Chapters 5 & 6 Teaching in the Digital Age

Dear Teachers,

Sorry I am a day late with my reading assignment I waited until the last minute to read and then we had a problem.  The hose leaked on our air-conditioner unit Sunday night and I had to mop up the basement floor.

Anyways, Chapter 5 & 6.......... I found to be a little bit more interesting.  Both chapters are about areas I have not yet explored in the technology field, Videoconferencing, Webcams and Presentation Tools.  Yes, I have so much to learn.    There are lots of ideas however I am just writing about the ideas I want to incorporate into my classroom next year.

Chapter Five

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The first thing I want to explore for my classroom is getting some ePals.  It is digital penpals.  The author provides a site that safely connects teachers and classroom up,  www.epals.com.    I think that would be a fun and meaningful way to develop letter writing skills with follow up in the computer lab. 

 

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Next, I need to learn about SKYPE.  I know what it is.  I have the ability to SKYPE on my laptop.  It is something I have never tried to do.  Sure you can SKYPE with another classroom.  However the idea that caught my attention was Skyping with Authors.  There is even a site out there that can help you, http://skypeanauthor.wetpaint.com

This is definitely something I want to explore.   This would be great to work on questioning skills.  This is an area first graders always need to work on.  Plus it would be a great addition to writer's workshop.

Chapter 6

The author, Brian, writes a lot about the publishing process and teaching the children the steps.  I know most teachers have their own way of doing this already.

 

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One idea that stuck with me that I would like to do next year is to encourage the children to write mini articles about what we are learning in class.  Maybe I could set aside one day a week where the students about write something.  Then I could choose two or three, help those students finish it up to a publishing point.  Have the students illustrate a picture and then add that to our class website as an article.  I thought that was a neat idea.

Another cute idea in the book was utilizing ipads and creating I SPY books.  He writes about this on P. 147.  I think this might me a fun way to start working in groups.  We can create a fun class book together.

OK….I need to learn about podcasts and how I can use them in my classroom.   I hear about them all the time and run the other way.

Finally he writes about these programs on my Apple computer I have yet to learn, Quick Time and iMovie.  He writes about creating digital books.  My idea is after a child has published a book in my classroom they could read it and then we could post it on the class website for parents to view. 

 

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What makes me nervous about these chapters is that ALL these wonderful ideas will need my time to pull them off.  Time is the one thing I don’t have.  I know there are great opportunities for the children to work together as a team, make decisions, generate ideas, collect materials, draw and write.   However, when it comes down to the wire it is me who has to do all the nitty-gritty and learn HOW to do it too.