I loved watching the Skype video with Ms. Cassidy and Dr. Strange, as well as the video of all her kids blogging. I learned so much about where to start when I incorporate technology into my classroom as a teacher. It's easy to get bogged down with everything that we're learning in this class and she really helped me determine where I want to begin. Although I am going to be a math teacher, she said to begin where your interests are. She uses blogging, wikis, video chats, recording video, etc. with her first graders. She also uses Twitter as a handy resource to find more information for herself. She suggested if video is an interest to you then start with that in the classroom. If blogging and webpages is, then start with that. If photos are an interest, then start with Flickr.
As a math teacher, I would love to have a class webpage where all the assignments and homework could be located, as well as videos of different ways of explaining the techniques we'd be learning in class. I think I'd like to incorporate fun pictures and video to make math for interesting for students and applicable to the real world. That's where my fun, crazy, creative side could come in. I honestly don't see any impediments that having a blog and website would cause because I don't think that my students would have computers accessible to them in my math classroom. I would be able to show them everything I wanted to and use the video and photos in the classroom but the using computers probably wouldn't be done.
There are so many benefits to using class blogs and video that Ms. Cassidy is using in her classroom. She addressed how 6 year olds love knowing that someone is wanting to read their posts and look at their blogs from all over the world. They have an audience and that audience can provide feedback. If their writing was just pencil and paper then the audience would just be the teacher and that's not as fun.
I was inspired to know that she started all of this techno-revolution in her classroom on her own. This just shows that she's an independent life-long learner! Everything that we're supposed to be in this class and beyond as a teacher!
Jessica,
ReplyDeleteI also think Mrs. Cassidy is an inspiring teacher because of the opportunities she has created for her students. She is extremely encouraging, and we can learn so much from her. I love watching her students as they engage in the class and learn the material through the various forms of technology. I think using technology is great for the students, and I agree a class website is beneficial. I also think we should begin with our interested and be creative when teaching our students. We should always model what we want our students to achieve. After reading your response, I know you will do great using technology with your students.