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 :)

Reflection on Storytelling

The story I told using digital photos was about RARA camp safari, the camp I have worked at for the past two summers. It is a camp in Rochester for underprivileged children. The parents of these kids only pay 5$ a week, because it is subsidized by the government. I absolutely love working there because it is so rewarding. I know the kids have rough family situations at home, so it makes me happy to see them enjoying themselves in a camp setting.
This digital storytelling idea is a great tool to use as a teacher. I was thinking about incorporating it for a "star of the week student". Each week, which ever student is assigned to be the "star" can make a project in which they tell a story through pictures. This will give my class a good insight into the students' life and allow them to learn about a new technology outlet. I really liked the tool I used, slide.com, because it was very self explanatory. I will definitely use it again in the future and in my class when I'm an educator!

Digital Storytelling

This is the digital story I made using www.slide.com. I chose to tell a story about my experience working as a camp counselor, because it really has proved to me that I still want to become a teacher. Seeing how happy the kids are when you greet them each morning, reminds me about how passionate I am toward helping kids learn!

Mainstreaming special ed students

Today in my TE 448 class we talked a lot about special education and the importance of mainstreaming those kids, so I wanted to write a blog post in response. I feel it is very important that the special education students are placed in "normal" classrooms, rather than designated special needs classes for a variety of reasons. First of all, by being in the classroom with other kids their age they have a model of how students should behave in a classroom. If they are only exposed to other struggling kids they might have a much more difficult time learning the proper ways to act in a school setting. Also, it is extremely beneficial for the "typical" students to have the special needs kids in the class because they learn about different disabilities (physical or learning), and how to respond to different kids. They are still able to form friendships and help one another out, making your students well rounded individuals.
Lastly as talked about in my class today, the teacher has a HUGE role in making this a productive classroom. While mainstreaming would be very difficult, if the teacher sets an example that the special needs student belongs, other kids will follow. This was a great lesson I learned today and wanted to pass it on (especially for those of us that are general ed. majors, it is useful)!!

Personal Learning Network...

I think personal learning networks are very beneficial. Whether you are building a blog, twitter, portfolio, or wiki, it is a great way to make information accessible. I definitely am so glad I have been able to incorporate a lot of new types of technology into my TE studies, because after this class I will have many resources that have already been started. I will use the sites for both my personal portfolio along with when I have a classroom of my own in a few years :).
Having a vast PLN though, can become a bit overwhelming I will admit. Multiple websites containing all different things can be hard to keep track of and update, which is why I enjoy combining things we've learned into one place where it is all there. In general PLN's help people expand and reach out to people they have perhaps never met, or communicate with friends, students and parents in a visual way.

Presentation With Added Audio!

Presentation- Mini Lesson!

Flickr Crazed!

I am so glad we learned about flickr in this class, because honestly I have used it so much lately. Whether it has been for class projects, or for personal photo shopping and editing, I absolutely love it. It is such a useful tool, and it really could be educational. I was thinking for elementary students if working on a book report, teachers could incorporate flickr by asking them to use images of characters and create thought bubbles or conversations etc. That would enhance the book report and use of technology! This class just gets me excited to start teaching, so I can use these tools in creatve ways:)

Netbooks worthwhile?

After reading the article about netbooks I wanted to look at the pros and cons. Some pros to netbooks is it does really help "go green", by saving so much paper used while producing textbooks and course packs. Also, since typing is becoming one of the most dominant skills needed in addition to reading and writing, it would improve computer skills starting at a very young age! The cons to netbooks is technology is always quite pricey, so that would involve adjusting many budgets. Also, I worry that students will lose necessary skills learned by reading actual textbooks. The tasks such as analyzing literature and highlighting key facts, would be done much differently. Is it a good look into the future, or should we stick with what we know?

Google Docs

I think Google Docs, is very useful especially with all the templates it offers. I wish I could have just made a new resume on there though because it is a bit frustrating to upload on to the program, but I already had one that I was proud of. It throws off the formatting, which is kind of a pain, so that is a slight downfall.
I definitely think using programs google docs has to offer is a great idea for a classroom. Especially in a career or future oriented class, it would be a perfect project. I'm really glad I know about it know because it gives a lot of useful pointers!

GOOGLE EARTH!

I had seen Google Earth in the past, but just downloaded it today for myself. I must say I was absolutely fascinated by the detail and accuracy of this website. Simply by typing in a location you are instantly there, no matter where on the globe! Never had I even considered this tool for the classroom, but boy was I wrong!
This would be so useful for a variety of subject areas. Teachers could form curriculum in geography about relative and absolute locations. It would also be useful for younger kids to look at continents, versus countries, states and cities. I like it better than just a globe because you can zoom so close in on a particular place. For history class, you could do a project on a specific event in the past, but then look at the landscape and development of the are now and do a comparison/contrasting assignment. For science when studying "under the sea" the ocean layer would be fascinating. Also, the sunlight paths and outer space settings would be very useful as well.
As you can see there are so many options to incorporate TPAK into your classroom, technology really does enhance the learning for your students, and I think they would really enjoy how hands on the Google Earth application is.
Whether you're checking on your house from an aerial view, or researching a specific location, you can't go wrong with Google Earth! :)

Learning Technology at a Younger Age

Today I was sitting in class thinking about how useful CEP 416 has already been and how all this technology will really benefit me in the future as an educator. I pondered the fact though, that since all of this technology is emerging in everyday classrooms, why aren't there required classes in middle and high school that introduce all of this technology. If students had to learn about these interesting technological advancements, teachers would be able to incorporate a lot more tech in their classroom through homework assignments/projects. This would alleviate teachers having to completely teach the technology plus the goal for the assignment, and would allow classes to do much more advanced work. Hopefully in the near future it will be mandatory, so we can really make use of all that is available! :)

Google Reader Gossip

While browsing my google reader, I found a few sites that sparked my interest, thanks to a blog I follow by Mr. Byrne. First of all a link,about the Smithsonian Channel, which hosts a variety of useful educational movies. The thing I liked about the site is the movies are just short clips, so they will keep the attention of your students while providing valuable insight in a short time period.
Secondly, I found a website teachers can use to make educational games for their students. There are a variety of templates to chose from and you pick the material you would like to cover in the activity. I am the new member educator for my sorority, so when I have the new girls weekly meetings I am going to use this site to make material quizzes and activities. I was very excited when I read positive comments about this website!

Thought this might be useful information to spread to our class!

Twitter Thoughts...

After having a twitter account now for a couple weeks, I am starting to get the hang of it more. I think it is a good way to post links and such that you can recommend to others, and I like having groups or networks to search out specific materials, such as "edtech". I will admit though I do find it more difficult to follow actual conversations since they do not stay in chronological order and you have to do a lot of switching between pages. So for longer messages or discussion oriented posts, I do prefer reading blogs but that doesn't mean I won't be reading your tweets!

Flickr Slideshow :)

Creative Commons Image

This is the image I found when searching through creative commons. I like incorporating images into a blog or the classroom, because it makes what you are discussing seem more real. When students can imagine what they're learning about, I believe they are more intrigued to try harder or feel more inquisitive about the topic. I thought I could have my classroom do a project where they research a country and some of the important characteristics that distinguish the country. This would give them the freedom to chose their own point of interest and find a lot of fun images to represent their country. So in this case I did an example of Italy and chose a photo of the Roman Colosseum.

Photo Attribution:Piazza del Colosseo Colleseum, Rome, Italy
By: Eustaquio Santimano

Released under an Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike License
http://search.creativecommons.org/?q=rome%2C+italy&sourceid=Mozilla-search

flickr account

Tweets for tweet deck!

So I downloaded tweet deck this week and think it is a very useful and interesting application! I didn't realize it was going to involve pop-up notifications and all that, but it is quite entertaining for this class. Especially for people that follow hundreds or thousands of twitter accounts, it is a great way to locate people and search for specific topics.
I like how you can just type "#edtech" and then you are instantly given tons of great resources. It makes searching the net so much easier, and you have a network of other teachers :). Overall, I am intrigued by tweet deck and like following conversations better now.

Technology Integration

I haven't been placed in an actual classroom yet, but in high school I did a practicum where I "interned" in a 3rd grade classroom to gain hands on experience. This was already 3 years ago now, but the smart board technology was something that really stood out to me. I loved how my mentor teacher incorporated the majority of her lessons on the board. It was neat because it allows the teacher to use the internet but also write comments on the board and add additional notes to assist the students.
Now I know many teachers are integrating the smart boards to use with syllabuses and a lot more things to avoid passing out handouts and help the "go green" efforts. This class will definitely give us a leg up when we begin our teaching careers, because I'm sure all the educational technology can be very overwhelming to learn (especially for teachers that have been there a while).

Going about Blogging

http://ideasandthoughts.org/2008/07/17/student-and-teacher-blogging-that-succeeds/
This was a link that Greg told us to look into and I thought it really helped me understand the goal of blogging. I liked how it talks about reading blogs first and feeling comfortable enough to actually publish a post. This would be a good skill for students to use even at a lower elementary grade, because it inspires reading in an interesting online setting and then allows them to respond and work on writing as well.
The making friends part was also a cute metaphor, comparing making blog "friends"and making friends on a playground. It is a mutual process, so in order to get people to read your blog you also have to comment on other blogs to show your personal interest. This was a nice way of thinking of blogging in my opinoin, so I was glad we were directed to that blog.

Laptops Allowed yay or nay?

I just read an interesting article about college professors banning laptops in their classroom. This seems so ironic because laptops seem like such a "college" thing, where students have access to the internet on hand, but maybe it has taken a turn for the worst. At University of Chicago Law School classroom wifi was turned off, so that students are forced to focus and reject the internet distractions.
While I can see both sides of this argument it seems a bit intense. I feel that since students and parents are paying so much money for college tuition, it should be up to the student to act responsibly and focus in class. If someone cannot handle a lecture without checking facebook, tweeting, or playing solitaire, GOOD LUCK in the real world. This is one little temptation students have to fight in order to put the effort in to succeed.
I wanted to see what you guys have to say on this topic, yay or nay on laptops?

Response to Bloggers

After reading many of our classmates blogs, it seems a lot of people are commenting on how we love the teacher-student and student-student interaction in this course. It makes taking an online class so much more engaging, and I honestly really do look forward to learning the labs, because I want to use this material in the next couple years when I am starting my own class. I have been telling my mom about all this new technology and she was saying she wished as a parent she would have had access to all this when I was in school.
Also, once our websites are done they are going to make great links to add to a resume. We've got bright looking futures now thanks to this class :) hehe...

Welcome to my blog!

This is my first time ever blogging, so I'm pretty excited about it! In general, my background with technology has been pretty standard. In high school, I worked with Microsoft word, excel and power point quite frequently, but was never taught about making websites or using wikis. I am familiar with facebook and twitter, but blogging is new to me. In this class I hope to become very confident with many new technologies, and learn how to incorporate technology in my classroom as a future teacher. Just from reading through the syllabus it seems like there are so many technology options that I want to learn about. I believe everything is going to be very useful, so I am ready to become more tech savvy :)!