The End is Near!

As the end of the semester continues to approach, all our work and projects are coming together as we fix and put them up on our taskstream. It is amazing to see how far we have come, however it has been an exhausting ride! I am very proud to say I have completed all my assignments, as well as have edited them to show my best work. In the beginning of the semester I never thought I would have come this far, however now that I am at the end, I am surprised I did it! My online portfolio has shown me how collaborating all my projects and assignments is useful because it is all there in one spot for everyone to see. I am very proud of my accomplishments and very proud of my classmates. Although I am relieved to see my work for Block 1 almost done, I am sad to know that in a couple of weeks I will not be with the same people who have helped me come this far. I wish everyone the best of luck!

Technology in the Classroom

As the semester rolls to an end, it is amazing to see the progress my classmates and I have made on our online portfolios. We have all created many different projects that one day will be a very useful and resourceful tool in the classroom. I personally have never used many of the websites Dr. Shi has provided this semester, and in my attempts to finish these projects, I have learned a great deal. I feel that this class has been very useful, and although it is a demanding amount of work, in the long run I feel that I will be prepared to use these tools within my classroom. I think my favorite project this semester was the voicethread. I enjoyed using this tool and I feel that it can make learning a little bit easier, and hopefully more enjoyable to the students. I am very grateful I "came to the edge" this semester and broadened my horizons with technology.

How Was School Today?

While on eSchool News, I came across an article that was very interesting to me. This article was about children who suffer from Complex Communication Needs, also known as CCN. This disability makes it hard for children to communicate effectively through speech alone, making it even harder for these children to express what they are learning throughout their days in school. For students who have CNN, they are unable to communicate using speech alone, which is why a project called "How Was School Today" has been launched. This project has aimed to develop a software that would collect data on what a child has been doing at school, then turn it into a language story to tell the parents when they got home. This system has been redefined to be compatible with mobile devices that can capture every move a student has done throughout the day, and then transfers that information to the parents so they can be aware of how their child is doing, as well as what their child has done throughout the day.


I think this project is very interesting. I feel that this can be the key to many students who have trouble expressing themselves, and can help parents who suffer from frustration when asking their children what they are learning. I think this can be very helpful, however, it is the job of parents and educators to use this as a tool for students, not a dependency. I also think this can be extremely helpful for ESL/ELL students. I think the way technology is adjusting and advancing can be highly beneficial for the school system, and can help those students who feel lost on a daily basis. I can only imagine what will be available for the students by the time I am a classroom teacher.



http://www.guardian.co.uk/smart-accessibility/technology-that-gives-children-a-voice?newsfeed=true

Wikispaces!

Today in class we created our own Wikispace website page! Considering how much we use this in our Edu 315 class, I figure this will be a very useful tool in the future. So far, I've learned how to invite members, create pages,and embed youtube videos, and change the colors on my webpage! I think there can be many uses for this type of website in the classroom and I am very happy to have created my own! I think its a great tool for my classmates and I to exchange ideas and new concepts via the internet and the website page makes it look much more professional, which is enabling us to look more appealing to those who find us online! I am very happy that I now have my own wikispace and plan on using this in the future in my classroom!

Voice Thread

Today in class we learned how to make a voice thread. I think this can be a great tool in the classroom for many reasons. I think this can be a great resource for the classroom because it can easily capture the attention of the students, while engaging them in academic material. I think its a very creative way to teach a lesson, or implement a subject into technology. I am looking forward to seeing how my voice thread comes out, and hope to make more in the future. I also like how students can be actively involved in the creation of a voice thread. As I make my own, I will keep into consideration how students would react to the voice thread and cannot wait to one day create one with my own student!

e- School News on Bullying

As I looked around the e-School News website, I came across a small article that addressed the popular topic of bullying. Lately, there have been many stories on the news about bullying that has caused young adults to turn to drastic and life ending measures. As a future teacher, I want to make sure that the students in my classroom feel safe, and comfortable, therefore I chose to look at this article.

This article led me to a website that can apply to children, teens, and parents about the topic of bullying. This website addresses bullying and how it can be stopped, and provides children, teens and adults with a way to confront the issue at hand.

e-School News: http://www.eschoolnews.com/2011/09/28/tips-to-address-school-bullying/

Stop Bullying Website: http://www.stopbullying.gov/index.html

iMovie

This week in class, we learned how to create an iMovie based on a mathematics problem. I think this can be very useful in the classroom, because it can provide students with a more engaging way of learning. We were shown examples by a teacher in a nearby elementary school, and it was very enjoyable to see and devise our own. My group came up with a math problem based on division and the new "partial quotient" method. I had never learned this method until last week, however making a short movie clip based on this method and real life objects was a great way to get my feet wet. I think this is a great way for educators to get the classroom involved and ready to learn because it beats having students complete a worksheet. I hope to make many more in the future!