Post #12!!!!!!!

Looking through my fellow students blogs was always interesting. I liked reading what people had to say. I really like the post about playing frisbee in the 'write whatever you want category.' I liked some peoples brutal honesty when they did not like something they learned or when they worked with something they did not understand or want to use. The opinions were fun to read. I would have to say my favorite part was when people could link to sites they found useful, as far as web resources. I clicked on some and also found them useful for me, which was why I liked this part the best. Seeing all the different sites and thoughts is a great exposure, and made great use of the blog posting.


I do not have a specific skill in mind that I would like to acquire. I would just like to become more computer literate as far as mobilization. I would like to be able to use shortcuts with proficiency and be faster with what I do. The main thing I would like to work on is learning how to embed items into different forms whether on line or on a power point. I would like to know which software is appropriate online and be able to tell. I just would like to become more knowledgeable about computers in general and be able to maneuver it with ease, being able to help others as well. Being a teacher in a continuing technology advanced classrooms makes me want to become more proficient so my students are not 'showing me up.'


Ways to achieve future educational technology goals will most likely consist of asking someone. I have a lot of tech-savy friends who always offer to help. I just would like to be able ot fix problems myself without needing help. I might look into taking classes in the future, or continuing to fine tune my skills. When i reach my teaching career I will definitely have to make sure my technology skills are at the peak so I will most likely attend more classes to keep up with the new advances. Keeping up with new technology will help me attain future technology goals. In these times, it seems as though I would have to attend a class everyday, but staying on top of new ideas is my goal.

Post #11

Overall, to be honest this semester I have not really used twitter. I will say I learned plenty more about it, seeing as I had no idea of it before. I see the uses but I am not particularly a fan of it. I understand how to get on there. I learned how to follow people, watched people follow me. I made up a status and followed channing tatum. I also used twitter to connect to the store subway to get secret codes to enter to win. I also looked a few times at posts for the class. My experience with twitter is not much, but enough to understand the concrete nature of it.


Honestly, after this class my twitter will sit idol as it has been lately. I think twitter more as an easy stalking tool. It allows people to constantly update the world on what they are doing. Facebook and myspace have statuses but they have other things, and not everyone constantly changes their status. On twitter it all seems to be about updating your followers on what you are up to and honestly I think it is pointless in that nature. I could care less what people are doing every hour. So i'm not planning on using it in other contexts. The only exception would be like the one mentioned above, in a matter of a sweepstakes or something I would consider it.


I do not think of twitter as a useful educational tool, or a tool at all. I feel as though if it was used in school it should only be in upper high school with students well accustomed to the computer and those who should know how to use the computer properly and safely. Twitter can open up the users to a lot of the real world, which is not necessarily the best. Twitter can be an easy way for a teacher to communicate, but then again so is the phone or email. I think twitter is not worth the risk. I think it could be fun to use for a scavenger hunt or to follow your favorite celebrities but not as a teaching tool.

My Podcast!!

Post #10

Web 2.0 technologies exist in many different forms. We have learned about some basic ones such as wiki spaces. Many more exist and can become useful in any technologically advanced classroom. There are so many web 2.0 technologies that would be useful to me. I plan to teach elementary school so using simple technologies would be the easiest. Children in elementary school need more hands on activities so the least difficult to understand web 2.0 technology would be most helpful.

The web 2.0 tool I would love to make use of in my class is create-a-graph. Create-a-graph is a tool used to do just that- create graphs. The create-a-graph is a kid friendly tool that helps kids get started in understanding graphs. The website, Create-A-Graph, leaves the kids in charge of all the decisions such as color, font, size, the information displayed, how the information is displayed and even allows students to print off their final result. The create-a-graph website would be the best for me to make use of as an elementary school teacher and would help my students in math when the begin to use graphs. Upper elementary school grades will make the most use of these graphs.

Web 2.0 technologies have made big strides in education and helping students learn. The best part of web 2.0 technologies is that they can accessed from anywhere. Students can access the tools from home, and help get extra practice without needing to be at school. Some Web 2.0 tools also allow students to keep in contact with teachers from home as well, such as skype, and even wiki spaces allow students to do work or ask questions with teachers able to see the work and provide feedback. Students have many more ways to stay on top of their work by using web 2.0 tools as long as online they focus on their work. I definitely think web 2.0 technologies have advantages, but I think these advantages are the best for secondary schooling. Elementary school students need more one on one, and technology adds a barrier for these young, developing students. As I said i think elementary school students need more hands on activity, while technology is taking over all parts of the world, I think schools with students this young can prevent students from growing up too fast.

Crossword Puzzle!

Post #9

Many great web based resources exist nowadays and help teachers tremendously, giving access to many other sources from one click of a mouse. The web based resource I would love to take advantage of is http://teachertube.com/. Teacher tube provides all you could need in one web page. It gives you access to multitudes of items. Teacher tube keeps you in contact with other teachers around the world, gives new ideas for lessons, shows how to do the lessons, has videos safe to show students and can be easily accessed. Teacher Tube is a branch of youtube but is teacher approved, therefore there will not be any inappropriate videos or language that would have to be censored or could prevent a teacher from showing a clip. Teacher Tube also gives access to clips other teachers have seen as positive for students, and can even formulate group projects. Teacher Tube can bring classes together in order to make a video to share with other students around the world.


Teacher tube is a great web resource for the many reasons I mentioned. I think Teacher Tube would be useful for any grade level or subject. I aspire to teach elementary school so any videos with lessons or lesson plans will be of great aid. Teacher Tube can give me funny, or serious or purely educational videos that will help my students. I can look up math lessons, history lessons or any of the above. Teacher Tube doesnt just have videos it also has documents, photos, audio clips, blogs and much more. This website is like a one stop shop for teachers, offering support in more ways than one. This will be a great use to me when I teach, and to any other teacher no matter what level they teach.


As far as excel goes, I plan to use it for routine stuff. I love having set schedules so I will most likely create our daily time schedule on excel and post it all over the class. Being an elementary school teacher does not require a heavy usage of excel, but I know i will use it for grades and etc. I can also use excel when it comes to graphs and anything with mathematics. I can make charts for certain lessons and make the colors or graphs stand out to attract the students attention. Excel will make certain math lessons easier or will be extremely helpful in keeping track of all the students important information like phone numbers, birthdays, and addresses. Excel will help keep me organzied and ease up grading for me.