Done!

We finally made it..last week of classes! It has been a long road but we all made it to the end and can see the light. Unfortunately, there is still a large amount of work yet to be done but for the most part, it's over! Now all that's left are a couple finals and our portfolio presentation. I will definitely miss the block. It's been nice seeing the same friendly faces over and over in the same classes. I think we all got comfortable with each other and became good friends. I hope we can keep in touch throughout next semester! :)

Wiki

     Our last project for the class was the wiki! It turned out to be a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. I had to make a wiki for my job senior year and it was way more complicated than the one we made in class. I was intimidated when I learned we were going to make a wiki because I thought it was going to be like the one I made before that was so hard and took so long. I am glad it wasn't. I think the wiki is another great resource for the classroom. It would be a good idea to have a classroom website that parents can visit and interact with you. It is also good that you can edit the wiki so you can update it with what you are doing in class. You can always change the pages to incorporate what you are learning in class and change it to be relevant for what the kids are learning. You can also give students the password and log in to the wiki so they can update it with different things they are thinking of or anything that can add to the lesson. This will get them involved in learning and actively engaged in the classroom.
     

VoiceThread

    I like the VoiceThread technology. It kind of reminded me of the digital story but it was a little less complicated. I think VoiceThread is an easy way of asking students a question and getting them to respond to you. It provides a different way of answering questions rather than sitting down, raising hands, waiting to be called on. I think if students themselves got involved in making VoiceThreads, they would have a lot of fun with it. They could comment on their friends VoiceThreads and have their friends comment on theirs. Of course, I think the teacher would always have to monitor these VoiceThreads to make sure no one is saying anything inappropriate on theirs or a friends. But if everyone behaved I think VoiceThread is a good piece of technology to incorporate into the classroom.

Thanksgiving!

     It is almost Thanksgiving break! Which means good food, good company, and no classes. I can't speak for everyone, but I definitely need this time off. I am so excited to go home and enjoy the holiday with my family. I need a break from the getting up early and massive piles of homework.
    This break will be the rejuvination I need to get through the last 2 weeks of the semester and finals. It's crazy how fast this semester went by! We're almost there. :)
    I hope you all have an amazing holiday with your friends and family. Remember to always be thankful for everything you have in life. Never take it for granted. Enjoy!

iMovie

      I really enjoyed making the iMovie. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I was really intimidated to start working on it, I thought it was going to be all technological and impossible to create. I'm glad it was a group project; certain things I wasn't sure of my group members could help me out with. This is definitely a great piece of technology to be used in the future classroom. You can put your students into groups and have them create their own iMovie. It can be integrated into almost any subject area. Our class integrated ours with Math, but it can also be integrated into Science, ELA, anything. I think students would really enjoy getting to tape each other as well. They could play director, actor, etc. It would be fun for them.

Technology vs. Hands on Learning in Classroom

     I recently read an article from the Classroom 2.0 website that debates the use of technology in the classroom. Our EDU315 class is based around the idea that technology should be integrated in the classroom and it is important that students get the use of technology, because we are entering the technological generation.
     The school that is discussed in the article is The Waldorf School of the Peninsula where their teaching philosphy is based on hands-on activities and learning through creative tasks. There are no computers, no screens, just simple pens and pencils and blackboards. Good old-fashioned learning.
    What is your opinion of this? Is no technology beneficial or hurtful for students? Are we too dependent on technology to do work for us? I just thought this was a really thought-provoking article. It raises many interesting questions that are worth discussing. Is there too much technology in our schools?

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/technology/at-waldorf-school-in-silicon-valley-technology-can-wait.html?_r=1

My Own Smartboard Project

    I really enjoyed working with the Smartboard for our project. I think we had a really fun lesson to do and it was a good learning experience. One day we may be using a Smartboard in our classroom and it is important to know how to use it and have a variety of lessons available. Smartboard can be used at any grade level in any classroom, I think kids would really enjoy getting the chance to go up and draw on it and drag things around. Getting them actively involved in the classroom will make them excited to learn and will help them remember the information more.
    It is also important to practice a lesson before you do it. Sometimes technology doesn't always work out for you and the smartboard kind of gave us some issues. It wouldn't always go to the next slide when we wanted it to which was kind of discouraging. You have to be ready to roll with the punches when working with technology because anything can happen and something can go wrong. And that is okay; you just have to do your best and keep a positive attitude. That will get you through anything.