Week Nine (9)

Spectacular!!!! I chose this particular word because most of the lessons were user friendly and chocked full of wonderful information. However, I had mixed feelings about some of this voyage. I felt quite inept while taking several days to complete week 4 and all the activities that were included. But after finishing them, I felt a sense of accomplishment being able to apply the knowledge I had gained to my blog. It was not without frustration, though. This class has enabled me to have an inkling of how technology is advancing faster by the second. It appears to me that if you don't keep abreast of the latest in computer skills, somehow, that you will be left behind everyone else. Even household electronics pose this type of problem for older adults each day as the products confound them with their complexity. The site that I enjoyed the most was Google Earth and I will continue to use it at home for several things. Also, the games such as Wordle and Terra Clues were fun, since I am a word person. An amazing amount of information was included in this self-paced course, which I was glad to be able to access at home and take my time perusing all of it. Overall, a "SPECTACULAR" voyage to several new worlds for me. I enjoyed most of the sailing, but some of it had some long slow swells, but in the end I skimmed right through to the dock.

Week Eight (8)

As they say, OMG!!! Taking that test was quite informative and sad, actually. Since June 9th when I started this course, to now, I have forgotten ALOT of what I had watched in the online training sessions. I still stay, for me, doing something over and over is the only way for me to remember how to do it. These online activities and tools are so foreign to me because I do not ever use them!! However, that being said, if I were in a classroom, I would certainly incorporate several sites into my daily routine. One of my favorite would be to use Google earth to check another part of the world each day. I think that alot of kids don't ever experience any other part of the state, let alone the country and this would be very interesting to them. There would be so many projects that could be used in the classroom that would include many other applications we learned about in the Century 21 Skills. As a PE aide, I did not find anything that we could use in our setting outside. Even inside, we do not have use of a computer to access these activities. I will be able to understand terms that own kids use at home and if needed can go to Atomic Learning for a myriad of help if the need arises.

Week Seven (7)

Science NetLinks: Nutrition 2: Good Food, Good Heal

This weeks lesson was another very informative group of websites that can be utilized by classroom teachers to enhance their lessons. Thinkfinity is a great tool for any type of activity you would like to research or elaborate on. There are tons of options to choose from and the kids would probably like the interaction. Above, I included a link to a great lesson on eating the right foods and making good choices :) I have heard about KidPix from the students we see and also from teachers who use the computer lab. This site sounded like it would be geared toward elementary aged students, but after checking it out, I found it would be be useful to all aged kids. The Wordle "word " art was neat. I love these type of fun things, because the kids really learn something without knowing they are really on task to do that. Lastly, Terra Clues was fun and exciting and another game that I think that students would really benefit from. Dividing up a classroom and trying to reach a destination would be kind of like the TV show the Amazing Race, which I think the kids would love. As a PE teacher, these sites would be very difficult for 50 plus students we have to access. However, on rainy days, if we were ingenious, it just might be possible to use some of these applications.

Week Six (6)

Lesson six was an introduction to several classroom activities that could be used by teachers to make their lessons more interesting and fun. I really liked the Kid Zone and Map site along with the Word Sift. For finding out interesting facts of the day, which I feel is pertinent to students realizing that there have been many events that have taken place on particular days in history, this site would be great. Being a "word" person and loving to do all kind of word searches and puzzles, I would use Word Sift alot if I had a classroom! I may use it myself, as I buy alot of this type of material to keep my brain young! Since I am a PE aide, I do not use any of this type of technology and am not familiar with any other sites to recommend.

Week Five (5)

"Wiki" was a term that I was quite unfamiliar with, however, I had heard my college age daughter use it. That gave me a clue that it was some type of technology that I hadn't experienced yet. The videos were very informative and easy to understand. I believe that Wiki's can be very useful in many situations. I know for a fact that college students use them to complete classroom group projects and I am fairly certain that the students are very adept at using them. Saving alot of paper is one great "green" attribute for these Wiki's. As for using them in a PE setting, I don't believe that they would benefit the teacher/parent/student relationship. A blog would be more useful for that situation. Wiki's could serve a purpose for PE teachers across the district in sharing ideas and asking questions. Also, if the Athletic Director wanted to keep up with what was going on, he could check the Wiki to see what was happening and if there were any issues he needed to address. I don't think there would be any difference in regards to ease of use.

Week Four (4)

This afternoon was quite interesting as I read and re-read week 4 instructions and information. There was sooooooo much info, that my head was spinning trying to soak it in. I was also still trying to get my voki I created to import into my gadget on my layout. However, that was to no avail after about an hour, so I moved on to this NEAT portion of the voyage. I LOVED this photostory, because I have wanted to be able to do this kind of thing for awhile. I just really don't have extra time to fool with it in the school year, but here and now was great! I put together a short story from our Vegas trip this past spring and I kind of liked it. I will add it here and hope you enjoy seeing my handiwork!
I am sure this is very amateur, but I am proud!! Okay, so now it won't process this on my computer. This is really not working out like it is supposed to!!!!!!!!!!!!!I tried my darndest from 8:30 to 11:30 to get my video clip from teacher tube to embed and it wouldn't work. Also, I had lesson plans on the food pyramid to copy in this week, but it would not work either. I guess I am just not choosing the right options. :(

Week Three (3)

Well, after finally getting my password reset on this blogger, which only took me about an hour, I am ready to get this post over with :) This week elaborated on extras that can be used to explore with and add dimension and interest in your blogs. Google earth was visited and many interesting tidbits were related through the guides. It is almost beyond my imagination that these kind of sights are available to us here through these computer avenues!! Our grandparents would be absolutely astounded with the technology available in this day and time :) I am certainly interested in the google reader too, as I enjoy Facebook and think that this can be another neat tool to use at home.