Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Is it the end or only the beginning...
Even though this is my last blog post for 23 Things. I do not think it will stop me from learning about how to become a better teacher. This blog taught me so much and showed me that there are so many resources, many that are FREE that teachers can use in their classroom. I do not think I can just point out one favorite exercise because there were so many that were fun! In Thing 21, I enjoyed making my own video on Animoto, in Thing 16, I liked learning about how I can use iGoogle to become more organized, and Thing 9 was one of my favorites where we could produce our own image. There was so many others that were fun and useful as well! This program definitely has affected my learning goals as an educator to know that I will never be limited on the amount of resources I have access to. The only thing I disliked about 23 Things was the number of accounts I had to make. I really have lost count on all my accounts I have. I understand that they are all very useful, but who really has time to manage them all? I think what I have learned will open me up to more creative ways of teaching to reach to a broader range of students. I think to keep up with new developments on the web, I would keep a blog between myself and other teachers. It is also good to keep up on social networks such as TeacherPop or even Facebook and Twitter. When ideas between teachers get to flowing, you never know what you will come up with!
Thing 23
I found a video that talks about Learning 2.0, and how it meets the needs of today's learners. Thankfully today we are not just limited to teaching with a chalk board, but have access to so many other resources: smartboards, iPads, computers, and much more. This does not mean teachers wont have to teach, but it will make learning for the students easier. This video below talks about how the use of technology has expanded our options on how we can learn.
I am glad I learned about what Creative Commons was. It is very important that we are using resources that are meant to be shared and not stolen. Creative Commons helps us to do this. It is important for us teachers to know this, but to share it with our students when they are using the internet and other resources as well!
I am glad I learned about what Creative Commons was. It is very important that we are using resources that are meant to be shared and not stolen. Creative Commons helps us to do this. It is important for us teachers to know this, but to share it with our students when they are using the internet and other resources as well!
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Thing 22
I have to say I am a bit of an organizational freak...so much that my husband thinks I have a problem! Hahaha! I think the problem is he is just messy! Anyway, I was always the kid who was excited about their first day of school. Not only did I have my outfit picked out, but I would have all my paper in my binders with tabs, my pens and pencils in my pencil box, everything had a place! I am still like that in a lot of ways, but sometimes being organized requires a lot of hard work, especially for teachers. If you go into a teacher's classroom she or he has binders for everything! Wouldn't it be nice to have a few less of those dust collectors? Well thanks to Live Binders we can! Live Binders is a resource that is FREE and it allows teachers or anyone to organize materials in a easy way that takes up a lot less space and time! In your binders you have different tabs to different websites that you might find useful for your classroom.
My first binder is Mrs. Hunt's History Binder. This binder contains resources to history materials that would be useful in the classroom. It has videos, games, access to a variety of history websites, and so much more! My second binder is Mrs. Hunt's Geography Binder. Just like my history binder this contains many useful geography resources. Including lesson plans, how to teach a particular geographic area, and much more for teachers. My third binder is geared more towards students and resources they can use. It is called Social Studies Resources & Tools for Students. Its contains a variety of resources, games, quizzes in different areas of social studies including history, geography, and government. It is a great way for students to learn and gain more useful knowledge.
I could see myself using Live Binders in the classroom to assist myself and my students, while saving a whole lot of time and energy!
My first binder is Mrs. Hunt's History Binder. This binder contains resources to history materials that would be useful in the classroom. It has videos, games, access to a variety of history websites, and so much more! My second binder is Mrs. Hunt's Geography Binder. Just like my history binder this contains many useful geography resources. Including lesson plans, how to teach a particular geographic area, and much more for teachers. My third binder is geared more towards students and resources they can use. It is called Social Studies Resources & Tools for Students. Its contains a variety of resources, games, quizzes in different areas of social studies including history, geography, and government. It is a great way for students to learn and gain more useful knowledge.
I could see myself using Live Binders in the classroom to assist myself and my students, while saving a whole lot of time and energy!
Friday, March 30, 2012
Thing 21
I really enjoyed working with Animoto. It was a very easy program, and although you can make better videos by purchasing the program. It does give you the option of making a 30 second free video. You add pictures, music, choose your own picture background. The best part is that is very easy, even when the idea of making a video seems hard!
I think this is good to use for anything. Including your personal, work, or school life. Teachers could use it to make slideshows at the end of the year to give a reflection of all the memories from the school year. It could be used in classrooms, field trips, recreation activities, and so much more.
My video is just about me and my family. Very simple and sweet! Hope you like it!
Make a video of your own at Animoto.
I think this is good to use for anything. Including your personal, work, or school life. Teachers could use it to make slideshows at the end of the year to give a reflection of all the memories from the school year. It could be used in classrooms, field trips, recreation activities, and so much more.
My video is just about me and my family. Very simple and sweet! Hope you like it!
Make a video of your own at Animoto.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Thing 20
YouTube is the Google version for a video search engine! Every day millions of people around the world are posting and viewing videos on YouTube. I even have a slight embarrassing video on YouTube someone posted of me as a joke (hahaha) but you do not need to know that! It is a great resource for so many things, whether it is for work, school, or just personal, anyone can use YouTube. You can have your own personal YouTube account, which I think you must have to upload and save videos. YouTube videos can also be shared on other websites such as Facebook. As a teacher I would be very happy to use this in the classroom. The only problem is many schools are prohibiting access to websites like YouTube on school computers due to unapproved content search. I understand some students may not use it in the correct way but it is still such a valuable educational resource. I will hope that in the future schools will change their policies. Even if limiting access to teacher's computers or by prohibiting some searches, which is unfortunately probably more complicated than it seems.
The video I am posting in my blog is one I viewed in my own classroom, and if teaching is truly meant for you than I promise it will touch you and maybe bring a few tears. It is called, "Trading Schools." This was a special done on the Oprah show that took students from two different schools and they traded places with each other. For some schools their would not be much of a difference, especially if they were in a 30 mile radius of each other, but for these two schools, they were as similar as Earth and Mars. One school was an inner city school and the other was a suburban school. They were about 30 miles apart. The inner city school only had a 40% graduation rate. In standardized tests the students only 16% in reading, 1.5% in science, and .5% in math met state standards. The suburban school had a 99% graduation rate, and in standardized tests 78% in reading, 76% in science, and 77% in math met state standards. Not only was good curriculum and inadequate test scores missing from this inner city school, but the school did not contain adequate buildings and resources the students needed access to. The environment did not improve with the metal dictators that made students feel unsafe. The suburban school was a 62 million dollar institute with way beyond adequate facilities, resources, and obviously good curriculum and test preparation. The saddest thing about the video is the students from the inner city school will not have the same window of opportunities opened up to them because of the school they attend.
I promise you will be very touched if you watch this video. Enjoy!
The video I am posting in my blog is one I viewed in my own classroom, and if teaching is truly meant for you than I promise it will touch you and maybe bring a few tears. It is called, "Trading Schools." This was a special done on the Oprah show that took students from two different schools and they traded places with each other. For some schools their would not be much of a difference, especially if they were in a 30 mile radius of each other, but for these two schools, they were as similar as Earth and Mars. One school was an inner city school and the other was a suburban school. They were about 30 miles apart. The inner city school only had a 40% graduation rate. In standardized tests the students only 16% in reading, 1.5% in science, and .5% in math met state standards. The suburban school had a 99% graduation rate, and in standardized tests 78% in reading, 76% in science, and 77% in math met state standards. Not only was good curriculum and inadequate test scores missing from this inner city school, but the school did not contain adequate buildings and resources the students needed access to. The environment did not improve with the metal dictators that made students feel unsafe. The suburban school was a 62 million dollar institute with way beyond adequate facilities, resources, and obviously good curriculum and test preparation. The saddest thing about the video is the students from the inner city school will not have the same window of opportunities opened up to them because of the school they attend.
I promise you will be very touched if you watch this video. Enjoy!
Thing 19
Some people look at social networking websites as overrated and for people who having nothing better to do, which is totally false. Social network websites are great for connecting with others, building relationships, sharing ideas, and much more. Some of the popular and very common ones are Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and many more are emerging. I got the chance to explore some new websites for social networking and one interesting one I found was TeacherPoP this link will take you specifically to my page. TeacherPop is for teachers and future teachers to have their own page that can include blog posts, discussions, photos, and videos. You can be friends with other teachers and share ideas with each other. This is a great way for teachers to communicate with each other. Almost like a virtual teachers lounge, but without the coffee and gossip! I can see myself using this as a resource for when I am teaching in the future, and to get ideas until than! If you are having a problem in your classroom, need advice, or help on finding resources than this would be a good website to visit and form relationships with those you can help and turn to when you need help.
The only other social website I am involved with is Facebook. I do not have too much time to get involved with a lot of things. My schedule is pretty full between school, work, and my personal life (for the little one I do have hahaha). That is another thing about social networking, when we are crunching for time, its great to just shoot someone a message if you need a little help!
Visit TeacherPop
The only other social website I am involved with is Facebook. I do not have too much time to get involved with a lot of things. My schedule is pretty full between school, work, and my personal life (for the little one I do have hahaha). That is another thing about social networking, when we are crunching for time, its great to just shoot someone a message if you need a little help!
Visit TeacherPop
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Thing 18
I have both a twitter and a facebook account, but I do not really mess with twitter much because it confuses me and facebook to me is sooo much better. I got a facebook account my freshmen year in college. My friends at school convinced me that it was much better than myspace, and although it took a lot of warming up, I eventually fell in love with it! Since I am a military wife it helps me stay connected with my family and friends back home, but it also allows me to connect with new people I have met in Clarksville and other places.
I already had Austin Peay on my groups list, along with the College of Education that I just added. Facebook groups are a good tool for schools, classes, churches, and much more. For teachers though, if you want to create a group for your school or class I would not suggest using a personal facebook account, but I would make a second that is simply for business purposes. I am sure your students will know that you have a personal life, and some details are approiate for sharing for each other. Your students don't need to know about you having a margarita with your friends or to be looking at personal pictures on your profile. If you create a second facebook page, use it just for you, your students, co-workers, or parents. You don't need to add your BFF from way back than to your page that you use for business.
Facebook is a very great tool for staying connected with your students, co-workers, or parents. It is a good way to get everyone involved. It is useful when reminding students and parents about up and comming assignments, activities, tests, and much more. Don't take advantage of it too much because some students and parents do not have a facebook account, internet access, or a computer at home. So you will need to continue to remind students in class, and send notes home to parents.
Here is a link to my personal facebook account. I do not have a business one yet, but it might be something I try when I become a teacher. Cortne Hunt's Facebook Page
I already had Austin Peay on my groups list, along with the College of Education that I just added. Facebook groups are a good tool for schools, classes, churches, and much more. For teachers though, if you want to create a group for your school or class I would not suggest using a personal facebook account, but I would make a second that is simply for business purposes. I am sure your students will know that you have a personal life, and some details are approiate for sharing for each other. Your students don't need to know about you having a margarita with your friends or to be looking at personal pictures on your profile. If you create a second facebook page, use it just for you, your students, co-workers, or parents. You don't need to add your BFF from way back than to your page that you use for business.
Facebook is a very great tool for staying connected with your students, co-workers, or parents. It is a good way to get everyone involved. It is useful when reminding students and parents about up and comming assignments, activities, tests, and much more. Don't take advantage of it too much because some students and parents do not have a facebook account, internet access, or a computer at home. So you will need to continue to remind students in class, and send notes home to parents.
Here is a link to my personal facebook account. I do not have a business one yet, but it might be something I try when I become a teacher. Cortne Hunt's Facebook Page
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