Social Bookmarks

I absolutely loved this assignment! I had never heard of Delicious. I'm so excited to know that I can log on to any computer and have all these pages bookmarked and tagged! Here is my the link to my Delicious account! :)

http://www.delicious.com/lsnead

Week 6

I was very excited about this post! I've always wanted to sit down and research all the possibilities for the Apple products in the classroom- but never had time until I "had" to for an assignment. As I've posted before, I LOVE anything that Apple makes. I have an ipod (not touch) in my classroom now that I use for listening station and the students love it! (It was donated for free!) I found a wikispace that helps me know even more about the possibilities of Apple products in the classroom. http://ipodclassroom.wikispaces.com/home is a wonderful wiki that contains YouTube videos of the iPod touch being used in the classroom as well as a list of ways you can incorporate these products. If funding was available, I know that students would love this way of learning because it is what they are so accustomed to at home. iPods can be used in so many ways such as: graphing, research, journal writing, word look up (dictionary), and the list goes on. After reading this wiki, I'm considering donating my own iPod touch to the classroom to jazz things up a bit. :)
http://appsineducation.blogspot.com/2011/06/12-ipad-apps-for-storytelling-in.html is a great resource for apps! It is a blog that was created to help explain some apps and how they can be used in the classroom! It starts by explaining that there are so many apps in the Apple store, that you quickly get overwhelmed- not to mention run out of time. This blog was created to spotlight many apps. So many of these apps focus on writing, storytelling, making comic strips, etc. These could be great as a fun station for reading! I LOVE this blog. I'm so excited about really looking into these more. I have an ipad of my own, but don't want to donate it to my classroom. Now I'm just thinking of all the ways I could go about getting one. I'll be researching and writing grants soon! :)

Week 5

Facebook
I have to admit I had never really thought of using Facebook as a classroom resource until recently. When I saw on our blackboard that we needed to join the group on Facebook I was surprised. I don't really know why, just not what I was expecting. BUT-- wow! I love it! It is the perfect way to communicate quickly and casually with other classmates and the teacher. I am not saying to pull this up in the classroom to use, but to use this as a resource for (especially) parents would be a great idea! I've thought about making a "Mrs. Snead" page and inviting all my parents and students (that have one). This would be a great way to remind students/parents of information that is so often overlooked in the weekly newsletter. With so many parents/students that have Facebook, all these reminders would pop up on their news feed. Who doesn't log on to Facebook everyday? Obviously this could be used for every grade if parents were checking it. It could also be used for higher age students that have a Facebook page.

A to Z Teacher Stuff

This website is FULL of great ideas for all grades. It contains teacher tips, bulletin board ideas, lesson plans, printable worksheets- just to name a few. It is a free website. There is a forum that you can read and post with different ideas and suggestions for different lessons, etc. I love using this website to get ideas for times like Dr. Seuss week and the other (few) times you can throw in something different. This website is a great resource to keep at hand. People continue to add to it on a daily basis. :)

Week 4

Wow! What a fun post! I had a great time looking at MANY ideas about multimedia use in the classroom. As I stated in my very first blog post-- I was a little nervous about making one. After posting and reading others, I've come to like it more and more. I believe that next year I will start on my own for my classroom. It's going to take time because after reading some like Mrs. Cassidy's Classroom Blog-- I've got a long way to go! Mrs. Cassidy's blog is incredible. She is a teacher in Canada. She documents different events in the day by including text, pictures, and video. She even has a page for every child where she loads pictures, movies, and copies of work of his/hers. I better to get to work on mine now!! (And keeping in mind the privacy forms/Internet posting form for each child).  I believe by having a blog, parents would get more and more involved in their child's learning. How fun to log on everyday and see what your child did/learned?

Another great multimedia resources to use in the classroom is PCBOE. This is a website that contains teacher-made resources for the Storytown Harcourt reading series. It contains many different documents that can be incorporated into lessons, copies of spelling/vocabulary words to cut out, crossword puzzles, smartboard games, powerpoints, etc. I use this in my classroom on a daily basis! I love the smartboard games that go along with each lesson and the powerpoint presentations that go along as well. What a great (free) resource for those schools that use this particular reading series! :)

Week 3

As I read chapters 3, 4, 5 (obviously) technology is so very important to incorporate into any lesson-- isn't that why we are taking this class anyway? I've always thought about different programs offered and used many in my class as active engagement, introducing lessons, etc. I guess until these chapters, I never really stepped back and broke them down into groups.
Drill & Practice- What a great way to "practice" a skill. You've been teaching a particular area for a while and PRACTICE MAKES perfect. The first website that comes to mind when seeing the words "drill and practice" is MathMagician. This is a website that is strictly drill and practice for basic math facts in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. I've used this website in several different ways. One way is just the obvious, students sit down and answer a certain number of problems in one minute. It gives them the percent correct they get at the end. Another way is by lining the students up and having the front student answer the question aloud as I type it on and then he/she goes to the back and the next one answers the next and so on... My students love this website and enjoying using it in both ways.
Tutorial- When I think of tutorial I think of tutor. I think of a program that is designed to "tutor" a student and help guide them in their learning. One website that comes to mind is Study Island. Study Island is a program that must be purchased. Our county purchased it this year and it (seems) to have made a huge difference. It can focus on reading and math; however we only purchased the math. It has many different lessons that teachers can assign according to state objectives, and also has a way teachers can create a lesson. Once students click on a "topic" they are guided through either a "test mode" or "game mode" depending on what the teacher assigns. It guides students through the topic's questions helping with incorrect answers by bumping them down a level to help master lower levels. Once a certain number of problems are answered correctly they are able to play the game (there are many.) It is a great program to help focus on particular needs that the students LOVE!
Simulation- Simulation programs/games are a great way to make students feel as if they are really there. It helps them get as "hands-on" as they can in the lesson and can help them grasp the concept even better. A website that comes to mind is EdHeads. This is a great program that allows students to do many different things such as surgeries, crime scene investigations, simple machines, etc. I love introducing this program whole group on the smart board and working on these topics as a class. Then later allowing students to work on their own or with a partner to explore on their own.
Instructional Games- MathPlayground is a great website to "let students go." There are great games that are very instructional that students love and enjoy! I either use them whole group on the smart board or allow them to work on their own.
Problem Solving- Scholastic offers many (free) games for students and teachers to use. Math Maven's Mysteries seems to be a great website to help students with higher order thinking questions. It provides them many different scenarios where they are really having to apply themselves to solve the mystery while focusing on a math problem for the solution. For struggling readers it has the option to read it aloud. I feel this website could be used whole group, small group, or individually.

Week 2

"Did You Know?" Wow-- this video leaves me speechless! I'll start off by saying this video was posted in 2009. Imagine the (already) changes/advances in technology since then! I chose this video because I really feel it stresses the importance of technology in the classroom. In the video it explains "We are currently preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist... using technologies that haven't been invented... in order to solve problems we don't even know are problems yet." (DYKwehavechanged, 2009) This takes me back to the story in the book about Anna on page 4. As teachers, we MUST be as techno-savy as we can be. We must keep up with the changes in "technology society." We are putting our students at a disadvantage if not. Students today know so much more than some teachers give them credit for. By allowing students to work on PowerPoint presentations, create podcasts, use an ipod at a listening station, etc... we are allowing them to work hands-on with technology that will continue to grow and change throughout their lives. We are teaching them the foundations of technology.

This brings me to the question that is asked on page 12- "Will computers replace teachers?" (Roblyer, & Doering, 2010) In the video it states that "by 2013, a supercomputer will be built that exceeds the computational capabilities of the brain." (DYKwehavechanged, 2009) HOWEVER, I do not feel that a computer will take the place of a teacher-- but I DO feel that it will take a teacher who is techno-savy and relates to children to play a huge role in teaching the importance and the advantages of technology in our everyday lives.

Technology is constantly changing. Throughout my lifetime I have seen many changes in technology! (And I'm not that old!)  On page 23, Table 1.5 is a chart of the "Emerging Trends" in technology. I feel this chart sums it all up. Technology is changing and so must we. It is shaping our lives today. Either learn it, or you'll be left behind. This video, to me, is a perfect example of the many "phases" of technology throughout our lives.


References:
DYKwehavechanged, . (Producer). (2009). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecdzbrzktxk. [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECDZbrzkTxk

Roblyer, M.D., & Doering, A.H. (2010). Educational technology into teaching. New York, New York: Allyn & Bacon.

Week 1

I have to admit I was a little nervous about making a "blog." I've always read others, but never taken the time to make one myself. By the way, I'm Lane. I live in Jacksonville, Alabama with my husband of almost 2 years and our spoiled German Shepherd- Trig. :) I teach 3rd grade at White Plains Elementary School in Anniston, Alabama. I'm working on my master's degree in Library Media. I love technology and use it everyday! I would have to say my favorite "technology" would be anything Apple makes. I love my iPhone, iPod, and iPad! Here is a link to the site where I buy all my games and music. http://store.apple.com/us?afid=p219%7CGOUS&cid=AOS-US-KWG

I'm looking forward to this class and learning more and more about incorporating technology into my classroom!!!

Here is a picture of Trig watching me type my first blog post :)