I personally use Wikipedia and YouTube on a weekly basis. Typically, when I am looking for information on a topic and google the subject, a Wikipedia page pops up. I like to use Wikipedia as a starting point when searching for information. I use YouTube periodically in my classroom to link videos to my instruction. When it comes to using it for instruction, its important to preview the video and to be sure that the information you are about to show your students is accurate and appropriate.
Since I teach kindergarten, its safe to say that my students do not use Wikipedia. My school district blocks students from searching YouTube for the sole reason that it cannot be filtered. I, as a teacher, am able to you YouTube as long as my computer is logged into my teacher account.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Building and Refining my PLN
The three blogs that I have selected are: Mrs. Willis Kindergarten, Miss Kindergarten, and Mrs. Jump's Class. I have been visiting these blogs since September via a teacher website (www.teacherspayteacher.com) as a resource for my kindergarten curriculum. Since my district does not support or offer any specific curriculum, I had to venture out to find resources to build my lessons. I have used hundred's of ideas from these blogs. I have also purchased several items from Mrs. Willis Kindergarten and Miss Kindergarten from their blogs. I follow these blogs because they not only are they relevant to education but specifically to kindergarten. Kindergarten is like a whole different world that many people don't understand. All of these bloggers post pictures of their classroom, student projects, and activities. These blogs are saving my life during my first year of teaching. It will be nice to be able to use the RSS reader to tag blogs that I already follow and to help me find new ones!
The five people I selected to follow on Twitter are: @kinderlessons, @LMKindergarten, @kindergartentip, @KreativeinKinder, and @KdgWorks. I found many of the tweets and links these people have posts both interesting and beneficial. I will continue to follow them and search for more people within K-12 education.
To be honest, although these tools are helpful, I haven't used them very much. Mainly because we have used so many new tools in such a short amount of time, I haven't really had time to fully USE the tools. From what we have used so far, I do enjoy the RSS reader. It's a nice way to organize the blogs I follow. I like that the blogs can be categorized so I can separate personal blogs from professional blogs. The tool I feel that I will use the least is Twitter. I am not a fan of the constant updates of social media, I find it to be a bit overwhelming.
The five people I selected to follow on Twitter are: @kinderlessons, @LMKindergarten, @kindergartentip, @KreativeinKinder, and @KdgWorks. I found many of the tweets and links these people have posts both interesting and beneficial. I will continue to follow them and search for more people within K-12 education.
To be honest, although these tools are helpful, I haven't used them very much. Mainly because we have used so many new tools in such a short amount of time, I haven't really had time to fully USE the tools. From what we have used so far, I do enjoy the RSS reader. It's a nice way to organize the blogs I follow. I like that the blogs can be categorized so I can separate personal blogs from professional blogs. The tool I feel that I will use the least is Twitter. I am not a fan of the constant updates of social media, I find it to be a bit overwhelming.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
SAMR Model
I teach all subjects of all-day kindergarten. After reading about the SAMR Model, I realized how the resources and technology that I have in my classroom applies to each of the categories.
SAMR Definitions and Classroom Examples:
Substitution- Computer technology replaces traditional methods but does not change the function of the task. Using an Elmo to project a paper activity onto the whiteboard.
Augmentation- Computer technology substitutes a tool and provides functional improvement. During reading centers, my students use a program, Raz-Kids, to listen to and practice reading.
Modification- Computer technology enhances and redesigns traditional classroom tasks. The program, Raz-Kids, allows my students to record themselves reading a book. I am able to login to the teacher dashboard and listen to, save, and email their reading to parents.
Redefinition- Computer technology that creates new tasks that was previously inconceivable. My students use a program, eSpark, and follow a personalized educational plan in reading and math. They are assigned apps to play and videos to watch based on an adaptive computerized test administered. Once students complete a pre-test, watch the videos, complete the apps, and pass the post-test, they must record a re-teaching video. I am able to login to the teacher dashboard to view, save, and email their recordings to parents.
SAMR Definitions and Classroom Examples:
Substitution- Computer technology replaces traditional methods but does not change the function of the task. Using an Elmo to project a paper activity onto the whiteboard.
Augmentation- Computer technology substitutes a tool and provides functional improvement. During reading centers, my students use a program, Raz-Kids, to listen to and practice reading.
Modification- Computer technology enhances and redesigns traditional classroom tasks. The program, Raz-Kids, allows my students to record themselves reading a book. I am able to login to the teacher dashboard and listen to, save, and email their reading to parents.
Redefinition- Computer technology that creates new tasks that was previously inconceivable. My students use a program, eSpark, and follow a personalized educational plan in reading and math. They are assigned apps to play and videos to watch based on an adaptive computerized test administered. Once students complete a pre-test, watch the videos, complete the apps, and pass the post-test, they must record a re-teaching video. I am able to login to the teacher dashboard to view, save, and email their recordings to parents.
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