Blog Assignment 14

Jose Picardo's list of resources for teachers is very helpful. I had never heard of over half of these websites. This could save me a lot of time when I get into the teaching field. I will definitely add this list to my favorites page so I can refer back to it often.
I love his tips for using technology in the classroom.
Using streaming video is a great way to help kids learn. They get tired of just hearing their teacher repeat the same things over and over. But you can find all kinds of videos to teach them.
The same goes for music. I know elementary kids love learning through music. When I did my observation, the teacher played cute little Alabama history songs. When I was in elementary school, we used the Shirley Method for English. I sang those songs all through high school to help me label sentences.
Teleconferencing tools would be great to help the kids see what other classrooms are doing. We could get ideas from them and maybe share some of our ideas to help them out. Or we could use Skype to do interviews with people who could help us with a certain subject area. It would be much more convenient for everyone than them having to come into the school.
Making your own exercises for the students is also a great idea. Like Picardo says, the teacher knows the students strengths and weaknesses better than anyone else. The teacher can make different activities to help certain students with weaknesses in different areas.
Using the SmartBoard effectively is definitely something that all teachers need to do. When I was in high school, we were just getting them and our teachers barely used them if the used them at all. Now, going back to do my observation, the teachers use them all the time and the students really enjoy it. It keeps them more focused and entertained then just writing notes on a chalk board.
Podcasts are a fun way to keep kids involved. We watched different videos throughout the class of students doing podcasts in their classroom and they really seemed to enjoy it. We also did a podcast ourselves and I enjoyed doing it.
Creating a class blog is a great way to work on writing skills. It allows students to be creative. It also helps keep students and parents informed. I have never created a wiki, but I'm sure it is very useful in the classroom as well. I will try it out on day to see if I would like to use it in my classroom.
Using social networks is another option for keeping students and parents involved, although teachers have to be very careful with them. They do not need to use their personal social networking page as a school network page, too. I will probably create a Facebook page specifically for my classroom.
Using internet tools is again something that I have never tried, but I'm sure it would help students and be easy for them to use. I will research this more and try it out.
Using the gadgets that the students already use daily is probably the most effective thing to do. They don't have to worry about getting into the habit of checking something new daily. They already know how to use these things and obviously enjoy using them or they wouldn't be using them often.