After 11 Tools: Reflections

1. Although I had heard of the majority of these tools, I had not actually used most of them until this assignment. My favorite activity was making the avatar and using the iPod Touch. Since I took an all day inservice using the iPod Touch, I feel confident with that tool. Since I do not have a classroom, I will collaborate with the classroom teachers in order to have an opportunity to use this technology with students.

2. Completing this assignment really showed me how much technology is available to help teach our students. I feel overwhelmed by all of this, but I know the students will be excited to have an opportunity to use some of these tools to enhance their learning.

3. The unexpected outcome was that completing this assignment was much harder than I expected it to be. If someone shows me what to do, I can do it (example: iPod Touch inservice), but trying to figure things out on my own was difficult.

Tool #7

This tool was the most difficult and time consuming of all. I worked on it all day, and I don't know if it is because I am using my home computer or what, but I cannot get any sound. I plan to use this as part of a lesson on what we can tell about a book by just its title and cover. At some point, I would like to go back and add sound, but for now, this is the best I can do from my home computer.

Tool #11

I did lots of reading about being a good digital citizen. There were several interesting sites, but the one that I liked the best was the TEA website. It had a graphic that was simple, but powerful -
Knowledge + Application =Internet Safety.

I think that safety is one of the most important things that our students should learn about being good digital citizens. We need to protect the students from those who might seek to cause disruption or harm. There are people who may hide their true identity or be on-line to promote negative ideas.

Going along with that, we need to teach students that everything they see on the internet is not true. They need to be skeptical about things because many things they will see are not valid. We need to teach them how to analyze information approriately.

Etiquette is another important thing that we need to teach our students. Students may not realize that interactions in the virtual world can spill over into the real world (example: cyber-bullying).

The best way to teach these skills to our students is by explaining and modeling rules. Students should be reminded that the rules are there to ensure student safety. Ongoing teacher monitoring is also extremely important.

Tool #10

I attended an all-day workshop on using the iPod Touch in the classroom. I found the hands-on training by a very capable Apple employee to be so beneficial.

At this inservice, we were given the opportunity to use the iPod Touch in a variety of ways. People who were less experienced were paired with people who had used them before or even owned their own. We were able to come up with ideas for centers and small group instruction utilizing free applications we downloaded from the ITunes store.

It would have been so nice to have the option to take 11 Tools as an actual inservice for those of us who need more help.

Tool #9

Jing could be used to save lessons that work really well and share with other teachers.

Skype could be used to take the place of pen pals - however, I am concerned that while one student is skyping, the others will be off task and distracted while they wait their turns. I am also concerned with the amount of instructional time this type of activity involves.

Tool #8

First of all, when viewing videos to select for my blog, I was subjected to so many commercials, I was ready to quit! Will our students have to start sitting through commercials before lessons now? It seems to be the way we are headed.

Videos can be useful because they can present information concisely and are usually able to keep student interest maintained. I chose two math videos because I anticipate pulling some small math groups next year. (See Tool #8 labels for links.)

Tool #7 - part one

I cannot complete this yet because I cannot access my school laptop from home. My home computer does not have the necessary software. I will have to get back to this one later, when I have wifi access.

Tool #6

Before this learning about this tool, the only Wiki I was aware of was Wikipedia, where anyone can write anything, regardless of whether or not it is factual. It is therefore not a reliable source, and I think it could confuse some students.

However, after looking at various samples of Wikis, I have a better understanding of how I can incorporate them in my pullout groups. A great example was mrsibrahim.wikispaces.com. This teacher used a wiki to showcase her student's work.

Tool #5

I used Delicious to subscribe to and tag a few sites. See items labeled "Tool #5" for links to these sites.

I think this could be used to organize bookmarks for those teachers who have many.

Tool #4

1. Since I work with more than one teacher, I can see using Google docs to share information among all of them.

2. I subscribed to a variety of blogs that address professional and personal interests. Most of them are recommendations from SBISD teachers I know.

3. I will use teachpaperless.blogspot.com to learn more about reducing paper. Langwitches.org caught my eye because of the title. I will look at it more closely when I have time.

Tool #3

I looked at various image generators and found two that were somewhat easy to use, albeit very time-consuming. I went into Wordle and found an image that described exactly how I felt as my vacation is about to begin. Before heading to the beach, my vacation will begin in New York, so I used a photo to create an image of myself on a NY sign. I am not sure how I will use these to teach, but will ponder this on the beach.

Tool #2

1. I think that the PLN gives us an opportunity to connect with other teachers and their ideas.

2. The commenting point that stood out to me was that a comment can turn a statement into a conversation.

3. I am following these blogs: Technology and the Classroom, But It's Summer!, My Blogs, Teachin' in Flip Flops and Technology is My Challenge.

Tool #1 (Part 2)

Once I got the needed link, creating the avatar was not as difficult as I expected. I am glad Tool # 1 is finally complete!

Tool # 1

I have set up my blog, but have been unable to create an avatar because Voki has not gotten back to me with my activation information. This is far more time consuming than I had anticipated.