Well, I have continued to apply what I have been learning in my wonderful Rich Kiker courses at the MCIU. Not only are parents able to follow me and read my blogs, but the kids are more engaged as they create interactive posters and reports. I let the kids recently explore a variety of WEB 2.0 presentation sites. I told them to explore, learn, talk to each other, and eventually SHOW ME how to create a project and the use the program. To my delight, kids were clicking and showing and doing. I did not see any off task behavior. I even had a few kids starting on their book report project because they had found a site and had finished their book report book early. I heard a lot of, "How did you do..." and "Look at what I did!" There was a lot of excitement for those 30 minutes in the Computer Lab. I even had two kids ask if they could use additional programs that I had not listed. I hope to see Movie Maker and Prezi used. I hope to have kids use Prezi to present information from our Science unit on Light and Color too.
I am also getting more and more quick professional development through Twitter, Google Plus, Edmodo, and Google reader. It is overwhelming at times, but at other times, I can skim and pick up small things as time allows. I have installed the Google Reader on my phone which acts like an RSS feed and brings all the blogs I follow to my finger tips. Here is where I keep up to date on current events and new educational and technological advancements. Also, I have copied some articles from Time to share with kids on Global Warming, and my Google Reader continues to "feed" me Global Warming articles and other informative articles to keep me in the loop so I can teach the most up to date information.
The only thing I have not been successful with is getting my students and parents to follow me @MissMorrision123 on Twitter. I think with time, I will get more and more parents who are already familiar with Twitter so that when they come to my class they will easily know how to follow me. Our principal, Joe Mazza, has created numerous opportunities for parents to come and learn about Twitter and other new ways to keep in touch with the school and teachers. These things take time, especially with those families that do not have Internet access.
Please do not forget to FOLLOW ME on Twitter AND RESPOND TO MY BLOGS. :/
I am also getting more and more quick professional development through Twitter, Google Plus, Edmodo, and Google reader. It is overwhelming at times, but at other times, I can skim and pick up small things as time allows. I have installed the Google Reader on my phone which acts like an RSS feed and brings all the blogs I follow to my finger tips. Here is where I keep up to date on current events and new educational and technological advancements. Also, I have copied some articles from Time to share with kids on Global Warming, and my Google Reader continues to "feed" me Global Warming articles and other informative articles to keep me in the loop so I can teach the most up to date information.
The only thing I have not been successful with is getting my students and parents to follow me @MissMorrision123 on Twitter. I think with time, I will get more and more parents who are already familiar with Twitter so that when they come to my class they will easily know how to follow me. Our principal, Joe Mazza, has created numerous opportunities for parents to come and learn about Twitter and other new ways to keep in touch with the school and teachers. These things take time, especially with those families that do not have Internet access.
Please do not forget to FOLLOW ME on Twitter AND RESPOND TO MY BLOGS. :/
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