Week #15

This week we completed our final. It didn't take me very long to figure out how to create a flyer and newsletter, but posting it in PDF format onto my website took forever! When I finally figured it out I could not believe how simple it was. I guess I was just thinking that it would be complicated, but in reality it wasn't. :)

I love how easy it is to share information using the tools that we have learned in this course. As teachers we will be able to easily collaborate with other teachers, while also sharing the information with students and parents. The Google tools are the most helpful with this, and I can definitely see myself using them in the future.

I watched the video this week with my 7 year old cousin. It brought a different element into the video. We watched the School House Rock - Noun video, and she absolutely loved it! :) She was singing the song the rest of the night. I didn't think that these types of videos would be effective with that age group, but I was obviously wrong. The video taught her what nouns were while also helping her to remember what she had learned. I love the creativity that School House Rock uses in their videos, and I can see myself using those videos in my classroom. They are not only fun to watch, but they help kids remember the information.

Week #14

This week we learned about power point and did some activities having to do with it as a pod. I really enjoyed the process and learned that working together as a group, especially if you are using google presentations, is actually quite easy and beneficial.
I can see this tool being extremely useful in the classroom. Students love technology and using the power point is just one way to bring that in. If your students are older you can even have them use power point to do their presentations.

This is a great tool for collaborating! Especially when you choose to use Google Presentations. Not only can everyone work on it at once, but you can also see the changes instantly! I loved working with this tool and could see it being very beneficial as a teacher. If you are using a website, it is easy to post and you can not only show what you are doing to your co workers, but the parents can also see what their students are doing.

I absolutely loved the video "Do you Believe in Me?" I could not believe my eyes when this young boy walked up on the stage and started addressing thousands of teachers. What he had to say was powerful! If we believe in our students, they will believe in themselves. I have always believed that is true. Teachers the most important job. They show others how to do things necessary for every career. Without teachers the world would be a very different place. These teachers though can make or break a student. If they believe in their students, each and every one of them can go far. "The Ron Clark Story" is a movie that shows the effect that just one teacher believing in his students can make. Each and every teacher has the opportunity to empower their students, and to help them believe in themselves. This is a huge responsibility, but we can rise to that challenge.

Week #13

This week was our week off so here is my video reflection :) I used the video called "3 Steps" for this week. The three steps in the video were; 1. Transform your Classroom into a creative learning space, 2. Teach students the skills of competition, cooperation and collaborating, and 3. Introduce your students to their global peers and provide them the opportunity to collaborate. I love the videos like this because it is so true. Students no longer can learn from just sitting in class and listening to a teacher pour information into them. They need to be critical thinkers. They need to be engaged in their learning because the skills they will learn will be the skills they will need in their future careers. If teachers aren't willing to step up to that challenge, then who is going to teach the future generations. They are often able to figure out technology for themselves, but how are they going to know how to use it in the real world without someone else to help? This is the challenge that we as future teachers face. We need to realize this, and start now to figure out how we are going to do it!

Week #12

The uses of the computer programs that we learned about this week are endless. As a teacher you can not only show your students how to mind map and brain storm, but you can also create fun activities for them to play. These programs also have tons of pre-designed activities that can be used to enhance a lesson and make it more hands on. This is a program that will help students learn what they need to learn in a fun way, and it can also be used for testing. As far as collaboration goes, as teachers we can purchase this program for the school and then share how we have used it with each other. We will also be able to share the activities that we design. The only con that I can see, is that kids already spend way to much time on the computer, and this would just increase that time.

The video this week presented a lot of the same information that has been in the past videos. I liked how they used pictures to add to their meaning. It is a daunting task to prepare students for the unknown. With technology advancing like it is, we as teachers must keep on top of it. We know that our students will know how to use it, and so we must also know how to use it, while also utilize it in the classroom. The music shift at the end really brought their point home. We must create this classroom and teach they way they learn best. We have to prepare them for their world and help them connect to it. If we cannot learn how to do this, we will continue loosing students.