Educational Blog- Beth's Thoughts

I visted the blog called Beth's Thought on Technology in the Classroom. This is an amazing blog. I had difficulty choosing which blog to comment on because all of her blogposts brought about critical thinking and discussion on various issues within the classroom. I decided to comment on the most recent blogpost called Parental Participation. In the blogpost, Beth asked these questions of the reader: How much do we welcome parents in our classrooms? Do we just want them back up our policies on homework and classroom rules? Do we want them discuss how their children learn or what strategies work best for them? Honestly do you welcome their comments and suggestions?

I learned that involving parents into the educational experience of their children can be difficult because as teachers, we feel that we are placed into a fish bowl where our every move is being watched. However, I also learned from the blogpost that a child's best educator for life is often their parents. This got me thinking, so I decided to join in on the conversation that had been taking place through the comments on the post.

This is a great topic to really think about. It is so important to involve parents in the classroom, even though we may be hestitant or fearful to involve them. There were 2 comments that had already been added to this post, and it was really neat to be a part of this educational discussion. Although I am only a young, barely-experienced teacher, I felt that I had enough wisdom to add to the topic of conversation. I hope to receive thoughtful comments regarding my own comment to keep the discussion going. I was able to address both comments as well as my own thoughts on the content of Beth's blogpost.

I encourage everyone to check out Beth's blog. It is a great way to actively involve yourself in educational discussion, and to increase your thinking on certain topics of teaching.

Assignment 4 RoadMap Podcast!

Listen Up!

Students will create their own storybook through use of the website called TikaTok. This site provides templates to kick-start ideas for students on their book. This is a great way to integrate technology into the classroom. Rather than having the students write up a book on paper, with pencil and crayons, as we all have experienced, children will instead get the chance to develop their ideas in a much more challenging way. It can integrate all units of the curriculum; for example, you can have the students create a book on their favorite animal that was studied in the science unit. Students will have fun researching and getting creative with this assignment.

Then, the students will use Blogger to upload a video on the class blog describing the book that they created. This can include the process it took for the student to create the book, or it can be an explanation of the inspiration of the idea of the book. Students will need access to a video camera and can take time in class to upload the video and edit it before placing it on the class blog site for parents and fellow classmates to see.

Discussion Questions- Educator's Panel

3 Questions for the panel discussion with educators:

1. Do you find it difficult to accommodate technology assignments for those students that have fewer resources at home?
2. Statistics show that people leave the teaching profession after the first 4 years. What is it about you that breaks this statistic? In other words, what is it about your job that keeps you going?
3. How have you noticed technology's impact on the classroom most?

Assignment 3: Resources For Teachers-Delicious

       I have decided to use one of the web 2.0 tools called Delicious for this project to have the luxury of keeping all of my favorite websites in one place and making them accessible to me from any computer, phone, or other device with internet. If you click on the link above, my personal toolbox of websites will open in a separate window. Since there are over 20 websites added to this account, organization was an important thing to think through before beginning.

HOW IT IS ORGANIZED AND HOW I DECIDED WHAT TO ADD

       In a Delicious account, there are tags and bookmarks. A bookmark is the actual website that you would like to save to your toolbox. I wanted to add websites that would be useful to me as a teacher so that I could find reliable websites quickly and easily. I also wanted to add websites on the account that would refer parents and students to safe and secure websites on educational learning. I tried to keep the names of my bookmarks simple, while still being able to identify which website it is. Within each bookmark, Delicious allows for notes to help you remember exactly what it is that you liked about that website. I created notes that would quickly remind me of what each website had to offer. This includes which audience the website is directed to, whether that be students of the elementary grade-level, students of the secondary grade-level, parents, or teachers. I included small phrases to give me a brief overview of what the site can do for me; how it can meet my needs as a teacher, and how it can meet the needs for my students and their parents. The second organization tool that a Delicious account offers is the tag feature. A tag creates categories that bookmarks can fall under, which allows you to quickly locate bookmarks by clicking on the specific category you want. Just like how on this blog site, each blog post has a tag, and each tag is listed at the bottom of the site for easy access to a specific blog post. I created tags on my Delicious account that best fit the subjects of my bookmarks; however, I did not want to create too many tags because I felt that if too many tags were created, then the tag would essentially be pointless. It would be like if everyone at Disneyland got a fastpast to go on the rides. The fastpast line would be just as long as the old regular lines. Thinking ahead, I decided to create specific categories that would easily guide me to the bookmarks I was looking for, as well as tags that could easily assist those in my network. My tags include Lessons, Worksheets, Activities, Teachers, Students, Parents, etc. Some bookmarks even fall under more than one category. For example the tags, Lessons, Worksheets, and Teachers may all carry the same bookmark. Since even this organization can get confusing, I decided to take it a step further. I organized my bookmarks by most visited and my tags by alphabetical order. I also added the Delicious features to my internet toolbar for quick and easy access to these sites on my home computer. What an easy way to access my favorites!

HOW I WILL USE IT AND HOW I CAN SHARE IT WITH OTHER TEACHERS

      This Delicious account is useful in so many ways. I can really see it making my life a bit easier as a teacher. I have to admit that it took me awhile to warm up to the thought of a toolbox, but it really has proved to be a helpful tool. I can access key websites at the click of a button. These are trusty websites that have a lot to offer. Rather than going around and trying to find all the different websites I like (say from the class blog or other random findings), I am able to find what I am looking for at the best it comes. At first I thought, well isn't Google faster to just type in what you are looking for? I found that there are two answers that oppose that question. The first is that a Delicious account is just as quick to access as Google is; especially if you have added Delicious to your internet toolbar! Delicious can be accessed at the click of a button. Secondly, you are not finding just any site. Google has a lot to offer, but with Delicious, you already have what you are looking for, you just have to locate it under a tag. If you do not have what you are looking for saved under your bookmarks, then other Delicious account holders will. The key is these websites are saved as favorites, not just a top pick from Google. These websites have been sought out, saved, and worth keeping! The thing I love most about Delicious is that it saves all your favorites and can be accessed at any location. It is much like a security blanket for teachers. I don't have to try to remember that website I liked way back from Junior year in college in Tech in Ed class. Instead, I can be directed straight to my Delicious account where that website has been saved and tagged for easy finding. I don't have to research the best photo program on the web because I have already researched and bookmarked my top finding. Teaching is busy enough as it is. I'm happy to have made my life a bit easier by storing all my items in one easy accessible place.

WEBSITES I HAVE BOOKMARKED

       These are some sites that I have bookmarked. I encourage you to check these out. These sites made it through "audition one" to be placed on my Delicious account and then "audition two" to be placed individually on this blog, so it will not be a waste of your time! This is the best of the best for me :) While some websites I found are "hole in the wall" websites (meaning they are not so popular, but very helpful), I also have websites that are widely used. Any helpful website, whether big or small has been bookmarked on my Delicious account.

1. TeacherTube: This free website is used just as YouTube is; however, it is teacher oriented. It is a safe venue for teachers to search and share educational videos with their classroom. Students need technology to stimulate their minds, and TeacherTube is a great and helpful resource to find videos to get students engaged in learning. All videos have been uploaded to TeacherTube by teachers. This website is tagged under Teachers and Technology in my Delicious account.
2. Pics4Learning: This is a tab on the Tech4Learning website. Pics4Learning is a copy-right friendly image library for teachers and students. The collection consists of thousands of images that have been donated by students, teachers, and photographers. All images are free to access and would be of great use in the classroom! Children love images because it helps them to visually grasp a concept. This would be helpful because it is a quick way to find any image that you are looking for. Just as Delicious is organized with tags, so is Pics4Learning. This website is tagged under Teachers, Students, and Images in my Delicious account.
3. Instructional Technology Department-Wichita Public Schools: This website was found under SMART Board activities on week 3 of our class blog. I have already used this site for so many school projects and lessons. It has been a tremendous help to me because it offers pre-made lessons on the SMART Board that were created with the SMART Notebook Software. These lesson plans make life as a teacher go by so much more quickly because you do not have to spend hours creating your own lesson on the SMART Notebook Software. The capability of these lessons is absolutely incredible. I will be using this often. It is also a very organized website. I have been able to find everything I need so quickly. There are separate links to Elementary, Middle School, High School, Music, Foreign Language, and more to access lesson plans. Within each of these categories, are the subjects. Each lesson under the subjects is placed in alphabetical order, with added information of the grade-level span. Check this site out! This website is tagged under Teachers, Technology, and Lessons in my Delicious account.

Video in the Classroom

I read a blog entry called "Caught on Video" by Bob Sparkle, and let me tell you... what an amazing blog post! It was packed with ideas on how video could be used in the classroom. I never thought of video being useful in the classroom, but what an incredible idea! Why did I not think of that myself? Here are some ideas that I took and grappled with for awhile. I added my own little spin on a few of them!

• You could create a video of instruction to give to a substitute teacher; rather than a boring typed up (possibly confusing) lesson plan. Instruction is communicated more clearly when a person can see and hear it from the teacher.
• Weekly newsvideos (aka newsletters) can be recorded and posted to the class website or class blog. I loved this idea from Bob Sparkle's blog. Adding to it, I think that it would be brilliant to have the children present the information on the video. The teacher could give each student a sentence to say about upcoming events or important news. What a much more effective and exciting way to get parents involved with what is going on in the classroom and at school!
• Also, what a great idea to film short video clips of how each child feels on the first day of school. This could be compiled into a video and placed into the class portfolio online for parents to view. It also could help students with growth in their struggles by viewing this video at the end of the year.
• Another great way to communicate with parents through video is to send snip-its of the day in an email to parents. Its quick and simple, and the parents would absolutely love it!
• Videos can be used to inform absent students of what they missed that day during school. Important lesson highlights can be filmed and placed on the class website, class blog, or sent through email
• This was my favorite idea! Create an end of the year video featuring the students. what they learned during the year, and what they enjoyed most of the year. It would serve as a video time capsule. This could be viewed on the last day of school during the party. What a great memory to have. Many CDs could be burned for each student to take home a copy with them.
• Finally, have the students record classroom rules and routines for students coming into your classroom next year. It is a quick and exciting way for students to learn your ways of the classroom through their peers.

I will definitely be using video in my classroom. It is something that I had never thought of before, but now I am so inspired to make it useful.