Final Blog!!!

I think that "we" inspire others to change by ourselves always changing. As we change so does the way we live and teach. If you do teach that is... The inspiration that we give off I think is natural. Change isn't always a bad thing anyways. It just depends how we change and for what reasons. In this case I think it is a good case. Education wise. Plus it seems nearly impossible to stay the same when everything in the world seems as though it is changing too. Especially when thinking of teaching with technology while in the classroom.

I also think that it is okay that we as educators are changing others. Like I said above, I believe that change is a good thing if it is for the right reasons. When thinking about changing while in the classroom, that can mean many different things. Using technology more, when the teaching approach is changed, changing how you plan on teaching, and in many other ways as well. If nothing ever changed, I feel the world would be so boring and lifeless. Change is what makes everything exciting and new.

I think that the way we teach or teachers teach doesn't necessarily need to change because students are not being taught the correct ways, but I believe that teachers need to incorporate new methods of teaching in their teaching strategies. Also that there needs to be more use of technology because the world is becoming more and more dependent on technology. This means that the students right now are also dependent on technology.

The students of today are changing too (mainly in the aspect of technology.) More and more students are always on a computer whether they're on Facebook or Myspace, or they're creating a Wordle, they all are using technology more today then the students were 10 years ago. With this said, I think that as "our" students change, so does the way our educators teach the students.

I want my school that I teach at to be open to the technology world like I have been during the EDST 221 class. After the class I have become a huge fan of using technology. I can only imagine how using the programs that I did while in the class can be beneficial to the way I will teach my students. Opening up to technology is huge, and I feel that once this is done that the students will find that they actually enjoy and find technology beneficial to there learning. With this said I think that the teachers will too find this CHANGE beneficial as well.

I expect my kids to be in a classroom in the future that incorporates technology on a daily basis. I do not really have any expectations, but I do think that technology will be a major priority of the future teachers. This trend will catch on soon enough. It doesn't seem like a matter of if, but when. I know this will happen and I am very excited for the new doors that technology will open for education!

Thanks Marilyn!

Using this random website and my opinion

When I clicked on this http://ebistro.org/index.html I soon noticed that it wasn't at all about food. Which I was lead in the direction of food because of the word "bistro" which was used inside the link. After clicking on the link I realized I was staring at a menu that was interactive. I clicked on the word "menu specials" and it took me to a page that gives out tips about computers and the programs inside computers. I found all of this information very useful although I did not read all of them, I did read some. And yes I am appreciative for this!
Gracies

Web tools

The site I investigated was called Mindmaps. Inside of this investigation I looked into the web tool called Mindomo. This tool from what I read seemed very cool. Apparently it allowed people to create a map that included audio, pictures, text, and links to other websites.

Thinking about using this tool I think could definitely be used beneficially. Maybe there could be homework or just any assignments on making a map or creating something dealing with the creation of something on Mindomo.

Here is a picture I JINGed from a person using Mindomo:

2 lists for future educators

***Projects to enhance the classroom:

Student video creations, Google Tour, story bird, photo story, creating quizlets to quiz each other.

***Projects to promote learning:

1.Students can use "http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/workbooks" to create an online novel.
2. The whole class can work on an wiki together. For an example: a history class can create a class wiki on a certain event in history.
3. Record an audio of a written assignment.
4. Blockposter.com can help you display your projects online. Therefore anyone could have access to viewing the project.
5. Webquest is a good way of having the entire class access certain information through the web.
6. Glogster, an interactive poster that could also be accessed through the internet.
7. Students can create an online newspaper/magazine creation to display their ideas.
8. Creating a smart board game, so that they entire class can play.
9. An introduction to the class with using photo story, at the beginning of the year.
10. Have students create an online recipe book using mixbook.com

My Yodio

This is my first Yodio and I really had no idea what I was creating, but know that I've got the first one out of my system I think I'm capable of creating better "Yodios".

Weebly

I found that I am a firm believer that Weebly is wayyyy better than Google. I liked the formatting and how it was just different and free. I liked the new options that were present for me. Don't get me wrong I like google, but I like Weebly more!

Here is the link for my site!

http://www.weebly.com/weebly/main.php

News letter with work from fellow PLN members

http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1n1su/Tech4theclassroom/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.yudu.com%2Fpublish%2Ffinish_now%2F121994

This is our newsletter that my PLN worked on together. Its about technology in the classroom. Very Very interesting!

My Podcast

I think that podcasting would be helpful in assistance with teaching in the classroom if done properly. I feel like many kids would find podcasting very interesting and thats why it would be a hit, but I also think that it would be beneficial if done correctly.

My podcast is coming soon... Look here for it here before Sunday. _____________________________________________

Podcasts that I found useful

http://www.productivity501.com/free-academic-podcasts/78/

This site gives YOU the learner the chance to learn not only how to podcast, but it also goes in depth on already made podcasts that we can look at and learn from. VERY HELPFUL.


http://www.nationalgeographic.com/podcasts/

This site is a National Geographic site that posts videos/podcasts that anyone can look at and learn from. Pretty much anything you can think of dealing with National Geographic topics. As far as in the classroom, I think that this site would be very fun and interesting to show to students.

http://www.tutorvista.com/ks/www-macmillan-com-math-4th-grade-fact-dash

This site is a little bit confusing but its main purpose is to educate through tutoring with the subject of 4th grade math problems. I think what you do is you log in and then ask any problems are watch podcasts on what you think you need assistance on.

My PLN's Wiki

http://technologyforteacherseugne.wetpaint.com/

Here is my Wiki. I made this with two members from my PLN. In this wiki we discussed some of the things we did in our EDST 221 class. I talked about and what a PLN is and why I think they are important to me. I also made a page on why I think that technology in the classroom is very important to me. As far as the other pages my PLN made, I think that they made pages on other very very important topics. CHECK IT OUT.

Puzzle maker

I think that this site and the other site where you create word search's are very fun. Along with this I also feel like it would be fun to mess around with in the classroom, but there isn't a lot of different things to do with these sites except make puzzles and word-search's. I could see teachers using these sites for some assignments but not many. All in all I think that they are fun and usable sites.

News letter

Here is a news letter that I created for my students parents when I become a teacher at an elementary. It gives light detail on what I have planned for my class and it informs my students parents on what to expect out of me.

Spacezone

Spacezone

Here is my game that I created on the website Sharindipity. Its very simple and easy to follow. Everyone and anyone who reads this should get on and try this game.....

Here is my voicethread, pln take a look! Its for you guys

http://voicethread.com/share/939331/

Voicethread

http://voicethread.com/share/939331/

Here is my Voicethread, feel free to look at this. (for my PLN!)

My movie