Post #2 - Judging the Quality of Wikis and Non-vetted Sites

As far as using Wikipedia as liable sources for research that I am conducting I would have to say that is a negative, I do not use it as a reliable source nor do I use it when I am teaching my students.  I have never really been a fan of Wikipedia because all through my educational years all of my teachers always instilled it in my head that Wikipedia was not a reliable source, and is considered to have bias opinions towards different issues. Dr. Siko mentions that anyone including myself can upload things to Wikipedia, I’m sure some individuals have strong views on a topic and will write what they believe and then you have some people who would never even think to upload something.  With that being said I would not let my students use Wikipedia as a valuable sources, I will remind students that if they find something on Wikipedia they will have to verify this information through a liable source to make sure this information is reliable.

I must say I am a huge fan of YouTube and use it on a daily basis inside and out of the classroom, although I do not use it when conducting a research projects I use it more as a guide to what I already know.  Anyone can post videos on YouTube that’s right but before I play a video to my students I watch the video to make sure what I am trying to teach them is accurate and appropriate. When working with Pre-K students it’s very important to use visuals and I feel as if YouTube does just that for me, also when teaching my students letter sounds and numbers YouTube have many educational videos that teach just that.  I wouldn’t mind if my students used YouTube as guide for the research they are conducting, it could be a good recourse for them. Also, I encourage my students to watch these educational songs with their parents are home, students love singing and following along and these videos on YouTube allow them to do just that. 

Post #1 - Building and Refining your PLN

RSS Accounts

I have chosen these 3 different bogs to talk about because I feel as if they could benefit me as a teacher.

http://www.pre-kpages.com/blog/

I selected pre-k pages as a blog because of the way the blog is designed the owner Mrs. Levin has done a very well job proving details and making it easily accessible. If you are searching for a certain thing she has a search box that will direct you straight to it, her tabs are always very well organized making very easy. 

http://catholicblogger1.blogspot.com/p/to-z-pre-k-k-bible-stories.html

The second blog I've chosen to add to my RSS reader is the catholic blogger, this blog provides me with many different religious activities to do in  my pre-k class. I tend to have a very hard time finding religious activities and crafts to provide in the classroom and this blog not only does that but also provides me with many amazing prayers to go with the crafts. It also helps me find religious books that will go with the content we are learning about. 

http://blogs.preknow.org/insideprek/technology/

The third blog I've chosen to add to my RSS reader is the Pre know, this blog provides many different ways to include technology into a lesson and different read along to provide with a lesson.  Being new to the IT program I am still learning a lot about technology and the amazing tools the web 2.0 provide also the amazing apps that can integrate in the classroom, this blog provides me with additional knowledge on IT. 

Twitter Accounts 

@KidsStudying

I have chosen to follow kids studying because I believe reading is the number one fundamental to learning and this twitter focuses a lot about the importance’s of reading.

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@MattBGomez

I’ve chosen to follow this Kindergarten teacher because he tweets lots of motivating quotes as well as beautiful pictures. He speaks a lot about his day and is very honest about it.

@shannonmmiller 

I’ve chosen to follow because she is a K-12 Liberian and has lots of knowledge on different topics; she also does a lot of chats through her twitter.

@coolcatteacher 

Cool cat teacher is a great tweeter account to follow I actually also follow her blogging around. She tweets lots of different motivational articles as well as different student centered activities. She reminds us that it is important for the students to interact with one another and how the mind works.

@MomSpark 

 

Is a mom who knows a lot about children and working with the young ones this twitter account really helps, she always tweets a lot about arts and crafts which is great for Pre-K.

As far as using these different tools in my classroom so far has been a little tough because my co teacher and I set our calendar a month in advance, so this have made it very difficult to use the different information I've been provided with from twitter and my RSS reader account. Although I have seen a few different crafts on pointers that I have included in my classroom.

Unit 2 Web 2.0/ Blog Number 2

I am a Pre-Kindergarten teacher at Our Lady of Refuge and with the growth of technology around our world I try and connect technology into as many lessons as I could. With my students being so young it is sometimes a little tough to connect technology into a lesson, but then at times I am happy my students do not have access to the different web 2.0 applications that are available to our society.  I sometimes believe the different applications that are provided through web 2.0 cause low self-esteem in students; they are trying to live in an image that they are seeing on the internet.  If I was a 4^th grade or older teacher I would definitely use the different web 2.0 applications that are provided for us, it is very beneficial with communicating with parents as well as students. With this being said since I am a Pre-Kindergarten teacher I am going to step back into time and think about my student teaching experiences a second grade teacher and think about how I could adapt web 2.0 using the RAT method in my different lessons.

            R (Replacement) – I am a 2^nd teacher at McGregor elementary and today we will be focusing on writing to our pen pals through our blog board. Although we use to hand write our letters and send them off to our pen pals, I have decided to switch things up and have the students enhance their keyboard and computer skills. With the beauty of web 2.0 students are now able to communicate quickly and efficiently with their pen pals through google blogs, students in the past have seemed to really enjoy writing to their pens pals using the blog. Let’s be honest who wouldn’t with the students being part of the Gen-Edge generation they were born into a technology world and enjoy using these different types of features.

       A (Amplification) - I teach 2^nd grade at McGregor elementary and am going to be teaching a lesson on science, students are required to do a science experiment at home by creating a volcano. The student goes home are realizes he lost his worksheet on what he is supposed to do, he starts to panic because the project is due tomorrow.  His mother reminds him that his teachers post all her assignments on her Wiki account and if he ever needs help his teachers provides everything on this website.  Jason screams with joy and accesses his teachers Wiki account, he is now provided with all the details about the project and what needs to be done, Jason now recalls his teacher reminding them to causes her Wiki account to see examples as well as steps by step instructions on how to create a volcano.  With the simple Web 2.0 applications Jason was able to complete his project and get the full knowledge he needed.

T (Transformation) - I am a second grade teacher at McGregor elementary and just assigned a group project on global warming, students have been working very hard but do not seem to have enough time to complete their projects in class, and they are also not able to get all the resources they need to complete their project.  The students are freaking out because they are not able to get together before the project is due; the students have come to me and asked if they can have an extension to turn in their project at a later time. I let the students know that they should not panic or be alarmed, with the beauty of web 2.0 I have created a blog where students can communicate and post their work at any hour of the day, with this blog group members can share their ideas and work at any time; we know longer have to worry or stress about not being able to work together.