Here is my final "tools" blog post! It has been a great learning experience for me these past few days to acquire all of these useful 21st century tools. I am eager to put them into use and to share my knowledge with others!
My favorite tool of all has to be the iPhone, now that I found the 50 free educational apps website. The apps like Alphabet Tracing and Number Sense would be so useful to my classroom! The kids would be able to learn to write their letters in a fun interactive (non-messy) way, and they would be able to learn to count through entertaining but educational games. If I get an iPod Touch or iPhone, I would connect it to the classroom projector, and definitely put these apps into use.
Learning about all these tools has also helped me transform my thinking about the learning that will take place in my classroom. I realize that our world is so...digital now. It really is necessary to keep up, or else I'll be left in the dust! I found that technology can really promote education in so many ways.
There were many unexpected outcomes in this program that surprised me, including finding out that a product such as an iPod touch could be connected to a classroom projector. That still amazes me!!! I was also surprised to have learned so so much. I definitely expected to learn, as my technology knowledge was very limited before I started this tool program, but not to the extent that I did.
I really appreciate this program!!!!
Now, on to the assessment!!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Tool #11: Digital Citizenship
Digital citizenship is highly important to maintain throughout any moment in which the internet is used. As a teacher, I would want my students to understand that
1) It is necessary to evaluate how we are using technology,
2) It is important to maintain good digital citizenship and responsibility with actions on the internet, and
3) It is important not to plagiarize material by copy and pasting from resources and claiming the writing as one's own.
I would teach the idea of digital citizenship to students by relating their cyber-actions to their real-life actions--being a good citizen is pervasive throughout the cyber world and the real world.
1) It is necessary to evaluate how we are using technology,
2) It is important to maintain good digital citizenship and responsibility with actions on the internet, and
3) It is important not to plagiarize material by copy and pasting from resources and claiming the writing as one's own.
I would teach the idea of digital citizenship to students by relating their cyber-actions to their real-life actions--being a good citizen is pervasive throughout the cyber world and the real world.
Tool #10: Exploring Apps
Using a classroom projector, the iPod Touch can become a portal to various educational programs. I just found that out today! Who know that such a little device could be used in the classroom effectively?
The only Apple device that I own is an iPod...and this is the first generation, first ever iPod mini. So basically, it's from the Stone Age hahaha. My daughter has the newest iPod nano, but I have no idea how to work it. So my knowledge of Apple products is very limited.
I read today about various free education apps for the iPhone and the iPod Touch, and found out that they had something called "Alphabet Tracing." In the schoolyear, I created a LOT of worksheets about forming letters, which worked, but having an app such as this one that I found would be so much easier!! It's basically perfect for the pre-K classroom, where learning to write the alphabet is essential.
Another great free app that I found was "Number Sense," which teaches kids to count through fun and interactive games. Using this would be a great class activity, as another pre-K essential is learning to count!
The only Apple device that I own is an iPod...and this is the first generation, first ever iPod mini. So basically, it's from the Stone Age hahaha. My daughter has the newest iPod nano, but I have no idea how to work it. So my knowledge of Apple products is very limited.
I read today about various free education apps for the iPhone and the iPod Touch, and found out that they had something called "Alphabet Tracing." In the schoolyear, I created a LOT of worksheets about forming letters, which worked, but having an app such as this one that I found would be so much easier!! It's basically perfect for the pre-K classroom, where learning to write the alphabet is essential.
Another great free app that I found was "Number Sense," which teaches kids to count through fun and interactive games. Using this would be a great class activity, as another pre-K essential is learning to count!
Tool #9: Using Jing and Skype
I've used Skype many times before to talk to relatives in distant countries, but I have never heard of Jing. It turns out that with this program, I am able to create a video on actions I take in a computer and replay it! This is great in order to show how to carry out something on the computer. Jing could help my kids learn about computer processes in an easier way.
As I said before, I've used Skype to contact relatives in other countries, so I think that it would be a great idea to establish contact with another group of pre-K students in another district or even country. We could learn about their lifestyle, and how different but similar they are to us! It would be a great learning opportunity.
Describing how great Skype is really involves just mentioning that you are able to have real-time communication with someone while actually seeing them on your computer screen. It's like having a conversation with the person--as if they were right in front of you!
I know that in the next schoolyear, I'll put these tools into use!
As I said before, I've used Skype to contact relatives in other countries, so I think that it would be a great idea to establish contact with another group of pre-K students in another district or even country. We could learn about their lifestyle, and how different but similar they are to us! It would be a great learning opportunity.
Describing how great Skype is really involves just mentioning that you are able to have real-time communication with someone while actually seeing them on your computer screen. It's like having a conversation with the person--as if they were right in front of you!
I know that in the next schoolyear, I'll put these tools into use!
Tool #8: Using Video Resources
Throughout the year, I've been actively using online videos on TeacherTube to improve my teaching methods. I was a first year teacher, so I felt that seeing others teach their own students to count, for example, would help me a lot--and it did! But today while completing this tool I decided to try Youtube for kid-friendly videos that I would be able to show in class, and that would really facilitate the learning process.
I found out that Sesame Street had its own official Youtube channel, which is definitely a plus! They have great videos that show kids the alphabet and counting. Here are two that I especially found useful.
I found out that Sesame Street had its own official Youtube channel, which is definitely a plus! They have great videos that show kids the alphabet and counting. Here are two that I especially found useful.
Tool #7: Digital Storytelling
I got to make a photo story! The prospect of this was quite frightening, actually--it sounded really hard to me. But, I just followed the step by step instructions that the Photo Story Microsoft software gave, and it turned out to be easy and fun to create! I strung together pictures of the last few weeks my students and I had in class, where we celebrated Go Texan day and got to visit the zoo. I then added background music from the Sample Music that the Windows Vista program provides. Since I was nervous about copyright infringement, I checked online, and all of the sample music Windows provides is actually not copyrighted. Good to know, hahaha.
Watching my photo story again really made me nostalgic!! The memories are so lovely :-)
Now that I know how to make photo stories, I will definitely create them during the school year, especially before breaks or holidays. I know that the kids would love reliving the memories!
Watching my photo story again really made me nostalgic!! The memories are so lovely :-)
Now that I know how to make photo stories, I will definitely create them during the school year, especially before breaks or holidays. I know that the kids would love reliving the memories!
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Tool #6: Wikis
I learned about wikis today. At first, when I saw the title of this tool, I thought I had absolutely no idea what wikis were, and that I hadn't ever used one. I was wrong on both counts. I use Wikipedia daily to access information, and (this is pretty obvious from its name) it is a wiki! :-)
Wikis are great for students--they can share ideas, information, stories...basically anything. And of course, peer to peer learning and sharing promotes active learning overall! Viewing the sample wikis on the 11 tools page sidebar, I definitely accumulated some ideas for my students next year--I am definitely considering creating a project involving daily word reflections and wikis!
For my school team or department, wikis are going to turn out to be so useful in sharing important classroom information, like necessities for a field trip or activities for the students.
Wikis are great for students--they can share ideas, information, stories...basically anything. And of course, peer to peer learning and sharing promotes active learning overall! Viewing the sample wikis on the 11 tools page sidebar, I definitely accumulated some ideas for my students next year--I am definitely considering creating a project involving daily word reflections and wikis!
For my school team or department, wikis are going to turn out to be so useful in sharing important classroom information, like necessities for a field trip or activities for the students.
Tool #5:
Through this new tool, I joined the social bookmarking site of del.icio.us. It is so expansive and useful! By just typing in the searchbox "pre kindergarten activities" as a tag, I was able to find two new great websites for my pre-K class. If you haven't already, you should definitely check out Starfall, a site which teaches kids how to read through fun activities and games, and DLTK's Craft for Kids, a site which has a wide variety of kid-friendly crafts.
Social bookmarking will definitely be useful in my classroom because by searching for keywords, I can introduce fun and educational class activities for my students.
Social bookmarking will definitely be useful in my classroom because by searching for keywords, I can introduce fun and educational class activities for my students.
Tool #4: Using Google Tools!
Today, through the 11 tools blog I learned about Google Docs and Google Reader. My daughter, a high school senior, had already told me about docs but I hadn't the faintest idea what reader was about. I found out that reader actually lets me keep track of sites that I choose to follow, without having to separately check each of them. This is so useful.
In my classroom, we can definitely put these two google tools into use. With Google Docs, students can post assignments and share them with me online, and with Reader, if students begin their own blogs, I'll be able to easily keep track of them.
In my classroom, we can definitely put these two google tools into use. With Google Docs, students can post assignments and share them with me online, and with Reader, if students begin their own blogs, I'll be able to easily keep track of them.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Tool #3: Making Images!
So on I continue on this 11 blogging tools adventure. I'm really learning a lot! Today, I completed the third tool, which involved generating images. From the 11 tools page, I discovered two awesome sites: Wordle and Image Chef, each of which I used to create the two new gadgets on the sidebar of my page. I'll definitely keep these sites in mind for the next schoolyear--creating positive images in the classroom seems like a fun and educational activity.
The two samples I created might be used to encourage the students, and motivate their learning process. Students could create their own word clouds, using words from a certain topic that we learn in the classroom.
I'm really excited to start on the next tool!
P.S. Thanks to Mrs. Yollis for giving me the great tip on comment moderation!! :)
The two samples I created might be used to encourage the students, and motivate their learning process. Students could create their own word clouds, using words from a certain topic that we learn in the classroom.
I'm really excited to start on the next tool!
P.S. Thanks to Mrs. Yollis for giving me the great tip on comment moderation!! :)
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Tool #2: Commenting
I am amazed at the opportunities offered by building an online educational community through blogging. Students and teachers can interact with each other through such an educational environment, and I as an educator can learn more to teach my students through participation in a PLN.
From the commenting advice offered by the Cool Cat Teacher's blog post, the point that stood out to me was that by commenting on a post, you cast a vote on the importance of a topic. Therefore, by writing a meaningful comment, you are able to voice your opinion about what is written, and share your perspective while learning the perspective of others. This feeds into the idea of a PLN.
To make comments, I selected the following five blogs: Weblogg-ed, English With Rosa Classroom Blog, TeachPaperless, American Presidents, Mrs. Yollis' 3rd Grade Classroom Blog.
I hope that I gave good comments! It was definitely interesting exploring the blog world :) I read posts that I definitely learned from!!
From the commenting advice offered by the Cool Cat Teacher's blog post, the point that stood out to me was that by commenting on a post, you cast a vote on the importance of a topic. Therefore, by writing a meaningful comment, you are able to voice your opinion about what is written, and share your perspective while learning the perspective of others. This feeds into the idea of a PLN.
To make comments, I selected the following five blogs: Weblogg-ed, English With Rosa Classroom Blog, TeachPaperless, American Presidents, Mrs. Yollis' 3rd Grade Classroom Blog.
I hope that I gave good comments! It was definitely interesting exploring the blog world :) I read posts that I definitely learned from!!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Tool #1: Creating a Blog
My name is Mrs. Siso, and I am a bilingual pre-K teacher for the Lion Lane School. As a hands-on educator, I appreciate the valuable tool that blogging can potentially be for my students. Blogging would create a new place for my students to interact with each other while actively implementing the use of higher technologies necessary to learn. In my classroom, I would use blogging as a venue for interaction.
This is my first blog, and I therefore followed the step by step instructions on the Blogger website in order to create it. I additionally followed the Voki Avatar instructions from the "tool #1" of the "11 Tools for the 21st Century Learner" blog.
This is my first blog, and I therefore followed the step by step instructions on the Blogger website in order to create it. I additionally followed the Voki Avatar instructions from the "tool #1" of the "11 Tools for the 21st Century Learner" blog.
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