11 Tools Reflection

1. After getting some first-hand experience on a variety of technology tools available out there for our kiddos, I can say there are some favorites that I have. They include blogging, wikis, apps, video resources, and digital photo story. One tool I would really like to incorporate immediately is the use of apps in my classroom. Being in a bilingual classroom, the use of apps will definitely help build the English vocabulary in a fun way.

2. I guess I can say I was a little ignorant to not give my students much opportunity to utilize technology in the classroom, thinking they don't know how to use it. But in reality, these kids know about a variety of technology gadgets available and some even have them at home. So why not build on that knowledge and integrate the academics at the same time?

3. The outcome that I noticed was that as soon as I was experimenting with any of the tools, I could quickly think of a way to use it with my fourth graders.

Tool #11

I think digital citizenship is more of a process. It's a critical component that should be included in the curriculum for each grade level beginning in PK. Of course beginning with the most simple and gradually adding a little more knowledge each year. As a fourth grade teacher, three things that I think are important at this age level to discuss are how to select the best source of information, how to make a variety of gadgets work together, and how to stay safe when chatting online. I really liked the matrix that Cool Cat Teacher posted in her blog. It stresses how digital citizenship encompasses literacy, safety, learning strategies, and etiquette work in conjunction around the student. What a good way of putting it all together.

Tool #10

Some of the free apps I reviewed that would be helpful to integrate into a 4th grade classroom either as part of the lesson, a review, or a workstation are the following:

Read Me Stories - Children's books By 8Interactive Limited
A new talking picture book EVERY DAY teaches your child new concepts, new words and how to say them.

Math Drills Lite By Instant Interactive
Graphically rich and fun environment allows a single student to learn basic math skills in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

BrainPOP Featured Movie By BrainPOP®
Our topics cover Science, Math, Social Studies, English, Technology, Arts & Music, and Health - everything from Carnivorous Plants to Abraham Lincoln! All movies are captioned, making it easy to read along.

Tool #9

I think the use of screencast with the kids would be beneficial in a setting where you want them to follow certain steps or procedure. An example I can think of is how to copy and paste pictures from the Internet onto a Word document.
The way I could have kids experiment with this in my classroom would be by having them take images from the Internet that are related to other content areas (i.e. water cycle, life cycle) and have them record themselves explaining the topic as part of their vocabulary review/enrichment.
One good way to use Skype in the classroom that I came across is by inviting an author to do a read-aloud to the class about his/her book. That would be an awesome experience for the kids! A way to use Skype across the district could be by getting together with another teacher of the same grade level ahead of time and agree in having the same novel read aloud to later have the classes Skype each other to discuss each of their views about the book. It'd be interesting to see 2 classrooms from opposites side of the freeway have a conversation about a book...I believe it could be possible!

Tool #8

I love incorporating videos into my lessons any time I can. It helps students build background knowledge or simply just reinforce a lesson just learned.
A new way I began using videos this past year was for extra motivation. This first video is an example of how I used it for that purpose. A few weeks before the reading TAKS test I began showing this video right before my reading lesson to get the students motivated about the long reading selections they get. I would tell them to imagine that their reading selection is like a book...watch and see! Soon the kids were singing the lyrics and moving their reading papers along to the music.



This second video is a short explanation of how the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico got started. With complicated topics like the massive oil spill we recently had, the shorter the explanation, the easier for kids to understand. So when I saw this video, I thought it was perfect.

Tool #7

I had never experienced how to utilize and create a digital story. I loved it! It was challenging to organize the pictures I wanted to use and decide on what I wanted to write but it was worth it. I loved the outcome! I think this would be a great experience for the students. They can work on a group project or even on an individual writing assignment with the use of pictures. To sum it up, I really enjoyed this tool. Although my photo story is personal, many can relate to it.

Tool #6

It seems to me that Wikis are very similar to Google Docs, but maybe a bit more kid-friendly for our students. I believe a good use for a Wiki in the classroom would be for book clubs or book reviews. This could be their journal writing assignment after reading the part of the book that was assigned for their book club. A Wiki could also be for students to express their reviews on a class novel or even on independent reading books that are very popular amongst the students in the class. Very cool tool!
A good use for the grade level team to use a Wiki would be for planning team meetings. Issues/ideas that want to be brought to the table could be arranged on a list and then have ready to discuss when the meeting is arranged.