If it wasn't obvious, technology is my passion. There is a place in every classroom for technology integration. Students are engaged while learning 21st skills. You will reach students who are otherwise unmotivated through the use of technology. Throughout the presentation, I referred to a blog post I had written previously called "Rome Wasn't Built in a Day." You can read it by {clicking here}.
I can't wait to hear about technology integration in your classroom!
- How do you integrate technology with your students?
- What are your favorite websites and webtools to use?
- Which webtool did you discover in the presentation that you can't wait to try with your students?
I would love for you to share your creations with us. Feel free to leave a link in your comment to show off your students' projects. Some of mine are posted {here}. Don't hesitate to ask me any questions about what you heard today or any other area of technology integration. Thank you again for attending the Virtual Teaching Expo. It has been a blast!
~Cara
15 comments:
Wow Cara! What a great presentation! I'll be honest, I used to be a technology teacher, so I wasn't expecting to get a ton of new resources from your presentation - but I did! In fact, do you have a list of the websites you mentioned somewhere? If not, I'll go back through and write them down. I've already signed up for a KidsBlog account, while I was watching.
This year, I moved from a school with tons of technology to a school with very little technology, and I've kind of let my technology integration fall by the wayside. My students do get on the computer each day (1 computer - 3 kids at the computer per center rotation), but generally it's just to get onto websites that deal with our content. I have taken them to the computer lab to do www.storybird.com - which is my favorite creative writing site, but overall I've let technology fall to the side. I am also started www.wallwisher.com with my students this week - which is a fun way to get all of your students to add information in one place. And in my additional activity that I hosted this year, we created Prezis.
After watching your video, you've gotten me so excited that I'm going to go plan out monthly home-school technology projects that I can have up and ready for my students for next year. Thank you for inspiring me. I am also following your blog now, and I am happy to be a part of your PLN!
Heidi Raki of <a href="www.rakisradresources.com/> Raki's Rad Resources </a>
I forgot to add - my class would LOVE to Skype with your class if you'd like to talk to a class from Morocco. We're 1st grade, but we have done the Skype thing before and they loved it!
Oh, Heidi, you are too, too kind! I just love technology, and the possibilities it holds for my kids. I have added a link above to a handout that goes along with the presentation. I have used WallWisher and Prezi is one of my students' favorites. Thank you so much for viewing and enjoying the presentation.~Cara
Cara, You provide a wealth of technology tips. I truly believe all teachers from every grade level would benefit from your presentation. I took notes like crazy and appreciate everything you shared. Thank you!
I just finished your presentation and it was great!! I am so excited about technology right now. I am in my 4th year of teaching and I currently teach Elementary Special Education. I teach all subjects Kindergarten - 6th grade. I have some students that are self-contained, while others come in and out for main instruction in certain subjects, social skills instructions, interventions, sensory breaks, etc. Since I have a wide variety of ages and levels, I have many things going on at the same time, so these websites will help greatly in putting together some projects that the students can work on more independently.
Our district uses My Big Campus, which I have heard is a lot like Edmodo (although I haven't seen Edmodo yet). I really like using it for our students because it looks like facebook and they can get their assignments. They can safely do research on it and a lot more.
I really would love to have my students Skype with others. How do you recommend finding classes and experts to Skype with??
Thank you again for everything! I am now following your blog through e-mail.
I, too, saw a quick slide on weebly and wondered more about how you use it and what exactly it does. I use some of the resources you mentioned, but have a lot more to look into for next year. Thanks so much for putting this presentation together.
Nice presentation, Cara!! You made some fabulous points that all teachers need to hear, especially the one I feel is most important: EMBRACE technology because it's not going anywhere! I am also VERY passionate about technology and strive to have the kids engaged in using it whenever I can. We have things that we use daily (Promethean board for lessons and center games, student computers for educational games and AR quizzes) and we also do projects here and there. I can't wait until summer to explore some more resources and brainstorm some additional projects for my kiddos to do.
Also, thank you so much for adding some more resources to my repertoire! I really liked TripWow and Voki and can't wait to use them!
Great job!
Janaye
Tales of Frogs and Cupcakes
Some great resources to find Skype users is http://skypeinschools.pbworks.com/w/page/11008318/FrontPage or http://education.skype.com/. Also, putting a call out on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc. always brings great results.
~Cara
I hate that about the Weebly section! Weebly is a super easy to use website creator. It has a drag and drop interface. In the project shown, I divided my students into 4 groups. Each group was given a different topic of Ancient Egyptian civilization-pyramids, mummies, hieroglyphs, daily life. The students had to research the topic and create their page. They had to embed videos and pictures and create text. You can view the finished product here. http://whiteheadancientegypt.weebly.com/
I learned that I just need to be more bold and bring it in no matter how much "technology" resources I have at hand in my classroom! Thank you for the resources and ideas about how to use them. Hearing you talk about them compared to reading about them made all the difference! Now... let me do some thinking about applying your tips at my grade level for projects. I know my kinders will actually able to do a lot if I can make adaptations that fit their needs! Thank you for your hard work!
Cara! Kudos to you on your great presentation! You provided so many great tips and resources for me to explore! Thank you so much for sharing your passion with all of us.
Andrea
Cheers To School
LOVED your presentation! I can't wait to try out a couple of new tech ideas in my classroom!
So glad I found your blog through the expo...I'm a happy hew follower!
~Michele
Making It As A Middle School Teacher
Loved your presentation! I love your Skype ideas-among many others you presented. My question is this-how do you find other classrooms to connect with? I think that is so neat to be able to talk with kids across the country. I would love to try it.
Thanks!
Jamie
Wonderful presentation.I'm so glad that you found some new ideas to incorporate in your classroom.
I was very pleased to find this site. I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I definitely enjoyed every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out the new stuff you post.
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