FINAL QR CODE PROJECT

For this assignment I decided to create a QR Code project that I could use with my students as a review at the end of our unit on American Symbols which is one of our First grade SOL's.  I tried to use a variety of resources online from videos to pinterest and also I used kid friendly sites so my students would be able to easily use these resources!  Here are the QR codes for the 6 resources I found online!

I also created three of my own resources and created QR codes for those.  I created a QR code for a smartboard review file which is located on my dropbox.  I also created a QR code for an online jigsaw puzzle that I created of the Liberty Bell.   The last QR code is for a photopeach slideshow that I made with pictures of all the American Symbols as a final review for my students.

I really enjoyed creating this American Symbols activity scavenger hunt for my students to use in the future.  I think they are all really fun and also educational activities that I really believe my students will enjoy doing and be engaged in.  I also looked into a QR code scanner and found a free one for the ipad that works great and would be what I used with my students.  For this assignment I used the digital QR codes, but for use in my classroom I would probably print the QR codes and have them around the room for my students to scan and work at their own pace.  I think this will be a really fun and enjoyable activity and I can't wait to do it with my next group of first graders and also share if with my fellow first grade teachers!

Module 4 Assignment 7

Before watching the videos and looking at the powerpoint I was unsure of what BYOD was.  After watching the first video it brought up several good points about BYOD which is "bring your own device".  It pointed out how common place technology is in almost every aspect of our lives but yet at school it is a once in a while tool which doesn't add up.  It also pointed out that with BYOD each student will have to maintain their own device with updates and correct software which saves time and money for the SBO and RTIs.  Another important argument that the video brought up with the temptation with added technology for students not to pay attention to the lesson.  For me personally I think if you are using the technology appropriately students will be effectively engaged and not tempted to focus on other things.

Something I see a lot in my classroom is the high level of exposure to technology that all my students have.  Even at such a young age most only 6 or 7 they have been exposed to more technology than many adults and are comfortable and experienced using it.  I sometimes find it hard to keep my students attention without incorporating technology into a lesson.  They are so accustomed to the stimulation that comes from technology and without it they often quickly lose interest.  For me and my classroom this would be an advantage to BYOD to help keep students active and engaged in the learning process.

One downside that I see to the BYOD would be discrepancy in devices.  The students I teach tend to have a wide range of income including a large population of free/reduced lunch students.  It would be very hard for these parents to be able to provide a device for their student to bring to school, or possibly to provide a high quality device.  This could create a gap between students as far as what technology they would have access to and I can see this as a major downside to BYOD.

Module 4 Assignment 5

This assignment was all about using the "Explain Everything" app.  I really liked a lot of features about the app and I think it was well worth the $2.99.  One feature in particular that I liked was the ability to screen mirror anything you have created so it can be used not only with a smartboard but also with a projector as well.  I also really like how you can connect the "Explain Everything" app with your Dropbox account and then easily import either pictures or videos quickly and easily from Dropbox.

Another feature that I thought would be really useful for me and my first grade class is the ability to upload a document and use the pens and highlighters on the document.  One thing we often do in first grade is interactive notetaking where we have the students highlight or circle different words and draw pictures and different things to our notes to help them remember what we were talking about and the important parts of our notes.  This would be something I could easily make an "Explain Everything" video about for my students and this would allow them to work on interactive notetaking more independently or they could also do it at home as homework allowing me more time in class to work on hands-on activities!


My last favorite feature, although I could continue listing more, is how easy it is to import a powerpoint and then how the app automatically creates it slide for slide so you don't have to spend a ton of time reformatting everything you had already created in powerpoint!

Overall, I really liked this app and I can definitely see myself playing around with it more and incorporating it into my classroom!

Module 4 Assignment 4

This activity was all about creating a Dropbox folder and then sharing either a folder or a link to a file or a folder.  Dropbox is something I am very familiar with using and have used quite frequently.  I have used it both at school to share documents, lessons, or Smartboard files with my colleagues, and I have also used it as an easy way to share photos with family members!

I created a folder and named it with my name and then quickly copy, pasted some files over into it.  Then I simply clicked the share button and typed in an email address and clicked share.  It is a very simple process, which is great and very user friendly.

The next part of the activity was sharing a link in our blog to an activity that we found online.  I used a website that has math enrichment activities for first grade.  I simply copied the link into a document and saved it in my Dropbox folder.  Then I was able to get a link and quickly post it in my blog.  Overall this assignment was very easy to do, and showed how quick and easy it is to share using Dropbox!

Here is a link to an enrichment activity website in my Dropbox!

Module 4 Assignment 3

This assignment was about using Google drive to create a document and then share it using a link in our blog.  I really like Google drive, and using it to create documents is very easy and user friendly.  This is something I do a lot to collaborate with my fellow teachers.  I have never shared a document with them using a link though, and I was surprised doing this assignment how easy it was.

As I looked through the slideshow in the link to get directions on how to do I was surprised at how easy it was.  Also, in the directions it said that sharing a link can be useful in situations where what you are sharing might be too big to attach to an email.  Below find the link to the document that I created it's nothing special, just a quickly typed sentence of what I was doing!



Google Doc

Module 4 Assignment 2

Walker Colt Pruett on PhotoPeach
 
I really enjoyed making the slideshow on PhotoPeach it was a really neat activity!  I choose to do a slide show of pictures of my newborn son, and set the music as a really cute song about babies in the NICU, which is were my son is because he was born premature at 26 weeks.  Using PhotoPeach was VERY simple and easy to use.  It gave easy step by step directions, and made even adding music very simple. I can definitely see myself using this in the future to make picture slideshows in the future!

Module 3 Assignment 7

I really liked the edutopia article it was very informative and offered a lot of information about a technology enhanced classroom.  I really liked the section for tips with getting started.  It suggested that we survey our students to see what types of technology they have, and are familiar with using.  In my class we only really have access to using Ipads so that is what I deal mostly with. I also liked how the article did go through and describe several different types of technology that would be useful in the classroom.  I looked at the apps for Elementary students and the descriptions looked good, however they were all paid apps.

I did download an app called First Grade Learning Games.  I really like this app because it has a variety of different games that are all centered around First graders.  It has a combination of both reading and math games for students to play.  Games about compound words and contractions or for math patterns and adding and subtracting.  This is an app that I could definitely use with my students and they would be very engaged.  I could have all students on the same app, while at the same time targeting specific skills with certain students to reach them where they are in their learning!

Module 3 Assignment 5

I really enjoyed the visuals given by the first Youtube video The Flipped Classroom Model.  The drawing made it very clear exactly what the students were doing in each scenario and how the flipped classroom actually works.  Also like what is said about how in the traditional model the teacher stands BETWEEN the students and the knowledge, but in the flipped classroom the students have direct access to knowledge through technology.  This video did a great job of explaining exactly what a flipped classroom is and why and how it works.

The other video I really liked was the Flipped Classroom by Tracey Gillies.  This video was directed more at an Elementary classroom, which I can relate to, and she had her students watching the instruction on the computers but in the classroom.  She said the reason for this was because a lot of her students don't have access to technology at home.  Another great thing about this video was the student interviews, it was really neat that the students were able to explain exactly what they were working on and why they were doing the flipped classroom.  They all seemed really engaged and excited about the process and how it was benefiting them!  I also really like what she said about everything being online is very helpful to parents.  They can watch the same videos as their students and so it cuts down on questions and homework questions because it also gets the parents actively engaged in their child's learning!

Module 3 Assignment 4

This assignment was all about creating a Google form.  As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, this was something that I had always done using another site called Survey Monkey.  I really liked the step-by-step video that was provided for us to watch.  It made going through the steps really easy and was a great visual!  I was able to quickly create my Google form, I used 3 types of questions: paragraph answer, rating scale, and multiple choice.  The video walked me through how to create each type of question and also several others that I didn't use to keep this survey short, but I did play around with how to use them!

After completing my survey the video walked me through how to test my form to make sure everything looked the way I wanted it to, how to decide where my responses get recorded, and how to actually send the survey out to be completed.  I was able to quickly type in email addresses to send my form out and also send a copy to myself just to double check.  I was really surprised how quick and easy using Google forms was and it is definitely something I will use again in the future!

Here is a link to my survey! 

Module 3 Assignment 3

After being introduced to Google forms in our first class I am really excited about the potential that I see for using it.  I have used Survey Monkey in the past to create surveys that I have used with faculty/staff at my school, but I have never used Google Forms.  After looking at it in class it seems more user friendly and I really like the options for what you can do with the information once it is collected.  As far as actually using Google forms in my first grade classroom, it is something I think my students could do with the help of an aid or classroom assistant (anyone who could take their verbal responses and type them into the Google form). Here are some ways I think I can use Google forms:

• As a get to know you activity at the beginning of the year
• As a quick way to create classroom graphs when we are covering that SOL
• As a survey for faculty/staff at my school
• As a way to get feedback from parents
• To create a student info database at the beginning of each year
• As an exit ticket at the end of a lesson to assess student understanding

Module 3 Assignment 2

Before starting this class Twitter was something that I knew about but had never really used.  I thought I had plenty of social media outlets already and didn't feel the need to start using a new one.  However after looking at it in class and through the activities we have done since, I am really able to see the potential of using twitter in an educational setting.   I really liked the Twittering about Learning article because it really spoke to this exactly point!  I really liked how he wen through the process of exactly how he introduced Twitter to his students and then gradually allowed them to begin composing their own Tweets.  I also like how he talked about using this as another opportunity to work on editing and word choice with our students before anything was posted.

I think this is a great way to incorporate writing into our classrooms in a real and meaningful way with an authentic audience for our students. It also provides quick and easy access for parents to see what we are working on in class and to see their own child contributing to the learning process.  This was a great article that really spoke to me about using Twitter in the classroom, and it is definitely something that I can see myself trying to incorporate next year, and an article that I have bookmarked on Diigo and I will be rereading in the future!!

Module 3 Assignment 1

After working with blogging through this class for the first time on my own I have been able to quickly learn a lot and discover how easy and accessible it can be.  I really liked the article Blogging in the 21st Century, it really talked a lot about how blogging can really help get students engaged.  I also really liked how it included the comments from the students about blogging really made writing more fun and less of a chore for them.  Also, the teacher posted about how great all their writings were when they knew they had a much broader audience they were writing for.  I really liked all the points this article made about all the uses for blogging in the classroom and how she used it for free writing assignments and also for class related response posts as well.

Another article that I found on my own was Blogging? Its Elementary My Dear Watson!.  This was a good article that was more focused on blogging, as the title says, in the Elementary classroom.  It talked about different blogging sites that are good to use with younger students and also gave some safety tips which I liked.  This article discussed how students were not only using the blog to work on their own writing skills but to interact with other students as well and I really liked that aspect!

Module 2 Assignment 9

I really enjoyed watching the videos and reading the stories about the different teachers were incorporating Ipads into their classrooms at all different levels.  I really enjoyed see Amy Heimerl's story, because she teaches Kindergarten so I felt I could really relate to the kinds of things she did with her students.  I really liked what she said about being able to customize each Ipad to each individual child to give them exactly what they need.  I unfortunately do not have that same luxury because our students don't get their own Ipad in first grade.  However, we do have a cart that we are able to share with mostly the same apps on the Ipads so we can direct students to use the specific apps that we believe will benefit them the most.  I think the Ipads are a great way that we as teachers can help to target student learning in the specific areas where we feel they need growth, all while the students is having fun and engaging in learning.  Today's students are constantly surrounded by and exposed to technology so it is second nature to them, and any way we can incorporate that into the classroom to further their learning is an opportunity every teacher should take!

The app I choose to download onto my ipad is a game that I think my students would love!  It is called Sight Words 2 and is set for grades 1 & 2.  It allows students to play various games such as memory, unscramble, find and shoot all using various sight word lists.  This would give students practice reading and recognizing sight words all while "playing a game" that is fun.  I can definitely see myself using this app in the classroom with my students I really liked all the features that it incorporated and also that even though it is free it isn't constantly asking you to upgrade to a paid version.

Here is a link if you want to view some screenshots of what the Sight Words 2 app looks like!

Module 2 Assignment 8

Dropbox is an amazing tool that is accessible and usable by virtually everyone!  It is a site that I was introduced to by my husband about 3 years ago.  Right after we got married we used it as a way to share photos of our wedding day and honeymoon with our friends and family.  It was a great way to share all these picture without trying to upload them a few at a time into an email, it was much easier and efficient.  We shared these photos through use of the public folder and then emailed the link out to all the people we wanted to share with, they all loved being able to see our photos and it also gave us an online back up to protect those important memories!

I have also used Dropbox a lot as a teacher using the shared folders.  As a first grade teacher I work very collaboratively with my fellow first grade teachers, and Dropbox is a great way to do that!  We are able to drop smartboard files or activities we are going to do with our students into our Dropbox shared folder and immediately the rest of our first grade team has those files to use.  I really like the automatic sync and pop up notification that lets you know when a new file is being added to any shared folder!  I really love being able to share through Dropbox because most smartboard files are rather large and it can be hard and time consuming to try and get them to upload to an email but with Dropbox you just drop it in and it syncs up automatically! 

Module 2 Assignment 7

I think one really great way to use Google Docs with my fellow teachers is to share lesson plans.  My first grade teams works collaboratively on lesson plans, letting each teacher create the plans for one subject area.  Rather than printing the plans for everyone, we could simply share them through Google Docs and everyone would instantly have them to use!  This would also easily allow individual teachers to adapt the plans to better fit the needs of their students before implementing them, and also save on paper!!

As a first grade teacher I think using Google Docs with my students would be hard to do, at least with them editing the document themselves.  However I did think that Google Docs would be a great way to create an End of Unit study guide as a class.  We could then share it with parents as an extra resource to help their student study for the test.  I would let each child add a verbal contribution of something we had learned in that unit, and I could type it into the Google Doc for them!  We could compile a class list of the important things we had learned and everyone would have a contribution.  This would also encourage parents to get more involved to be able to see what their child had to add to our class study guide!

Also, as a teacher who is always taking working home...I like the fact that if I put something up on Google Docs I can access it from home or school or any computer that I need to and make changes and work on things!   Overall, I think Google Docs is a wonderful tool for every teacher, both in and out of the classroom!!!

Module 2 Assignment 6

Pinterest is a website that I have been familiar with for a long time and I am constantly using.  I would say I check it at least once a day looking at the pins of people that I follow, or searching for something specific.  I use it for a variety of ideas from things for my classroom or a specific lesson, or a recipe to cook at home, or a decorating idea for my home.  You can find most anything you want on Pinterest.  I really like the ability to follow people, the people that I follow I have similar tastes as me, so a lot of my pins and ideas come from seeing what they have pinned!  This is true especially of fellow teachers who are always pinning something useful to me when teaching a unit, or working on Daily 5, or just a decorating idea for my classroom!

I also really like the feature that we learned about in our first class to be able to create our own pins from things we find online.  I have found myself using the Pinterest button on my toolbar quite often when I find things online that I want to use or remember it makes it so easy to pin it. I also love how it creates a picture to go with it.  That is my favorite part of Pinterest being able to see a picture that goes along with my pin, to instantly jog my memory.  Looking at the pictures on Pinterest lets you know, usually right away, what the pin is about and this makes browsing very easy!

I LOVE PINTEREST!!!!

Module 2 Assignment 5

For this assignment on Diigo we had to find people in our Web 2.0 class to follow and also add 5 new bookmarks to our own site.  As I mentioned in a previous post I was already using Diigo as a way to back up the bookmarks on my computer but I wasn't aware of the Diigolet feature which I now absolutely LOVE!  It is so easy to use and makes bookmarking new sites and adding tags so easy and simple.  I really like not having to pull up the Diigo site each time, and just being able to click on the Diigolet button on my tool bar.  I really love the sticky note feature as well.  I have a website I use for Math interventions and the sticky note feature helps me keep track of which interventions I have tried with different students.

The other part of this assignment was adding 5 people from our class on Diigo.  This was something else that I wasn't aware was a feature I could use.  I was able to quickly find 5 people from our class with a quick search, and a couple I was able to quickly find because they were already following someone from our class.  This will really come in handy to be able to see what other people that are also in education, specifically in the same district as I am, are book marking on Diigo.  I think this will be a great way for me to find new sites to use with my students, and also information that pertains to me as an educator!  

I love all the new information and uses I am finding out for new sites, and sites I currently use through this class!!

Module 2 Assignment 4

I really liked the third video about Twitter for Educators.  I really liked what it said about how Twitter started off and how people thought it was mostly for celebrities or even silly but that has evolved to a much more broad use.  I also liked the warning that it gave about whatever you tweet being out there, and anyone who follows you is able to retweet it so nothing is truly private on Twitter.  I also really liked the detailed explanation of "hash tagging" and how to use it both in your tweets and as a search feature within Twitter. 


I also really liked the HootSuite and TweetDeck portion of the video.  Those are two apps that I had never heard of, but could be very beneficial if you wanted to follow a certain education hash tag and always receive updates on anything posted with that hash tag.  The video talked about being able to keep the same twitter account from year to year but simply changing your hash tag so each new group of students is able to follow you and what you are posting.


I think any way we can try to incorporate technology, which is such a needed skill in today's world, into our classroom is an opportunity that we need to take advantage of.  That was a major point of the video "Twitter in the Classroom on CNN".  The teacher talked about how it gave students who might not otherwise participate in classroom discussions or offer feed back a voice and a way to do so.  I thought this video was a great demonstration of how Twitter could be used VERY effectively in the classroom!


Here is a link if you want to watch the CNN news story! 

Module 2 Assignment 3

We had to choose to create either a Wordle or a Tagxedo for this assignment. In class we played around with using both of these sites to create.  I personally like Tagxedo better than Wordle because I think it has more options, however Wordle is more user friendly in my opinion.  I really enjoying be able to choose the different shape layouts on Tagxedo to put your text into.

The text that I chose to upload was Patrick Henry's famous speech and I choose patriotic colors for the design.  I really like the premise behind both Wordle and Tagxedo, and how it shows you the words that appear numerous times.  I think this is something that could be really beneficial to students when looking at different pieces of text or speeches in the classroom.

Here is the Tagxedo I created!

Module 2 Assignment 2

This is assignment was to add a page to your blog using the posted instructions.  I didn't think this would be too hard to do because the instructions seemed easy to follow.  I was able to quickly create a new page of information about me.  I also easily uploaded a couple of pictures to my new page and published it.  That was the easy part, I couldn't figure out how to make the new page show up on my blog and even after reading through the instructions again I was still unable to change the settings to have this page show up.  

I went back to the blogger opening screen and happened to see a post about "making it easier to manage pages on your blog".  After reading this link and looking again I was able to figure out how to add this page to the home screen of my blog.  This is just another example of how technology is always changing.  The intention with this change was to make it easier to manage your pages, for me at first, it made it much harder because this did not fit with the instructions I was trying to use.  I was however, able to figure it out and get my new page to show up and able to be accessed on my blog!

Module 2 Assignment 1

I really enjoyed this activity, because this is something that I have been thinking about since our first class.  I really liked the idea of keeping a classroom blog going even after class is over, and next year with my new students and parents.  However I have struggling with ways to use a blog in an Elementary setting, other than as a communication tool with parents.  This activity really gave me a lot of ideas about a variety of different ways to use blogs with students.  Here are five of the ways that I discovered that blogs can be effectively used in a classroom.

Five ways blogs are being used in classrooms:

• To connect students to other students in other countries around the world and enable them to learn about other cultures!
• As a place to continue to write even after they have left the classroom.
• As a way to learn how to interact with others on the web.
• As practice working on their writing and articulation skills.
• As a communication tool for communicating with parents.

Out of all of the blogs that I explored during this activity my favorite was by far "Our World, Our Stories".  I think part of the reason that I really loved this blog is because I can definitely relate to it, as this is something that we teach in first grade!  I really liked the "real world" way that students were able to learn about other cultures through other students rather than just reading about them in a book.  I think this wonderful activity is something that will stick with all the students that were involved and make a lasting impression on them.  What better way to learn about another culture than to actually interact online with someone from that culture.  I really liked the way the students posted videos, and I think this is something my students would find really engaging!

One of the blogs I looked at which I loved Our World, Our Stories!

Module 1 Assignment 9

I really liked the step by step of these videos going through all the different apps on the ipad and things you can use it for.  He showed a lot of apps that were more appropriate for older kids but he showed a lot of apps that I could also use with my first graders.  I really liked the math app that he showed where the students solved addition facts, but the app also gave them the ability to sketch right on the page to help them draw pictures to solve which I LOVE for my kids!  

Another app that I liked was the book app that he had.  He played "The Cat in the Hat" which is a book my students really like.  This app would be great in the classroom to use as a listening center during reading centers.  This is a key component of Daily 5 and this would be a great way to have students listening to books, rather than with a tape player and tapes.  Overall the theme of all of the videos, was just how accessible the ipad makes things from searching on the internet to various apps that we can use with our students!!

Module 1 Assignment 8

For this assignment I downloaded the app Pop Math Lite which is a math app.  I am always looking for fun review games for my students especially with addition and subtraction and this was a great app for that.  The app includes addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.  For use with my class I would only utilize the addition and subtraction because we don't cover multiplication or division in first grade.  The game has students pop bubbles with facts that match, and I think my students would really enjoy this game.  It is set in an underwater world and it gives students mixed addition and subtraction problems.  I really like that it mixes them because this is something we really work on in first grade.

The game gives students numerous bubbles to choose from and use to create the answer that matches the math fact.  It offers encouragement for each answer they choose correctly and just flashes a no when the choose the incorrect answer.  It also allows students to continue to guess and try to get the correct response.  It is a timed game, so students have a limited time frame to answer the facts.  Once the round finishes students can choose to play that level again, this is all that is a part of the free game.  To get more levels and features you have to choose to upgrade for to a paid app.  Overall I think it is a really fun app that my students would really enjoy playing and something that would definitely help them prepare for our MAP assessments!

Module 1 Assignment 7

Dropbox is another wonderful tool, that I really enjoying having.  It is a great online storage site and I used this also when we got our new laptops as an online backup for all my information.  I also have shared access to my Dropbox with all my collaborating teachers and whenever we create a new Smartboard lesson or activity we simply upload it to Dropbox so that everyone can have access to it.  This is such a great way to share lesson rather than trying up upload and attach them to an email each week.  I also have shared access with a few other First grade teachers that I am friends with throughout the county so that I can have access to any Smartboard files they create and upload to Dropbox.  This is a GREAT way for us all to share our resources and to save time, we don't have to recreate a lesson that someone else has already spent time creating for our own students.

I don't have an Ipad for personal or school use, so I have really enjoyed having access to the one I checked out during class.  It makes it much easier to use different technology and makes it much more accessible, no matter where I am.  I downloaded the Dropbox app to the Ipad and logged in with my info and was able to see all of my files.  This was really nice to be able to have another point of access to all my information on the Ipad which is much more portable than even my laptop is.  The Ipad was alright for viewing the documents that I had in Dropbox, however it couldn't open any of the Smartboard files that I have saved there.  This is a little inconvenient in comparison to the laptop, but overall I really like having Dropbox on the Ipad in addition to my own computer.  

Module 1 Assignment 6

For this assignment we had to upload a document and share it with people from our Web 2.0 class.  Google Docs is very user friendly and makes it easy to upload a new document.  Also as the document was uploading a window popped up and asked if I wanted to share this document.  Again very easy to navigate through.  I shared a document that I send home on Mondays with my students attached to their homework assignments for the week.  It just explains to parents the words we are working on for the week, and activities they can do at home to practice with their child.  I don't think that I would use Google Docs to share information with my parents, I am not sure it would be a very effective way to communicate with them.

However this did illustrate how easy it is to share documents with people who I am working with.  Since this was just a sharing exercise, I didn't allow permission to edit to the people that I shared it with.  I  have used this option a lot, when I share documents with my colleagues that are just for them to be able to see.  I had to do an observation of another teacher earlier in the year and I uploaded the observation document to Google Docs.  This allowed the other teacher to see the document, be able to comment back on what I had written, but not able to make any changes to what I had created.  I really like that Google gives us all these options to choose from when sharing documents.  Also did I mention that all this is completely FREE!!!

Module 1 Assignment 5

Google Docs is something that I am pretty familiar with using.  I think it is an excellent tool for us to use as professionals to making working together and collaborating much easier.  I have used it in the past to work on our School Improvement Plan, a document that everyone needs to have access to and the ability to edit.  We have also used Google Docs at our county collaboration meetings when we work on curriculum development.  It is really neat to be working on a document, and seeing other people typing and creating on that same document!  

I really liked Anson's video about using Google Docs.  He was very organized and concise and made the process seem very easy.  I also liked a lot of the things that he pointed out about how to organize your home screen to keep things neat and organized through the use of folders.  That is something I had never really played around with before on Google Docs, but I have already started doing it.  I also liked the section about using the spreadsheet part of Google Docs.  This is something that I haven't really used before, but he made it seem very easy to use.  This is definitely a video that I have bookmarked, and I will use it in the future to jog my memory!

The other video about Google Docs being used in a writing classroom was really neat to see.  For me, seeing older students isn't something I get to do very often, and I really enjoyed seeing them collaborating on their writing.  I also really liked what the teacher pointed out about the need to expose today's students to technology, because we know it is something they are going to have to negotiate with in the work place.  I think any tools like this that we can expose our students too, especially ones that are free to use, is something that every teacher should be doing! 

Module 1 Assignment 2

Twitter is something I was familiar with and had looked at several times before I signed up for this class.  I had never signed up for Twitter, because I have a Facebook and I didn't want to take the time to check both places.  However after setting up an account before class, and playing around on Twitter I am really starting to like checking the status updates.  It is a lot easier to use and find things on than Facebook, and the "hash tags" really make it easy to find groups and things on Twitter.  I can see how it could be used to easily and quickly communicate with collaborating teachers or administrators to quickly get a message out and get input from others. 

As a First grade teacher, I am not sure that twitter is something I would want my students doing.  However, I can definitely see the possibilities for use with my parents.  I think updates about tests or things going on in class could be sent out to parents using a specific hash tag for each year and class that parents could check.  Also, Twitter could also be used to keep students updated with school closings and holidays.  I could also see a huge way to use Twitter as part of Professional development.  We have to do text protocols where we have to share our ideas on an article with the rest of the faculty at our school.  Instead of having out loud discussions at faculty meetings we could all use twitter to have a discussion online.  This would save time, be more accessible for many, and also allow people that don't like public speaking to have more of a contribution to the discussion without pressure!

What I am seeing more and more with each assignment is how easily technology can be incorporated in a beneficial way in a school setting!

Module 1 Assignment 4

Anytime I need a new recipe, or a decorating idea, or especially since I found out I was pregnant I am constantly looking on Pinterest for new ideas!  There is a such a variety of good ideas about virtually every topic and it is so easy to search and find exactly what you want.  I also really like the fact that everything you find has a picture that goes with it.  A lot of times when you bookmark a website with a good recipe or something to decorate onto another site you forget why you choose that site.  This is not the case with Pinterest because you are able to see a picture of exactly what the link is for to instantly jog your memory.  I am a self proclaimed Pinterest addict, without a doubt!

With that being said, I use Pinterest mostly on my phone and have only looked at it on the computer a handful of times.  I was not at all familiar with the Pinterest button that we learned about in class.  I usually just search through existing pins to find what I was looking for.  I knew there was a way to create new pins, but I had never done it myself before.  I love this feature, and I already created a new "travel" board and have pinned several new things to myself!  I can definitely see myself using this feature a lot to create new pins!

The Bahamas, one of the places I pinned to my travel board!

Module 1 Assignment 3

Diigo is a site that I was previously familiar with.  The elementary teachers at our school recently got new laptops and I was concerned about losing all my bookmarks and online information.  That is how I first got started using Diigo as a way to be able to keep all my information and upload it to my new laptop.  I really like the site and I think it is very user friendly and accessible.  However until our Web 2.0 class I hadn't really spend a lot of time playing around on Diigo I just went on bookmarked any new pages that I liked and that was the extent. I wasn't aware of the Diigolet feature and how much easier it would make bookmarking, tagging, and also highlighting and sticky noting websites!

After playing around with the Diigolet both in class and at home, I truly love this feature!  If it was only the bookmarking feature, that alone would be awesome but it also has the sticky note and highlighter features!  I have already used the sticky note feature on a math enrichment website that I use often to help me remember which activities that I have already used with my students.  I also think the highlighter feature will come in EXTREMELY hand during the professional development readings that I do.  I will be able to highlight and mark important parts of different articles that stick out to me and apply to my classroom.  I think the Diigolet is an extremely useful tool and I can really see myself getting a lot of use out of it!

Here is a site that I just bookmarked on my Diigo sight of fun songs to use with my students!

Module 1 Assignment 1

After reading the edublogs page, it gave me a few new ideas on how to use a blog in my classroom.  As a first grade teacher, because of the age of my students (6-7) any blog I do would be mostly for parents.  I really liked the idea of sharing my weekly newsletter on the blog.  We have websites through Henry County that we update weekly, and adding the same information to my blog would be another way to have communication with my parents.  A blog would also be a great place to post links for parents to use with their children at home, or videos for them to watch.  I think a blog would be another excellent school to parent communication tool to for me to use!

I decided to look at the Kindergarten teacher's blog because I figured that would be the closest to the kinds of things I would blog about.  I really liked how colorful and friendly that her blogged looked, and I really enjoyed seeing all the pictures of the student work and classroom activities.  I did see some pictures that had the actual students in them, and I am not sure that I would feel comfortable posting those kinds of pictures to my blog.  Another thing that I wasn't sure I liked is the way the blog is organized it only shows the most recent posts and to find others you have to look through old posts.  This teacher had a LOT of posts on her blog, and I think this might be overwhelming for parents visiting the blog for the first time.  

Overall, I think that if used correctly a blog could be a really good way to stay in contact with parents, and something that some parents might find more accessible than another type of website.


If you want to check out the Kindergarten blog I mentioned in this post!

Module 1 Activity 0

    I am a 26 year old First grade teacher who loves my students and teaching First grade.  In first grade you see so much growth from the beginning of the year to the end, and get to watch my kids learn to read!  My life away from school is very active, my husband and I, who have been married for 3 years this June are expecting our first child in July!  We enjoying going hunting, fishing, kayaking, four wheeling, and pretty much anything outdoors together.  We live on a 15 acre farm and have chickens, which we love taking care of and can't wait for our "newest farm hand" to arrive in late July!  My favorite school to visit is Collinsville Primary School.

My First Post :)

I am in a UVA class learning about lots of new technology, that I hope I will be able to utilize in my classroom with both students and parents!  I have learned about using Wordle and also Tagxedo.  They are both really neat programs that I think I will really be able to use with my class, here is a Tagxedo that I created!!