Technology

The "Building Airplanes" video is a great metaphor for integrating technology into the classroom. It's always a work in progress because the educational and technological landscapes are always changing. I feel like many teachers I had would try to adjust every year. We don't know what tech background our kids will have and if they will actually connect with the technologies we choose to utilize, so we have to be flexible.

I am definitely a tech resident. First of all, I'm an FLVS intern so at this point I have to be. Secondly, I love living my tech life on the computer or my iPhone! I use so many different sites for a variety of reasons, from just for fun to essential to keeping my life in order (only slightly hyperbolic). 

Scribblar looks like a very cool tool. I love how collaboration-centric it is, and I think it would lend itself well to an English classroom. It would be fun to use to write a story with another class from another state or even country! My next choice is SlideShare. I like it because kids get to share what they make, which is important. I think it would be fun if kids could each make a few slides on a certain aspect of writing, and we could combine them all into a mega presentation. After, they would get to share it with the world! My final choice would be Socrative because I want to effectively use tablets and phones in my class. I think it would be a great way to check understanding as we go along. Little quizzes throughout the lesson would help wake everyone up and keep them engaged.

The NCTE is my go-to resource. I love the idea participating in and following educational Twitter chats, too. I think for my professional development in general, it will be all over the map. Virtual learning is great because, honestly, it can be hard to take time to get away from school. I'd rather learn on my own time. I think I will also depend on many peer recommendations in terms of professional development.

Goodreads will be a staple in my classroom! I want kids to make their own book lists and share. Our Timelines seems like a fun idea, but the site is super dated. Tagxedo is amazing. I used it during a live lesson so kid could see what the most common words in their love poems were. They loved it because it used their work and gave them an artifact to save! Easel.ly is my go-to for infographics because it is super simple and calls for an interactive creative approach. I think for any virtual writing, risks can be that the students' work is available to anyone (for the most part). I wouldn't want them receiving inappropriate comments or getting upset in general. Benefits definitely include more learning experiences and more fun! 


easel.ly

As for what lies ahead, it looks like many teachers are using mainstream technology services in the classroom. Before, it seemed like teachers were solely using educational-geared technologies, but it's nice to see that they are using what a lot of the kids probably use. In the long run, I think that will help make it easier for teachers to incorporate more and more technology because the kids can provide support.

I love the technological version of Bloom's Taxonomy! I feel like it is the perfect tool to help teachers better understand what they should be doing in their classrooms and provides an easy-to-navigate illustration. It is definitely something that should appear in educational technology courses. Understanding where a web tool falls will help teachers make more comprehensive plans and use the tools to their full extents. Also, it's a great way to see what we are already doing to support kids. Many teachers use Prezis and encourage their kids to use them, for example, so they are all already creating. 

I have used many of these educational tools, but my favorites are Prezi, Goodreads, and Tagxedo. I love highly interactive tools the most because they keep my attention and make me feel more involved. I chose to try out Gliffy because I love graphic organizers and think they are extremely helpful in any classroom. I used Gliffy to complete part of an assignment my kids do, and it was so much easier than creating everything in Word. Look below to see what I made:

Gliffy was fun because the creator gets to use a lot of manipulation. I felt involved in the process, and it was easy to undo mistakes. It is simple, clean, and provides excellent design options for graphic organizers or planners. I was a little unsure at first because it looks very technical, but it was great in the end!