I really like that Teacher Web is a place where all of my students could go to locate any classroom information. If my students want to learn about their homework, class events, take a test, or even just learn about me, they can simply go to my teacher web. It is also a really great for the parents of my students to utilize. As a future parent myself, I know that I am going to want to know what is going on in my student’s class. If their teacher had something similar to Teacher Web, I could see what was going on in my child’s classroom from the comfort of my own home. I think that it is a great idea, and something that more teachers should use.
I would like see a place where students could talk to other students in their class. Possibly like an online chat room just for my class, where they could discuss projects, confusion on homework, and other school related topics. It would also be neat if I could log into chat room a couple times a week, and answer any questions from parents, students, or just be available to my class.
As I said earlier, Teacher Web would be very beneficial in the classroom setting. One specific thing that is very helpful is that my students would be able to take tests on the Teacher Web. This would be very nice as a teacher because the Teacher Web would grade the tests, and simply send them to me. This would save me a lot of time, and be a great tool to use.
If the student’s were taking test online at home, I could foresee some problems occurring. If they are in the comfort of their own home, they can use the internet, books, or their family members to help them answer the test questions. This could be a problem, and create an unfair advantage.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Concept Mapping
You can utilize concept mapping in many ways. Five of those ways consist of:
1. Using concept mapping to help students explore the four seasons. Having them create pictures that symbolize each of the seasons and clumping them together with similar symbols. This is a great way for young learners to understand the four seasons.
2. Using concept mapping while learning the “Base Ten” unit may be helpful to some students. Creating base ten blocks in each of the thousands, hundreds, tens and ones place, and allowing students the opportunity to draw blocks in each of the place values.
3. Using concept mapping anytime you want your students to categorize a group of something like fruit, trees, the different senses, and vegetables, having them draw and categorize these items is a great way for them to have a further understanding of the categories.
4. Using concept mapping when students are learning the many sources of energy. Once a student realizes that energy comes from a variety of sources like from the sun, they can create a concept map that extends their understanding of all of the places that energy come from.
5. Using concept mapping when learning new concepts in math. This can be done while learning addition. A student could create a concept map that displayed all the number combinations that added up to 45.
1. Having Concept mapping software available for my students would be a great thing to have in the classroom when teaching content. As we have been learning, students learn in a variety of ways. Some are audio learners, while others are very visual learners. Utilizing concept mapping would be very helpful for these visual learners. It allows them to process their thoughts and ideas through a visual method. They are able to see what their thinking process is, and therefore, are more likely to be able to clearly convey their thoughts. Also, utilizing technology in the classroom is a great way for teachers to get their students excited about learning, and allow their students time to interact with technology in an academic environment.
2. I do believe that anytime you introduce something into your classroom that it is vital to be completely comfortable in teaching it to your students, so that you do not confuse them in the process. As a future teacher, I would love to integrate this software into my classroom, because I think it would be helpful. The problem is, I also know how technologically challenged I am, and I am worried that I would not be able to understand it well enough for myself. I think I could learn how to use if efficiently in about a week if someone were to sit down with me and show me how to use it. If not, I think I would get overwhelmed and just end up not using it.
1. Using concept mapping to help students explore the four seasons. Having them create pictures that symbolize each of the seasons and clumping them together with similar symbols. This is a great way for young learners to understand the four seasons.
2. Using concept mapping while learning the “Base Ten” unit may be helpful to some students. Creating base ten blocks in each of the thousands, hundreds, tens and ones place, and allowing students the opportunity to draw blocks in each of the place values.
3. Using concept mapping anytime you want your students to categorize a group of something like fruit, trees, the different senses, and vegetables, having them draw and categorize these items is a great way for them to have a further understanding of the categories.
4. Using concept mapping when students are learning the many sources of energy. Once a student realizes that energy comes from a variety of sources like from the sun, they can create a concept map that extends their understanding of all of the places that energy come from.
5. Using concept mapping when learning new concepts in math. This can be done while learning addition. A student could create a concept map that displayed all the number combinations that added up to 45.
1. Having Concept mapping software available for my students would be a great thing to have in the classroom when teaching content. As we have been learning, students learn in a variety of ways. Some are audio learners, while others are very visual learners. Utilizing concept mapping would be very helpful for these visual learners. It allows them to process their thoughts and ideas through a visual method. They are able to see what their thinking process is, and therefore, are more likely to be able to clearly convey their thoughts. Also, utilizing technology in the classroom is a great way for teachers to get their students excited about learning, and allow their students time to interact with technology in an academic environment.
2. I do believe that anytime you introduce something into your classroom that it is vital to be completely comfortable in teaching it to your students, so that you do not confuse them in the process. As a future teacher, I would love to integrate this software into my classroom, because I think it would be helpful. The problem is, I also know how technologically challenged I am, and I am worried that I would not be able to understand it well enough for myself. I think I could learn how to use if efficiently in about a week if someone were to sit down with me and show me how to use it. If not, I think I would get overwhelmed and just end up not using it.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Blogs In Education Project
After searching for “Educational Blogs,” on google, yahoo, and msn.com, I found that my results were fairly similar. The first several sites appeared to be exactly the same on each of the search engines. This is most likely due to either the high amounts of “hits” the first several websites received, or because those specific sites had spent large sums of money to have their site show up first, in order to catch the searcher’s eye.
1. Today, blogs are being utilized in education in several different ways. As I began searching these educational blogs, I found interesting information on www.weblogg-ed.com. This was a blog that was an interactive site for teachers. The teachers were utilizing this blog to discuss a current issue that was frustrating to them. By blogging, they were allowed the opportunity to discuss their frustration, and share their thoughts with other teachers. Another way that educational blogs are being utilized is what I found when searching budtheteacher.typepad.com. This site was filled with blogs from multiple days that displayed links to technology that the teacher had utilized recently in his classroom. The purpose was to provide other teachers with current information that he was using, that they could later use in their classroom. Lastly, I visited educational.blogs.com/edbloggerpraxis/. This was a site displayed by a teacher named Tom Barrett from England, who created a page to have teachers subscribe to an integrated ICT, similar to what we have in this class, the teacher WebQuest. But Barrett offers more than what is offered in our WebQuest, for you can create tests and grade books, but then have people go in and change or refine your work.
2. While searching RSS readers and aggregators, I found that both are rather similar in that they both provide information concerning recent topics or issues in a collaborative manner. The difference between a RSS reader and an aggregator is that an aggregator may provide more links or information from a variety of sources. It is more of a collection of all sorts of information. I think I would rather use an aggregator because it provides more of a variety of sites and sources that I can utilize. I may use both of these in a classroom setting in order to gain knowledge. Using a RSS reader or an aggregator, I can gain knowledge from a variety of sources while just going to one site. This will be helpful to me as a teacher because I need to continuously be informed and have a clear understanding of what is important in the world of education.
3. I think it is really important for students to have to opportunity to share their ideas, and be exposed to the ideas of others. Blogging is a great opportunity to do this. Blogging allows students the opportunity to write their thoughts and ideas similar to a journal entry, but it also allows the opportunity for others to comment, agree, or disagree with their writing. It also allows the student to comment on other’s blogs. This idea of sharing and comparing thoughts and ideas is extremely beneficial to the developing mind of students. Also, using a RSS reader can be beneficial for students to allow them exposure to current information. Here, the students can go to one page to locate current information for a project of topic.
4. There are both pros and cons to using blogs and RSS readers in the classroom. I would consider two pros to be that using blogs and RSS readers may enhance the student’s understanding of a variety of opinions, ideas, or topics. Another pro could be that allowing students the opportunity to blog, is a way to allow them to express their opinions through writing, therefore, enhancing their writing skills. Two cons could be that blogging could be dangerous, as it is utilizing integrated technology. This could be unsafe because today, everyone is on the web, which could be risky when discussing the safety of your students, and exactly who is talking with your students. Also, when using a RSS reader, the validly of the information presented could be an issue. The accessibility of the internet allows anyone to post anything on the web, and therefore, the information presented may not always be accurate and beneficial for a student.
1. Today, blogs are being utilized in education in several different ways. As I began searching these educational blogs, I found interesting information on www.weblogg-ed.com. This was a blog that was an interactive site for teachers. The teachers were utilizing this blog to discuss a current issue that was frustrating to them. By blogging, they were allowed the opportunity to discuss their frustration, and share their thoughts with other teachers. Another way that educational blogs are being utilized is what I found when searching budtheteacher.typepad.com. This site was filled with blogs from multiple days that displayed links to technology that the teacher had utilized recently in his classroom. The purpose was to provide other teachers with current information that he was using, that they could later use in their classroom. Lastly, I visited educational.blogs.com/edbloggerpraxis/. This was a site displayed by a teacher named Tom Barrett from England, who created a page to have teachers subscribe to an integrated ICT, similar to what we have in this class, the teacher WebQuest. But Barrett offers more than what is offered in our WebQuest, for you can create tests and grade books, but then have people go in and change or refine your work.
2. While searching RSS readers and aggregators, I found that both are rather similar in that they both provide information concerning recent topics or issues in a collaborative manner. The difference between a RSS reader and an aggregator is that an aggregator may provide more links or information from a variety of sources. It is more of a collection of all sorts of information. I think I would rather use an aggregator because it provides more of a variety of sites and sources that I can utilize. I may use both of these in a classroom setting in order to gain knowledge. Using a RSS reader or an aggregator, I can gain knowledge from a variety of sources while just going to one site. This will be helpful to me as a teacher because I need to continuously be informed and have a clear understanding of what is important in the world of education.
3. I think it is really important for students to have to opportunity to share their ideas, and be exposed to the ideas of others. Blogging is a great opportunity to do this. Blogging allows students the opportunity to write their thoughts and ideas similar to a journal entry, but it also allows the opportunity for others to comment, agree, or disagree with their writing. It also allows the student to comment on other’s blogs. This idea of sharing and comparing thoughts and ideas is extremely beneficial to the developing mind of students. Also, using a RSS reader can be beneficial for students to allow them exposure to current information. Here, the students can go to one page to locate current information for a project of topic.
4. There are both pros and cons to using blogs and RSS readers in the classroom. I would consider two pros to be that using blogs and RSS readers may enhance the student’s understanding of a variety of opinions, ideas, or topics. Another pro could be that allowing students the opportunity to blog, is a way to allow them to express their opinions through writing, therefore, enhancing their writing skills. Two cons could be that blogging could be dangerous, as it is utilizing integrated technology. This could be unsafe because today, everyone is on the web, which could be risky when discussing the safety of your students, and exactly who is talking with your students. Also, when using a RSS reader, the validly of the information presented could be an issue. The accessibility of the internet allows anyone to post anything on the web, and therefore, the information presented may not always be accurate and beneficial for a student.
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