Google Earth

The google earth tool is a fantastic tool to bring into the classroom. I wish I would have known sooner how easy and user friendly it was as I could have brought it into my classroom sooner. For example, we were learning about Montana about a month ago. I showed my students Montana pictures from the internet that I found. However, had I used Google Earth they would have seen what it is really like. It would have been more meaningful to them. It could also be a great ice breaker activity for students at the beginning of the year or for new students who have moved to the area to share where they came from. I always tell my students where I'm from, but being able to use google earth would show them where I'm from. They would be able to put a picture to the name. They could also do the same! It is a great way to show students the world! :)

Twitter

As I was reading an article about homework in the classroom, I noticed that the author of the article posted his twitter account to follow him. As an educator, I think it is important to stay up to date with the current and latest issues in education. Having a twitter account and following such organizations allows educators to know what's what, stay informed, etc. in education. This is definitely impacts your instruction as you are able to stay in tune and hone in on the current events in the educational world and bring that knowledge into your classroom. I will definitely be following such informative authors and organization that will benefit my instruction!

Wordle

I liked the Word Cloud tool. I can definitely see it as a great tool to make posters for my classroom that revolve around what we are learning. It can be a great visual representation for students to refer to. It can also be a great way to create posters that reflect the children in the classroom. The children can make the posters in class at the beginning of the year to share with students. This can be about themselves. It would be a great ice breaker activity for students to warm up to each other at the beginning of the year. This can also be done at home for students to bring to class as it can be an activity for students and parents to participate it. The learning opportunities are endless!

Google Form

I did this Google Form. End of the Year Bash Using Google Forms is a great way to get immediate feedback from parents and students. It is an awesome way to take a survey about your instruction, etc. in which parents have the opportunity to be give immediate feedback to the teacher. This will definitely affect instruction as you are able to see what works for your families. For example, you can take a survey to see what families may think about the homework process and about the homework itself. This will let you know whether or not it is working and whether or not you need to change anything. Of course, the surveys can be given to the students - with the age appropriateness taken into consideration. It is also a great tool to create assessments for students that are able to be customized to what the students are learning. It's a fabulous tool to use with students and families!

Elephants can't what?: A Digital Storytelling

Creating a digital story is a great and innovative way to bring literacy into the classroom. I must say that after thinking of a story for students, the hard part was finding the pictures to go along with the story as you had to stay within a certain theme. It was very fun to create my digital story. I am definitely going to share it with my students as I made it kid-friendly for my students. This simple story that I made can give students practice in all aspects of literacy. I can't wait to share it and get their feedback about it. I hope you enjoy it! Elephants can't what?