Interactive Whiteboards

Interactive white boards (or SMART boards) are a tool for teachers to help them present the material they are teaching in their classroom. I remember these were just becoming popular when I was in high school and it realy helped get the students in the classroom (my peers) more motivated and eager to learn. They thought that it was very interesting and they always wanted to be the one to answer the questions so that they could go up and be the one to push on the screen. An interactive whiteboard is just a white board that is hooked to a computer. You can also make it so that when you touch the screen it is a giant touch screen projector. You can use it to present presentations, do reviews in class such as practice tests on screen and have the kids take turns coming up to answer on the touch screen. You can save and do work just as you do on the computer and then project it just like a projector so the whole class can see and learn. I think that interactive whiteboards are a genious idea for classrooms and should be used by all teachers who wantt to get their students more actively involved in their class.

Computers in the classroom

This weeks powerpoint project really made me think about how important computers really are in the classrooms today. They can be used for so many things and the children really do learn a lot from them. As they should! Today it is important for almost every job to know at least the basics of computer skills. If you know how to work one then you can maybe get a better job. That's why I know that when I have a class of my own I am going to integrate them into the classroom a lot! I am going to have kids use them in doing reports, projects, powerpoints, play educational games on them, etc.

Big Help!

I must admit that when I first heard about this blog thing I thought that it was going to be really simple. However, after last week I realized that there is more to it then I always thought there was. I mean that in a complicated yet helpful way. Yes I was wrong. It is more complicated then what I thought, but that is a good thing in some aspects. I can learn something from this. I already have been learning from it. I think that blogs and other tools are definately good tools to use both in and out of the classroom. You can use them for discussions or just to see kids thoughts and how they are making progress. They could be a big help later on down the road as a teacher to help you understand the kids, their feelings, and their thoughts.

Copyright in the classroom

Today's PowerPoint presentation really made me think about how important it is to make sure that copyrights are known by everyone in the classroom. If you do not enforce that children cannot plagiarize at an early age, they might grow up thinking that it is okay to do so and maybe one day get in serious trouble for doing so. You not only would be helping them out in the future, but also in the present. To better give them an idea of what it is you could do activities in the classroom. Maybe when you read a printed out poem you could point out the big C at the bottom of the page and tell them that that means that it is copyrighted and that it means that all rights are reserved to the person who wrote it. That means that you can not take an idea or phrase from what you reading. Then to see if they understand the concept have them write a paper on the poem, but not to steal anything from it. I am not exactly sure how I would do this, but like I said the presentation today just really got me to thinking how important it is that children know about it early on in their school years.

ipods in the classroom

Although many people would think that it would not be a good idea to have ipods or podcasts in the classroom, my thoughts are a little different. Although I do know where these people are coming from I just don't see why not. I think that they (if used appropriately) could be used as great educational tools in the classroom as well. We use computers, radios at times, why not ipods? You could use them maybe as a sort of up-to-date cassette player. By downloading a story onto it and letting the child listen to it it could better help them understand the materials. You could also have children who have their own bring them in and you could download a class discussion onto it that you previously recorded. This especially can help children who have learning disorders. If they cannnot concentrate in the classroom then they can take the ipods home and listen to them over and over again to get the point memorized. Just my thoughts.