Reflections

I feel after these past few months I now fully understand the benefits of using technology in the classroom. Since my first day I have become increasingly more comfortable with using a Mac and feel that I could easily use one in the classroom. I have enjoyed both learning about the various programs that I can use for free and actually creating projects that I can use in my classroom. Overall, I feel that this class has been extremely beneficial and I have learned a great deal about technology.

My Digital Story

iMovie

At first I thought iMovie was difficult to navigate, but after spending more time with it I really like using this tool. I think that making movies for the classroom is a great way to introduce a lesson or unit by getting students' attention visibly. PowerPoint is always used in the classroom and I thinking using iMovie would be a welcome change. I intend to use it a lot in my classroom.

Spreadsheets

I really enjoyed this activity. I think spreadsheets can be used in the classroom in a variety of ways. Students can use them when they have downtime to practice or teachers could use them for quizzes. I initially thought that dealing with Excel would be difficult but once I discovered where everything was I found it to be really easy.

Google Forms

I think google forms is great. I would definitely use this tool in my classroom to find out students interests, to give quizzes or to help with feedback. I think the only problem is that it might not be possible for all my students to have access to the internet at the same time. This could be solved though by allowing them to complete an assignment on google forms over a period of days.

Wordle and Tagxedo

I really liked both of these Web 2.0 tools. I think these both would be great to use in the classroom especially for visual learners. I would probably use them with text that I already had, because I found typing in words to be quite tedious. The element of Tagxedo that I liked more than Wordle was the fact that you could put the words into a certain image or shape. I think that would further help visual learners.

Inspiration

 

I really liked using Inspiration and I think it would be very helpful in the classroom. I think for my specific area using Inspiration would be the most helpful when discussing cultural topics such as food or clothing.

Smilebox and Story board

I really liked both of these websites. Smilebox could be used in the classroom to create a photo album or even a sideshow. I was thinking I could make a slide show of the time I lived in Costa Rica to share with my students. I think that Story board might be difficult to use in the world language classroom, but I think it is possible. Students could write stories in Spanish based off of the pictures or could use the pictures to identify various nouns and adjectives.

Picnik and Glogster

I really enjoyed learning about Picnik and I think it is a great tool to use in the classroom. Personally I think I would use it to help edit pictures for my presentations. Glogster also seems like a helpful tool for the classroom. The only difficulty I see in using Glogster is that the students must have access to the computers. If I were to use this tool I would have to use it in class to make sure everyone had a computer.

WebQuest

I really like the idea of the WebQuest. After evaluating the WebQuests I think if I was going to use one in my class I would have to look hard to find one that is actually helpful. I really like the idea of an interactive site that allows students to explore the internet and create a project or report. I think the only downside to a WebQuest is that it can take a lot of time. With this being said it is probably necessary to dedicate at least one or two classes when using a WebQuest.

Delicious

At first I wasn't sure if Delicious was actually a good website but after playing around with it for a while I discovered that it actually is really helpful. It is organized and gives you access to all of your bookmarks at the touch of a button. I can see how Delicious would be beneficial for the classroom, especially when doing group reports or even reports over the same material.

WIKIS

I really like the idea of Wikis. A couple months ago one of my fellow rising language interns created a wiki and it has been a great resource for us to share information. It makes it easier for everyone to put up cool websites, information about the program and interesting lesson plans. Instead of having a million e-mails we just have one site that everyone can check. After seeing how easy it is to create a wiki, I think that I will probably utilize a wiki in my classroom. It seems like a fast and easy way to communicate with the students outside of the classroom.

Website Evaluation Aferthoughts

I enjoyed this exercise a lot. I did not realize the extent to which we as teachers need to evaluate the websites we use for ourselves and our students. When I usually look at a website I look for the URL, the author, the publisher and the date. While this is okay when I am looking for websites to write a paper, this is not enough when evaluating websites that my students are going to use.

I would definitely recommend this site for students 7-12. It is easy to access and free to anyone.  While the authors credentials are not specifically listed it is obvious that she is affiliated with Colby College and that she is a teacher.  There is not a date listed for when this website was last updated, but everything seems to be pretty up to date.

The site looks professional and there are no grammar or spelling errors. One of the best aspects of this site is that it is very easy to navigate. Everything is clearly listed and all of the grammar activities appear in alphabetical order.  It only takes one click to access any of the other pages on the site and these pages all load quickly. The site is intended for use by students learning the Spanish language and only contains factual information.

There are so many activities on this website with thorough explanations for each activity. There are a lot of culture activities, which allow students to see another side of the language without leaving their classroom.  There are also grammar activities for almost any type of grammar lesson that is taught to secondary students. The great thing about all of these activities is that they are interactive. Most activities have some type of audio or video. Some activities are accompanied by an explanation of the grammar exercise. Because not all of them specifically address the grammar rules behind the exercises this should not be used to teach students. However, this would be a great way for students to interact online with a lesson they have just learned. 

http://www.colby.edu/~bknelson/SLC/index.php  

Evaluating Web Sites

Informative site for evaluating web sites

This web site appears be a great site for secondary students and teachers. It focuses on eight different criteria necessary for assessing whether a web site is valid or not. Not only does it list the multiple criteria, but it also explains each step in depth. The other beneficial part to the site is that it provides examples with links to actual web sites which allows for practice evaluating web sites.

Expectations and Learning Goals

I must admit that I really did not know what to expect out of this class before the first day. Now I have a better understanding of what we are going to do, and I think I will learn a lot. I am not very comfortable using Mac computers to begin with so the first thing I hope to do is to be able to better understand Macs and all of their shortcuts. Aside from this my main goal is to discover new technological resources that I can use in my classroom when I begin my internship in the fall. I am familiar with PowerPoint, but I hope that after this class I will discover new programs and will be able to effectively use them.

Informal Introduction

I was born and raised in Nashville, TN and attended Hillsboro High School. In the fall I will be teaching Spanish at West High School. During my Junior year at UT I spent 5 months abroad in Costa Rica and fell in love with the country. I plan to either return to Costa Rica or to another Spanish speaking country after I graduate to teach English.

I have known since I was a child that I was going to be a teacher. While there are a lot of rewarding aspects to this profession, I really want to be a teacher because I think it is fun. It allows me to not only share my knowledge of my subject, but to also continue to be a life long learner.

My hobbies include running, hiking, biking, basically anything outside, reading, playing soccer, knitting, teaching English as a second language, hanging out with my little brother from Big Brothers Big Sisters, reading and doing crafts.

I would not consider myself technologically savvy. When it comes to technology I can usually manage my way around the device I am using, but sometimes it takes a while. I am more familiar with PCs, but I can work my way around Macs for the most part. Hopefully by the end of this class I will able to use Macs without hesitation.