Course Reflection

Pretty much everything was new to me in this course. The things that I liked the most and will probably use the most are Wikipedia, the Google search tool, and Flikr. I had no idea that any of these resources or tools were out there. I passed many links on to teachers that I know. I have never done much on the computer besides check my email and type letters. Although this class seemed very overwhelming at times, I think that I learned a great deal.

New Websites

ABC Teach
http://abcteach.com/

This site has over 5000 free printable pages and worksheets. Printables are categorized by subject matter, student age, holiday, etc. and range in age from pre-k to junior high.

The Lesson Plans Page
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/

This is a collection of over 3,000 lesson plans from Preschool through High School and beyond. Elementary school teachers get lesson plans that are ready to use in their classrooms.

Alphabet Animals
http://www.infostuff.com/kids/a.htm

This is a tour through the alphabet with animals. It is fun, interactive, and a great way to review and reinforce the alphabet and vocabulary.

Great Units
http://www.teachingheart.net

This site has great teaching ideas, printables, inspiration, links, lessons, units, activity sheets, and so much more. Teaching Heart is a great place to start.

Mighty Book
http://www.mightybook.com/

This web site has online books to listen to and read along with which helps kids learn how to read. This has nearly 200 animated story books, more than 25 animated story songs, 20 original sing-along songs, new books and songs added each month. This site has a small membership fee, but I think that it would be worth it for Kindergarten and First Grade classrooms. The fees are listed below.

$19.95 a year for a Household Subscription

$24.95 a year for a Classroom

$99.95 a year for an entire School

Jan Brett's Web Site
http://www.janbrett.com/

Author Jan Brett's home page with 3,966 pages of free activities, coloring pages, games, and projects! This is geared toward Preschool and Elementary ages.

Eric Carle Teacher Resource File
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/carle.htm

This is a collection of units and lesson plans for many of Eric Carle's fabulous books. You can also find biography and bibliographies on this page. These lesson plans are for Preschool to third grade.

PBS Kids – Between the Lions
http://pbskids.org/lions/

This is a fun interactive site for beginning readers that is based on a popular TV show. At this site you will find tongue twisters, read aloud stories, songs, games, and printables. It also has teacher guides and parent activities.

FableVision Place
http://www.fablevision.com/place/index.html

FableVision Place is a virtual town for children of all ages, filled with stories, games and fun places to visit. This is a great tool to help children learn to love stories.

Sesame Workshop
http://www.sesameworkshop.org/sesamestreet/

This is a great interactive, multidimensional site that brings the students right into the Sesame way of learning. This site has worksheets, games, puzzles, stories, read along stories and a multitude of other amazing things for toddlers to elementary school age children.

ALTEC Reflection

I again shared this information with the same three teachers. I also sent this to my son’s gifted teacher. My husband’s favorite link was the Teacher Tacklebox. He liked the note format and the pictures that went along with the notes. He thought that this could be a real time saver. My son’s 3^rd grade teacher liked that all the links were together on one site. This saves her time by not having to search her desk for name of the link that she wants. She thought that her students would be interested in the Arcademic Games. My daughter’s 1^st grade teacher’s favorite link on the site was the Classroom Architect because she is switching to teaching Kindergarten next year. She thought that this tool would helpful when setting up the room. My son’s gifted teacher liked this site also. Her favorites were the links to the Think Tank and the PBL checklist because she has many students that do research for reports or projects.

Apple Learning Interchange Reflection

I emailed the link for the Apple Learning Exchange to my children’s teachers in 1^st and 3^rd grade. I also shared this site information with my husband who is a high school science teacher. All of the teachers were very interested in this site and were going to explore the options available. My son’s 3^rd grade teacher thought that the virtual field trips were an excellent idea and she thought that maybe she could incorporate some of them into her lessons. My daughter’s first grade teacher liked the field trips also, but thought that most of them were a little lengthy for 1^st graders. She liked the fact that categories were set up by grade and subject level. My husband liked the technology help ideas and the podcasts.

Article Reviews

U.S. schools lag behind in use of technology

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National Education Technology Plan

I think its true when they say that we still educate our students based on an agricultural timetable, in an industrial setting, but tell students they live in a digital age. Education needs to keep up with technology a little better. I think that a lot of the problem is that many current teachers have been teaching since before the technological age and are not comfortable using technology. I believe that we will see more use of technology as older teachers retire and new teachers take their places.

NETS: National Education Technology Standards: for Students, for Teachers and for Administrators

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Don't Just Adapt Technology, Adopt It!!

I never thought that we were using technology to do the same things in a different way getting the same results. It is faster and more efficient, yet we really are not doing anything differently. I thought that the simulations and interactive models sound very cool. I had no idea that one could do such things!! I think that the cost barrier is probably what hinders most schools from being able to advance in technologically. In our school system, we do not even have a computer for each classroom, much less for each student. Another factor is that teachers are too busy to use the needed time to explore and start using many forms of technology.

High School.com

I think that offering online classes for K-12 students is a terrific idea. Some kids can use the classes to supplement their classroom curriculum, some can use them to take classes not offered at their school, and some can go totally online and home school. This is helpful for students that do not do well in a regular classroom setting or cannot attend traditional public school due to illness, injury, or family situations. This program is also a good idea for students that are advanced academically for their age or want to take classes that their school does not offer. My son is in the gifted program and is very advanced in his reading and math skills. I am going to check with his gifted instructor to see if taking some online classes is an option. We can sign up through the Lawrence School District and there is no tuition since it is a public school system. I’m not for sure if our school district will allow it though. They tend to be pretty closed-minded about such things. Here is the information for the school in case you are interested.

Lawrence Virtual School

http://www.lawrencevs.org
2145 Louisiana
Lawrence 66046
Gary Lewis, Administrator
(785) 832-5620

Apple Learning Interchange: This is for all teachers, not just Apple users!

This site has all sorts of useful tools for teachers wanting to incorporate technology into their classrooms. It has a variety of information sorted by grade and topic. There are podcasts, teaching ideas, sample quizzes, and virtual field trips. The field trips section is my favorite. Being in a rural area with schools on a budget, we do not get to see a lot of things that kids in bigger towns or cities are exposed to. The field trips are a great opportunity for students to see the world. I am going to email a link to this site to my children’s teachers. This is a very cool site!

ALTEC: Innovative Technologies to Improve Teaching and Learning

This site puts a lot of tools and links to teacher help websites all on one page. There are some very interesting and helpful tools that teachers can use. As a childcare provider or pre school teacher, the Classroom Architect and the Assign-A-Day tools would be helpful to me. The Teacher Tacklebox would be very helpful to teachers that have older children in their classes. I could even use the Arcademic Games link at home for my own children to play in their free time. This site should be bookmarked by every teacher pre-k through high school.