My actions were effective in meeting my goals. I recently found a webquest on a rain forest to add to a unit we did. It was neat to take the students to a place we do not experience in Florida. I would like to start using PowerPoint slides to show students digital storytelling. I am not too familiar with it so it is a goal to learn more about it. I am also trying to remember to check a website before showing it to the students. I will lose the attention of the students if I am playing around the website to see if it is a reliable one. My co-workers have been interested in learning about websites they can use in their classrooms. They are excited to share the information with others.
My students’ parents are interested in the class website. Many have said it will help them in keeping up with class activities because newsletters do not always make it home. I hope in doing a class website, I do not run out of time. Time is always the factor for a teacher…..
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Hi Tracy,
ReplyDeletePowerPoint is a great way to explore digital storytelling. Most students will pick up the program easily and can tap into their creativity for some exciting results.
I'm glad parents expressed interest in the website.
Yes--that has happened to me--while I'm checking the reliability or functionality of a website, my students are getting off task. Sometimes the best sites can be down temporarily as well. I try to have a back-up plan whenever a lesson revolves around the web (after some frustrating experiences with this.)
Thanks for posting.
Susan
Hi Tracy,
ReplyDeleteI also feel that time is always a factor for teachers. There are so many innovative technology - based projects we could be doing with our students; taking the time to complete them is a challenge, because of all the other "stuff" we need to teach. Time has always been a burden on myself.
Kristina
Tracy~
ReplyDeleteTechnology is such a great way to get students interested in lessons, but it is so easy to loose their attention when you come across technical difficulties. I can see how reviewing a website beforehand could reduce the time wasted during a lesson. My frustration often lies in the fact that I will spend time at home finding great teaching websites that I plan to use during the week only to find that they are blocked when I try to visit them on my school computer. For your class website, will your students be doing the writing, or will you? I am glad to see that you have student excitement about the website, maybe this will help to increase the usage of the website by parents, thus making your communication more effective.
Hi Tracy,
ReplyDeleteWhen I was an assistant in one classroom, I kept the classroom website up to date for the teacher. The basic information was kept up all the time and when new information was needed we just attached it right away. It took no more time that writing out the weekly newsletter. It really is a great way to keep parents informed.
One of my sons teachers (he is a senior) began the year with the hopes of weekly or bi-weekly email messages sent to parents/guardians and it started out great but as the 2nd nine weeks rolled around, her emails were more monthly/ bi-monthly. The second semester I think there was one email. I love that she tried this out though, it really made her more approachable as a parent.
Lynn
Time... sometimes it is worth more than gold.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about having to mess around on web sites in class time - I have run in to the frustration of finding what I want at home on my PC and then coming to school and having the same site work differently, or not at all, my MAC. Now I try to remember to always check it out at school even if I have tried it at home. Again .. the time factor.
There have been many times I find a site at home and it is blocked at school. I have even sent a reminder e-mail to school to check a site in the morning. I will be doing the writing on the website. It will be more like the weekly newsletter. I think I would eventually like to set up a blog for parents. The blog would be a place where I would share fun activities done with and by the students.
ReplyDelete