Monday, November 28, 2011
Going Green, a video in the making
The video you see above this blog is a youtube clip that my fellow classmates and I had made last week about going green. We made this video to bring to light how the littlest things like recycling, turning off water and the lights can make a difference in our environment. If you have watched the clip you could see we tried to make fun and exciting for our viewers. Now for those who are wondering how we made the video, we used a device called a "Flip" which is a recording device. We shot about six different scenes than brought them together on the Flip software where we edit our clip to the product you see above you.
This project was fun and exciting. I know my who group had fun, and I hope you all have fun and enjoy the video.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Kidspiration
This program I found to be very interesting and excited that it was a site for organized learning. The program from what I been told has four different levels of education settings,grades K-4, grades 5-12, grades 7-adult. It seemed really easy to use due to its little help boxes that pop up when moving around the screen. I seem to like the idea behind this website which is to making organized learning easier and more fun. A few things a teacher could do with this site during class is grouping activities, make a short video, outline a prompt or eassy, etc. Now the reallt nice thing about this website besides everything else is the fact that it is free. This of course is a added bonus but over all even if it did cost some money I would buy it and use it i n my classroom.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Boxes and Books for Teaching
I found the Museum Box to be a very interesting web site. The idea of have a 2D cube covered with information and oictures to be ideal when teaching a class. The thought of having a free access to this resource makes to to good to be true. The soft ware seems to be easy to use and access. I like the idea that a teacher can present information in a cube than by slides like PowerPoint.
Another very interesting website was "Go Animate 4 school," which is a website where a teacher can make a short cartoon movie about any subject. It looks like a site that would be great for a visual in a lesson plan and to get the children involved. A down fall I found about this site is it cost about 99 dollars per class for a year. Now even though there is a cost the idea of having a animated cartoon to present a lesson is pretty cool.
Another very interesting website was "Go Animate 4 school," which is a website where a teacher can make a short cartoon movie about any subject. It looks like a site that would be great for a visual in a lesson plan and to get the children involved. A down fall I found about this site is it cost about 99 dollars per class for a year. Now even though there is a cost the idea of having a animated cartoon to present a lesson is pretty cool.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Tool of Wonder
Exploring the internet I had found an amazing tool that all teachers have to take a look at, this new instrument in “Popplet.” Popplet is a like an electric billboard that has endless space. I found it to be enjoyable and awesome as I was playing around with it.
Some of the pros I found with Popplet is it is a private website that only invited people can visit, creating a safe website for our students to communicate with each other and their teacher. It is easy to use. I believe a first grader could use it with no problem. This site is a great way to start a discussion board or outline the days of the week. The pros are pretty much endless as long as ideas keep popping into your head.
Now even through there are a lot of pros to Popplet , there are some cons as well. One is that you can only have up to six different boards at a time. If you exceed over this limit you will have to delete one of your old boards. Another problem is there is a small selection of different board designs, therefore leaving your boards looking pretty much the same.
Other than these two problems the Popplet this tool is pretty useable. I made an example Popplet board for you to see and get an idea of what you could do with this tool. Open this hyperlink and it will take you to my site to look at. http://popplet.com/app/#/100466 As you can see it can be a great way to do the following in any lesson:
1. Story outline
2. Time line
3. Discussion board
4. Class organizer
5. And many more
I do not know about you all who are reading this but I think I will be using Popplet in my future classroom, because I think it is one heck of a tool.
Some of the pros I found with Popplet is it is a private website that only invited people can visit, creating a safe website for our students to communicate with each other and their teacher. It is easy to use. I believe a first grader could use it with no problem. This site is a great way to start a discussion board or outline the days of the week. The pros are pretty much endless as long as ideas keep popping into your head.
Now even through there are a lot of pros to Popplet , there are some cons as well. One is that you can only have up to six different boards at a time. If you exceed over this limit you will have to delete one of your old boards. Another problem is there is a small selection of different board designs, therefore leaving your boards looking pretty much the same.
Other than these two problems the Popplet this tool is pretty useable. I made an example Popplet board for you to see and get an idea of what you could do with this tool. Open this hyperlink and it will take you to my site to look at. http://popplet.com/app/#/100466 As you can see it can be a great way to do the following in any lesson:
1. Story outline
2. Time line
3. Discussion board
4. Class organizer
5. And many more
I do not know about you all who are reading this but I think I will be using Popplet in my future classroom, because I think it is one heck of a tool.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Never give up!
My fellow followers and friends who are in education, today I have a video I want you all to watch that talks about never giving up. I and many of you probably have wanted to change our major, but please stick with it. We all go through hard times and I feel this video shows someone who saw it through to the end. So watch this video and leave a few comments on what you think.
p.s. It is a little dal but it brings "never giving up" into the spot light.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Are we the problem?
A current problem in today’s education system lies in the classroom itself. Most of you are thinking “what? Even with PSSA test changes and government budget plans?” And the answer is yes, let’s be blunt about the problem at hand, it all starts in the classroom. It all starts with the teacher. If you are and excellent teacher who prepares their students and has a 100 percent passing rate than there would be not problems, but if you are a lousy teacher who is always unprepared and has a low class passing rate than it’s your fault.
In order to fix any problem you usually have to go to the source and start mending it from there. Reasons for why many teachers have a low passing rate is because they may be unprepared for class, could have a large number of students and can’t get around to every one of them, maybe it is their teaching skills, or it could simply be they really don’t care about their students at all. Now the last remark is most unlikely but all the other reasons seem to be realistic.
As a future teacher hopefully in three years I plan on becoming a fun and interactive teacher, seeing what I see and knowing what I know about having fun in a classroom which works wonders. If you are prepared and are active in class your students will learn more because they are paying attention to you and what you are presenting to them. The students themselves will be happy in class knowing it will be a fun seven hours, therefore making learning easier for us and the children. Bringing this to light as teachers we need to ban together and find a new way to present information to our students in a fun interactive way so they can pass the PSSA and the school year for that matter with ease.
Now for all you teachers out there, who might be offended by my blog, please don’t be. I am not cutting on a fellow comrade; I am trying to help a fellow brother/sister in my field of study. As I have said before we have to fix a problem at its source and for our profession we cannot have it start in our classrooms but outside our classrooms. So how can we make a classroom more fun? What can we do to make students more active in our rooms?
In order to fix any problem you usually have to go to the source and start mending it from there. Reasons for why many teachers have a low passing rate is because they may be unprepared for class, could have a large number of students and can’t get around to every one of them, maybe it is their teaching skills, or it could simply be they really don’t care about their students at all. Now the last remark is most unlikely but all the other reasons seem to be realistic.
As a future teacher hopefully in three years I plan on becoming a fun and interactive teacher, seeing what I see and knowing what I know about having fun in a classroom which works wonders. If you are prepared and are active in class your students will learn more because they are paying attention to you and what you are presenting to them. The students themselves will be happy in class knowing it will be a fun seven hours, therefore making learning easier for us and the children. Bringing this to light as teachers we need to ban together and find a new way to present information to our students in a fun interactive way so they can pass the PSSA and the school year for that matter with ease.
Now for all you teachers out there, who might be offended by my blog, please don’t be. I am not cutting on a fellow comrade; I am trying to help a fellow brother/sister in my field of study. As I have said before we have to fix a problem at its source and for our profession we cannot have it start in our classrooms but outside our classrooms. So how can we make a classroom more fun? What can we do to make students more active in our rooms?
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