My two-cents

When I started this class I was thinking, "How could I possibly incorporate all this technology into a high school social studies class when the curriculum is so intense?" Well I know now that it is simple daily things with the Smartboard technology that can help as well as creating projects that allow students to be creative and use their 'digital native' skills. From this class I have gained a broad range of skills that I never thought I would have. I thought most of this technology was only able to be used my tech-savvy people. I now know that this is not true, Web 2.0 tools are so simple to use, they just require a little focus and determination! I treasure everything I learned in this class and I can not wait to get into the classroom and use some of the skills I have learned.

Great tips for teaching from CoolCatTeacher!

While scouring through the blog I chose to follow for this class I found a very interesting entry. The teacher was communicating with students from another class and answering their questions. They asked things like, "Do you ever worry the students will fall into the wrong areas of the world wide web?" She answers them by saying she will always be worried about her 16 year old son who is about to start driving, this means that she will always be worried even if they have the tools to keep them safe. She also agrees that there should be a filtration system on the internet for students. "Did you ever face challenges in your teaching? and did your students ever want to shut down?" She answered both of these wonderfully! She said there are always challenges in teaching, but by letting students know why you are doing something they are more willing to learn. As for her students shutting down, she suggests that everyone should great each of their students at the door to get an 'emotional reading' and intervene if they look like they may 'shut down'. She also gives great advice about how to confront or pre-empt resistance from students.

I really enjoyed this article, because it is something that all teachers can benefit from, especially me as a new teacher. I will keep her advice in mind when building my classes and starting on my journey in teaching!

To read the entire blog visit, CoolCatTeacher!

Final 2 Weeks and Final Class

The last two weeks of Teaching with Technology consisted of creating a group newsletter, working with the online grade-book Engrade and continuing to work on our blog, wiki, pws, and all the other things we had started during this course. we also had many readings on Authentic Assessment and Internet safety. We also had to finalize our Internet Curriculum Project. We had to create a lesson plan and a presentation. At the last class almost everyone presented their ICP projects. Those that did not had problems with their microphones. The presentations were awesome and inspired me to look more into the technology that they described. My presentation went smooth, my Prezi worked as well as all the links and videos I had. The last two weeks for me were very productive and the last class was bittersweet. It was weird that we had learned so much in such a short amount of time.

Eliminating Regents?

This article from the New York State Education Department is something that all current and future New York teachers should read! While every state must have standardized tests, according to NCLB, New York is looking for ways to reduce spending and hopefully help keep our state education afloat. It is vital that all teachers understand the implications of these proposals.

Internet Curriculum Project

My Internet Curriculum Project was not difficult at all. My project was Using Digital Video and Media to Enhance Classroom Learning. The only thing I struggled with was writing a lesson plan for it as if I was teaching my colleagues on a workshop day. I decided to make a Prezi in order to have the required visual presentation. Prezi was very easy to use and is a great tool for digital media. It is so much more fascinating than a powerpoint, and anyone can create one! I also created a Fotobabble for the presentation. This is a site that allows you to record your voice to a picture. I chose to use a picture from Egypt and describe the hieroglyphs. This is a tool that would be great to use for home-bound students. For my lesson I chose to have my colleagues explore Web 2.0 tools that can help them create digital media and then they were to break into groups to create their own lesson using the digital media.

Overall I thought this was a wonderful project, and something that definitely opened my eyes to thousands of new possibilities for lessons in the future!

Creating a Parent Newsletter

This week my group had to create a digital newsletter that would communicate with parents. We met online and decided to break the project up amongst ourselves. Micah created the newsletter using LetterPop, which was very difficult to use, but ended up looking great! The main purpose of this assignment was to understand the importance and simplicity of communicating with parents throughout a school year.


1) Why is communication important between teachers and parents? It is important to communicate because it allows for collaboration to help the students. Parents are made aware what is expected of their child and also ways to help their child succeed. Teachers, in return, are able to understand family dynamics that may impact a student's progress. No matter how parents and teachers communicate, it is important that there be more positive feedback than negative.

2) In what way will you communicate with your students’ parents? I will communicate with my students' parents by creating a class website as well as a blog in which parents can be updated on class events and assignments. I will also use a digital grade-book in which parents can have instant access to their child's progress reports. Another interesting thing I will do is web conferencing, this will allow me to chat with parents that are unable to come into the school.

3) What new communications software applications would be fun to try to communicate with parents? New software I would like to use to communicate with parents are Google Talk, web conferencing such as WiziQ Wiki, Blogs, Twitter, a class website, and podcasts. I think all of these are wonderful tools to assist in communication and collaboration.

4) What software did you use, why did you choose to use it? My group chose to use LetterPop as our digital newsletter forum. I do not think I would use this in the furture because it was quite difficult to use to create such a large newsletter.

5) How was it to collaborate on this project? Collaboration on this project was better than in the past. We used Google Docs to relay our information and we also met twice this week on WiziQ, rather than once. The only thing I wish we could have all done was create the newsletter, kind of like a wiki.

6) What would you do differently if you did a Class Newsletter again? If I had to create another class newsletter I would use different software. I myself created a small newsletter on LetterPop and that was easy, but a project this large was difficult for Micah to create. I also tried my hand at Glogster, and found it to be annoying because everything was pre-made. I would also be a little more clear in our wording of our information.

Digital Textbooks

We have learned in this class that schools need to find ways to engage the 21st century learner. One way schools are trying to do this is by having their textbooks in digital form and not in the traditional 500 page hardcover form. In this article from the Times Herald Record, schools discuss not only the benefits of engaging the students with digital books, but the financial benefit to the district. If more districts had digital books they may be able to save thousands of dollars every year, just on books alone!