Reflections

I love all the tools in my personal technology toolbox. All the tools I learned are amazing. I can't wait to teach them to my students. I can't point out one favorite because I really had a fun time working on all of them. These tools will benefit my teaching in the classroom. Students will be engaged even more in the classroom.

My particular activity I will do first is showing my students a you tube video and Jing . I will teach my students about the rules of digital citizenship. It is very important to first go over the rules of techology before learning all the tools. Jing is an important tool where I can have the students help me find images of rules that we will need when we are in cyberspace We will create a screencast with information on the do's and don'ts in the cyberworld. The students can add their voice to the information. Then the students can send it to the the principal or librarian. The students can have a discussion about digital citizenship on Skype with other first graders in the district. So many ideas come to mine!
At the beginning of the year my class and I create a Constitution of rules for the classroom and outside the classroom when we are at school. I will now also include one for digital citizenship. It is very important for the students to know all the rules of the Internet before stepping into the world of cyberspace.

My thinking about learning with tech tools is it's about time that students from a young age are aware of all the new gadgets that are out their for them to explore. I had realized that you have to give students more freedom to express themselves using these need tools. Nevertheless with the freedom they need to follow the safety rules that are going to be in forced in my classroom. So the most important tool is following the safety rules.
Towards the end of the school last year I wanted my students to be more exposed to the Apple computers and i-pods. After the students watched a safety video on when working on a tech gadget they would go the library to work on the i-pods. I can't wait to have the i-pods in the classroom.
The only unexpected outcomes from this program that surprise me was having trouble downloading my storytelling in my blog. Along the way there will be some difficulties but never give up.

Tool 7

Creating a movie maker was great! I enjoyed placing my pictures of a special time in my families life. This will be a amazing tool to use with first graders in all subject areas. We can also take pictures of special moments in first grade and I can e-mail to my students parents. Many parents can't make it to field trips, events, parties etc... this will help them feel connected with there child as they grow in first grade. How exciting can't wait to being this journey in sharing the lastest techology with family, friends, and the RGE community.

Tool 11

Good Digital Citizenship- I would explain to my students that being on the Internet is a privilege that should not be abused. I would compare it to a trip to the Children's Museum. When you go into a the museum you see all these beautiful things that you want to touch and run into but you need to follow the rules of the adult in charge or teacher. In the digital world it's the same. You need to stay in the area that your assign to and not go into other areas that were permitted to go into. If you decide to not follow the rules you lose the privilege. When your in the children's museum your assign a time to explore and then the teacher calls you back to visit another area of the museum. At the same time warns you not to run off to an area where your class is not. When your in the Internet you need to explore and follow along with what the teacher is teaching at that time. Then I would explain to my students that when their in a museum we treat people with respect and kindness. Therefore we do the same on the Internet and not abuse the privilege because we can not be seen. We do not post mean comments to others and hurt others feelings if not their will be consequences.
Then I would let them that just like in a public place we do not talk to strangers we follow the same rules online. We do not give are real name, phone number, and address. We do not post mean or ugly pictures of other people just like we wouldn't destroy the children's museum with litter and graffiti.

Tool 10

Exploring Mobile Techology and Apps.

Last year my hubby and I bought two i-pods when we heard that it had educational apps for children.


I feel in love with the i-pod because my twin boys were able to use it and learn from it. It is so easy to use and I was impress that at the time my boys who were 4 years old were able to handle the i-pod with no problem at all. They were exploring it and feel in love with it as well. The free apps they used were ABC phonics, hangman, Clifford,Letter Tracer, Vocabulary Cards.


Then we bought some apps that only cost 99 cents. The most popular ones are at a reasonable price too. The apps store has a preview screen where you can decide if you like the app or not. My sons and I view that when they choose something to add on the i-pod. This is a great tool and kids love it. They can also watch educational videos, and listen to books which are nice when I am driving and the kiddos are in the back sit staying busy getting educated on the go with their i-pod.

Towards the last month of the school year I was able to introduce to my class the i-pods. I would take my class to the library and they were able to use free applications in math that related to the lessons we had learn in class. The apps we used that were free were about math facts, clocks, shapes, puzzles, money. They enjoy it and had a great time working on the applications. The class was posted on the district snapshots.

I can't wait to use the i-pods in my classroom. During math workstations time I will have a group work on them to reinforce something that they have learn that week. In Language Arts I would place the i-pods in the listening center. I discovered that with a gadget called rock star adaptor. This adaptor helps connect several i-pods so that several students can work together and listen to one storybook. Can wait to start this school year that is fast approaching.
The i-pod as have a voice memo where you can have a student record his or her voice when reading a book. Then the student can hear his voice and notice how he or she sounds. This helps with fluency.



The i-pad is also great! I have a nephew who has one. I had a chance to work on it. It is the same as the i-pod but the only difference is that the screen is bigger.

Tool 9

Jing is amazing. It has a screen casting image for sharing and teaching. It's a quick and easy tool. There is a fun sun that is always available on your screen when you download the software. My class can find images of insects and place them on a doc. Then they can add labels to their image as well as their voice to describe the characteristics of the insects. Students can also use google maps and capture imagines of states. This would be perfect when the students need to learn the 10 neighbor states around Texas. Oh so many possibles come to mind! One more that comes to mind that I want to share is finding images of Texas symbols. Students can create a screen cast with all the symbols they copied from the web that are about Texas. They can add voice to their images and e-mail it to their parents so they can watch it. Great tool can't wait to use it.

Skype is a brilliant tool to communicate with friends, family and colleagues face to face if you have a videocam. I would definitely us this tool with my students. This past year my students and I communicated by e-mail with an author of a book called Chicks and Salsa. The students would get so excited to hear from the author and I would place the e-mail on the active board and would write back to him. This coming year I will communicate with this author by skype. Skype has a lot to offer a teacher. You can communicate with students around the world about the similarities and differences growing up in their country. This would be perfect when the students are in the unit called Friends Near and Far. Students can have a conference with a community leader which is another TEK for first grade. So many ideas are coming to mine. As a teacher I can have a conference call with a parent or another colleague. Personally I am going to get a webcam so I can communicate with my family who is in Costa Rica, Mexico, Mission Tx, Chicago.

Tool 8

Video Resources- Video's are amazing to enhance the learning of a lesson. The majority of my students do not have many experiences outside of their apartment or home. School is very important because it's where they get most of their learning and using video's will enhance my students knowledge. When using video's students understand concepts more rapidly and are more enthusiastic about what they are learning. By using a video the students are able to retain more information. They are able to feel like the are actually apart of what is happening in the video. It's incredible to watch the students make new connections between different subject areas. As a teacher, our main purpose is to get our students motivated and engaged in hands on learning experiences. When you plan a lesson that goes along with your TEKS, you will have success in getting your lesson across to your students by using a video.

An amazing video of the Life Cycle of the butterfly come to life in the classroom.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7fZNi76y6I

A nice video to use when teaching the Texas Symbols. This video show all the symbols and the students will be amazed at all the symbols that are apart of their state.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di86iO-AHBM

Tool 6

Wiki- I just learned about wiki and like this invention. It is so similar to google docs. It's a great tool because it will allow students to communication with each other which students love to do. They will be able to edit each other on a story that we are working on as a class to publish. One lesson on Wiki that came to mind from a similar lesson on the web was preparing my students to take a tour of our new school. This tour might include a scheduled interview with the principal. Students can take pictures with the camera. Each student will write on wiki what they saw, heard, felt about the new school. They can also discuss their feelings about the old school. There descriptions can be in a form of poetry, short stories, and interviews. Can't wait for my first graders to be great communicators in my new classroom.