Monday, January 9, 2012

Tool # 11 ♫ These are a few of my favorite things! ♫


What a ride! I definitely was able to learn some new and cool stuff during this process. Some of my favorite tools are the ones I already posted about during the different blog entries. If you noticed, I already created the samples with the topics I will be teaching during this semester. Those tools were: Prezi, wisherwall, storybird, diiogolet, diigo, google docs, blogger, skype and of course the ones I have already been using such as you tube, teacher tube and animoto. From the ones mentioned above, I need to explore and practice a little bit more with Diigo and google docs.  There is also one that I did not explore during this training that I will as soon as I can, and that is Voicethread.
As we could see, all these apps and tools can make our classes more interesting and engaging, there is no doubt about it. However, it will take some time as we learn and/or teach ourselves to use them correctly. Also, it will take a change in the way we have been planning and try to tie all this technology to our objectives.
For many of us, it will take a change of mind as well. We need to be prepared to take our teaching outside our classroom and be ready for everyone else to see our work , share with others, collaborate with each other, maybe even be criticized at times  as well as give some freedom to our students to make them accountable for their own learning.

What surprised me the most was to see how much there is out there that I had no idea. I really feel like I am so far behind and it worries me a bit to know how much I still need to learn. I am also feeling a little stress over the challenge we have ahead of us. I just hope I can do a good job for my own benefit and for my student’s benefit as well.
And now, let’s take that assessment and see how much I actually learned. I will keep you posted about my results.
Good Luck everyone!

5 comments:

  1. Please don't let it overwhelm you! You are way ahead of the curve at this point. I know because I've observed your classroom! Again, I think your students are the ones that will (continue to)reap the benefits. We can't learn and master every single tool out there. You're doing a great job and I've enjoyed your videos, ideas, truthful comments - everything!

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  2. I'm very impressed that you finished so quickly.

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  3. I won't lie to you. I spent around 18 hours working on this. Is just that Saturday night, I really got into it and by the time I look at the clock, it was almost 4:00 A.M. I also worked another good 4 hours on Sunday afternoon. Anyway, hope you find some good tools for your subject.

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  4. There is a lot out there and you cannot know about or learn to all, trust me, I try! However, just being aware that such tools exist can help as you plan for future lessons. As you think "Wouldn't it be cool if the kids could do this...," you might want to Google it because they just might be able to. Also, allowing the students the freedom use a tool they might know about - you can learn from them. Don't forget about finding some other LOTE teachers via the web and including them in your personal learning network (PLN). Just visiting their blogs weekly will keep you learning and growing!

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  5. You go girl, you are well on your way to building a great online community of learners!! You're inspiring me just reading about your experiences (good and bad)as you experiment with all of the possibilities!! I know others will find this extremely helpful and encouraging!!

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