Web Safety

This topic struck me as really important in today’s society, so I decided that I would do it for my last post.  WiredKids.com, is a websites that promotes web safety for children. Today’s children no matter how young are always on the computer, and use the web for means of learning and communication with peers and others.  WiredKids, work to help prevent cybercrimes against today’s youth, and even if a crime has already been committed they help investigate the crime. Cybercrimes and cyber bullying are a huge part of today, and whether most people like to admit it or not, almost everyone has witnessed or been a part of cyber bullying. WiredKids, provides links to different websites such as, StopCyberbullying, WiredSafety, and NetBullies, that help provide parents, teachers and students with information about different cybercrimes and how to stop them before they happen, and what to do if it occurs. Websites such as these are so important in the classroom, and should be used first thing when starting students on assignments that include use of the Internet, or communication with each other through social networking. Creating a lesson plan that would use some of the information provided, will help teach students, even young students, what cyber bullying is, and why it should be done. By doing such, teachers, parents and students can help to eliminate some of today’s major problems throughout the school, and to help keep students safe, not only in the classroom, but outside of the classroom.

First School

First-School is a website that offers teachers for preschool to kindergarten worksheets and activities that can be used in the classroom.  The website breaks the worksheets down into different types of themes. For example the first themes that you see on the page are: First Alphabet, First Animals, First Holidays & Events, and even preschool in Spanish.  I really liked that this website had a Spanish section, because with many Spanish speaking students in today’s classrooms, I think that teaching young students Spanish is also just as important as teaching these Spanish speaking students English.  The worksheets in both the English speaking section and the Spanish speaking section match, so it would be easy to work with both. But I also liked that there were many different kinds of worksheets to go with each theme, so you can teach the theme in ways that help each student. There is also a section for crafts that can go along with what is taught in the classroom, for example the website includes a craft on Community Helpers, which is a common theme taught in Preschool and Kindergarten.  The website is perfect for teachers who need worksheets that go along with the lessons that are being taught in the classroom. All in all, the website is nice for when as a new teacher or even an older one, you run out of ideas and this can help keep each school year nice and fresh by providing new ideas to teach. Also, these worksheets can be printed out for extra work at home for mom and dad to help their children what was learned in the classroom that day.

Site Location: http://www.first-school.ws/INDEX.HTM

Chris Gathers' Experience

The article “Using Technology with Kindergarten Students” by Chris Gathers, explains how Ms. Gathers as a Kindergarten teacher incorporated technology into her classroom. Gathers had been a teacher for many years, and throughout her article she explains the step by step process she takes to ensure that her Kindergarteners learn how to use the computer. What really caught my attention about the article, was that she wasn’t just showing them how to use different parents of the computer, and different types of software, she was using the computer and the software, to not only teach her students how the software and computer worked, but also used it as a means of teaching. For example, she used the stamps in KidPix as a way to teach counting, which I found to be a great idea and was simply to use for Kindergarteners.  Gathers also explained how she used the computer for recess and reinforcement of what she taught in the computer lab, and throughout that day, by using other forms of software, some of which I had used when I was in Elementary School.  Incorporating technology into the classroom just as Ms. Gathers explains is very important in educating children of today. Her use of incorporation shows that students can be taught at even as young as Kindergarten and will help these students be prepared for other technology based information that they will learn in the future, because they already have the basic steps down.

Gathers’ article is a great read for teachers and future teachers who have pondered about how they should use technology in the classroom, or just want to get an idea of how other teachers use technology in the classroom. If all teachers shared how they use technology in their classroom, it would make adapting to adding technology into all classrooms easier.  For the link to the article click here:  http://www.4teachers.org/testimony/gathers/index.shtml

Learning Planet

LearningPlanet.com  is a fun interactive learning game site for students. There is a particular section just for students that enables to students to select their current grade. Once students have selected their grade, they have a variety of learning style games that they can choose from.  There is also section for teachers that allow teachers to select the grade they teach and see which games work best for their classroom. The teacher’s section allows the teacher to keep track of each of the students that log onto the site, and the website will keep a record of how well the student does, and shows that information on the teachers roster when he/she logs into their account. This ensures that the teacher can make sure the student is doing the right activities that he or she is suppose to, and enables the teacher to see if learning is being acquired. There is also a section that provides plenty of worksheets that can be printed out and used throughout the classroom for more learning activities. The website does offer a variety of tools that are helpful to the teacher and students. However, the only downfall to this website is that a membership must be paid in order to attain all the tools. But the low price of the membership is worth all the tools and activities that the teacher will be able to use.

Busy Teacher's Cafe

The Busy Teacher’s Café website, offers great ideas for new and veteran teachers. This website allows teachers to relax from their busy life, and check out new ideas that can be used within the classroom. On the website teachers can find:

·         Themes Section: This section offers lesson plan ideas for a variety of themes in many subjects, which coordinate with bulletin board ideas and story books.

·          Strategies: Here teachers can find ideas on how to better manage their classroom, along with lesson plan ideas, and information on literacy centers in the classroom.

·         Printables:  Varies printable activities are available for grades K through 6. My favorite part of this section is that it offers a classroom management section that includes weekly behavior reports, and other papers that help keep teachers on track.

·         Resources: This section has tips for new teachers, a list of recommended books to use in the classroom, and tips for getting back into the school years.

So if you need a break, or help with coming up with ideas for what to do in the classroom, this website is a great place to start. It will also be a major help to new teachers, who can use all the resources available.

Best Education Site for Teachers in K-8

Funbrain is an interactive website that keeps students actively engaged in learning by offering fun educational games in subjects such as math, reading, and writing. Teachers, whose grade levels are between Kindergarten and eighth grade, will find this website beneficial to incorporating the computer use in their classroom curriculum. However teachers above those grade levels will not find the website useful.

How Funbrain is helpful to teachers:

Funbrain has a section towards the bottom of their website that is just for teachers.  This section includes multiple links such as: Funbrain for Teachers, TeacherVision, and MyGradebook.  All of these of links are very helpful to not only first teachers, but also master teacher.

·         The FunBrain teacher link includes printable flash cards for grades K - 8, a curriculum guide that helps teachers determine which games on the website best fits what is being taught, and other resources. Also, the site allows for downloading the games, instead of having students play them on the internet, for more safety. Likewise, there is also a Funbrain section for parents, which teachers may want to show parents, so that their students can continue their learning practices at home with the help of their parents.

How Funbrain is helpful to students:

Funbrain has multiple games for students, all students have to do is select their gender, grade level, and which game piece they want to play with. After that is set up a password is given to them, and they can choose which game they want to play. Some of the games included are:

  ·         Mad Libs – which teaches students new words and reinforces reading and vocabulary they already know.

·         Math Arcade Games – Which teaches math in a fun way, so that students don’t get stressed out and will want to continue learning.

·         Grammar Games- which reinforces plurals and other topics of grammar.

·         FunBrain Blog – gives facts that are age group appropriate  

Students can continue playing on their Funbrain account at home instead of only being able to play it at school to reinforce learning outside the classroom.

To take a look at the website for yourself please click the link: http://www.funbrain.com/index.html

KidSmart Learning: Effective and Easy

KidSmart describes the many need-to-know basics and other helpful information about how to integrate technology into classroom with very young learners. Unlike most websites that use a countless number pages to get the point across, KidSmart uses east to understand videos.

Click Here For: KidSmart Website

The website offers information on how and where to put a computer in the classroom. For example, emphasis is placed on putting the computer in a location that will allow teachers to see students as they work, and make sure students are comfortable there, while at the same time avoiding locations that may produce extreme heat, or wetness.

 

Aside from figuring out where to place the computer, information on how to track learners’ progress, develop a curriculum around the computer, and allow students to share their work is supplied through the videos and tips.

KidSmart also provides an abundant amount of website and software ideas to use for developing curriculum such as:

·  Sammy's Science House –Can be used for students to build science and thinking skills through fun creative games that increase in their level of difficulty.

 

·   JumpStart Preschool - Jumpstart is available in many different age groups and tracks learners progress as they learn different school subjects and a progress report can be printed out as well.

 

·  Trudy’s Time and Place House – Can be used for students to build skills in math and geography in a fun creative way that allows students to tell the teacher what they learned and share that knowledge with the class.

For an easy understanding of how to integrate technology with very young students, KidSmart does a wonderful job, and can be used both in the classroom setting, as well as at home. But remember, the key to knowing if students are effectively learning the material is to keep a close watch on them to make sure they are understanding the material being taught and to help guide them when confusion may arise.

Computer Learning Lesson Plans for the Young

Computer learning is not limited to older students as most people would suspect. Instead, teaching young students how to use a computer at an early age is very important and will help them in their future education. Many teachers, parents, and people in the community wonder at what age a student can learn to use the computer. For my future classroom, students as early as 5 years old will begin to use the computer. One way students will be able to use the computer is through a series of lesson plans that provide students with information on how the computer works.  For example, preview this nicely put together lesson plan that teaches students step by step how to use the computer in an understanding way:

 http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Computer_Science/EDT0204.html

I found this lesson plan very helpful and plan to use it in the near future. The main thing I found useful was that it provided games for the students to play to help master their learning. One game that I tried myself and am positive young students can get the hang of is provided here:

http://www.typingmaster.com/games/bubbleapplet.asp?keys=abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz&Submit=Start+Game

This particular game teaches students how to find letters on the keyboard and type them in, which is crucial for learning how to type and opens the doorway for future learning. Lessons such as these are helpful to teachers and students  because it starts students on an early pathway to technology education which is much needed in today and will benefit students in the future.

Blogging: A New Curriculum Tool for Teachers

My name is Hannah Williams, and I’m a sophomore at Lake-Sumter Community College.  After graduation from the University of Central Florida, I plan to teach Kindergarten. Today’s article will be on communication in the classroom, particularly speaking “blogging”.  Communication and collaboration are very important in the classroom, because today’s students are growing up in a technological society that will continue to advance technologically for centuries to come. Today’s youth are the hope of tomorrow’s advances, so a classroom education that uses technology is needed to secure their success for tomorrow’s future. One way to secure student’s future success is to implement blogging into the classroom. How can blogging be implemented into the classroom and why is it important?

·         Blogging can be integrated into the Kindergarten classroom, by setting up a blog that allows students to connect to it not only in the classroom, but also outside the classroom. The blog should be updated daily and include practice for students, such as printable worksheets,  videos and music, educational games, printable activities that students can do with parents, and an announcement to parents letting them know what each activity does and how it relates to today’s classroom learning.

·         Blogging can produce many benefits for the students even at such a young age, because it provides them with learning exercises that they can do in the classroom at “centers” and even at home to gather extra practice on topics that were learned in class, in order to reinforce the concept and make sure learning is being acquired. Also this type of learning provides students with the knowledge of how to use of one today’s most commonly used technologies and prepares them to become more advanced in learning about blogging.

·         Blogging provides parents with information on what their child/children are being taught on a day to day basis, and allows them to work with their children at home on the topics to establish reinforcement of the learned information. A calendar is also available on the blog so that parents can see upcoming events for their students and the classroom in general.  Also parents have the ability to comment on the daily blog stating what they think of each activity and provide ideas and feedback, which will provide the teacher with information about the parents and students. This communication provides just that, another means of teacher-parent communication which is essential in the growth of the student.

·         Blogging provides many benefits to the teacher, one being that it allows teachers to have yet another way to communication with both students and their parents effectively. Secondly teachers have the ability to provide students with extra learning tools that will benefit students and allow the teacher to make sure learning is reinforced to allow for more instructional time. It will also allow teachers to communicate and share their ideas with other teachers and gather feedback and ideas from them. Lastly, it will provide teachers with more technology experience and help keep them up-to-date in this ever changing technological world.

For a wrap up of today’s article, blogging can be a very useful and informative education tool for the student, parent, and even the teacher.  Both teachers of today and future teachers should integrate blogging into the curriculum.