I graduated with a bachelor of science degree in elementary education in the Spring of 2000. My first year of teaching was in Mobile, Alabama at Orchard Elementary school where I taught the 5th grade Jump-Start class. I was the only Jump-Start teacher, a pilot program, in this school. The following year I moved to Savannah, Georgia where I taught 3rd grade for three years. This is where I fell in love with the charm that third grades bring to my life. I felt that I need growth but was not quite ready to hop back into school. Instead of furthering my education through school, I chose to further my education through real life experiences and decided to move overseas and teach. I lived in Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro and taught third grade at the International School of Belgrade. I then moved back to Mobile, Alabama and decided to take sometime off to become a mommy.
I am now attending the University of South Alabama to re-certify my teaching certificate. My teaching certificate will be re-certified after this semester after which I will further my education by seeking a Masters Degree in Instructional Design. I am excited about learning and try to portray that to my students. I am a life long learner and I feel that is one of my strongest qualities.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Youtube v. Teachertube
Both of these site are wonderful sites to use. After doing research on both site I found that there are certainly some pros and cons to both. The main item I feel I have to speak out on is the fact that Teachertube is a much safer website to use. It is for obvious reasons geared towards educators and their needs. You will not inadvertently be sent to any films or photographs that you would be embarrassed for your students to see, as you will often find on Youtube. The only true con, that I found, to Teachertube was that there was not near enough current events or global news that I would like to see. Unfortunately neither of these site are an all-in-one stop shop. To fully utilize these in the class I feel it would be most benefical to uses both Youtube and Teachertube in the class.
To Wiki or Not to Wiki?
That is a question that many people ask themselves. Prior to this class I have often wondered whether the information I was getting off of Wikipedia was reliable information.
Wikipedia is fast and easy tool to use. I believe that it should also be noted that it is not always bad information. Some of the information is good quality information and can be a great resource. I believe that it can be a great place to get started on your research, but it should by no means be the only source. If teachers are using it, then they should always be responsible and verify the information before passing it along to their students. And, parents...the same goes for you.
So, to answer the million dollar question: Yes, Wiki and Wiki away! Just be mindful of the information before passing it along to anyone or you may end up making yourself sound ignorant.
Wikipedia is fast and easy tool to use. I believe that it should also be noted that it is not always bad information. Some of the information is good quality information and can be a great resource. I believe that it can be a great place to get started on your research, but it should by no means be the only source. If teachers are using it, then they should always be responsible and verify the information before passing it along to their students. And, parents...the same goes for you.
So, to answer the million dollar question: Yes, Wiki and Wiki away! Just be mindful of the information before passing it along to anyone or you may end up making yourself sound ignorant.
Podcasting
Podcasts were new to me and honestly it made me feel old and out of date when I was trying to navigate around the itunes website. This particular assignment has truly opened my eyes to an entirely different way to teach and learn not only in the classroom but also as continuing ed.
After listening to a few I saw how addictive podcasting could be. I thought it was wonderful that you could connect to people from all over the world by using skype! I great way to refer to using podcasts in the classroom would be as "extended academic conversation." Podcasts come in all shapes and forms, but no two podcasts are created equally.
I would use podcasts in my class as yet another great way to communicate with parents and student's alike. In addition to the a weekly letter I think a weekly podcast would be wonderful. Also, the amount of continuing education that a teacher can get out of sharing with one another is simply astronomical!
After listening to a few I saw how addictive podcasting could be. I thought it was wonderful that you could connect to people from all over the world by using skype! I great way to refer to using podcasts in the classroom would be as "extended academic conversation." Podcasts come in all shapes and forms, but no two podcasts are created equally.
I would use podcasts in my class as yet another great way to communicate with parents and student's alike. In addition to the a weekly letter I think a weekly podcast would be wonderful. Also, the amount of continuing education that a teacher can get out of sharing with one another is simply astronomical!
Bringing Your Class Into The 21st Century
I believe that one great and easy way to accomplish this goal is to create a classroom blog. This is a wonderful way to keep communication between the parents, students and teachers all on the same page. On this blog we could post homework assignments as well as classroom assignments. It would be a wonderful way for students that are absent to be able to keep up with work. Another idea for our class blog would be to post up coming events, field trips and other important dates. Parents could sign up on the blogs to volunteer for such events and filed trips. I firmly believe that this would be a wonderful tool to help keep the connection between school and home tight.
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