Reflection

My opinions have changed about technology. I have learned that there are so many ways to incorporate technology with students in a beneficial way. This class has shown be that there are numerous resources on the web that can aid a teacher. Technology is vital to students so that they can develop certain skills that will help them in future. A tool that I would use that we learned this year would be Prezi. I really enjoyed working with this application. I think it is more useful than power point because it is easier for kids to be brief with slides and I think it looks more professional.  I really like the zoom aspect of Prezi and how you can bounce around from text to text. I also like that it allows its viewers to focus into the title of subject being presented.

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Integrating Websites into the Classroom.

         I explored "Character Scrapbook" This site is for younger children to analyze a character in a book of their choice in a fun creative way. It allows a kid to really break down a character for better understanding. There are many simple options to break down a character. This would be a great tool to use to develop analytical thinking. It uses minimal typing and more short answer responses which is great for early elementary school kids. A way this could be used in the classroom, is that they could actually print the slides off and make a scrapbook as a art project that is technology based. Also, kids can draw the character through the site and create lists of the things they have learned so that they are not just going through the website clicking the whole time. Since this is for younger kids, I think that it is the beginning of understanding the process and following a set of directions which will be useful for them when they move on in school and at home. This is also, a individual based website so it teaches them to be more self efficient which is developing skills they will need in the real world.I would use this site as a teacher in the classroom.

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Exploring Project-Based Learning

           I liked the “Connecting Math to Our Lives” the best. I think that it is so important to incorporate math in a relatable way. In elementary school, children have more of a chance to get behind in math and if school integrated more projects like this, math would become more of a tolerable subject. It is great to involve issues that are going on in our world and view it from a math perspective. It explains how children would write story problems involving their own family situation. By using stories that are familiar with the kids will output higher comprehensive learning and better grades. I think that this project uses primarily analysis and application from Blooms Taxonomy. The only improvement I would recommend is to make sure that all the connections do come together and is clear how using math is relevant.
Connecting Math to Our Lives Link 

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