reflections

My favorite tool is skype. I was just amazed that technology allows us to enter another classroom and share lessons. Science is such an active and ever changing topic, there is always more to leran. Whether it be to sky pe with-in our district or skype across stated, students will love to be actively engaged in learning. We plan to skype with another fifth grade class this year to teach a lesson. I thought the wiki was fun too. Great vocab experience

Technology is on a fast track. The students have been using computers since they were in kindergarten so it is imperative they we keep them engaged in a computer/technology rich classroom. It made me realize that computers can reach every level student: from ESL to the GT. There are so many resourceful applications on every subject at every level. The greatest thing is all of the information is totally up to date. Nothing is out dated like textbooks. Research shows students interest is best kept when they are acitively engaged in their learning. This gives them ownership in their learning.

There were not really any unexpected outcomes for me. There was a lot of information to learn . I am a visual hands-on learner so I will feel much more comfprtable when I can actually apply what i have learned. The photo shop was by far the most difficult for me. I am looking forward to this new learning curve. I am confident these 11 Tools can help me accomplish that. Very useful

tool 9- SKYPE

We skype in our fifth grade science class. , If a teacher is absent, we use skype to include her. We have contacted other schools that teach science to trade lessons. The kids love to see the other classrooms interacting. SKYP E became a very important part of our team this year. We had a teacher out on leave. We were able to include her in conferences. The parents could see her facial expressions and hear her voice . It is the best tool yet!. If a student is  absent, we could have them right in the classroom with us. Another possibility is to connect with  science labs and do interacting experiments. The possibilities are endless. It is a "live " classroom in action. It is a window into another classroom or student's environment My favorite by far

tool 11

Digital citizenship is an imperative part of our classroom resposibility. The computer world opens up areas that students should not be exposed to.
Three important rules of citizenship are:
1. Students should always be monitored and supervised. Although most web sites are filtered, we have  professional responsibility to be sure they are always working on appropriate web sites
2. I personally always model the web sites they are allowed to use and why. I have a list posted on all of my lap tops for acceptable web sites. These are the only ones allowed in my classroom. We review evey web site before we begin a lesson. They are asked to reflect on what they learned from the web site
3. Just like "stranger danger" is taught in DARE, we need to teach the dangers of the world of technology. Along with that, they should be taught to be respectful in anything they write or post. I emphasize it for all eyes to see.
There are several Brain Pop lessons on computer citizenship/. Also, posting a list of rules and a safety pledge is a good way to teach the students responsible digital citizenship

Tool 8

Streaming videos are an integral part of the science curriculum. We have many videos that go along with our units of study. We either introduce or close our lessons with either a video, flip chart or some type of inter active  lesson to engage the students.  Brain-pop also has a huge library for inter-active resources. Youtube has has some student friendly lessons.

tool10

I think the kids will really enjoy the Ipad apps. The ones that I like the best are Google Earth, Hangman and Bowling. Some of our  students from other countries have googled their homes in Japan  and China. They shared the pics with classmates. Pretty cool to see where they live in Japan

Tool 7

Photo story will be so helpful for the students to create their own story. They download pictures into their story to personalize it. This will bring out all their creativity into a book. My photo story is based on my 30+ years of experience volunteering for HLSR. I showed some sample pictures of the rodeo including the logo, the downtown parade, volunteers hard at work and a scholarship recipient. I even added some fun country music. The possibilities are endless!!

tool 6

WIKI is a useful tool so kids can openly share their ideas. If there is a book club WIKI, any student can add the books they are reading then add comments about their books. It is open for everyone to read. The post does not have to be checked before published. The kids can "invite " friends to join. Lots more freedom than a blog. Kids will love it