Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Day 4

Today I attended two workshops: one on Podcasts and one on Study Island. Every time I go to a new mini-workshop, I realize all the resources I am not using, or at best under using. I think the first step for me will be to use podcasts for personal purposes in order to become comfortable with them this summer. I am then contemplating making “book on tape” podcasts. I can see how making these for even my youngest students might be valuable. I also think that students would enjoy hearing their own voices reading. This could also be powerful for parents to enjoy. I will have to think about it. With regard to the workshop, I really enjoyed learning about how podcasts could be used in the secondary classroom. I was very impressed with some of the end products!!

I am already familiar with Study Island. That being said, I enjoyed learning about the new capabilities of the software. However, Study Island is not available to the level of students I teach at Doyon, so I was a little frustrated that I was learning about a tool that I could not use. Perhaps in the future, Doyon will subscribe to a more extensive membership. I do think there is much potential for the program (especially for my students who need a great deal of reinforcement with basic skills). I loved the opportunities for differentiation.

Overall, as I have stated before, I have been very impressed by the tools that this course has allowed me to learn about, try out, and apply in functional ways. I am excited to use the wiki Debbie and I are in the middle of constructing with the TAs at Doyon. I am also looking forward to expanding my website to include more information that I feel will be beneficial to students and parents.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Day 3

On Day 3, I created my own website. This is something I have wanted to do since I began teaching 8 years ago, but didn’t know how. In general, I found that this was relatively easy on Google sites. At this point, my website is basic, but I am looking forward to adding information that will be useful for my students and specifically their parents. For me, it is hard to determine what to put on the website, as many of my students’ programs are so individualized. What I have decided is that for the most part, I want to keep the information general enough so that it is useful for all parents. I am hoping to post some useful websites for students and curriculum information for parents that is readable and informative. One thing that I am excited about is including a link for a leveled book list (Scholastic Book Wizard). Parents are always asking me if I can give book recommendations at their child’s “just right” level. Now, I can direct parents to my website and they can search for books at their child’s level on their own.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Day 2

As we learned about the Google applications this morning, I began to realize that I did not even know what I didn’t know about Web 2.0. This course, in general, has been eye opening for me. As someone who is fairly proficient with technology and grew up with computers and the internet, it is clear that I am missing something. In fact, it seems like I may be technologically stuck about eight years back (when I was in college).
As I discussed in my first post, while I certainly read blogs, I had never even heard about wikis and what I knew about RSS feeds was confined to confusion whenever I saw the RSS icon at the corner of web pages.

As I stated before, because I work generally with very young students (grades 1-3) or students with significant disabilities (grades 3-5), I was always generally hesitant to using web technology regularly in the classroom. However, my stance on this has already been altered. While I still believe that wikis and blogs are a bit too advanced for my students, I am already planning ways I can use Google Earth with my students in different capacities (as detailed on the class blog). In addition, the course has already widened my repertoire of educational sites that would be appropriate to use with my students. Spellingcity.com is just one such site that employs multi-sensory techniques that I can have my students use to solidify their spelling words at home or at school.

Most importantly, I am excited to use this technology to communicate and collaborate with colleagues and parents. As detailed on the class blog, I am in the process of setting up a wiki in order to collaborate with the many teaching assistants with whom I work. I also see many opportunities for using wikis as a planning tool for specific students’ programs. For example, I have a few students for whom I provide weekly previews, plans, and updates to many team members. Perhaps a wiki would be a better means of communication than all the paper I put in team members’ mailboxes each week. I would also like to set up a Room 207 website where there will be resources for parents and a blog that gives general information about themes and activities, as well as tips regarding different topics.

In general, having the time to experience all of these tools firsthand has been very helpful. I now feel like I could easily set up a wiki or a blog that would be a functional and helpful to those involved. I also see the benefits of collaborating online both as a reader and a writer. I am looking forward to employing some of the strategies I have learned in the coming school year.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

This Morning's Material

As someone who reads blogs, but had never even heard of wikis, I am interested in learning more about these interfaces. I can see the applications of wikis and blogs for interacting in upper elementary and secondary classrooms (as well as for social purposes such as planning a camping trip). However, I question the use of wikis and blogs as interactive tools for the younger students (2nd grade and under), especially the special education students who I service as a special education teacher. In order to participate in a wiki or blog, one needs to possess at least basic reading and writing skills, not to mention the fine motor skills needed to navigate computers. While Kurzweil (or another software) could be used in order to provide access to the blog/wiki text, I still question whether this would be a beneficial activity for students—especially given their need for specialized instruction in acquiring basic skills.

For my own purposes, I would like to set up a blog in order to communicate with parents. However, I am concerned about the issue of confidentiality given my position. Simply posting a picture of students at work in my room will automatically identify them as special education students to other parents. This poses a problem and limits the scope and type of information that I can post. Therefore, any blogging that I incorporate for parents will need to be informational in nature (i.e. general activities/themes in the room, tips concerning reading with children at home, etc.). What do other people think about this constraint for special education teachers?