am working full time and I am taking my master's classes, it is important for me to know how to manage my time effectively and not get too overwhelmed. I even added his website to my RSS feed for updates in his process.
I organize my process using sticky notes or paper. I am always one to make to-do-lists on sticky notes because for me, it is an easy way to quickly make a note of something I need to do. I always prioritize things by what needs to be done first and what needs to be finished last. As a teacher, this is easy for me because I stick them on my desk and when my task is done, I can just throw it away. There is always something new that comes to mind of things I need to do when teaching so it is the most efficient way for me to organize my tasks.
What was it like for you going through the process the first time?
When going through this process, it seemed sort of familiar to me because this is very similar to the process that I already do. It was interesting though to see the other features I can add to my process that I can do electronically that seems very interesting and realistic. I like the inbox option! It is great because I am always getting interrupted during the day. This process seemed a little complex at first but then it made a lot of sense to me.
Do you think that this process will help you? Why or why not?
This process will help me. What I like about it is that is seems very efficient especially for people in the teaching profession. What I like about this process that it includes tasks that need to be completed in the future and how to do about prioritizing them into a nice process. I am someone who is always looking ahead, but what is nice about this process is that it sets priorities so that you don't get too overwhelmed with the tasks you need to complete.
Do you think you will continue this process? If not, what will your process be?
I do think I will continue this process. I think as a teacher, it is especially important to continue this process because there are so many tasks we are faced with having to do everyday that it is critical to stay organized. Also, especially since I am working full time and I am taking my master's classes, it is important for me to know how to manage my time effectively and not get too overwhelmed. I even added his website to my RSS feed for updates in his process.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Social Networks
Social networks fit into my workflow both professionally and personally. Facebook is the social network that I am very experience with and is really the only one I use on a daily basis. Not only can I connect with my friends socially, but my social encounters have also helped my work professionally. For example, I am connected to my collaborating teacher during my intern year so not only do we keep in touch on a friendship level but she is still today giving me ideas for my classroom through Facebook. I also belong to some teacher groups on Facebook that give me ideas on things that I can implement in my classrooms. Also, when looking for jobs a couple years ago, I found was able to network through Facebook when finding out information on the school districts I was applying for. I even collaborate with my coworkers on Facebook when we are lesson planning to give each other ideas of what we are teaching in our classrooms. We sometimes find this easier then emailing each other.
Not only does Facebook fit into my life but my middle students use Facebook on a daily basis (even though they are too young for it). The biggest problem I see with it, which it even talks about in the social networking article I read, is cyber bullying. My students use it as a social medium to gossip and socialize with their friends. I would love to create a Facebook page for my classroom but it is not allowed. I think if teachers were to use it more as a professional social classroom network that allows students to chat about learning and assignments in school, students might start to use social networks more professionally. I also think that if students are more educated on how to use Facebook more appropriately then I feel social networks could be more useful in the classroom. I would love to find a different social network other then Facebook to start in my classroom where student can have discussion over assignments on. This would really help in group projects. Additionally, students need to learn how to social network more professionally when they enter the workforce, Therefore as teachers, I think it is our job to try to include these networks into our teaching.
Not only does Facebook fit into my life but my middle students use Facebook on a daily basis (even though they are too young for it). The biggest problem I see with it, which it even talks about in the social networking article I read, is cyber bullying. My students use it as a social medium to gossip and socialize with their friends. I would love to create a Facebook page for my classroom but it is not allowed. I think if teachers were to use it more as a professional social classroom network that allows students to chat about learning and assignments in school, students might start to use social networks more professionally. I also think that if students are more educated on how to use Facebook more appropriately then I feel social networks could be more useful in the classroom. I would love to find a different social network other then Facebook to start in my classroom where student can have discussion over assignments on. This would really help in group projects. Additionally, students need to learn how to social network more professionally when they enter the workforce, Therefore as teachers, I think it is our job to try to include these networks into our teaching.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
RSS Lab
This was my RSS feed at the beginning
These are pictures of my RSS 2 weeks later
After adding multiple feeds to my RSS page, I found myself checking my feeds quite frequently. Some more then others depending on how quick they were updated and what information I was particularly looking for throughout the day. I check my feeds at home and at school because many of my feeds I added helped me during my school day (I will go into more detail later in my blog post).
I started following the blog, a math teacher's life. They talked about the Pytheogrean Theorem Football activity. I thought it was a really unique activity so I commented on it that I like their idea. Later, I found the blog, "The Love of Learning. In this blog they share ideas about different ways of teaching kids new concepts. There was an idea about giving showing students a glossary of math terms online. I commented that I really liked this idea.
I placed my own classroom blog on my RSS page. I did this to help me track the changes that my teaching partner has made to my blog. It is a quick and easy way for me to check to see what he adds on it when I get home and reminds me of things that I might have to add to the blog that night or the following day.
A couple days later I found on the love of learning blog a book that was listed called "The Number Sense: How the Mind Creates Mathematics". The blog suggested this book and I commented on this on how this is a great book and it sparked my interest.
I also noticed that the Love of Learning blog and the Math Teacher Life isn't changing frequently I checked this twice the week of the 31st and there hasn't been a new posts. During the week of the 7th, I also noticed that the posts did not change. Therefore, I did not end up following these feeds that much.
I added the population time clock feed because I am teaching my students about population and the effects it has on the environment so by placing it on my RSS feed, I can check up frequently. I was also able to tell my students about the changes I see in population easily. My students keep asking me to check this. This feed changes hourly! It is so interesting to them to see the change in population so quickly.
-Mrs. Nikash's blog changes daily. I really like looking at her blog because she teaches 7th grade social studies at the middle school and many of my 6th graders will have her next year. She is a fantastic teacher and it is always so nice picking up new ideas I can use in my classroom by looking at her blog. By looking at her posts, it gives me an idea of what she is teaching her students. I noticed that on her last vocab quiz, she had one of the same vocabulary words that I quizzed my students on. I was able to tell my students this which I feel made them have a different attitude when learning the word. Her posts change everyday so there are always updates that I have found every time I checked the feed.
I do a Newsday Tuesday in my classroom where I have students share a current event article. I added this feed to my page because it is super convenient to show my kids. For example on Nov 1st, 1987 - 22,000 run in NYC Marathon (won by Ibrahim Hussein of Kenya 2:11:01) This was just fun information I got to share with my students. Also, on Nov. 7th, 1914 there was the first Vogue fashion show. Many of my girls in my class were interested in this! I show my students this website almost daily.
One blog that really stood out to me was Will Richardson's blog. After I added his blog to my feeds,it seemed like he didn't update it quickly because after I I added it to my feed, a week later, it didn't change. I did find a pattern though that his blog gets updated about once a week. What did stand out to me is when he wrote about "Is it better for our kids to be grouped by chronological age, or is it just easier for us?" Its interesting because my school is already trying to change this pattern in schools. For example, I have a 5th grader in my 6th grade class. Also, on Nov. 3rd, Will wrote, "Technology will soon provide a better “learning” experience to kids needing to pass the test than a classroom teacher with 30 (or 50) kids." I think this is very interesting to think about and its crazy to think what technology is doing in the classroom. Also he stated that "There is an urgency now to redefine our value. We cannot be about passing the test." I posted that I completely agreed and that testing should not be controlling a teacher in a classroom! Later on the 7th, I read a post by Will about the Khan academy. It is interesting because my superintendent sent me a link to this earlier in the year. What stood out to me about this post is how Will is still talking about teaching toward test taking. Its interesting because I never looked at the Khan academy as doing that at first, but know I see this point of view clearly.
I then added Teacher Lingo there was a post about Cyber Hero: Technology Tidbits
I found a link about the site. Worddynomo which helps kids make flash cards online. This is perfect to use for my Social Studies lessons because we always go over vocabulary words. I posted that I thought it was a great tool to use. Also, on the 7th, I noticed that on the blog they posted about a resource called Technology 4 Classrooms. I looked into it and I saw that it is a good resource to use in my classroom. I commented on their post that it was a good tool for teachers.I noticed that this feed updates quite frequently because there are many teachers that post on this site. This is definitely a feed that is worth checking daily!
I added that MACUL blog and I noticed that there was a SMART creation seminar on Nov. 12th. I actually told my sister about this because she lives near the area they are having it. She wants to get more comfortable using a Smartboard.
I had my students create a Wordle on the 4th. It was interesting because when I projected this site for my students to see on my projector, I noticed the RSS feed and added it right away to my page. I showed my students how I could go on and look at pre-made wordles by using this feed.
Because I am a Social Studies teacher, I already know how I am going to use it in my classroom and I have already started! I show them the population clock, and Today in History Feed daily. I also plan on using this when we have our research project on Canada and Latin America. I am going to research to see if there are some feeds that pertain to these areas and post them on a new Netvibe page for my students to view and reference.
Also, at parent-teacher conferences this week, I am going to mention to my parents who are more tech-savy how to place my blog on an RSS feed so that they can assess it easier and see the updates quickly.
Finally, I am going to continue to use my feeds to check in on my blog and the other blogs that are on my feed to get ideas to enhance the learning in my classrooms. This experience showed me the impact of the information you can find when reading people's blogs and how using and RSS feed is a great way to stay connected in our society, This is especially important for educators.
These are pictures of my RSS 2 weeks later
After adding multiple feeds to my RSS page, I found myself checking my feeds quite frequently. Some more then others depending on how quick they were updated and what information I was particularly looking for throughout the day. I check my feeds at home and at school because many of my feeds I added helped me during my school day (I will go into more detail later in my blog post).
I started following the blog, a math teacher's life. They talked about the Pytheogrean Theorem Football activity. I thought it was a really unique activity so I commented on it that I like their idea. Later, I found the blog, "The Love of Learning. In this blog they share ideas about different ways of teaching kids new concepts. There was an idea about giving showing students a glossary of math terms online. I commented that I really liked this idea.
I placed my own classroom blog on my RSS page. I did this to help me track the changes that my teaching partner has made to my blog. It is a quick and easy way for me to check to see what he adds on it when I get home and reminds me of things that I might have to add to the blog that night or the following day.
A couple days later I found on the love of learning blog a book that was listed called "The Number Sense: How the Mind Creates Mathematics". The blog suggested this book and I commented on this on how this is a great book and it sparked my interest.
I also noticed that the Love of Learning blog and the Math Teacher Life isn't changing frequently I checked this twice the week of the 31st and there hasn't been a new posts. During the week of the 7th, I also noticed that the posts did not change. Therefore, I did not end up following these feeds that much.
I added the population time clock feed because I am teaching my students about population and the effects it has on the environment so by placing it on my RSS feed, I can check up frequently. I was also able to tell my students about the changes I see in population easily. My students keep asking me to check this. This feed changes hourly! It is so interesting to them to see the change in population so quickly.
-Mrs. Nikash's blog changes daily. I really like looking at her blog because she teaches 7th grade social studies at the middle school and many of my 6th graders will have her next year. She is a fantastic teacher and it is always so nice picking up new ideas I can use in my classroom by looking at her blog. By looking at her posts, it gives me an idea of what she is teaching her students. I noticed that on her last vocab quiz, she had one of the same vocabulary words that I quizzed my students on. I was able to tell my students this which I feel made them have a different attitude when learning the word. Her posts change everyday so there are always updates that I have found every time I checked the feed.
I do a Newsday Tuesday in my classroom where I have students share a current event article. I added this feed to my page because it is super convenient to show my kids. For example on Nov 1st, 1987 - 22,000 run in NYC Marathon (won by Ibrahim Hussein of Kenya 2:11:01) This was just fun information I got to share with my students. Also, on Nov. 7th, 1914 there was the first Vogue fashion show. Many of my girls in my class were interested in this! I show my students this website almost daily.
One blog that really stood out to me was Will Richardson's blog. After I added his blog to my feeds,it seemed like he didn't update it quickly because after I I added it to my feed, a week later, it didn't change. I did find a pattern though that his blog gets updated about once a week. What did stand out to me is when he wrote about "Is it better for our kids to be grouped by chronological age, or is it just easier for us?" Its interesting because my school is already trying to change this pattern in schools. For example, I have a 5th grader in my 6th grade class. Also, on Nov. 3rd, Will wrote, "Technology will soon provide a better “learning” experience to kids needing to pass the test than a classroom teacher with 30 (or 50) kids." I think this is very interesting to think about and its crazy to think what technology is doing in the classroom. Also he stated that "There is an urgency now to redefine our value. We cannot be about passing the test." I posted that I completely agreed and that testing should not be controlling a teacher in a classroom! Later on the 7th, I read a post by Will about the Khan academy. It is interesting because my superintendent sent me a link to this earlier in the year. What stood out to me about this post is how Will is still talking about teaching toward test taking. Its interesting because I never looked at the Khan academy as doing that at first, but know I see this point of view clearly.
I then added Teacher Lingo there was a post about Cyber Hero: Technology Tidbits
I found a link about the site. Worddynomo which helps kids make flash cards online. This is perfect to use for my Social Studies lessons because we always go over vocabulary words. I posted that I thought it was a great tool to use. Also, on the 7th, I noticed that on the blog they posted about a resource called Technology 4 Classrooms. I looked into it and I saw that it is a good resource to use in my classroom. I commented on their post that it was a good tool for teachers.I noticed that this feed updates quite frequently because there are many teachers that post on this site. This is definitely a feed that is worth checking daily!
I added that MACUL blog and I noticed that there was a SMART creation seminar on Nov. 12th. I actually told my sister about this because she lives near the area they are having it. She wants to get more comfortable using a Smartboard.
I had my students create a Wordle on the 4th. It was interesting because when I projected this site for my students to see on my projector, I noticed the RSS feed and added it right away to my page. I showed my students how I could go on and look at pre-made wordles by using this feed.
Because I am a Social Studies teacher, I already know how I am going to use it in my classroom and I have already started! I show them the population clock, and Today in History Feed daily. I also plan on using this when we have our research project on Canada and Latin America. I am going to research to see if there are some feeds that pertain to these areas and post them on a new Netvibe page for my students to view and reference.
Also, at parent-teacher conferences this week, I am going to mention to my parents who are more tech-savy how to place my blog on an RSS feed so that they can assess it easier and see the updates quickly.
Finally, I am going to continue to use my feeds to check in on my blog and the other blogs that are on my feed to get ideas to enhance the learning in my classrooms. This experience showed me the impact of the information you can find when reading people's blogs and how using and RSS feed is a great way to stay connected in our society, This is especially important for educators.
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