Partipation- November 30

They have a new form of technology and a new way of bringing technology into the classroom in the Davis School District. I found out about it this weekend. Usually, students are unable to bring laptops or computers into the classroom because they are a distraction, but many students now have Netbooks. These are smaller, but give students the same ability to spend time with technology in the classroom. In the computer lab, there were many technical difficulties and a student had a Netbook. Her group was able to be successful because of this technology. I'm not sure I'd want Netbooks in my classroom on a consistent basis, but I do think they would be beneficial to have in order to allow students to have more access to technology in the classroom.

Personal Technology Project

This is the link to my lesson plan in Google Docs. Lesson plan
I also created two different artifacts. The first is the example that a student could create for the peer review portion of the assignment. The second is an example of two students collaborating on a presentation. They outlined the basic ideas that they were going to focus on.

Partipipation: WritingFix

I was looking on the class blog and saw that someone found a resource called WritingFix. I decided to look at it because it seemed to be applicable to my content area. I loved the site- I think it will be enormously beneficial when I start teaching. It not only defines different things and gives lesson plans, but it also gives resources that teachers can go to in order to find additional information. This website provides methods to become a stronger teacher in the classroom. It also provides opportunities to connect with other teachers and hear their ideas, through this form of technology.

Participation- Zoho

I just spent time looking at the Zoho website. This provides opportunities for collaboration for students. It's a really interesting website- there are lots of different technologies you can incorporate into the class with this. I think in my actual class I would be interested in introducing this to my students. I'm not sure I would have them use the program for everything, but it would definitely be beneficial for them to at least be introduced to all of the options.

Personal Technology Project Idea

For this project, I am planning on researching Google Docs. I know we have spent time putting assignments onto Google Docs to share with students as part of other assignments, but the direction I want to go with this project is a little different. I want to research how to use Google Docs collaboratively and how students would be able to do this in the classroom. I haven't ever had the opportunity to do this before but I have many friends who enjoy doing this activity. I think it will be beneficial for me to study this as a way for students to work together to improve their writing.

Multimedia Project

This project and the technology would be valuable in the classroom because it gives students a chance to show their abilities. For this assignment, I responded as a student might in receiving an assignment to explore setting. I think that using this technology would be valuable because it forces both an exploration of plot, as well as how the setting affects the story.

I would also implement this technology in my class when giving students a chance to explore the relationship between text and visual imagery. The blend between the two is very important, and the text can strengthen this.

Participation: Response to Ashley's Blog

When I read the blog about OWL I became intrigued. It sounds like a great program and tool for students. I also started thinking about how much I could have benefited from something like this in high school. I feel like I had very little preparation and background in writing before I was expected to show my teachers my works. By allowing kids to explore different parts of technology, they become able to learn on their own, as well as in the classroom.