Reflection

I have enjoyed learning about the 11 tools. Some of my favorite tools are the image generators/mashups, digital stories, video resources, skype , itouch apps, and of course blogging. I plan to use the image generators/mashups to review vocabulary of new concepts. I am looking forward to having a blog for my class this year for communicting with parents and remind students of things that we are learning and getting the students involved in the blogging.

I realize there are many ways to use technology in the classroom and I now have the tools to use them. As a teacher, I can bring the real world into the classroom with the technology that I have learned to use this summer. The 11 tools has introduce me to new ways to share documents and to communicate with others. In today's word technology is a MUST, not an option.

The biggest surprise was how easy these tools are to use. I found that the 11 tools were very friendly to use.

Tool #11

Three things that I want to make sure my students understand about being a good digital citizen are safety, etiquette/responsibility, also about communications/cyberbullying. I would use the brainpop videos to help teach the students about digital citizenship. I would also demonstrate how to use authority when searching for information and how to verify the sources. The students would create a presentation to share with the class. The students could use digital storytelling, image generators, or mashups for their projects.

Digital citizenship is something that I plan to teach at the beginning of the year and revisit frequently throughout the year.

Tool #10

After reviewing several itouch apps I found several that I would use with my students. Pop Math Lite would be good for math fact review. Google Earth is a good way for the students to practice using their map skills. Mad Libs would be a fun way for the students to practice their grammar skills. And my favorite is sudoku, which would help with the math skills and reasoning skills.

My experience using the itouch was wow! It is amazing how you have so much technology in the palm of your hand.

My students can use the itouches for review math skills. I also see my students using it for research and while editting their writing. I can see using the itouches for many things in the classroom.

Tool #9 Sharing Information Through Jing & Skype

Screencast is a good tool to use when showing the kids how to log in to some of the programs that we use in the classroom such as AR, First in Math, or even how to find different sites to use for assignments. I can also see using screencast to show the students how to solve different types of word problems. I captured a picture of the USA that could be used in Social Studies for map skills and learning the different states required for each grade level. I found easy to use.

http://screencast.com/t/NTRlOTQxO

I can see using skype to connect with other classrooms around the world to do some collaborative learning. It would also be a good tool to use to communicate with parents who cannot make it to a conference or with a student that may have questions about their homework after school. It would also be a good tool to use for read alouds from people in the community or to learn about different people in the community. Skype opens up alot of possibilities for learning.

P.S. If anyone wants to attempt to use skype let me know because I have set up an account.

Tool #8 Video Resources

Area and Perimeter Rap




Scientific Method Rap

Videos are a good resource for teaching. It is a good way to grab the students attention or to review a concept that they have recently learned.

Both of my videos are from teachertube.com. Teachertube has great resources for all subject areas. I plan to explore teachertube some this summer and all year to find videos that will aid my students in their learning.

The area and perimeter rap will help reinforce the difference between area and perimeter, which my students tend to get these mixed up. The scientific rap will be a good way to introduce the scientific method to my students and will help them remember the step when doing science experiments.

Tool 7: Digital Storytelling

Creating the digital story using photostory provided to be an easy task. I had fun creating the story adding the text, voice, and music to it was also very easy.

I plan to use this with my students to create stories of things we learn in class, field trips, or projects that the students do in class. It would also be good to upload the videos to the class blog for parents and other to see the students work. I can also see the students creating a digital story to wrap up a newly learned concept.

FYI

A website that I got from a friend's blog is http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com to find different backgrounds for your blog. It is easy to find a background and it even tells you haw to save it to your blog. Thanks Kim K. for the information.

Tool #6 Wikis

Wow! Another amazing tool to help students in their learning and collaborating. I can see the students using wikis in writing for continuous stories and for the writing process. I also envision the students using this in literature groups by writing summaries and character resumes in the books they are reading in their groups. It can also be a place for the students to keep a learning log to review what they have been learning in class.

Wikis can also be used for teams to collaborate on lesson plans and notes. One suggestion I liked is sending a letter home and explaining what is the students are doing on wiki and allowing the parents to sign into the wiki to see what is happening in the class.

Tool #5

On delicious, I discovered kids know it that has science games for kids to practice their science skills and knowledge. I used science for the tag.
I also found cool math which can be used for students to practice their math skills. I used math skills for the tag

http://www.coolmath.com/
http://www.kidsknowit.com/

Social bookmarking can be helpful in the classroom can be helpful for students to easily locate safe websites. On a team it can be used to share resources that someone on the team may have found, instead of each individaul teaching looking up the same websites. That would save each time, which is precious to everyone.

Tool #4

I played around with the scrapbook and calendar. The google Docs are a great idea to collaberate with your team and other teachers. It is also a good way to use with students. One idea is to set up a class calendar for the student to keep track of assignments and events happening in the classroom. It is a good place to help keep things from getting lost or misplaced.

The google reader is easy to set up and a good way to follow other blogs or sites to get the information quickly without having to search all the blogs or sites individually. I set up google reader and subscribe to more than five of my fellow teacher's blogs to follow plus a sports to keep up with all the sports that I follow. I can also see using this in the classroom with groups projects...the students can find information and share it on the google reader.

Tool #3

This took sometime for me to figure things out. I can see how creating images can help with the students writing and add to the projects they do in class. I believe that the comic strip will be a favorite for the kids. I enjoyed making the video of my niece playing soccer. I felt that it was easy to do and the video could be used for the students to write a story about. I also messed around with the spell flickr, which was easy to use.
Below is the link to my word cloud, just click to view

worditout.com/word-cloud/8224

Tool #2 Blogging, PLN

I am excited about building an online education community and participating in this PLN group. I feel that the PLN is a good way to connect with others, share ideas, and learn new things. I do believe that we need to teach students how to safely and ethically use a PLN.

The thing that stood out to me is making comments meaningful and teaching the students how to comment. I usually leave short comments, but will work on leaving meaningful comments.

5 Blogs that I commented on:
1. Moulton Lava
2. fabulous fourth grade teacher
3. Teachin in Flip Flops
4. Live Laugh & Learn
5. Online Gadgets

Tool #1

Setting up a blog is a simple process. Creating the avatar is a fun thing to do. I can see using this to commuicate with my students, parents, or other teachers. It is a good place to put assignments or upcoming events.