After 11 Tools Reflection

Some of my favorite tools included Google Docs and Google Reader, image generators, apps for the itouch, and digital storytelling. I also liked learning about new ways to gather information from the web and share ideas with other teachers.

I look forward to incorporating technology into the sharing of my children's stories and dramatization activities. I think it will add a new dimension to the experience.

This training has expanded my thinking in terms of the range of the many ways technology can impact learning in the classroom, even for the youngest learners. My biggest surprise was that I actually made it through the training with only occasional help from my teenage daughter!

Tool # 11

Just as we do in many other areas, we as teachers are laying the foundation for our students' future use of technology in their lives. The development of their technological literacy skills will be crucial to their future success in school and the workplace. For very young children being good digital citizens involves things like proper care of technological devices, being respectful of what others say and do online, and keeping safe while navigating through the world of technology. I would teach digital citizenship to my students through classroom activities appropriate to their age level, showing them how these tools can be valuable in the real world.

Tool #10

http://www.apple.com/webapps/entertainment/dskidspaint.html

http://www.apple.com/webapps/utilities/myfirstappkidsstudycards.html

http://www.apple.com/webapps/productivity/snootzforbetterbehavedkidz.html

I found an assortment of iTouch apps that could be appropriate for preschool children, including a painting app, an app that teaches basic concepts like shapes, colors, etc. and a third app to motivate children to better behavior.

Since we will be receiving iTouches for classroom use this school year, I will be interested to see which apps can be used effectively by my students.

Tool #9

Children could use screencasts on Jing to watch recorded lessons they might benefit from seeing multiple times, listen to favorite books read aloud, or to experience places they are not able to visit in person, for example.

Skype could be a useful tool to connect children to people of different cultures or who speak different languages or to see and hear a famous person they find interesting.

Tool #8

I chose two You Tube videos about monarch butterflies, one showing the caterpillar making its chrysalis and the other showing the emerging butterfly. Video resources could be used for helping a variety of science or social studies concepts come to life for children in the classroom.

Tool #7

I am excited to think about using the video storytelling tool with the children's stories we dictate and dramatize in the classroom. They would love to see themselves acting out stories and including their words or background music. We could also do video storytelling of special classroom events or field investigations.

Tool #6

While I can't immediately think of any ways four-year olds might use wikis in the classroom, I do see them as a valuable tool for collaboration among teachers. I like the idea of being able to share, edit, and save information wtihout the need for multiple emails.
In visiting some of the suggested wikis I found one that reviewed children's books for different age levels that I really liked.