After 11 Tools Reflection

I can't wait to use things like creating blogs and avatars; digital storytelling; bubblr, flickr, and bookr; jing and skype.
I plan to use bookr or photostory to have kids create a story about a field trip or subject we have learned about.
I already knew that technology was an important part of the education of our kids but I felt ancient in not being knowledgeable about it. I now have a ton of tools in my toolbox and feel that I am more comfortable to use them to enhance learning in the classroom.
I am definately more comfortable and confident with many of these tools. However, I am still unsure of how to deal with some of the problems that I have encountered (not being able to hotlink some of my sites, not being able to download some of the videos that I wanted to include in my blog, etc.) Hopefully, some of my collegues will know the answers to what I was doing wrong.
Overall, this was a great experience for me!

Tool #11

I think the 3 things I would focus on would be safety, communication, and responsibility. I would have class discussions about each area to see what they already know and to define what each is. I would show students what kind of digital citizen I am by showing them what things I am a part of and how I communicate with others on the internet. I would model everything many many times. I think the most important thing I can teach my first graders is how to be safe on the internet. I think that I will probably go over and over this particular part because I want them to know how important it is to not give out their information on the internet to anyone!
I think that modeling and group discussions about digital citizenship will be a continuous part of our classroom next year!

Tool #10

I love the iTouch. Our kids have used it at school and they really enjoy it! Some of the apps I looked at were alphabetically - where the kids have to try to hit the letters in order as fast as they can. This can really help some of our first graders who are still not automatic with the alphabet. The other one I saw that I really liked was PegBoard - where you have to jump over pegs and remove them and end up with only one peg. This will help students with strategy and thinking ahead.
I really liked some of the apps in the videos, the tangram one is great and the one where they have to create words and try to use all the tiles. I can't wait to get back to school and see if we can get some of these apps downloaded on our iTouches!

Tool #9

I think screencasts will be very helpful in the classroom. I can see doing screencasts for things like how to get to and log on to AR, Odyssey, etc.
I also think Jing is a great way for students to share class research or projects.
By using Skype the class could communicate with other classes within the district or even around the world.

Tool #8

I found this video on National Geographic's web site. They have so many videos about insects that we could show the kids during our insect unit. I like that this video compares insects to human qualities like hard-working and team work.



This is another video from National Geographic. It is about killer bees. It shows the students how insects adapt to their surroundings in order to survive.

There were several other videos that I found that would be useful in the classroom. However, I had trouble downloading any videos that didn't have embed capabilities. If anyone knows what I was doing wrong, I would appreciate the help!

Tool #7

I love photostory. We have used it in the classroom before for presentations on our different countries during our SS unit Friends Far and Near. I liked the 2nd grade example of using it to tell what they learned about the american symbols. The students could use photostory to tell stories and have their book buddies help them or to tell about a science project or experiment they did. What a great way to share what they've learned with their classmates! The only thing I had some problems with is that the pictures I uploaded turned blurry. Does anyone know why or how I could fix it? Thanks!

Tool #6

I found a wiki that was a first grade teacher and her class writing a class story. I thought it was a great idea and think I could use it with my class. I'm thinking we could create a class story about a field trip we go on or something we've done as a class. It would also be really great to try to write a story where one person starts it and others add to it. I can't wait to try this with my kids. I think they will really enjoy creating a class story and seeing their parts included in the story. What a great way to get kids excited about writing. Kaycie, another great book buddy idea???

Tool #5

I mostly searched for tags relating to math and math games that could be used during stations to help the kids with addition and subtraction facts. I found the following 2 sites that I really liked:
http://www.funbrain.com/
http://arcademicskillbuilders.com/
Sorry but I couldn't get them hotlinked something weird is going on. I will try to get them linked again later!
Also, if you are an upper grade teacher I found a really good website that had games for part-part-whole that I really liked. Let me know if you would like the link and I can share it.
In the classroom I think that the students will enjoy sharing the pictures or websites they find with their peers.

Tool #4

I love the idea of Google docs! It will make so many things we have to do collaboratively so much easier (like roadmaps, lesson plans, etc.)I think that the students could also use Google docs to help edit each others writing or comment on science projects etc.
The Google reader is really cool too! I like being able to link to sites that I want to keep up with on a regular basis.

Tool #3

I used the Bubblr, which used pictures from Flickr and speech bubbles to add some comments. I had a lot of fun doing this. I was imagining what kids could do after a field trip or something. What a great way to do some fun writing!


I also used Bookr to create this book. I think the kids will really be able to have a good time searching for pictures and creating their own books. Imagine the joy they will feel after creating a book that they can share with their friends. I can't wait to try this with my kids.

Tool #2

I think that creating online communities and participating in PLNs is a great idea for teachers. We are always looking for ways to get and share ideas. Also, I think being able to communicate with teachers in other districts, cities, and states can increase our knowledge and our toolkits. Teachers naturally want to talk about what they do (what is working or not working for them) and getting other peoples opinions and ideas is extremely helpful. I am excited about this journey!
The thing that stood out for me about commenting was how to attract comments. Asking questions within my post is definately something I am going to try to do. I also liked the part about returning comments. I think it is very important to respond to what people say in their comments, just as it is important to respond when people are talking to each other face to face.
The blogs I commented on were:
Live Laugh & Learn
Hard at work
Life long learning
Jello's 11 tools
Ms. Farias' 11 tools for the 21st century

Tool #1 continued

Woops I forgot to add the part about how I could use this in the classroom. . .
I think the kids would have a blast creating avatars and imagine how much fun it would be for them to comment on each other's blogs. I can't wait to try it!

Tool #1 Creating a blog and avatar

This was not as hard as I thought it would be. I found that while creating my avatar it was fun just to play around with the various clothes, facial structures, and bling provided by the site. I also found that I wish there would have been a little more there. Anyway, I had fun and learned something new.