Wow! I can't believe how much I've learned during the two weeks we've been doing this class! I'm looking over each thing and thinking, "Where have you been all my life?"! My favorite thing from this week that I think I will use in my classroom is Skype. When I was doing my video call with Louis this week, he gave me the greatest idea for my classroom! I plan to use my webcam and Skype to bring authors and other experts into my classroom. That way, the kids can interact with the expert, without spending the money for a field trip. Thanks for the great tip, Louis!
So far, everything I have learned, including Google Docs, Social Bookmarking, and Skype, will be very useful in my classroom. I've already told my colleagues in my grade level about Google Docs, which we plan to use soon. I've also set up a Social Bookmarking group for the elementary SMARTBoard users to share sites. Now I plan to use Skype for virtual field trips. This is all so exciting! I can't wait to try it at school!
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
My head is spinning...
Well, I'm into my second week of my first Master's class, and my head is spinning! I am so excited to be starting this wonderful journey, but at the same time I'm looking at the clock and thinking, "There aren't enough hours in the day!"
So far, we've learned about Nings, Blogs, and Web Browsers. I actually just joined my first Ning about three weeks ago, for a grant project I'm doing called Project TILT. It's all about integrating technology into the curriculum, and I had to join a Ning to collaborate with my group members from other school districts about our projects. So I had heard about Nings, but this is my very first time blogging. It's very exciting! As for the browsers, I've always used Internet Explorer at home, and sometimes Firefox at school, but that's about it. I didn't realize how many different choices there were until I started the homework for this week! I'm really looking forward to doing the compare/contrast and to try out some different options to see what I might like.
I'm very anxious to see how I can use each of these things in my everyday life, with colleagues and students. Since I teach third graders, I'm having a hard time getting past the "this will be way too difficult for them" thing. However, I can definitely see using a lot of things in my communications with colleagues. I'm looking at Google docs and wondering why we haven't been using this all along instead of creating a document, e-mailing it to 3 or 4 people and saying "feel free to make changes and e-mail it back to me." How convenient, simple, and efficient Google docs will be!
I am very excited to be starting this Masters Program. I have been wanting to do it for quite a while now, and when I saw an opportunity in Instructional Technology and all online, I knew I had found the perfect fit for me! I look forward to getting to collaborate with all of the great people I'm meeting in class also! Well, I'm spent.....good night!
So far, we've learned about Nings, Blogs, and Web Browsers. I actually just joined my first Ning about three weeks ago, for a grant project I'm doing called Project TILT. It's all about integrating technology into the curriculum, and I had to join a Ning to collaborate with my group members from other school districts about our projects. So I had heard about Nings, but this is my very first time blogging. It's very exciting! As for the browsers, I've always used Internet Explorer at home, and sometimes Firefox at school, but that's about it. I didn't realize how many different choices there were until I started the homework for this week! I'm really looking forward to doing the compare/contrast and to try out some different options to see what I might like.
I'm very anxious to see how I can use each of these things in my everyday life, with colleagues and students. Since I teach third graders, I'm having a hard time getting past the "this will be way too difficult for them" thing. However, I can definitely see using a lot of things in my communications with colleagues. I'm looking at Google docs and wondering why we haven't been using this all along instead of creating a document, e-mailing it to 3 or 4 people and saying "feel free to make changes and e-mail it back to me." How convenient, simple, and efficient Google docs will be!
I am very excited to be starting this Masters Program. I have been wanting to do it for quite a while now, and when I saw an opportunity in Instructional Technology and all online, I knew I had found the perfect fit for me! I look forward to getting to collaborate with all of the great people I'm meeting in class also! Well, I'm spent.....good night!
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