Finally

Overall, this class has taught me many helpful and necessary tools and resources for becoming a successful teacher. It has given me more confidence in my ability to successfully use technology to the benefit of myself and others. I have resources for my students, parents, and other teachers to help me communicate and create with them, which will only increase my students' confidence in their education. I still lack and struggle with some skills, but I now know of places and websites to go to for help, and I do not fear the future.

Google Site

https://sites.google.com/site/bdaughe4/

I love the idea of having a classroom website, and I believe it is essential that classrooms have them. I personally have much, much trouble creating, organizing, and editing my own website, so I do not enjoy creating a classroom website. This is something that can be done prior to school beginning, however, so I would just need to take a week before class to create it. Websites are a great way to keep parents, students, teachers, and administrators informed and updated on your class, and they provide a great way of communication.

Digital Story

Storybird

I believe Storybird is an extremely useful educational tool. It allows students to create while still providing parameters for their creativity. It forces users to think and connect images that might not flow as well on their own, and it also provides many different templates that are appropriate for all ages. I would personally use this in my own class, and it could be a great holiday project or "About Me" project for any student.



The Story of Us on Storybird

Interactive Excel Sheet

Animoto

I can definitely see how Animoto would be beneficial and useful in a classroom. Slide shows are better for some teaching strategies, especially those that require the students to learn from the slides. Animoto would be much more useful for some tasks, however, such as reviewing facts that student's have already learned. It would also be a neat activity for older students to use themselves to create a slide show on a subject of interest. Animoto would also be useful when sharing pictures from an activity or field trip with parents and other teachers.

Google Forms

Inspiration

I would use Inspiration in my classroom, but not frequently. It does involve a lot of time, therefore I would compose a small portfolio of diagrams to use for different classes. It is a great organizational tool, and I can see how it would be extremely beneficial for students. It was beneficial for me as I was creating it.

scavenger hunt

Podbean

Although I do not have much experience with podcasts, I support using them in the classroom. I find that listening to podcasts helps me to learn class material more beneficially and without the same stress of the actual classroom. Therefore, I think it would beneficial to my own students in the same way.

Podbean would be especially useful for music classes, as it would allow students to listen to and identify songs and/or sections of songs as they relate to the material. I would like to use it in my own classroom.

Slide Show

pictures

Smilebox

I enjoyed Smilebox much more than Picnik, mostly because it could have many uses in the classroom as well as out of the classroom. My favorite aspect was that teachers can use it to better communicate with parents! Students, parents, and other teachers would benefit from its use for the classroom. It provides a way to creatively organize and share even more information with many people at once, and very conveniently at that! I would use Smilebox in my own classroom.

Picnik

I think Picnik is a neat website. I'm not fully convinced to use it in my classroom, but it seems fun for personal use. Many of the effects required an upgrade, however-most of them, in fact-and that was a bit annoying. I do not believe I would ever have much use for it unless I went into a more photography-focused major or direction with my class.

TimeToast

I thought that TimeToast was a good idea, however I was not a fan of the website itself. I felt as though it was "behind the times" concerning signing up and managing the timelines. I also disliked that you could not scroll over only one event at a time on the timeline. The design was not appealing, either, and would most likely not hold the interest of younger students. The website seemed very useful, however, and would most likely benefit students' organization and understanding of history in many subjects. It would not be my first choice, however.

Wordle

The concept of wordle is great, and I can see how beneficial it can be for students. However, I agree that other, more convenient websites exist that produce similar, if not better, results. For example, my favorite site would definitely be Tagxedo. The concept is the same as Wordle, but Tagxedo offers options for shape, more options for color, and allows the creator to have more control over his or her word cloud. Even so, both websites provide creative ways to organize information, especially for younger students. It allows them to do so without really thinking about the process, also, which is especially beneficial for the younger students.

GLOGSTER!

I love Glogster!!!

I think glogster is the greatest thing ever! I did not even know such creative websites existed. I strongly believe in encouraging and providing opportunities for creativity, and this is such a useful and safe tool for doing so! I think teachers can monitor the elements of their students' creativity better while still allowing them to create themselves. If there was a "love" button on this, I would click it.

Great tool!

Del.icio.us

I really enjoy discovering and learning about all of the new technological education tools. Delicious is a great tool for organizing websites. I'm a big organizational person, and any tool, especially one that can be accessed from any computer, is extremely helpful! I think delicious is an extremely useful website, and it can make lesson planning as well as learning so much easier, quicker, and more accessible!

Questing of the Web

I had never participated in a webquest until the activity in class. I love them! I thought it was such a neat idea to utilize the internet in such a beneficial way, having students use their resources to learn new information in a fun, entertaining way. I thought it was great because it teaches students to work with a group and be accountable to one another through their individual responsibilities and how they are important to the success of the group. It also helps students find reliable and beneficial sources on the internet.

Music Webquest

One webquest that I found interesting and useful in the music classroom is the "Z-Box Music Co Webquest" by Jane Tummons at Truman Elementary. The purpose of the quest is for students to learn about different cultures of music and dance, specifically from Africa, Mexico, and China.

Pros:
The quest engages the students by encouraging them that they alone can help the Z-box Music Company, which gives the students a sense of importance and makes them want to engage in the webquest. It specifically identifies the elements of the task and also provides the resources the students need to complete the task. The graphics are engaging also and help relay the point of the task.

Cons:
There is no evaluation or conclusion, as the webquest is for younger students, more so for fun or a reward than for a grade.

Evaluation link

When researching different website evaluation methods, I really enjoyed the

Finding and Evaluating Websites (<click here)

page from the Houghton Mifflin Company. The page is aimed toward the primary grades, with instructions that are easy to follow for first through eighth grade. It covers everything from learning from websites to searching for websites to evaluating websites. It is a little interactive and only covers one step at a time per page, which helps organize the information for younger (and older) children.

What I Have Learned

I found the web evaluation activity to be very informative and helpful. I plan to use technology in my classroom one day, as I'm sure we all do, so evaluating educational websites will be of great importance in my career. My students will be looking to me for guidance in many things, including were to go online to gain information. Technology is one of the easiest and beneficial ways for students to learn on their own, in their own time, about subjects that they particularly enjoy. Not only is it essential for me as a teacher to monitor where my students go to obtain information, but it will also be essential for me to teach my students how to find reliable sources of information throughout their life. The tools and information I provide for my students could change their viewpoints on many subjects, so it will be my job to make sure I lead them in the correct direction.

Website Evaluation

I strongly recommend everyone to visit the New York Philharmonic Kidzone. It is not only an amazingly fun website-it is also a great educational tool for music educators or anyone else who is curious about composers, instruments, or history. The graphic design is extremely inviting and encourages exploration, which is a key tool in students' learning. Overall, it is the perfect combination of entertaining and educational, and receives my praise.

WIKI WIKI!

This week I made my first wiki. I have to say that I enjoy the blog more than the wiki, but that may be because the blogging website offers more options than the wiki. I found it difficult to "personalize" my wiki page, although it seemed more professional than the blog. I very much disliked the fact that text could not be typed on the side of a picture unless it was very large. Overall, however, I found it mildly satisfying. I was able to do what I needed to do, and my page does not look hideous.

What do I expect to learn in this class?

First of all, I do not expect to learn everything I will need to know throughout my teaching career in this one semester. However, I do expect to learn many methods of using technology that will benefit my future students in their education. I expect to learn how to use technology to apply new ideas and information to what students already know, helping them to learn these new ideas and information well and retain it. I also expect to become considerably more computer savvy myself.

Allow Me to Introduce Myself

I hail from Knoxville, TN. I lived in Farragut until I was 5 years old, then my family moved to east Knoxville near Corryton, which most UT students have never heard of. I attended Gibbs High School and graduated in 2007, then came to UT looking to become a veterinarian. I currently work at the vet clinic I worked at my senior year of high school (Asheville Highway Animal Hospital) as a receptionist and  member of the kennel staff.

 

 I love most crafts, although scrapbooking is a bit too expensive for my taste. I crochet and knit, mostly around Christmas, as well as cross-stitching, jewelry-making, painting, etc. My favorite new craft is crocheting small animals, toys, angry birds, etc. from free patterns on ravelry.com. I also love outdoor activities (hiking, biking, caving, climbing trees, etc), although I am not “hardcore” at any of them.

I also love games-board games, card games...My new favorite game is Dutch Blitz (card game), and I’m trying to save up to buy Frame It! online.

On a different note, I recently became a fiance on July 27th! I am very excited and anxious to be married, but, as of now, my wedding planning is taking a seat on the back burner behind school and resume-building until a later date....closer to June 2!