My Classroom Website

My website is complete! Surprisingly, It didn't take me as long as I thought and was very easy! This is such a great way to communicate with the parents and guardians in your classroom!
My website contains a homepage, a brief teacher bio, a classroom blog, our breif overview of our daily schedule, different resources for students and parents/guardians, and some examples of the different technology projects I have complete over the course of this class. Enjoy

You can see my Website here!

Classroom Blog

Embedded into my website will not only be a link this blog, BUT there will also be a link to a Classroom Blog I have created. Nowadays, everyone is so busy and always has a million things going on. This Classroom Blog will provide an around the clock way to stay connected with everything on in the classroom. I will make weekly postings covering that has happened in the past week as well as highlights of the next week. I will also post any assignments the class has. Parents/Guardians and Students will be allow to comment and ask questions at any time. I will check the blog periodically during the week to provide feedback.
You can check out the beginnings of my Classroom Blog here!

The makings of a website

I have been working on my website for the past day or so. I am surprised how simple of a process it has been! Using Google sites has be a pleasure! Everything is very straightforward and simple to navigate. Heres a look at my homepage! my homepage will give viewers a basic summary of everything I have within the site. One thing I have learned, its the simpler the better. So many websites on the Web are cluttered with ads and useless information. My goal is to create a website that is user friendly. My target audience is going to be parents/guardians and students. Google Sites is great for helping organize all the information you want to put it your website with the viewers in mind.

The Wonders of Google!

I have always been a fan of Google. Thinking back on my experience with Google throughout my technology class, I realized Goggle is all powerful. You can do almost anything on Google. How could I have not known about all these things before?!
What can you do on Google?

You can:
- search the Web.
- personalize your searches.
- instant message.
- create an email. [which then opens up so many technological goodies]
- upload pictures.
- create slideshows and presentations. [which can then be shared with anyone around the world]
- create a calendar that can also be shared with anyone. Through this calender you can then make changes that will automatically appear on your calendar as well as wherever else it might be.
- upload documents and videos that can be shared with anyone.
- link blogs
- create a website! yup, a website. You can make this happen by going to google.com/sites.
- and so much more!

If you haven't already had the opportunity, explore google! Its fabulous, and so compatible with other stuff on the Web!

Webquests revisited.

Here is the Webquest I created. This webquest is a little different then some of the ones that you can see at questgarden.com. I created this Webquest in a Word document, this made it so easy to reuse for other subjects and lessons! I surfed the web, found some great sites to help guide the students through their learning. This is a great way to get all the students using the computer, covering a wide range of information, and having fun!

A fun extension with this webquest is to have the student make trading cards. You can use business cards templates provided with more Microsoft Office packages, or similar. This is a great way for students to showcase their creativity and information they have learned throughout the webquest!

Assessment made easy!

All of the information I have learned in my technology class over this past semester has been SO helpful, not just in my technology class, but in all my other classses as well! Technology has shown me how with a few clicks or a mouse, or a few key strokes I can accomodate and modify different aspects of my lessons for all my students. This is key when it comes to assesment. Assessment is always something I have struggled with, and it tends to be the most important. However, using technology to help create an assesment is so helpful and takes some of the stress off!

If you have a wide range of learners, or children with special needs in your classroom, using Excel for spreadsheets and quizzes can really help! Using inspiration to create concept webs, and other graphic organizers is also a great summative asses that can cater to the different needs of the students.

Classroom Website!

Here it comes. All the different projects I have created in my technology class are all coming together. For our final project, we are getting the chance to create a classroom website. However, since I do not have a classroom yet, this could be a little difficult. I am really excited to have the chance to make a website that I will be able to use in my furture classroom.

Classroom websites are a great way everyone to stay connected and in the loop.A classroom website can serve so many different fuctions! This website will allow me, as a teacher, to showcase what I have done and where I plan to go, both professionally and with my students. Parents and students can check assignments when they are sick, or if they forgot to write something down during class. This site is also a great way to communciate with all the parents in my classroom. Everyone is so busy with everything they have going on these days, a classroom webiste with a classroom blog is a great way to have the lines of communication always open.

The website I am going to design will contain: a homepage, teacher bio, resources, some of my prejects over the past year, and a page of my choice. The page of your choice is a great place to put a class calender, allowing parents/guardians to know whats going on in the classroom, or a classroom supply list.

Movies in the Classroom!

This past week in my technology class we were working with multimedia presentations. I created a digital story, using iMovie, on the history of Baltimore. Creating movies, stories, etc is great idea for the classroom! After creating my video, I couldn't help but think of all the other ways this could be embedded in the curriculum. Using a multimedia presentation can appeal to any subject, Language Arts, Science, Math etc. This is such a great way to engage the students, have them curious, motivated, and excited to learn, no matter what you are teaching.

However, you need to understand technology and how everything works. At the beginning of this project, I was a little confused and didn't quite understand how I was going to have all my information come together in a movie! I decided to use iMovie. I uploaded all my pictures into a new project, and could add titles, sounds, anything I wanted with the click of button! It was great! I did have some trouble figuring out how to add these things at first. I used the iMovie Help feature. I was weary at first, since some programs "Help" feature isn't very helpful at all. But, iMovie provided pictures and step by step instructions for anything I had trouble with. Once I reviewed the "Help" the rest of the movie was a piece of cake! It was as simple as click and drag to the photo you were working on. Once you were finished, click the play button and voila! a movie is made!

Teacher and Teacher in-training: This can be a great form of alternative assessment! Or as a review at the end of a unit!

spreadsheets!

Okay so, I have always had a fear of Excel. So when my technology teacher said we were going to be working with spreadsheets I was a scared. NOW, spreadsheets are easy! Once I was able to understand the relationships between the cells and the how to simple it was to use formulas, the rest was a piece of cake! I made a vocabulary review for first graders who are working with rhyming and forming compound words. This type of worksheet didn't take me very long to create and can be used for some many different subjects! Great tool to use in the classroom!

The Water Cycle!

In my technology class, I have had the opportunity to use the program Kidspiration. Before I started creating my concept web, I browsed through the sit a little. I found some great examples and ideas for teaching! This would be a great source to have students create and make interactive games and activities to help get the students excited, interested about whatever they are learning. I would definitely recommend this sit or its partner site, Inspiration, for older students. This is very easy to navigate for teachers, students, and parents. The only problem I encountered was attempting to use "notes" on my web. I am using a Mac laptop, and for some reason I could not get the "notes" to pop up on my web. However, I believe this could just be a problem with my computer and not the program.
I choose to create a basic concept web of The Water Cycles for fourth graders. I had a great time making it, Enjoy!

Pictures!

This past week in my technology class we have been learning all about digital images! I have learned, how to take them, format them, send them, post them and so much more! One thing I learned- screen captures. I wish I had known about screen captures before! Last year I took a Special Education class that required us to attach a classroom layout to a lesson plan and submit it digitally. This seemed easy. I was wrong. The found an amazing website to us! However, this website did not allow you to copy the and move the layout. The layout could only be transported by printing or using the same computer every time. If i knew about screen captures - this would have been a piece of cake!
How do you do this one might ask? Its quick and simple, just three key strokes!

On Macs, hold down command + shift + 3. That will give you the whole screen. But if you only want a certain section on the screen then replace the 3 and 4 and the cross hairs will be available for you to crop away!

"crap happens"

Technology is great! I would be lost if I didn't have my phone on me 24/7 or internet access virtually anywhere. Most of time I love technology, however when using technology, especially in the classroom, there are going to be complications and frustrations. When a problem arises, the best thing to do is stay calm- DONT FREAK OUT! Then you risk having your students freak out, and if you are planning to work with younger children, this will be chaos! Even when frustrations and problems arise with technology, there is always something to be learned! Of course, problems always seem to happen at the worst possible times. This is now the perfect time to have a mini-lesson, try and work through the problem together, as a class. A lot of times, the students tend to be more of an expert on technology then the teacher. This is a great way to keep the students engaged and continue learning.

In the past couple weeks, I have been working on a wiki with other members in the Deaf Education/Interpreting fields. There are so many different things that do into making a wiki, there is bound to complications. I remember starting out and having trouble formatting pictures, and attaching link to parts of the text. One thing I learned is never delete anything and have back files! I can't stress enough how important it is to back up all your work.

So, in the words of Amy, my technology teacher, "crap happens". This statement couldn't be closer to the truth. When a complication occurs, take a deep breath and think of the best solution to benefit everyone. Sometimes the solution will be as simple as clicking a few extra buttons, or changing the format. Other times, the solution will be more complicated and you will have the call in the experts. No matter what this situation - ALWAYS back up your work, you will be grateful later.

WebQuests!

Throughout my technology class I have had the experience of learning about WebQuests. Before taking this class, I had no idea what a WebQuest even was! WebQuests are a great way to get students involved in their education- awesome for student discovery learning! Technology is becoming so ingrained in our lives these days, this is the perfect solution to incorporate so many different computer skills into our education.

The best way I have found to understand WebQuests the best is to actually go through some examples yourself. www.questgarden.com is a great site to preview an many quests as you want, free of charge. I eventually want to teach Deaf/Special Education. A Webquest I found for highschool students was "American SL Idol". In this WebQuest, like others, students are provided with websites and information to aid in completing their "task". In this case, create a music video using American Sign Language.

After reviewing multiple WebQuests, I had the opportunity to create my own! I focused my Webquest on elementary level students. I have the student learning numbers 1-10, the different letter signs in the alphabet,and then moving into signing their own names as well as introducing themselves to others, and asking for other students names. Not only is this great for improving students' technology skills, but the teachers as well!

I had just gotten off the phone with one of my best friends in Baltimore, and this is the 3rd consecutive day all schools have been closed due to snow. I couldn't help but think, now that I am going to be a teacher, how much re-planning and work has to go in to rearranging lessons and units to fit everything in and make up for the missed days of school. Now that we have access to so many different kinds of technology, there has to be something we can do. I'm sure the parents are ready for the kids to go back. Once the excitement of a snow day wears off and children are stuck in their homes not able to go anywhere, they are also ready to go back. Why not take this time to try to put technology to great use?

I came across a tweet from TeachPaperless:

Running snow-day student meetings viahttp://www.wiziq.com ; Very smooth interface, I'm impressed.about 2 hours ago from web
I thought this was such a great idea! You can use technology and still get lessons, worksheets, research, extra practice, etc. to your students and have them working on the material during the days they can't be in school. This way when everyone finally gets back to school, the students will still have the information fresh and ready to move forward. I think this is a great way to cut down on the time spent back tracking and reviewing material from before their snow vacation. Any teacher who would see this post can go check it out for themselves, knowing that everything should work smoothly and the site is easy to use for both students and teachers.

My First Post!

I am learning so many different uses for technology in my TPTE 486 class! I am still getting used to twitter but I am slowly getting better and developing my PLN. I have found a couple very helpful people and organizations and I hope it only gets better!

I came across a tweet from digitalnative about using devices, such as, ipods and cell phones as educational tools. Technology like this in the classroom is a great way to get students more involved in their own learning! We would simply be taking the same technology devices children are using in their daily lives and use it to enhance their education. I thought this was a great idea! I am so used to hearing the negative aspects of ipods and cell phones in school. This made me think of the phrase " if you can't beat em, join em". Why not let the children use their ipods and cell phones to supplement their learning?

I think this kind of technology can be very helpful in teaching deaf children. Technology can be used to help students practice both signing and voice skills, as well as, allowing for more individual instruction. Instead of spending all the time and energy trying to keep the students from using the cell phones and ipods for personal use, spend the same time and energy and find fun, new and creative educational activities. However, it will be a difficult task to monitoring all the students and keeping them on task.

Definitely something to think about!