Sunday, January 27, 2013
twitter for teachers
Throughout this course, I've been reflecting upon which (of the many) technological advances I can realistically implement in my classroom in the near future. Although I love the idea of having my own teacher blog, I don't know if it is realistic for me yet because of the time commitment it takes. This thought led me to twitter. Prior to this course, I've despised twitter (and still may). However, I am trying to be open to its potential in my classroom. I did some research, and found this resource The Ultimate Twitter Guidebook. It gives excellent background knowledge about twitter, as well as many potential classroom opportunities. Check it out if you are interested in twitter in the classroom!
help!
While exploring Matt Gomez's blog My Hullabaloo through the list of blogs provided to us in class, I came across the Just Dance webmix- videos just like this one below to "get our sillies out." Eager to try it in my class, I bookmarked the site and told my students all about it. When we got to a point in our day for a much needed movement break, I loaded it up and- it was blocked by our internet! Does anyone have any tricks/suggestions to work around this? I've heard of teachertube, but am not sure how that works. Any help would be so appreciated!
Monday, January 21, 2013
Blogging Step by Step
In Chapter 3 of Will Richardson's text Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, he provides a step-by-step guide to blogging. As a beginning blogger, this is exactly what I need! In reading this, the "blogger for word" explanation was very helpful, along with the various settings and how to change templates. Through the template description, I was able to go in and begin to customize my blog and really make it my own.
Chapter 4 discussed wikis- this is where I am really feeling uncomfortable! From the info given in session one, I have a general understanding of a wiki. However, until we really dive in and create our class wiki I feel as though the idea will still be very abstract to me. In doing some of my own research on wikis, I stumbled upon this website that gives a list of Early Childhood Classroom Wikis. It was great to see some examples of wikis being used in the early childhood years. I can see how this can be an extremely useful tool in informing parents and the school community about what is going on in the classroom/school.
Chapter 4 discussed wikis- this is where I am really feeling uncomfortable! From the info given in session one, I have a general understanding of a wiki. However, until we really dive in and create our class wiki I feel as though the idea will still be very abstract to me. In doing some of my own research on wikis, I stumbled upon this website that gives a list of Early Childhood Classroom Wikis. It was great to see some examples of wikis being used in the early childhood years. I can see how this can be an extremely useful tool in informing parents and the school community about what is going on in the classroom/school.
Inspiration!
In reading through our class blog, I found the presentation titled 64 Interesting Ideas for Classroom Blogs, and thought, "What a great source of inspiration for my blog!" In watching the presentation, I found many ideas but one I particularly liked; #2 Publish Children's Work. I like how it pointed out that you should publish a variety of work, not only exemplars. I will definitely be trying this in the near future!
Thursday, January 17, 2013
I LOVE THIS!
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Chapters 1 & 2
Reading Response to Chapters 1 & 2 in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson
When reading these two chapters, there were two things that really resonated with me as an educator. The first, on page 8, was the subtitle "Learners as Teachers." It was very comforting to see the author write that, "not every teacher needs to start a blog or create a wiki or a podcast." However, as educators we do have a responsibility to understand that these tools can be very powerful in learning. The thought of creating a blog, wiki, podcast, etc. is very overwhelming. This chapter helped me to realize that we are learners, just as our students are, and it we take it one step at a time we will see what these tools can do for the students in our classroom. This makes it seem much more manageable and much less overwhelming!
Secondly, when reading page 23, E-Portfolio, I thought about the implementation of E-Portfolios in my classroom. Our current portfolio system (binder and paper EVERYTHING) can be very frustrating, time consuming, and difficult to manage. I never seem to have time to file anything, and it's always so stressful at the end of the year to get the portfolios organized and passed on to the next teacher. I would love to learn more about using weblogs and E-Portfolios to document and keep track of student work in the classroom. I can see many benefits to doing this- not only to keep myself more organized but to also have a portfolio that can be shared via the internet so that parents can be viewing their child's portfolio on a regular basis.
In exploring some of the links mentioned in chapter one, I thought that the Weather Recipe Book created on Flickr by Richardson's daughter was another example of the many ways technology can be used as a tool to make learning more interactive for students. In the one week that we've been in this class, my eyes have been opened to just a few of the many ways technology can be used as a learning tool, and I am amazed! Between this and the blog post of First Graders Using iPads, I am beginning to learn about the variety of ways technology can be used in the classroom, even with very young students.
When reading these two chapters, there were two things that really resonated with me as an educator. The first, on page 8, was the subtitle "Learners as Teachers." It was very comforting to see the author write that, "not every teacher needs to start a blog or create a wiki or a podcast." However, as educators we do have a responsibility to understand that these tools can be very powerful in learning. The thought of creating a blog, wiki, podcast, etc. is very overwhelming. This chapter helped me to realize that we are learners, just as our students are, and it we take it one step at a time we will see what these tools can do for the students in our classroom. This makes it seem much more manageable and much less overwhelming!
Secondly, when reading page 23, E-Portfolio, I thought about the implementation of E-Portfolios in my classroom. Our current portfolio system (binder and paper EVERYTHING) can be very frustrating, time consuming, and difficult to manage. I never seem to have time to file anything, and it's always so stressful at the end of the year to get the portfolios organized and passed on to the next teacher. I would love to learn more about using weblogs and E-Portfolios to document and keep track of student work in the classroom. I can see many benefits to doing this- not only to keep myself more organized but to also have a portfolio that can be shared via the internet so that parents can be viewing their child's portfolio on a regular basis.
In exploring some of the links mentioned in chapter one, I thought that the Weather Recipe Book created on Flickr by Richardson's daughter was another example of the many ways technology can be used as a tool to make learning more interactive for students. In the one week that we've been in this class, my eyes have been opened to just a few of the many ways technology can be used as a learning tool, and I am amazed! Between this and the blog post of First Graders Using iPads, I am beginning to learn about the variety of ways technology can be used in the classroom, even with very young students.
New Literacies/NETS
New Literaces
The term "new literacies" refers to the various new types of literacy available in our world today. One category of new literacy is made possible through various digital technologies now available, including the internet, text messaging, blogging, etc.
National Educational Technology Standards
The National Educational Technology Standards can be found on the NETS website. It is a great resource for educators, parents, and students. As an educator, I will use the NETS standards for both teachers and students to guide the use of technology in the classroom.
The NETS for students are standards that students need to meet to be successful, productive members of a digital world. These standards include: digital citizenship; creativity and innovation; communication and collaboration; research and information fluency; critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making; and technology operations and concepts.
The NETS for teachers are standards that teachers need to meet to be productive teachers in a digital age. This can include being proficient in current technology, and using such technology throughout teaching. These standards include: digital age work; digital age learning; student learning; professional growth; and digital citizenship.
As I was exploring the NETS website, and reflecting on the standards, I was struck by how thorough they are. Prior to reviewing the standards, I expected them to include standards on knowing how to use technology, as well as knowledge surrounding digital citizenship. However, I gained a great deal of new information reading through other standards such as creativity and innovation and communication and collaboration. It really opened my eyes to how much of a responsibility we have as educators make sure that our students are well informed and prepared in all of these areas.
In my classroom, I am planning on beginning to develop these new literacies with my students by teaching them that the internet can be used as a research tool. We are beginning a research project for writer's workshop on animals, and I would like to show them that we can find information about our specific animals on the internet. I don't think that I will have them complete research independently yet, as I am realizing (through reading the NETS standards) that I have much to teach them about digital citizenship and responsibility. However, I think that exposing them to the internet as a research tool will begin to open their eyes to the possibility of finding important information on the internet.
The term "new literacies" refers to the various new types of literacy available in our world today. One category of new literacy is made possible through various digital technologies now available, including the internet, text messaging, blogging, etc.
National Educational Technology Standards
The National Educational Technology Standards can be found on the NETS website. It is a great resource for educators, parents, and students. As an educator, I will use the NETS standards for both teachers and students to guide the use of technology in the classroom.
The NETS for students are standards that students need to meet to be successful, productive members of a digital world. These standards include: digital citizenship; creativity and innovation; communication and collaboration; research and information fluency; critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making; and technology operations and concepts.
The NETS for teachers are standards that teachers need to meet to be productive teachers in a digital age. This can include being proficient in current technology, and using such technology throughout teaching. These standards include: digital age work; digital age learning; student learning; professional growth; and digital citizenship.
As I was exploring the NETS website, and reflecting on the standards, I was struck by how thorough they are. Prior to reviewing the standards, I expected them to include standards on knowing how to use technology, as well as knowledge surrounding digital citizenship. However, I gained a great deal of new information reading through other standards such as creativity and innovation and communication and collaboration. It really opened my eyes to how much of a responsibility we have as educators make sure that our students are well informed and prepared in all of these areas.
In my classroom, I am planning on beginning to develop these new literacies with my students by teaching them that the internet can be used as a research tool. We are beginning a research project for writer's workshop on animals, and I would like to show them that we can find information about our specific animals on the internet. I don't think that I will have them complete research independently yet, as I am realizing (through reading the NETS standards) that I have much to teach them about digital citizenship and responsibility. However, I think that exposing them to the internet as a research tool will begin to open their eyes to the possibility of finding important information on the internet.
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