I was searching for an article that related to using new tools in the classroom and found this article http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/03/technology/techspecial3/03ethan.html. The article was titled, New Tools: Blogs, Podcasts, and Virtual Classrooms. This article discusses a classroom that consistently uses podcasts in their classrooms. This class designed an online radio show in the form of a podcast to feature daily news, activities, and other related areas. The students who are involved in this production are third and fourth graders. The number one aspect that matters is, “Are the students motivated to do all the things to keep it running.” This was the key for this teacher because he was able to look over the project, and make sure everything was appropriate and accurate, but the students made all the effort to keep it running. The research these students put forth beside their daily work is incredible. The opportunity this teacher provided his students made not just an impact on the entire school, but the world of technology.
The way the teachers get their students to blog is to make the topic interesting to them. This will jump start the use of blogging worldwide. This opened the door for students to blog about several different subjects to get different view points on topics of concern. No matter what age students are their voice counts and using technology enhances their opportunity to make it heard. Technology is made to be interactive and the classroom needs to be designed around that. Overall, I thought this was an extremely good article about the new tools used in technology. I hope the world understands that students have the ability to contribute to what is going on, if they are given the chance. That chance starts with teachers, parents, and other students working together to make it happen as a whole. It takes hard work, dedication, focus and a lot of other tools to develop the classrooms these teachers made, but it’s only possible if you give it a try.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Flickr
I chose to use Flickr to upload my photos. I decided to upload a variety of photos that represent my family, friends, my girlfriend, vacations, art work, and my classroom. This would be a great way to share photos with parents of our classroom parties. The parents would be able to log on and view all the activities that are happening in our classroom. Go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/32325083@N06/ and see what you think of my pictures.
Delicious - Tchropka's Bookmarks
I chose to use Delicious bookmarking, http://delicious.com/Tchropka to bookmark sites that would benefit students, teachers, parents, and myself. It is very convenient to bookmark all the sites that I use daily because it saves time. There are websites that my students could use during computer class by just clicking on my URL link to Delicious. I found great interactive sites for my students to use to improve and practice their skills in different content areas. I also looked for sites that provided teachers and parents with free resources. I am excited that I was able to bookmark all these great resources, so check them out and hopefully you find something useful.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
PowerPoint – Creating Classroom Presentations
I was searching PowerPoint presentations and found a fascinating article at http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech013.shtml. I chose to review this article because I incorporate PowerPoint presentations into my lessons weekly. This article explains why PowerPoint presentations are used and how it creates an interactive classroom environment. The benefit of using PowerPoint in the classroom is that it keeps the interest and attention of the students. Students enjoy graphics, text, and interactive material which are user friendly.
This article lists a couple of projects that students completed that were very successful. Another great benefit with PowerPoint is the ability of all grade levels to use it. It can be used to instruct a class, instruction for learning centers, assessments, display student work, slide shows, and student portfolios. The ability to use PowerPoint is easy to understand, but if you are having trouble there is a tutorial for new users on the basics.
The overall benefit of PowerPoint is the ability to use it in the classroom to allow your students to create projects. This will encourage the students to be creative and at the same time become more familiar with technology. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this article on PowerPoint and the students’ in my classroom this year get excited about the lesson when I put it in a PowerPoint presentation. I recommend allowing your students to explore using PowerPoint and if you are having trouble click on additional resources for more detailed instructions.
This article lists a couple of projects that students completed that were very successful. Another great benefit with PowerPoint is the ability of all grade levels to use it. It can be used to instruct a class, instruction for learning centers, assessments, display student work, slide shows, and student portfolios. The ability to use PowerPoint is easy to understand, but if you are having trouble there is a tutorial for new users on the basics.
The overall benefit of PowerPoint is the ability to use it in the classroom to allow your students to create projects. This will encourage the students to be creative and at the same time become more familiar with technology. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this article on PowerPoint and the students’ in my classroom this year get excited about the lesson when I put it in a PowerPoint presentation. I recommend allowing your students to explore using PowerPoint and if you are having trouble click on additional resources for more detailed instructions.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Really Simple Syndication Under Review
I signed up on Bloglines and found 16 feeds that I thought I would be interested in daily. I liked RRS aggregator because it allows the sources that you are interested in to come to you. The information that I subscribed to is updated daily and the latest information is being sent to you. I love sports and thought it was so incredible that I could see news as quick as a couple clicks. I also like how it updates the blog based on the topic of choice. The ability to expand the tab so that you can see all the blogs or just a folder with them inside it makes it user friendly. Another nice benefit about subscribing is that you can delete the subscription whenever you want. I like this feature because sometimes you might think a topic will have what you are looking for and you find out that it does not. Finally, it is easy to subscribe to a blog you like which makes using Bloglines a great RSS aggregator.
I hate to name the negatives of things, but the Bloglines was not as easy to use as I thought it would be. This made it challenging for me because I was subscribing to websites that I was interested it and was not ready for all the information at once. I have been checking my categories that I chose and it has been wonderful to use and greatly appreciated.
I hate to name the negatives of things, but the Bloglines was not as easy to use as I thought it would be. This made it challenging for me because I was subscribing to websites that I was interested it and was not ready for all the information at once. I have been checking my categories that I chose and it has been wonderful to use and greatly appreciated.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Reading, Writing, and Technology: A Healthy Mix in the Social Studies Curriculum
I found an article at http://www.readingonline.org/articles/tancock/index.html that was titled Reading, Writing, and Technology: A Healthy Mix in the Social Studies Curriculum. This article discusses how to integrate technology into a social studies curriculum with students between ages 9 and 10. The article introduces how students know how to use technology when developing projects and writing about a certain topic. To prepare our students for this society, we as teachers need to challenge our students with problem solving skills, applying information, and to access data. It is important for teachers to effectively integrate technology into all content areas to help students expand their knowledge and skills. The article states that teachers do not have time to preview sites or use software in the classroom, and I disagree with this statement. I think this article is describing teachers that are set in their ways of doing things when technology was not as accessible.
The project that this article describes is on how to integrate a social studies curriculum in a creative and significant way to help develop reading and writing skills. Technology is used to help students of all abilities; such as cultural, literacy skills, and ability. Several teachers applied for a small grant which they received on integrating technology into the curriculum. This grant allowed them to focus on how to begin the process of integrated technology into a social studies curriculum to enhance reading and writing skills. They decided to split the project into two parts; one to create WebQuests for each region and two to design presentations on various regions using Microsoft’s PowerPoint software. To enhance their experience the teachers purchased a data projector, which allowed the students to interact and be engaged away from the computer. The students were taught how to use search engines to find research useful for their project. The teachers also taught students how to set up PowerPoint, use spell-check, insert graphics, input sound, and use transitions. The parents were able to visit the school to see the presentations and they were extremely impressed with the opportunities and knowledge their children had applied to their projects.
Overall, this project was obviously a huge success for these teachers, students, and parents. It is a fact that technology allows for interesting, exciting learning to take place in the classroom. I believe from reading this article that these teachers successfully taught students how to use technology, which improved their reading, writing, and literacy skills. I was very impressed with this idea, that I plan on meeting with other teachers in my grade level to discuss similar projects. My final regards to this article is that children know how to use technology, but we as teachers need to open up the curriculum into the 21st century world of technology and help to improve these skills in the classroom. Using these technology resources in the classroom will highlight strengths and weaknesses among your students’ abilities to read, write, and comprehend what is necessary for their success.
The project that this article describes is on how to integrate a social studies curriculum in a creative and significant way to help develop reading and writing skills. Technology is used to help students of all abilities; such as cultural, literacy skills, and ability. Several teachers applied for a small grant which they received on integrating technology into the curriculum. This grant allowed them to focus on how to begin the process of integrated technology into a social studies curriculum to enhance reading and writing skills. They decided to split the project into two parts; one to create WebQuests for each region and two to design presentations on various regions using Microsoft’s PowerPoint software. To enhance their experience the teachers purchased a data projector, which allowed the students to interact and be engaged away from the computer. The students were taught how to use search engines to find research useful for their project. The teachers also taught students how to set up PowerPoint, use spell-check, insert graphics, input sound, and use transitions. The parents were able to visit the school to see the presentations and they were extremely impressed with the opportunities and knowledge their children had applied to their projects.
Overall, this project was obviously a huge success for these teachers, students, and parents. It is a fact that technology allows for interesting, exciting learning to take place in the classroom. I believe from reading this article that these teachers successfully taught students how to use technology, which improved their reading, writing, and literacy skills. I was very impressed with this idea, that I plan on meeting with other teachers in my grade level to discuss similar projects. My final regards to this article is that children know how to use technology, but we as teachers need to open up the curriculum into the 21st century world of technology and help to improve these skills in the classroom. Using these technology resources in the classroom will highlight strengths and weaknesses among your students’ abilities to read, write, and comprehend what is necessary for their success.
Education Wiki Contribution
Mr. Monson's Grade 5 Classroom is trying to complete a project called, Thousands Project October 2008. This project is designed for people to respond to the question of the month. This month’s question is Things We Do to Reduce Trash Waste at School, Home or Work. I was able to contribute ten things that I do at home and school to reduce waste. The goal is for his classroom to reach 1,000 entries by end of each month. I thought this was a great activity for his students' and him to create on wikispaces.
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