Day 25 *4.20.10*

Today we worked on our presentations in class. We still had trouble with ours becuase the alignment was off and the pen wouldn't work right. Are smartboards worth the finacial investment you wonder. I don't think they are unless you spend just as much time and money on training the teachers to use them. Or the teachers should have to pass a test in order to have one in their class. It takes up waay to much time to get them fixed and ready to go, so i don't see a point in having one. I've seen many teachers not even use them. My High school got them donated to us for every class room and I can't remember any time that they used them. My Librarian used it alot, because she knew how to work the board. So my status on this is if the teacher can prove they know what they are doing than yes by all means but if not then no.

Day 24 *4.15.10*

Today we worked on our smartboard projects again. However it took our group the entire time to finally get the board to work. However using These Smartboards help teachers meet the ISTE-NET-T standard 2C: customize and personalize learning activities to address students' diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources. As I learned through the reading that multiple learning styles can be taught using these whitboards. You can sutomize your lesson plan to adapt to your students learning needs, and the smartboard would help you do this. It has the visual aspect, as well as the hands on and tactile learners aspect.

Day 23 *4.13.10*

Today we learned about Smart Boards. They are White boards that are technologically advanced. They provide teachers a way to step out from behind the computer and teach the class from the front. One piece of evidence that I found from reading this information is that students are more engaged in the lesson and retain the information more. The more active the students become in the lesson the more information the store, and ar more likely to remember. Multiple learning styles are accomodated using this new technology. They are worth the educational investment.

However as i group tried to do out project using a MIMO Bar, we hav decided that they are only a good buy if you know how to use them. Knowing the settings of the technology will help you out, but if you don't then your entire lesson went down the drain. Having a backup plan would be good!

Day 22 *4.8.10*

Our webquest are finally finished!! It was a lot of hard work but it is complete! students that complete webQuests are developing 21st century skills. Learning and Inovations Skills are best satified here. Students must think creatively, Work Creatively with Others,Make Judgments and Decisions, Solve Problems, Communicate Clearly, and Collaborate with Others. All of these fall under the Learning and Inovation skills. There is not one specific standards that they are fullfilling by doing webquest because there are multiple aspects of the webquest that must be accomplished. In my webquest alone they have to Work Creatively with Others,Make Judgments and Decisions, and Collaborate with Others.

Day 21 *4.6.10*

Today we worked on remixing our webquest. As i work on this I get a better sense of how webquest work to help students learn through technology. Remixing a webquest or even creating your own webquest satifies 2A of the ISTE-NETs-T standards which is: design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.We are adapting relevant learning experiences for the grade level in which we would like to teach. Learning how to do this now saves me time in the future. Google site has helped alot with the creation of my site.

Day 20 *4.1.10*

Today in class we found our our webquest to revamp. We were told to look for a webquest that lacked some things. We used a rubric to decide which one wasn't the best choice and found a CSO to go along with it. I chose one about literature for 1st-2nd graders. In this web quest the kids are suppose to determine which books/stories are fairytales, folklore, and fables. They must invite ONLY fairytale guest to the ball and create a seating chart and guest list within their teams.The CSO I chose for this is RLA.S.1.1 reading.

Students will apply reading skills and strategies to inform, to perform a task and to read for literacy experience by

· identifying and using grade appropriate essential reading components (phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, written application) and

· selecting a wide variety of literature and diverse media to develop independence as readers.

One thing that I want to change within this webquest is some of the terms used and the tasks portion seems a little confusing. I want to make it more simplified and to the point with more structure for the kids.

Day 19 *3.30.10*

Today we examined web quest. In groups of four we picked a job. Mine was the Efficiency Expert. This means I value time. To me a web quest should deliver the most learning in a short amount of time or if its long term than there should be alot of learning going on. In my opinion, the underground railraod was the best site. It gave you everything you needed to know. It outlined the paper project and had the most basic appraoch for learning. this project satifies ISTE NET standard 3b: locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media. They have to research alot of information in a varity of ways and work as a group.

Day 18 *3.25.10*

Today we reviewed our Indians photostories. We have been helping them develop a creative story and now they have turned it into a photostoy with pictures. Doing this promotes the ISTE Net standard 1B students create original works as means of personal group expression. They used some of our ideas and their to complete a story and then used technology to bring it to life. This is a great idea and I would use this is my class in the future as a group project. Hopefully I will be able to utilize an older group of kids as we did during this project.

Day 17 *3.23.10*

Today in class we made a mini blog on Bruceton Five Ning. We had to research a few news stories and details that happened the day we were born. This is a great site to be a part of because it gives kids a safe place to talk. In trying to write this blog, I noticed that you can't google Bruceton Five Ning and you also cant add it as a gadget on your blog page. You have to have an invitation to join as well. This is a great safe site. On another note, this gives students a chance to research things on the internet. It helps them intergrate pics into a mini blog, communicate, and organize thier ideas effectively. These are all great 21st century skills to have! They can have a safe environment to express themselves and also show teachers them know their stuff!