Wow so since my last blog I feel like I have so much to talk about.
My last blog was about my adventure in beginning to create my own classroom website. Creating this website showed me how indecisive I am. It took me hours to decide which background I wanted and once I finally chose I wasn't satisfied. I am happy to say that I finally decided (or at least I think) that I have decided on a background. I designed my website for my upcoming student teaching placement in a grade 7 classroom. I have pages for students, parents, a little about me so parents and students can get to know me and my contact information. My front page is my favorite. I took some time to look for a quote and this is the one that spoke the most to me.
"In order to succeed, we must first believe we can' by Nikos Kazantzakis
What I liked the most about this quote how motivational it is. As a teacher, I can teach you all I know but it is up to my students to believe in themselves to succeed. They cannot depend on anyone but themselves to achieve their desired success. When they believe in themselves and set their minds a goal they will have found the motivation that will carry them into their future.
Then I took the time to find a video that I wanted to embed on my page. This did not take me as long as I thought it would. This is the video I found.
The moment I saw this video I had found the perfect one for my classroom website. When I watch this video I feel so motivated to go out and learn, I feel excited to learn. This is how I want my students to feel when they come to my class. I also like that this video speaks to both students and teachers. I love how our Kid President puts school into perspective for the views.
"Life's a school you got to show up".
I still have some work to do but here is the link if you want to check it out:
www.missmlaing.weebly.com
Ok, so now on to Digital Story Telling. I still have so much to learn about Digital Story Telling but so far we have looked at two different programs/sites: Photo Story and Animoto. Sadly because I have a Mac computer I was not able to play around with the Photo Story site but I could see how I would want to incorporate this into a lesson. At the beginning of the school this would be a great way to get to know my students. They could create a story about their likes, interests, hobbies, etc. Then their is Animoto and this site I was able to access. We were given time to create a story and I created mine about my family. Sadly I cannot figure out how to embed two videos in a blog entry so next blog entry I will try to embed the Animoto video I created. This will give me more time to play around with the site.
Until next time,
~ Miss Laing
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
The Beginning of my Classroom Website
So after being introduced to websites, we were given the opportunity to begin our own. This has definitely been a learning experience.
First: choose which site you want to use
Second: choose your layout and background
Third: register with the site
Fourth: decide on everything else
When I first started I felt overwhelmed but that was just from the choices for my layout and background. I definitely took way to much time deciding on what could be the perfect background. One that wasn't overwhelming or underwhelming, had just the right balance. I wanted one that looked professional. I began asking myself what does a professional one even look like? I finally decided on one and I am happy with my choice.
From here I decided to work on my menu. What titles did I want to have? I wanted one for a calendar so that parents could access it at all times, especially if the one that gets sent home was lost between school and home. I wanted one for students, about me, and a contact page is what I have so far.
I am designing this page with my next placement in mind. I want my student links to be tailored to the grade 7 students I will be teaching. Each subject will have its own page. Also I intend on assembling a Symbloo page for my students. This will provide them access to sites they could use for research or to pages that allow them to practice skills in the form a game. I want the calendar to reflect actual due dates and events that will be happening while I am with the class. I want my about me to allow parents to get to know my education background and me as a teacher.
I am still deciding how I want my home page to look. I know it should not be overwhelming but rather inviting. I was able to decide that I wanted a quote on my home page. What I haven't decided on is which quote:
"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own, and you know what you know. And you are the guy who'll decide where to go" Dr. Seuss
OR
"In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can" Nikos Kazantzakis
Both, I believe explain my views on teaching. The first one is that I can teach you what I know, but it is up to my students to decide what they will do with that knowledge. The second is all about how it is up to the individual to believe in themselves and with that belief they will succeed. So many decisions.
As of right now that is all on my site. As it begins to come together more I will let you know.
~ Miss Laing
First: choose which site you want to use
Second: choose your layout and background
Third: register with the site
Fourth: decide on everything else
When I first started I felt overwhelmed but that was just from the choices for my layout and background. I definitely took way to much time deciding on what could be the perfect background. One that wasn't overwhelming or underwhelming, had just the right balance. I wanted one that looked professional. I began asking myself what does a professional one even look like? I finally decided on one and I am happy with my choice.
From here I decided to work on my menu. What titles did I want to have? I wanted one for a calendar so that parents could access it at all times, especially if the one that gets sent home was lost between school and home. I wanted one for students, about me, and a contact page is what I have so far.
I am designing this page with my next placement in mind. I want my student links to be tailored to the grade 7 students I will be teaching. Each subject will have its own page. Also I intend on assembling a Symbloo page for my students. This will provide them access to sites they could use for research or to pages that allow them to practice skills in the form a game. I want the calendar to reflect actual due dates and events that will be happening while I am with the class. I want my about me to allow parents to get to know my education background and me as a teacher.
I am still deciding how I want my home page to look. I know it should not be overwhelming but rather inviting. I was able to decide that I wanted a quote on my home page. What I haven't decided on is which quote:
"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own, and you know what you know. And you are the guy who'll decide where to go" Dr. Seuss
OR
"In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can" Nikos Kazantzakis
Both, I believe explain my views on teaching. The first one is that I can teach you what I know, but it is up to my students to decide what they will do with that knowledge. The second is all about how it is up to the individual to believe in themselves and with that belief they will succeed. So many decisions.
As of right now that is all on my site. As it begins to come together more I will let you know.
~ Miss Laing
Monday, January 20, 2014
Websites...Appealing or .....
So I started looking online at different websites that were created and I must admit that the more visually appealing they are the more likely I was to explore that site. When I would find a site that was appealing I would begin exploring what the page consisted of such as:
- pictures
- videos
- courses
- contact information
- drop down menus
I found it interesting to see the different ways in which people construct their sites. Some choose drop down menus, while others just have their menu off on the side. Some sites are plan and not visually appealing, some overcompensate visual appeal, and others have just the right balance (FYI this is just my opinion lol). Some sites were visually appealing while other sites tailored their images to specific age groups.
One feature I did like but also found distracting was titled Brain Breaks. This section contained videos that, true to its name, gave your brain a break. Of course I had to look at all of the videos which is how I came across this one...
Now that my brain has had a quick break back to websites. Some of the sites I looked at seemed overwhelming and unorganized.
Looking at different sties has allowed me to consider what features I would like for mine and how I want to construct it. I like the idea of a drop down menu. This allows the reader clear navigation of your web page, while keeping everything clear and organized. I like the idea each subject having its own link in a drop down menu to its own page. This helps students as well as parents access to the course material, information, and educational webpages (ex. Symbaloo links). I also like the idea of having a calendar on the site. The calendar will show when assignments will be due and when tests are scheduled for. It will also show up-coming school events, field trips, classroom activities.
Information that I will definitely have on my webpage is my contact information. What I will also do is have a comment page for parents input.
To help parents get to know me I will create a page ABOUT ME. This will help parents get to know a little bit more about me like:
- where I went to school
- interests like coaching, sports
As I am sure you noticed I do have a lot of ideas going through my head. I am very excited to start putting all these ideas into my very own webpage!!! I will keep you posted on the ups and downs in my creation of my webpage.
~ Miss Laing
- pictures
- videos
- courses
- contact information
- drop down menus
I found it interesting to see the different ways in which people construct their sites. Some choose drop down menus, while others just have their menu off on the side. Some sites are plan and not visually appealing, some overcompensate visual appeal, and others have just the right balance (FYI this is just my opinion lol). Some sites were visually appealing while other sites tailored their images to specific age groups.
One feature I did like but also found distracting was titled Brain Breaks. This section contained videos that, true to its name, gave your brain a break. Of course I had to look at all of the videos which is how I came across this one...
Now that my brain has had a quick break back to websites. Some of the sites I looked at seemed overwhelming and unorganized.
Looking at different sties has allowed me to consider what features I would like for mine and how I want to construct it. I like the idea of a drop down menu. This allows the reader clear navigation of your web page, while keeping everything clear and organized. I like the idea each subject having its own link in a drop down menu to its own page. This helps students as well as parents access to the course material, information, and educational webpages (ex. Symbaloo links). I also like the idea of having a calendar on the site. The calendar will show when assignments will be due and when tests are scheduled for. It will also show up-coming school events, field trips, classroom activities.
Information that I will definitely have on my webpage is my contact information. What I will also do is have a comment page for parents input.
To help parents get to know me I will create a page ABOUT ME. This will help parents get to know a little bit more about me like:
- where I went to school
- interests like coaching, sports
As I am sure you noticed I do have a lot of ideas going through my head. I am very excited to start putting all these ideas into my very own webpage!!! I will keep you posted on the ups and downs in my creation of my webpage.
~ Miss Laing
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Correction... oops
Remember how at the beginning of last week I said I was overwhelmed with all the information about different sites? Well my last post proved this to be true. I was looking back at my last post and realized that I mixed up my sites for my last post. I realize that the highlighting and post-it note function is for a different site, Diigo. This site I have not yet looked at closely.
I keep asking myself should I sign up for all of the different sites or should I just really get to know a few of them? The different sites have different applications that would be useful in a classroom. With technology becoming so prominent in today's society, I wonder if I should become familiar with all of the sites that I'm learning about?
One thing I am really excited to learn about is building/creating my own website. This is a skill that I will take with me into my classroom. From some of the examples I have seen have provided me with some useful ideas for what I want mine to consist of. I like the idea of having a link to Symbaloo pages for each of my classes. This will provide students with access to websites for their assignments. This is also a good way to communicate with parents. I can have assignments posted with descriptions so parents know what is going on in the classroom.
This week we begin looking at ePortfolios and Websites so I'm sure I will have a lot to write about :)
Let week three begin!!!
~Miss Laing
I keep asking myself should I sign up for all of the different sites or should I just really get to know a few of them? The different sites have different applications that would be useful in a classroom. With technology becoming so prominent in today's society, I wonder if I should become familiar with all of the sites that I'm learning about?
One thing I am really excited to learn about is building/creating my own website. This is a skill that I will take with me into my classroom. From some of the examples I have seen have provided me with some useful ideas for what I want mine to consist of. I like the idea of having a link to Symbaloo pages for each of my classes. This will provide students with access to websites for their assignments. This is also a good way to communicate with parents. I can have assignments posted with descriptions so parents know what is going on in the classroom.
This week we begin looking at ePortfolios and Websites so I'm sure I will have a lot to write about :)
Let week three begin!!!
~Miss Laing
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Me? Organized? ICT Thank-You
So every year and every term I tell myself, this time I will stay organized. After about a few weeks my binder and back-pack are a disaster. Pens go missing, highlighters run out of ink, and loose papers are everywhere. Every time I ask myself "How did you let things get to this point?" The famous answer "I don't know!"
As I learn more about different on-line resources that will help me get organized I am intrigued. Once the initial fascination wears off I become nervous that due to my lack of technology skills this attempt be a disaster.
One of the sites I was introduced to this week was Evernote. I liked some of the features that my professors were telling me about like the ability to download a page from the internet and highlight important information or post-it sticky note. When I go to bring that page up through Evernote the highlighting and post-it note are still there. Another feature is that you can tag people in notes and that allows them to access that note (this is one feature I cannot wait to figure out). All the notes you post can be categorized. Right now I have about 4 'notebooks'. These notebooks allow me to organize my notes. Since all I need is internet access, I can access my notes from any computer. This helps limit the ever so popular excuse of not being able to find your notes because you lost them. This is what mine looks like so far.
I feel so much more organized and this time I don't believe that it is just a phase. Since I have internet access at school it is convenient for me to take notes in class on Evernote. I have notebooks for my different classes as well as a notebook for homework. This right now is my favourite notebook because all I have to do to make a note of what I need to do is pull up my homework notebook. This makes it so much simpler to see from previous dates what I have completed and what I am still working on. It also saves me time rather than pulling out my agenda, finding the right date, and making a note of the new assignment or reading.
These features got me to thinking about my future classroom. This site would help me to teach my students how to pick out important information. Students would have their own site. IF I am lucky enough to work in a school where students have a computer at their desk I would recommend that students type their notes in their on-line notebook. This would eliminate the excuse to go to their locker because they grabbed the wrong binder or left their assignment. They would also be able to save their research on this site and make notes on the pages they saved from the internet.
I sure as I learn more about the site and become more familiar with the features my vision will change. Right now I am loving how organized I am, which for me is a huge accomplishment.
So excited for what I will learn next!!!
~ Miss Laing
As I learn more about different on-line resources that will help me get organized I am intrigued. Once the initial fascination wears off I become nervous that due to my lack of technology skills this attempt be a disaster.
One of the sites I was introduced to this week was Evernote. I liked some of the features that my professors were telling me about like the ability to download a page from the internet and highlight important information or post-it sticky note. When I go to bring that page up through Evernote the highlighting and post-it note are still there. Another feature is that you can tag people in notes and that allows them to access that note (this is one feature I cannot wait to figure out). All the notes you post can be categorized. Right now I have about 4 'notebooks'. These notebooks allow me to organize my notes. Since all I need is internet access, I can access my notes from any computer. This helps limit the ever so popular excuse of not being able to find your notes because you lost them. This is what mine looks like so far.
These features got me to thinking about my future classroom. This site would help me to teach my students how to pick out important information. Students would have their own site. IF I am lucky enough to work in a school where students have a computer at their desk I would recommend that students type their notes in their on-line notebook. This would eliminate the excuse to go to their locker because they grabbed the wrong binder or left their assignment. They would also be able to save their research on this site and make notes on the pages they saved from the internet.
I sure as I learn more about the site and become more familiar with the features my vision will change. Right now I am loving how organized I am, which for me is a huge accomplishment.
So excited for what I will learn next!!!
~ Miss Laing
Monday, January 13, 2014
Important: Curation!!!
Organization is a skill that I am working on. In some ways I feel overwhelmed about all the different websites that one can use to help stay organized. Today I tried to write down as much information as I could so that when I go back to look at these different sites. Todays sites were all about bookmarking. Two sites caught my attention: Diigo and Symbaloo.
1. Diigo - What I liked about Diigo was that you have the choice of having tags or lists private or public. As a teacher I want to keep my private life and school separate. The privacy option allows me to have everything on one page but those who follow me are only able to see my public posts. My favourite feature is that I can highlight information on websites and/or include sticky notes. When that URL is saved when I bring it up from my Diigo page to show my class the sections I highlighted are still there. This is a great way to teach my class how to pick out important information. This can be a lead into a lesson on students picking out the information they think is important. My dream is to be able to teach Grade 8 students and I believe that this is an essential skill for students to learn. In being able to highlight information right on the internet and share that page with others students will learn not only from the teacher but from their peers as well. This also allows the teacher to see how and what their students believe is important information and plan their lessons around what the students need more focus on. This type of strategy teaches the students not only how to pick out important information but also what is good information and what is not.
2. Symbaloo - What is appealing about Symbaloo is that there is two versions; Education or Public. I have not yet figured out the difference but that is something I am looking into. What I didn't realize is that you can incorporate your Symbaloo site into your classroom site. You can create a tab that students can access on your page that will take them to the Symbaloo sites that are specific to their courses. As a teacher you can find the sites that students can use for their assignments. You can also have everything organized into courses and then into categories so that when you teach more than one course your students can access those specific to their course. This site allows you to post apps that allow you direct access to websites such as google translate, google books, Youtube, blogs, and weather apps. These apps can be colour coded and organized as you desire.
As overwhelmed as I feel about all this new information, I know that all I need to do is take the time to look closer at these sites and decide if they are beneficial for me and my future class.
~ Miss Laing
1. Diigo - What I liked about Diigo was that you have the choice of having tags or lists private or public. As a teacher I want to keep my private life and school separate. The privacy option allows me to have everything on one page but those who follow me are only able to see my public posts. My favourite feature is that I can highlight information on websites and/or include sticky notes. When that URL is saved when I bring it up from my Diigo page to show my class the sections I highlighted are still there. This is a great way to teach my class how to pick out important information. This can be a lead into a lesson on students picking out the information they think is important. My dream is to be able to teach Grade 8 students and I believe that this is an essential skill for students to learn. In being able to highlight information right on the internet and share that page with others students will learn not only from the teacher but from their peers as well. This also allows the teacher to see how and what their students believe is important information and plan their lessons around what the students need more focus on. This type of strategy teaches the students not only how to pick out important information but also what is good information and what is not.
2. Symbaloo - What is appealing about Symbaloo is that there is two versions; Education or Public. I have not yet figured out the difference but that is something I am looking into. What I didn't realize is that you can incorporate your Symbaloo site into your classroom site. You can create a tab that students can access on your page that will take them to the Symbaloo sites that are specific to their courses. As a teacher you can find the sites that students can use for their assignments. You can also have everything organized into courses and then into categories so that when you teach more than one course your students can access those specific to their course. This site allows you to post apps that allow you direct access to websites such as google translate, google books, Youtube, blogs, and weather apps. These apps can be colour coded and organized as you desire.
As overwhelmed as I feel about all this new information, I know that all I need to do is take the time to look closer at these sites and decide if they are beneficial for me and my future class.
~ Miss Laing
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Hello ICT!!!
From the time I received my schedule this summer I was so excited for my ICT course. My familiarity with technology is very limited and I am so excited to learn about ways that I can incorporate technology into my classroom.
When my professors started talking to my class about our upcoming assignments, blogging caught my attention. I had heard of blogging but never thought it was something for me. As the week passed I could not get the idea of blogging out of my head. I realized that blogging was the perfect way for me to keep track of what I was learning in class and a good way to go back and reflect on the material. I find when I'm in classes I always have so many ideas going through my head and wish that there was a way to keep track of them. All of this lead me to the decision to start my own blog. I have begun my journey into the world of ICT.
This week was an introduction to the course and my professors. My professors talked a lot about the importance of curation. Making course material readily available to so important in this new age of technology. As a current student I find it very beneficial to have access to course material and assignments online. I believe this is something that I would want to incorporate into my classroom. Students are constantly losing assignments. If assignments are posted online all students have to do is print out another copy.
My professors also talked about Social Media and how it can be beneficial to ones classroom. One site I personally love is Pinterest. Pinterest, for those who are unfamiliar with the site, has everything from fashion to recipes to workouts to crafts to teaching ideas. I have two boards for educational purposes: 1. Crafts for Teaching and 2. Teaching Tools. Of the two boards Teaching Tools is my favourite. This board has ideas for how to stay organized, motivational quotes I would like to hang-up in my classroom, ways to teach spelling patterns, activities for sight words, books lists, and more. Pinterest is a great resource for teachers.
One site I am looking forward to learning more about is YouTube. I know that not all school divisions allow teachers access to YouTube but I believe that it can be a very useful resource. I learned that you can make your own page for YouTube where you can save videos you like. What was really cool about this was when you save videos it allows you easy access to other videos by the same person who posted that video.
I invite you to join me on my journey into the world of ICT. I will keep you informed about everything I learn and how I want to incorporate what I have learned into my classroom.
~ Miss Laing
When my professors started talking to my class about our upcoming assignments, blogging caught my attention. I had heard of blogging but never thought it was something for me. As the week passed I could not get the idea of blogging out of my head. I realized that blogging was the perfect way for me to keep track of what I was learning in class and a good way to go back and reflect on the material. I find when I'm in classes I always have so many ideas going through my head and wish that there was a way to keep track of them. All of this lead me to the decision to start my own blog. I have begun my journey into the world of ICT.
This week was an introduction to the course and my professors. My professors talked a lot about the importance of curation. Making course material readily available to so important in this new age of technology. As a current student I find it very beneficial to have access to course material and assignments online. I believe this is something that I would want to incorporate into my classroom. Students are constantly losing assignments. If assignments are posted online all students have to do is print out another copy.
My professors also talked about Social Media and how it can be beneficial to ones classroom. One site I personally love is Pinterest. Pinterest, for those who are unfamiliar with the site, has everything from fashion to recipes to workouts to crafts to teaching ideas. I have two boards for educational purposes: 1. Crafts for Teaching and 2. Teaching Tools. Of the two boards Teaching Tools is my favourite. This board has ideas for how to stay organized, motivational quotes I would like to hang-up in my classroom, ways to teach spelling patterns, activities for sight words, books lists, and more. Pinterest is a great resource for teachers.
One site I am looking forward to learning more about is YouTube. I know that not all school divisions allow teachers access to YouTube but I believe that it can be a very useful resource. I learned that you can make your own page for YouTube where you can save videos you like. What was really cool about this was when you save videos it allows you easy access to other videos by the same person who posted that video.
I invite you to join me on my journey into the world of ICT. I will keep you informed about everything I learn and how I want to incorporate what I have learned into my classroom.
~ Miss Laing
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