Reflection on TPTE 486

Throughout the semester, TPTE 486 has taught me many different websites and tools that I will use in my future classroom. At the beginning of the semester, I considered myself to be fairly technologically savvy. However, I've learned so many useful techniques that can be taught to my future students. The use of technology is growing more and more each day and soon students will be more comfortable with  using a computer than a pen and paper. I need to address this growing trend and help my children flourish by implementing technological tools. My favorite thing that I've learned in this course is how to use a wiki. I wish that I had known what a wiki was throughout my high school and college career because it's so useful for group projects. In my future classroom I will definitely encourage the use of wikis. After this course, I know that I will be an educator that employs the use of technology in various ways.

Inspiration

Inspiration was by far my favorite program to learn about. This program allows you to make diagrams easily and quickly. There is also a lot of room for creativity and customization. I was able to upload images found on the internet in order to enhance my diagram explaining the life cycle of a butterfly. I will definitely use this program in my future classroom because I enjoyed using it so much myself. It will also be an easy program for students to learn and use throughout the school year.

Storybird

Storybird is a website in which you can create short stories in a visual way. These storybirds can be shared with family and friends. They are a great way to have students incorporate their creativity both in the stories they create as well as the visual aids they use. However, the users are extremely limited in that they can only use the images provided by Storybird rather than using one's one images.

Animoto

Animoto is a website where teachers can put a compilation of photos together and create a creative slideshow. It's a great way to take pictures from a field trip or recent classroom activity and make it into a memorable video to look back on. I found it to be extremely easy to use as well as fun. However, there weren't too many style options.

Google Forms

Google Forms is an extremely helpful program in which students could make tests or polls. This would be a great tool for quizzes. It could also be a way for teachers to see how well their students are understanding the material they're going over. Below is my example of a Google Form.

Classroom

Does our classroom have windows?

•  Yes
•  No

Is our classroom generally hot or cold?

•  Hot
•  Cold

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Timetoast

Timetoast is a great tool for students to use. I could see this website used as a plot line for a story being read in class or a timeline of an important person's life. However, as an elementary school teacher hoping to teach 2nd or 3rd grade I could foresee this website being a problem because it seems difficult for those who aren't as familiar with technology. If I were to teach older children I would definitely use this in my classroom.

Checking In

Thus far we've gone over a lot of material in TPTE 486. I've really enjoyed learning about the different websites that can be used in the classroom. I've especially enjoyed exploring Blogger and learning the in's and out's of this application. I can definitely see myself blogging as a teacher in order to keep students and parents well-informed. So far I feel very confident in the material that we've been learning.