Set Sail With Technology Week 9

REFLECTIONS

1. What did you like? What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

I liked all the free websites and information that was brought to my attention. Most of the programs and websites that I have been shown were completely new to me. Those that I had heard of, I hadn't really ever taken the time to look into. My favorites were animoto, the atomic learning tutorials and the google programs such as iGoogle, Google Earth, and Scribble Maps.

2. What was your least favorite thing that you discovered?

I'm not sure if this counts, but learning how much time it will take me to truly become proficient in some of these programs was not such a good feeling. This being said, I'm going to make some time at home to learn more about the websites and programs I really feel would benefit my students the most.

3. How has this journey affected your views on technology?

This journey has just increased my previous opinion of knowing how much can be used out on the world wide web.

4. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

Lots of great information but nothing surprising

5. What do you think you will be most likely to incorporate into your classroom/library?

The google programs mentioned earlier.

6. Can you describe your learning experiences in ONE WORD or ONE SENTENCE?

Overwhelming

7. What suggestions would you make to help us improve this experience?

I liked the experience. I loved that it was self paced. The instructions were fairly clear. I had a couple questions here and there but they were answered in a timely manner.

8. Now go and comment on some of the adventure’s blogs.

OK!!

Set Sail With Technology Week 8

When I finally figured out how to take the pretest, haha, I did ok. I missed about 10 questions. When I went over my answers, I was able to understand why I missed some of them while others, I still need some lessons on.

Looking at 21st Century Learning's Tech Integration Projects, there seemed to be many good lesson ideas. One that caught my eye was the one on using Kid Pix to create an alphabet book on Egypt. Now, I wouldn't use Egypt, but I would use Texas since I teach Texas history in social studies. This an activity we usually do through the year using pencil, paper and crayons. The kids would love to use Kid Pix to complete this type of project. The hurdles I see would be time. We don't usually have enough computers for students to use for long periods of time. But I could split the activity up into a couple of days through out a couple of weeks.

Set Sail With Technology Week 7

FUN! Here's my wordle! FUN! Click on the link to see my wordle. I used the Texas Flag Pledge.

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alt="Wordle: TEXAS PLEDGE"
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I could see kids loving to make these word clouds. At the beginning of the year I usually do name acrostics. The students use their names and write adjectives that describe themselves using those letters of their name. This could be a new way of displaying their final draft of this project. They could publish these with Wordle. Of course, it wouldn't really be an acrostic, but that would also benefit them because it would give them more freedom in words they choose. It could also automatically modify for those students whose vocabulary might be below level. The number of words typed in could differ from child to child and still be a great looking word cloud. Although I left mine black and white, they students could edit their font, size and color.

Kid Pix has been a program that I have always had available for my classroom, but I've never used it as an educational tool. I loved the website with links to ways to use Kid Pix better in my classroom.

As far as our campus situation with technology, we do not have a computer teacher. Each grade level is given specific times they can use the lab each week. Teachers are responsible for their own lessons and activities. As we plan and need the mobile lab, we just reserve them or sign up for a time and day. Up until this point, I've used mobile labs and the computer labs for word processing (poetry, writing assignments, etc.) and for practicing skills on computer programs that are quite ancient. Now that I've learned about so many programs and will be exploring their possibilities, I will be using our technology in a much more academic and effective way.
Thinkfinity seems like a site that has lots of great information not only for teachers but for parents as well. I think that I will add a button for this site or a link onto my blog. Although I only looked at a few lesson plans, they seemed to have great ideas.

TerraClues would be great for motivating kids. I played with it for a bit and did the "easy" hunt to see how it's used. As with most of the other programs, I would have to play on it and take a few tutorials to figure out the best way to use it.

Set Sail With Technology Week 6

From the websites listed this week, I would most likely use Google Lit Trips, Scribble Maps and Word Sift. Google Lit Trips would be a great way to integrate social students into reading. ScribbleMaps was just a lot of fun! My first thought was to use it when teaching students Texas borders. They could use different colors for the states that border Texas as well as drawing the Rio Grande River and Mexico. The kids would love this and would be very tactile for those learners that need that. These maps can be printed as well. Word Sift could be used for students to improve their word choice when writing. It also can give them additional information on different topics.

The Math Manipulatives website looks great for math teachers and I will share this website with my team. I'm not sure about the cost, but maybe they could pay for it through their math money. By using this website, I believe it would really benefit those students who need the concrete models to practice concepts or prepare for tests. If a teacher wanted to use small groups to teach concepts, they could use this website to send several students to for independent practice after the lesson had been taught.

To be honest, I don't use the computer as much as I should in my day to day teaching. Therefore, the only website I can think of off the top of my head that was not listed in this week's assignment is puzzlemaker.com. I use this to make word search or crossword puzzles using students spelling words of vocabulary. The vocabulary crossword puzzles are usually from social students but could come from any subject area. It's free and easy to use.

Set Sail With Technology Week 5

There are so many things I've never heard of...wiki is one of them! Although I think using a wiki would be a great way to use to collaborate with colleagues, I'm not sure how many of mine would be willing to use it with me. This past year, there seemed to be a lot of confusion when we were planning our Field Day. With the use of a wiki, I could see this process running much more smoothly. Also, when getting ready for math tournaments, we could use a wiki to keep track of students that will be moving to the next level without using email or pencil and paper. What makes a wiki easier to use with a group of people, compared to a blog, is that it appears to be more user friendly. With using just the three buttons, edit, save and link, even my students would be able to use a wiki. I'm not sure that I could use the wikis with a whole class, I'm sure that small groups could use it. For example, our C.H.I.C.K.E.N. Club officers (our fourth grade student council) could use a wiki when scheduling, planning and organizing different functions. Parents may also even want to use a wiki to plan school activities such as fundraisers or class parties.

Set Sail With Technology Week 4

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Using animoto was easy and fun. I could see this as being a great way to make short videos either to share experiences in the classroom such as field trips, special activities such as Jump Rope for Heart, science experiments, just to name a few. I made this one to show off some pictures of my family's trip to Georgia this summer. I made another one from my fourth graders field trip to the Wild Life Refuge, but chose not to put it on here without getting permission from the students' parents. Although I've been to a photostory workshop, and saw many great uses for it, that program is one I'll have to use at school. I was unable to play with it much because I couldn't load it onto my computer. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but I couldn't find photostory for a macintosh. I remember Nancy using photostory and talking about a mac, but I can't remember exactly what she said about it. I will experiment with it more during the school year.

Discovery Education is a program I've used many times for several topics and subjects I teach. I'm understanding through researching it more this week, that I don't use it to it's fullness. Hopefully this year I will use it in better ways. Again, the problem I come across is the technology we have in our classrooms is not conducive to using this type of program easily. Many times the videos take an extremely long time to download. Also, my computer that I use for transferring to my television for students to view is very old. It takes an unbelievable amount of time to use Discovery Education.

I had no idea about Teacher Tube! How neat is that? I found it a little difficult at first to find specifically what I was looking for, but with time and practice I'm sure I can improve on my searching. I did find a video that I could use for Black History Month or for lessons when we learn about the Civil Rights Movement. I'm sure I will find others I can use in my classroom. I'm having a tough time embedding the video to my blog. I know it can be done, but it keeps telling me that, "Your HTML cannot be accepted: Tag is not closed: DIV. I'll keep working that!

Set Sail With Technology Week 3

This week I explored iGoogle, Google Earth and Google Maps. With the time that I spent looking at and playing with these programs, I thought of many ways to use each one in the classroom.

iGoogle

By using iGoogle, a homepage can be set up that gives students easy access to information such as the weather, the date and time, the calendar, and news, just to name a few. The teacher can easily add bookmarks for recommended sites for students for quick access. The classroom blog can also be linked to this homepage that would give students and parents quick look into the happenings of the classroom. There are endless gadgets that can be added as desired for maps, blogs, Wikipedia, as well as many others.

Google Earth

Google Earth seems to have endless possibilities in the classroom. Hopefully I can take the time to really learn to use this program and use it as fully as I can. Google Earth uses satellites and zoom into any location on the planet. Students can explore anywhere on Earth. There are capabilities to create virtual tours. These can also be shared with others. With Google Earth, students can measure distances, see different types of landforms, see the effects of natural disasters such as hurricanes.

Google Maps

As with the other programs, Google Maps can be used in many ways in the classroom. The one way I think I would use Google Maps the most would be in virtual field trips. Google maps can also give students a chance to practice reading maps and improving navigational skills in a more concrete, real-life situation.

These three programs could really enhance lessons in the classroom. As I've stated before, my only concern is the technology set up that we currently have in place in my school, would not support these types of programs completely.