The classroom is constantly changing. As a child my classroom consist of pencil and paper and the teacher doing her best with the dry erase board to explain the lesson to us. Times have changed and most classrooms have a SMART board and access to the internet. The way I grew up learning is totally different than the way it is now. To prepare myself for my future classroom I will need to build my PLN as much as I can and continue for it to grow. I will also need to make myself knowledgable of the latest technology and PBL assignments I can create to better my teaching.
My strengths are that I am always looking for a new of different way to approach things. I love learning new ideas and different aspects of assignments. My weaknesses would be that I am not patient enough to fully listen to instructions because I think I know everything already. I have to teach myself that I should be more open to learning all the ways to approach ideas. Another weakness of mine is that I tend to give up on things when I can't figure them out and just moving on to something different.
I need to be more open minded on trying new things and getting the full description before I venture out on my own and think I know what I am suppose to be doing.
During my school time we always listened to a recording of a book. The person usually sounded just like a robot, as if they have practiced for years.
Michelle Bennett created a youtube video that explains how I , the teacher, can record myself and play for the students. This is a great idea and the student can relate to the book as if I am reading it to them at that moment. She also explains how you can make a QR code for the sound you have recorded. When using word document this allows the student or teacher to record something and have the student be able to listen to it at home. You record yourself speaking at
record mp3 then you get the link and copy and past it to
qr code monkey and this generates the code. You can then place into word document and print and then you can have access to code. Most use their smart phones to access this code.
Ipad reading center is a great way for students to read material and then have it read back to them. This increases memorability. The student will pick any book and set their ipad up so that it can record them. The student will then press record and begin reading the book they have selected. Once they have finished they will stop recording and then play it back and make sure they did not make any mistakes. By doing this the student first reads the book, has it read back to them, and then will it is reading back to them they are following along making sure they didn't make any mistakes. This is a great way to incorporate technology into your lesson plan.
Poplets is a great project for kids to do to learn more on the book or whatever it is the book is about. Having the students create a poplet allows them to really dig for information on the chosen topic. The students create this "web" on their ipad. This allows them to save the information and have with them at all times. The poplet consists of the main topic in the middle of the page almost like a web. It then branches off and you give details pertaining to the topic. This is a great assignment to help kids develop typing skills and it also allows them to pick out the most important information on a topic.
The
AVL for kindergarten students allows the students to research a topic and it provides a video or audio on that subject. The video demonstrated a great PBL activitiy for the students. They were to research a topic draw a picture of that object and then write a sentence on what they learned about that object. This gives students both ways of learning through technology and hands on.
Discovery Education board building is another great tool to allow students to research topics.
Discovery Education allows students to create a board providing a title and facts about the topic. This is a great activity to get students involved and excited about learning. They get to use their ipads and once again the information can be stored so that they can recall it at anytime. All the information gathered in creating the board gave the student enough information to write a narrative. This helps improve writing skills as well.
These
second grade students from Gulf Shores Elementary would like to share their board. This is a great way to let the whole class see individual boards. By projecting them on the SMART board the whole class can see at once. This also helps boost public speaking skills for the student. Here is one more board being shared by
second grade students.
Dr.Strange interviews two teachers from Baldwin County Schools. They talk about
imovie and avl. They talk about how the students really love interacting with their ipads and making movie trailers. Michelle says that the students really get involved in the editing process while making the trailer. This gives the students fun projects but they are also learning while doing. The AVL allows the students to look up information. This information they can use to put in the movie trailer. Great resource to use in my future classroom.
We all become learners. As a teacher we are always learning new ways to do things. The students surprise us. This is a great video explaining how the students teach the teachers and making us all become learners. Reminds me that I don't know everything.
