Claudia's EME2040 Blog

As a kindergarten or first grade teacher, I will need to use tools like Microsoft Excel to keep track of the students grades. Using an online spreadsheet would be more effective than a physical grade-book. With an online spreadsheet, corrections can be easily made and saved, information would not have to be completely erased to be fixed, and can be accessed anywhere. It can be used for more information than just grades. I would be able to use it keep track of student and parent contact information. This way I will be able to store important things without worrying about losing them easily. ClassDojo is another reporting tool that I found many teachers use in their classrooms. With ClassDojo, teachers can create their own classroom rules and give or take away points on a students behavior. Parents are able to see these changes on their phones using the ClassDojo app. This is a quick and easy way for parents to see how their child is doing in class and can see the feedback the teacher is...

In a flipped classroom, instead of the traditional scene where the student sits and listens to a lecture then goes home to do homework, the student watches a prerecorded video lecture for homework the day before. The concept of a flipped classroom began with lectures being recorded for absent students and expanded from there. Since the students have already listened to the lecture, when they get to the classroom, they are able to become active learners and do hands-on work. This will help them understand and learn in a way that is more modern and a lot less boring than just listening to a teacher speak for a really long time. I think that flipped classrooms are a really cool but I think there could be some downsides to them. Knowing students, they would be too lazy to listen to the lecture and would not know what to do the next day which would cause that individual to be behind. Other than that, I see no problem with having a flipped classroom.  "Open" terms mentioned ...

Through individual efforts, I found that there area lot of discussion forums for teachers and students to use. What I found interesting was that there were a wide variety of forums for many different situations, subjects, and topics within those subjects that allow for more in-depth conversation on interesting areas. It is something I could see myself and other teachers using to get new ideas or see what other teachers have to say on a subject. It basically gives a fresh perspective that I and another teachers at my school might not have. From using Diigo and viewing bookmarks, I learned a little more about websites I already knew existed but never looked into. Some platforms for communication and sharing aren't always immediately thought of as resources for teachers and are typically more informal ways to communicate. So seeing those really opened my eyes to other possible uses. I also noticed some websites that were specifically for updating teachers on technology or teaching s...

On my own, I learned that there are so many different types of learners that I never really thought of because I didn't see them in my time as a student. I never had any classmates with major learning disabilities. As a teacher, I know that I will have to be able to recognize when a student is having more trouble with learning than the rest of my students. I learned that there are more technologies and software than just audio recorders and text-to-speech. From the presentations made by my peers, I learned that there are a multitude of new ways diverse learners can be helped. I learned that there are tools for reading such as reading guides and books that can be printed in Braille. For writing there are tools such as pencil weights and grips that make it easier for children to write. There are also sticky keys that help children type if their motor skills aren't as fast as other students. Other ways diverse students can learn is using technology such as an iPad to play educat...

There are a lot of new technologies that were made to accommodate learners with disabilities . A few for those that are fully blind or on their way to being fully blind are audio players and software such as text-to-speech that read out what is on a child's screen. They could also use audio recorders if they have trouble writing notes so that they can record their teacher's lessons. Another cool tool for children that have trouble focusing while reading are reading guides. Reading guides are when a book is read aloud and the words being read are highlighted, so it helps them focus on the words. Adaptive devices just help children learn in a way that is easier for them since the way people normally learn, isn't always so easy. I have never used adaptive technology and I do not think that I know someone that does. I feel like the pace classes go would be faster than the pace the adaptive technology can go. I wouldn't say its a burden but I haven't experienced much ...

Through individual efforts, I learned about a website that allows students to take learning to a whole new level. It allowed students to work at a pace that is beneficial to them, to do projects and use technology to record and submit the projects. Teachers are able to give immediate feedback and control the standards. It also allows parents to see their child's progress immediately too. It is an incredible tool that seems to be more student-centered, which tend to be pretty effective. What did you learn today viewing the bookmarks and annotations of others? When viewing the bookmarks and annotations of others, I realized that my peers see things a lot differently than I do. Sometimes I find that they see the uses for software and websites a lot differently than I do. Other times they annotate and highlight information I would've never thought to even look at or find useful. So being able to see what other people do on Diigo has been an eye-opening experience.