Blogs, Wikis or Websites??

When looking back on all we have done this semester it is hard to believe we’ve learned so much about blogs, wikis and websites. Prior to CEP, I honestly probably thought they were all different names for the same thing ☺. I now realize the difference and have first hand experienced what each are useful for. Blogs, most importantly, can be used to express thoughts, opinions, links or images. As I’ve found this semester there are many teachers who blog with information to benefit many other of their peers. People’s ability to comment on blog posts makes it useful for discussion purposes. Wikis on the other hand are great, because they allow members of the wiki to edit information and add to the specific site. I would like to have a wiki for my peers and students in which comments, and questions are posted all in one known spot. It is nice because in contrast to a blog all the information is in one spot, rather than multiple people’s personal blogs. Finally, websites such as Weebly are perfect for making portfolios. You can have multiple pages on your site, and the varieties of templates they give you make for a very professional looking page. All in all, these different technology based sites are similar yet they have different benefits, and would certainly enhance a classroom’s learning experience!

Reflection on my PLN

Prior to this class I had very minimal technology experience, what I did know was extremely basic. After having a PLN for already 12 weeks I have learned so much. Since this class is online, I like how we have to discover and figure out technological outputs on our own, without a teacher guiding us and telling us exactly how to create this our network. It has made me much more efficient on a computer, and has taught me about such a variety of new sites and interesting technology applications. Being able to post in a weekly blog, comment, use twitter, have a portfolio, and use google calendar or etc. have all really influenced my online commitment to learning.

I know I will definitely use a majority of these online sites in the future for my personal use and career in teaching. Creating a PLN is one of the more useful endeavors I have experienced in my college career, because it is so PRACTICAL. Nothing about this class has been far fetched or irrelevant, it is all the current technology that surrounds us, preparing us to be the best teachers we can be!

Making Class Sites on Google Docs

So today I found out that Google Docs has specific "Back To School" Docs for teachers to make class sites, project sites, and administrative sites. It has great custimization features, where you can pick themes, fonts, etc. to be creative. It also allows you to post links, videos, calendars, and assignments. I thought it was neat too how it has a specific part to make online quizzes for your students. What would I do without this class? Honestly I feel like this should be mandatory for TE majors because it has given me So many good ideas for the future.
I know when I took German all throughout high school my teacher had a lot of interactive online quizzes which was helpful for "at home studying". I liked this idea a lot and feel strongly about implementing online quizzes when I have my own classroom. Through a Google Docs site I can easily do this!

Google Calendar :)

I really enjoyed exploring Google Calendar this week. We already use one for my sorority, since I am on the executive board and have a lot of dates to keep straight, yet it was interesting exploring it on my own and finding out more about the perks of the site. I think it is so convenient that you can share the calendar with others, and allow people the ability to edit and add other dates onto the calendar. This would be very perfect for teachers because principals or other staff members could add to the calendar, or make changes to certain events. Also, the ability to be reminded of events through email, your desktop, or your phone is extremely convenient in this technology-crazed world we live in. Especially if something needs to be changed it could be sent to a group of people connected on the calendar very quickly and efficiently.

I appreciate the freedom Google Calendar gives you. You can set up your calendar based on months and days, or you can be as specific as hours and minutes. Also, you can color coordinate according to categories. All of this is perfect for me because I GREATLY appreciate organization. I will have one of these no doubt for my future classroom- and I hope you all will too!

Free Choice Technology

I chose to learn about Pageflakes, another type of social personalized homepage. It is different than delicious and other social readers, because it allows for you to have specific boxes "flakes" of other websites open and accessible. For example I could create a personal page, but then open on that site could be my blog, my facebook, my twitter etc. It would be useful for teachers because they could have a specific webpage where a lot of other sources are right on that page, easy for students and parents to locate. On Pageflakes there are a variety of pre-made flake links in which you can easily add to your personal page. Yet the nice thing is Pageflakes does allow you to create your own "flakes" so that you can have the flakes you want on your page if they do not already exist.
Some examples already made are:
*email
*facebook
*twitter
*weather sites
*new sites
*youtube
*social readers

I did really enjoy learning about Pageflakes and would like to create one for myself. I appreciate how the page is set up with "flakes" so you have all the necessary websites set up, without just a list of websites to click on. If you would like to learn more about Pageflakes, I recommend everyone to check it out!

--Teaching to Write--

While searching my delicious account I found an interesting article about an approach to writing called the "sandwich". Since I would love to teach 3rd grade it caught my attention. When focusing on putting together a paragrah you can demo a sandwich to your students.
First bread= topic sentence (intro)
Lettuce, Meat, Tomato- the different supporting sentences
Second bread= conclusion
I thought this was an interesting analogy that I haven't seen before. The kids might get a kick out of it. Also you could cut out sandwich pieces with lined paper for them to begin writing :) Just an idea!

The Blind Side

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khtBvQdxta4


This is a link to the movie trailer for "The Blind Side". We talked about it in another one of my TE classes and it has been on my mind. It looks like such an excellent, heartwarming tale for people of all ages to see. Although some see it as stereotypical, I personally think the various messages gained would be beneficial for society. Check it out :)