Teacher got skills

1. Reflect on the software skills you learned and the project you created. Was it beneficial to take the time to learn these skills? Which do you think will be the most beneficial to you? How will they help you in the teaching profession?

I believe that learning how to use inspiration correctly was very helpful. That is going to save me a lot of time creating maps, webs, and study guides. Also using publisher was interesting this time through. The last time I used it I had to create a newsletter from scratch and it was not as fun as going through this time. The tables tool in word is something that I have used countless times, but never like this. I don’t know if Diigo is considered software but I also think that that program has changed my life! I think that maybe the best tool I learned about was the making a fill in the blank form. Having the pre-made document ready to go and just clicking tab and then typing is going to be amazing. When I had my template saved it was a lot of clicking highlighting and pasting; but now I can just tab and it is done.

The new skills I have learned are going to cut done on my prep time so that I have more time to focus on the students. Also the new skills are going to allow me to create new handouts and lessons that will take my students in new directions that they may not have gone before. Also, these skills are going to help keep the parents more involved in the going ons of my classroom.

You're the inspiration

1. Is Inspiration something you would invest in for your classroom? List some ideas in your content areas where you could incorporate it.
Personally I think that I could come to like Inspiration very much. I think that it could be used for language arts as a story organizer/web. The students could use it to plan out their story elements ahead of time. Or in math the students could use pre-made mini webs to solve word problems, for example each branch could have a different question to help them solve the problem (ie how many did we start with, what function (+,-, x) are we using, how many do we have at the end). Inspiration could also be used in history or science to show progress or a timeline.
The class could also use inspiration to create word walls at the beginning of each new unit to show what they already know about the subject at hand. I know that I have personally created word walls/graffiti walls at the beginning of a new class and it has help tremendously. But I believe that inspiration could make it quicker and easier to do.

2. What are your favorite web resources we covered in class? Which do you think you would use the most? Why and how? Be specific.
I like the word cloud creator. I thought it was a fun and quick way to get everyone thinking. It was also very easy so that anyone could do it. I also stand by the fact that I love Diigo, the social bookmarking site. I would use it as previously mentioned as a way to stay in touch with parents. I think that it is a great tool to use to keep the family involved. It also give the students a steady base connection with the class. Now a days there are so many children who have baby sitters, stay with a relative after school, or come from a split home; with a social bookmarking site the child will never accidently leave homework at someone else’s house and it will also never be lost. Even if the child were to forget a study aid they could just check Diigo and find the material online. I also like social bookmarking for the older students as an honesty check in. They can show the progress they are making on different projects and it also lists all of their sources so they cannot plagiarize.
If I was teacher to a slightly older crowd I would say that blogger would be the best, but I believe that second graders may have a bit of trouble using blogger at home, especially if their parents are like mine and have no idea what a blog is yet alone how to make one work.

Social Bookmarking

1. Does Social Bookmarking have an application in your classroom? What are some ways it could benefit you and your students? Could it have helped you in the past? Can it help you now as an Albright Student...how? Be specific in answering all questions.
I personally believe that social bookmarking is an excellent addition to the classroom. Because I am leaning towards a younger classroom age I initially thought that it could be used as a way to involve parents or guardians of the students. A site such a Diigo or delicious would allow the parents who can’t make it in during school time to still be a part of their child’s education and still be very hands on. The social bookmarking could include a teacher’s blog of the potential schedule for the upcoming week or the big accomplishments from the week before.
The students would benefit from the fact that their guardian now knows what is going on in the classroom. The students could also benefit from the extra practice the various websites could supply. Sometimes students are afraid to ask for extra practice/help, but if the teacher were to upload links to extra practice then the child could try and work out the problem on their own. The students also know where to find information for their projects and papers. It makes my job of grading easier because I know that the information that they are using is correct.
Also if my students were doing any kind of research on their own I would want them to create an account and create a separate list for the assignment. This way I would have an immediate copy of their sources. I would be able to fact check and check for plagiarism at top speed. It would be a handy tool for the teacher as well as the student in this case.
Social bookmarking would have been amazing in high school! All of my English classes would type out websites on how to format MLA but the links never worked right. This way the entire class could have the resources at their fingertips. I would have been so happy to have the websites already typed out for me. Also I have had my computer crash several times since I bought it (like twice) but it feels like a million times when you lose all of your information. If I would have used a diigo type site before I could have saved all of websites and all of my sources on a diigo list.
Using Diigo now as an Albright student will be helpful. As a psych co-concentrator I am always researching one thing or another so now I can keep all of my files and sites organized. I can also use diigo as a way to sort out different educational resources for myself or for the future for my classroom.