iPad = iLike

I like the iPads.
There is so much potential in all the apps for students to explore and learn things through experience that I may not always have time to teach them.
The potential for fun is also fantastically overwhelming.


I am not sure yet if it would be easy for me personally to integrate iPads into my classroom setting and my lessons on a regular basis just because it is something that I am not used to but they are definitely worth having around just as an opportunity for students to be creative and explore different things.


I know that garage band would entertain me for hours just trying to see how all the different instruments sound and how they work and how to make two instruments sound good together, maybe I would even graduate up to making some sort of melody come out of all that exploration.


Since I know there are educational apps for the iPad I can only imagine what students might learn just being able to explore and learn by experiencing.


I also LOVE the smart board! The possibilities for use in the classroom as an important aid are endless. I can see using them even in a kindergarten classroom because then I can put all kinds of pictures and manipulatives on the board for them to play with and they would get the biggest kick out of it. I also see all the possibilities with the older students like the 5th graders I am with now because you don't necessarily have to erase anything you do and the students can look back at something you did in the morning and you can save things that they did on the board to use later.


Oh the possibilities that technology proves us if we are willing to explore them!!!

Podcasting - More than meets the ears and eyes!

I thought pod casting was pretty cool. I  didn't really know much about it before that class.

I see a lot of potential in using the pod casting in my classroom. I don't know if I would always be willing to put in the time and effort of making my own pod cast but I can definitely see using the already made ones to be an aid for lessons that I will teach or help aid me with my own background knowledge of a subject. 

I could also direct students to them for other subjects that they are interested in learning about as long as they understand the difference between a reputable source and one that isn't.

Websites - Real or Fake?

It was really interesting to figure out if my website was real or fake. I determined that it was a real person writing a fake story with a minor amount of truth in it. 

The Dead Grandma Syndrome was very interesting because it was probably based in some amount of truth but the attitude of the voice of the professor in the article told me that it was fake.

The things we talked about in class about recognizing whether or not a website is real and reputable are definitely things I will need to teach my older students in the classroom. The more they learn early on about using proper websites the better off they will be as they continue to move forward with their schooling.

For my younger students I think I will just limit the websites they use to a few that I know will have enough information for any project that they will be doing, that way they will start out with the knowledge of what a proper website looks like and they won't have any trouble getting all their information.

The Earth, Google style

I had a lot of fun with Google Earth. My favorite features that I got to play with was the night sky part and the 3D buildings part. I loved all the things that you can do with it and I want to play with it more!

I definitely see using this in my future classroom. How could I not want to with all the features it has. I have already recommended the night sky part of it to a fellow student teacher who is teaching a unit on constellations and I know her students would absolutely love to see if their constellations are actually visible right now.

The huge downside that I see to this program is the availability for my students to use it on their own. I know that the computers at my school probably wouldn't work well if we tried to download it. However if we could at least put it on the teacher's computer and use it with the smart board then the social studies lessons would take on a whole new perspective for my students.

The possibilities of Google Earth are just too numerous that I don't see a reason for me to not try to make it available in my classroom