How can I use Presentation Software in my Classroom

     I will definitely be using this software in my classroom. I didn't realize that I could create custom hyperlinks within my powerpoint presentation. I think it would be great to use this in my class! I could create a powerpoint and share it with my students. My students could use the powerpoint show to practice and study, or do something fun during class. I like how the answers are not shown on the screen. I also like how all the answers are not on one slide so students can just check their answers and not have to think about the question at all. With powerpoint, students will be more incline to think about the answer, and check themselves after they come up with the answer.

What is the Basic Thing my Students Need to Know?

     I hope to one day teach high school Spanish, and there are some basic things that I would like my students to know. First, my students should know the different subjects in the American language. Probably the largest, and most difficult, part of learning Spanish and conquering all of the different verbs and different ways to conjugate them. It is important that my students have a good grasp on the different kind of subjects there are in our own language (Me, you, her, him, it, us, them, etc). Once my students understand that there are many different subjects in our language, it will be easier to teach my students how to conjugate verbs.
     Secondly, it would be beneficial for my students to have a basic understanding of verb conjugation. It would be nice for them to know how to conjugate verbs according to the different subjects for -AR, -ER, and -IR verbs.

How can I use Twitter in the Classroom?

     Personally, I'm not a big fan of using twitter in the classroom, but I do think its use, in moderation,  can sometimes be helpful. I think that I could do a class discussion on Twitter to gain a student's interest. I could also introduce my students to online chats just so they could get a feel for finding online resources. I think that managing the use of Twitter would be way more work than the benefit of using it in my classroom.
     As a teacher, I think that I will use Twitter to get ideas about different lessons and to just catch up on what is trending in the wide wide world of education.

My View of Social Media in Schools

     I personally am not a huge fan of using social media in schools. I think that for most of the time, students should be required to stay off of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. I am more of a traditional learner, so I understand and value the use of paper and direct interpersonal communication. If given the choice to have a twitter discussion or a face-to-face discussion, I would want my students to to have a face-to-face discussion. I think the emphasis put on online discussion boards has had a negative affect on the way students communicate with each other and adults. 

     However, I do believe that social media is good for certain uses in the classroom. When wanting to learn a lot about a topic, I think that Twitter and Facebook are helpful, and efficient.

Why would I use SmartBoard in my class?

     I would use SmartBoard in my class because it makes learning fun and interactive for the students. I would use SmartBoard when teaching basically any subject. I think SmartBoard would be especially helpful when teaching math because I could take screen shots, print them off, and give them to my students for notes.
    I could also use SmartBoard in reading and writing to correct grammar during a whole-class discussion. I think that SmartBoard would keep students attention and make them want to participate. I think that it would be beneficial to students who miss class, or to special education students who can't see the normal whiteboard. I will definitely be using SmartBoard in my classes.

How young is too young to start blogging?

     I think that children can definitely be too young to start blogging. I think that having their names out in the wide world of the internet is not always safe for young children. I think that blogging should start in middle school when students can form sound thoughts and create good explanations.
     I don't think that anybody is too old to blog. I think that the older a person gets, the more they should blog because they could offer more advice to people who are younger than them. They could also offer insight for different life events or for different career choices.

What is the Purpose of the Teacher?

How can you use Survey Monkey in your classroom, or in your teaching?

     I can use Survey Monkey in my classroom to do fun activities when teaching math. It would be a good idea, I believe, to have all of my students take a survey online, and then we could graph the results as class. This would be a fun math activity that would allow my students to get experience graphing. I could also have my students make their own survey and share them with other students. The students could then have practice making their own graphs. This would be a fun exercise for students.
     I also believe that using Survey Monkey would be a good way to evaluate how my lesson went that day. I could create a survey that asks students how they feel about the topic, and if they understand. I could also ask my students how confident they are with the material. I could allow my students to leave comments on Survey Monkey as well. By doing this, I could see what my students understand, and what they don't understand. I could use these results to change my teaching style so more kids understand it during the next lesson.

How to Use Poll Everywhere in the Classroom

     Poll Everywhere would be a great thing to use in my classroom. I think it would be fun to do activities like we did in class because kids could learn how to create their own polls and respond to others. This technology is really interesting, and things like this could be used in my classroom to get kids excited for learning. I could even use a Poll Everything activity as a warm-up when students first get into the classroom to get them thinking and ready to start class.
     I think that using this website would also be a fun way to get kids to think creatively. I think that students would have a lot of fun trying to come up with questions. Students could even ask questions of me, as the teacher. This would be a fun activity to do early on in the school year because it would get the kids back in to the swing of things and it would also allow them to get to know each other better. A classroom where the students can connect and learn about each others' lives is welcoming and makes learning easier. I would need to make sure that my students are able to use the technology first. Working with special needs children might mean that some students can do the activity while others can't. After determining which students will need extra help with the activity, I think it would be a lot of fun and very beneficial.

My Aha Moment

     I have had many different "aha" moments that influenced my decision to become an educator. My first aha moment came in third grade, and it wasn't anything too special. It happened when my teachers was eating a snack in class. At that time, we couldn't eat during class, but I was really hungry. It occurred to me that, if I wanted to eat in class, all I needed to to was to become a teacher. So, in third grade I decided to become a teacher because I wanted to eat during class. But, I decided that if I were to eat in class, I would share with my students. This "aha" moment was not as legit as my second one, but it still got me thinking about a career in education.
     My second "aha" moment came when I was in high school. I really enjoyed going to math class, and I always thought that it would be fun to teach math. However, after taking three years of Spanish, I realized that I enjoyed Spanish a lot more. I'm not too keen on change, so I was reluctant to take the leap and realize that I didn't want to teach math anymore. However, by my senior year, I realized that I wanted to teach Spanish. After talking to my Spanish teacher, and being in her class on the first day of my senior year, I experienced my "aha" moment as I walked to my locker. I understood then that I wanted to be a Spanish teacher.
     Also during my senior year, I was asked to work with the Special Education classroom. After our first outing as a class, I had another "aha" moment and decided that I wanted to teach that as well. After all of these "aha" moments, I have finally decided to pursue a double major in Spanish and Special Education and strive to teach both!

How can I use QR codes in my classrooms?

     I will definitely use QR codes in my classroom. They are easy to use, and create, and they are helpful for finding different websites. I have been in classes before where the students use up half, or even more, of the time trying to find the website they will use, instead of actually using it. With QR codes, students could scan the code and be on the website in a matter of seconds! This would definitely be a time-saver!
     I would also like to use the QR codes in my classroom to allow students to explore the internet and their own computers or other devices in further depth. I think that students will be more inclined to learn if they use QR codes because it makes learning fun. Using QR codes are a lot more interesting than trying to find websites, doing worksheets, or searching for information in books. It would be cool to do a QR code scavenger hunt like we did today so my students could get used to using QR codes and become more technologically savvy.
     I will definitely use these in my class in the future!!

What Am Thinking About For My Project

     As of right now, I'm not really sure what I am going to do for my 20% project. I was thinking about maybe creating my own website that people could use to study things. I was considering looking into making an app, but I don't really how to create an app, so unless I figure out how to do that in a reasonable amount of time, that might not be plausible. I am trying to think of things that I could create now and use later when I have my own classroom. I would like to create a website that allows my students to study class material. I could also create an activity like we did in class on Thursday, and have my students discover different uses of the internet and their technology device. Computers have many functions that students don't even know about!