Week One

• What did you learn this week that you will use immediately in your classroom? 

I really enjoyed the video post made by college students detailing how the 'classroom' has changed in just a short time and how it will continue to evolve ever so quickly.  Even with 6 children of my own, all of whom own cell phones and live on them, I never looked at the impact these devices (as well as computers) have on the lives of students today.  If we are going to reach these students, we are going to have to take into account how they think, what is captivating their attention, and how we can make those things work in our classrooms.

• What steps will you take to implement this in your classroom? 

One of the things I would like to do is to research apps and software that I could use to keep the students intrigued.  My son-in-law is teaching math in a public school, so I want to collaborate with him to see what types of technology they may be using that heightens students' engagement.

• What challenge(s) will you face when using this in your classroom? 

I teach at a small private school where resources are scarce, so even if I can find some great programs to use in my classroom, we do not have computers and our students are not allowed to use their phones during school.

• What will you do to overcome the challenge(s)?

In my research, I will try to find free or inexpensive apps that may be used OUTSIDE of class.  This could be supplemental tools that may help my students enjoy math more and/or aid in their understanding of material.

• TECH EXPLORATION 1 - wiki - PBWorks

• Describe what you learned from exploring this resource.  Be thorough in your response.

  My initial response to PBWorks was one of great interest.  From the front page, it appeared to be a free site that includes the ability to share information with your students, parents, as well as use as a collaborative site.  However, after setting up a free account, I realized it was not necessarily very intuitive and the time it may take to learn how to use it, may not offset its use.

  How could you use this resource in a school setting?  It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.

  If I took the time to get through the learning curve, this resource could be very useful in sharing information with my students and their parents.  It could also be very useful for students to use to share information among themselves, ask questions, etc.  It could be used to post videos, helpful links of other resources, and post assignments.

  Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth.  Why or Why not?

  Not having used it yet, I am not sure if I would recommend it.  The theory and the potential is very enticing, however, the learning curve to effectively utilize it may outweigh its options.  I have not looked at the ‘paid’ version – so it may be easier to use.  The free version, however, is not necessarily intuitive.

      TUMBLEBOOKS
  

  1.	Describe what you learned from exploring this resource.  Be thorough in your response.
  	It appears that this site offers ebooks for all ages as well as audio books.  They offer interactive picture books and read alongs.
  2.	How could you use this resource in a school setting?  It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.
  	This would be a wonderful tool to use to get children to enjoy and begin to love what books have to offer.  It also offers the audio books which could be very useful in a special ed class where reading is problematic.
  3.	Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth.  Why or Why not?
  	I tried to do a free trial and never got a password.  The cost is very prohibitive – especially for a smaller school.  I would recommend it to public schools where the cost per school is greatly reduced because so many people could use it.

• AudioBoo

  1.	Describe what you learned from exploring this resource.  Be thorough in your response.
  	This website allows you to audio record yourself.  It also offers other records (books, etc) that you can purchase or listen to.  It is tied into Twitter – so that you can automatically ‘tweet’ any recording you make if you desire.
  2.	How could you use this resource in a school setting?  It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.
  	This is a great resource to have if you need to audio record lessons for your class or maybe do a read-aloud.  I think children would love to have themselves recorded to listen to their own fluency in reading.
  3.	Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth.  Why or Why not?
  	Yes.  This was easy to login to and it appeared to be very easy to record.  I liked how it could automatically link to Twitter.  You can also use it to upload audios.

 

• www.liberty.k12.mo.us/~elanghorst/ was not in existence and I could not find it on the Liberty website.