Week 10

I was gone

Week 9

Today in class we had a man who works in the technology center came and discussed how to use WordPress to create a website. After last week and going over how to use DreamCatcher, setting up a website in WordPress was way simpler and more user friendly. I think Dream Catcher needs its own class so I could be able to learn the more basic parts then trying to dive in and create a website. The speaker was really informative and helpful and really answered a lot of questions. After he left, we went over more of Dream Catcher and then he let us work more on our own choice of websites.

Week 8

Today, we played on the website "hour of code". where it introduces coding in a way students can understand and enjoy. They also really push for girls to get involved in coding to broaden the horizons of the job field of computer science. The website was user friendly and had a lot of different games as options to choose.  I chose to start at the Frozen coding game, but decided that it wasn't fun because I didn't understand what was being asked and I wanted to try a different one.  So I played one that had a little monster that you had to help get the candy. I tried a few different ones after that and it was very fun and I will definitely use it in my classroom. We then used the application DreamWeaver to see how to create a website that we could use in our classroom. That was very interesting and a lot of information that I have never used to remember. I am hoping that there is an easier application to use then DreamWeaver. Because I feel like it can be time consuming and a bit tricky.  But this could get easier to understand with more time and information.

7th Week

Today in class we used the I pads to create mini lessons using a free educational app from the iTunes store. I chose one that had a few different subjects and ranged in ages from 1-3rd grade. I liked it because it broke down specific things in subjects and made it fun for the user. After we picked the app we then made an app. It was fake but it was using a website that built the app for you. It was nice because it broke down each section of the app and then had templates to choose. Very user friendly. I really liked this class period because it went over things that I may use a lot of in my class. Especially the ipads and the different educational apps.


Mini Lesson, App Maker ( ibuild an app),

6th Week

This week we got to explore and learn about the app Garage Band. We learned all about how to use this application in the classroom. Our assignment was to read a book or something that could be used in the classroom. My idea was to read a story that I would read in my classroom.  I thought it was really interesting how you could create a podcast and then publish it. When looking in the iTunes store at podcasts I found a lot of fun and interesting ones. I thought this would be appropriate for older students more than for older students. There was a lot of different things you could modify and change.

5th Week

Presenter

This week in class we went over useful apps to use in the classroom. We had a presenter come in to the classroom who attended wou and is a teacher himself. He went over apps to use to test students, use in lessons and how to be able to let students share information with you the teacher easier. The websites or apps that I wrote down were Storybird, Presi, Pooplet, Wordpress, googledocs, socrative. I liked how Storybird was user friendly and let students be creative. I liked how Presi was a fun alternative to powerpoint for myself to use or my students.  I thought making a website was hard but after learning about Word Press I see that at least through the website it can be simple. It also makes myself look very professional, and a great tool for my families. Google docs is very helpful for group projects because it lets everyone be able to work on and see it as long as they have a internet connection, so students who are sick or on vacation can still interact, as well as homework is straight forward. But I like it from the point of view of the teacher where I can see who is doing what, and monitor the groups without having to look over their shoulder or constantly ask for them to turn stuff in. Then Socrates was helpful because it gives me the teacher a easy to use platform to have students put in information and be able to see right then or look back later at the results.

4 Week of School

Today in class we worked on the Ipad's and Google Earth. On the Ipod we  worked with Imovie which is an app that lets you make movies or movie trailers. It was really easy to use and fun because you can be very creative.  It already had templates made so you could just pick one and place pictures in or record. It would work well in the classroom because it broke down each part and let the user just record the amount of time it needed. You can preview, cut and drag things which is all easy tools students could do.

The second thing we discussed in class was Google Maps, the assignment was to pick 5 places to make a tour of for someone to be able to click and find a picture and information about. I chose to do 5 places in Oregon to hike too. I did a variety of levels of hardness and places to explore. He showed us how to pin point, link images and url and then tour.  I thought it was challenging because it was alot of information at once. I think I would maybe use this in my classroom but maybe with older students or in a more user friendly way. Plus, when I would teach I would take more than an hour to explain to the students how everything works which is probably why it was difficult for me in class.