No More Pencils, No More Books, No More Teacher's Dirty Looks!

After taking this course, this saying has new meaning.

21st century learners are finding other ways to learn now without bulky textbooks and pencils.

This class has taught me so much about technology and how to use it in the classroom.

I knew there were plenty of tools available to enhance student learning, but the resources out there are really never ending.

If there was one thing from this class I learned, it's that I need not be afraid to try new things.

Honestly, I had no clue how to use a lot of the resources required for the course, but by just exploring I was able to figure them out.

So for the pencils and books, while they will never truly be replaced in the classroom, they are certainly starting to take the back burner to technology.

As for the, "no more teachers dirty looks" part, I don't know...I don't see that going away any time soon.

Gaining Insight Through Blogs

Over the past 5 weeks I have enjoyed blogging yet again.

I have also enjoyed reading my fellow classmates blogs.

Everyone makes interesting points in their entries and did a great job writing.

Here are a few blogs I read over the course and you should check out:

Let Technology Open Your Mind to New Beginnings

Life of a First Year Teacher

Jessica's Blog

Teach To Learn, Learn To Teach

Not Meant to Use Webex

For the second time is a row, I was not able to get into Webex to attend my online class.

I have no idea why this happened, and I could not find a solution.

Here is why I am confused about it:

We met three times total over the past 5 weeks on Webex. I had no problem getting on for our very first meeting. What happened in between that meeting and then the last two is a mystery to me.

It's too bad it couldn't have worked out, because I think Webex is a neat tool to use.

WoW Project

My final project for this course required me to research and present information on the topic: The Use of Interactive Technology in the K-8 Science Curriculum.

Since my certification is going to be elementary school I chose K-8.

Science is really one of the best subjects to use interactive technology. Being able to use technology to view outer space just makes the material even more fun for the students.

Interactive technology also keep students interested. I know personally, if I had the choice of sitting at a desk and reading out of a science textbook, or playing with the SMARTBoard, I would choose the latter.

I made my power point presentation on Google Docs and then uploaded it onto Slideshare.

The only problem I had using Slideshare was that it did not allow any of my videos or links to work once it was uploaded.

I ended up just opening the presentation through Google Docs and then copying and pasting that URL into Moodle.

Not sure if it was the best way to do it, but it was the only thing I could think to do so that my classmates could view the slide show.

The things I liked most about this project was that now I have all of these great interactive sites to use when I teach science.

To view my presentation, click here.

Parents Need to Be Informed

For our final group project, we had the task of making a newsletter using Web 2.0 tools. My group made our using Glogster.

I still had some issues using Glogster, but overall it was a little better using it this time around than before.

The newsletter uses a video to explain what Classroom 2.0 is to parents. We also decided to come up with an overall theme that could be incorporated with all of the content area. For this we worked with immigration.

All of the projects for science, social studies, ELA, and math were connected to immigration.

All of the projects required students to use technology.

Newsletters are a great way for teachers to keep in contact with parents. I will be making newsletters to send home to my students in the future.

To view my group's newsletter, click here!

Make Up Your Mind-Map

I created a mind-map for the three branches of government using Inspiration. I chose the three branches of government (Executive, Judicial, and Legislative) because I love history.

Since I will be an elementary school teacher, I could have chosen from any content area, but I decided history was best for this assignment.

The learning outcome of this mind map is for students to recognize what makes up the different branches of government, who belongs to each branch, each branch's responsibility, and to understand checks and balances.

Mind-mapping is a good tool for students to use, especially if they are visual learners. Being able to organize the information into a tree-like format could allow students to better understand the concept.

As a student, I have always been able to just read information out of a history textbook and remember and understand what was being read. I now realize how this could help students who learn in a different way.

Overall, this software was not too hard to use. It does take some getting used to, but it was a good experience. If, or when, I use Inspiration again, I need to explore even more of it's tools and be more creative in my designs.

I would ask that of my students, so why not do it myself.