Scenario

In 3-5 years I see myself teaching my own elementary class in my hometown of Dallas, Texas.  I will hopefully be using the many tools and tricks DED 318 has taught me.  Technology in the classroom is very beneficial to the teacher and students.  I hope in the future the school I work at has enough technology for my students to benefit from it.  I will have my students learn how to make their own Animoto videos, wordles and much more.  I think some of my strengths as a future teacher would be that I am very optimistic and creative person.  My concentration is special education, some of the tools given to me from this class will help me and my students.  I believe they are just as smart, they just have a different way of expressing themselves.  Wither it is through a movie, a song or a comic strip.  I plan on incorporating a variety of different tools in my everyday classroom!  This class has taught me a lot about who I am as a future educator!

My Wow Moment

My wow moment this semester was when I actually found out that you do not have to be a technology wiz to understand the many things technology offers!  When I first enrolled in this class and saw the syllabus I never thought I would understand, much less be able to do the assignments on my own.  I have learned a lot about different tools that will be useful and fun in the everyday classroom.  I plan to come back to my website and use the many different links when planning a lesson.

Podcast Favorites

The podcasts that I enjoyed the most were the Tech Chicks.  The site is easy to navigate and you can go back and listen to their older podcasts, you can comment on them and even contact them with what you find useful.  I enjoyed their podcasts because they were fun to listen to and had very interesting viewpoints about things.  I especially liked how they gave you a ton of other useful sites and their input about them.  Most of the sites that they suggested were free sites used for elementary students, which is perfect because I could use everything in my future classroom.

Semester Favorites

I really enjoyed the Animoto website!  I loved this site because it is easy to use and it takes you step by step in creaking your slideshow.  Students of all ages could use this site!  All you have to do is first upload your photos and organize them once they are downloaded.  Then, you chose a song from the library of music on the site or you can upload your own music from your computer.  Students can create an Animoto video in a variety of ways, wither it is creating an about me video, an important person or even in history or a book report!  I wish we used Animoto when I was in school because it is a great way to learn new material and stay engaged in the subject!

I also really enjoyed the site toondoo!  This site is a really easy and fun way to create your own comic strip.  The site has a ton of backgrounds, pictures of animals, kids, food and daily objects.  You can choose how many different scenes you want also!  This site will allow students to broadcast their creativity and ideas in a fun different way other than a powerpoint!

Podcast Reflection #13 Ed Tech #28

This podcast is about a program called SynchronEyes.  This application is easy to use and is great to use when in a computer lab or have classroom computers!  This program allows you to share the computers screens and respond to students using a chat instead of walking to each individual student!  This application also allows you to monitor each students machine on your screen!  This is a good way to keep the students on task and make sure they are not on facebook or playing games on the internet!

Podcast Reflection #12 Ed Tech #37 Pic Lens

This podcast is about a tool called Pic Lens.  It saves time from searching all over the internet for pictures!  Pic Lens is a tool you need to install but once you do an image search it comes up with an easier to navigate thumbnail search!  You do not have to wait for your internet to download the images when going to a new page anymore!  This sounds like a great tool, I am going to look into downloading it!

Podcast Reflection #11 Ed Tech #39 extra normal

This podcast is about a website Xtra Normal.  It is a video building tool that is easy to use and you do not need any software.  "If you can type you can make a movie."  is their tag line because all you have to do it type your script!  You get to create your own movie and pick your characters and their voice!  They even have different languages to choose from for bilingual students!  All you have to do is type what you want your character to say and your movie is done!  Students at various age levels can use this!  It is an easy and fun site to make any type of movie!  As a teacher I can have my students make a movie about someone in history and present them to the class.  It is a fun way of learning!