Post 6- Teacher Tools

I chose to look at my old elementary school's website, Limestone Creek. This school ranges from Kindergarten to 5th grade. After searching the website for awhile I couldn't find any specific class pages, instead I found something called the "Cougar Chronicle." This is a newsletter giving information regarding the elementary school as a whole. On this newsletter I was able to read the Principal's message to the parents, teachers, and students, what was going on around campus for the month, counselor's message, the calendar, and the lunch menu. To find specific class information, adults and students must login.

I envision myself using technology often to accomplish my professional responsibilities efficiently and effectively. I can see myself using productivity software often because according to our book it "assists educators in tracking student information, computing grades, and preparing lesson plans and IEP's," (Lever-Duffy 147). This software seems like it would be very useful as a teacher to keep up with things going on in the classroom. I can also see myself using many apps, because my phone is already a big part of what keeps me organized now. Apps offer a wide array of useful tools including tools for organizing, grading, and note taking. According to our book again apps also "assist teachers in student tracking and reporting with no delay while interacting in the classroom," (Lever-Duffy 147). I can also see myself using softwares such as, word processor, electronic spreadsheets, database management, presentation, and classroom management. Each provides many different features to help assist teachers and make things easier.

I learned how to use Wiki after doing our web evaluation assignment. I've never used Wiki before so I had no idea how to use it. I learned how to make a table on it, create pages, and put everything into one folder. I thought it was confusing how to link pages together so I didn't like that about Wiki. It was really easy to create a table on it however. Next time I will know how to link pages together and I can see my using this in the classroom if I want kids to learn how to evaluate websites so they can tell what websites are good, and what aren't.

Post 5- Web 2.0

Some Web 2.0 technologies I think are useful in the classroom and to support teacher professional development are blogs, YouTube, and Diigo. As mentioned in the podcast classroom blogs can allow teachers to post announcements and assignments for the kids. Also stated in the podcast, YouTube can be used to locate and share relevant information to the classroom. I don't think Twitter is as useful because there are so many things that kids can see because many of the accounts aren't private and if they follow older siblings and such they could see things they shouldn't be looking at and it's hard to keep up with Twitter if following too many people/accounts. I also don't think Wikis are very useful. To effectively use these tools you need certain computer, network, and periphery equipment. Computer equipment you need is a keyboard, pointing device (such as a trackball, joystick, touch pad, stylus, or mouse), and monitor. Network equipment you need is a server, WiFi network, and storage. And finally the periphery equipment you need is electronic whiteboard and/or data projectors to help showcase to students how to work these tools, and auto computer devices such as speakers, microphones, and headsets for students to listen.

An interesting web tool I might use when teaching is edmodo.com. Edmodo was founded in 2008 and already has over 62 million members on the website. It is a global education network that helps connect learners with the resources and people needed to reach their full potential. It provides an easy way for teachers to connect with students so they can safely collaborate, stay organized, as well as access assignments, grades, and other school information.

As a teacher I would have all my students sign up for my class and this is where I could give them details and reminders of assignments that are coming up in my class. I would also encourage my student's parents to sign up so they are able to see what we are working on in class. Parent's are able to see lessons, quiz, and event schedules as well as read and review teacher announcements. In conclusion, Edmodo is a great site that keeps parents and students up to date and keeps things organized.

I learned how to use Webspiration Classroom to create concept mapping. I have learned how to create a concept map now that is easy for children to follow along and learn from. One thing I like about concept mapping is that it is very easy to follow along with and shows connections with topics. I also liked how easy it was to figure out how to use this tool. One thing I would improve on next time is making it more spread out because many of the bubbles ended up being close together. I can use this in my future career by creating concept maps, or having students create their own maps, to help them study for tests.

Post 4- Web Based Tools

I have chose the standard SC.5.P.10 Forms of Energy. B. Energy exists in many forms and has the ability to do work or cause a change. I found a website that has students use positively and negatively charged points to try and guide a positively charged puck into the goal. Through this they learn how charges can attract and push away from one another. http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/electric-hockey It is called Electric Field Hockey and the classification of the tool I am using is an educational game.

In the past I have searched for and evaluated Internet-based resources for use in school work on whether it seems reliable based on the domain name. Also I have looked at if it is visually appealing as well as informative. I usually would check to see if they provided sources for the facts they presented also to see if it is reliable. The podcast also says to watch out for the domain name to see who owns it, as well as make sure it is visually appealing and informative. One thing I didn't realize that I look for until listening to the podcast was if the site is easy to navigate and if it loads quickly because I am impatient.

After working on the Web Hunt assignment I learned how to better search for things easier. I never realized there was Google Scholar that could make looking for articles much faster. Also there was a bar on the left that allowed me to search certain dates too which was helpful. I also tend to forget there are tabs along google that can help me find just videos, pictures, etc easier. Another thing I learned was that using "+" helps you find more exact things you are searching for.

Web Challenges: 

1. You want to find a blog that students can use to showcase their artwork on to be able to share with family members all over.
2. You want to teach a unit on Leonardo Da Vinci. Find a piece of artwork to share with students.

3- Standards and Skills

The ELA technology standards that I feel most prepared to teach with my existing knowledge is all of the RL.7 "Multimedia:" Literature standards, RI.7 "Multimedia:" Informational Text, RHST.7 "Multimedia:" History/Social Studies, and RST.7 "Multimedia:" Science/Technical Subjects because they all mainly deal with using charts and graphs as well as analyzing and comparing, which I have seen many teachers do throughout the years. I feel pretty comfortable with most of the technology standards but the one I feel I need more preparation for is W/WHST.8 "Use Multiple Sources" and SL.3 "Evaluate Speaker's Point of View".

I would like to use Email with my 1st grade students because much of our society today revolves around using technology to communicate so by having them learn to use Email to communicate with others at an early age will make it easier for them when they get older. So in order to teach them how to use Email well, I would have them have "keypals" from another elementary school that they could Email back and forth and get to know. I would need to address the guideline of "Students can demonstrate "netiquette" in their web interaction as well as "Students can protect personal information about themselves and others".  I would also like to use a blog so students can write down feelings or stories while working on their typing skills. The guideline I would need to address is "Students can protect personal information about themselves and others" because a blog can be seen by others.

I learned how to put up a border and split a paper into two columns from working on the Newsletter Design assignment. I liked my articles, I thought they were interesting and something you might see in a child's newsletter home. One thing I didn't like about my newsletter was it was difficult to keep it creative while professional. Next time I hope to make it more creative with more graphics and such. Because of what I learned I will now be able to create my own newsletter for my own classroom one day when I become a teacher.