Best and Worst of Tech

I had a love-hate relationship with this class.  I really enjoyed Mr. Becksfort as an instructor.  However, I am not really familiar with all of the ins and outs of technology so I found myself stressing out over things that were actually fairly simple.  Overall, I am happy that I took this class...I am now more comfortable with technology.

Personal Learning Networks

Classroom 2.0 is a site that I think I would like to use.  It allows teachers to communicate ideas with each other.  Teachers can share ideas and networks. 

The Educator's PLN is another site that would be helpful to interact with other educators.  Teachers can support each other through this site.  They can offer ideas and advice to other teachers.

edWeb.net  is a free online social network that lets educators connect with colleagues, collaborate on goals and projects, form their own professional learning communities, mentor one another, and practice using a slew of new technologies. Specific initiatives within the network include a game based learning forum.  I like this because games make learning so much more interesting.

Special Education Advisor is a site that I would use to update myself on the laws of special education.  There are many links to the different disabilities that I could use to educate myself.  This particular PLN will be helpful for so many aspects of my teaching career.  It is difficult to always be creative in teaching and this site will offer plenty of ideas and support.

Web 2.0

Toondoo allows students to create their own comic strips with the pictures already drawn.  This is great for students that do not have great artistic talent.  Toondoo can also be used by the teacher to insert humor into their classes, to visually demonstrate concepts, and to bring fresh, engaging lessons to their students.  I could use this tool in my classroom to help build on vocabulary words.  It could also be helpful to help students "use their words" through these cartoons to express how they are feeling or what has happened to make them feel that way.  I use a lot of positive reinforcement in my classroom.  Allowing a student to create a comic could be used in that way too.  It is also a great way to get them working on a computer, as most of my students do not have a computer at home. 

Tar Heel Reader is another web tool that I think would be good to use in a special education classroom.  It is a collection of free and easy-to-read books.  During silent reading, students could get on this website and read a story of their choice.  Many of the books also have audio to them so the student can listen while reading along.  This tool is designed especially for students with disabilities.  Students are even able to create their own story to put on the website.  I could assign a story to 2 or more students and have them listen/read and then discuss the story with each other as most of my students are working on social skills as well.  There are educational books on the page that I could use to supplement a lesson as well.

Preparing students for the 21st century

This technology class is going to help me better prepare students for the 21st century. I think I'll do we'll because I have a lot of patience and know that you cannot always rely on technology.

Technology setback

I feel like I have a setback every time I get on a computer. I'm not very intelligent beyond checking email and writing a paper when it comes to using a computer.  I just bought a new laptop a few months ago. On the night I sat down to make my legal brief  presentation my computer was dead. I had to take it to the Geek Squad and they told me I needed a new hard drive. I almost cried right there. I was angry I just spent all that money on a computer to break in a few months and worried because the only other computer I had at home is 8 years old and slower than my great grandma. I decided not to cry cause I'd look silly and just patiently waited for my old computer to start up and ate a whole bag of Doritos while working on the presentation so I didn't get bored waiting for everything to load.

Modern classroom technology

My current school does not offer much technology. We are still in the days of the chalkboard. However, in my classroom we do have leap frog readers which I love. It allows my students the opportunity to read independently and have fun. I have many different reading levels in my classroom so this also helps me make sure reading is being done when I'm working with a different group.

Bullying

Bullying is the one thing that I can and will not tolerate in my classroom.  New Jersey put an anti-bullying law into effect in the 2011-12 school year.  The numbers of incidents were down after this law was put into effect.  I think that each and every school and/or district should have an anti bullying law.  There are too many students getting picked on which is causing emotional trauma.  Some suicides have even been linked to bullying in schools.  It is much easier today with all the electronic devices and media to hurt someone.  Words are like bullets to some.


Here is the article I read.