Skype

Skype is a free online communication tool where you can place calls to other people's computers in order to connect with them. While talking, both people are able to view each other. Skype demonstates all three E's. Skype can make communication more efficient because you are able to talk and see each other at the same time. This allows for both visual and verbal communication. Skype is effective because it can allow students to connect with other students who are learning the same course content. They will be able to discuss their common problems and solutions for assignments. Skype can also enhance student’s learning because it will allow them to see the person’s environment in which they are communicating from. For example, if they are skyping with someone outside of the country they will be able to view their culture and surroundings.
There are some disadvantages to using Skype. By allowing the other person to see you, each person loses a sense of privacy that normal telephone calls include.
Also if your computer does not have a webcam or speakers, then you are not able to communicate with Skype. Another disadvantage is that it is bothersome to the people who are around you. They can both see and hear your conversation which can become irritating.
Even though there are some disadvantages, there are many more advantages of using Skype. Overall Skype is a great communication tool and can be very helpful when communicating with people from other parts of the world.

Assistive Technology-Narrator

One assistive technology that may be used in my future classroom on a Windows Vista computer would be Narrator. Narrator would be used for students with visual disabilities. Narrator is a text-to-speech program that will read texts on the screen and describe some events (such as error messages) by navigating using the keyboard. To use narrator you need to turn on the sound and you can listen to it aloud or you may use headphones. You would need to use headphones if it was being used in a class setting so you would not disturb the other students.

To open Narrator you go to Control Panel, Ease of Acces, Ease of Access Center. Once you are there you will see a screen like the one below.

Once you have opened that you will then click Start Narrator. You then will see the box titled Microsoft Narrator.

You may edit settings from this box. You can have it Echo User's keystokes, Announce System Messages, Announce Scroll Notifications, and Start Narrator Minimized. You may also change the Voice settings. You could choose different people's voices. You can also edit the speed, volume, and pitch of the sound.

Narrator would be effective to use for students with visual disabilities. If you wanted them to read something on the computer then you could have them use narrator and it could read it to them. Also if they were typing something on the computer they could use narrator in order to hear certain error messages that may occur while using the computer.

PLN-Twitter for Teachers

I created my own PLN. I created a twitter4teachers account and I susbscibed to other Elementary teachers pages. I am able to follow other teachers and they are able to follow me as well. This will be a great way to learn about new resources and information involving teaching. To stay informed when people make new posts I signed up to receive emails.

You can view my twitter account here:
http://twitter.com/britneylg08

By being a member of Twitter I can keep track of certain "tweets" teachers post about resources, activities, and news that is valuable for me to use as a teacher.

Classroom Communication

For classroom communication I plan to use blogger. At the beginning of the year I will send home a paper that explains my blog site and what it is for so that parents and students will be able to access it. I think that it is an effective tool because I will be able to post information about things such as field trips. If there is a field trip coming up I will post information about it and also I will talk about the field trip permission slip that parents need to sign. It is my responsibility to communicate this information to parents, therefore if students do not get the information passed out at school home to their parents they will still be able to access it. Also I will be able to post information about certain assignments that students need to complete. If a student is at home and they are having problems they will be able to get on my blog site and view information about it. Also the parents will be able to view the information so they can help their child. If there is an upcoming test, I will post information about it so that parents are aware and they can help their child with studying for the test. If parents have questions or concerns, they can reply to my blog posts and I will be able to respond back to them. This is efficient because if other parents have the same questions or concerns, they will be able to view it too. I won't have to respond to multiple parents because it can all be viewed by everyone.

Station One- KidPix Pictograph (Elementary/Early Childhood/TAL)

Intro: Everyday in Ms. Martins kindergarten class, they complete a different graphing activity. Ms. Martin thinks its important for her students to experience different types of data visualization. For this activity students will learn about tally sheets.

The above activity was the activity that we were working with for our station. The first thing we had to do was create a tally sheet with Microsoft word using pictures instead of words. On the tally sheet we had to create a 2x5 table with Basketball, Baseball, Football, Soccer, and Volleyball included on it. This is the sheet that students will use to collect their data.

After we created the tally sheet we had to do was to make up data to use with it. We then had to make a pictograph to present the data. You can see it below.The next thing we did was create a snowman glyph on KidPix. There was a paper that told you instructions on how to make your snowman. The snowman was created based on your answers to the questions. An example question was "Do you like pizza?" If yes, then you drew a red hat on your snowman. If no, then you drew a blue hat on your snowman.

The final thing we had to do was create a microsoft word document with questions to ask our students. An example question on the document was "What sport was liked the most and what sport was liked the least?" Then we had to create discussion questions also to ask in a whole class discussion.

Reflection of Online Meeting

At first I thought that this wasn't a good idea. We were having alot of technical problems at first, but once we got going with the groups things got alot better. Overall I thought the online meeting was neat, because it was something I have never experience before.

I do not feel very comfortable using this in the future because you have to have the right resources to use it. For example if you didn't have a headphone it was hard for people to hear you because you echoed. If you have all of the right resources it is a great tool to use. Also it is kind of confusing to use with a lot of people because they all are trying to talk and type things at once. There were alot of troubles with sound and being able to hear people, so it was sort of irritating.

This would be a neat tool to use in Elementary if you needed to meet with a parent and they were unable to meet with you. Once again they would have to have the right resources. It would also be neat to use if teachers wanted to meet one night, they could just meet from their home if they had the right resources.

Content Exploration

I reviewed LeapPad for Elementary Education. I plan to teach second or third grade someday and I think this tool will be helpful for my students. LeapPad will be a very fun easy way for students to read books. It will help the students ability to read. After you choose a book to read, you just out the pen on the words you want it to say. If you would rather, you can press a button on the page to have it read the whole page. This tool helps bring the books to life for students.

This is a efficient tool for me as a teacher because I won't have to read with them individually all the time. They can use this tool and it will help them become a better reader. It will save alot of time. Also while trying to do other things, such as grade or work with other students, I will be able to keep other students busy by letting them work with LeapPad.

Other teachers are using LeapPad in their classrooms and are discovering what it can do for students and the classroom.

Even though I feel this is mostly to help students read, it is also fun because they can play games and it is more entertaining to them than just reading a normal book.