Personal Growth

I have been on an amazing journey over the last several weeks. Learning how to incorporate technology with my students has been such a thrill. Just this morning I shared with my students what a PodCast sounds like. I found book reviews done by students their own age and they were so surprised and excited that they too could become 'published'. They began giving me ideas of how they wanted to use the technology.

When I first started on this journey members of my cohort who teach middle school and high school were giving me such wonderful ideas, but in the back of my mind I kept thinking 'yeah right - that will never work with 7 - 8 year olds'. I kept an open mind and began to think of ways I could bring technology into my class.

By keeping my mind open and seeking out ways to expose my students to new technology I began to realize that by just introducing the different types of technology to my students they would guide me in how to use the technology. My students (as all students) are so creative and when given the space they can create amazing products. I just let go and they guide me. I have been blessed to have such a wonderful career path to follow.

Using Interactive Tools for Review

So I created this review lesson for my students using a power point I found online. Rather than do a review in each subject area, I chose to incorporate math, language arts, and science into one review game and have students work with their learning club to solve the problems.

This was a great big hit with my students and they even asked for more lessons in the same format. I feel like the lesson made a difference and will show in their test scores next week!

WebQuest - It's Not That Hard

With everything that is going on in education today I was overwhelmed when I learned my assignment was to create an interactive lesson using technology that I had no experience with. I thought well I am comfortable with Power Point so I will just use it. But then I forced myself to step out of my comfort zone and plunge feet first into the unknown.

Thanks to the wonderful people at QuestGarden it was totally easy. The hardest part for me was to decide what I wanted to create.

My second graders are going to see Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type, so I thought what a wonderful way to meet the state standards than to have my students compare and contrast two forms of media with the same story.

The ease in which I created the quest and the comments and feedback I have received from others have given me the confidence boost to seriously think about creating more for my students. This will be a great opportunity for my kids to collaborate together and step outside of the traditional walls of the classroom.

Software? Me?

As I unwrap technology I realize that not only is there tons of hardware out there that I have never heard of but software as well. This week I learned that you can create a powerpoint and narrate the slides what a great benefit to my students. I could attach narrated powerpoints to my webpage and parents could actually observe a lesson.

Currently I use powerpoint (I am going to implement the narration portion to a few of the boring presentations :) )

Even though my students are 7 and 8 years old, I am excited to create a lesson where they are required to create a podcast to share their finished product. Creating such a final product would definitely meet the Speaking standard.

Our school currently only has 1 SMARTboard it was not a resource I used. After this week I plan on researching this tool and incorporating it on a weekly basis with my students.

Reaching my students and their parents

This week I have learned a great deal about wikis and blogs and how they can be used in the classroom. What I am considering is whether I could replace the long boring newsletter (which I must email, send a hard copy, and post to my school webpage)with an interactive wiki. Using a wiki would allow parents to read the newsletter and ask questions.

Currently I am thinking about having my second grade students write articles to include in my classroom newsletter. Using a wiki would put technology in the forefront of my class. I believe I would have those students wishing to participate in publishing the newsletter type their own article.

Semi New to Technology

My name is Theresa.  I teach second grade and am somewhat new to technology.  It is my goal to become fluent in the technology that is available in my school to impact my students' learning.

Currently I am competent with both Word and Excel and somewhat so with Power Point. In order to meet the National Educational Technological Standards it is important that I become fluent with Smartboards, Projectors, Skype, and Voicethread just to name a few.

A little bit about the technology available in my school may help my readers guide me through this journey.

Each classroom is equipped with a projector, two student computers, a TV, VCR/DVD player, and a teacher laptop. There is one computer lab with 28 computers. Teachers have a 30 minute block once a week to take their class. The computer lab also has a projector and a Smartboard.

It is my goal to share my triumphs as well as seek support for my struggles through this blog.