Stumble upon....

this is a site that I personally had not been able to try out until tonight.  People in my class seemed to enjoy this site a lot.  I mainly use my laptop and the Internet for looking up information and doing work.  I wanted to see if this site could be used for an educational purpose.

I found out that you could use this site for educational purposes, but be warned you need some free time and will have to set some of your preference up in order for the stumble feature to be the most beneficial to you. The only issue is that there is a lot of junk on the Internet so you could be searching for a while.  They call it stumble for a reason!

However if you do spend your free time on the Internet or happen to find some to devote to it you should check out this site.  I am always interested about learning new things.  This site literally pull random pages for the Internet that relate to a topic you are searching for.  You have to remember that when using this sit not all pages will be from creditable resources so use some discrimination when browsing!

Stumble upon

Looking for resources??

You are in luck!  I have stumbled on another website for your resource files!  I know it does not sound exciting, but I always seem to be looking for resources! The more I have learn about how to operate much of the new technology that is in our society today, the more I want to know how to incorporate it.  Education world is a great resource.  It covers grade levels from k-12.  It give tutorials for teachers on how to use applications.  Ideas on how to incorporate technology into lessons and into classrooms.  Even ideas on how to teach children how to use the technology around them safely.  

I hope you enjoy this site as much as I have. Education World-technology

Interesting Article

I thought this was an interesting article from Scholastic.com about the use of technology in early childhood classrooms.  It addresses the topic of if children can actually understand and grow/ develop from it.  Just wanted to share it with you all!

http://teacher.scholastic.com/professional/bruceperry/using_technology.htm

Assessments

Assessments are a controversial topic in the world of education.  We cant work without them, but working with them sometimes seems impossible. 

I personally feel that  with all the stress on standardize testing  the children in our classes are missing out on a true education.  I feel that the tests limit the experience children can have, because there is so much pressure for them to learn what is on them.  There are less and less opportunities for teacher to customize their curriculum to their students.  To teach outside of the box.  If a class has a sudden interest in tractors  An educator might be forced to reign in the classes interest about this topic or skip it all together because it is not covered on a standardize test.    Since the result of the test reflect on the teacher's performance as well as the students, educators are under even more pressure to prove themselves through their students.  Unfortunately this means that teacher often only go over what is on assessments, because that is what has been deemed important.

I clearly understand the need to have a way to assess student learning and teacher performance, but I wish there was  a way that didn't take away from student learning so much.

Cameras for Children

I thought i would talk a little bit about allowing children to use camera in a classroom.

Children are fascinated with technology. They now make digital cameras that children can use.  These are simple function cameras, that can take some rough handling.  Allowing children to take pictures and document their own experiences  can be a great opportunity for learning.

One idea is that you could use them on field trips.  Children can take pictures of what they see.  Later on they can go back and look at the pictures and talk or write about their experiences.  They could use them to make posters and collages and share their experiences with their peers and other members of the community.

Another is that you could make a scavenger hunt.  An example of this would be for preschool or kindergarten.  You could have a shapes scavenger hunt.  You could give children a shape and have then take pictures of objects they see in their lives that incorporate that shape  ex Circles : tires, street lights, clocks etc.

The cameras are not too expensive and even having one or two in the classroom will being new opportunities to the students.

 Here are some websites that give more ideas for using digital cameras in the classroom.

Link 1

Link 2

Managing illness in the classrooms

The time of the year is fast approaching, when noses seem to never stop running and you never have a full classroom.  Cold and flu season has hit us and brought a pretty big punch with it.  It might be time to revisit your health practices in the classrooms.

Remember to encourage children to use a tissue and cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze.  Make hand washing a policy in the classroom when they blow their noses and especially when they use the bathrooms.  Washing before snack and after recess or physical education can also cut back on the germs.  

If you do not have a sink available or fear of it disrupting lessons, you could have a bottle of hand sanitizer available for children to use.  Encourage good eating habits, getting plenty of sleep, and some fresh air.   Classrooms could even benefit from being aired out from time to time :)

You could also add to your newsletter about free clinics for flu shots. Or even places where parents could find information about the flu shots and other prevention techniques.  

Here in Bangor, Maine they are holding one for the H1N1 ( Swine Flu) in the Civic Center on November 4th .  Click here to see information on clinics for your local school districts.

Weekly reader online!

I am beginning  to find more and more ways to bring technology into the classrooms.  The other day I found out the the "weekly reader"  has an online version.  This informative news paper for children has come a long way since the flimsy newsprint when I was in 2nd grade!  The site allows you to further explore the information they give you in the paper handout.  There are interesting real life photos, songs and games, and even gives the reader the phonetic sounds of some of the harder or unfamiliar.  We were looking at the latest articles about bats and night creatures.  The articles often relate to the seasons and current events all over the world.  A great tool for social studies and for current event.   The only problems I found with the site were that you had to get a username and the site required a small fee.  Also we only had one computer in our room so you would have to have the children come up a few at a time to explore the site. You might also want to have headphones so the children can listen along to the songs and words with out disturbing the other members of the class.  The songs are educational but can get a little silly :) Click here for the Weekly Reader online.