Saturday, November 12, 2011

Finale and Prezi!

In class we looked at two really great tools!

Finale: This was a program used to create sheets of music. Although very cool, I do not think I would use this in a classroom. The high price and difficulty of the program seems to be at a higher level than early childhood education. I did think the things you could do to incorporate the tool into a science lesson plan was very neat though!

Prezi: I have seen this tool many times before and still have never tried it. It looks like a very neat way to do presentations. I like that it's free and easy to use. I also like that it definitely keeps the attention of students. One thing I did not like though was all the motions. Some moving is just too much. I do plan on using this tool very soon though!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Kidspiration! :)

Kidspirtaion may be my favorite tool to date that we went over in class. Being an Early Education major I feel that this tool is great for critical thinking. When demonstrated in the classroom and also then applied on the computer, students are demonstrating understanding and application. I have recently learned in another class about Bloom's Taxonomy which are the possible levels a question can be rated on, the higher the level the harder the question. Both application and understanding are on the lower end of the scale of Bloom's Taxonomy but a very important skills to master. I also feel that this tool can be used greatly when preparing for the PSSA's, which everyone understands are very important. I feel this tool could greatly benefit an elementary classroom.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Reflecting on tools in classrooms...

In the last class we went over museum box and go animate 4 schools. Museum box, I feel, was directed more towards secondary education. It would be very useful for history as mentioned. I also like the idea about laying out the day or week using it. That would be a creative way to get the students attention. The thing I like the most is how visual it is. It's a lot better for students when they can follow along with something on the board. Next, Go!animate was very interesting and creative. What I liked about it was that you could make it into like a short movie. The biggest downfall was the money if you're not sure how often you would use it. If you could get a sponsor for a classroom that would definitely be an awesome tool to use.

the first set of online tools...

The tool I liked the best that was demonstrated was the storyjumper. A good way I thought that this would be useful in classrooms is for story telling time. With this tool you can post it on the board. Doing so will help every child be able to see the words as teachers read, familiarizing the children with the words, and also they can see the pictures to help them understand further. When showing 20-25, six to seven year olds, a picture at one time, many children may miss it. With this tool everyone is able to view it at the same time. I will definitely use this tool in my classroom.