11 Tools Reflection

This has been the best professional development. In thinking about my class I see so many opportunities. First I am very excited to have a blog that I will continue to maintain to communicate with my parents. I love the idea of having kids work at the end of the day to create a summary of the day, and being able to use this as a place to post pictures of learning. I would like to spend more time playing with the different mashups and resources that are available for generating ideas (flicker books). Lastly, I will definitely be using the photo stories and would love to see my class make their own, utilizing the microphone. I can see book reviews and reports on different things we study (for example American Symbols). The possibilities are endless!

Tool # 11

Digital Citizenship is a new age form of manners. Just as important as it is to teach children manners, safety, and simple "getting along" techniques - we now need to emphasis the importance of rolling those lessons over into all the things they do with the computer. Teaching 1st grade, I think we need to focus on Safety. I would use the comparison of not talking to a stranger, and that on the computer there are lots of strangers. In that same path of thinking, I would emphasis that passwords should not be shared - like their lunch number, if you were to give out your number others could by lunch or check out books on your account. Lastly, I think it is very important for children at an early age to learn that what they type is there for anyone to see. Constantly reminding to make good choices. I really see this as an extension of socialization with our classmates and take it very serious.

Tool #10

I have already been using an I-touch in my class. I love to use it in small group reading instruction. I love the sight word apps and doodle draw. I like to have the kids use the doodle draw to write the spelling patterns that they hear. This is a great motivator for children to stay connected to the lessons. I also see how this could be used in a center. I can't wait to have them in my room.

Tool #9

Skype and Jing! I have used Skype before, and think it would be fun to hook up with other classes in other places. I love the idea of virtual field trips and even meeting authors from the comfort of our classroom. I can see many ways to use these and hope to do so!

Tool # 8

This would be a fun way to introduce one of the American Symbols and rhyming words for word families.

Tool # 7

This is my photostory. Every year I have made something like this and showed my kids at the end of the year. I used a half broken microphone I had at home so it is hard to hear but I love how easy it is to use. I think the kids will have a blast telling reading their stories and bringing them to life!

Tool #6

After learning about Wikis, I see that there are different uses. I love the idea of being able to edit it. In 1st grade, I think it would be great to use a wiki for shared writing. I see it working with the active board and becoming real life. It would allow parents to see what we are doing in our class.

Tool #5

Social Networking...I think that I would use this best by allowing students to access different web sites with out having to bookmark them on all classroom computers. What a time saver! I like the way delicious.com lets you file your bookmarks (that makes it very clear to students, ie games, research sites, etc) I also looked at the diigo site. I see where this would be helpful to collaborate because of the annotative tool. I like the idea that you can see something and then come back to that information (in the past I have lost the spot and spent so much time not being able to find where I saw/read something). Both these tools will be a great time saver!

Tool #4

I have spent the afternoon exploring google documents. I had heard people talk about it before but was never 100% sure what it was. I think this would be a great tool to use for our team. I see weekly newsletters that everyone could have access to creating each week. I used google docs to send out our curriculum packet and have my team go through and read. For kids, I love the idea that students could comment on others' work and add feedback.

The google reader helped ease my frustration with trying to stay connected to all the wonderful information that is out there on blogs. I see that helpful for collaboration with other professionals is a very simple way (almost mimicking e-mail)!

Tool #3

This tool has shown to be endless. I see so many possibilities with the word bubbles and different applications. I can see that kids who are resistant to write might find this to be very motivating. I used the flicker books. Wow, what a great tool. I wrote a true story of my husband wanting me to pull him in the boat while he wake boards. I am not the best driver and the story will show what happen. I had trouble going back to edit something after it was published. I will have to keep playing with that. I also wonder if there is a way to use your own pictures, instead of flicker. Often times I have kids bring in pictures of things they have done to help jog ideas as they write - if we could plug their pics in and they add the words I see kids motivation and interest rise greatly!

Tool #2

Wow! Thinking about all the possibility's of blogs is mind blowing! I feel best when I can work with fellow teachers to learn different ways to hit the needs of all my kids. This technology opens that up to not just educators I see daily, but to a whole world of teachers and learners. I see how commenting is the key to the dialog and the learning.

I loved how the "cool cat teacher" shared the comment from the 3rd grade student. What a great reinforcement of positive self-esteem. For children who are shy, commenting can really build self-esteem in a more protected environment.

I spent time visiting other sites - It can be a little overwhelming. I made comments ont he following blogs:
TeachPaperless
alwayslearning
iLearnTechnology
The Blue Skunk Blog
2cents Worth

Tool #1

It has been a fun day in a quite house playing with this new technology. I can see so many creative ways to use these tools. It just takes a little time and a chance to play!

This is my first attemept to enter a post. I am excited to be building something that can be used in my class to help parents stay connected. This will be a great use of professional development!