More Articles to Ponder

Laptops replace textbooks in Louisiana District

http://www.eschoolnews.org/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=6998 With all the new tech I new it wouldn't be long before this started. I think it is a good idea, and with just a few schools doing it other schools can see how effective it is and think about an all digital curriculum for themselves. Maybe colleges will start and our future won't have to pay so much money for Textbooks!

Video system helps create multimedia curriculum

http://www.eschoolnews.org/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=7015 This program is great for visual learners. I think students are certainly going to benefit from programs like this. It is encouraging to see educators taking extra steps beyond and improving their students education. These teachers encourage other teachers to try new things also.

Two Sites shared with a Mrs. Hilmore

Compiled with my 3rd grade teacher from Sullivan Elementary Mrs. Hilmore
Apple Learning Interchange Reflection : There was so much to explore here. We were both amazed by the Technology. There were over a hundred videos to choose from and over 400 images. We thought the images would be great for journal writing since some of them were so interesting it would be neat to see what the students wrote about them. I was really interested in some of the podcast and look forward to multitasking and listening to a few of them. (Tales of a Classroom Blogger & Promoting 21st Century Skills) Mrs. Hilmore was impressed with the site. I told her about many of the things we have been doing in class and she was glad that I was introduced to all this before beginning teaching. She was my third grade teacher and we talked about how much has changed since then. We used to just use the computers in her room for Number Munchers and Oregon Trail!

ALTEC
I liked the Casa Notes http://casanotes.4teachers.org/ I could use those in the future.
Kids Vid: http://kidsvid.altec.org/ Video Production site, I like how the site helped teach students the right way to shoot a video and ask themselves the process and shoot something really fun and interesting.
Tech Topics http://www.thetech.org/exhibits/online/topics/ This was my favorite of all the ALTEC sites, it is so cool. I think students would just Love this site. The activities are fun, their are videos, you should check it out if you haven't already.
http://www.4teachers.org/ 4 Teachers is the site I would use most out of all these sites. It is loaded with lots of great stuff. There is an area on Assessments and Grant Resources, Mrs. Hilmore thought I should really look into those areas. The Grant Resources took me to the TAKE site http://take.ksde.org/ Technology Assistance for Kansas Teachers, once again a great site I stumbled upon.

TECS 290 What an adventure!

This spring I took a technology course from Fort Hays State University: TECS 290. WOW! The following are some new things I learned.

1. I learned how to use Flicker-an online photo managing site. You can download your own pictures and share them and also browse tons of other people's pictures. You don't have to make you pictures available to everyone, you can invite who you want to share them with. In this course we made up a lesson using the flicker site and our own pics. I enjoyed learning how to use Flicker and I now share it with many of my family members. Here is mine if you want to check it out! http://www.flickr.com/photos/jrsmith6/ View the slide show it is a neat feature.
2. In this class we also had the opportunity to move on past the basics of Power Point and use a template to make a game for a lesson plan. We had to incorporate a standard into our lesson game. I made one for astrology. I used the template at Games to Teach By http://facstaff.uww.edu/jonesd/games/ "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" It turned out great and was easy to learn.
3. In the beginning we started up our own Social Bookmarking Site. At first, I thought it was kind of difficult to set up. Now, I am glad I did it because it is so useful. I never thought I would have so many links on it. I am still adding to it, check it out and you are welcome to add to it also! http://jrsmith6.wetpaint.com/

10 sites that I have found to be useful!

1. Tekmom http://www.tekmom.com/search/ I already use this site at school to encourage students to seek answers themselves. It is very user friendly and I think parents would enjoy it also in helping their children with homework.
2. Education World http://www.education-world.com/ I think this site would be ideal for the first year teacher because it had many ideas for lesson planning. From newsletters to 5 minute fillers to help you plan your lessons. There were also quite a few articles and games for teaching Technology to young students.
3. Teaching Treasures http://www.teachingtreasures.com/ This site is filled with teaching ideas and suggestions. It is geared for grades K-10. It even includes special education tools. Also, easy to navigate, added bonus.
4. Techlearning http://www.techlearning.com/ I first clicked on the Teachers subtitle after I subscribed and was hooked. Each week there is a School Site of the Week, grants to review, and a quick fix how to.
5. Ressources http://www.english-teachers.net/ This site has a ton of information. It gives lesson plans for grades k-12. It boasts that it has access to 75,000 lesson plans. It has links to many more sites, to help you find what you are looking for. It is a harder site to navigate with so much on it. If you know exactly what you are looking for it is a good site.
6. Tech-nology http://www.teach-nology.com/ This site advertised it was ‘The Best on the Web for Teachers.” It featured forty other sites and viewers ranked them. My favorite part of the site was the printables section, all-free! I would recommend anyone check this site out. Again it is geared k-12.
7. Lessonplanspage http://www.lessonplanspage.com/ This site is for grades Pre K-12. The lesson plans are all printable and free, now who couldn't use that? It has all your typical subject areas plus lessons on computers & Internet, and discipline.
8. Factmonster http://www.factmonster.com/ There are many uses for this site. Most schools have a word of the day; students could use the classroom computers to look this up on this site using the dictionary. If we read something that we are unfamiliar with we could use the Encyclopedia or Atlas. The features are interesting and fun. This would be a great site for students to do research on.
9. Games to teach by http://facstaff.uww.edu/jonesd/games/ I used this site and created a "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" power point game. It was so easy and fun. I will definitely use this site again.
10. PBS Teachers http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/search.htm This site is geared for younger K-3 students. It has some interesting podcast and links for students, parents and teachers.
    
    
    

Articles to Ponder

U.S. schools lag behind in use of technology
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2005-01-07-schools-lag-in-tech_x.htm
This article had many valid points. I agree that all teachers should take a technology course and I think they should take them often as technology is always changing. I like the idea of students being issued personal computers. All students would have a computer in the home then and it is a great way for parents and teachers to communicate.

National Education Technology Plan
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/technology/plan/2004/site/edlite-default.html
I thought this site was interesting in that it shows teachers how they can give students more personal attention. No student is left behind, they work at their own level to improve their education. I think it is a good idea that teachers use tech based programs to enhance their teaching styles.

National Education Technology Standards: NETS
http://cnets.iste.org/
I enjoyed how easy it was in this site to incorporate standards in to your curriculum. There were many ideas on how to link technology into your lessons.

Don't just adapt technology! Adopt it!
http://www.edutopia.org/magazine/ed1article.php?id=art_1423&issue=dec_05
As an adult I do feel like a "digital immigrant" at times around my middle school students. Again this article believes that students should have their own personal computers that they have personalized themselves. I agree, it's a great way for students to express themselves. At the prize of a $100 each, that is not too costly. I liked the four step process in this article, it has so much truth to it.

High School.com
http://edutopia.org/magazine/ed1article.php?id=Art_1270&issue=apr_05
It is a great idea for students to take some online classes while they are in High School, if they have the discipline to do so. I agree with the article in that the students gain in areas that are not offered in many small town High School. I do worry about the students that drop out of High School and just take only online courses. I think the traditional High School teaches many social skills and other skills that are not learned on the computer.