Tech Tool #2

Booksmart

Booksmart is one of my new favorite technology tools that I have found.Booksmart is a program that is used to create books of all kinds. The program canactually be downloaded from blurb.com and is absolutely free. The program is veryeasy to use with a nice layout and self explanatory tool symbols. Booksmart offersmany different templates for each book you can make. Possible books are photo books,text books, quote books, and others as well. Because Booksmart is connected withblurb.com there are online tutorials and how-to's when it comes to creating your book.They also have very helpful representatives if you have any questions.

I really love this tool because it gives students the opportunity to create their own
book. Many kids don't look forward to writing a book and drawing pictures themselves
and this is a good alternative. The layouts are easy to follow and children will have somuch fun making their book. What they won't realize is they are actually learningwhile having fun. This program has the opportunity to help children learn how to insertimages and move them around, change the size and perform other altering actions onthem. It will also help children have a good time writing a story or adding commentaryto different parts of their book. Books are ordered and shipped to you in hardback orsoftcover. I really like the options they have and they are very inexpensive as well. Ithink students will find this to be a very enjoyable learning experience and it can beused at home for the whole family to enjoy too.

Tech Tool #1

Podcasting

One great tool that I am learning to like a lot is podcasting. The tool is very easy
to use. Teachers can find various podcasts that teach the subject they are studying. Whenthey find the podcast they would like to use it can be downloaded to computers in theirclassroom. The actual podcast is an audio or visual media source that has information onwhatever the subject is. Podcasts are offered for many subjects including science,language arts, fine arts, social studies, and many other subjects. It is very easy todownload the program and have students learn from it. I think it is a very fun and cooltool that kids would like to learn from.

I plan to use podcasting in my classroom because I think students can benefit from
its use. Each child learns differently and I believe this may be a great way for students tolearn in a different way that is not offered with a teacher. I like that tutorials can beavailable to each child at home. Teachers can show their students how to access differentpodcasts that can help them study or do homework outside of school. I think podcastingin the classroom would be a great thing because students have the opportunity to learnfrom a source other than the teacher. But, when the podcast is over there is a teacher inthe classroom to answer any questions and clear up any confusion. I hope to becomemore familiar with podcasting and use it in my classroom whenever I can.

Google Sites

As I have continued to work on my final project stuff I have really liked building my google site. Pretending to be a teacher has been great fun.

Google sites is really awesome because it is free to have web pages that can be accessed by anyone. I like the easy navigation of the site and how it is set up. The options for layout are great and the tools easy to use. I really like the insert options for google sites because I can add an image, or the url for the picture. I can also insert a picture slide show from different web albums.

The different theme options help to make my site fun and personalized which is also great. I am also finding that I may want a personal website just for fun. I am almost done with my website and just need to work on my tools in technology page. This semester we have learned about so many tools I am not sure what to pick!

Google sites is pretty awesome and will be when I am a teacher. I think parents and students would be able to navigate the site very easily to get any information they need. I wish my teachers had a website so I could get extra info and they don't. So I plan to have a website as a teacher.

Microsoft Publisher

For my blog this week I want to talk about Microsoft Publisher. We were supposed to learn how to use this tool in class and didn't get the chance. I decided to try and use it for one of my assignments. As I opened it up the program was so helpful. It took me directly to a template chooser where I could decide what I was going to work on and how it should look. I had a lot of fun trying to find a cute template for my newsletter.

As I got started, I found that publisher was pretty simple to use. Of course I didn't play with all of the tools, but it has all the basics. I had a really great time moving text boxes around and inserting pictures. It was actually really enjoyable to create my newsletter.

I am not very familiar with Publisher, but I hope to use it for a few of my other assignments so I can become more familiar with it. Figuring out a new technology tool while pretending to be a teacher has been really fun. I can't wait until I actually have students so I can teach them about all of the fun technology tools they can use.

Workin on my final project

This week I worked on elements for my final project. Well, I guess all of the final assignments due at the end of class. There is plenty to do and I wasn't sure where to start. Luckily I have friends that knew exactly what we should work on first.

In class we worked on our class rules assignment. This is our one assignment we could do with someone else. I worked on it with Chelsey and Aubrey. Aubrey had come up with some rules that we could use for our own classroom. And I thought, hey that's easy! As I started creating my document I realized that some of the rules she had I didn't like very much. As I seriously thought about rules I may like in my classroom, it was kind of hard for me to think of them.

When I was a kid I didn't break the rules. I just kept to myself and did all my school work. I never really paid attention to what the rules were because I didn't need to. I thought about what might be a good class rule in elementary school and felt I came up with a pretty good list.

To check out my class rules go to my UEN page and click on final project. There you will find my 10 class rules.

Kidspiration

This week I played around with the tool called Kidspiration. I had no idea what it was or how it was to be used. After playing with it for about 5 minutes I fell absolutely in love with it! Now I wish I had it at home.

Kidspiration is a tool that lets you make activities on the computer for students to accomplish. Without knowing the system that part was kind of confusing. So I went to the activities portion of this tool first, just to get the hang of things. The first activity I clicked into was a word activity called beginning or end. I didn't want to get too confused so I figured out what everything on the tool bar did. I love that this program allows kids to create diagrams of all different kinds to accomplish whatever the task may be. I also love that the undo button is very prominent in case you make a mistake. Listen is a handy tool so you can hear the instructions and how to do the assignment, and a dictionary and thesaurus is always handy. So before I even looked at any activities I was very impressed.

There were a few activities I really loved that I want to highlight. (I'm sure I would have many more if I had more time to explore the tool.) The first one I loved is called Balanced Meal. In this activity kids have to drag pictures of different foods and put them in the right food group. Then they have to decide which ones could go together to make a healthy meal. The set up was darling and the whole thing very fun to do. The second one I thought would be very useful was called Branches of Government. There were phrases or names in boxes that students had to sort into the 3 branches of government. I always get confused about who is where in the government and this activity would help me remember a little bit better. Get Ready is another really fun activity. There are 5 kids that need to get ready for different events and it was my job to get them dressed correctly. Talk about fun! Paper dolls on the computer :) Another one I liked was called Basic Heredity. Students are asked to sort environmental traits from inherited traits . After they are sorted they g to the writing view and explain the choice they made for each symbol and why.

I found this tool very fun and helpful as well. I think many students would enjoy learning how to play on here. The biggest benefit is that children would be learning so much and think of it as play because of how the program is set up. Not only will they learn many different subjects and work on all skills, they will better their technology skills as well. I found the program to be very easy to navigate and control. I think students of all ages could use Kidspiration even at young ages. Children in K-3 might need a teachers or parents help and the older kids could do it all on their own.

It may be hard to have Kidspiration in the classroom because I think students would want to play on it all the time. Most classrooms don't have enough computers for each student to use at the same time. There would be draw backs such as each child couldn't get enough time on the computer to accomplish an assignment in expected time. Homework with Kidspiration would also be difficult for those children without a computer at home. These obstacles can be solved, I'm sure. Maybe Kidspiration could be used just once a week in the school computer lab. Each child would have that time to complete an activity and get to know the program.

I think Kidspiration could be a wonderful tool for each student to be familiar with. I would love to have it in my school's computer lab someday. I need to be more familiar with the program before I teach students so I hope to have enough time to do that. Overall, I love Kidspiration and plan to use it in the future!

Powerpoint and Presentations

This week we got to present the powerpoint activities we created as a group. I had a really fun time working with the other girls doing activities.Presenting these proved to be a challenge at first. We were kind of frazzled and unorganized with our first presentation. We hadn't gotten together to figure out what we were going to say and how to do it. So we kind of flopped.

The second presentation however went really well. We were all on the same page and organized. Our presentation made sense, and flowed really well. We ended up doing really well and everyone could understand what we were talking about.

Some of our girls didn't dress up for the presentation and it really hurt their grade. I felt bad, but realized how important it is to be responsible and remember what is due for class.

I think presentations in the classroom are good, but should not be expected until 4th or 5th grade. At that age I think they can handle it with reminders from their parents and practice. I hope to teach my students the art of presenting. What is expected and how it should be done. This week was a wake up call that practice is necessary and students need to learn how to present. I'm glad we did activities that are not necessarily presentations and learned how to present them. This week was a great learning experience.

Powerpoint Activities

This week in our class we talked about using powerpoint for other activities. I guess I didn't realize how many things you can do with powerpoint instead of a presentation. We split up into groups to create two activities that could be used in the classroom. Our first choice was a comic strip which is so fun. Doing an activity like this gives kids creativity to express themselves in a good way that they can share with others. For our second activity we decided to come up with New Years resolutions as if we were children. The activity was very simple and easy so it would be great for use in the classroom. Creating a slide about their resolutions is awesome because they really have to think about what they want to be better at and once their goals are on paper or a slide, they are more determined to actually do it. My group and I had a really great time. Working together helped us get to know each other a lot better. It was fun to work together to solve problems along the way. Overall the activity for this week was so much fun. We had a blast getting to know one another and bettering our powerpoint skills.

I plan to use activities like this in my own classroom because every student can benefit from it. Normally I don't do well working in groups but this time it was different. I had a really fun time working with other girls and learned to work better in groups. Each child would learn a new powerpoint skill and application while bettering their social skills. Powerpoint activities can be a fun project for any one no matter what age or grade they may be in.

Digital Cameras

My 5 favorite idea for using a digital camera in the classroom

1. Take photos to create a yearbook as a class
2. Take photos of problem areas in the classroom and have students brainstorm
ideas of how to fix them
3. Take photos of extended family members and make a family tree.
4. Take photos to create a seating chart.
5. Take photos to create photo vocabulary cards for ESL students.

As we have continued to learn about digital cameras in the classroom I am loving them even more. I didn't think about how many different ways a camera could be used in class. The above are my five favorite ways and this is why.

1. Using a camera to creat a class yearbook is a great way for students to socialize. When they have to work with other students using the camera and editing pictures they learn teamworking skills that are very important. They also learn how to use different programs that have page layouts for use in a yearbook. They can learn vital skills in writing and editing when working on pages to be put in a book.

2. As an intern I have been in many classrooms that have been unorganized or messy. Teachers have so much to accomplish each day and I am sure fixing the problem area in the classroom is in the back of their mind, but the last thing on their to do list. Having students take a picture of that area is great because it helps the children become familiar with their surroundings initially and will make them aware of the need to be more observant daily. Once they have taken the pictures they can brainstorm different ideas of how to fix the problem and make the classroom a better place. I think I could also incorporate a lesson on environment with this activity. We could learn about how different components in an environment affect the organisms inhabiting it.

3. Learning national history is important, but learning individual history and heritage should be just as important. Each student needs to learn of their own heritage. Where there family came from, why they ended up where they did, who they were, and what qualities those people possessed. Many students would find this information interesting and want to relate it to who they are and how they are different from their relatives. Taking pictures of immediate family and extended family still living could be a great visual way of organizing the basic information students would need to continue their education concerning personal history. Students could have a great time taking pictures and collecting stories from living family members and then organize all of that information into one big family tree.

4. When school starts each year I will get 30 new children in my class. I will have 30 new names and faces to learn and that could be difficult. Usually students are alright if you don't know their name the first week of school, but usually want you to know it by the second week. Students don't only want me to know who they are, but other students as well. On the first or second day of school I would love to have my students use digital cameras. I would like to pair them up and have them take a picture of their partner. They can learn a little bit about them and have at least one friend in the class. Then I would use those pictures to create a seating chart and name tags for each desk as well. If I look at their name and face each day I am sure I can learn names faster. They can also learn each others names and have a good time doing it.

5. I can't imagine being a spanish speaking child in a classroom full of english speaking students. I would be so nervous, confused, and scared to be there. As a teacher I want to help those students transition into school a little bit better and help them learn english as effectively and quickly as possible. The first thing I think I can do is to get other students involved. I don't want the spanish speaking student to feel out of place or like the other children don't like them. I want to get the other students to take pictures of everyday things they use or like. As a class we can take those pictures and make them into vocabulary flashcards to help the new student become familiar with everyday objects.

Digital cameras can be very useful in the classroom and I plan to incorporate them into mine. I love the article we read with 100 ways to use them and hope to use as many as I possibly can.

Digital Snapshot Response As presented by this article, there are many positive things to using digital cameras in the classroom. The more obvious benefits that I thought of right away were: kids learn how to use a camera, they can become proficient in photo editing programs, and have a great time. But, this article pointed out the many positive ways camera use can enhance curriculum learning. The author told about how the children would use their cameras during an experience such as an educational field trip. When they returned to school each child would upload their pictures and start to add captions about what was going on in the picture. Doing this helped stimulate the childs creative thinking and helped them apply thoughts and change it into words on paper. Going through this process helped students engage in writing and actually enjoy it. Also, students would automatically be so engaged in the subject that they wanted to discuss their thoughts with other children. This aspect is helping students not only learn something, but gives them the opportunity to teach it to someone else and really learn the information. Children are suddenly growing academically and socially. The author also discussed how fun digital cameras were for the students. They loved taking pictures and uploading them. They suddenly had the power to change their pictures so they were exactly as they wanted them. Students were very advanced in their thinking and figured out how to do as much with a picture as they could. Soon children in kindergarten were making slide shows that could pass for a junior high school student's work. When the year was over and slide shows were presented to each parent, they were amazed. Each child had learned so much that year and learned how to apply their knowledge in many different ways. The positive feedback from parents helped encourage the students to do better and continue to succeed in school. Although there are many benefits to using digital cameras and computers in the classroom, teachers found many obstacles and problems with them too. Finding a spot to put computers in a classroom was one of the biggest issues. If they are in a predominant area of the classroom each student can be monitored sufficiently, but other students get distracted. They found that having the computers where they could be seen all the time just made concentration for students working on other assignments even harder. Another obstacle faced was that of monitoring the time each student used on the computer and making sure they were using it appropriately. With one teacher in a classroom, it could be nearly impossible to watch those students on computers and all the others. The last problem I would like to mention is that of equal time when it comes to cameras and computers. Some students could be very familiar with digital cameras and using the computer. I'm sure those students would love to be on the computer and taking pictures constantly. The goal with using cameras and computers though is to get all students involved so they can all benefit from the activity. If teachers can figure out how to solve issue one and two then issue three may be easier to deal with. Those children less familiar with cameras and computers could get the help from the teacher as needed and not be the center of attention in the classroom. Balancing the time between students may be difficult, but could be easier with a time limit for each student. With any kind of system in place the third problem could be fixed quite easily. Overall there are many positives and a few negatives to using digital cameras and computers. If teachers are willing to work through the challenges and find what works for their classroom the results could be very rewarding. After reading this article I plan to use cameras in my classroom. I have interned in a class where cameras were used as an extra activity to reward a small group of students for good work. But I believe cameras should be used regularly to benefit every child. I loved going out in with my own classmates and finding pictures this week. We went out and applied ourselves to the real world and it was pretty fun. I also got to know the two girls I was working with. I experienced my own positive results from a one day activity. I would love to use cameras in my classroom as the author of the article did. I want to be able to teach my students how to use a camera and altering programs. I think if I can teach a subject and have students use a camera to show me what they learned that would be awesome. For example, if we learn about physical exercise and how to keep our bodies healthy, I would want my students to take pictures pertaining to what they learned, add captions, and put it in a slide show to teach the rest of the class. With this kind of assignment the students are evaluating what they learned, teaching others from their perspective, and having fun while being social. I hope to get around any obstacles I may face and really incorporate cameras into my classroom.

Powerpoint

This week we have been learning powerpoint. I have actually used powerpoint many times in the past and thought I was very familiar with it, but I was wrong. Going over it in class this week I have discovered many fun things. I love putting music on it and I also found hyperlinking to be very useful, especially if you need something online for your presentation. Powerpoint is a clean, organized, and great way to put presentations together.

Students could benefit from using this in elementary school. Most of them will have to use it in high school and becoming familiar with it at a young age will help them be successful in later classes. I think students will have so much fun playing around creating slides. They can pick the layout and different colors to make it their's. I think they will also have a blast learning how to add photos and do these presentations on their own. Students will be learning technology and making their skills better while having fun. I want to teach my students powerpoint to make presentation assignments much easier for them. I plan to incourporate it into my classroom in the future. Powerpoint is great!

Internet Safety

This week in our class we have been learning about evaluating websites and learning internet safety. I guess I never really thought about how important those two things really are until we started focusing on them.

When we started on the webquest activity I realized that I need to teach the same information to my students. The internet is a wonderful tool, but it can be dangerous. I plan to teach my students how to evaluate a website so they know what information is good or bad. They need to know how to evaluate in depth and ask themselves questions like: What is the purpose of this website? Is the author credible? When was this written or last updated? Are there sources? With this information they can decide what is appropriate to use for research and report purposes.

It is also important to teach children to be safe using the internet. I hope to use the internet safety activity that I created for my UEN website in my classroom someday. I think students can learn a lot from those activities and they will enjoy them too.

UEN Reflection

Libby Tenney
Edel 2200-01
UEN Reflection

When I first started on UEN I was very overwhelmed and felt it was too much for me to use let alone my students. I was very skeptical of the different databases that could be used and if they would really be useful. After playing around for a few hours I realized how great the many tools are, and how much is available to not only teachers, but students as well.
I loved going through and finding lesson plans and ideas for interactive ways of learning. One of my greatest fears in teaching is that I won’t find something that will engage my students in the subject they are learning. I don’t want to plan a lesson that is boring or totally wrong for what the students should be learning. I found the core curriculum to be very helpful because it spells out exactly what is expected of each student and then the website gives helps to teachers for accomplishing those goals given by the state. When I have my own classroom I will definitely be using the lesson plans and helps found on the UEN website.
When it comes to using the UEN resources in my classroom for my students, I will probably use the Pioneer Online Library the most. There is so much in all of the different databases for students to use when researching and exploring different topics. I would love to teach my students how to research, even if it’s just a little bit. Fifth graders don’t really need the researching skills high school students need, but introducing them to research will only better their skills when they are a little bit older.
I loved using the eMedia library! I had no idea there was anything like that out there for teachers to use. I really want to use this in my classroom for class presentations. I can have students research a topic to present to the class and maybe they can use the movie clips found in the eMedia library to actually show the class what they learned. I loved that there was so much out there that is new and updated. Students could actually enjoy learning core curriculum material through these film clips because they aren’t outdated and boring.
Overall, I think UEN is a great website and a wonderful tool for students and teachers. Hopefully over the next few years that I am still in school I can get familiar enough with their programs to be comfortable enough to teach it someday. I love that I have access to all of these great resources, they will help me become a better teacher for my students before I even step into a classroom.

Microsoft Word

When we started learning about Microsoft Word in class this week I thought I knew everything there was to know about the program. Until I found out how much the program had changed from an older version to the current version.

I had so much fun playing around in that program this week, I immediately wanted it. Right now my mac at home doesn't have Microsoft Office and I was pretty sad about it. I even tried to convince my husband to purchase it for me :)

Playing around on the new Microsoft Word made me realize how useful it is for students. I love all of the features in Word that can help make a paper great. Students could easily learn to use it and be competent very quickly. If each classroom had Microsoft Word students would learn about writing and do it well earlier in life. I think most adults and college students don't enjoy writing academically. We aren't sure of how to set up our papers and what tools there are to make the process even easier. But, Microsoft Word has made things so easy for us. I would love to have some computers in my classroom so students can take turns becoming familiar with Word. The writing experience would be much easier and give students an independence when it comes to writing.

Most fifth graders I know, have to have their parents type up papers and projects. The only problem is, most of their parents don't understand the program they have. With Microsoft Word in the classroom students can prepare for future classes, learn how to write academically, and become literate in a computer program. I think someday we won't be writing letters or using whiteboard or even paper in the classroom. Technology is so advanced now and getting better everyday. Teaching Microsoft Word in the classroom will only help benefit the children of today and open the way for complete technological communication in the future. I plan to teach my students how to utilize the technology that is so easily accessible so that they can be the ones changing the world for a better tomorrow.

Blogs Rock!

Before I even started this class I loved to Blog. For me and my family it is a way to stay in touch and keep up on everyone's lives even though we don't have time to see each other. But, I didn't realize that blogging could be a great use in the classroom.

I want to teach 5th grade and most parents might freak out if a teacher asked their child to get a blogger account, but I think it would be a great tool. Blogging is a form of journal writing in my mind. Whether you like to write poetry, songs, a play-by-play of your day, or to just cover big events in your life, it is a wonderful thing.

Most teachers have children write a journal entry or do some form of writing in class each day that takes about thirty minutes. I think blogging could be the new form of that in class writing, to be done at home. I know that whenever I was an intern in a classroom, teachers always wanted more time for one subject or another. If we took that simple writing time out of the classroom, teachers could have more time for other things.

Also, another great point could be made with having students do a daily journal entry at home. When I was a kid, I didn't realize that writing was important and needed to be used outside of the classroom. I learned to enjoy writing and keeping a journal of sorts when I was in high school. I think that if we have kids blogging at home they will learn to apply writing and what they are learning in school to their own lives much faster.

Although parents may be skeptical there are other positive things about blogger that I haven't mentioned yet. Blogger is a secure site, students can all have their pages available to the teacher and fellow students only. Using this internet site can help children become more familiar with using different tools on the internet. The way fonts, color, and bullets are used in this program are similar to many word processing programs that kids will have to use to write papers.

Each child could benefit from blogging in accordance with their classes. Blogger is a great way for children to learn more about computers and how they work, to apply writing to their own lives, and to have fun while doing school work and learning. In the future, I hope to be able to incorporate some sort of blogging into my own classroom.

This is my first test blog just so you can see it. Hope you can see it this time.