Delicious: Week 6

This link I found on Delicious.com by typing in the search bar "web tools." I wanted to learn about other sites that give more information on different web tools. This link was a neat find because it has a list of online tools and applications.  The tools can be sorted according to tag. This website also includes a blog with further information.

I also found another link called Glogster. I searched through people that had also saved Glogster and found the user "ddiieno" who had saved this Quizlet link. This link allows one to create flashcards in order to study. It is a great way to study interactively. 

Visualizing with Technologies: Chapter 9

Many people would agree that the majority of us are visual learners. Everything around us is first perceived from an image. As the saying goes "a picture is a thousand words" because from one visual representation we can get so much. I chose this chapter because as an elementary teacher many of my students are visual learners. Visualization tools as described in this chapter will help both "visualizers and verbalizers to reason and represent ideas visually without artistic skills." This is very important because many times to create a visual representation such as a poster (as I have done in my classroom) I receive the same response "I can't draw. I'm not an artist." However, with visualization tools students do not need to "produce original illustrations."

Two major uses in visualization tools are that they can be used to be interpretive or expressive. A student can use these tools to better understand text information (interpretive) or to communicate more effectively ideas they want to share with other viewers (expressive). This chapter discusses many visualization tools such as: draw and paint programs, scientific visualization tools, mathematical visualization tools, GIS tools, sketching tools, digital cameras and mobile phones, video productions, and video modeling and feedback.

Digital Cameras, Mobile Phones and Video

Through the use of digital cameras students can create documentaries to tell a story about local or controversial issues. With the use of technology, students can think critically with this great tool. To introduce this activity, students can create a personal documentary and be creative.  By adding audio and a moving picture students can create a story with video cameras. Students in a group can create a digital story on paper, shoot it, and edit it through a video editing program.  This could be great for building collaboration and reading skills. Students can create a story and represent the elements of a story: exposition, rising action, climax, and falling action.
Video is also a way for students to evaluate themselves. If students are recorded on an activity they can then view the video and give themselves constructive feedback.

Week 5: Blog and News Alert

This week I found some more links on fun interactive games for President's day. There are five different activities to choose from from this website. I have really enjoyed my subscription to Sharing Technology because it always has a great deal of online, interactive activities that relate to holidays, yet also educational.

They also introduce different web 2.0 tools. So far my favorite post they put was on collaboration. They included different web 2.0 tools online that supports collaboration in the classroom! Great ideas! I really liked the Wallwisher because you get immediate feedback from students. You can pose a question and students post their "interactive sticky note" on the "wall" with their answer. It is a fun way to collaborate in the classroom and receive feedback from students.

This is an example of how you can use it:

Week 4: Blog and News Alert

Through Google Alerts, I found another blog, Math Coach's Corner. This became very useful because one of the blog postings introduced free Smart Notebook activities where students can practice their multiplication facts. Being a third grade teacher, one of the key things students need to learn beginning third grade is their multiplication facts. What better way to learn them than by doing fun activities with technology.

I found that by my personal Google Alerts and blog subscriptions, I have already been able to incorporate many activities in my classroom my students can do with technology. Before getting this blog,I would not have been aware of this information that was simply a click away. Every week I am eager to find new tools I can use in my classroom. Blog subscriptions and Google Alerts is a great way to find resources that can be used rather quickly in the classroom.



Zoom.it is another tool I found through the blogs. It allows one to zoom any image on the web and get a closer look at it. One can apply this tool to get students thinking critically. The teacher can zoom as far as one can to an image and have the students predict what it could be. As the teacher starts zooming out the student can be changing their predictions. This is a good way to introduce any subject. 

Constructive and Cooperative: Meaningful Learning with Technology

Constructive (Articulative/Reflective): Technology can promote the constructivist characteristic by using programs such as the one I recently found on my blog subscribtion called Glogster. Here students are given the tools to use to articulate the information they researched with a group of students. What I like about this tool is students will need to figure out how to articulate their information through using a video, text features, sounds, hyperlinks, or graphics that will show a reflection of their learning. I have had my students complete social studies projects where they reflected their information onto a poster board, however, I noticed that they would find information on youtube videos but how do they transfer that on a poster board? They can't. That is one of the reasons I really like the idea of these glogsters because actually videos can be posted on their globster. But, an even better idea would be to have the students create their own video and post that video on their glogster.

Cooperative (Collaborative/Conversational): Cooperative learning is a tool for any classroom when a students wants to engage in meaning learning. Students can use the characteristic of cooperative learning with technology such as using Skype. Skype is a video conferencing tool where students can engage in conversations with students from other schools in the district, state, and country. Projects done by two students from different parts of the world can come together through video conferencing and share their information. When we think of cooperative learning we usually think of within the classroom. However, this tool goes beyond the classroom and into the outside world. It is almost a virtual field trip. Skype gives students an opportunity to articulate with students from around the world in a conversational way. 

Week 3: Blog and News Alert

One of the blogs I have really enjoyed this week and last week is Sharing Technology. The information given in this blog has been real useful in my teaching. Incorporating new websites in my classroom that are interactive for my students has helped engage my students in subjects they may have otherwise found difficult. I liked how this blog included a link to a website that has story-ebooks for Science. My students can use this during computer time or I can post this link on our classroom website for them to learn more about a certain topic, such as the watercycle. 


Another thing I found through my blog subscription is a link to a site called Glogster Edu. I was so excited to see this website because it allows you to create an "interactive poster" online. I can already start using this tool with my students because whenever we do research projects I have my students put all their information on a poster. However, this goes beyond paper and pencil. The students can include graphics, text, and video to share the information they learned on a particular subject. This link includes student samples of what kids can do with glogster with all the core subjects! 

Week 2: Blog and News Alert

     After reviewing my Google Reader I enjoyed reading the blogs I had subscribed to. One of the blogs I subscribed to is called Sharing Technology. I wanted to find blogs that give teachers various ideas in which to use smart notebook lessons and/or websites to engage students in reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. This blog introduced me to three websites in which to engage students in writing stories.  One site is called Wicked The Zoo, where students can create a story from a picture. Navigating the site, I found other activities students can do such as Missing Words and Word find. Another website is RIF Reading Planet Story Maker. Students again select an image and can begin creating a story from the image they choose. Lastly, A Timely Tale is the other website in which students can create their own stories.


     These websites are great to get students comfortable with writing. The images and engagement through technology helps the student not have writer's block when creating a story. These are tools that will help any child get rid of their fear of writing because they are guided in a fun interactive way.