Week 4

After looking through websites that we learned about in this unit I struggled to use photofunia. Having said that I think that it could be a fun opener in class. I could create an interesting picture with my face or likeness in it. Then I could ask the students to write a story explaining the picture (the length based on their level and grade). Perhaps as a bonus or homework the students could make their own picture (as a extra credit maybe their friends could write a story about another friends picture.  Additionally, I learned a lot about MS Paint. There were a lot of things that I didn't know were possible for example adding a grid to the picture or to paint with my picture. In conclusion I learned a lot about a few ways to manipulate pictures. I am not entirely sure how to use these in class, but I think that these websites can definitely come in handy.

The Voice

I was recently asked what was the most important lesson that I learned from my host teacher, I answered as follows:
"The most important lesson that I have learned from my host teacher is that the teacher has a voice. I learned this on the very first day of my fieldwork. As I was waiting the start of my class my host teacher had a disagreement with on of the heads of the staff. And she was not afraid to speak her mind she said what she felt in a respectful way and stood her ground. Until then I kinda had the image that teachers were alone and had no say and had to trudge on dispite misbehaving students and overnosey parents. But in that moment I realized that teachers have a voice the have rights and they should and need to stand behind those rights. When a student is misbehaving don't be afraid to elevate your tone or reprimand him/her. Your voice is another one of the many tools that we have at our disposal in and out of the classroom so it is important to utilize it at every opportunity. So I would have to say that  the most important lesson that I learned from my host teacher is to use your voice whether it is a misbehaving student, a less than respectful parent, or even an administrator who is unfair with your workload use you voice appropriately and responsibly and you may reap the rewards."

Obviously this answer was typed in response to a question asked in school. However I honestly believe what I typed. And I believe that teachers have a voice that isn't always heard. I would like to be a teacher who can have a positive impact on either education in general or at least my class.

Week 3

I have learned many new websites that I can use in the classroom as a future teacher. So many cool thing I don't know where to start. Ok first I'll start with the king website, Symbaloo. A site that boasts that you will make it your homepage has some big shoes to fill (mine until now was google like everybody else on earth). Anyway symbaloo sweeps right on in with easy acess, convenient set-up and elegant design. It is a great way to organize the plethora of websites you know and love. As I learn of new websites to use in the classroom i add the to my tab most ingeniously titled"School Stuff". No doubt a fundamental tool to any web savvy teacher. From there I continue to several sites that can be used to create online crossword puzzles. These can definetly be a fun way to shake things up in the classroom (without giving up on educational content ;). Then I learnt about a few sites that can summarize a text some can even count the frequency of certain words. The applications of these sites are not lost on me.... I have already summarized a few lengthy academic papers (In order to get a general idea of course and not for accuracy). Then one of the sites that I enjoyed the most was quizlett. Here is a website where a teacher can create a set of terms (with their definitions) and there are a few varied ways to study the cards whether its old school flash cards or tests, the studying is clean and intuitive. Quizlett also offers a few modes to play with the terms through games where points are given for the correct answer or definition to the terms.
So all-in-all I have learned alot about educational websites and expect to learn more

My First Report On EDUblogs

OK so I have gone through my three blogs and I found them all fairly interesting.
     The first blog that I read is by the Innovative educator. In her most recent post she discuss the importance of online citizenship. I was not familiar with this term until 20 minutes ago. But now I understand that online citizenship refers to responsible use of digital technologies specifically the importance of ensuring that are children and students are not being exposed to things on the internet that we do not want them exposed to. Another danger that is expressed in her blog is children receiving partial or incorrect information. She goes on to say that it is our responsibility to ensure the children s safety. One of the ways to accomplish this is to have THE TALK with our kids. In her words " are kids don't need to learn about the birds and the bee's online". I found and continue to find this particular blog interesting she is obviously very into technology but she also says that people need to be aware of proper technology usage. To supervise the quality rather than the quantity.
     The second blog that I read was all about the applications of youtube in the classroom. She started out by saying that a lessons can really be instantly more interesting with the help of a relevant video that helps to really drive the message home. She also added that since it is possible to create playlist easily on youtube a teacher can create a playlist of relevant videos. Another idea is to create a playlists of all the lessons of the year in case a student misses a class they can still get the material. Another application is perhaps making quizzes or other types of videos in a playlists. She went on to say that there are also other sites that provide great video archives that are very useful in the classroom. Among them were NASA TV, TED ED, How Stuff Works, and National Geographic. She discuss the benefits and qualities of each website and what they have to offer. I found this post particularly helpful and I plan on looking back to this post when I am actually teaching.

      The third blog that I read was by far the most interesting. In short the blog describes in an audio file the educational application of the popular sandbox game minecraft. So in the file Lucas Gillispie, a leader in one of the largest school based minecraft implementations in the world, explains some of the uses for minecraft in the classroom. He says that minecraft can be used to help teach social studies in that students can learn how to start a settlement or to pioneer and environment, additionally students can experience and grasp the concepts of government through the delegation of tasks and setting up of a hierarchy. Lucas also said that the students can gain some languages arts aspect by having to write based on there creations. He said that he has also heard of some simple math applications in that teachers use the simple block shapes that are in the game to help teach the simpler functions in math. Lucas added that minecraft can be used in a history setting, wherein students after completing research on some historical structure can recreate the structure in the game and then give a guided tour through a "museum" to parents and fellow students. I felt that this blog was very interesting first of all because I like minecraft. But more than that I found it interesting because I didn't really think of a video game as a tool for learning. I believe that this kind of revolutionary outlook on the materials used in the classroom will help to keep the students interested. Now while I am not sure about all of the uses that Lucas discussed, I am sure that there are some relevant applications.

First Most Useful Blog

Here we go my name is Baruch Hughes and this is my first blog. I thought that blogs were bored ramblings by people with nothing better to do. So now I'm one of them. But seriously I am really looking forward to the rest of this course. I have already learned a lot. I learned many tips and tricks from Lesson 0 (much to my ego's chagrin). I love technology and I'm ecstatic to learn more efficient ways to use technology in the classroom and in general. I expect that this course will fit me like a glove (not to say that it will be so easy).