Web Resources

My favorite web resource that we used in class is the united streaming. I really liked this website, because rather than searching all over YouTube for a good quality video on something that I want, I can find a good educational video on it. I like how it can be downloaded to the computer and uploaded into a PowerPoint or a Smart-board lesson. I found so many good videos and if I could start every lesson with a video, I would. There were videos that were good episodes of the Magic School Bus and then there were different documentaries that could be used in class too. I am glad that we have this site now and that we still have the funding.

Inspiration

Inspiration is a good resource for different things in the classroom. It is good for students and teachers to use.
1. Character analyzer
2. Concept Map
3. Science Concept sequence
4.History timeline
5. students planning an essay
6. Plot summary
7. Food Chain & Nutrition
8. Instructions for a game or activity
9. Organizing groups in the classroom
10. English words on one side, Spanish words on another side

Each of these could be used as a teacher or as a student. It is good for students to visualize the information but teachers can also benefit because they will have the information in front of them while teaching the subjects.

Social Bookmarking

Social bookmarking could have so many uses in the classroom. It could be used with students or it could also be used with other educators.

Students can benefit from social bookmarking.

• in place of a bibliography, just have them create a diigo page or similar for the sources
• when students are doing a research project, they can access their links from home and school computers

Social bookmarking is really helpful to teachers, too.

• keeping track of good sites for lesson plans, information, etc
• sharing with other teachers your sites
• being able to access the sites from home and school computers
• easy organization- can reference them year to year
• don't disappear when/if your computer crashes

 As a student now, I am already using it preparing for the future.

• saving all of the sites that I am finding in my Social Science Methods course as good sites
• I will be able to reference all of these sites later when I have my own classroom
• Keeping track of all of the good lesson plan sites

Google Apps

I really like Google Apps. I have used them in Spanish working on group projects and skits and now I am using them in my Social Science Methods class instead of meeting in the curriculum committees. They are a great way to work in groups and keep everything together.

Advantages:

• they are always online
• If you computer crashes, you still have the documents and can easily access them
• If you forget to email it to yourself to print, it doesn't matter because it is all online.
• It's easy to work with others and all see the same thing
• They work on every computer- don't have to worry about Mac/PC compatibility
• there is a ton of storage online and doesn't use computer space

Disadvantages:

• formatting is different than in Microsoft Word and doesn't always look the best
• if you don't have internet, you can't access the documents
• PowerPoint is a lot simpler and doesn't have as many options

Blogs in the Classroom

I can think of many ways to include a blog in a classroom. It should not replace handwritten work but it can be a huge supplement in the classroom. There are a couple different ways you could do it, depending on the level. Older students would be expected to write more and have more complicated posts, as older students would with writing in a journal.

Any Level

• A daily diary or weekly diary, where students write about their lives, in and out of school
• Using a blog to communicate with parents and students outside of the classroom, instead of sending home a newsletter.
• posting information about classroom activities
• field trips
• displaying classroom projects
• assignments that sick children missed
• giving parents and students supplementary materials and website

Younger Levels

• learning to type / practicing to type

Older Levels

• A character review for books, you could create a blog pretending to be that person
• a character from the past who wrote letters home, writing a blog to family members about their lives
• pen pals
• a place to chat with each other

There are many advantages to using blogs in a classroom

• children are interested because they like using technology- it is second nature to them
• you can easily communicate with families and studnets
• saves paper
• children can communicate and share with other classmates easily
• students are more confident from behind a computer screen

There are some disadvantages too

• it can become dangerous if you don't follow guidelines
• students need to have a balance between technology and traditional learning