Interactive White Boards

Reading this chapter made me think about the importance of having knowledgeable teachers using the interactive wipe boards in classrooms. One of the first things I took away from the chapter was how teachers needed to clearly understand how to use the IWBs in order to create a positive and productive learning environment for the students. It was informative to me to learn that training sessions for teachers were available through professional development and IWB companies. This will be important for me in the future as I integrate IWBs into my classroom. I will now know where I can find resources to learn about how to correctly integrate the technology into my classroom.

Another thing I found very interesting was the different aspects of the IWBs that proved most beneficial in classrooms. The tools that students could interact with such as highlighting, hiding/revealing text or images, getting feedback from activities via the IWB, and engaging with student response systems. These tools could be used for quizzes, games, or review sessions. One of the reasons I believe they are proven to be beneficial is because they allow the students to physically be engaged in learning. They are often using their bodies by getting up and moving things around with their fingers or a stylus. This physical activity goes beyond just listening to a teacher lecture about a subject, but allows the students to become involved in their own learning. This helps engage their minds and creates an environment that can support more gains in learning.

 

Digital Story Telling

It was interesting to read about different aspects of digital storytelling, and I think it will benefit me as I start to create my own digital story. One of the most beneficial things was to see the 7 elements of digital stories and compare them to the 10 elements of educational digital stories. I want to make my digital story as educational as possible so learning about these elements will help me create my story. I want to make sure I pay attention to the content of the story. It should be relevant to the age group I am teaching, and it would be even better if the story lined up with one of the state standards. Another thing to pay attention to in educational digital stories is grammar and clarity. The story should be professional and purposefully teach students about a topic. Bad grammar can be distracting and misguiding. Also if the story is not able to be clearly seen or heard by the students it will not be a productive learning tool. 

One thing that surprised me about digital stories was how long they have been around. I learned that Joe Lambert was one of the forerunners in creating digital stories and was using them in the early 1990s. It quickly developed into a great tool for teachers to use in classrooms, and it also became a way for students to learn by using their creative skills. Recently students have become more technologically motivated, and by using digital stories in classrooms teachers can make learning more fun and exciting.  

Teacher Blogs

http://mscassidysclass.edublogs.org/


There are many different styles of teaching blogs, but I really liked the way Ms. Cassidy set up her blog about her classroom. The students became individuals on her blog, and each on of her students had their own personal page. On these individual students' pages their work would be displayed. I thought this was a great way to let parents see what was going on in the classroom, and also document the progress made throughout the year. Parents can look back at all the work and see where their child started and where they finished at the end of the year.

I also really liked the main thread of her blog. It consisted of major topics or exciting days covered in class. This further got the parents involved and allowed them to see what was going on in the classroom. If I was a parent I would feel very involved in my child's education because of a blog like this, and I would be more likely to help in the classroom because the blog promotes a welcoming atmosphere. 

Getting parents involved in education is a wonderful tool that can help enhance the learning of students. I think the blog format of Ms. Cassidy's blog promotes this collaboration with parents and that is why I would be likely to use this format in my own classroom. 

Website Evaluation

This website focuses on reading, letters, and site word. There are also a few games involving Spanish. The games are organized by grade level (K-5).

www.ABCya.com 

This activity helped me learn what elements should be contained in a reliable educational website and showed me how to look for these elements. I learned that looking at the "about website" page on websites gives a lot of information that can be useful in evaluation. I also learned to look for which kind of plug-ins are needed and the importance of these plug-ins when using and navigating sites. It is important to learn about the credentials of the author to verify the reliability of the site.

Welcome to my blog

My name is Sarah Smith and I am senior working on graduating in May. My major is English with a concentration in creative writing, and I am minoring in elementary education. I am a part of the elementary education urban/multicultural cohort. I realized I wanted to become a teacher while working at a kids club one summer. I love being able to help children understand different concepts in the classroom and seeing them grasp new ideas. It is exciting to see the progress they make throughout the year, and I want to help build a solid foundation of education they can build on in their later learning experiences. 

One of the most enjoyable jobs I have had is working at a kids club during the school year and summer. During the summer months we provided the kids with fun activities and also taught various things about the state of Tennessee. During this time we would have themes such as bike and scooter day, water day, pajama day, and cooking day. I also substituted during the school year when I only had Monday, Wednesday, and Friday classes at UT. Also before attending UT I went to Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City where I did a kindergarten practicum at a Morristown elementary school.

During this class I would like to better understand how to appropriately use technology in my future classroom and discover new technology tools that will increase learning. I want to learn how to efficiently use technology in the classroom so I will be able to enhance and not hinder the learning environment. I hope the tools I learn in this class will be able to help me make learning fun for my students and introduce them to different ways of learning.