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A Cool Tool Reflection #2

In our tech class we are learning about so many great tools to enhance your future classroom and make your student's learning more enjoyable.  The two new tools we learned about were Museumbox and Go! Animate.

The first one http://museumbox.e2bn.org/ was very interesting and I feel it would really help the subjects of Social Studies and Science.  Museum box is a tool where you can have your students or yourself make "boxes" that they can put information, videos, pictures, and links on to talk about a subject.  Not only can you make "boxes" but each box goes into a "drawer" that allows you to organize your boxes into specific subjects.  An example of a way you could use this is for science.  You could create a whole drawer on the solar system and then each box would be a planet.  At first I thought this was very confusing and I wasn't quite sure how you could incorporate it into the classroom.  But then I played around on the website and realized how beneficial for students and teachers it would be.  I think this is a great new way to let students present and create presentations on topics.

The second tool was www.goanimate.com .  This site is where you can build your own video using pictures and animated characters to discuss a topic that you have talked about in class.  This tool would allow you to introduce or review a topic you are discussing in class.  I think that students would retain more of the information taught in school if it was presented to them in a fun exciting way.  However I thought that this tool was rather expensive and not easy to access.  If the tool was not so expensive I think that this would be a great tool for teachers and students to learn about all different subjects in the classroom.
 

Learning About New Tools

In Tuesdays tech class we learned about three new tools to use in our classrooms. They are all great tools that I feel can really add to teacher's lesson plans and classrooms.

The first one is www.wordle.net.  This tool allows you to create your own word clouds from information that you submit.  The more the word is used in your text the bigger it will appear in the word cloud.  This allows your audience to see the main points or ideas of the word cloud.  This would be a great way to have your students introduce themselves on their first days of class.  You could also use this tool by submitting a passage from a story you are beginning to read to show your students a preview of what the story will be like.  This is a great tool to use in your classroom, the only bad part is that it is hard to save your word clouds once completed.

The second tool was www.storyjumper.com.  This tool allows you to create your very own picture book online.  You can either view the story right online or buy a hardcover copy for a certain price. This tool allows students to type their text right on to the pages and either create their own pictures through the images that are provided or by uploading their own pictures that they drew by hand. This is a fun, creative new way for students to share their stories. The only bad thing about this tool is that your stories are limited to 16 pages.  Here are some ideas I have come up with to use story jumper:

• Science Lab Notebooks
• Students can reflect on the labs that they do and create pictures to create what happened in the lab.
• Picture Books
• Instead of having your students make a generic story on paper this a new fun way to have your students make a book
• "End of the Year" Book
• Teachers can create a book of all their students and what they enjoyed most about each student to give to the student's parents at the end of the year

The last tool we learned about was www.popplet.com.  At first I was really confused about this tool and didn't understand how it would benefit the classroom.  Then i realized that it is a way to make one big web that links all of your thoughts and ideas together.  This would be a great way to have students brainstorm their thoughts and ideas of an essay or story they are writing online.  Also teachers can post a topic they want their students to discuss and then students can log into to link their ideas to the "main idea".  It is a great tool to get students thinking about a topic and get them involved with each others thinking.  The only bad thing about this tool is that you can only create up to 6 popplets.  But other than that it's a fun new way to put your thoughts down.

Cool Tools In The Classroom

There are so many amazing tools out there that are offered to teachers and students that can really enhance a child's learning experience and the classrooms they are learning in.  I feel that most teachers have hit a plateau where they want to enhance their lessons and classrooms but they just don't know what tools to use besides the regular PowerPoints, Word Processors and Internet to help better themselves as teachers.  But teachers shouldn't feel "stuck" using just these tools because there are so many cool tools out there that are very beneficial to students.
One of the most interesting tools I found while searching for new tools was http://www.glogster.com/.  This tool is a website that allows teachers and students to create posters online that express their thoughts, ideas, and creativity in the classroom.  Students can use this to make posters that they would normally make on poster board.  This tool allows students to put text, images, sounds, videos and even their own images on a poster for projects and assignments.  Not only can students use this to complete projects and group work but teachers can also make posters for certain lessons and activities being done in the classroom.  Not only can you make these posters on this website but you can start your own "gallery" that allows other people to view the different projects you have worked on. 

Pros

• Enhances creativity
• Incorporates technology into the classroom
• Provides a new outlook to students on making posters for projects
• Will excite students about learning
• Integrate art and creativity into academic projects
• A private and safe enviornment for students

Cons

• You may have to take time out of your day to teach about this tool
• Must have computers in the classroom to work on
• Students could become distracted by all the special effects and loose the academic meaning of the project
• Must be an in classroom assignment because some students do not have access to Internet at home

Integration In the Classroom

• Math: Create visual pictures of math problems for students to complete instead of word problems (ex. fractions, measurements, time etc.)
• Reading and Writing: Have your students create visual stories through glogster to share with their peers
• Science: Use glogster to have students create predictions and explorations of science experiments

Check out glogster.com to see all the cool ways you can bring this new tool to your classroom!

Importance of Art in Classrooms

I am very passionate about inner-city kids and their opportunity to learn and succeed in the world.  I am inspired by these people who are helping these kids by giving them the opportunity to experience art.  Art allows inner-city children to become creative and let their emotions in a positive way.  I feel that art is a huge part of not only inner-city children's lives but every child's lives.  I think that art is being overlooked because teachers and administrators are too worried about test scores and the "important" subjects such as math, reading and writing.  But i feel that art is just as important as these subjects and allows students creativity to really show.  Creativity is just as important as anything else a child develops.  I am so happy that there are people out there that still believe in art being a big part of students lives, especially in inner-city kid's lives.

So after watching this video and reading my thoughts, what are your thoughts on the importance of art in not only inner-city student's lives but all student's lives?

Do you believe art can help with a child's development?

How as teacher's can we incorporate art in our classrooms if actual art programs are being cut from the school districts we teach at?

Inclusive Classrooms

Inclusive classrooms are a huge debate in the educational system of today.  An inclusive classroom means that students with disabilities or special educational needs are allowed to be in a classroom with students who do not have these disabilities or special needs.  The goal of inclusion is to allow students with disabilities to attend "regular" public and private schools.  However inclusion brings a lot of debate and there are many pros and cons to this subject.

The pros of inclusive classrooms show how beneficial these types of classrooms would be to both the disabled students and the students without disabilities.  One pro is that it gives students with disabilities to learn in a natural and stimulating classroom.  It also allows for both types of students to interact with one another and teach them how to deal with each others differences and develop friendships.  Not only are inclusive classrooms beneficial to the students but to the teachers too.  Inclusive classrooms allow teachers to appreciate the diversity of the classroom and challenge them to strive to make activities that are capable of being done by all types of students.  These types of classrooms also show students that no matter what anyone can succeed in what they do as long as they try their hardest and work at what they want to accomplish. 

While there are many pros of inclusive classrooms there are also cons of inclusive classrooms too.  While many schools are required to adapt to the needs of these disabled children sometimes the schools funding just can't meet the needs of these children to give them the best education that they need and deserve.  Because of these needs not being met the disabled students are then left to struggle.  Since inclusion is a philosophy about how children should be educated, sometimes it is recommended without thinking about the best situation and overall best opportunity for the child.  Another con is that while many teachers today have some sort of special education knowledge, not all teachers are fully trained to deal with special education students.  Schools can not expect all teachers and teacher's aides to be fully trained on how to handle these types of students. 

As a future teacher I have mixed feelings about this topic.  I feel that all students should have the right to be in a public, so called "normal", classroom no matter their disabilities or special needs.  On the other hand I feel it is up to the parents to decide if an inclusive classroom is the best choice for their child who has special needs and disabilities.  They need to decide which type of classroom is the best fit for the child and which one they will succeed to their best potential in.  I know it is their right to be in a "regular" classroom but everyone should look at what is in the child's best interest.  I don't think parents should put their children in an inclusive classroom just because it is their right to be in one.  As a future teacher I just want what is best for children and what will allow them to succeed to their full potential, whether it is in an inclusive classroom or not. :)

So here is some questions on this topic:

First, how do you feel about inclusive classrooms?

What should parents take into consideration when deciding if their child should be in an inclusive classroom or not?

Should all teachers be expected to have a Special Education degree?

How can inclusive classrooms be better equipped for disabled students?

PowerPoint

Have you ever been sitting in class half asleep copying down notes from a PowerPoint but not listening to a word the teacher is saying?  Well I have and I feel as though most students have done this at least once in their lives.  PowerPoint can be very effective but they also can be distracting and not be useful to students, it's just all in the way you present your PowerPoint.  I enjoyed learning about the many ways you could use PowerPoint in your classroom.  For our project on PowerPoint I made an interactive multiple choice game for kindergarten age students on telling time.  I liked learning about hyperlinks, adding videos and making the PowerPoint interactive.  Even though I already knew about PowerPoint this probably was the most helpful tool I've learned about.

Pros

• Easy way of presenting information
• A common tool that everyone knows how to work
• So many possibilities and tools to use on it
• Easy to work
• Easy to access

Cons

• Can be boring for the students
• Can loose children's interest
• Isn't a new and exciting tool
• Doesn't excite or keep students focused if used in the wrong way