Hi Class! I thought the tools we learned about this week in class will definitely be useful to us as we enter the classroom. First of all, I think its great how Yahoo offers an account to anyone out there for free. Like Erika said in class, teachers need free tools like Yahoo so we don't have to spend even more money out of our own pocket. I also liked the idea of using ListServe to get more information about practically anything we want out there. I think it's awesome that all we need to do to get free lesson plans is to sign up with a group. How easy is that? I will definitely be taking advantage of ListServe. Another tool we learned about this week was the Bookmark area of our Yahoo Account. I honestly did not know the difference between Bookmarks and Favorites. I think Bookmarks would be very useful for us and for our students to use, especially if we are writing an essay about a certain subject. The Bookmarks can allow us to write comments about each website, that way, when we go back to them for reference we can easily see which site has the information we need on it. The Bookmarks tool will definitely be a time saver!
The reading, Teaching for Understanding, pointed out how in order to truly understand what we are learning we need to be asked to truly think about the things we are trying to learn about. The article stated that we need to learn from experience and in order to see that our students truly understand what they are learning they need to be able to show us. I can totally see this to be true. It’s one thing to say that we understand, but it’s another thing to prove it. One way to have our students prove to us that they have learned and understood an assignment is to use technology that will show us their outcomes in a timely manner. Teaching for Understanding also states that technology has the ability to improve student achievement and one way it does this is by being able to adapt to different leaning styles that preside in the classroom. In my daughter’s third grade classroom I saw this to be true. They were doing a unit on whales and it wasn’t until the students were able to use the computer to see a visual picture about what they learning about in order for the information to sink in. Metacognition is another issue that Teaching for Understanding talked about. Basically, metacognition is knowing what you know any why you know it. If we can get our students to control what they are thinking they will be able to concentrate and understand more about what they are learning.
All of the tools we learned this week can make learning more fun and a lot easier!
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Hey I learned a lot too, each class has something new for me to learn because I do not know much! I never did a bookmark either. The metacognition concept was completely new to me and most of the information was very useful...I saved a copy for the future:-)
Hi Tiffany,
I totally agree that using all the features of a free Yahoo account is very useful. There are so many features on there that I didn't even know about! With regard to the Technology article, I agree with your comment that learning from expeience is so much more valuable (i.e. the Whales). I still remember things I learned in 2nd grade that were attached to experiences.
Well I must say that like nearly everyone else, I also did not know that there was a difference between bookmarks and favorites! I love the listserv, I joined one of the groups to help with lesson plan ideas now and in the future!
Hey Tiffany,
I definitely felt that the tools this week were very useful. I never even thought of using the bookmarks to keep track of research articles. I guess I was getting too caught up in how I can use it for my classroom one day and forgot how much it can also help me as a student! Also, I absolutely agree about having to prove that students understand. I think that students sometiems out of embarassment say they get it when they do not, these programs can help us determine who can move forward and who needs things explain in a different way!
In reading your blog I realized that I have never look at technology like we did in class. I have always believed it to be helpful, but I never thought o using it in my career unless I were to work in an office. You make a very valid point technology is something that we can use in our classrooms to make learning fun and making learning a valuable experience.
Hi Tiffany, I too have learned alot of new useful tools. What really opened my eyes was how easy everthing becomes when you use technology. Like you, I also had trouble figuring out my blog account, I am really glad that I am not the only one who is having problems figuring things out. Eventhough it has only been two weeks, things seem to be coming easier for me. Hopefully it stays that way.
I completely agree with your last statement, If we used more metacognition then they would understand more, probably be more interested, they’d learn more and fidget less. I’ve been saying for a long time that good learning comes from full understanding. That is what helps us learn faster, better and deeper.
Hi Tiffany, certainly one of the things that we as teachers need is to have material for free that can help us improve our teaching techniques. I am with you in what you say about the Bookmarks. This tool will save us a lot of time. Further, we certainly have to be able to see the improvement of our students in a daily basis. We must use the technologies that we have to delve into the education of our students and to really see if they are learning. Thus far the tools that we have been taught will really help us in our future profession.
It’s nice once in a while to have classes supply students with directly relatable material, as in the case of the ‘ListServe.’ I will also use this tool as a means to assist in preparing lesson plans. You’ve made a wonderful point about writing comments in ‘Bookmarks,’ about it both helping with lectures/research and saving time. Tangentially, the same type of technological importance with ‘Bookmarks’ was seen in the way your daughter’s classmates responded to the visual of the whale. Expanding on that example, one can see how much it might help if an instructor was to use the tools in Yahoo to send websites to students (and parents) to help with their research/understanding outside of the classroom.
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