I believe that my classroom will work to connect; with parents and the community and connect students to the global community surrounding them. I will use technology to enhance my classroom and instruction. However, I will not lose sight of the uses of older technologies. There is a time when books are more useful than the internet, there is a time when paper and pencils are more needed than iPads and laptops.
My classroom will include learning opportunities involving Skype and Livestreams (http://new.livestream.com/watch). In my FDK placement, we attended a Livestream focused around Polar Bears. We witnessed the polar bears in their natural habitats in real time and were able to ask questions to specialists working alongside the animals. Additionally, my class may take digital field trips by accessing the Digital Human Library's (http://digitalhumanlibrary.com/) wide variety of experts. I used this website for a Social Studies exploration last term and found it to be highly fascinating!
In my FDK placement, we used iPads to produce green screen movies. These acted as a culminating task for our unit on deer. We also produced films later on when judging the school wide door decorating contest. We judged each door on film sighting all the door’s benefits and how beautifully the class had produced the door. Then we uploaded these videos to dropbox (https://www.dropbox.com/) for teachers to see. This way, classes could watch what the FDK students thought of their efforts.
These, and other, film making exercises will be present in my classroom. Youtube is such a large part of students’ lives, they should experience the creation of these types of videos as well as consuming them.
Dropbox can be used as a massive connection between home and school. Photos of students can be uploaded and sent directly to their parents, allowing parents to be involved in their child's class frequently and in a way not previously as possible or as convenient!
My classroom will encourage creation of any kind. Creation and the making of things allows for such learning; whether that be using technologies or deconstructing them.
My classroom will have a presence on Social Media allowing parents to connect and stay informed through a Blog space, a Twitter and apps like Remind101.
This classroom will take a while to put into place. Being someone who has grown up in a fully connected world gives us a taste of the world that today’s student is living in. Therefore, we can take the technologies we use and see being used into consideration when planning instruction and our classroom at large.
We can work to incorporate Web 2.0 applications we’ve heard about in this course to add an element of interactive engagement in our instruction.
I’m not sure that my classroom will be a place entirely outside of the realm of regularity. However, it will aim to always be ahead of the curve. I was interested to hear of teachers introducing Google Drive to students after the board encouraging its use this year. I found this interesting because Google Drive has been an important part of my life for the past 4 years. Therefore, my classroom will strive to incorporate technologies as they are gaining popularity, as they are becoming used and misused by students. If I maintain awareness of popular technologies, I can perhaps teach students ways to use these technologies productively, before they take them and use them in potentially inappropriate or harmful ways.
My classroom will work to always be a relevant and engaging place that allows for student growth. Students will feel safe in their explorations. They will create and connect and use their distributed cognition to become media literate citizens of the 21st century. My classroom will encourage technological exploration as well as personal and academic growth. My classroom will be student-directed with an emphasis on inquiry in every capacity.
My classroom will include learning opportunities involving Skype and Livestreams (http://new.livestream.com/watch). In my FDK placement, we attended a Livestream focused around Polar Bears. We witnessed the polar bears in their natural habitats in real time and were able to ask questions to specialists working alongside the animals. Additionally, my class may take digital field trips by accessing the Digital Human Library's (http://digitalhumanlibrary.com/) wide variety of experts. I used this website for a Social Studies exploration last term and found it to be highly fascinating!
In my FDK placement, we used iPads to produce green screen movies. These acted as a culminating task for our unit on deer. We also produced films later on when judging the school wide door decorating contest. We judged each door on film sighting all the door’s benefits and how beautifully the class had produced the door. Then we uploaded these videos to dropbox (https://www.dropbox.com/) for teachers to see. This way, classes could watch what the FDK students thought of their efforts.
These, and other, film making exercises will be present in my classroom. Youtube is such a large part of students’ lives, they should experience the creation of these types of videos as well as consuming them.
Dropbox can be used as a massive connection between home and school. Photos of students can be uploaded and sent directly to their parents, allowing parents to be involved in their child's class frequently and in a way not previously as possible or as convenient!
My classroom will encourage creation of any kind. Creation and the making of things allows for such learning; whether that be using technologies or deconstructing them.
My classroom will have a presence on Social Media allowing parents to connect and stay informed through a Blog space, a Twitter and apps like Remind101.
This classroom will take a while to put into place. Being someone who has grown up in a fully connected world gives us a taste of the world that today’s student is living in. Therefore, we can take the technologies we use and see being used into consideration when planning instruction and our classroom at large.
We can work to incorporate Web 2.0 applications we’ve heard about in this course to add an element of interactive engagement in our instruction.
I’m not sure that my classroom will be a place entirely outside of the realm of regularity. However, it will aim to always be ahead of the curve. I was interested to hear of teachers introducing Google Drive to students after the board encouraging its use this year. I found this interesting because Google Drive has been an important part of my life for the past 4 years. Therefore, my classroom will strive to incorporate technologies as they are gaining popularity, as they are becoming used and misused by students. If I maintain awareness of popular technologies, I can perhaps teach students ways to use these technologies productively, before they take them and use them in potentially inappropriate or harmful ways.
My classroom will work to always be a relevant and engaging place that allows for student growth. Students will feel safe in their explorations. They will create and connect and use their distributed cognition to become media literate citizens of the 21st century. My classroom will encourage technological exploration as well as personal and academic growth. My classroom will be student-directed with an emphasis on inquiry in every capacity.