Web Based Reading

As a kindergarten teacher, web based reading (i.e. reading information off a web page while on the screen) really has no place. At this level, we are worried about learning letters and sounds. When we do finally make it to reading text, it is very simple text and children need to be able to hold it in their hand and point to each word as they read - while being watched and assisted by the teacher to make sure they are on the correct word and saying the correct sounds. However, I can see this as being useful in upper grades as a way to do research, you can cut and paste what you need from an article instead of printing the whole thing. It would also make research easier to be able to "see" everything at one place - your computer screen - instead of having to go find many different books or articles in a copy of a journal.

Communication Technologies

Personally, I would never talk to my family without instant messaging or email. We are never at home at the same time and trying to talk to my sister on her cell phone while she is in her van full of kids is next to impossible. Using these ways to communicate allows my family to stay more in touch from the big stuff to the little stuff. I can see how this would be beneficial in the classroom. You could hook up with someone in another class or school and in many ways it could be used to enhance learning and teaching by hearing how someone else is doing something. I think this would be a great way to pair an upper elementary child with a lower elementary child and possibly have paired reading time, or just a big buddy/little buddy time using a webcam and a microphone. This could also be used by children to email themselves homework assignments or reminders each day. Or, they could email their parents reminders, notices or questions. I definitely think that the webcam technology could be used with kindergartners to pair with someone else, but they would have a hard time with the reading and writing part of communication technologies.

Movie books

This project was definitely created for the child with accessibility issues due to handicapping or for the completely computer illiterate student. I enjoyed taking on of my favorite children's books and making it into a movie. This approach allows a child to sit, watch and listen to a story without having to do anything but absorb the material. I think you might could also use this in a web quest, but instead of going to a web page, already have it downloaded and read the information to the children, such as a group of kindergartners who cannot read by themselves. I can see using this in a kindergarten classroom as another way for children to be exposed to a good model of reading.

Web Quest

The idea of a web quest for older students is amazing. The possibilities are limitless. I did create one for the kindergarten classroom, but it requires adult assistance. I have not thought through this enough to find a way to do this without adult assistance - I am sure there has to be a way. This is a great interactive way to enhance instruction on any given topic. I could see using this with my kindergartners with a variety of themes or topics. If I could just find a way to add me reading the page to them, this would greatly increase the possibility that I would use this on a regular basis. I could definitely see using it for holidays and linking children to webpages where they get to do something fun and it possibly read to them - such as starfall.com or scholastic.com.

Electronic still books

This project was so much fun for me. There are so many different ideas you could use to create a electronic still book. I used one of my favorite children's books, Daisy 1 2 3, to provide the pictures and text. Later I went in and added sound effects and a way for the page to be read to a student out loud. I loved the idea that many of my classmates created books from pictures that they had taken, a way to get to know them better. I can see a use for this project in the classroom - a new and updated version of the old book and tape center. This way the children can control how fast the pages go, decide if they want to read it alone or with assistance and listen to the added sound effects if they so desire. My concern doing a book the way I did, using pictures and text from a published book, is the issue of copyright law.

Blogging

I think blogging has great potential in the classroom. It would be a quick easy way for teachers, parents and students to stay up to date and communicate with one another. The old rule about if you have a question then someone else probably has the same question could easily be addressed using a blog with one answer instead of someone having to answer the same question over and over. I think it is also a great way for students to communicate with one another whether it is their desk mate or a new friend across the country. It could be used as a way to enhance instruction by being able to get another person's take on a topic. It is a great tool for classroom instruction, if set up with rules and guidelines about common courtesy before you allow students to begin. While most of my families don't have home computers, I could see implementing this as a way to communicate with the parents who do have computers and internet access.

Threaded Discussions

The idea of threaded discussions is great for older students. As a kindergarten teacher, I cannot see how this would be application would be feasible to use in the classroom. It would take quite a bit of teacher/assistant time during the day to make this work. However, with older kids I could see this being a great way to discuss classroom topics outside of a discussion circle, thus allowing your less confident children a chance to participate as well. It is a pressure free way to express ideas with a group of people.

Social Bookmarking

I love the idea of social bookmarking. This could be extremely useful in the kindergarten classroom when doing web "research" with smaller children. I would go through and weed out bad sites and put only the sites I want the to go to on my bookmarking list and then allow them to explore safe, previewed websites. This could be used for research of a theme we are working on, or we could use it to allow the children a choice of websites to go to during free center time that would have educational games for them to play.
This also is a great way to travel with my favorites. Instead of always putting new links into my favorites I could place them into my bookmarkings and be able to access them from any computer that has internet access.

What is technology?

What is technology? The first thing that comes to mind is computer related/operated items. But after thinking more about this issue, I think that definition of technology is really the definition of electronic technology. Technology to me is anything that helps you adapt to your world/environment. By that definition, pencil, paper, shoes, etc. all would be considered technology. Technology does not always make your world easier, but I think it can help in making things easier to handle. Shoes makes walking much more comfortable for me. While trying to figure out how my car runs can be stressful at times, I know that there is someone out there who understands that aspect of technology. Technology is what you make of it. Technology can be used to change the old way of doing things. E books and movie books are a new version of the old book and tape center. Bookmarking allows your favorite sites to travel and have access to them from any internet accessible computer. Technology can give you the freedom to accomplish tasks in many different ways.

What is literacy?

As a kindergarten teacher, literacy to me means being able to read and write. We start at the most basic level and move forward. Children start out being able to read basic words and simple text and move on to being able to read novels, blogs, web pages, newspapers, etc. Writing goes along the same lines. First children learn to write their names, their friend's names, simple sight words, simple sentences, pages of writing, research papers, etc. Literacy is combining what you know about letter/sound relationship and then being able to apply it in written form.

First Blog

Welcome to my first blog! I have been learning many new and interesting things in this class. Yesterday we worked on threads, nothing too hard. Today we have learned about blogs. I knew what they were, but I had never blogged before now.