Animoto

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Digital Collection

Lesson Plans

I did not realize how much time and effort goes into making a lesson plan until this semester. I have had to write three lesson plans so far and they took me forever to do. You have to take in to consideration the standards that each teacher has to meet that are required by the state, you have to know how you can accomodate students with special needs, you need to have objectives that you want the students to meet, and so on. It takes hours to prepare, or it might be just me, and is done in the classroom in about an hour. Now I understand why the teachers in the education department are telling us that we need to learn how to collaborate with each other, because one day we are going to need the advice and help from our co-workers. After you get the hang of making lesson plans, I am sure that it becomes a little easier the more you make them. Like I say, practice makes you better. Lesson plans are very useful in organizing your class and keeping the class moving from one thing to the next.

Lesson plans are great for my organizational skills, but a horrible time consumer. Lesson plans allow teachers to teach their class with fewer bumps in the road. Of course there is always room for changes and reflections.

Dabbleboard and Blogger

The internet is full of amazing resources that teachers can use and incorporate into their classroom. By a teacher incorporating technology into the classroom, they are relating to the students on their level. Students now days are growing up with technology that previous generations did not have. It is harder to keep students interested in what you are doing if you do the same old thing. We as teachers need to incorporate these technologies in our classrooms to help keep up with the times and keep our students interested.

Dabbleboard is definitely one of those inventions that I would love to incorporate in my classroom. To me, it is kind of like a smart board on wheels. It is portable and is very easy to use. Dabbleboard allows you to insert drawings or create your own. Of course every drawing that I do will be a masterpiece (hahaha like that is true). It is a way to bring technology into the classroom and get students involved. You could even let the students use the dabble board during the lesson being taught to work out a problem and find the solution. Dabbleboard does not need extra programs to run because it runs of the hardware that you already have and the software that you use on a daily basis. I know that teachers are on little to no budget when it comes to the classroom. Dabbleboard allows the teacher and students to use it for free. This is a great tool to integrate technology into the classroom.



Another great site, that I even have an example of on my blog, is wordle.net. This is a great site to make cool looking graphics with various colors. I would tell the students to come up with ten terms that relate to math and various mathematicians and come to the computer and type them in. After every student has added their words, we would create the wordle and see what they think math consists of. This allows the teachers to relate to the students and be able to bond. Wordle gives a new outlook on something that can become tedious and boring at times. Wordle is something that I plan on using with my students to help get them involved.

Even though I am not as good with technology, I still plan on trying to find new ways to incorporate technology in the classroom. It is very fun getting to use all of these neats new toys.