"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give hope and a future..." Jeremiah 29:11

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Tool #11--REFLECTION

1. I had lots of favorite tools....iMovie, google docs, iTouch, and delicious ranked very high. One of my most favorite tools is the iMovie. I absolutely LOVED making the iMovie that I did at the end of the year for our kindergarteners, and most importantly they LOVED watching it and being able to take their own copy home. It is such an easy tool to use. I hopefully one day will get a mac of my own. I had used photo story last year to make a slide show and it was fun to make but I had the hardest time downloading it and publishing it. iMovie was so simple. My soon to be 1st grader, was able to work on iMovie. I think this would be a great tool to use in the classroom. My students could take pictures and download them to the mac to create an iMovie on something they are learning, what a great center to have in the classroom. We could post their iMovies on our Kindergarten blog, for their parents to see.
I also liked google docs. Google docs is going to be great to use on my team to help edit our newsletter that goes home each month, and letters that go home to our parents. We are so used to passing around a paper document and having each other check off their name when they had reviewed it, and then pass it to the next person. But...how many times did I loose it on my table somewhere...LOTS! This will also help us GO GREEN...a little more!
The iTouch is something I can not wait to have in the classroom. They are going to be great to use as a center. After reading a blog that I follow, I got the idea about using them in a guided reading group. How fun would that be for the students, to use the doodle application to write a sentence.
2. Having delved into some of these tools I just have to use them in the classroom. Children LOVE technology and are so unafraid of it. It is almost an injustice if we don't expose our children to some of these tools. Technology is so much a part of their world and their world to come.
3. What surprised me(but not really) is that there is so much out there for us to incorporate into our classrooms AND many of those things are so easy for young children to learn. I just need to familiarize myself with them and make sure I use them in the classroom.

Tool #11

Digital citizenship seems to me the same as manners in the techie world. Just like we teach in our classrooms citizenship-respect, obedience, trustworthy, etc, and how to be good citizens in our world.O ur children need to do the same while using technology. Having teenagers, I think one of the most important things to learn is that you have to be very careful of the things you put out in the cyber world for EVERYONE to see. Writing things that are not inappropriate, things that are hurtful, and pictures that inappropriate, are things that you can not take back once you have typed them in. I tell my children, that if you wouldn't want your grandmother reading what you wrote, then DON'T type it. (a hard lesson they both have learned....)That goes along the same lines as not giving out information, that others should not know. It is so scary as it is that we can find out whatever we want about someone, without them giving us the information personally. Being careful who you "talk" to is also so important. Just like we teach our children not to talk to stranger. It is our responsibilities as teachers and parents that we provide a safe technological world for our children, and give them the tools to be able use this WONDERFUL technology, but in a safe manner, for themselves and for others.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Tool #10

I have used an iTouch at school. Some of the apps I looked through were ABA flashcards, ABC pocket phonics, Math drills lite, Shape builder lite, and lots more. My class loved using them. We used the application for sight word flash cards, classifying farm sounds, and a matching game also. We also used it to review letter sounds and numbers. My students also liked looking at a weather application we had on the iTouches. It is amazing how a 5 year old has no fear and can manage and use an iTouch with little instruction. They so freely explore. It is awesome to see. I can not wait to have ours in the classroom this coming year. I am going to ouse it as a literacy center and hopefully the students could learn a how to use a new application each week or so. They are going to love it!

Tool #9

I have used skype before to talk to my sister who has recently moved to San Antonio. My teen age daughter uses it all the time to talk to her friends and to review and go over homework. There are so many things we could do in the classroom with skype. We could "pen pal" with other kindergartners in the district or even state. Students could discuss books and have a "book talk" over a book that both classes have read. Maybe if a class was learning about the rain forest we could skype with someone who actually had been to one or lives near one to hear about their experiences. What a fun tool to use in the classroom. I have never used jinga but looking at the video, it would be lots of fun also. Using the screencast to show the students on the other line what we are "seeing" and created. A great way to share with others.

Tool #8 Video Resources


This video I found on School Tube. I just searched for gravity. I thought this was simple video that 5 year olds would like watching, giving an example of gravity. Children love videos and I think different ways of presenting information is always great. You can reach that visual learner in your class, using videos. The video below is a song about the letter sounds. I used google to find this video, and it is one on youtube. This would be something I would use at the beginning of the year. The colors and music are catchy, and grab the learners attention. This video would easily help teach the visual and auditory learner.

Tool #7



This is a photostory I created last year for my daughters birthday. It was lots of fun to do and very easy. I did an iMovie this year for our kindergarten classes at the end of the year. It had all the pictures we took through out the year. It was, in my opinion, so much easier than photostory. Either program could be used in the classroom. Students could retell and react stories that they have read. They could also take pictures on our field trips and then put words to it, to retell the experience.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

TOOL #6-WIKIS

Last year when I did 23 tools , I created a WIKI for my classroom. I didn't ever get a chance to use it, because I created a blog and kept up with that. I can see where a WIKI would be a great place for me to interact with the parents in my classroom. By posting newletters and forms that are sent home for review, ie- monthly newsletter, permission slips, information about upcoming events. I like it because everyone can add to it. Great tool to use with your team for discussions on things we are working on in class.