Samantha's Podcast

Blog Journal 3

After learning the many different ways technology can be used in the classroom, I have thought about what kinds of technology I will use in my future classroom and what lessons I will use technology to teach. One interesting use of technology that I have witnessed firsthand as I observed a 6th grade classroom last semester, was the use of the classroom website to create learning games for the students. The teacher kept an updated website displaying upcoming due dates for assignments and tests, however, he also created vocabulary games and posted a link on the website. The students could be in the comfort of their very own home and use the website to play a memory game containing the vocabulary words that they would be tested on. As I will be teaching younger grades, I will try to incorporate something like that in to my lesson plans. Maybe I will post word searches or word games for the students to study the words that they will be tested on for a spelling test. I'm excited to learn more exciting ways to incorporate technology in my future classroom!
As I have already mentioned, I will be teaching younger students, so I should not have to many concerns about controlling a technology incorporated classroom. However, I do have a few minor concerns. Even first or second graders can navigate the internet on their own, so as I am not concerned that they will be visiting explicit websites or websites like "facebook", I do express concerns over my students getting off task by visiting other websites, like the "Disney" website or other noneducational websites that younger kids enjoy.
A very interesting web-based tool that I've seen students really engage themselves in is a website entitled Starfall. http://www.starfall.com/ This website is aimed toward younger children in grades K-2. The website contains a variety of categories and different games to help students brush up on things ranging from phonics to learning the months of the year or days of the week. I completed my community service hours helping a first grade classroom and I saw how much fun the students had on this website and how much the website taught them. I hope this website is still in action when it's time for me to teach!

Blog Journal 2

Microsoft Word has been a part of my life beginning with my younger elementary school years. I started using Microsoft Word to type things such as “spelling test” study guides, daily journals, or any other elementary task required of me. As I advanced from grade to grade and entered my middle school and high school years, I began using Microsoft Word for more advanced things, such as book reports, biographies, or papers in general. I have yet to discover all the things Microsoft Word has to offer and I’m pleased to already have learned a few new techniques in this class. Throughout my years as a student, my teachers never really used Microsoft Word for anything more than what their students used it for. My teachers were never more technologically advanced than the students. I hope to advance my technological skills so that my students can refer to me as the teacher who is “technological savvy.”

One example that Chapter 9 gives to creatively use Microsoft Word in the classroom is the ability to create a school newspaper. I was intrigued that one could do such a complicated task on a program I thought to be so basic. The school newspapers at my school were always so intricate and advanced; I would have never guessed that they were made from Microsoft Word. When I become a teacher I hope to teach my students to construct their very own newspaper discussing topics from class or even assign them a research project using MS word to create a newspaper covering details from their research topic.

I have already learned so many new techniques that I can use in the teaching world with Microsoft Word. One skill that stuck out to me personally was the ability to capture things from the internet and paste them in word or paint. This way, if I see a cool excerpt from a website or a cool picture, I can capture it and then add my own teaching twist to it. I can draw arrows on the picture labeling things, I can write little footnotes inside the picture. I’ve always wanted to do that as a student conducting student presentations, but I never knew how. Now that I know, I will definitely put that skill to good use in the future!