Time Toast

I really enjoyed using Time Toast. I think that it is a tool that has a lot of capability and potential to be a very cool tool to use with my students. I think it is good for perspective and to supplement instruction by providing a visual of the content that is being presented. I also think that students will be able to utilize this tool.

Imovie

I really enjoyed getting my feet wet with IMovie once again. I was involved in a mass communications class for three years in high school and really enjoyed learning how to make and edit videos. I think that it is an important tool for a teacher to have because if we are proficient then we can make cool and engaging videos that will enhance the learning environment for students.

Blogger

I have really enjoyed learning how to use blogger. I first created a blog to follow my trip this summer to Uganda. I had some background knowledge on what you can do with it and attach to it. There are so many things, it is important to stay fairly basic and user friendly. I have really enjoyed using and utilizing the blogger tool. I plan on blogging when I get through with my internship to communicate to both parents and family and friends.

Animoto

I really enjoyed using Animoto. I can see myself using this tool to make quick videos that will help students gain a perspective of the progress that they have made. It is especially good, in my opinion, because it is free and all that the user must do is enter the pictures and the tool does the rest of the work. It could also be used by to show parents their own student progress. The opportunities are endless!

Inspiration

I really enjoyed learning some of the different things that you can do with Inspiration. I can definitely see how I could use this tool in my lesson plan and to make my lesson more interactive with my students. It is easy to use and pretty user friendly so that will help me make the diagrams and maps quickly and still allow them to be effective. I really look forward to using this tool to enhance my lessons.

Checkpoint

Sitting here halfway through the semester, I am thinking to myself that I feel pretty confident with all the tools and resources that I have learned so far. I feel like I will be able to use Google very effectively, as well as the different Web 2.0 tools. I look forward to to exposing my students to these resources so that they can use them too. My favorite thing so far is probably just learning all the different ways that I can use Google and how it can interact with students and parents both in the classroom and at home.

Scavenger Hunt

I really enjoyed doing the scavenger hunt and using the Picasa Album and Google Presentation as different ways to present this information. I can definitely see how I would use this in my classroom such as showing parents what we do in class or perhaps creating a slideshow of a field trip we took. I can see myself using this tool as a supplement to the other tools that we have learned about this year and use it effectively.

Google Docs

I really like all the things that you can do with Google documents. It allows for you to participate in a group/discussion and to share different ideas even when you are not in the same room. It is very beneficial, especially for college kids, to have this option because most of us are so busy. I think it can also be an extremely beneficial tool to use when I begin to teach and use different things with my class.

Webquest

I would use this webquest in my classroom because its focus is on showing kids how they would use math in real life every day jobs. This would be extremely beneficial for students to understand that what they are learning is important and that they will use it one day. I think this could be a very important tool that could help some students that are otherwise largely unmotivated.

Website Evaluation

The activity of completing a website evaluation was extremely beneficial for me. It allowed me the opportunity to think in a different way and gave me a new perspective on how to approach websites. Because of this activity, I now have a few key points to look for when approaching and using online material. I believe that I am much better served to evaluate websites as a future professional teacher because I know what a good, reputable website looks like. When someone knows what a website is supposed to look like and what accompanying information is supposed to be there, it makes it much easier to spot a fake or one that is not up to par. For these reasons, I think that activity was a very valuable one!

Course Expectations

I am coming into this class feeling confident with my ability to use technology, however I feel like I am a novice in the world of teacher technology. I hope that through this course I will feel confident in the different resources that are available for teachers so that I can be the most effective teacher possible.

HEY HEy Hey

My name is Landon. Join my please in this excursion into the world of technology!