Wow! It's been an exciting learning experience! So happy that I signed up for this...I knew that I needed to update my skills in the digital world...when you're honest and forth coming with what you need as a teacher, and you're feeling uncomfortable with where you are at...a conscientious teacher acts! So glad I made this awesome journey! I realize that the journey continues and is an ongoing one...I am so willing! Thank you to Joan and Maureen for all your hard work..you are so appreciated!! You are true teachers....caring about the greater community and willing to share your knowledge for the benefit of us all!
I've changed and benefitted in so many ways due to this course. First of all, it forced me to familiarize myself with many of the current digital tools. I couldn't give in to my discomfort and fear...I had to move forward, and it wasn't as difficult as I thought, thanks to the setup and design of this instructional program. I didn't grow up in the age of digital, so I feel that if these types of professionsl developments are not offered and gently encouraged for teachers my age, it is harder to get this learning and committment to happen. Newington needs to provide and encourage teachers more in this area. I have confidence that this is going to happen...Yah!
I'm very excited to start this school year with my updated and new found knowledge thanks to Web 2.0. I will start off using a wiki for the purpose of having my students complete their first writing assignment about their favorite summer activity. I will soon advance to having them complete collaborative study guides demonstraing what they have learned in various subjects. So excited about this because I am a strong believer in the use of study guides with students especially at this young age....they need to learn that this type of tool will help them on assessments now and in the future, and it gets them involved in the process...killing two birds with one stone! Ebooks interest me, and I know they will have a value in the classroom also, just for something different for everyone, and more of a true tool for sped. students. I will definitely allow my students to complete assignments/assessments that utilize more of the Web 2.0 tools. It would be great to have the help of our computer/resource/media teachers for this aspect....can't do it all on our own. I realize too that it is my responsibility to seek them out for this purpose.
I plan on spending more time on some of the tools and sites. I definitely need to revisit and fine tune what I have learned. This year I will spend time experimenting and learning more, so that next year I have some solid digital curriculum in place! The biggest thing that I have taken away from this experience is that to be a 21st century learner/teacher is that you are constantly learning and updating skills. If you are complacent and old school in your thinking/ teaching, you will short change the students of today...you will feel the discomfort and see the negative results of this inequity.
Thank you again for this wonderful learning experience...Awesome job!!!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Thing 22
My Trip to Italia by Mrs. Paonessa
What an awesome time my family and I had in Italy this summer! We headed out together, Frank, Vita, Kristen and Mike, on July 26th and came home August 7th. Our trip began in Rome, Italy. We spent 4 fantastic days visiting the beautiful city with all its breathtaking sights. We toured the Vatican, which was my absolute favorite place. Did you know that the Vatican ,where the Pope lives, is its own country? Yes, it is so large and important, that it has this unique distinction of being a famous place to visit, and a separate country from Italy. Within the Vatican is Saint Peter's Basilica or Cathedral. It is a very famous "church". Can you believe that 55,000 people can fit in it;a church as large as Yankee Stadium! Other sights visited in Rome were the Colliseum, Trevi Fountain, and the Catacombs, all impressive places themselves.
After Rome, we were off to the northern countryside of Tuscany. Here's where we got to relax and kick back a bit more. We stayed in a villa that had spectacular views of many wine vineyards along with green, rolling hills. Our Italian villa was run by a nice couple named Carlo and Nicola. They cooked yummy meals each day for their guests, and they were very hospitable. They always found time for their 50 or so house guests that included many people from the Netherlands. My family and I were the only Americans. We met a lot of nice people and made new friends. The highlight of Tuscany was the many small towns we visited. Many of the towns were quite old, dating back to the 5th century. It was so interesting to see what places looked like from long ago. All of the towns had a center area that included a church, market, plaza area where people chatted and hung out. Of course there were many restaurants and delicious gelato (Italian icecream) places around-yummy!! Lots of shopping too!
It was a memorable trip for the Paonessa family...A once in a lifetime experience! We are so grateful that we were able to take this trip together this summer. We cherish the time we spent as a family and hope to go back to Italy some day again.
Not sure I was supposed to copy and paste my wiki, but here it is from wikispaces.com under Room509summerfun. I will upload photos from the trip too once I load them on this computer. I'm going to have the students comment about a few entries along with including their own favorite summer experience. This will be our first wiki together.
I think wikis are so much more valuable as a learning tool than blogs.They can be used for so much more, on an ongoing basis I believe, as I stated earlier in my wiki review-item 20. Am I right with this, or is there little difference really?
What an awesome time my family and I had in Italy this summer! We headed out together, Frank, Vita, Kristen and Mike, on July 26th and came home August 7th. Our trip began in Rome, Italy. We spent 4 fantastic days visiting the beautiful city with all its breathtaking sights. We toured the Vatican, which was my absolute favorite place. Did you know that the Vatican ,where the Pope lives, is its own country? Yes, it is so large and important, that it has this unique distinction of being a famous place to visit, and a separate country from Italy. Within the Vatican is Saint Peter's Basilica or Cathedral. It is a very famous "church". Can you believe that 55,000 people can fit in it;a church as large as Yankee Stadium! Other sights visited in Rome were the Colliseum, Trevi Fountain, and the Catacombs, all impressive places themselves.
After Rome, we were off to the northern countryside of Tuscany. Here's where we got to relax and kick back a bit more. We stayed in a villa that had spectacular views of many wine vineyards along with green, rolling hills. Our Italian villa was run by a nice couple named Carlo and Nicola. They cooked yummy meals each day for their guests, and they were very hospitable. They always found time for their 50 or so house guests that included many people from the Netherlands. My family and I were the only Americans. We met a lot of nice people and made new friends. The highlight of Tuscany was the many small towns we visited. Many of the towns were quite old, dating back to the 5th century. It was so interesting to see what places looked like from long ago. All of the towns had a center area that included a church, market, plaza area where people chatted and hung out. Of course there were many restaurants and delicious gelato (Italian icecream) places around-yummy!! Lots of shopping too!
It was a memorable trip for the Paonessa family...A once in a lifetime experience! We are so grateful that we were able to take this trip together this summer. We cherish the time we spent as a family and hope to go back to Italy some day again.
Not sure I was supposed to copy and paste my wiki, but here it is from wikispaces.com under Room509summerfun. I will upload photos from the trip too once I load them on this computer. I'm going to have the students comment about a few entries along with including their own favorite summer experience. This will be our first wiki together.
I think wikis are so much more valuable as a learning tool than blogs.They can be used for so much more, on an ongoing basis I believe, as I stated earlier in my wiki review-item 20. Am I right with this, or is there little difference really?
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Thing 21
Wikis are an awesome way for teachers and students to share information and colloborate with one another! Aren't they very similar to GoogleDoc with the exception of Wikis having the graphic, video, audio piece??
I enjoyed viewing all of the wikis listed. I like the idea that some teachers set them up as study guides for students based on their subject/topic. This is very helpful to students at any grade level..elementary included. They can even be created by students as a way of summarizing what they have learned, graded by teachers perhaps, and then of course used for actual studying. I also like the wiki on the hemispheres created by 5th graders in two different parts of the world. What a fun way for students to learn information and share with each other...thought this was very well done and that the students learned so much more this way.
Not quite sure yet how I will use wikis this year...so many possibilities! I'm thinking of collaborating with a colleague and perhaps we can have the students review/talk/respond about books they have read..and we could share this way, or we can split up topics in social studies and science and have the students present what they have learned in a more creative way through a wiki? I like the idea of creating study guides for student use. Perhaps I can model a few for the students initially, and then they can begin to create their own...again, we can split up topics and have various students address a separate topic...we could do this in math, reading, social studies and science. Can't wait to get started!!!
I enjoyed viewing all of the wikis listed. I like the idea that some teachers set them up as study guides for students based on their subject/topic. This is very helpful to students at any grade level..elementary included. They can even be created by students as a way of summarizing what they have learned, graded by teachers perhaps, and then of course used for actual studying. I also like the wiki on the hemispheres created by 5th graders in two different parts of the world. What a fun way for students to learn information and share with each other...thought this was very well done and that the students learned so much more this way.
Not quite sure yet how I will use wikis this year...so many possibilities! I'm thinking of collaborating with a colleague and perhaps we can have the students review/talk/respond about books they have read..and we could share this way, or we can split up topics in social studies and science and have the students present what they have learned in a more creative way through a wiki? I like the idea of creating study guides for student use. Perhaps I can model a few for the students initially, and then they can begin to create their own...again, we can split up topics and have various students address a separate topic...we could do this in math, reading, social studies and science. Can't wait to get started!!!
Thing 20
eBooks are certainly pretty neat! Personally, there's nothing like the old fashioned way of cradling a book in your hands and sitting/lying back and relaxing.
I looked through some of the online resource sites along with GoogleBooks and the NHS eBook site. There are certainly many books available to view this way covering many topics/subjects.
I think that using eBooks for short read alouds would be interesting for the students whether they were just read to them or done through audio. I could especially see using eBooks for special ed. students who have a hard time reading. Having the book read aloud to them would be very helpful. The print is nice and large in many of the books,so this is helpful also. In addition, it would be a nice change for all students to read an eBook....fun and different!! I could definitely see it being a good research tool for older students....they could access books from home, and get their info very quickly and conveniently!!!
I looked through some of the online resource sites along with GoogleBooks and the NHS eBook site. There are certainly many books available to view this way covering many topics/subjects.
I think that using eBooks for short read alouds would be interesting for the students whether they were just read to them or done through audio. I could especially see using eBooks for special ed. students who have a hard time reading. Having the book read aloud to them would be very helpful. The print is nice and large in many of the books,so this is helpful also. In addition, it would be a nice change for all students to read an eBook....fun and different!! I could definitely see it being a good research tool for older students....they could access books from home, and get their info very quickly and conveniently!!!
Thing 19
I've spent a couple of hours on screencasting alone and I still don't get it. First of all I was not able to hear clearly the initial screencasting tutorial set up by Newington High. In addition I find the other tutorials provided by the various screencasting sites very unclear too as to how to actually do this. All other tasks on things 1-18, I found very clear???
I have viewed many types of screencasts, but I don't understand how I start to create my own..do I need to have something set up on my own first, or do I do it simultaneously on the screencast site???... very confusing, so I am going to move ahead with the other things, and hope to come back to this before Aug. 27th. I'll be out of town until the 25th...hope to resume with this task then.
Maureen, maybe you can pass along some pointers for me! HELP!!!
I have viewed many types of screencasts, but I don't understand how I start to create my own..do I need to have something set up on my own first, or do I do it simultaneously on the screencast site???... very confusing, so I am going to move ahead with the other things, and hope to come back to this before Aug. 27th. I'll be out of town until the 25th...hope to resume with this task then.
Maureen, maybe you can pass along some pointers for me! HELP!!!
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Thing 18
Podcasts are so cool! I found one that will help me with using my Smartboard for math instruction. You can locate it at Teaching with Smartboard.com The authors are male teachers and they have a bunch of pods on various math topics that one can use with upper-elementary to middle school learners. I viewed two lessons that both taught graphing....very simple to use, and effective! I subscribed to this...excited about referencing it thoughout the year....still learning how to use my Smartboard..so this will be my teacher!
I also checked out the Podcast Raadio Willow Web.....a site for kids done by kids.....very awesome!!! I just looked at ones done by 5th grade students....totally audio, no visual....one was a science based pod on the topic of matter, the other one was a review of the winter olympics. The students were very professional, well spoken and informative. I could have my students listen to these podcasts as an introductio about them...they are of very high quality...well done!Then, they can model the podcasts they create after these!
I also viewed bookwink.com that gives audtio-visual reviews of books on all subjects and reading levels. It's always updated, so it can be shared and viewed by kids throughout the school year.
I also checked out the Podcast Raadio Willow Web.....a site for kids done by kids.....very awesome!!! I just looked at ones done by 5th grade students....totally audio, no visual....one was a science based pod on the topic of matter, the other one was a review of the winter olympics. The students were very professional, well spoken and informative. I could have my students listen to these podcasts as an introductio about them...they are of very high quality...well done!Then, they can model the podcasts they create after these!
I also viewed bookwink.com that gives audtio-visual reviews of books on all subjects and reading levels. It's always updated, so it can be shared and viewed by kids throughout the school year.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Thing 17
I just love the site Slide Share.....so many possibilities that include viewing for information purposes and for creating/posting. Students just love powerpoints...watching and creating their own. Recently, some students have gotten very good at creating subject appropriate presentations that are wotthy of posting. This would be a site I might direct some students to.
I chose a powerpoint on Labor Day to share. Each holiday we get off, I always make a point to discuss the holiday with the student and the meaning of it. I feel, and the students learn that if we get it off as a school. there is an educational and meaningful purpose. I could share this with students aa a lead in to Labor Day...they could add to the info with their own research and possible creation of their own informational powerpoint.
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Labor Day - Presentation Transcript
Labor Day
Labor Day (or Labour Day) is celebrated all over the world.
Rooted from labor union movements, Labor Day celebrates socio-economic achievements of workers.
Labor Day happens on either May 1 st , or the first Monday of September,…
…and is popularly known as International Workers' Day.
The celebration of Labor Day has its origins in the eight-hour day movement,…
…which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest.
Celebrations include parades,…
…shows and other patriotic and labor-oriented events.
Traditionally, Labor Day is celebrated in the US as the symbolic end of the summer.
Thank you Copyright Indezine.com http:// www.indezine.com More presentations at: http:// www.indezine.com /bank/ Free PowerPoint Templates http:// www.indezine.com/powerpoint/templates/freetemplates.html
I chose a powerpoint on Labor Day to share. Each holiday we get off, I always make a point to discuss the holiday with the student and the meaning of it. I feel, and the students learn that if we get it off as a school. there is an educational and meaningful purpose. I could share this with students aa a lead in to Labor Day...they could add to the info with their own research and possible creation of their own informational powerpoint.
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Edit your comment Cancel Notes on slide 11no notes for slide #1
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no notes for slide #10
no notes for slide #9
no notes for slide #8
no notes for slide #7
no notes for slide #6
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no notes for slide #9
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no notes for slide #11
no notes for slide #11
no notes for slide #11
no notes for slide #11
Labor Day - Presentation Transcript
Labor Day
Labor Day (or Labour Day) is celebrated all over the world.
Rooted from labor union movements, Labor Day celebrates socio-economic achievements of workers.
Labor Day happens on either May 1 st , or the first Monday of September,…
…and is popularly known as International Workers' Day.
The celebration of Labor Day has its origins in the eight-hour day movement,…
…which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest.
Celebrations include parades,…
…shows and other patriotic and labor-oriented events.
Traditionally, Labor Day is celebrated in the US as the symbolic end of the summer.
Thank you Copyright Indezine.com http:// www.indezine.com More presentations at: http:// www.indezine.com /bank/ Free PowerPoint Templates http:// www.indezine.com/powerpoint/templates/freetemplates.html
Thing 16
I looked over many of the suggested sites, but I liked Google Fast Flip! I think it is a great way to get updated news in a flash on many subjects. You could research business, sports, politics, entertainment, health, etc. I chose the topic of health to investigate, and I learned some interesting facts very quickly. For example, at a glance I saw that coming from Asia there is a new antibiotic resistant bacteria most likely to hit the US! Yikes!, this is especially scary for me because my college aged daughter is on her way to do a Coop in Cambodia as of Augl 17th! Also, there was a great article on how the health field can possibly detect if you are likely to develop Alzheimers in the future...the debate over would people really want to know and the benefits of having this knowledge early on.
I could see this tool being valuable for students with current events and research projects. It would familiarize them with using periodicals/magazine articles as sources. Many reputable xources are given on the site. I also think the Bibliography citing sites would be helpful for students when they are learning to create or are creating their bibliography page. This would help them a great deal, since this is always a tricky task.
I could see this tool being valuable for students with current events and research projects. It would familiarize them with using periodicals/magazine articles as sources. Many reputable xources are given on the site. I also think the Bibliography citing sites would be helpful for students when they are learning to create or are creating their bibliography page. This would help them a great deal, since this is always a tricky task.
Thing 15
I think Google Docs is an amazing tool!! It is great for sharing and colloborating with colleagues. I like the fact that everything is on one site and that it can be accessed any where and any time...how convenient, useful and time saving!
I practiced both copying/pasting to the site and uploading from existing documents...pretty cool and simple. I'm sure creating new documents/powerpoints, etc. would be quite easy....looking forward to doing some of this and sharing/working with my colleagues! NEASAC is upon us the next couple of years...this tool will be so beneficial for collaborating and working together on tasks!
As far as how to use this with 5th grade students....if they can create email addresses from school?, writing pieces can be shared and edited through Google Docs! Group work-write ups, powerpoints, etc. can be viewed and commented on/evaluated prior to handing in/
Wasn't able to access Windows Live and Sky something...tried both my gmail and blogspot addresses..no suceess...help????
I practiced both copying/pasting to the site and uploading from existing documents...pretty cool and simple. I'm sure creating new documents/powerpoints, etc. would be quite easy....looking forward to doing some of this and sharing/working with my colleagues! NEASAC is upon us the next couple of years...this tool will be so beneficial for collaborating and working together on tasks!
As far as how to use this with 5th grade students....if they can create email addresses from school?, writing pieces can be shared and edited through Google Docs! Group work-write ups, powerpoints, etc. can be viewed and commented on/evaluated prior to handing in/
Wasn't able to access Windows Live and Sky something...tried both my gmail and blogspot addresses..no suceess...help????
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Thing 14
I chose Ning as my social networking site due to its educational link...only reason I am not very fond of these social sites due to the fact that they take up too much time, time that I don't have or really want to have. In the future, perhaps I'll participate on some level, if it meets a good purpose? Many of my friends have tried to convince me to get on Facebook. I'm not convinced at all...I enjoy the face to face communication and truly don't want to spend my free time in this way..not beneficial enough!
I do like the way NHS library is using Facebook this summer....this is great and quite appropriate! It is a way to reach students..they are so tuned in. If anyone has suggestions as to how social networking sites can reach students in other ways..I'll listen!
I do like the way NHS library is using Facebook this summer....this is great and quite appropriate! It is a way to reach students..they are so tuned in. If anyone has suggestions as to how social networking sites can reach students in other ways..I'll listen!
Thing 13
I chose Delicious as my bookmarking network. Since I am a beginner in this area, I felt it suited me best. I intend to start out by bookmarking sites that interest me as an educator first, and will help me with my teaching and technology knowledge. Later on, I plan to direct my students to particular sites I've bookmarked for research purposes. Eventually, I will also ask my students to search topics we are studying,and then have them bookmark sites they feel are valuable. We can share as a class, and use for classroom projects.
Thing 12
I think it is definitely a benefit to bookmark in this new way. It is more organized and efficient. I love the fact that you can access these bookmarks from any computer...this is so handy for everyone including our students.
I am ready to go with this..Delicious is now included in my tool bar for easy access. I need to explore more and begin bookmarking and sharing!
I am ready to go with this..Delicious is now included in my tool bar for easy access. I need to explore more and begin bookmarking and sharing!
Thing 11
Here is my selected widget...thought it would be fun to focus on a word of the day and learn how to say it in multiple languages!! It's definitely easy to insert widgets into blogs and there are so many possibilities...I plan on saving the widget sites you gave us so I can use them in the future!!
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