Blog #7

I decided to utilize Blogs in my classroom as a forum for discussion of various things and images in the classroom. I would require that students answer the question that is displayed on the Blog and also comment on at least three student's comments to create a discussion. An example of this is my Economics Blog.

Blog #6

This was a great module with mounds and mounds of information and tools that are great for enhancing instruction and getting students connected in the classroom. One of the common but still great ones is YouTube. YouTube allows us as educators to bring media into the classroom in the way of clips, movies, visual tutorials, music and so much more into our classrooms. It is a great resourceful tool to incorporate in the classroom. The next tool I explored was Go Animate. This tool allows me to add spice to my anticipatory set in the lessons. I can utilize this tool to get the students attention & to introduce the concepts to be discussed or introduced in the day's lesson. It can also explain directions individually to students when they play the animation so that if they missed anything they could quickly and easily access the information without me having to stop the class to assist one student. I can better meet the needs of all students utilizing Go Animate in this manner. Prezi was very exciting to explore and I look forward to creating presentations for lessons and having the students create presentations in this program. It brings an exciting element to presentations for both creators and viewers. Xtranormal was phenomenal in having the ability to create. I see students reaching the Synthesis level of Blooms by utilizing this tool. Students create their own movie to accomplish a goal or objective. This is dynamic. The last exciting tool I want to discuss is VoiceThread. This tool allows discussion of a type of media such as a picture or video that will meet the needs of most all students because it allows you to comment by phone, voice, document, writing (which can reach most all intelligences). Having a class discussion beyond the classroom is a awesome tool to incorporate in your classroom.

Blog #5

Exploring through GOOGLE and all it has to offer was both exciting and overwhelming. I have found so many things I can get acquainted with that will enhance what I do in the classroom and beyond. I guess in answering what was my favorite application....I would have to say GOOGLE DOCS. This is a great tool to utilize in the classroom because so many students may or may not have computers or may not have all of the programs needed to accomplish what is asked of them in the classroom such as Powerpoint or even Microsoft Word. And with ZGOOGLE DOCS, students do not need to have these programs on their computer....they need access to google and an account with GOOGLE. Once a document is created in GoogleDocs, students can either submit it dorectly to me & I can make corrections/edit it within GoogleDocs & sen it back to the student. These documents can also be shared with others making cooperative learning more effective & efficient by not always requiring person to person contact to accomplish the completion of these types of assignments. A great resource to learn how to incorporate GoogleDocs in your classroom is:

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Blog Post #4

Creating a personal learning network through IGOOGLE was very useful. I liked the fact that all my google applications could all be gathered on one page. It makes it easy to access and less likely of forgetting you either have the application or forgetting where it is located.  One of the cool gadgets I found and added to my IGOOGLE was the sticky notes gadget. I find that periodically I need to write myself notes either to remember stuff, location of stuff, fun facts, cool sites and even appointments. In real life I use them in this manner and I feel having the same ability to do so on the computer is absolutely great. I find this very useful again as being a personal online planner. I can add commitments to the calendar, easily access you tube videos, have options to make my time useful during down times such as playing games, create and send documents, hold saved websites from my Delicious bookmarking site and much more. I think this app not only can add to the management of time and documents.

Blog post #3

So.....social bookmarking....what a great technology. I have so many times bookmarked something either at work or at home and needed to go back to it or show someone the site and was not on that particular computer and could not find it.  I used to copy & paste the sites on a Microsoft word document and save it, which got really annoying at times. So it was a joy to come across this site. I suggest two search engines for educators that I feel will be very beneficial: http://eduhound.com it is a topic based search engine & http://www.bbc.co.uk this is another subject based search engine.

For students I suggest: http://sweetsearch.com this search engine has 5 divisions...emerging learners, teaching research skills for teachers & students, learn something new each day, biographies, and social studies. The other site is www.dogpile.com this site search other search engines & gives you results.
Have fun....

Blog post #2

As most of us in education may know.....the Internet can be a dynamic tool to use in the classroom & teaching students to use it in an efficient and effective manner can be a challenge.  Many times we train students to use it as a resource to look up information just in the same way we did encyclopedias many years ago.  In my classroom, I can say that I have instructed students to use the Internet in authentic learning. I had the students plan a family vacation where they had to decide on means of transportation, location of the vacation, place to stay, meals, and entertainment. Once the information was researched and gathered, they had to then write a persuasive speech to their parents to convince them of the vacation plan. I thought this was a good exercise because the skills learned to plan a trip is something that will stay with them beyond school and is very real in life.
I have not done very much with cooperative learning with the Internet for my students. I do see the use of cooperative learning through maybe some type of pen pal exchange where students create their own blogs regarding selected literature or a project given by a teacher where students from two different classrooms read & comment on each other's blog posts.
I think the challenge for educators is to create situations where students can experience both constructive and intentional learning with using the Internet.  I think once educators create assignments that are more authentic in nature where students have a choice, it will be much easier for students to experience aactive, intentional, and constructive learning in the classroom using the Internet. Students can create web pages, blogs, portfolios, and use social networking to collaborate with others......which can lead to students doing something they could not do before and/or doing something more effiecient by incorporating the internet.

All About Me

Hello All.....My name is Traci Bishop. I am at the end of the MAT program at Lindenwood University.  I am getting certified in Business Education 9-12 & is very excited about student teaching & getting my own classroom in the near future. I have been in education of children & students for over 15 years. I started in early childhood education & fell in love with working with children. After three or four years with that age group, I started working at Gateway Middle School in the SLPS district. There I worked as a T.A. for 10 years in the computer lab/classroom. While working at Gateway, I decided that k-12 education would be the best place for me. I loved working at Gateway....I did so much more than assisting my teacher & fell in love with teaching technology to both students and teachers....showing them how technology could impact their classrooms and their education. I view technology as a means to get the things you need to get done in a more creative, efficient, and interactive manner.  I think it is also a great way to motivate students to do their best and that there is something about school that they can fall in love with. Since working in a lab setting & substitute teaching in the Pattonville school district, where technology is infused into all curriculum, I have had the experience of using SmartBoards and other similar technologies in the classroom.  I have also seen how the Internet has impacted student research & how other software has made a student's & a teacher's life easier within the classroom, such as creating electronic presentations, portfolios, and word processing programs to create papers and other useful tools to help students.  I am looking forward to expanding my knowledge in integrating technology into classrooms this semester.