Final Reflection

Throughout this semester I have learned a great deal about incorporating technology into the classroom. Originally, I thought that it was more difficult to use technology with students in lowers grades, but I now see many ways to incorporate it into the classroom. I found out ways that I could use the technology and ways that I could promote learning through using technology such as the web quest activities. I also feel as though I am coming out of this class with an abundance of new resources that I will be able to utilize in the future.

Digital Story

I have previously used Windows Movie Maker so iMovie was a new tool for me. I enjoyed using the tool and found it fairly easy to navigate once I got familiar with the program. I think this would be a really effective tool to use in the classroom for a variety of reasons. If anything, digital stories could peak the interest of students in the classroom. I also think it would be really enjoyable to make these for fields trips for students to show to their parents. I believe I will definitely use this tool in the future.

A Day at Disney Wold

Excel Activity

Out of all the assignments, I believe I learned the most from the excel assignment. Excel has been a frustrating program for me to use in the past so this activity taught me a lot. I really liked learning how to use the formulas to check the students work. The format is easy to use for younger students so I think this will be beneficial to my classroom.

I also enjoyed searching the google templates. I really liked where forms could be used with parents and students and the results could be directly sent into the teachers email. I also like the accessibility of the various grade books.

Inspiration Activity

I think that using inspiration can be beneficial in the classroom. For the particular age group I am working with I think this might be a difficult tool to use. I think using it in its most simplest form may be effective, but for younger kids concept webbing is a higher order thinking skill. I think it is a great tool to give kids to model how to do concept webbing and using hyper linked websites is also a great tool in the diagram.

Healthy Living

Google Presentations

This project is the first time I have used google presentations. I thought it was easy to utilize and would be great to use when working with younger children. Windows powerpoint has so many features I feel as though it would be more overwhelming, but google presentations is more basic. I also like how you can share the presentations with others easily and it allows you to embed the link easily as well. Overall, using presentations in the classroom will allow me to make group instruction more interactive and will also allow for more opportunities to include digital images into my lessons.

ABC Hunt

Slideshow

Google Tools

Over the last couple of weeks, we have been using many of the tools provided by Google. Igoogle was one tool that I found particularly useful. Within this tool, you can add several gadgets on your welcome screen that you would typically use most often. On my screen I added the weather, to do box, clock, calendar, and other use gadgets. Now instead of searching for these things, they are on my welcome screen and are easily assessable. Google docs is another feature that I also found to be very useful and easy to utilize. This could have came in handy many times through my college experience when collaborating with a group or partner. I think it will also be a useful way to incorporate technology into my classroom in the future.

WebQuest

Exploring the different WebQuests in class was very interesting. Although many of the WebQuest were written in a grade level far above a third grade level, there were also some that would be able to be utilized in lower grade classrooms. I think that they are great tools that would be good for centers and supplemental teaching activities throughout the week. The children would be able to get useful information and knowledge while also exploring the use of technology. I also think that they would be engaging for the children and a different change of pace to the regular classroom routines. I was surprised by how many different content areas the WebQuests covered and think that I definitely want to investigate integrating them into my future classroom.

PB Works

Learning to use PB Works to create wikis was actually a lot more simple than I had originally imagined. I think that the wikis are a great technology resource that could easily be incorporated into the classroom curriculum. Just as we created a teacher resource, the children could work on projects together throughout the day using wikis on the classroom computer. I think its an innovative way to engage children in the learning process. I also think its a great way for educators to communicate and keep up with new resources that they may not have discovered if it wasn't for this form of communication. I am interested to see the development of our wiki throughout the month.

Website Evaluation

I thought the website evaluation activity was very useful and productive. The worksheet had many questions that made me think critically about the website and its overall purpose and authenticity. As a future teacher, I think that using these techniques will be helpful to evaluate websites that I will use in the classroom and will recommend for my students to use outside of the classroom.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog! This blog tracks my journey through TPTE 486. I will be frequently posting reflections and assignments throughout the semester. I hope to learn more about how to integrate technology into the classroom setting for my future classroom. I also want to learn more about the mac computer system and also how to creatively use aspects of technology to differentiate teaching and motivate students.