Challenge Based Learning Reflection

I was so impressed after watching the video of young Australian students who just wanted to make a difference in the world. This was such a great, inspiring video to watch. I really think it is important for our generation to learn about how we can make small changes in our daily lives to improve the conditions of the world. Our group chose to do a prezi on hybrid cars. This was a very informative and fun project to take on. I learned several new facts about hybrid cars that I had no idea about before. Our prezi was created in our group and was very effective and efficient in getting our information on our presentation and setting up the route to share with the class.

I have found prezi to be such a beneficial resource to use in all of my Block A classes, and have since used it for two presentations. It is a very visually pleasing form of presentation that makes for a creative and fun way to share information with classmates. I had a great time in creating my groups Challenge Based Learning project!

Origional Google Map!

View My Favorite Places (Home Sweet Home) in a larger map

Practice Google Map

View Manhattan Kansas in a larger map

Podcast #10: Skyping in the Classroom

In this podcast, I learned about how Skype is being used in educational settings. Teachers are able to log in to an educational account and incorporate Skype with their students in the classroom. I think this is a wonderful tool to use in the classroom for many reasons. First of all, as an  ESL concentrated pre-service educator, I think that this would be such a neat tool fol CLD students to Skype with their family members, or even previous classroom in their native language. This would allow them to feel comfortable in the classroom and also give the other students a chance to get to know and appreciate their culture. Also, this could be a great tool for collaborative lessons with other schools in the district. For example, students could have a large discussion over a topic, or share files with other classes through Skype to complete assignments or projects. This is also a good way for different classes to do research based projects and share their findings through the use of Skype. I think that this is an extremely beneficial tool to use in the classroom.
 

Twitter Reflection

I have been using twitter for several months now and have always seen it as a social networking tool. I enjoy seeing what my close friends and favorite celebrities are up to. I never thought about educational twitters until this class. As I searched for educators to follow, I was amazed at how many educators tweeted valuable resources everyday, especially ones in my area of concentration (English as a Second Language) At first, I added these educators on my existing twitter account, but quickly realized I wanted to have a separate education account to keep my resources separate from the daily tweets of my friends. I am very happy to have found such a valuable resource in a fun social tool.

Podcast #9: K12 Online Echo: Remixing Histroy--Cigar Box Project

In this podcast, Neil Stephenson shares his philosophy on mixing up or implementing inquiry based work. These strategies are effective especially in History lessons K-12; so that students can be come creators of knowledge not just producers of knowledge. He shares a history lesson that he taught to his classes called the Cigar Box Project. In this project, he had students do research, collect historical images and wrote scripts, peer edited their scripts and collected images. Through this project, the students were able to do research on their computers and use technology to find historic images as well as have a tangible historical tool to use in presenting their projects. They used the cigar boxes as tools to share a story, and answer a question about Canadian histroy.

I personally think that this is a wonderful lesson to use in the classroom. It sparks student's interests about history and learning because they are able to be creative and use their outlets in the classroom to share with their fellow classmates. This is such a great way to use technology in the classroom to create a fun, 'remixed' lesson. I will definitely look into doing something creative like this in my future classroom.

EduTeacher Site Reflection

From the very beginning, I really liked how the eduTeacher website was set up and aesthetically pleasing. There is bulletin board on the right side of the site that has the most recent links, resources, and a newsletter that provides current information about eduTeacher.
With my concentration being in English as a Second Language, I was able to find several different tools that are going to be extremely useful in my lesson planning, assessments, and interactive lessons in the classroom.

60 Second Recap  
This site is a great tool for students to assess their knowledge of language, vocabulary or a subject in a quick minute. It is convenient and fun for students to use.

Ahead  
Ahead is a very fun site for students to create videos, using photos and text. This is a fun creative way for students to complete assignment and also a good way for teachers to introduce or facilitate a lesson.

Answer Garden
Is a nice feedback tool that teachers and students can use for brainstorming, mind-maps, and assessments.