500 word blog reflection

In my educational studies 111 class, we discuss that one of the main ways we can help kids change, is to help them set goals for themselves. We figure out what they want to accomplish and help them do things to accomplish their goals. We should go about changing people in the same way. If what they are doing is damaging to themselves or others, they obviously don’t have greater goals to accomplish. If they are acting detrimental to themselves or others, then yes, we should change them. If they are just trying to figure out themselves, and where they feel they need to go in life, then in this case, if they ask for help we can give them our input, otherwise, we can let them run down their own paths. The way we teach should follow our instincts. There are some kids and people that either don’t have access to technology or don’t want to use technology, yet the world around them is ever changing towards the technology-direction. I don’t think it is logical to do a complete switch from “old fashion” to “new aged with technology.” However, I don’t think it would be a terrible idea to start incorporating each aspect into each other. Students are the same, yet they are changing at the same time. Students are the same in the fact that every student is different, every student comes from a different background and lifestyle, every student is going to learn in a different way, and every student will learn at a different pace. They are changing in the fact that they are being interested in different things, which is ultimately changing the way they learn, and their interest to learn. As a kid, one of my favorite things to do was read. I learned to read at an early age, and always loved to read. And I still do. However, kids now, are growing up with iPods, televisions (not that I did not have a television, we just didn’t use it everyday for our only source of entertainment), computers which leads to ultimately an endless access to information. So kids now are harder and harder to interest when it comes to learning, writing, reading, and math. Why learn to write when you can type, why learn to read books when you don’t need to read books, you can HEAR books, why learn math when I have a calculator that can literally do ANYTHING. What I want for my children is to know that they will learn the basic information that they need to learn, but also maybe some of the “old fashioned” things. Like have books hold a little more importance than they do right now. I think it would be a great idea for teachers to embrace the changing ways, and incorporate technology to lure in the attention of a few more kids. But, like Marilyn said, every kid needs to do some cutting and pasting. Every kid needs to be able to read with a book in their hands. And this is what I want. I am going to use technology in the classroom. I don’t quite know to the extent what I will use. I’m sure I will use some sort of document camera. And I really am intrigued by the idea of sending a voice newsletter out to families or other types of podcasting. I’m sure I will use SMARTBoard, now that I have endless access to it, to create lessons, and have interactive things for the kids to do on there. And I know I want to keep my portfolio updated and use that to my fullest benefit. I appreciate all of the new tools I have learned about, and now have access to. I’m sure none of us will forget, because that’s where it looks like we’re heading.

eBistro.com

This is a pretty nifty site. This site gives you a wide variety of tools and information for teachers to use. I thought it was a great way to compile all the information (That we basically learned from our class), on one site, wrapped into a conclusion, in this cute, creative site. I don't know if I need to ever go back to the site... but for others just beginning, it could be a good (or a tad bit overwhelming) start.

New Tools

Eyeplorer.com

This is another alternative search engine. Use other things besides Google! This particular search engine, along with Spezify and Mugurdy, are "Visual Search Engines." They are based heavily on visuals. This is different from other search engines I have ever seen! It takes a little explaining, so what better than a video that they provide you with (only two minutes). You type in an idea, and it brings up different size sub-topics that somehow relate. Big dots are popular topics, and smaller dots are more unknown facts. It's pretty cool!

As a PLN- Create two lists:

1) Technology projects that you can do as a teacher to enhance your classroom for your students
a. Tech Newsletter
b. Voice Thread for parents or students
c. SMARTBoard
d. Glogster posters
e. Take pictures on the first day, and create a digital stories for them
f. Online white boards

2) Projects that you could have your students participate in that would promote project based learning or just plain fun if you had your dream classroom.
a. A Voki
b. Bighugelabs
c. Interactive White boards
d. Google Docs
e. Wordle
f. Google Earth

Google Site!

Check out my Google site!

http://sites.google.com/site/jensensprofessionalsite/

Wix.com versus Google Sites

I just tried out Wix.com as an alternative to Google Sites. I like Google Sites much more than Wix. I find myself playing around more than organizing. And it seems a much more amateur than Google. I just find myself lost on the page and it just seems crazy.

Tech Newsletter using Youblisher

This is our newsletter made by our PLN. If you click on the picture, it will take you to the full project. You can see here that it is suggesting the use of Puzzle Maker, SMARTBoard, Wordle, and XtraNormal.

We made this document using Google Docs, saved it as a PDF file, and then used Youblisher to make it into a magazine. For as many steps as we used, it was actually fairly simple. It was easy to make, and easy to turn into a magazine-look. This could be a very easy way to share information, and give new ideas to other teachers.