Tuesday, July 24, 2007
What I learned
I learned a great bit in this class. The first being how tired and stressed I can get! :) Through the class I was able to get hands on experience with many technologies that will become the future. I was very interested in how the different things are used in the classroom; iPod's, blogs, iPhone, spreadsheets, iGoogle, etc. This class was a wonderful experience! I am so glad I met Dr. Strange and my fellow students.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
iGoogle
I love this new iGoogle thing. I have visited my site several times this week. There are many useful things for the classroom in iGoogle applications.
One being the calender application. Students can add a calender to their page. Here they can add important dates. No more I forgot we had a test today!! You can also add multiple calenders for yourself. Which would be useful for a mom who could chart her schedule, her husbands, and that of her children.
The second useful application I found and added to my page was Word of the Day. I love learning new words, and when you use words that aren't normally used you sound more educated. You could turn this into a fun activity for your students. You can randomly pick a day and every time you hear a student use the word in a sentence they can earn a point, when they get to five points they get a prize.
My third application is Windows Shortcut of the Day. At first I didn't think it would be all that useful for children, but then I remembered the video I had watched on our class blog. I remember when I started having to use the computer for class projects my dad taught me some shortcuts in Word that I still use today. It is much easier to do ctrl+c for copy!
My fourth useful gadget is the To Do list application. This is an easy and simple way for students to make a list of their homework, and home chores they need to do for that day or week. It's a cute little application, where you can color code, move items up or down, and totally remove them. Beats the big assignment book I carried.
My next application is the Translate tool. They have almost any language imaginable that you can translate to. All you have to do is type in the word/sentence you want translated and select the language. It's simple and very helpful for students studying a foreign language or foreign students trying to grasp the English language.
My final application is the Sudoku game. Although this is a game I consider it an educational game. You have to think of all the different places a number could go before you add it. if you have ever played it then you understand what I mean. When you are first learning it though it seems like the craziest idea in the world, but once you learn it it can be very addictive. It keeps your brain moving.
All of these applications are available on various websites but with iGoogle it is all on one page. A one place stop for everything you need, kind of like Wal-Mart or Target.
One being the calender application. Students can add a calender to their page. Here they can add important dates. No more I forgot we had a test today!! You can also add multiple calenders for yourself. Which would be useful for a mom who could chart her schedule, her husbands, and that of her children.
The second useful application I found and added to my page was Word of the Day. I love learning new words, and when you use words that aren't normally used you sound more educated. You could turn this into a fun activity for your students. You can randomly pick a day and every time you hear a student use the word in a sentence they can earn a point, when they get to five points they get a prize.
My third application is Windows Shortcut of the Day. At first I didn't think it would be all that useful for children, but then I remembered the video I had watched on our class blog. I remember when I started having to use the computer for class projects my dad taught me some shortcuts in Word that I still use today. It is much easier to do ctrl+c for copy!
My fourth useful gadget is the To Do list application. This is an easy and simple way for students to make a list of their homework, and home chores they need to do for that day or week. It's a cute little application, where you can color code, move items up or down, and totally remove them. Beats the big assignment book I carried.
My next application is the Translate tool. They have almost any language imaginable that you can translate to. All you have to do is type in the word/sentence you want translated and select the language. It's simple and very helpful for students studying a foreign language or foreign students trying to grasp the English language.
My final application is the Sudoku game. Although this is a game I consider it an educational game. You have to think of all the different places a number could go before you add it. if you have ever played it then you understand what I mean. When you are first learning it though it seems like the craziest idea in the world, but once you learn it it can be very addictive. It keeps your brain moving.
All of these applications are available on various websites but with iGoogle it is all on one page. A one place stop for everything you need, kind of like Wal-Mart or Target.
My Blog
My blog has been useful this semester for myself. It has been a great way to think and reflect on different areas of teaching and technology, while Dr. Strange was able to check in on us. I think blogs are very useful in education. Though I do wish there was a way you could set them to private and give user names and passwords to parents. With privacy being a rare commodity these things I think it is a must when it comes to protecting our children. Other than that I think it is a wonderful tool to keep parents updated with classroom happenings, to post pictures, and to allow the children to express themselves. I would like to use blogs as a forum for parents. I think it is an easy way to get feedback from parents. You can ask their opinions on field trips, activities, etc.
My Web site
My website is about my favorite movies. I love watching movies and included a few of them on my website. They include The Notebook, The Break-Up, Just Friends, Finding Nemo, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, The Devil Wears Prada, Failure to Launch, A Cinderella Story, Cars, Where The Heart Is, and The Guardian. My website is not complete at this time. I have a few pictures that need to be made smaller. In our papers it said to use Adobe Photoshop Elements but I do not have Photoshop on my computer so I will have to do this tomorrow in class. If I had more time though I would like to put more graphics on my page including animated ones.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
iPhone
I don't think it is a good idea to use an iPhone in education. We would have the same issues that we have now with students talking on the phone/texting, etc. I do think that the phone is awesome! I wish i had 600 bucks to drop because it is so awesome! I think it is a great piece of technology that has taken us to another step.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Comments on my Website
You can leave them here! Thanks! I know there are typo's, that extra link on my home page, and the devil wears prada link is messed up but I've fixed them. Anyway thanks! See ya'll thursday!
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Spreadsheets in the Classroom
I started off with visiting a site that had many ideas and examples of how to use spreadsheets in the classroom. There are links to Science, Math, Reading & Language Arts, Social Studies, and Miscellaneous. Kids love to create something of their own, as well as eating candy. On this website under math it has a suggestion of using little bags of M&M's. Let them estimate how many of each color is in their bag and chart in on a spreadsheet through Excel. They can chart one with their predictions and with the actual results. This website also provides links to many other helpful and wonderful ideas.
Another useful website is Integrating Spreadsheets in the Classroom. The first link provides a tutorial for Excel. This is something children can do in their spare time. If they finish other work early they can hop on a computer and go through the steps of learning Excel. I think this is very helpful for teachers as well. I may only be speaking for myself when I say this but I do not know everything and learn something new every time I turn on the computer. So maybe this is the best way for them to learn about Excel. Not that everything should be done by computer but they can learn a little, practice a little. This website has about 75 other useful links about working with Excel. Awesome website!!
Until this class I had no idea there were so many resources available to teachers on the internet. The majority of people I talk to make it sound like you have to come up with everything under the sun on your own. Which makes it sound really difficult! I'm not saying teaching is easy, but knowing these resources are out there make it simpler.
Another useful website is Integrating Spreadsheets in the Classroom. The first link provides a tutorial for Excel. This is something children can do in their spare time. If they finish other work early they can hop on a computer and go through the steps of learning Excel. I think this is very helpful for teachers as well. I may only be speaking for myself when I say this but I do not know everything and learn something new every time I turn on the computer. So maybe this is the best way for them to learn about Excel. Not that everything should be done by computer but they can learn a little, practice a little. This website has about 75 other useful links about working with Excel. Awesome website!!
Until this class I had no idea there were so many resources available to teachers on the internet. The majority of people I talk to make it sound like you have to come up with everything under the sun on your own. Which makes it sound really difficult! I'm not saying teaching is easy, but knowing these resources are out there make it simpler.
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