We learned how to create and upload Podcasts.
A podcast of a lecture would be a great resource for students who miss class due to illness, or for students who might need a refresher of what was taught in class on a particular day. Listening to a colleagues' podcast could help give me ideas, and it could supplement/enhance an existing lesson plan or be worked into a new lesson plan.
The utility of Podcasts as a teaching tool are endless. Students could create Podcasts in groups or individually for any number of assignments. I can envision students choosing characters from different pieces of literature, "acting" and recording their scenes, and then posting their podcast for other students to hear. I think creating a Podcast would be a fun and easy way to bring literature to life.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
February 14: UEN
UEN is great for students because it is a "safe" site that contains endless resources to help them succeed in school. Pioneer Library's resources are great for an English class; students can easily use them for research. Argumentative, persuasive, and research papers can be difficult to write, especially when students use a general Internet search engine to look for sources. By using The World Book Encyclopedia and EBSCO host, or The Desert News, or CultureGrams as sources for credible information, students can back up their claims or opinions with fact and write stronger papers as a result.
Learning in the English classroom can also be expanded and enhanced through Interactives. I came across the ComicCreator on readwritethink. It's pretty much what it states--an interactive that students can use to create comics. They can choose how many frames they want (1-6) and then use props, speech bubbles, and the caption box to tell a story. I think this would be a really cool/fun way for students to retell in their own words a story, play, or book that we are reading in class.
The Core Curriculum is essential for teachers. I have a hard copy in my school bag, but it's nice to know I can find it easily on UEN just in case I don't happen to have it with me.
I found several lesson plans for English and also discovered a lesson plan tool which is accessible from my personal UEN page. This tool is awesome as it takes you through the steps of creating a lesson plan. You can choose the time span, grade, curriculum tie--basically anything you need to create a lesson. It asks you to fill information in the blanks and then puts it all together. So cool! And what a time saver.
Learning in the English classroom can also be expanded and enhanced through Interactives. I came across the ComicCreator on readwritethink. It's pretty much what it states--an interactive that students can use to create comics. They can choose how many frames they want (1-6) and then use props, speech bubbles, and the caption box to tell a story. I think this would be a really cool/fun way for students to retell in their own words a story, play, or book that we are reading in class.
The Core Curriculum is essential for teachers. I have a hard copy in my school bag, but it's nice to know I can find it easily on UEN just in case I don't happen to have it with me.
I found several lesson plans for English and also discovered a lesson plan tool which is accessible from my personal UEN page. This tool is awesome as it takes you through the steps of creating a lesson plan. You can choose the time span, grade, curriculum tie--basically anything you need to create a lesson. It asks you to fill information in the blanks and then puts it all together. So cool! And what a time saver.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
February 7: Google Part II
We are working on creating a classroom website with Google tools.
Creating a public classroom website will give me a convenient way to organize myself as a teacher. I will be able to keep students and parents up to date with daily/weekly/monthly assignments and activities all in one place. I will be able to add more pages as the need arises. I will be able to share new ideas and cool educational sites or opportunities I come across as I plan my lessons. If my colleagues also have websites, it will make it super easy to share ideas with each other and to keep tabs on each other's teaching methods and careers.
I am a real pencil and paper kind of gal, so learning to use technology in this class will save me a big headache later. I am not against technology at all, I am just a little slow when I am first learning how to use it. The more familiar I am, the more at ease I feel. Logically, it would be really time consuming to make copies of my "hard copy" calendar and to distribute it; plus students are constantly losing things, so digitally displaying my calendar will stop that excuse in its tracks. I want my students to be engaged with learning in my classroom and to be as passionate about the subject of English as possible. Posting cool things that are going on with reading and writing will really help my students to see my passion and hopefully it will inspire them to search and share the things they have passion for as well.
Creating a public classroom website will give me a convenient way to organize myself as a teacher. I will be able to keep students and parents up to date with daily/weekly/monthly assignments and activities all in one place. I will be able to add more pages as the need arises. I will be able to share new ideas and cool educational sites or opportunities I come across as I plan my lessons. If my colleagues also have websites, it will make it super easy to share ideas with each other and to keep tabs on each other's teaching methods and careers.
I am a real pencil and paper kind of gal, so learning to use technology in this class will save me a big headache later. I am not against technology at all, I am just a little slow when I am first learning how to use it. The more familiar I am, the more at ease I feel. Logically, it would be really time consuming to make copies of my "hard copy" calendar and to distribute it; plus students are constantly losing things, so digitally displaying my calendar will stop that excuse in its tracks. I want my students to be engaged with learning in my classroom and to be as passionate about the subject of English as possible. Posting cool things that are going on with reading and writing will really help my students to see my passion and hopefully it will inspire them to search and share the things they have passion for as well.
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