Final Blog Entry (500 word)

Teachers can inspire people to change by their open-mindedness, their passion and their kindness. I believe that a teacher can completely transform the future of a student based on the experience that student has in the teacher's classroom. If a teacher is accommodating and willing to help each of their students succeed, there is no reason for any student to not leave that classroom more educated. Sometime kids need a push and they aren't getting the support or push they need from their home life so it is crucial that a teacher can step in to push them past their limits and into success. The question of whether or not we should inspire others to change I think depends on the change, if it is for the better in a positive way I absolutely think we should inspire people to change. When it comes down to it, we cant change anybody because no one can change another person. However, if a student wants to change and their teacher pushes them, supports them and inspires them to better than they thought they could be, that is a good example of inspiring people to change.

The way that we teach should depend on the students, if the way a teacher spends their class time is effective for the students and they learn the material, there is no reason to alter that teacher's method. However, if the students change over the years, the way a classroom is run by the teacher needs to be updated and formed to benefit the students. Students I think are changing over the years just because the world we live in is changing and society is evolving so it is natural that the kids would change with society. As technology and education evolve, the students learning experience will evolve too and they will be used to different things. Because of education constantly improving and evolving, a teacher's method needs to match the students ability.

All I have ever wanted form is to better the future of the kids in my classroom, I care so much about the children of this world and the future that they make for themselves. My life long goal has always been to make a positive difference in someone's life and I believe that by being a teacher, I will have completed that goal. I want the same thing for my children, to have the very best education they could possibly have, to learn in the classroom as well as outside of the classroom. I want my children to be well-rounded individuals that have a crave to learn about the world around them and develop their own thoughts and opinions.

I am going to use technology in my future classroom because I believe that is an effective way of learning and many students could benefit from using technology. I really like the idea of the students making their own google earth tours of their favorite places in the world and then sharing them with their classmates. I also really like the idea of the students each making photo stories or mixbooks about their family and friends and sharing them with their classmates. There are also some faster projects they could do liek bighugelabs.com, or making wordle.net's or even quizlets.com, I think these websites are great tools for my future students to use in the classroom. I plan to use technology in my future classroom as a method, tool and resource to better enrich the learnign experience of my future students.

Apples4theteacher.com

www.apples4theteacher.com is a great website for both teachers and students to use. It has quizzes and games to play with material from every subject. Teachers can use it to get ideas on fun curriculum ideas for the classroom like games to play and students can use it to practice different material at home and with their friends in a fun way. Kids are much more interested and learn the material on a deeper level when they are able to enjoy the learning process so a website like this that allows them to have fun and play entertaining games while still learning the material is very effective and beneficial.

Technology Projects in the Classroom

Technology Projects for Teachers to do: google earth tour's, power point, smartboard, photo story, quizlet, webquest, google sites, wiki.com, storybird.com, mixbook.com, bighugelabs.com, flickr.com, glogster.com, blogger.com

10 Projects for Students to Do involving Technology based Projects: Make a google earth tour of their favorite places in the world, make a powerpoint on whatever topic they choose, make a photo story for show and tell about their friends and family, Make a worlde about how they would describe themselves using different adjectives, make a mixbook of their favorite memories from the classroom, Make a voice thread in the classroom and everyone make up their own question and then comment on each other's questions, make their own quizlet and swap with a partner, create their own game modeling after one of their favorite tv shows.

Ebistro.org

ebistro.org is a great tool for teachers to use to keep themselves organized in a fun way. Thinking of organizing yourself and strategies for teaching as a menu at a restaurant is very fun and exciting because it isn't as boring as a grade book or regular rubric, etc. Everyone loves to eat and so thinking of a job and work to be done as a menu attracts everyone's attention and is a fun way to stay organized.

Websites used for Lesson Plans

Websites as simple as youtube.com can really be helpful in the classroom for showing videos. You can find almost anything on youtube, all the way from Martin Luther King's I have a dream speech, to how to write an essay. How-to videos can be great for kids and well as being able to access historical videos, and educational videos to show in the classroom. Students can each try to find their favorite video about Essay writing and then share them with each other so that the students can learn from each other.

Online Gaming in the Classroom

I think games can be a great way to really intrigue students and get material through to them in a way that interests them. Online games can be used for all different things, they can be used for educational purposes like quizzing the students on material and preparing them for upcoming tests. Games can be a great way to study the material in groups and have it also be fun for the students. Kids can make games as art projects or even just play with them in their down time, if a teacher introduces a fun game that is also educational and teaches the student, they will be anxious to learn more by playing games. They can bring that eagerness outside of the classroom as well and into their homes where they will want to play educational games and in turn they will want to learn. Online gaming can be really effective and beneficial when used correctly by the educators and the students.

Podcasting

Pod casting can be a great tool to use for online conversations and debates, being able to hear the tone of voice someone uses when talking about a certain topic can say a lot about their opinion and spark other opinions. Pod casting is definitely beneficial for educators to communicate with each other, their students and the parents of their students.

21st Century Learning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0vQAdDFGMA

I thought this video was really interesting and offered a perspective that we have been learning about throughout this course, check it out.