Blog 8

I feel that I didn’t have any grammar or spelling errors in my interactive story. Also, I tried to make sure that my audio was easy to hear and sounded good during the presentation. I used all readable text and made sure that the text was left justified so it would be easiest to read.

Further, I tried to make sure that my background did not interfere with the slide.

I also kept the navigation buttons consistent throughout the story in order to make it friendly and easy to navigate.

I feel that by using educational videos in combination with computer programs or resources that reinforce the same skills, my students will be able to learn effectively. For instance, by showing a video about how to identify shapes and then using a computer program or interactive powerpoint that also reinforces shape recognition, my students will have different ways to master the skill. Therefore, I will be able to reach the majority of my students as my teaching methods will apply to different learning types.

Some new skills I acquired last week and in working on the Powerpoint 2 Assignment were how to plan out an in-depth presentation such as the interactive story. I really tried to make it interesting a provide readers with choices that they would enjoy. One skill that will be beneficial to me both in furthering my education as well as teaching would be how familiar I got with my Mac in making this presentation. I didn’t really know how to use most of the tools and so this project forced me to figure out what everything did and how it all worked. This information is helpful because now I feel alot more confident with the program and I will be willing to use presentations in my classroom.

Blog 7

I think that presentation software in the class will be advantageous to me because it will keep my students interested and help promote classroom discussion. However I feel that a huge disadvantage of it is how appropriate it will be for my students. For instance, I would like to teach kindergarten so I’m not exactly sure how appropriate a powerpoint presentation would be for my students -lecturing to that age group is definitely inappropriate.

Powerpoint can be helpful to a student that learns from attitudes and perceptions by keeping slides organized while interesting at the same time. When students start integrating knowledge, slides that incorporate information already studied would be most helpful and informative. When students begin to analyze the information, slides with bullets and detailed explanations of concepts would be appropriate. In order to get my students to use the information we are focusing on, I would have examples so that the students could use problem solving skills and evaluate the situation. So that the students can be most productive, I would incorporate thinking maps and interactive slides into my Powerpoint presentation. This would help ensure that my students put there knew knowledge to work and would also provide me with feedback as an educator as to how effective my teaching was.

Cell phone usage in the classroom is really important to me because I feel that if some sort of basic rules were covered, the usage might possibly be acceptable. Instead of students getting detentions for cellphone usage and teachers getting frustrated, wouldn’t it be better for everyone to teach a compromise? Here is an article that discusses the use of cellphones in the classroom -I find it particularly interesting as it makes you consider how cellphones might have caused the Columbine tragedy to turn out differently.

Economics Project

Blog 6

I definitely think I will use some of the web 2.0 resources in my classroom! I feel that my students will benefit from these tools and as a kindergarten teacher, I believe that the variety of techniques and tools will keep my students interested and engaged in learning.

Wikipedia started out as a good learning source. However the problem arose when people without knowledge on a subject matter began editing pages -the information was no longer completely factual. I feel that wikipedia can be a good starting point for research but I believe that my students need to do more in-depth research and have their wikipedia information verified by other resources.

Making our wiki's last week, I learned many different skills! I think that I will use some of these skills throughout my teaching career because I found it interesting. Also, once I figured out how create anchors and link pages to one another, it was relatively easy. I believe that a webpage could be a great way to keep my parents informed and provide my students with information covered in class. These tools could also be helpful in providing my students with study tools and supplemental materials!

Blog 5

The internet can be very helpful to students who do not have access to a library or when the library doesn’t have the materials that students need. However, the internet is not helpful to students when they use it for social networking in class or when the information can only be found in a book. Also, as a teacher I have to make sure that cyberbullying does not take place.

I hope to use some of the sites mentioned in the book as child friendly search engines. I checked out http://www.askkids.com/ which was definitely great for kids. It provided students with options on how to refine their searches to get more specific information and the website had fun colors and images.

My goal is to teach kindergarten so thankfully my students won’t be trying to check Facebook or look at inappropriate websites. However a concern I have is that if a student is on the internet, there are many sites that are inappropriate for them to discover -be it because of pictures or simply content that is way over their head. I hope to use educational software such as SuccessMaker and Larson’s Math as the primary reason for my students’ interactions with computers.

Blog 4

As a teacher, I plan to use the ideas about making outlines and organizational maps in my class. For outlines, I can use technology such as Microsoft Word that would allow my students to organize their ideas and form well written papers. For organizational maps, I could use the Inspiration software, Microsoft Word or http://bubbl.us/edit.php.

I would definitely encourage my students to use outlining and organizational mapping. I feel that they are very important in allowing students to visualize how much information they have and it is an effective way to organize it so it can all make sense. Also, mapping can be used for all students in many grades. For kindergarten students, mapping is a way to have class activities and facilitate group work. For students writing papers, an outline or map can allow an individual to make sure that their ideas are flowing and making sense.

In the last week I have learned how to evaluate websites and find information faster on search engines. As a student this is very helpful because I can keep the evaluation ideas in mind when researching information and deciding if it is credible or not. Also, finding information faster is important because it means that I can save time doing homework and research.