Voice Thread

Although I enjoyed the voice thread website, I will not be using it this lesson plan. I will however, consider using it in my classroom as well as with family and friends. I loved how everyone can give input about the same media. Very fun concept.

chow.....

Desktop Publisher

I loved the assignments this week. I had never worked with Publisher before, yet I found it very easy to work with. I could see using this software in the classroom, both student and teacher. I could use to generate calenders, newsletters and so on. Students could use them to create brochures and flyer's for events. They could use them to enhance book reports. There are endless creative possibilities to use this software in the classroom. By far this has been the software I have enjoyed the most.

chow for now.....

Power Point project

My partner in crime is Kayla Morgan, I think she and I will work great together on this project. We had an opportunity to work together on the Wiki project and seem to get along well. We have are working with the following topic:
The Role of Technology in classrooms.

We have not done much yet, however, we are meeting on Friday in the lab to work on the project together. I think we will get a great portion of the project finished. I look forward to working with Kayla, and I am sure between the two of us the assignment will turn out fine.

Chow for now......

Online class verses the Face-to-Face class

I just read a great article for my Journal Abstract assignment. It had several great observations about online verses face-to-face classes. For the most part everyone agreed that the teacher makes the difference in both setting, in other words bad teacher, bad class, either way.

Some of the advantages for online:

The student that tends never to speak up in class, is more willing to "chat" or post to a discussion board.

There is more discussion among peers in most online classes. The teacher guides conversation, yet students are speaking and hashing things out with their peers not so much student verses professor.

Oh, and then there is my favorite perk, you can come to class in your P.J.'s! Students love the freedom that online classes bring. You can still come to class, even if you aren't felling well or one of your family members needs your attention at home.

Some of the disadvantages:

You can't just raise your hand and get an answer, this can be frustrating to some people.

Because you are not in a live classroom, you can be easily distracted.

I have enjoyed and hated online classes. If the teacher is not committed to being an active participate in the class, things can go down hill fast. Sometimes, online classes require a little more effort, because teacher have to be a little more creative when it comes to making sure the student is processing the information correctly and following through with assignments.

So, my final thought is online classes are very powerful tools to allow more students to take classes who might not be able to otherwise. It is an asset to the university and the students.

Chow for now.....

Delicious

I was impressed with Delicious. I love the idea of being able to access my favs from any computer. This is a great concept, considering how often we use computers outside of our home. I will be incorporating this website into organization of my computer websites.

Inspiration website

I really enjoyed looking over the Inspiration website in class. When I got home I spent some more time navigating the website. I found that it is just as beneficial to the teacher as it is to the student. After a little snooping, I discovered it has the current TEKS for your state on-site and some of the latest research published.

It provided great tools for the teachers to make sure her/his lesson plans follow the required TEKS. It provided suggestions for lesson plans relative to the subject content area. It offered various organizational tools as well for the teacher.

I love the fact that the student could exercise his knowledge inside the content area, as well as learn computer technology. Also, I liked the idea that the student begins to learn how to do effective research, a skill I did not really learn until I reached a college campus. I give the software a thumbs up.

In regards to writing assignments, I think it would be a great resource for students. They can share ideas and thoughts without having to be in the same place. They could help each other with brainstorming, editing and revisions as well. I think peers can sometimes help each other learn more effectively than the teacher in some cases.

week 2 homework

I just finished listening to Tim's Podcast. It sounds like he turned his Jr.High from a campus to a community. I was amazed at the improvements in the area of communication between the parents and the teachers. I think it is a great idea to use a blog inside your classroom. I am sure, as with everything there are some draw backs, yet it would seem that the good out weighs the bad. I know not every student has a computer at home, however, must campus and work places are equipped with a computer.

I loved the idea of posting worksheets, forms for parents and other general info on the blog. What a time saver.

I will most likely use a blog inside my classroom. I plan on teaching on a secondary level, a level at which most kids enjoy being on the computer. This might be a great avenue for group work, they can blog verses meeting in person.

The most important thing I believe a blog may do is it gives the student who may not speak up in class an avenue to express his thoughts and beliefs. Often, students are afraid to be to verbal inside a classroom, yet they will post their thoughts in writing. For example, we may have a classroom discussion regarding the students response to a particular reading, yet only one or two students may open up and discuss, whereas, with a blog more students may take the opportunity to share their ideas.

I plan on teaching English Lit and creative writing. I would love to have specific blogs set up regarding specific subject matter.

A little info about me.

I am married to Bryan, and we have a son named Caleb. They are both wonderful in their own right. I have been married for 12 years and my son turns 10 years old today.

I, finally came to a place in life where I could go back to school and persue my dream job to teach. I was 38 when I started college. I was a little intimidated to start so late in life, however, I have found it to be a very rewarding experience.

I am an English major, hoping to teach in a high school environment, while working on my masters.

chow for now.....