What a great tool. I am already using this in my practicum. The kids in the grade 4/5 class are making a video about safety during recreational activities. I have also tried it out with my son, who absolutely loved to sounds that we could add to his videos!
What an exciting tool to use!!! Really enjoyed the video conference with Tyrell Museum this past week, and am already looking at a conference I will be able to use with the grade 4/5 class that I will be teaching in Nanton. I am going to be doing a lot of the Social Great Canadian Shield unit, and am hoping to find a video conference that would work with that unit. Maybe even connecting with a class somewhere in that area and having the kids be able to ask any questions they might have about the area to kids that live there! We shall see...
I like it! I did have to write out the mind map first, and then I opened Bubble.us and created the mind map from my paper copy...I think this worked best so I wasn't having to go back and forth from the resource I was looking at to the mind map, I could just create it all at once when I was finished looking at all the resources. I think if I had my laptop and was using a desktop at the same time it would have worked great without writing it out. I did make a mess of my paper copy though, so did see a huge benefit in the online concept map in that regard, being able to edit and move the nodes around to make it fit as I added more information. I wonder how many students I will have that will find this a useful tool, or even give it a try?
Mind Mapping tools online are completely new to me...I see their value in a classroom setting, particularly for students collaborating on a group project. Again, a tool I will have to become more familiar with before attempting to implement it into a lesson plan! I am sure for some students, a mind map is a comprehensive way to organize thoughts/ideas/concepts, but I am thinking for some it may just look like a jumbled, confused mess, as it does for me...A great tool then for diverse classrooms!
Gained lots from this past weeks lesson. Was very interested in the types of online storage that were available, and ended up with some more storage in my DropBox after invites some classmates to join. Also played with Google Earth a bit at home with my son, checking out different parts of the world. He was quite excited to see where he was born in Taiwan! I am getting more resources added to my weebly page all the time, and feeling like it will be a great asset to have!
Well, after class last week I was quite excited about using a smart board, and all it could do for a lesson...after spending too much time preparing a mediocre smart board activity for the presentation, I felt a little deflated. We did a lesson on boats and buoyancy, and I had pictured clear tubs of water that you could drag and drop objects into, and we would set the objects to float on the top of the 'float' tub (or go back/be rejected if put in the 'sink' tub), and objects would sink to the bottom of the 'sink' tub (or be rejected)...not possible it seems...Instead we just did the drag, drop and disappear activity, which seemed a bit to simplistic I guess. Maybe it is just my lack of knowledge on how to really use a smart board to set up an activity, or maybe it is just a limitation I was not hoping for. It then took more than 10 minutes to pull the activity up on screen, sync the board, and get the screen to be the right size so it would show our whole activity. More use would make this part go faster, but it seemed like a lot of time to set up a two minute activity. I will use it for certain things in the future, I am sure, but maybe would like a bit more training in this area.
Last week I expressed that I was a slight bit cynical about all this tech stuff, and maybe part of it has to do with my own lack of knowledge in the area. I am starting to see that there will be a support system for me to learn, and some integration of the technological usage right into the curriculum so I am not trying to figure out ways to integrate the technology on my own. The video we watched in class really illustrated how much things are changing, and at an overwhelming pace, and I don't want to be left behind. I am very interested in starting a personal learning network, and finding others who have done the same. I am hoping that by the end of these few weeks I feel more comfortable using technology in a variety of ways in the classroom, and between this class and the Evaluation class, I think I will be well prepared!
As someone who grew up with technology in the classroom, but technology that is nowhere near what it is now, and nowhere near as accessible as it is now, I unfortunately came into this course as a bit of a cynic. I have seen 'new' technology abused by teachers, making then lazy and disconnected from the children in their class. I have also seen technology abused by children in the classroom, making then lazy in their leaning and disconnected from not only the teacher, but their classmates also. I will admit now that my view was slightly narrow minded, and that upon reflection I was able to look at the uses of technology with a new perspective. I particularly enjoyed the videos that you showed, and will admit I was excited about the possibilities that technology allows in a classroom. I am excited to start this blog, and how I will use it in the upcoming years. I have also shown this blog to my son, and am hoping that I can help him get started on one of his own. I do realize that in the world we live in today, knowledge in all areas of technology is an asset, or even necessity, and that is why above quote resonates with me.
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