Final Reflection

This week I looked at Meghan's highlight showcase. She did an awesome job of using Jing to take me through her online portfolio. She created this with weebly and using Jing to show us how she created here website. I thought this was a great idea. I have never used Weebly to make a website so this was actually helpful for me to see how this website works. I think she did a great job in her highlight showcase and gave a really good explanation of how to use this website and how she created her website. I think that by using Jing she was able to show us what she was doing on her computer to create her website, but also was able to give audio for explanation. I really enjoyed her showcase and learned a lot from it.
Highlight Showcase
This semester has taught me so much about technology and how to integrate it inot the classroom. I learned a lot of new things from my classmates as well and I feel confident in the fact that I will be able to integrate technology into my teaching in the future.

Literacy Lesson Plan

Recently I created a lesson plan that I posted onto my online portfolio. This lesson plan dealt with a Literacy Discussion, but it integrated technology into the lesson. I think that when people think about technology in the classroom they focus on using technology for Science. Literacy is one subject that can get left behind when it comes to technology. Many people view Literacy as something that should be kept with books, paper, and pencils. I, however, feel that technology can really enhance literacy as well as a students reading or writing. I used technology to help with group discussions and to have the students use what we discussed in class to make an online story. I think this is a great way for the students to move onto the next stage of the discussion and create something on their own.

Science Outside the Classroom

Article

This article talks about learning outside the classroom, focusing on Science. I think it is so important to give students the information they need to gain access to learning outside of school. A simple way to do this is to send home weekly newsletters that have websites or even attach articles or ideas for parents to do activities with their children outside of school. This helps the students and parents become a part of learning.

Taking Advantage of All Subjects

As a future educator I feel it is important for me to have a plan for how I want to teach my students. I also feel goals are important. One goal I have for myself as a teacher is to integrate all subject areas. I think that too often teachers forget that subject areas can be mixed and used together to form really powerful lessons. One way I plan to do this is to mix subject areas with Physical Education as well as Music. Taking a science lesson and turning it into a game where students can be physically active can really help students. By having students be active they will be able to retain information because it was in a way that is fun and in terms they understand. I also feel that allowing students to be physically active is important especially younger students. Music is a great way for students to retain information as well. Adding a song to a lesson or having students create a song to help them remember information will allow them to remember what they learned as well as fully understand the information; especially if they created the song on their own.

I think that by having these goals and using these new ideas will help me to enjoy my teaching each and everyday as well as allow my students to enjoy the lessons and information I am teaching. Using just a text book or worksheets will only allow students to go far with their learning. I hope to use the mix of subjects to make learning more fun and interesting for my students.

Wiki

This week in our online class we looked at Wiki's and making our own Wiki page. I was surprised by how easy it was for me to create my website and add in pictures of pages that I wanted. I was able to easily edit pages and add in things. I think this website is different from other website sources or blogs because it is much easier to edit and add in pages or pictures. I also like the fact that members are able to add onto pages or edit them. This makes it easy to get new information from others and also have people edit your work for you. In a blog other people can't come in and add or edit a page they can only leave a comment. I really liked the fact that this website allows people access to do these things.

I would definitely use Wiki in the future for my teaching. I would introduce my students to this website early on in the year and have them create their own account and set up their own wiki website. I would have this be their own website for the year where they could display their work. I think one main thing I would do is have students to a book report online. This would allow them to create pages for their book report as well as add in articles or pictures. The students could easily add in quotes and citations as well. This would also be a great place for a virtual research paper. After the students were done it would be easy for me to go in and edit or help them. I would also have other students do peer editing on their classmates projects. This is an easy way for students to share their information and projects as well as give feedback and help. At the end of the year the students could then present their projects and website and also easily share this with their parents at home.

Google Tools

This week we were asked to explore Google and the tools it has to offer. Google is such a great resource, especially for teachers. I could see myself using Google and it's tools a lot in my future teaching. Google Docs is one of the tools I use the most and I would probably use a lot with students. Google Docs is a great place to make a document, especially if you want this document to be shared or edited. If I were having students to a group project or presentation I would have them use the presentation or "PowerPoint" on Google along with Google Docs. Students could work on this document from anywhere and all edit it whenever they had time. As long as all the group members had the link and were able to edit they could go home after school and see what their group members had done and either change or add to that. This is great because not everyone is able to figure out their schedules to get together so this could be done throughout the day whenever each individual member has time. I would also have students use Google Docs for peer editing. The students could write a paper and then type it up into Google Docs and share the link with their classmates. The other students in the classroom could edit the document online and give feedback right on the document. This is an easy way for others to see a document as well as give suggestions without the student having to go and retype and re print the entire paper.

Google Reader

This week I decided to look more into Google reader. I have made myself a Google reader and it helps me to keep track of blogs or website I like to read. This application allows you to save links to certain blogs or other websites and puts them all in one spot. This is done through an RSS feed and this reader can be linked to other websites like my blog or Facebook. I have found that this tool is useful for me when I want to look for resources on education or stories that I can blog about or research for classes. This tool helps people to have all their websites in one place as well as save their favorite blog posts or stories so they can refer back to them at a later date. This website is great for people who like to reader multiple websites a day or want an easy place to keep all thier favorite stories and blog posts.