Top Ten Cool Tools for School

My Top Ten Choices

10) Pegby from Michael Carbonara

   Pegby is a tool that I can see being used for teacher interaction or student interaction. Having this tool would make it a lot easier to have students do group projects.

9) Virtual book from Aleah's Blog

          I find this tool interesting because it's different from any other tool I've seen before.  I think that it could be a cool new way to have students do a project.



8) Pinterest from Dunlap's Blog

             At first I didn't see how a site for picture posting could be useful in the classroom.  After reading the description I think that this would be an awesome tool to use for an icebreaker.

7) Animoto from Carly's Education Blog

            This tool I also saw as an interesting tool.  I can see it be used for presentations but  really think that it could be used as an icebreaker rather thatn a presentaton

6) Wikispaces from Alicia Pierce  

             I see this tool as a good way to transfer information.  Whether it be to get info to students or  info to the parents, it seems easy to use and efficient.

 

5) Prezi from Uniquely Nina

I like the idea of prezi because it's not powerpoint.  Powerpoint can become dull and overused for everything.  Prezi gives a new twist to the powerpoint idea and keeps people more interested.

4)Smartboard by Rien Wetmore

       Smartboards are something that was used a lot in my middle and high school.  I found that it made kids want to participate more and it is a way to make every subject hands on.

3) Teacher Tube by Education for You

        This I see as more of a resource, but a great resource at that.  Youtube is nice but, it's hard to search    through hundreds of videos to find exactly what you want and hope that it's also reliable.  This is a good way to help teachers find exactly what they need.

2) Wordle by Excerpts from an Educator

       Coming from someone that never understood how to tell what the heck an author was rambling on about,  this tool seems amazing.  I hated when my english teacher would tell me, well this is what they mean, because I said so.  I think an author can write just to  write but this tool helps to point out the things that are actually relevant in the poem or book.  I see it being super helpful.

1) Super Teacher Tools by JLee's Blog

       This tool just seems to have it all.  A lot of different games and ways to review and its all in one spot, easy to maneuver.  This makes it a lot easier for a teacher to keep it interesting and not just play the same old jeopardy game every Thursday before your test Friday.  I really like this site with all the different tools in one.

Cool Tool For School!!!

My resource, Wicked, is all about helping the student learn in a hands on approach, but also incorporate technology.  When thinking about trying to teach science through technology I was at a loss for ideas on how to keep it interesting for the students.  This tool does it for me!! It is very easy to navigate and can be used inside or outside the classroom.  It has games and lessons all in one. This tool can be used to have an interactive approach on teaching while students learn to teach themselves by exploring the site. It not only uses games, but also has fact sheets and a place for parents to learn how to help engage their children into enjoying learning and keeping them safe.  In my classroom I would use this tool as an introduction to topics or to have students explore certain topics, on their own, at home to bring back to class for the next day.  I particularly like the Pest and Predators activity for use in my own science classes that I hope to teach in the future.  There really isn't much more to explain about this tool because it is simple, which is good.  It's easy for a 5-8 grader to navigate on their own which is what really caught my attention.  So click on that picture of Wicked and take a look around for your self!!!!

The Old Issue of Cellphones in School

When my generation was starting first grade this wasnt even an idea to have children with mobile devices.  As we got older cellphones were easier to access and people starting getting them in their later teens.  This brought to schools the issue of controling cellphone use in class.  Many teachers had strict rules on using your cellphone in class or if they even saw it they would take it.  With technology becoming more advanced and actually being able to helpout in the classroom, schools are faced with another question.  Will cellphones be allowed in class for educational purposes. A few people have done and polls and this is one of the results.  Some videos show positives and negatives of students having a cell phone in school. These are the opinions of the three news casters, but they are all very legitimate arguements. 

 Being a student and a future educator I can take both sides of this arguement.  Not only can students be distracted but it has promoted cyber bullying also.  An example of this is someone taping a fight and sending it around school or inappropriate pictures being sent throughout the school. Though these are negatives we have seen positives in our SEDU class. For example, using it to anonymously have students answer a poll and have instant results at the front of the classroom.  This is an issue that started when my generation started middle school and has grown to an even larger issue with the capabilties a phone has now-a-days. I believe this issue will continue on as technology continues to grow. 
 
My side on this issue is that I think it would be useful for me when I become a teacher.  Being that I am going to be  a Middle school teacher, kids will all have cells phones as they do now.  This means that I can use them in quick quizzes or polls.  I like this idea because I know how shy children can be.  Especially when it comes to science.  Most students aren't very knowledgeable when it comes to science.  This means that they would be shy to raise their hand because they don't want other kids to think they are stupid.  With the cell phone polls it can all be annonymous and I can figure out what I need to take more time on and what they are actually comprehending.  I think this could definitly be a positive in my classroom. 

Twitter and Facebook in School?

Twitter and Facebook should be something that teachers use to keep themselves connected and to continuously learn new things, but I dont think they should be used with students.  Students are already so distracted in class and adding a tool like these are just going to add to the distractions. If anyone has any positives on using them in the classroom I'm open to any ideas...

Technology used in the classroom

When I began this activity I didn't really know where I was going to start.  Being a Science major, I think of science activities as more hands on and didn't know how I would teach a science activity through PowerPoint.  I knew how to make a PowerPoint presentation for a class but had never made one with hyperlinks and buttons to bounce around pages.  I enjoyed learning these new features and trying to incorporate them into my PowerpPint.  I think that everyone had a hard time trying to just do one activity from a lesson and ended up just doing a powerpoint presentation on the whole lesson, like my teachers did in highschool. This was a challenge, but it did help me learn to navigate around PowerPoint.

My PowerPoint

Personal Learning Networks

           As I began reading chapter one of Personal Learning Networks I went into it a bit skeptical. This chapter told us about what is out there and available and how to start using it.  I believe that we should use technology to teach, but I also believe in a hands on approach. I think that I so strongly believe in the hands on approach because that is the way that I learn things best.  Luckily the book broke things down for me, such as the bullet list made by Dave Wiley. I realized that we are changing drastically from small use of technology to everyhing being connected electronically from the list, "Analog to digital, tethered to mobile,  isolated to connected, generic to personal, consumption to creation, and closed systems to open systems."  One of these things that I did see as a negative was with the isolated to connected bullet.  After the list they went more in detail on each bullet and for this one they say that you can be 3 thousand miles away and be close to someone but be right next to someone and be so far away from them.  This worries me, because students can be so against getting close to their teacher and being comfortable with them and this would cause that seperation to be even further.

            Though I have doubts on going head first into technology in the classroom I did find things that I think would be helpful for a teacher.  "How to collaborate with them in ways that go beyond sharing existing information to the creation of new knowledge."  This statement alone gave me hope that not only can teachers connect and help each other out with sharing information they can collaborate and come up with new ideas and this means that teaching won't be the same information over and over again. I think that lessons should update with the times. New things are being discovered everyday and with the technology in the classroom students get to be kept more up to date.

           The more I read into this chapter the more my skeptisim went away.  The part that pushed me into actually accepting the idea was that "students are better prepared for life and work in the 21st century" and "Intruction is more individualized."  In schools right now students are given work, told to memorize it, then take a test and forget it. That doesn't help shape you into an adult or teach you anything about the real world. If bringing technology into the classroom in full force could help ready students for their futures I'm all for it.  Also people learn in different ways and having things be individualized helps everyone learn better.  Over all this chapter has opened my views of bringing technology into the classroom. We will see if I am fully convinced by the end of the book.

The old

The new

                 V.S     

Where My Major Came From

Alyssa Martin Email

My love for science originated here...

My love of animals pushed me towards becoming a veterinarian, but as I looked into careers I changed my mind and decided I wanted to put my love of science and animals into others.

I hope for the next generation to save the many animals of the earth that are disappearing.  I hope I'm one reason they want to save them.