After Tools

Tools Reflection
1) What are your favorite tools you now have in your personal technology toolbox? I'm excited about the iTouch apps we will be discovering and using in the classrooms to reinforce and extend student learning. I think Google Docs will be very helpful for staff collaboration and organization of information. Skype can open the world for our students, parents, and us. Photo Story is an easy and fun way to share information. Image generators and mash ups are really cool accessories, that can provide beginning skill practice and repetition necessary to build fluency and comprehension
2 ) How have you transformed your thinking about the learning that will take place in your classroom? Since I am exploring storytelling this coming year, digital storytelling was of high interest to me. I hope to have my class create a story on the computer using their own illustrations and/or photos. Having them hear their own voices will be exciting to them I think
3) Were there any unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I was shocked at how long this project took. I am not alone in this feeling because many and I want to emphasize many of my colleagues felt the same. I know this from all the phone calls I received over the summer. Also I had the privilege to work at another school this summer where the teachers there had also taken on this project. EVERYDAY those teachers were venting on the amount of time it was taking and how the lack of instruction given to us made it even more complicated.

Please do not mis-understand I am only stating the truth in how most of us feel.

Now with all that being said, I do feel it is beneficial to all of us but I feel it should have been done in a classroom setting. As teachers WE never give homework to students unless the assignment assigned has already been taught. This assignment was given to us with absolutely no instruction before the assignment. It was the little things that made it difficult. If we had just had someone to guide us or a facilitator on hand, it would have been met with much more acceptance.

Many of us sat in front of the computer for HOURS once again neglecting our families and responsibilities of the summer. As educators we give so much of our time to our schools and students during the school yr. and neglecting our families is something that happens MUCH to often. So during our summer, it should never happen.But it did over and over this summer I heard this same thing from many of my colleagues. Not only did I hear this from women and men with children at home but I heard it from teachers that do not have children.

Do I believe that this assignment was necessary?? Yes I do, but it should not have been assigned during the summer. We could have still received our new itouch and computers in the fall without all of this. How?? Give us 3 or 4 tools a month to complete. The tools could be introduced in a faculty meeting and presented to the teachers at that time. With the knowledge given to us in a meeting or class, it would have been much easier and completed much faster, without the struggles that many of us had this summer. By mid October we could have had this all completed.

So before you think I have a bad attitude, really I don't. I am just the one brave enough to really state how I really feel about this.

I love what I do. I love that we have done this, I just do not believe it was fair in the way we had to do it. I understand I am getting 9 hours credit for this. That is so funny because that was just a fraction of the time I spent on it.

Tool # 11

There are three things that I would like to make sure our students comprehend about being a good digital citizen. These things are safety, etiquette,responsibility, and communications/cyberbullying. I will use the Brainpop videos to teach our students about digital citizenship. I would also demonstrate how to verify the sources. The students would could creaate a presentation to share with the class. The students could use digital storytelling, image generators, or mashups for their projects. Digital citizenship is something that I plan to teach at the beginning of the year and revisit frequently throughout the year.

Tool # 10

I went to a district training to learn how to use the iPod. There were a few Thornwood people there. We will be getting 5 iPods for our classrooms so I can have 5 students work on the same assignment by syncing it to the iPods. We received a list of free apps which have been collected and listed by subject areas which will be helpful.

USA Factbook. We can use this app to learn the state capital, state natural resources and state symbols.

Hear Planet. We can actually go visiting the nation's landmarks like the White House, Statue of Liberty, Liberty Bell, Mount Rushmore, Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial.

The students will be using the iTouch and iPad applications like Hangman, Google Earth learning content in such an entertaining manner they won't even feel they are at school. They will love it!

Tool #9

Jing enables students to add visuals to their conversations on the Internet. They save and retrieve their pictures by accessing their desktop or any other program with storage space.

Skype is away for individuals to communicate to one another via internet. My students would enjoy this tool.

Tool #8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTQZAiuDoTg

Actual footage is always going captivate the students and soak them into the subject being discussed. YouTube enable this to take place. This always great for those visual learners, as well as auditory learners. I plan to definitely integrate this type of technology into my curriculum.

Tool # 7

Photo story was interesting and a lot of fun. I am already thinking of all the various ways to incorporate this skill into my classroom for next year.

I think it would be awesome to have students take pictures of different stages in a life cycle and then upload them onto photo story with an illustration.

Also, photo story would be great for the school years memories.

Tool # 6

Wikis is great for students as as educators. Its a great site for collaborating with others.
This will be a great tool for parents so they can get insight on what the students will be learning.