Tool #11 Reflections

1. I think my favorite tools are the image generators and mash ups. I had a lot of fun looking through all of the options available for making creative projects with pictures. I could see myself using this in my Geometry class by having my students create different pictures that explore the types of transformations we discuss in class. I also enjoyed the digital storytelling. Imovie and photo stories can make any project more interesting!

2. I'm excited about the opportunity we will have in class this year to use netbooks in the classroom. I think this will allow me to incorporate technology quite a bit more than I have in the past. The students are so gifted at using technology, and I know it will keep their interest if it is used more. At this point, I'm not 100% sure how I will implement all of these tools, but I'm excited to have all the options.

3. I wouldn't say I was surprised by anything in this program. I enjoyed looking at all the different applications out there that are available to educators. I knew there were a lot, but had never really taken the time to explore them in depth. Completing this program allowed me the opportunity to see what is out there and look at ways to incorporate them into my classroom.

Tool #11

I would want my students to understand many things about digital citizenship. First of all, they need to understand that everything they find on the internet is not fact. It's easy to find a web site and take the information at face value, but students need to know how to verify that information. I would also want my students to understand the atmosphere of respect that needs to exist when making comments on people's blogs or works they have created. I think sometimes people feel the freedom to write comments that they would never say out loud to a person simply because it is not face to face. I would encourage my students to not post any comments to people that they would not say to their face. Finally, I would caution my students about safety on the Internet. Many students freely give away information because they think they are safe and somewhat anonymous. Students need to understand the risks involved with making too much information public and realize that once their information is out there, it is out there forever.

I would teach the ideas of digital citizenship through basic conversations in class. I think getting students to dialogue about what can happen on the Internet is the best way for them to understand what can happen.

Tool #10

I have an iphone and love all the apps available! I can see where the ipod touches and ipads could be very helpful in the classroom. I know several of my students used their ipod touches this past school year to access a calculator that has trig functions. There is a free app with an extended calculator outside of the one that is provided on the device. I like the sudoku app as well as the ken ken app. They are great practice for students with numbers when they have a little down time.

Tool #9

1. I have never heard of Jing before, but it seems like a great program. I love that you can take screenshots and save them on your desktop and be able to send to other people. It could be very helpful for students who need to send pictures that are sometime difficult to extract from a webpage.

2. Skype is a great program that I have had a lot of experience with. It makes it so easy to be able to talk to people outside of our immediate school. Skype could be used for guest speakers in the classroom as well.

Tool #8 Part 2

This is another youtube video. I would love to show this to my kids and then have them try to explain to the guy in the video why his calculations don't make sense. This will make them have to think about the very basics of why they do the operations they do, even for simple problems like division, multiplication, and addition. It's fun to use entertaining videos like this to get kids more involved and interested in the content being taught. I came across quite a few videos that I would love to use to make learning more interactive and applicable to real life situations!

Tool #8

This video from youtube has a song for the Quadratic Formula. This is always a difficult concept for students to remember, and I think putting it to a familiar tune will help them. I like how this video has the formula on the screen as well so students can make the connection visually and orally.

Tool #7

I made this imovie this summer for some friends of mine who have a non-profit organization in Romania. It highlights the work they are doing there and all of the aspects of the project they run. I have used imovie before and find it fairly easy to navigate.

I think imovie and photo stories are both good resources for students in presenting projects. It allows them to add a little more to the presentation than just a video.