So Long!!!!

So, here I am 8 weeks later....a little more knowledgeable I hope. I would like to use this time to reflect on what I think were the successes AND the failures (for me) in taking this course. I have really enjoyed having an open dialogue throughout the course with the other "ladies". At first I thought that the small class size would make it difficult to carry on an online discussion forum, however I quickly found that our course conversations became more intimate. I have taken online courses where there have been many students and you end up just replying to someone for the sake of the course and a conversation is difficult to maintain. I have to say that I really enjoyed our forums and found myself disappointed when there were no knew messages to read. Also, I think that the resource links made available through our discussion forums will also be very useful. I have bookmarked all the ones that I think will be beneficial to me and am hopeful to use them in the upcoming year.

Now if I had to talk about my disappointments I guess the only one would have to be the blog. In the beginning I was so excited about my new blog. I thought the idea of writing for an online audience was super. Likewise, I was looking forward to belonging to a teacher exchange about best practices and course material. With all this positive energy, you might think...well what went wrong? Well, given the content for our course and the reason for our blog I found that the dynamics of the blog disappeared. that is, it became a place for me to post links and reflections about the course, but I certainly didn't have the feeling anyone was reading my posts, or benefiting from what I had to say. I think to get true value out of a blog you need to believe at least that others are reading (not just because they have to...). I lost focus of our class blog about the same time I started up my own personal blog....(the mommy files..) I found writing about the trial and joys of being a parent of 2 young children much more enjoyable than the current task at hand.

Now, well I don't think that I got the most out of this class blog as I had hoped to I have certainly bought into starting a blog in my classroom and the benefits it can have for my teaching model. I have helped my husband start a course blog for one of his senior English classes and he loves it. I also have every intention of starting a blog for all three of my classes next year and finally utilizing those three computers at the back of my class (as well as having something to do for those students who finish early). I am excited about the blogging world, like I said I started my own personal blog, I currently have a host of followers and love love documenting the cute and crazy things my kids do. So, after this quick reflection perhaps the blogging portion of this course was beneficial for me.

I am excited about what Part 2 and 3 of this course will offer me, and am really hopeful that it will help me to not just stay on top of technology in the classroom but be a leader within my department, school and board in helping bring new initiatives towards technology and senior math education.

 

Take Care and if you are reading this I thank youJ,

Billie Gitter

Smart Exchange

Smart Technology has opened a website forum called the Smart Exchange. Here you can share notebook presentations with other teachers. You can easily search for related material by the course, grade and curriculum strand. This is a wonderful forum for sharing btw teachers. Smart sponsors it so there are even prizes for the best, most innovative lessons. It is worth checking out, regardless of the disciple that you teach.....did I mention that it is free!!!!!

Great Sites for PPT and More

Here are some super great sites...enjoy

Smartnotebook Lessons
technology.usd259.org/resources/whiteboards/smart-lessons/high_school_lessons.html

World of Teaching, Maths PP Page
www.worldofteaching.com/mathspowerpoints.html

1000's of Presentations, all topics
www.pppst.com/themes.html

Free Math Clip art
math.phillipmartin.info/math_tesselation.htm

All kinds of Presentations: Permethean Board, Smartboard and PP
www.kenttrustweb.org.uk/kentict/kentict_iwb_power.cfm

Dahabo's Story

Check out this paper for an intriguing story of how the use of digital images brought one girl out of her shell in the LA classroom.

Your first Assignment

Each member of this class is to create a personal blog for this course. I will also post content to this blog. You will be responsible for both commenting on postings I have made on this blog AND make postings of your own on your own blog site. A blog is like an online journal, here you can share your trials and tribulations as you embark on this "teaching" experience. And of course you success stories as well. Follow these instructions to create your own blog. Once you have created your blog, please reply to this posting with the web address for your blog. I will "follow" all of your blogs and you should sign up to follow your classmate's blogs as well. Following a blog will allow you to see your peer's blogs and any new postings they have made. Your personal blogs are to be used to both answer any questions I may ask and to converse with your peers about our GPP class. Please remember that all content will be available to be read by both myself and your peers and as such should be professional and anonymous at all times. Please have your blogs created, personalized and ready for my viewing by the end of the week. Happy blogging!!!

Some useful lists

10 ways a teacher can incorporate digital photos

1. Field trip ...I am trying to think of some different ones...thought I would leave that in though:)
   2. Junior teachers - as a welcoming of a new class....
   3. Kindergarten teachers - of each student to paste to their desk.....personalize cubbies, coat hooks....
   4. Home ec - process photos of a recipe
   5. Personal photos of kids w/ alergies...special IEP's...special need
   6. English class - creating story boards
   7. Caught being good - at lunch or recess
   8. Physed - proper technique of exercises
   9. Staff room - posted photos of suspended students (I often have no idea who these kids are...)
   10. ............
   

   
    

   10 ways a student can use digital photos
   

2. 1. Field trip
   2. Art Class - to create magazine cover shots
   3. Drama - to create a photo journal that "tells a story w/out saying a word"
   4. Math - find examples of shapes, lines (parallel, perpendicular) angles in nature
   5. Science Experiments - method, process photos
   6. Junior grades - collages of topics being studied....trees...insects
   7. English - create your own book cover...take a photo that represents the book being studied and create a new book cover of the novel)
   8. Junior grades - show and tell..."send in" a digital photo of a family trip or something interesting and talk about it to the class.
   9. Before and after shots for a tech project......
   10. sports and Society class - interviews..sporting events
   

   
    

3. 10 Ways a special needs student can use digital photos
   1.I taught a girl with acute short term memory loss, she carried a camera with her to take pictures of her day...every day. She took pictures of me (almost daily, I wrote the word MATH on the board and the room number and my name.....she did this for every teacher and most "friends" so she could review before school the next day adn hopefully remember who was who....).
   
   2. Create vocabulary pictures in early grades
   
   3. To create a digital reference of a school event or field trip to help students remember the important parts so they can properly recall/write about it when they get back to school.
   
   4. Use pictures to enhance story telling of children on autism spectrum
   
   5. Early math - take photos to represent simple mathematical concepts 2 red apples and 2 green apples make 4 apples.....take a photo of the child with the apples and holding a copy of the math sentence as well..Students to review concept at home.
   
   6. For students who suffer from anxiety or do not have age appropriate social skills, they could be in charge of taking the photos of the event (dance) so they are not forced to participate, but are also not noticeable absent.
   
   7. Young students can take photos of their day so they can tell their parents about it when they get home....(they have a way of referencing the questions...what did you do today...)
   
   8.
   9.
   10. I am still working on these:)

Great Ideas for Integrating Digital Imagery

Check this site out. There are some really neat links to sites like this one that make videos from still digital photos....

enjoy,
Billie