Online Communication tools are tools that we don't even think about how much we use. Most people use some form of online communication everyday perhaps through email. In the business world email has made communicating with others easy and fast. I use email everyday and when our network is down I feel lost many times. I would rather email than pick up the phone many times. I feel that I can get more accomplished that way. I also always have a record for reference. This can be a downfall to online communication tools because we begin to depend on them too much and can lose important communication skills. There is a balance but in the classroom it is important to teach students different ways of learning and communicating.
Since I am not teaching yet I am referencing another online communication tool that I use on a regular basis in my classroom as a student. Blogs and discussion boards are a great online communication tool that can involve every class member. Blogs also allow us to debate our views on topics and learn other views as well.
In the future I plan to use blogs in the classroom as tools to communicate with students and parents. Homework assignments as well as discussion board topics will be links in which students will use to communicate with myself and their peers. I would like for the students to be involved in creating the blog at the beginning of the school year. I would like their input in what they would like to see and what would be helpful for them. This will give the students an opportunity to control part of their learning environment and motivate them to take pride in the blog site. Parents can also benefit from the blog because they will be able to see their students’ progress. They can check homework assignments and calendars that will have important dates. This can be a help in keeping parents involved in the classroom.
Using online communication tools helps teachers follow with KY teaching standards by implementing a technology enriched curriculum. There are many benefits to using this technology in the classroom beyond learning. Teachers can better monitor what students are doing and how well they are doing it. It makes a better learning environment for both the students and teachers.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Week Four- PowerPoint Presentation
Since I am not a teacher yet I created a PowerPoint and showed it to my own children. I wanted it to be something that would create their attention. I took in consideration that all three have different interests and I wanted to make it fun. I made a game of sorts on PowerPoint. I added pictures of their favorite things so they would remember the pictures. The first slide had 3 pictures on it. A car, Taylor swift and SpongeBob. After showing the slide to them I asked them to remember the pictures. The next slide I still had 3 pictures except I changed the Taylor swift picture to one of Justin Bieber. After showing them the second slide I asked them to tell me which picture was different. I asked each child individually. They got all got the answer correct. The 3rd and 4th slides progressed to having 4 pictures with one picture different on the second slide. We continued this until we got up to 8 pictures. The last 2 slides had 2 pictures that were different. I noticed during this exercise that as the slides progress it was harder for them to recognize which pictures where different. I think it also got more exciting though. They really had a lot of fun doing this. I could see them excited when they figured it out each slide. Who new mom’s schoolwork could be so much fun?
I am proud of this idea for the presentation because I needed something that would be fun but also something educational that I can use in the future with students. The point of the pictures was to give them a little brainteaser. Brainteaser’s opens our minds and stimulate our excitement for learning more! I think that for my kids as a fun brain teasing game it was an excellent idea. Using pictures they were familiar with the subjects helped with their memorization and got them excited to see new and exciting pictures of their favorite people and characters. If I use this idea in the future in a classroom I think I would change a few things about the presentation. I may add some more depth into the game by asking questions about the differences in the slides. Like how many pictures are the same? How many pictures are different? What picture do you like the most and why? Etc… I would also add more differences as the slides progressed. After the 8 slides they were left with wanting more so I would also create more slides.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Week Three - Desktop Publishing
Since I have never had to make a newsletter or any other document that requires desktop publishing this was a first for me. I tried to think about something that I had seen from another teacher in my substitute career or something that my children's teachers had sent home. I remembered that last year my son's teacher sent home a weekly newsletter.
The newsletter was always organized the same each week which made it helpful to find certain information like homework assignments. The best thing about the newsletter is it was the only communication I had to really go through each week besides his behavior agenda. It had all the information I needed to know about the next week without having 5 papers to go through. The only downfall to the newsletter is that there was too much information. I thought about the newsletter and ways to make it better. Items covered on the newsletter included what they were learning each week in each subject, homework assignments and due dates, list of important dates and other information about events that were going on in the classroom. Sometimes the newsletters had too much information on them like detailed descriptions of activities for the each subject. I think the newsletter should have been a little more simple and left information open so that communicating with their children could be prompted. Instead of including a detailed description for each subject a title of each lesson could prompt parents to say “So Jane I see that you are working on Rounding numbers this week, how is that going?”. The homework assignment was always on the back of the page and I think that with reducing some of the information all of this could fit on the front. This way parents won’t miss any information if they don’t turn the page over. Also the newsletter was in really small print (all of it). I think by reducing the information there will be more room to make for a bigger font. The bigger font makes important information easy to read.
So after thinking about what I wanted to improve I created my own newsletter. I chose a template that was offered in Microsoft Publisher and went from there. I put the date in bold and listed information for the main subjects. I made sure to include what are working on or a the title of the assignment. I didn’t share any other information. I believe that this could prompt parents to wonder what “Who has made the world better” about. This will engage the parents and students to communicate about things that are going on in the classroom. I listed homework assignments at the bottom in bold and also listed due dates. This way all academic information is in large fonts and can easily be seen. The other information I added were important dates and special notes. I left the newsletter with this information and didn’t include a lot of pictures. I think it is simple and a clear informative document.
The newsletter was always organized the same each week which made it helpful to find certain information like homework assignments. The best thing about the newsletter is it was the only communication I had to really go through each week besides his behavior agenda. It had all the information I needed to know about the next week without having 5 papers to go through. The only downfall to the newsletter is that there was too much information. I thought about the newsletter and ways to make it better. Items covered on the newsletter included what they were learning each week in each subject, homework assignments and due dates, list of important dates and other information about events that were going on in the classroom. Sometimes the newsletters had too much information on them like detailed descriptions of activities for the each subject. I think the newsletter should have been a little more simple and left information open so that communicating with their children could be prompted. Instead of including a detailed description for each subject a title of each lesson could prompt parents to say “So Jane I see that you are working on Rounding numbers this week, how is that going?”. The homework assignment was always on the back of the page and I think that with reducing some of the information all of this could fit on the front. This way parents won’t miss any information if they don’t turn the page over. Also the newsletter was in really small print (all of it). I think by reducing the information there will be more room to make for a bigger font. The bigger font makes important information easy to read.
So after thinking about what I wanted to improve I created my own newsletter. I chose a template that was offered in Microsoft Publisher and went from there. I put the date in bold and listed information for the main subjects. I made sure to include what are working on or a the title of the assignment. I didn’t share any other information. I believe that this could prompt parents to wonder what “Who has made the world better” about. This will engage the parents and students to communicate about things that are going on in the classroom. I listed homework assignments at the bottom in bold and also listed due dates. This way all academic information is in large fonts and can easily be seen. The other information I added were important dates and special notes. I left the newsletter with this information and didn’t include a lot of pictures. I think it is simple and a clear informative document.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Week Two: Spreadsheets/Databases
In this week’s lesson most of the focus was on spreadsheets and databases and programs that provide them. The most familiar software that I use on a regular basis is Microsoft Excel. I have used Excel in the past to jobs that I have had for many different purposes. Currently I use excel for quoting at work. We have different templates that are used and formulas are already entered. It saves a lot of time when marking items up. (Saves on the math I have to do as well) I have also used Excel to help create a behavior logs for my children (especially my oldest) for home behavior tracking.
After doing a search on the internet for spreadsheets used in classrooms I quickly found Belmar, NJ K-12 website. http://www.belmar.k12,nj,us/public/everyday-spreadsheets/ This website is used as a resource for teachers. Within the website there are several links that have both resources for teachers to use for grading/assessing purposes as well as resources for them to use for lessons.
I found the travel budget lesson very interesting because this could be made into more than a travel budget. Teachers can change this to a fundraiser/class party budget. Students could work together to fundraise to have a class party at some point in the year. They would start from the beginning gathering data for how much they will need and what they will do. Each week they can track their progress towards this goal.
Other spreadsheets that were great ideas that I hadn’t thought about were homework schedules. Like a calendar the homework schedules clearly state what is expected of students and can prepare them for one week or one month worth of homework lessons.
Teaching some math concepts can be enhanced with spreadsheets. Take multiplication tables as an example. Other spreadsheets that focus on averages can also be very useful in teaching these concepts.
I think the main idea here is to not only teach student the concepts but also get students to learn how to use the technology that is out there. Getting them to interact with technology and use opportunities such as Poll taking to input into spreadsheets. These spreadsheets can help make charts and graphs and further the lessons we design.
It really surprised me when I started immediately thinking of ways to modify the lessons that were given as examples. I find myself being creative and thinking how can I incorporate this into a lesson that will be appropriate for all grade levels.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Week One: Educational Technology
I have to admit before starting this blog that I don't have the required book yet. Imagine that the company I chose to buy it from shipped it 5 days after they said they would......in any case I have learned a great deal from the other reading material and discussion posts for this week.
Teaching students using technology has many benefits. In todays world using different types of technology is a skill that can't be forgotten. It starts in the classroom but will reach out further as students grow. It is important to create environments for students that are technology centered. Developing activities that allow students to use this technology is the 2nd most important thing. What good is having technology if it is not used.
Customizing activites to meet the needs of students on a group basis and an individual basis are important for tracking their progress. Using the tools we have to promote a fun and functional learning environment will only provide room for growth and success.
Measuring progress and understanding is also important in teaching technology. Students should clearly understand and be able to use technology. Using assessments through the technology they use is a great way to track this progress. We can develop activities through computer software that will provide assessments of how well they know their way around a computer etc....
The only downfall to focusing much attention on a technology driven classroom is funding. Many schools systems do not provide all that is needed for a classroom and in the SPED classrooms even less. As teachers we can't demand but we have to fight for our students to be provided with the technology needed to advance their knowledge and give them the oppurtunity to use this knowledge.
Teaching students using technology has many benefits. In todays world using different types of technology is a skill that can't be forgotten. It starts in the classroom but will reach out further as students grow. It is important to create environments for students that are technology centered. Developing activities that allow students to use this technology is the 2nd most important thing. What good is having technology if it is not used.
Customizing activites to meet the needs of students on a group basis and an individual basis are important for tracking their progress. Using the tools we have to promote a fun and functional learning environment will only provide room for growth and success.
Measuring progress and understanding is also important in teaching technology. Students should clearly understand and be able to use technology. Using assessments through the technology they use is a great way to track this progress. We can develop activities through computer software that will provide assessments of how well they know their way around a computer etc....
The only downfall to focusing much attention on a technology driven classroom is funding. Many schools systems do not provide all that is needed for a classroom and in the SPED classrooms even less. As teachers we can't demand but we have to fight for our students to be provided with the technology needed to advance their knowledge and give them the oppurtunity to use this knowledge.
Friday, July 1, 2011
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