Sept. 7, 1009
I have a quote of the week from Albert Einstein. He said, "I have no special gift. I am only passionately curious." I have learned many things this week. One is that I can do my homework if I take it one day at a time. In instructional media I am still learning about blogs but also how to make documents, calenders, announcements, and lists. These will be great tools for me to use in teaching. I could see using the blog to keep parents and students posted on what we have done and what's coming up. it would be fun to include pictures so they can share in what we're doing.
Documents would be great in collaborating with other teachers in your school or even sharing ideas with teachers far away. I LOVE the calender and that you can have it program things every week or month. It's also neat that it can text you reminders of what's happening. The lists would be a nice organized way to keep your students informed on what's due. I love that the program lets you draw or even translate things into another language.
My children already use quite a bit of technology in school. My 6th grader blogs to students who share his desk during the day. It's a fun way to get him writing. My sophomore answers English questions on Moodle. It's a great way to get her to interact and participate without being intimidated.
I would like to use these technologies in the classroom. I think the documents, blogs, calenders, and lists would be very useful keeping students and parents informed and interacting.
This week I watched the video "pay attention". I think it's a great idea to use the technology that kids already know how to use. I loved the idea of using cell phones to take student polls, tutor peers, and get them to practice using another language. It is true that technology offers many rich experiences. I think students would enjoy assignments more if they could use their ipods or cell phones. The only drawback is that you would exclude students who don't have this technology. Perhaps they could do a team project with someone else. I will integrate technology into the classroom because students will need these skills and knowledge to communicate in the future.