My final thoughts about computers in the curriculum...

Well, I have to say that I truly enjoyed this class..It is so much more than I expected it to be...The most useful thing I think I will take from this class is not only all those wonderful websites for teachers to use(Thinkfinity, being one of my favorites!) but the fact that now I know what is available in tech land!  I had no idea what web quests were, that virtual field trips existed and I definitely didn't know what blogging was until now!!!  I feel awake now!!  I will save all those websites and will not only share them with other teachers I know, but also with my children(the websites that are appropriate for them!)  This class also helped me think more about lesson plans and it was great practice for me writing them for each of the projects.  

Last week of class

It's been a pleasure being in class with all of you this semester.  It has been fun and I've learned so much!  Good luck,  Analia with your pregnancy...Will we see you in the Fall semester???  Anthony..Good luck with your wedding and your new home!  And Congratulations on finishing your Masters!  Cindy..Let me know if you ever hear from your agent!!  LOL...and let me know what class your taking next semester!  Arleen, have a great summer and good luck to you at Cardinal McCarricks HS (I graduated from St. Mary's in '86)...Tina & Rosalind, have a wonderful summer and good luck with the remainder of your classes -what are you taking next fall?

It's been a pleasure...How long will this blog be opened for???  Can we blog all summer????

Lori...thanks for a great class...It really is an important class to take.  There is so much out there in tech land for us teachers, we just need someone to guide us to it.  Thank you for guiding us, it's been fun and we learned a lot!!!  Have a great summer & enjoy your new home!

Website grading systems vs. Excel

After reviewing each of the four grading websites, I was amazed at their capabilities.  I found mygradebook.com  to be a little more difficult for me to maneuver around.  I did however like the small questions marks which when clicked on explains what you need to know in order to complete the task. Also it was linked to  quizlab.com for making quizzes, tests and assignments which I thought was pretty good.  Classbuilder.com is run by edHelper.com which is a website I like.  With this grading system I found a lot of positives.  With this system, the teacher has the ability to not only use it for grading purposes but also can generate common report templates such as class lists, report cards and assignments.  Also, the teacher can generate attendance reports to parents via email.  The last thing I thought was great was the ability to create a classbuilder webpage for parents and students.  It can help keep the lines of communication open between the teacher and the parent.  Thinkwave.com is a grading source I liked because of its capabilities to  give the parents their own access to the students grades, announcements about assignments, attendance record and comments.  It allows the parent to have access to their child's school information.  I think that in the lower grades such as k-5, parents would be more inclined to check this information out.  It's a great tool in keeping on top of their studies and grades.  It also gives the teacher the chance to make specific announcements regarding field trips, reminders for assignments and also allows the parent to contact the teacher.  Parents are given a start key and an access code to access their account.  The last grading system I looked at was trackmygrade.com.  This is my favorite.  I felt comfortable using the different screens and it was easy to use.  It flowed nicely. I was able to make a grade book and check out the different features.  It offers the teacher a way to keep track of grades, compare grades student to student, attendance, and also print our reports such as progress reports, classroom reports and comparison graphs.   This system also allows parents to check grades by providing login access.  Although this system did not have as many features as Classbuilder.com, I thought it was easier to use.  

As far as Excel goes for tracking grades, even though I have never really used it for this purpose, it doesn't seem as easy to use as one of these websites.  On Excel you need to plug in everything!  From assignments, to grades, to formulas to calculate grade% and averages.  I wouldn't even know where to begin...I think I would prefer the grade book(paper & pencil) to the excel program.  Excel also is limited as far as being able to offer different templates or reports.  With excel there are no 'extras' for teachers to take advantage of.  The other grading systems offer so much more.  The websites offer an easy way for teachers and parents to see grades and other information and for teachers, be able to maintain the grades with ease.  It is more up-to-date and offers the teacher so much.  Technology is amazing!  I look forward to someday working with one of these systems for grading purposes.

Week #9 - YouTube

I have embedded the Brian Regan youtube video and now I just added a link to the hilarious youtube video of "Introducing the Book"...It is pretty funny!   I like youtube...there are alot of different subject matters on this site to watch as a video...from pool safety to comedians to videos made by all different individuals... I do have a good idea as to what is offered on youtube... My next research will be on podcasts....I don't know much about them!

Week #6 - Tagging, Folksonomies & Technorati

I checked out the different sites such as Technorati and Creative Commons and I have to be honest...I don't really get it!  The Delicious account I have I 'get'.  But I don't understand really how Technorati and Creative Commons will work for me or how to use it....Can anyone shed some light on this??? 

Thanks...

WEEK #5 - IGOOGLE & ZILLOW (Web 2.0 Awards List)

I looked around at the award winning sites through 2.0 learning and decided to look at igoogle..I set up my own igoogle start page on my computer.  It's fun!!  A lot of neat gadgets and information to add to each topic - humor, entertainment, news, music, home and technology...I liked it!  I also looked at a real estate award winning site...Zillow.com...  I liked that one too..I signed onto that site and now I can look at foreclosures, see what my house is appraised at (through zillow of course) and get information regarding real estate...It's a great guide to learning about mortgages and real estate...Also, if you plan to sell your house "by Owner" you can list on there...

www.zillow.com

www.google.com/ig

Week #5 - Big Huge Labs

I went into the image generator - Big Huge Labs and was able to make a poster of my grandmother's 90th birthday with her and my cousins in it...it allows you to write text, save it, send it and even send it to Flickr...I published it to my Blog.....That's another great website...I created an account and also saved the website to my delicious account....

Week # 7 - Wikis

Wikis I found is about collaboration between people - such as teachers and librarians for example who share ideas and information and then make it possible for others to learn from it...On wikis it is possible for others to share information or edit information ... Also it is a quick reference guide for people who are looking for information...I went on Book lovers Wiki and was able to look up books quickly with regard to the topic - I chose 'gardening'...Here I go with he outdoor bug, reptile, plant theme again!!!  Anyway, it looks like a great reference tool for students, educators, librarians or researchers....I also liked that teachers can use it to work with their students on the class for the school year.  Sharing ideas and working on projects and being able to use this tool is fantastic!  Students can blog back and forth, share information and contact the teacher regarding the class.  When you can't get together as a group, a teacher's wiki for the class is a great idea!  

Week #8 - LibraryThing

What a great website!  I can actually keep track of all the books I have read and can look up books that others recommend to read...This site allows you to comment on the books and also ask questions to others about recommendations, names of books , etc. etc.....I made myself a library and have posted here on my blog a link to LibraryThing...I have just added two authors I like so far...I plan on adding more when I have more time this summer...Let me know if the authors i like interest you too!!!

Week # 8 - Zoho Writer

It Worked!!!!  This is a pretty cool site...I never knew this existed!!!  This class is awesome!  Everything seems pretty easy to understand on this zoho writer.  The tool bar is right there and easy to access and understand and it was actually fun to use..This will be great when I'm not at home and I borrow someone's computer and I need to write something up...It's nice having all these different accounts to use on the computer..zoho writer, delicious, my blog account,  and all the many websites I have learned this semester..

zoho writer

Ok, I'm trying to write something on zoho writer and then publish it to my blog site...

 

let's see if it works..

 

 

PowerPoint, Photo Story

The class we had last Monday at UES was great...I really enjoyed learning about Photo Story although I cannot do photo story on my MAC...I opened the imovie application on my computer and it looks a little too difficult..I may have to take the tutorial first..Therefore, my project for Wednesday will be a power point project...

Video

I just figured out how to add a video from utube onto my blog!!!  Yeah!!!  This video is of Brian Regan..he's a funny comedian..adult and kid friendly!  I first saw him at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank...Check him out!

Webquest

I am enjoying working on the webquest project...it's been a busy weekend with finishing up my preschool stuff for the last days and working on my project for this class....It's all good!  I hope everyone had a good weekend!!  See everyone Monday night...

Review of Resources

OK..I know I was out on Monday...I could not help it...my husband was away, my daughter had a school event she needed to go to and my son had a baseball playoff game.....too much for one person to do all in one night!!!  I hate missing class too!!!   Well, anyway I went on all the resource websites and found a lot of really good ones!  I can't wait to go back on and really check them out.  After Tuesday(my last day of preschool!) I'll be able to really 'play' on the computer and check things out thoroughly!!!  I saved everything to my delicious account...Yeah!!  Now I'll have them and I won't forget them!  I hope everyone had a great weekend...this weekend is suppose to be really nice!

Thinkfinity

I have to say that I truly enjoyed the website Thinkfinity.org and have already shared the website with my co-workers at Little Chief...When I have time I'm going back on so that I can enhance my lessons for next year at the preschool...I'm amazed that it has  so much information for educators and that it is free!!!  

Week #4 - RSS

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend!!!  I started reading about RSS...I don't really get it yet though...I made an account for myself and am still trying to figure out how to use it!!  I'm looking forward to tonight's class to learn more about it.  

Lesson Plan

I had fun using the computer to write a lesson plan tonight....Once I got the hang of it! I'm looking forward to exploring all of the different websites we went over tonight too....Have a good weekend everyone!! Enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend!!!!

My computer is back!!

Yesterday I picked up my computer at the Apple store and it is as good as new!!! I am so happy to have it back so I can get my work done, use my email, work on my preschool end of the year books and use my itunes and iphoto!!! See you all tonight!

Week #3 - Real Time Data & Flickr

I chose this picture (the Ladybug)from Flickr because I am doing my Real Time Data on an insect unit with my 3 year old preschool class...Today in class we learned about the ladybug..we have already covered the caterpillar/butterfly and ants...we also have been going outside in a certain location to count how many insects we can find...the children love this!! They really enjoy digging and exploring and then picking up the worms they find....we are going to classify the living creatures we find that are not insects too!! I'm really enjoying this topic with the kids... I have added the link to this picture on flickr if you are interested in checking out more photos...Enjoy flickr...it's really neat looking at all the beautiful pictures....I love to take pictures with my digital - I may try to download pictures there someday...why not?! See everyone on Wednesday night!

I'm without computer!!!

Well...I have been having problems with my imac for the last month...I take it into Apple on Friday and I'm told that my Hard Drive is failing...luckily I'm still under warranty, but on the flip side, I have been without my computer all weekend!!! It's amazing how much you rely on the computer - emails, itunes, school projects, iphoto, etc., etc......It's been hard!! Hopefully I will get it back tomorrow!! keep your fingers crossed...

Computers in the curriculum

Tonight was our first class in computers for the Summer 2008 session. It was nice to see some familiar faces in class and meet some new people too. I think it's going to be a great class. I am really looking forward to learning about blogs, web quests, virtual class trips and all of the other wonderful things that technology has to offer.