TWITTER ACCOUNT

melaniesmith52

Twitter

I set up a Twitter account several months ago for an assignment in another class.  I never really used it, or even explored it enough to actually learn enough about it.  I am so excited to be forced into using it this time. Just from spending a few hours trying to accomplish our current assignment, I have found some great resources. I am also very excited to be able find new people on twitter4teacher to follow.  This will make finding other teachers that I have things in common with easier.  I find it hard to actually find people to follow, unless they are famous or I know their twitter name.  I do however know that I need to continue to explore how to use it more efficiently.

I tried the "Tweet Deck" and I am not sure how much I like it.  I originally thought that I didn't like it at all.  The more I actually used it and checked it out, the more I realized it is pretty great.  It seems very easy to read and you can keep up on your tweets, other tweets, and other activity going on.  It seems a lot easier to follow than my own twitter page.  I am excited to see how much more I can learn about it and if I can use it on my Android phone.

Reading chapters 1 and 2 was very eye opening for me.  I am completely aware of how education is changing around us on a daily basis.  I try to incorporate as much technology into my class on a daily basis.  I have struggled with this for many reasons, but especially because of the grade level I teach, Kindergarten.  When they are still learning the basic keyboarding skills it is hard to teach them about looking for their own ideas online.  I am trying to use information/images/videos online for my students to experience different things.  For example, in the coming weeks we will be starting a new unit called "Around The World".  In this unit I use images/music/videos/etc to help students understand that we live in a very small part of this great big World.  As we read different texts they are constantly asking questions about different things.  I am always using the internet to help answer those questions.

One of the very important things I need to teach my students about is digital citizenship.  This is something that needs to be taught at a very young age.  Students are getting online at a much younger age than ever before.  At the same time these students do not understand the repercussions of posting different things online.  They do not have a clear understanding of what they put online now, will always be there for anyone to see.  With my students it is very important for me to start teaching them how to behave in an online community.  

As I continued to read I love how the Author stresses how important it is to set guidelines for yourself of when and for how long you are online.  Like the author stated "we can be intellectually close to people who are three thousand miles away, while in the same respect, we may be far away from those sitting right next to us" (p 17)  Nothing is more frustrating to me than going out with someone and they are constantly playing on their phone.  There is a time and place for technology and another job that needs to be taught is when it is appropriate.  

As I continued to read on to chapter 2 I am very excited to use Twitter and Delicious more.  I started using them in one of my classes but never really followed through with it.  My goal is to really get used to using both of these wonderful tools to help me to be a better teacher.  I have never used or really heard much about Google Reader.  I am hoping to add this to my list of things that I want to learn more about.  

I have really enjoyed all of the assignments from this class.  I really enjoyed making my first digital story on imovie.  It was very thought provoking but enjoyable at the same time.  I am so glad I was able to experience making the story and being able to share it.  I also enjoyed making my infographic.  I had never used the site and it was so easy to navigate I will be able to use it more often.   I am so excited to use my new knowledge in my classroom.

Below you will find a link to my infographic project.  I really enjoyed making this project because I have never used glogster.  So much fun!!!

http://rcsmcl06.edu.glogster.com/why-should-i-use-technology-in-the-classroom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvWCSNP_pUw

Sorry that I missed that we were suppose to post this to our page.