After 11 Tools: Reflections

1. What are your favorite tools you now have in your personal technology toolbox? Briefly describe a particular activity that you will plan for your students using at least one of these new tools.
Definitely the mashup and image generators!  I like the ease of using Bookr and the word clouds.  As I mentioned previously, I plan to use Bookr for geography lesson in social studies.  I also plan to use word clouds to wrap up a unit in science so they could correlate all the vocabulary words they have learned in a particular concept.

2. How have you transfomed your thinking about the learning that will take place in your classroom?
It is the realization of incorporating the real world in the classroom.  Advancement in technology cannot be stopped and our students need to be at par with what is happening around them.

3. Were there any unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
After doing 23 Things to Play, I thought that I have learned everything there is to learn.  2 things that are new - Jing and Skype and the Mobile Apps.

Tool 11: Digital Citizenship

Brainpop has some good videos about digital citizenship.  I would show the videos about digital etiquette, cyberbullying, online safety and copyright.  The students will come up with a presentation using one of the things under Tool #3 to show to their classmates.  They will also create a one-liner saying on a poster like: "Cite Your Source," "Be Safe on Cyberspace," etc.

1. Digital Rights and Responsibility - Just like being a good citizen in real life, in the e-world people have to be a good digital citizen as well to make it a safe place for our young.   They have freedom of speech, but they need to understand that they have to use appropriate language and not to send rude remarks.  I would discuss with them the danger of cyberbullying  so none of them would be a part nor a victim of it.

2. Digital Communication - it is important to discuss this with students so they will be careful in exchanging information on the internet.  They should not give any personal details nor meet somebody they meet online without adult permission. 

3. Digital Law - students need to learn to cite the source of their information and pictures whenever they do their research project and understand copyrights. 

Tool 10: Exploring Mobile Technology And Apps

I'm glad I attended the staff development that the district offered regarding iPod touch. Not only we were able to look at different educational apps, we also looked at podcasts, audiocasts, and how to syncronize iTunes with iTouch. Learning all this technology is important so we could utilize it to enhance our students' learning experience. We have to stay abreast with what our students have to deal with in this time.

Students could use the different apps to practice what they have learned eg. math facts, grammar, etc.  They could also fill out cloze statements to look for information for science and social studies. Here are some educational applications I think would be great to use in our classrooms:

States and Capitals for Free - trial version of the 50 states and capitals, this one allows students to practice the original 13 states/colonies

210 Human Body Facts - some interesting facts about human body that could easily understood by elementary students

Vocabdaily - words of the day from Merriam-Webster, geared towards higher grade level

Flash to Pass - math flash cards for the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

Tool 9: Sharing Information Through Jing & Skype

Screencast would be great to invite authors, career people, and other guest speakers on a budget - even astronauts while they are on outer space! This will enhance the students learning experience as they interact with people in the real world.

It could also be used to communicate with students from different parts of the world so they could share and celebrate their similarities and differences in their culture.

We use Skype to keep in touch with families and relatives outside the country. It is cost efficient and fosters closer relationships even at a distance. You just have to watch out for proper lighting and positioning so you look good to the people on the other end of the screen.

Tool 8: Video Resources

I love showing my students different videos for the different content areas because it really captures their attention. United Streaming and Brain Pop are two of my main sources of videos I show to my class.

I'm sharing two videos I shared with my class before the TAKS test and after the TAKS test to inspire them.