Tool #11 Reflections

Reflecting on my "11 Tools for the 21st Century Learning" Experience

1. Some of my favorite tools in my toolbox are: Skype, iMovie, and Wordle. I plan on using Wordle in writing to brainstorm new topics and details. Also, I want my students to write a narrative on their life and then create a short digital movie. I would love to have this done before back to school and play a few while the parents are in the room. We will try for this!

 

2. I have to admit that I have been a little anxious over this assignment. However, after completing the training, I feel more confident in my abilities with the technology. I will really try to incorporate what I have learned not only in my bilingual center time, but also in the content areas as well.

 

3. I was surprised at how much I have learned in such a relatively small period of time. I do wish we would have done this over time in staff development, allowing for mastery of each tool before we moved on.

Tool #11

A few things I will need to make sure my students understand about being good digital citizens are:

1.  Safety- Students must be aware of the risks associated with "chat rooms", social network sites, and blogs. Students must be aware that there are people out there that prey on young, vulnerable kids. We as educators should model to our students how to think things through before posting on a blog or social networking website. We also must be aware of what our students see and hear on the Internet, who they meet, and what they share about themselves online.

2. I found this list of rules on Network etiquette, or "Netiquette". This is applicable to adults as well as students:

10 Core Netiquette Rules (Tips)

1. Spell check & proof read before sending or posting because errors make you look uneducated.
   
2. It is not polite to shout. Do not use all caps because it is shouting. 
3. Tell the truth in your profiles to create the best experience.
4. Do not say or do things online that you would not do in reality.
5. Do not flame because it gives you a bad reputation.
6. Stay away from spam and pop-up advertising for security reasons.
7. Be conservative in e-mail you send and liberal in what you receive since quality is better than quantity.
   
8. Do not send e-mail late at night because it may call your lifestyle into question.
   
9. Shop secure sites because they protect your information.
10. Anything on the internet can be found because everyone uses it.

http://www.networketiquette.net/

Tool #10

Today was the 1st day I had laid hands on an iPod touch in our training session. I had seen it used in some of the PreK classes I had been substituting in. The kids are very familiar with this technology and seem eager to show what they know. I look forward to using this in my bilingual centers.

Tool #9

1. Discuss how the screencast could help your students and how you might have students use Jing.
There are several ways that students will be able to use Jing. I would hope that students will want to experiment with this application and use it perhaps with narrating a story, like a personal narrative. Or perhaps in making short movies. As the year progresses, I am sure that the students will try and incorporate this in many content areas.

2. Skype would be great to use with my class! I hope we could be video pals with another class perhaps  in China or Russia. Perhaps for Social Studies, we could speak with another 2nd grade class about their communities and exchange ideas and thoughts. This will be great.

Tool #8

I liked this video I found on www.schooltube.com. It is a great example of a what students can do together.




Great video that I plan to use in a warm-up when introducing money.This video was recommended to me by another teacher. I also found it on www.schooltube.com.


I think that using streaming video can be a very effective tool when addressing the different learning styles of each of our students. This also can serve as a great hook when introducing a new topic. I plan to use this often.

Tool #7

Here is a fun video I created with my family about how to make a pizza! This was fun if not a little challenging. Enjoy!

This is my daughter, Emily Ann. She is demonstrating how to make a pizza. I added the sounds and edited it so it would be shorter that what we actually filmed. We used iMovie on the Mac to create the movie.

Tool #6

I think Wiki will be an important tool in my classroom. Students can create ongoing stories incorporating new vocabulary as it is introduced throughout each 9 week period. The story could have one ending, or groups can create different endings. 
Also, Wiki can be used when student are looking for help to edit writing done in Writer's workshop. They can share ideas and/or suggest corrections on classmate's work. 

Tool #5

I joined Delicious.com and bookmarked two websites that were of interest to me. They are:
http://www.nabe.org/
The link above is for the National Association of Bilingual Education.
http://www.autism-pdd.net/autism-symptoms.html
This link is to a website that lists traits common to children diagnosed with Autism.

Some of the tags I used for NABE were: association, bilingual and education.
Tags I used for autism were: autism, checklist, diagnosis, and symptoms.

I think social bookmarking will allow teachers to share in more resources for their planning. It will help students share ideas on different subjects and provide shortcuts to links that they might not otherwise be familiar with.

Tool #4

For the first assignment, I used Google Forms to create a document that I sent to some of my family members. I asked everyone to answer a couple of questions about some of their personal goals for the next few years (i.e. their travel plans, continuing their education, etc.) I loved reading my family members responses.

Assignment #2 -I was able to subscribe to some of my favorite news and gossip sites. I also was able to subscribe to a few of my fellow teachers' blog. 

I think that using Google Documents will be a helpful tool in the classroom for students to compose a poem or work on a writing assignment. The students will be able to have one document to work from and revise and comment on the work as it progresses. Also, I can see using Google documents within our grade level for planning, etc.

Google Reader will allow students to stay up to date with a current event.

Tool #3

Here is a video I made on Animoto with some photos taken on the Mac at home. I love the final product. I think the students will love making similar short videos of projects in science or social studies, etc. We can show them to the class and/or for Back to school night.

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Tool #2

Here are some of my thoughts on building an online education community and PLN:

1. As this will be my first year teaching, I can see right away how an online education community will provide an outlet for me as well as my students to explore new ideas. It also will encourage collaboration and observations between student/teacher and also between students. It will permit students to express their feelings about a certain subject and find a community of students to agree or even politely disagree with one another.

2. What point stood out to you from the comment advice?
When it comes to my experience with blogging, I can easily classify myself as a "lurker", or I read/observe the blog without contributing. In this article, I feel that two points really got my attention. First, "be gracious" really hit home. Sometimes, I will read a blog or article online, and then read the comments. What seems like a harmless comment about grammar/spelling can be turned into an unconstructive negative thing and detract from what the post was about. My advice is always to take the "high road". Thank the poster for the correction and then move on.
The second point of making it easy to comment was spot on! I can't tell you the number of times I have wanted to post, but don't because I too am "lazy" or don't like to login. I am not for sharing personal information with everyone, so I am very cautious when and if I do comment.

3. The 5 blogs I chose to comment on were: Bethany 11 Tools, 21 Century Technology, iluv2teach, The Little Blogger that Could, and The Blooming Blog.

Tool #1

Wow! I can't believe it. This is such a great thing, this blogging. I am so excited to have this tool in my "tool chest" to use in the classroom. I envision the students blogging about what they learned in science, social studies, or math, etc. today. We can use blogging to share opinions about books we have read. We can use blogs to discuss field trips, etc. Blogging is a great interactive tool and I plan on encouraging my students to use it often.