Reflections

Wow, I can't believe I am already at the end. I had no idea that this course was going to be so intense yet so interesting. Some of the programs that I can see myself using are:

1) Microsoft's Photo Story 3. I will create books or stories for my students simple enough that they can read them. Sometimes as a Prek teacher is difficult to find simple books that students can succisfully read. Also, the students can make their own stories which will be more meaningfull to them since they are engaging in the process of being the authors.

2) Skipe is a great tool to communicate with poeple in other classrooms and even other countries. This way my students and I can share some lessons and culture with others that they would not have had the chance to meet otherwise.

3) I will also be relying on Youtube and PbSkids and other video websites to find great videos for my students. I know that my visual and kinestetic kids would benefit the most from these tools.

It still amazes me how much computers can do nowadays. There is more power in an iPhone than in the computers I used while studing for my Computer's Science degree. Back then I thought 60 MB was a lot of memory space.

I am looking forward to next year.

Tool # 11

Yeah, I made it! I can't believe how much I've actually learned over the past several days. I will definitely spend the rest of the summer going over the different websites and tools so I can hit the ground running when the new school year starts.



I know that the internet is an exciting world for students (and adults) so it's good that we are reminded to give our students lessons about being good Digital Citizens.



I will make sure that they focus on these ideas:



1. Not everything you see on the internet is true. Work closely with your parents and ask lots of questions.

2. Be careful with what information you put on the internet. You should never talk or chat with anyone you don't know and don't give out any information about where you live, how old you are or your birthday, or when your parents are not at home.

3. Only go to websites that your parents approve of. I will be working with the parents of my students who have computers to give them some of the free online-tools that will help them set limits for their children.



It seems you can't start these lessons early enough. Even though my students are in Pre-K it seems several of them know more about getting around on the computer than me!

Tool #10

Unfortunately I don't own any apple products but my mi friend Frankie has an iPhone. He agreed to let me download a couple apps such as Animal Fun and Dial-A-Phone from Baby Apps.





As you may have noticed I have been working on an animal unit so the Animal Fun application is exactly what I need. It works like digital flash cards and I know the students will love it. The Dial-A-Phone may seem a bit simple but when you are trying to teach bilingual students number recognition it's a fantastic tool because they are already familiar with the layout of their parents telephones and cellphones.





I've been told we may be receiving iTouches for use in our classroom, I will be scouring the 50 Free Education Apps website for more apps so I can be ready when we get them.

Tool #9

I love Skype. That's pretty much all I have to say about it. I have been using it for the past week to communicate with my mom, aunt and cousin in Guadalajara. Being able to see them several times a week (for free!) still amazes me. I wish my husband had bought his webcam sooner.

I could easily see using Skype in the classroom. I have teacher friends in Mexico who I will try to contact to see if they would be interested in having our students talk to each other. It would be a high tech version of penpals, and we would have the chance to see the lessons they are learning as well.

I will have to think harder about how to use Jing. I could use it to introduce my students to new software without having to keep the attention of an entire group. Just having them watch the video on their own screens will help them learn the programs faster and, hopefully, mean less work for me!

Tool #8

I'm on a roll now! This past year I had already used some videos from YouTube for my class, but definitely plan on using it more in the coming school year.

Kids are drawn to online videos, they seem to learn the information faster and retain it for longer ... especially when they are as cute as this one from Plaza Sesamo, the Spanish version of Sesame Street.

Plaza Sésamo: Lola y Las Vocales

This hotlink has another cute video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhODBFQ2-bQ

I am looking for videos about geometric shapes for my pre-k students. Let me know if you find any.

Tool #7

Tonight I made a picture story using Microsoft's Photo Story 3. This was pretty easy and fun. I used the same farm animal photos from my previous assignment and made a small movie perfect for my pre-k students. I'm sure I will be able to find a lot of great ways to use this program next school year.

Enjoy!

Tool # 6

Finally a site I am familiar with. I have used PBworks.com before to assist with my adult Spanish Class. I usually upload videos, links, etc. My students enjoy using PBworks so they can practice ouside of the classroom.

Tool #5

Today I learned about the social bookmarking websites. This is already useful to me because my list of bookmarks was getting pretty long and confusing. I also like the idea that I will be able to access my bookmarks from any computer and don't have to carry my laptop everywhere.

I signed up for both sites, but was able to find these two cool websites through Diigo that I didn't even know existed.

http://www.storyplace.org/preschool/other.asp
and
http://www.sesamestreet.org/home

I used the tag words spanish education pre-k.
I'm excited to start using more specific tags to start building a better bookmark page!

Tool #4

Today I learned how to use Google docs and Google reader.
I didn't have any document that I need to share right now, so I sent another teacher the pre-k math curriculum. I can see this tool being very useful when my team and I have to create lesson plans, especially because it's so difficult to coordinate schedules.

I think the Google Reader will be a great time saver, too. Plus I will be able to check on my co-workers to make sure they are keeping up with the '11 Tools' lessons as well!

I really liked Google earth ... almost made me feel as if I were flying. I liked checking out the landmarks. It's pretty addictive. Have you tried Google earth yet? Where have you visited?

Tool #3

I think I'm doing this right.

I downloaded several beautiful farm pictures from the Flickr website, loaded them into my Picasa program and turned them into a cute video.

I'm exhausted!

Enjoy!

Tool #2

I'm looking forward to reading the thoughts of other teachers on their blogs. It just takes me so long to do everything right now, but I'm sure it will go a lot faster as time goes on.

As for the commenting advice ... I like the idea of asking questions for my readers to encourage them to respond. I also agree with the guy on ProBlogger who said we should avoid making our readers register before commenting. I don't like that, either.

Here are some of the blogs I am following right now.
Kindergarten at SOE
Ms. Farias' blog
Joyce's Jurnal
Always Learning

P.S. I'm starting to follow Jennifer Carney's blog, too. She's already done and seems to have some fantastic ideas!
Hatty Chatty, the Techno-Savvy Queen

Tool #1

I am slowly making my way through the process of setting up my blog. The first step only took about an hour. Just 10 more to go!!!!