Reflections

I made it!!!!!!! I had my doubts about reaching the finishing line, but I persevered and did it. It has been quite an adventure. I've learned new things about technology that I had no idea even existed.
My favorite tools were Bookmarks, Digital Storytelling and the iTouch Apps.
Going through this process has given me new ways of integrating new technology in the classroom that will help me in teaching and reinforcing skills taught and also in helping my students can gain new technology skills that will better prepare them to succeed in the future.
The unexpected outcome was the surprize that I could actually navigate through this, though sometimes I had to ask for help.

Tool #11

It is our responsability as educators to teach Digital Citizenship as we keep advancing in this age of technology. Our Pre-K students need to know how to navigate through the digital world safely as they start this wonderful experience in their education. We need to point out consistently that Digital Citizenship is being responsible, being safe and following some rules.
I truly liked the acronym THINK (http:www.cybersmart.gov.au/Young%20Kids/How%20to%20cybersmart.aspx) they used for teaching Digital Citizenship. With repeated modeling our little ones will catch fast to this and remember it in years ahead.

Tool #10

I checked out the following free Apps: Alphabet Tracing, Shape Builder, and Read Me Stories-Children's Books.
Alphabet Tracing is a fun way of tracing letters with a cartoon-ish truck and a train set. It is a great way of getting the child's attention and focusing on the learning. Shape Builder is great for teaching hand-eye coordination and matching skills. Read Me Stories-Children's Books could be used to develop their oral language and practice their readings skills both at school and at home.
All of the Apps mentioned above can reinforce skills previously taught over a period of time until they are successful.

Tool #9

I am amazed at what's out there in technology for us to use. I checked out Jing and Skype. I chose to subscribe to Jing. Jing will be great to use for science. It's a great resource for video taping a lesson in which students can explain to other children from other parts of the states or world what the experiment is about. They could always come back and see it once more and maybe catch something they had missed the first time.
I had some idea what Skype was about, mainly that it was mostly an inexpensive form of communicating with friends and relatives from other parts of the country or from other parts of the world. Students would be able to converse with other students and gain new knowledge about different cultures, ask questions about what others are learning or how they are learning and also about their celebrations. Students could do projects with another class. Parents could also learn how to help their child at home by watching a video of a teacher modeling how they could do it. I was most impressed with the idea of Read-Alouds. It'd be great if parents could use it at home since there are some parents who do not know how to read. Students would be building listening and comprehension skills both at school and at home.
Skype can provide a different way of approaching professional development. I see it as a fantastic way of providing video conferencing with other teachers and learning about the different ways to improve lessons, learn new techniques, new ideas, and new resources.

Tool #8

I've never used Teacher Tube before. I liked that Teacher Tube because it allows you to be more specific when doing a search. I choose a video for Life cycle of the Monarch Butterfly for our science unit.


http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=124222



http://www.blinkx.com/videos/Orale%252C+el+alfabeto
I checked out blinkx and found a neat song that has both the alphabet and vowels together.

Tool #7

PhotoStory is a great way of motivating children to make their own stories about family, friends and classmates. Children can narrate and display their stories electronically with other students. They can share with other students from: our own campus, other schools in/out of the district, and students from other states or other countries. Their work can be placed in the listening center for others to hear during center time. I see this as another tool of helping them develop more vocabulary and pronunciation in both English and Spanish. Note: music used was free to download.

Today is Aug. 5 and I was able to load the video. Hurrayyyyy!!!!!!!!!!

Tool #6

Wiki is a great way to introduce PK students to collaborate with each other by sharing, thus, building more vocabulary in both english and spanish. It is most useful for teachers when doing lesson plans, road maps, class newsletters, science units, etc. Everyone on campus can be working on the same document and be up to date with current info.

Tool #5

I chose http://prekinders.com/ and http://www.songsforteaching.com/ as my bookmarks. My tags were centers and songs.
Social bookmarking will enable me to research websites much faster and in an organized manner.
My team and I can share valuable information at a faster rate.

Tool #4

Google Doc is a great way for all of my colleagues and myself to enter information that can be used by all. I did a spreadsheet for Lang. Arts objectives. Teachers can contribute by adding to the document; thus helping us improve our teaching. I sent it to two of my fellow colleagues.
Google Reader will help me keep up to date with any new information there is out there regarding PK.

Tool #3

Kid-Friendly Image Generators which students can use to create cards, announcements, and notes for their parents, friends, and teachers.

Big Huge Labs (http://viterbivoices.usc.edu/kristensc/2009/10/19/where-the-wild-things-are/) for creating banners to encourage positive behavior.

Tool #2

I think building a PNL is a great way to interact with other colleagues from other parts of the country. I'm very interested in knowing what others are doing to improve their students learning and also learning new ideas/strategies that will enhance my teaching skills and improve the learning climate in my classroom.
Two things that stood out for me were the suggestions about having your comments being open ended so that there is more interaction with others and the importance of demonstrating our professional skills when posting comments by making them positive. There is no need to be rude with a blogger if you are in disagreement, just state why you disagree and move on.
I choose the following blogs: JiMr, Rainy Midnight, Baby Goat, Vicente, Bellas Orquideas and Mrs.Yollis' 3rd Gr. Classroom.

Tool #1

I learned a lot about how to set up a blog/avatar.