Esther Gaytan

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Friday, July 16, 2010

After 11 Tools: Reflections



I had a great time blogging. My favorite tool is Photo Story. I would use Photo Story in the classroom to recall prior knowledge. I can make a story with photos from field trips, classmates, numbers, alphabet, a story of their favorite book...to many ideas I can do on Photo Story! Another cool tool that I would love for my students to use is to do a Mosaic Maker from bighugelabs.com. This can be use as an introduction tool for the first couple to days of school. Students can make a Mosaic out of family pictures.

Technology has always been important for me to use in the classroom and for the students to use it as well. So many great things come from technology. I know having the iPod touch for students to use will help a lot in their learning and their fine motor skills.

Creating this blog was fun and easy to do...I loved it all!

Tool 11: Digital Citizenship



Digital Citizenship

Being a good Digital Citizenship is knowing your boundaries on the Internet. My student will be able to explore the Internet but with guidelines. They will know not to go into any website that has not been approved by me. They will practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology and will exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology. My students will understand that just like a bully is a person who is not showing responsibility in being a good citizen, a cyberbully is a person who does not obey the rules of conduct when using technology.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Tool 10: Exploring Mobile Technology And Apps

Shape Builder The Preschool Learning Puzzle Game
Toddler Counting Lite - Preschool number adventure

The two above apps are a couple of apps that I would like for my Pre-K student to play with. I have used an iPhone, iTouch, and the iPad and its pretty fun. I don't own a iPhone because I love my Blackberry dearly but maybe in the future I will get one.
My student would benefit on building their fine motor skills while playing with the iTouch (which is very important in Pre-K). Having an iTouch in the classroom will be another way to differentiate learning and teaching. An iTouch will help all different types of learners...Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic.
I've included to different links to websites that discuss iPod Touch in the classroom and the link to the Apple in Education website.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Tool 9: Sharing Information Through Jing & Skype

I haven't used Skype or Jing in my classroom but it would be a great thing to start using. Using either of the two can help you and your students communicate with anyone around the world for free. You can start using it as a way to get in touch with another teacher and her students as a pen pale method. Using Jing will help to share materials so that it can be used as a discussion on Skype.

I've included a video on how to use Skype in the classroom for beginners.

Tool 8: Video Resources

I like incorporating streaming videos in my lesson plans because it gives my students an additonal way to understand the lesson. It helps give my Auditory and Visual learners another way to learn the material other than just hearing it from me. I LOVE using YouTube. YouTube has some many videos that are very helpful in the classroom and for student learning.



Another website I like using is Ehow (knowledge for myself that can help me in my lessons). Ehow is a streaming video site that helps you learn just about anything. I included a link to a video on how to teach your studetns to write numbers.

http://www.ehow.com/video_4983880_teach-number-writing.html

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Tool 7: Digital Storytelling

I've started using Photo Story when I was in college for an assisgnment. In the classroom I use Photo Story as a memory...this video was made for my parents while they waited for the graduation party to begin. It's a very easy software to use and I love it! Students would be able to use it to make a project they have for example a video of their family or friends or any given topic. I would give my students to option to explore the software first then create a project.



Using Wikipedia in the Classroom: A Good Starting Point | Edutopia

Using Wikipedia in the Classroom: A Good Starting Point Edutopia

Tool 6: Wikis

http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Technology_in_the_classroom

Students can use wikis to help them researching a specific subject or a project they might have. A teacher can also uses wikis to gain knowledge or refresh his or her prior knowledge on topic. I like using Wikipedia myself when I'm trying to gather important information.
I like the like above because it talks about having technology in the classroom.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Tool 5: Tagging and Social Bookmarking

I decided to join Delicious at http://delicious.com/.

The websites I booked mark are:




and a few others.

Tags I used to locate my information were, internet for the classroom, preschool activities, teacher news, and technology for everyone.

Using Social Bookmarking in the classroom as an educational tool, bookmarking sites can help students to find ways to search for information other than Google indexing. Students who use these sites will also be less likely to lose links that they have found valuable. Students and teachers can move from one computer to another and still have full access to their bookmarks. Students and teachers will be less likely to forget the location of the sites they have used. Students can share their bookmarks with their classmates. Students and teachers can also share collections of bookmarks they have found to be worthwhile. Social bookmarking sites can also help students to quickly find links to important current events and historical events. Some bookmarking sites allow students to subscribe to news feeds on a particular subject of interest. They can then go daily to this site to find the most current news on the subject. For a definition of news feeds go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_feed.