Interactive coins!!

Smartnotebook makes learning fun!  As I am working though building a unit on money, specifically coins, I found an interactive learning activity to help teach coins!  The information is very accurate.  The activity shows the front and back of coins and also tells how much each is worth.  It allows students to match the front of the coin to the correct back of the coin.  This gets children out of their seat and helps them recognize each individual coin.

This activity matches the standard of my unit which is SSKE3b: Identify various forms of U.S. money.  This matches the outcome of the unit which states that students will become aware of the similarities and differences in four different United States coins of currency. 

This website, which is www.smartnotebook.com, is very easy to use.  You can simply put in the content area and grade level and it will give you many activities to use.  The particular activity that I chose to use with my unit is http://express.smarttech.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fexchangedownloads.smarttech.com%2Fpublic%2Fcontent%2Fb1%2Fb1c43fbb-8c2b-4e4a-b128-3805300daeaa%2FCoins.notebook  and is also very easy to use.  It is also very interactive for the students.  It allows the to drag the coins to match them and also count how many of each type of coin is in a jar.  The only thing I would change about the lesson is to add more detail about the American Symbols and why they are present on the coins. 

I will use this website for future lessons that I prepare for my classroom!!!

Video Sites!

Video sites are very helpful when it comes to teaching.  They can help make the content relevant by putting it into movie form.  It grabs the visual learners in a classroom and makes it much more interesting than just listening to a teacher lecture the entire time.

I do have concerns about certain sites.  Youtube and Google videos are available to most any person anywhere.  They are not language or content protected.  Any person can upload to these sites.  Most school systems have these sites blocked from being used.  My concern about trusting these videos is showing material that is inappropriate to students.

My thoughts on teachertube are very good.  It is dependable and secure.  The videos that are on this site are all learning videos.  You do not have outside material floating around.  I see the value in using this in a classroom. The videos are able to explain certain content in ways that may be difficult for a teacher to do alone.  Some of them have cartoon characters explaining the material which interests the students.  I will love using this in my future classroom. 

I have also been lucky enough to be set up by a librarian with a Discovery video account.  These are not blocked by school systems either and remind me a lot of teacher tube.  I will depend on these sites for teaching way more than the others.  I feel that any way to make learning fun is the best way to go!!!

Voice Threading...very cool!

Voice Threading is something that is very new to me!  I love the idea of putting your voice to a picture for educational purposes!  It took a little bit of exploring to understand completely how this works. I quickly found an app that worked with my Iphone to make this a very simple process.  It allowed me to talk directly into my phone and not have to worry about a built in microphone in my computer.  This makes it very convenient for a busy teacher! 

I understand the value of using this in the classroom.  If a teacher has multiple classes, it saves her from repeating material so much.  This could be used as a writing prompt. A teacher could possibly talk about a picture and then let the child write their thoughts in their writing journal.  This seems as if it would grab the student's attention more than traditionally telling them about a particular subject. 

Another way this could be useful is if a teacher had plans to be absent from school.  She could voice thread to help teach the material and not become behind from her absence.  This would clear up any confusion that a substitute may have about the material being covered.

My favorite thing about this is being able to complete this right on my phone.  It allows me to find the picture I want and put my voice to it.  It puts it right into my account to be viewed.  As I log into my computer, my item is waiting there completed!  It allows it to be less time consuming and very interesting.  I will be incorporating this in my future classroom for sure!

What is the difference????

As many times as I have used the internet for various reasons, I had no idea there was a difference in the type of sites I was using.  After reading an article for a technology class in school, I quickly realized the difference in Web 1.0 and Web 2.0.  These are two terms I was very unfamiliar with and they seemed very complicated.  I was presently surprised that there is a clear line between the two.

Web 1.0 is simply the way internet was in the past.  There is no interaction with websites.  Websites were used to gain information and once they were put up they were unchanged.  These sites usually do not have a login or any information on the consumer.  There are still sites like this such as CNN or other news sites.  This was how most of the World Wide Web was before 2003.

Web 2.0 is modern and socially involved!  It allows interaction by the consumer.  Changes are constantly being made by updates.  Information about all areas of a person’s life can be viewed such as level of education, birthday, hometown and much more.  Videos, photos and constant text can be uploaded.  This has changed the way people keep in touch.  It makes it very convenient for a person to keep in touch with friends and family from all over the world.  These sites came about in the year 2004.

Many internet users find both of these forms of internet very dependable.  People need to research information on a daily basis.   They also love to stay socially connected.  Both of these forms have been a tremendous help in my schooling.  I use Web 1.0 and 2.0 on a daily basis for educational reasons.  I do not prefer one over the other.  I probably use Web 2.0 a little more than 1.0.  Either way, I am thankful for it because it gives me the flexibility to complete school work such as this assignment as I am traveling down the interstate!  I found this research to be very interesting and I am glad to know the difference in technology.