Blog 6

I looked at a class page from Dallin Elementary School in Mrs. Parker's kindergarten class. One tab she included was an "about me" page which I thought was a great idea for students and parents to learn a little about their teacher before the first day. There was also an orientation agenda which is nice for parents who might have to work during orientation. It gave some great tips and specific timelines of the day which is great for parents of Kindergarten students because they might not know exactly what to expect if it is their first kid. Lastly, I saw a calendar tab that included important dates such as picture day, field trips, and holidays so the parents can stay informed on what is going on.
http://www.parkerpeople.info/

 

I envision myself using technology in many ways to take care of my responsibilities as a teacher. The first would be saving my lesson plans in different folders on my computer, whether they are handouts, or PowerPoints, they will be easily accessible in the future and allow me to modify them when needed. I will also use excel to keep track of my students grades and be able to show grades to students and parents so they can see a breakdown of assignment grades over the course of the semester or year. I will also email out calendar and newsletter updates to the parents so they are able to stay involved and understand what is going on.

When I visited the Technology Sandbox I saw many different types of technology that would be helpful to use in the classroom and make learning more enjoyable for students. One was the smart board, which was an interactive board that could connect to the internet and was touch screen. It was very big and could replace the typical whiteboard or projector and also had great functions such as educational games that could be downloaded, and images that could be seen in 3D. One feature that was new to me was that with a side projector and coded cube students could move around a cube and see an object on the smart board move the same way. This would be a great asset for visual and hands on learners.