Class discussions- Well facilitated forums allow for more reflective and considered responses than may be achievable in face-to-face conditions.
Teacher/ Parent Interaction- Great way for the teacher to communicate information between school and home. Sign up lists, important information about class trips, parties, etc.
Posting Class Assignments- Posting to a blog will give students access to their work, homework while away from school. This would be a great way to make sure children can’t “forget” about what is due.
Journal entry assignments- Saves paper and are a faster, easier, and in my opinion more fun way to write and reflect on a specific topic. I always HATED having to write papers in class on notebook paper or in a journal to turn in.
Class Surveys- Again, quick and easy way to gather information.
Teacher interaction with team teachers- Wonderful place to post ideas and concerns for the teachers to communicate and quickly jot down. Too many times I forget what I need to ask, or say, if we used a blog is would be easy way to login and have it permanently there for other team teachers to respond.
Fundraising blogs for PTO- Posting fundraisers on the internet would be a quick and easy way for people in the community to access and give money to help the school out, or to buy items that are being sold.
*More geared towards my kindergartners:
Typing -Getting children acquainted with keyboards at a young age will help them become familiar with their layout and function, quickly making them proficient typists.
Responsibility/Commitment - Daily Posts Regular updates require children to be disciplined and responsible.
Technology - Exposure to Internet Technologies Children are growing into technology-laden world. Exposure to innovative Internet technology will help them with communication skills
Monday, October 12, 2009
Entry #3
The case study I chose was written by a man named Jim. Jim is an Education Consultant working to help teachers use technology to create student-centered learning environments. Jim has 8 years experience in the classroom and has a Masters Degree in Education and a BS Degree in Computer Science. Jim is currently working on creating online learning environments for teacher professional development programs. Jim believes that “Getting excited about information is a good thing! This is intrinsic motivation at its best and so many people have re-discovered their love of learning through the Internet! This includes kids!!! Two key factors in charging up that intrinsic motivation are (1) deciding "what" you want to learn about, and (2) deciding "when" you want to learn it. Each of these factors can be increased using the Internet.”
Jim believes that we need to provide intrinsic motivation in learning. “To increase the "what" factor, educators need to create a more student-centered environment where the students have more control of what they're doing. To increase the "when" factor, educators need to make classroom information including notes, lectures, student work-in-progress, answers to questions, etc. available 24/7.” Educators can create blogs to share any type of information. Jim explains that using blogs through education gives access to the students to “learn” at any time. Blogging allows students to access information when convenient for them.
Jim posted a youtube video on his site that was very informative; it more or less put blogging into perspective. Blogging is a way to share information, like the news. However, blogging allows for quick response, rather than scheduled release times such as the newspaper. Blogging in the classroom allows for all input, for giving the students the “ball in their court” to say what they want to say and ultimately giving them free rain, and making learning technology based and fun!
http://www.guide2digitallearning.com/blog_jim_hollis/sharing_educational_content_using_blog
Jim believes that we need to provide intrinsic motivation in learning. “To increase the "what" factor, educators need to create a more student-centered environment where the students have more control of what they're doing. To increase the "when" factor, educators need to make classroom information including notes, lectures, student work-in-progress, answers to questions, etc. available 24/7.” Educators can create blogs to share any type of information. Jim explains that using blogs through education gives access to the students to “learn” at any time. Blogging allows students to access information when convenient for them.
Jim posted a youtube video on his site that was very informative; it more or less put blogging into perspective. Blogging is a way to share information, like the news. However, blogging allows for quick response, rather than scheduled release times such as the newspaper. Blogging in the classroom allows for all input, for giving the students the “ball in their court” to say what they want to say and ultimately giving them free rain, and making learning technology based and fun!
http://www.guide2digitallearning.com/blog_jim_hollis/sharing_educational_content_using_blog
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Entry # 2
http://www.instructorweb.com/lesson/rhymetime.asp
This blog is a website that provides activity to help children with rhyming. This site is a great outlet for teachers to come and get ideas on how to help the process of teaching phonemic awareness to children.
As a kindergarten teacher, my kids are starting at the bottom. We have been learning the alphabet and are now exploring rhyming, onset and ending sounds, blending, syllables, segmenting, you name it, we are learning it! I don’t feel like you can ever have too many ideas or ways to teach to children, especially young children.
What I have learned about blogging from simply looking, is that there is so much out there to be found! I am amazed at all that I have found, from just looking; ideas about everything from math to science, reading to writing, arts and crafts to phonemic awareness. Literally the world is at your fingertips if you just take the time to look.
http://www.mrsnelsonsclass.com
This blog is an actual teachers blog, Mrs. Nelson. It appears to not be active as of 2007, but I spent 20 minutes browsing her site. She has everything from teacher resources, to calendar events, to a parents section for her children’s parents. It is a really cool site!
I clicked on the classroom management link on her site, I always like to see how other teachers manage their classroom. I feel as though young children are definitely the hardest, and lucky me kindergarteners, just because they are new to this whole “school” thing. She laid out her classroom, showed pictures and scenarios of how she ran her room. I really like her site!
Again, what I have learned from blogging is that if I take the time to search, I will find many of the answers that I am looking for right at my fingertips.
This blog is a website that provides activity to help children with rhyming. This site is a great outlet for teachers to come and get ideas on how to help the process of teaching phonemic awareness to children.
As a kindergarten teacher, my kids are starting at the bottom. We have been learning the alphabet and are now exploring rhyming, onset and ending sounds, blending, syllables, segmenting, you name it, we are learning it! I don’t feel like you can ever have too many ideas or ways to teach to children, especially young children.
What I have learned about blogging from simply looking, is that there is so much out there to be found! I am amazed at all that I have found, from just looking; ideas about everything from math to science, reading to writing, arts and crafts to phonemic awareness. Literally the world is at your fingertips if you just take the time to look.
http://www.mrsnelsonsclass.com
This blog is an actual teachers blog, Mrs. Nelson. It appears to not be active as of 2007, but I spent 20 minutes browsing her site. She has everything from teacher resources, to calendar events, to a parents section for her children’s parents. It is a really cool site!
I clicked on the classroom management link on her site, I always like to see how other teachers manage their classroom. I feel as though young children are definitely the hardest, and lucky me kindergarteners, just because they are new to this whole “school” thing. She laid out her classroom, showed pictures and scenarios of how she ran her room. I really like her site!
Again, what I have learned from blogging is that if I take the time to search, I will find many of the answers that I am looking for right at my fingertips.
Entry # 1
Blogging is not entirely new to me. Back in college, xanga was a big deal to my friends and myself. I blogged everyday for a good 8 months I would say. This was my sophomore year in college and it is hilarious for me to go back and read all that I wrote about. My boyfriend at the time, silly “drama” that went on with friends, my day-to-day activities. It is a fun way for me to travel back in time and remember those days. Within the last 2 years, I have followed on the google blog sites of friends of mine, mostly married with kids. I had yet to join on the bandwagon, it seemed just like one more thing for me to keep up with.
The articles I read were very informative. Technology is expanding on a huge scale, daily and it honestly is hard to keep up. I feel as though me being a young adult, and growing up using computers, cellphones, ipods, etc. I have an advantage than those whom are older. The younger generation picks up on techno-savy equipment far faster I believe than the older generation. However, readings were very informative and insightful. I had no idea was RSS was until taking this class. RSS is obviously an important “thing” to me, because I am a facebook junkie and the facebook status updates are a useful tool in helping me pass time and gain information.
As I have said before, I feel that technology is a vital role in our daily activity. The kids in my classroom (they are 5) know how to work cell phones and ipods and video games and some even know how to work computers. They are currently in a computer class that they attend one day out of every seven. Realistically, blogs are not necessarily something we would use until possibly the end of the year, just because they can not read as of yet. Blogging would have to be something supervised if they were to use it independently. It could possibly be used in our classroom for surveys, but as far as the children’s usage, it would be limited. However, blogging may be a great way for myself to interact with the parents. Posting pictures from the day to day activities or announcements that I need to make for the parents to see. But again, I am unaware of the parents access to computer/internet, but I think it might be worth a shot.
The articles I read were very informative. Technology is expanding on a huge scale, daily and it honestly is hard to keep up. I feel as though me being a young adult, and growing up using computers, cellphones, ipods, etc. I have an advantage than those whom are older. The younger generation picks up on techno-savy equipment far faster I believe than the older generation. However, readings were very informative and insightful. I had no idea was RSS was until taking this class. RSS is obviously an important “thing” to me, because I am a facebook junkie and the facebook status updates are a useful tool in helping me pass time and gain information.
As I have said before, I feel that technology is a vital role in our daily activity. The kids in my classroom (they are 5) know how to work cell phones and ipods and video games and some even know how to work computers. They are currently in a computer class that they attend one day out of every seven. Realistically, blogs are not necessarily something we would use until possibly the end of the year, just because they can not read as of yet. Blogging would have to be something supervised if they were to use it independently. It could possibly be used in our classroom for surveys, but as far as the children’s usage, it would be limited. However, blogging may be a great way for myself to interact with the parents. Posting pictures from the day to day activities or announcements that I need to make for the parents to see. But again, I am unaware of the parents access to computer/internet, but I think it might be worth a shot.
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