Hey Wolfies this is the last week for blogging...give it your all wolfies :-) Rock it out! ;-)
Question 1 (11.1): Top Ten Tools for Young Learners:
http://glovely09.wetpaint.com/page/TopTen+for+Young+Learners
Do you agree that wikis are the number one web 2.0 tool for young learners? If not which tool do you think is more beneficial and why?
Question 2: Ten ways to get Smart with SMARTBOARD
http://www.techlearning.com/article/6106
Out of these ten tips, which is the most useful to you? How would you use this in the grade level you want to teach? How did you like using the Smartboard?
Question 3: WEB 2.0 in Elementary Schools
http://www.techlearning.com/article/13980
Based on this article, and all your knowledge on WEB 2.0 which do you think is the most effective and helpful tool to use in the classroom? Compare how Mrs. L and our class uses blogging, as well as Mr.P and his use of wiki.
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Amanda, Katrina, Heather, Alaina, Christina
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I disagree Gail Lovely's list because I think that Voice Thread is more beneficial for students. Voice thread allows students to post visual, oral, and written representations of information. I think voice thread reaches out to a wider range of learners. It is alike to wiki's and blogs in many ways because students post information, but then a wider audience can give feedback. Still, I think that Voice Thread is more interactive in a classroom. As we learned in other classes, students will try harder when their peers evaluate their work. I plan to use voice thread in my own classroom. It is an easy program to incorporate across content areas. If we were learning about mammals, I would have each student pick a different animal and make a voice thread about it. Then I would ask students to comment on 5 of their peers voice threads. Students benefit from constructive criticism and will be proud of the work they were able to present.
ReplyDeleteFrom the article, " Ten Ways to Get Smart with Smartboard," by Amber Price the tip that was most useful to me was tip number 1. I think that graphic organizers and KWL charts are wonderful ways to introduce new material. KWL charts in particular help students engage their prior knowledge and set goals for learning the new material. I would use a KWL chart in a fifth grade classroom before learning about a historical figure. If we were studying the civil rights movement I would have the class make a KWL for Martin Luther King Jr. I would have each student come up to the smartboard and write one thing they know and want to learn. Then I would have them drag what they wrote under the K and W columns. After reading we would repeat the same process but students would write down one thing they learned and drag it under the L column. The students would learn how to group thoughts and also be engaged by the technology. It is more exciting for students to use smartboard to make graphic organizers rather than chart paper. I liked using smartboard, and hope I have the opportunity to use it in my own classroom in the future. I think it makes learning fun for both the teacher and the students. I know I need to explore more with it, but overall it is a great and effective tool.
ReplyDeleteQ2) As a future educator, tip number 7 seemed the most useful. Tip number 7 was about using board games on the Smartboard. As a teacher I could create my own board games based on whatever topic I wanted. For example, I could use a board game to help my students learn their math facts. I would like to teach 3rd grade and I would use the board game feature on Smartboard to create a game to help my students learn their multiplication facts. This would be very useful because the students would be having fun, while learning important math facts. It is a great way to maintain your students interest throughout the lesson. I really enjoyed using the Smartboard because I learned so many new things about the Smartboard that I didn't even realize that it could do. Smartboard is a great tool for educators and students to learn from.
ReplyDeleteNicole, Great post about voice threads! I agree with you that voice threads allow the presentation of information in a variety of ways which can make learning more interesting and interactive. I agree with you that when students know their peers are evaluating them, they will try harder and I have seen that first hand in my practicum setting. Great example of how you would use voice thread! Do you think there could be any potential issues that could arise in using voice thread if the students are not confident or comfortable using the program? How would you handle this?
ReplyDeleteAmy, I agree that using board games on the smart board would be a great idea to use for subjects such as math, which is an area that students frequently feel is boring or not important. By incorporating interactive fun and activities into learning can draw in student's attention and change their attitudes about subjects they once found boring. great post :)
ReplyDeleteI thought the article “Ten Ways to Get Smart With SmartBoard” provided an excellent supplement to the two presentations we heard in class yesterday. It was also a beneficial article because it not only listed and explained the ten uses; but, it gave useable examples that we can actively use in our future classrooms. For instance, for the students, I think that the games would be the most useful. Here, the students can actively participate in educational games where they can have fun but still learn the material. More specifically, the students could play a game of jeopardy in the fifth grade of the body systems. Each row could contain questions about the main systems, digestive, respiratory, endocrine, etc. The students would have to collaborate with teams and figure out the right answer, thus helping each other learn. This could be done the day before a big test to help review. However, as a future teacher, I liked the United Streaming application. This is because, “you can view and download educational movies, images, lesson plans and teaching tools related to any and every topic!” This would extremely help if you are struggling teaching your students a lesson on fractions in fourth grade. You could easily access what other teachers have done to figure out what works the best.
ReplyDeleteAs for actually using the SmartBoard in class, I really enjoyed learning about it. Before the demonstrations, I thought that the only feature was the ability to touch the screen and move the material around. Therefore, I can now use the board and know what applications it offers. I really liked the frog dissection application and would use that in my future classroom. I know a lot of people are against dissecting animals because of moral issues, or a general disgust; therefore, they would not have to miss out on the educational process by doing it virtually.
The following articles I found explained more on how to use a smart board and also an abundance of activities that the teacher could use: http://eduscapes.com/sessions/smartboard/ , http://education.smarttech.com/ste/en-US/Ed+Resource/Lesson+activities/ , and http://www.wacona.com/smartboard/smartboard.html.
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ReplyDeleteQ 3. I think that the most effective teaching tool a teaching can have is a blog site. I think that blogging allows students to speak their minds and critically think. Mrs. L says that “all assignments … are turned in via blogs because she finds that their conversational nature encourages students to think and write in more depth than traditional formal essays or short answer assignments.” I agree with her opinion. I think that having students write back and forth to one another allows them to see different sides of the argument, allowing them to hit more detailed points then in a regular essay. I know that when I write an essay it is usually based around one big point and followed up with details. So by using a conversational type of assignment students are constantly talking and finding important points.
ReplyDeleteWhen comparing Mrs. L blogs and Mr. P. wikis one can see a very common characteristic, they are both used for communication. Mrs. L may use her blogs to help the students communicate with one another but what Mr. P is doing, is allowing his students to communicate with the community. Students can create podcasts on their wikis in which fellow parents and community members can subscribe to, in order to listen to the conversations. This is a great way to get the parents involved. One important point stated in the article that discussed Mr. P’s wikis was that“… parents subscribe to the podcasts so they can more easily engage their children in conversations about school.” So not only are students learning in school, these wikis provide them with the opportunity to learn at home, when they are discussing in more detail what they learned that day.
Also here is just an information site I found that can help us as future educators. It discusses to create wikis and why they are important. It has helpful pictures and videos as well! http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/webbuilding/page5511.cfm
I think that if voice thread is introduced well and students have time to explore before doing an assignment, then they will be more comfortable using it. If students still didn't like the program then I would allow them to use a website that is better for them, but would still give the same outcome as voicethread.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading over Nicole's post I agree with her completely. I believe that voice threads are more beneficial then just blogs and wiki's because it allows more people to use these websites. Younger grades can use the voice threads because it allows the students to see and hear the information at the same time. Voice threads are also important because it helps parents who may not be able to read. Nicole your post about smart boards really showed which aspects of smart board are helpful to teachers.
ReplyDeleteAmy G's post about board games on smart board also shows the different components of a smart board and how they can be help full to the student's. I like her idea of making up a board game about a specific topic you are teaching. The students would love that.
Nicole and Amy great use of smartboard in your classrooms! Nicole, I really like your KWL chart idea and applying it to the civil rights. Great Job! Also, Amy awesome job on applying smartboard to third grade multiplication!
ReplyDeleteMeghan, thank you for being honest and giving your opinion on dissecting animals and I'm really happy that you enjoyed this article and it was helpful! Also, thank you for the extra sites they look great! They definitely give some great activities!
Great job so far everybody! =)
Erica I love how you compared wiki's and blogs to each other. You really showed that you read the articles and explained how each one of them are beneficial to the students. You may want think about how using the voice threads could be beneficial for the younger grades such as kindergarten, they may not be able to read or type what they want to say but through voice threads they are able to participate. I really think you did a great job.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article on using the Smartboard, I found that there are many useful tips to use for my future classroom. Personally, I like tip #6: Interactive Worksheets. The reason why I like this tip is because in my future classroom I am hesitant on using numerous worksheets. Instead, I would want to create more of an interactive social classroom. Therefore, I feel that interactive worksheets would be very beneficial for me to utilize. I want to lead more of a constructivist classroom. With the helpful use of interactive worksheets, the students can work together, teaching one and other and I would be able to assess their understanding through observation. Personally, I feel that Smartboard should be introduced early in the elementary grades. As a future educator, I want to provide as much technology as possible into the curriculum for my students. In my first grade practicum, I definitely think that the class could benefit from using Smartboard.
ReplyDelete*If you go on YouTube there are many videos that actually show you how to use Smartboard. These are great resources to refer back to in the future for your classroom.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U05WeXPGlk This YouTube Video is extremely helpful to watch. It explains how easy Smartboard is to use in the classroom. It shows the unique features that are used with Smartboard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWNCHG-xB9o&feature=related This YouTube video explains “5 Tips and Tricks for the Smartboard”
Lastly, I really liked this Smartboard demonstration of using Calendar Math in the classroom… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5ChFuOqAHY&feature=related . In my practicum classroom my host teacher does calendar math every morning with the children. However I feel that the interactive technology of Smartboard would be very beneficial for the students to use!
*Just like the title of the weekly class/blog explains…
ReplyDeleteAs future educators, we need to overcome the fear of using technology in the classroom. We need to learn how to use it, and foster the learning in the classroom :)
Lindsay, I checked out the You tube videos and they do look really helpful! I completely agree with your second post about having to get over the fear of using technology in the classroom. If teachers are afraid to step out of "the box" and start using innovative technology, it truly is the students that will be suffering in the long run as we are all in a world surrounded by technology. Great job :)
ReplyDeleteQ3. I definitely agree that Wikis are the number 1 web 2.0 tool on that site. I looked through each of them, and they were all a great deal of fun. However, they only went so far, whereas with a wiki, there are countless things that you can do. From my own experience of using wikis, I think they beat all of the other 9 listed. By no means where the other sites bad, but just not as interactive as a wiki can be. I would probably use almost all of those sources in my classroom, but wiki is absolutely the most useful in my opinion. I would be missing out if I did not learn about wikis, and I will absolutely be using it in the future.
ReplyDeleteNicole, I really liked how you synthesized the material we are learning in Katina and Schillo’s class. Like you, I also disagree that wikis are better than voice thread. You pointed out a good argument that voice thread allows you to do the same thing as a wiki but in a wider array of medias. Children like having choices and if they can pick whether they present their material through text, a video, or through audio, they will be more apt to do better. God job with your post!
ReplyDeleteQ2) I really like tip number 8, graphic organizers. I feel that all teachers should be organized and help their students to be organized as well. I really liked the idea of using a concept map to help me organize my teaching. This tip also mentioned using graphic organizers such as venn diagrams. I think that venn diagrams would be a very useful tool as would other organizational tools like various types of webs that could connect my ideas. I think that using the graphic organizers would be great for all grade levels, especially the third grade level (which I hope to teach). I believe that the earlier you teach students how to keep themselves organized, the more organized they will be in their future. I really enjoyed using the smartboard. I liked being able to physically touch a drag items across the board. It also creates a very beneficial interactive style of learning. The smartboard has so many great teaching and learning tools, and I definitely plan on incorporating it into my future classroom.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all of your posts...they are great!! Gina, I totally agree with you about how useful a wiki can be! It is a great tool to connect the classroom to the world and community. Technology is becoming so important and the wiki will really teach this to kids. What are some tools that you would use on the wiki? Alicia, Graphic organizers are a really teriffic way to organize thoughts. How would you incorporate the smart board to your classroom?
ReplyDelete1) I have to say that wikis seem like the most important web 2.0 tool for young learners because everyone uses the internet nowadays. Using a classroom type setting on the internet that students can access and edit on their own is very useful. Without wiki in our class, I don't think any of us would know what was going on. There are so many great things that can be created with wikis. You can post assignments, projects, essays, lesson plans, or even just random thoughts you have on wikis. Students being able to edit content on these wikis makes it very interactive for anyone that chooses to use it, which is important in the classroom. You want students to participate, and through a wiki this is possible for even the shyest student.
ReplyDelete"5. Click-and-Drag activities ~ Most of the activities I do with the SMARTboard involve click-and-drag activities. I sometimes call them electronic worksheets, but they are a great way to review concepts the students have already learned." I think this is the best use for smartboard. The drag and drop activities that the group in class who presented smartboard used seem to get us focused most and had a lot of educational value. For instance, when they were showing the dissection of a frog, that is a good Science lesson. They also showed the respiratory system, which is also a Science lesson. Using the smartboard for interaction with your students is something that should be utilized. Drag and drop allows for many students to have a chance at using the board, while also grabbing their attention.
ReplyDeleteQ2. I think it is a great idea to use the smart broad in the classroom. It gets the students involved in the instruction where you can engage them with interactive learning. I'm not sure how well the smart broad would work with older students though, but I know and seen firsthand that it works great with elementary school students. From the tips I believe the best one is to use the smart broad to create fun learning interactive games for the students. If children can learn while having fun, why not do it? I also liked the tip about the interactive websites you can use with the your students. By having children use those websites it teaches them more about technology and the topic they are learning about. I believe the smart broad is a great new tool for the classroom, especially for this day and age.
ReplyDeleteQ2. Well let me start by saying I haven't used smart board yet. With that said, I liked tip 9 (interactive websites) This would be a great educational tool in my 1st grade classroom. I checked out game goo and was impressed with what I found. While I'm not a big fan of kids using the computer for anything more than a research tool, this site has me reconsidering that position a little bit.
ReplyDeletegood job so far everyone, keep up the good work. Thank you lindsay, erica and meg for providing some extra sites with useful information. has anyone else found sites? keep up the good work! :-)
ReplyDeleteWalter, just so you know for the next few weeks we will be working on the smartboard so you will be able to get a chance to use it, its pretty neat. Amber, I agree with your thoughts on the smartboard I think it is a great tool and I found it to be very fun, so I am sure the kids will too!
ReplyDeleteQ2. I really enjoyed reading this article because it opened my eyes to how much a SMARTboard can enhance the classroom. The most useful tip I found was the games. I think that interactive and fun learning is the most effective. The games used in the classroom are educational such as jeapordy that can be used as review games for a test. The other example I really liked was "Who wants to be a millionaire." Most students tend to do well when prizes are awarded for correct answers. Items such as candy or stickers can be given out. In the future I hope to teach first grade. There are so many games on the smartboard that can be used for children this age. When my group presented our Smartboard presentation, we explained how to use some of the games for specific content areas and these games can be used in first grade. One example would be the clock application. I can use this tool to teach how to read the time in an interactive way. Personally I really like using the smartboard. It creates a fun way to learn for the students. And as much as I like to use the smartboard, my students will like using it too. All of this new web2.0 technology is making teaching so much more enjoyable for the teachers AND students!
ReplyDeleteQ1. I absolutly think that wikis are the number one web2.0 tool for young learners. I agree with Tom that none of us would know what is going on in this class without the class wiki. If it was up to me, every college class would have a wiki. Its a great way for students to keep in touch with other students in the class and the teacher outside of the class time. Another reason wikis are important for young learners is so their parents can be involved. If the parents have a clear schedule of what is due and when tests are then they are more likely to push their children to do homework or study. Wikis are very beneficial to teachers and students and I will definatly be having a class wiki in my future classroom!
ReplyDeleteSo I guess I'm going to disagree but I really do think wikis are the best tool from Web 2.0. A wiki can encompass all of the great things we've been using, like a link to voicethread. I think there are so many great features to a wiki. It can host a blog, have a variety of pages, and link to other resources. I think, because it can have most of the other aspects of Web 2.0, it is superior to the others when they stand alone. I think every classroom teacher should have a wiki for their students to be able to communicate with one another, use the pages for their respective purpose and get familiar with what technology has to offer.
ReplyDeleteI also think using the Smartboard in class the other day was really helpful. I had no idea about the different things that you could use the board for. The dissection of the frog on the board was incredibly eye opening. I had only thought you could write on the board with the pens. I did not know about the software or programs that can also be used.
ReplyDeleteI liked that the group on Smartboard showed us the games. Like Sam said, they were a great way to get us interacting with the technology and I think for students, the games will be a fun way to learn.
Hii everyone! Sorry I haven't posted I have been stuck in bed because I have broncitis! Thank you GINA =) ! Well it looks like you all have been doing a great job! Sam I'm really happy that the article helped to open your eyes more about SmartBoard it is very useful and I agree with you that all this new technology is making teaching so much better as well as giving some of us quite a challenge!
ReplyDeleteEveryone keep up the good work!
After reading “Ten Ways to Get Smart With SMARTboard,” I believe that the article provided a wealth of information regarding the ways in which this educational tool can be used to enhance the school classroom. As I read the ten uses and examples described in the article, I considered many of the tips to be very useful. Although it was difficult for me to choose, I feel as though using the SMARTboard to play games would best benefit student learners. By playing games to review important material, including Jeopardy, Hollywood Squares, and Who Wants to be a Millionaire, students are able to actively participate in fun and interactive digital learning.
ReplyDeleteTo support my thinking, I will share an instance that I have observed concerning the use of SMARTboard in the classroom. While I was home over break, I was offered the opportunity to visit a kindergarten classroom. As I entered the classroom each day, the children were called to the carpet to read the morning message displayed on the SMARTboard. The class first read the morning message aloud together. The teacher then proceeded to lead her students in practicing word work and spelling skills. The children were able to touch the SMARTboard under her supervision, which allowed for movement and helped to increase the level of engagement within the learning environment. I think that exposing students to technology at a young age is necessary in society today, and I am grateful for such an enlightening experience.
Last week, I truly enjoyed learning about the SMARTboard in class. Like Meghan, I was not aware of the wide variety of applications that are available for use. As a future educator, I am looking forward to furthering my knowledge of this constructive tool, as well as applying these different features in my own classroom!
Q2) As a future educator, I agree with Megan. I believe I would find the United Streaming application the most useful on the SMARTboard. The other activities would also be useful, but I believe having a good resource to get new ideas from will prove to be very helpful.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I question how useful some of the applications would be by themselves. I think it is important to keep in mind not all applications should be used as the lesson themselves. If I was a student in a class where we used the interactive worksheet, I would not only want to see it, but I would want to be able to feel it and write on it. I would still need my own sheet in front of me. If we were using the clock application, I think it is important for each child to practice, as well as be able to show it on the SMARTboard. The games would be a great idea for a review. I'm sure we all had review games. The SMARTboard now just makes it easier to make, and probably a little more creative!
I also want to point out that Meghan, Erica, and Lindsay provided the class with additional resources that we could all refer to and use in our own future classrooms. Be sure to take a look! Thanks girls:)
ReplyDeleteQ1) While these all can be very helpful, I think it is important to keep in mind they can not be the ONLY source for students to share the information, as not all students have computers.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I played with some of these sites for a while! Still I feel one of the most beneficial technologies in the class would be the wiki. It provides a place for the students to show their work and be proud of it. It is one of the easier introductions to computer usage for the students as well. I like the fact they can be used for basically anything.
Alaina, I completely agree. I think that students in kindergarten should definitely rely on voice threads. I did not even think about it in that way.
ReplyDeleteToday in practicum, I was observing the Social Studies teacher and he was talking to the students about their homework and what assignments were due. He told the students to go online and check his blog! I could not believe that one of the teachers I was observing had a blog site! I thought this was really exciting to hear because I did not think that teachers really used the available technology to their advantage. Here is his blog site if you want to visit it! It is a great site and a good example of what an actual teacher’s blog looks like! http://mrcaravella.blogspot.com/
To answer question 2, I really enjoyed this article. I am always looking for advice on how to use the smartboard and I am happy we are getting to do so in class now. I personally felt that 3 out of the 10 tips would be most useful for me to utilize in my future class.
ReplyDeleteRight now I am observing with 1st graders. Most game activities really get the kids interested. Also when given the chance to watch a movie they go crazy, they love it. With United Streaming you can view and download educational movies, images, lesson plans and teaching tools related to any and every topic. You can view whole movies or just clips of movies and I think this would be very effective in a classroom like the one im with now.
Another tip i liked was the graphic organizers. They could also be really useful. The class I am observing in uses some sort of organizer like this every single day. Venn Diagrams on a smartboard would certainly keep the children's attention more because you will be using interactive technology and it will save the use of so much paper (my teacher only has a big notepad). You also can drag and move, erase, and have things spoken out loud when you write or type them in which is so much better than plain paper.
The last tip I really liked was interactive websites. The Internet is full of interactive websites for students to use. These could be used with the whole class or for a learning center with an isolated group of students. I went further to try the website provided GameGoo and there were so many fun interactive games for beginner, intermediate and advanced readers and writers with fun spelling activities (that I had fun with at my age), keyboarding practice (which is so necessary now that I am sure papers have to be typed at a younger age than we ever had to) working on opposites, poetry, identifying antonyms synonyms and sentence structures. They even have a section for parents and teachers that had learning standards listed for different states as well. This would be such a great tool to use with children in the classroom building language arts skills. I really suggest everyone check this out!
ReplyDeleteI personally think the smartboard is awesome. I get to teach another smartboard activity this Wednesday in our class and I might show the website I found from this article as well so we can all try it.
http://www.earobics.com/gamegoo/gooeyhome.html (GAMEGOO WEBSITE)
ReplyDeleteI love reading everyone's post about using smart boards. I have been using smart boards since I was in junior year. We had a few in my high school then and by senior year every class has one. When I did an internship I worked with one in a first and third grade class. That is one thing that I love about smart board its so versatile for all grades. Alicia and Lindsay both of those programs on Smart board seem to be so helpful in the classroom and I hope to use them in my future classroom. All of the articles and youtube links are so helpful when it comes to these program. Thank you guys for sharing!!!
ReplyDeleteQ2) I found the article on using SMARTboards in the classroom to be interesting and helpful. Last week, my group did the mini-lesson using the SMARTboard that Tom talked about in his post. I thought that these interactive tools were extremely engaging and fun. Most of the class wanted a turn at trying out the activities so I’m sure this tool would be popular in the classroom. I enjoyed reading about how there was a workshop to get the teachers interested and informed about using SMARTboard technology in their classrooms. I remember seeing them in some of my high school classes but my teachers never used them. The tip I found most interesting was tip #1 note taking and brainstorming. This seems like it is one of the simpler tips but I think it would be very helpful in my classroom. I like that you can drag and drop different words or phrases once you have written them on the board. This will definitely help me with organization. I think that it is really useful that the written text can be converted into type-written text. Students can brainstorm and organize ideas and the teacher can provide them with a copy of their notes afterwards. Overall, I really enjoyed this article and hope to gain more experience using the SMARTboard.
ReplyDeleteLike Alaina pointed out I am really enjoying reading all your posts on how useful and interesting you all think SMARTboard is! Faith, we will definitely be using SMARTboard in class again so we will all continue to gain more knowledge and different ways we can implement it into our classrooms. Erica that is awesome that you connected what we have been working on in our classroom with your practicum! It is amazing that 6th graders are using blogs! Thanks for providing us with the site it will definitely be useful to see a real blog from one of our host teachers! Also, Brienna great comment on how some may need a worksheet in front of them besides working on the SMARTboard. This is very true, because all students learn differently it is crucial as teachers that we provide them whatever they may need. I really appreaciate you stating your opinions! Great job 602 !
ReplyDelete