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Podcasting
I was happy that I got to learn about podcasting. Podcasting is a way to post video’s, voice recordings, music and other cool stuff on the internet in a more safe way for kids. Instead of having to blog or post things on personal websites it allows you to network computers together and post creative elements on computers through one chosen sight. This allows teachers to not only get away from traditional assignments but to be safe with it. And it’s a major plus because it helps the students learn twenty first century communication skills. I was talking with my brother-in-law who is currently in 6th grade and he loves his garage band on his Mac computer and by using podcasting he can share it with us any time he comes up with a new song! The way this will be helpful in a classroom is that you can post things on the teacher’s end that is informational for the students and give them assignments to watch it at home or in their computer time. And from the students to the teachers it’s a safe way for them to be creative with their projects and stay updated with technology.TextingTexting in education is a touchy subject. Most Elementary schools require that cell phones don’t even enter the premises. That being for valid reasons limits the use of the pro’s of cell phones. But having your students accessible is such a convenience and especially their parents. Being able to inform the parents directly if something were to happen in school, such as a kid acting out or absent, you can inform them by texting letting them get back to you when it’s convenient for them. Also if they would like you could have homework sent to them and test scores. Student updates and progress reports. As a parent I think I would love more communication with my teacher and feeling more involved in my student’s life. Of course you would let the parents choose if they would like to be contacted this way but giving those options is always a good thing.
I think it is a very good idea to set as few of rules in the classroom as possible and let the kids set the rest and with all the rules let them set the consequences that way when the rules get broken they have no room to complain because they set the high standards for themselves. I had my fiancé’s little brother who is in 6th grade help me make some rules for my 6th grade class and I was surprised at the rules he had in place in his school and ones he came up with himself. They set such high standards and I’m impressed.
Kidspiration is a very kid friendly tool. It is a lot easier and more interactive than trying to use PowerPoint with the kids. After playing with it for a while I really began to like it, especially the stamps and changing the colors of things
I also really liked that you can doodle and write free hand for more of a personal touch or you can use the stamps of images or letters for a more professional look. I also really liked that you can organize your information by adding in blobs and typing in the information.
This tool I feel will be a huge asset to a classroom and to assist teaching the curriculum. Not only do you get students more involved but they get to use their creativity and have more fun with the information.
Since I'm planning on teaching 6th grade I especially liked the stamps of the different planets. I thought instantly how I couldn't us Kidspiration as an assignment in learning facts about each planet and putting the bullet points and blurbs up about the information they find. Kidspiration is a lot more effective to use in elementary schools than PowerPoint that is more professional.
As the semester progresses I am realizing students must be entertained. The teachers creativity is essential to keep those kids entertained. The PowerPoint projects were interesting, to see just how easy it would be to incorporate them and how fun and entertaining they would be for the students. The students get to use their creativity, increase their knowledge and familiarity of technology, and use social skills to help enlighten their lives.
It is truly amazing what the world has evolved into. Can you think back how any of us lived without technology such as cell phones and the internet? And it’s crazy how people still think it’s possible to live without the biggest thing we can do to help future students is get them involved in technology and comfortable with it as soon as possible so they can succeed. The biggest task is to keep them safe while doing so. It’s crazy to think that there are people out there who can’t see how prominent technology is and we need to help all teachers get on the same page.
I really like the idea of using the camera for documenting student’s activities for the parents to stay update, also to help the parents participate in the student’s homework and stay current with they children lives by assigning homework using cameras and pictures. Also you can use cameras to help show Students of the Day and Birthdays. I feel the biggest thing is to let the students use digital cameras as a way to express themselves, and now since it is so popular as a social tool for students in higher grades it good to get them comfortable with them early in life. Also with documentary of observations in science of the moon or of decaying bread, there really are unlimited ideas for digital cameras.
After reading the articles I realized you could integrate photos into a lot more things than I had thought. Of course you would want to take pictures of field trips and stuff but I wouldn't think to use it as an exercise to learn computer skills, and to have them build more of a unity as a class. I also liked the idea of having photos to bring home to parents and have them bring photos from home so the parents are more updated on their students work.
I never concentrated much on how i would use the internet in my classroom. It’s not something that really even crossed my mind, but now that it has I can see just how useful it will be. I remember using it in school especially in 6th grade for the planet projects and history reports. I am kind of excited to find different way to be creative with it. I like how my eyes have been open with the important of safety on the internet and how to make sure how the kids can learn to be safe not only at school but at home also.
Internet safety or Internet smarts? I diffidently agree with the internet safety ideas we went through for the class assignment. The ABC's of Website Evaluation by Kathy was dense but it had good information. The one thing is when evaluating websites it more internet smarts, to not believe everything that you read. The safety part of the interactive exercise I went through was more on the safety not to open emails from unknown recipients. This has a big impact on the computers not getting viruses and the children not being solicited to inappropriate information. I remember when I was in elementary school going through the importance of not giving out personal information on the internet and stuff but I never took it seriously. I think you have to personalize the severity of it so they really understand the importance and now I understand why it’s so crucial the teachers understand how to properly instigate this safety
Uen.org really is a good source to use in a classroom. It’s the perfect way to organize the entire curriculum using links your students are going to need, and information you are going to be referring to for your lesson plans. It’s also a wonderful source for lesson plans I was reading through some of them and they are grade oriented, and creative.
It’s a good way to keep your kids parent’s aware of what is going on also. You can update your calendar with all the assignments due so if there are any questions on homework either the student or the parent can refer to the calendar.
Since teaching information to others has proven to be a great way to retain the information it also gives the students an opportunity to show other siblings or their parents what they learned so that they retain the information better. When showing videos and other interactive material, if the students missed class it’s a good way to help them stay caught up.
The Pioneer library was a little different. There was a lot of information available but it was kind of hard to find and the website was slow. When I was in elementary school we used that website and I couldn’t ever really figure it out then either. I’m sure when I become more familiar with it i will like it more.
Over all this is my favorite resource we have gone over since it’s a way to coordinate all that we have gone over. You could even find a way to get your students grades posted on uen.
I like the fact that now days your grades can be posted online. I'm sure having this available in Elementary Schools only the parents would really be interested in this; checking it on a regular basis. When I was in Jr high i was able to view my grades, absences, and the balance of my lunch money. The great thing about that is it was all on one website. In college, teachers have so many choices in ways to post grades, if they choose to post them at all. this is kind of frustrating for me now since some teachers systems are great and easy to use but others aren't. I think it would be most beneficial if they created a set system so that all grades could be found in the same place. With university's it probable would be a hassle to get it started: teaching all the teachers how to use the system, etc, etc. but in the long run it might make things easier on the teachers as well. not having to explain there certain way 2-3 times every new school year with new students.
Before this class I had never thought to have open contact with any teachers. If i had a question I would always just ask the professor during or after class. I am thankful for the enlightenment on the vast oprotunities to have open comunication with my future students. The world has changed so much even since I have been in elementary school, and I feel its important to keep current with tools such as instant messaging. I would have never thought to use that with my students and now I see how benificial it would be. the problem is not every student is going to be conected to the same instant messaging instalment. it might be benifical for the schools to institute its own IM so it would be safer and they would automaticaly have access to it with student ID's. I would have loved that in Jr. High, exspecially if it was on the same website as you viewed your grades and stuff: just kill two birds with one stone.
