Blog Eight

Hilary Thames:

In my sixth grade classroom, I plan to use technology in numerous ways but the number one thing I want my kids to be engaged in weekly is keypals. Through these keypals, my kids will be involved in learning communities. Each students will be paired with another student from a classroom in another city or possibly even another country. My students will be in contact with the paired students through email and when working on projects they will be using collaborative writing tools such as Google docs. Once a month, as a whole, we will have contact with the class via webcam and have an activity planned for this allotted day and the students can engage together. This will allow the students to see their partner and their partner’s culture with their own eyes.
In order to find a whole classroom available for keypals, I would use Teacher's Corner. Through teacher’s corner, I would be in contact with the teacher about various things such as setting up the keypals, activities that will be used throughout the year, and and problems that may evolve over the period of time.

One very important aspect I would hope my students would gain through this experience is teamwork. They will have to learn how to depend on others for things, not taking full control over the situation. This quality will not only help them in the keypals activity, but it will also help them when they are in the workplace and are having to work with co-workers. My students, through the use of keypals will also be introduced to a different culture and to students who have extremely different backgrounds than what they are used to seeing.

Another way I plan to have technology in my classroom is by the use of ThingLink. There are many great things ThingLink offers, such as ways to create an interactive report. By creating this interactive report, students will be able to learn much more because it is a more fun alternative to boring reports. Through the use of ThingLink, my students will create a report of themselves and their own culture to share with the students they have been paired with through keypals and when their paired students have shared the reports they have created of their culture, we will have a class discussion about what was shared.

I know I may thinking too much outside the box, here but one thing I think would be a great way to involve technology in the classroom is through digital desks. Instead of the old, boring wooden desks, have desks that allow each student access to the internet. The top of the desk could be compared to an iPad. It would be touch screen and even have a connection to the smartboard in the front of the classroom. My students books would be accessed through these desks. No more “I left my book at home last night” excuses! Of course the students wouldn't be able to take these desks home, so there would still be a textbook available for homework activities and studying. The students would even be able to take test and submit them using these digital desks! WE ARE GOING GREEN LIKE EDM 310! Okay so maybe there is a reason for me wanting to be a teacher instead of an inventor, but you can never dream to big right?


Haley:
For my tool, I chose Scholastic. Growing up, I remember reading Scholastic books, engaging with the characters such as Clifford the Big Red Dog and the characters in Magic School Bus, and going to my school’s book fair put on by Scholastic. Today, as a future educator, I had NO idea that Scholastic would provide the things that it does. From lesson plans to classroom management ideas to student activities, Scholastic offers an unlimited amount of resources that can be used to further learning in the classroom.

Resources and Tools On the front page of this link, Scholastic offers daily starters, the freebie corner, and printouts that can be used inside the classroom. Daily starters are anything from fun facts, teachable moments, and small lessons in math and language. You can look up information by Common Core Standards. It even takes you directly to the Alabama Department of Education website where you can see what the standards are. Scholastic is a partner with Common Core and they want to provide instructional materials and programs for you, the teacher to use. Scholastic also provides teachers with lesson plans separated by holidays, months, and subject. The amount of lesson plans that Scholastic offers is extraordinary and can be incorporated in the classroom in different ways. The best part is the lesson plans are free! Another resource that can be used is called the New Teacher Support. The best part is the lesson plans are free! There is also a tab that is titled "Everything You Need". In this section of scholastic.com, there is anything you could need by theme such as bullying, elections, and holidays. It has teaching ideas for the month and there is also a search bar that you can use to look for something specific that you need.Some tools that are available through scholastic.com are the graphic organizer, the flash card maker, the spelling wizard, and the class set-up tool.

Follow the links to explore other tools Scholastic offers for yourself!
Graphic Organizer
Flash Card Maker
Spelling Wizard
Class Set-Up Tool
Strategies & Ideas

Another tab that you can find on Scholastic’s website is one where you can find different strategies and ideas. One resource found in this section that I find very helpful is Teacher to Teacher Blogs.In this section you can find teaching tips, classroom management tips, lesson plans, and great things that are happening in the classroom. It gives you a list of teachers all over America giving their resources and tips for a better classroom. While exploring Scholastic’s Common Core section, I found links that explain what Common Core is and how to understand. This gives links to Skill Assessment, Math Material, English Material, and the Content Library. I really like the section called the New Teacher Support. This link offers tips for how to start your classroom, ways to deal with parents, how to teach lessons and resources that helps new teachers get in the swing of school.
Student Activities
Inside Scholastic there are a lot of resources for teachers, parents, and students. The student resources vary from computer lab activities, SmartBoard activities, and “StudyJams!”. These are all resources that are extremely helpful that will allow students to grasp the concepts needed.
Here are the links to the student activities!
Interactive Whiteboard Activities
StudyJams!
Computer Lab Favorites
Family Playground (Ages 3-7)
Kid Stacks (Ages 8-12)

The final resources I am going to discuss are the Book Fair and the tab for Books and Authors. With the Book Fair resource, you can find book fairs near you, see what books are being featured, and you could sign your students up for contests such as Kids Are Authors.
I would use these tools in my classroom as often as I could. This would allow students to stay learn with technology as well as work collaboratively at times. This takes learning home, and it allows parents to join in on the fun of learning! < br />

Brantley Spillman:

While researching technology-based tools for the elementary classroom, I was able to find a lot of new information. The sky is the limit when dealing with technology and its potential for the modern day classroom. Constantly, new tools and programs being invented and implemented into our schools. These tools/programs are allowing educators easier application of the hands-on approach. The tools that were notable to me were Pixie, Frames5, Share4, Wixie, Image Blender, and PollEverywhere .
However, the program I will discuss in this post is Epals. Epals seems to be easy to integrate into the classroom. They have several options that are specific to grades K-12. One example is the “Global Community” that allows students and educators to collaborate with different cultures and communities (over 200 countries). Additionally, this technology offers a safe way for students to communicate worldwide. Both educators and students now have the opportunity to search and learn from many different styles/cultures of education.
Another example of options that Epals offers to an educator and their students is “CRICKET.” CRICKET includes several different magazines and reading materials for a variety of ages. “The mission of CRICKET is to inspire children to a lifelong love of reading and learning.”( http://www.corp.epals.com/cricket.php) In addition to magazines, CRICKET offers several learning products such as books, crafts, toys, and gifts. First and foremost, these products should bring a sense of fun to the learning process.
In2Books e-Mentoring Service is a more specific program Epals has to offer. This service is grade-specific. The In2Books tool is for students in grades 3 through 5. It provides a student with a pre-approved adult penpal to discuss certain reading topics they both have read. “The program provides standards-based professional development and professional learning communities and is facilitated by three resource-filled websites - one for students, another for pen pals, and a third for teachers.” (www.corp.epals.com/in2books.php) Historically, pen pals have been very useful in a classroom. (http://k6educators.about.com/od/languageart1/a/pen_pals.htm) Pen pal relationships offer several important inter-disciplinary benefits for your students: good practice at writing in the proper format, increasing your student’s awareness of other interpretations of the reading material, increasing chances that your student will continue to be a writer, increasing your student’s ability to communicate clearly in written form.
The notable aspect of Epals is that it is building on traditional learning tools; reading, writing, and pen pals. However, making it more successful by using new technological methods such as video chats and email we are modernizing the classroom.