Post #10

I saw on Bethany's blog about computer in Wakulla County schools. She said that students go work on computers every day. This allows them to work at their own individual pace. I think this is great for kids for many reasons. First, our world is becoming more and more governed by technology so students need to be aware how to work and use it efficiently. Second, this is another way students can learn material, plus it's more private. I also looked at Katie's blog. She talked about presentation software and how useful it is. It allows students to be able to further study them on their own time in case they didn't pay attention in class or was just absent that day. I think it's great for teachers to post their PowerPoint cause it allows students to quickly recall the information taught.
I would like to further learn how to create a website. We learned the basics, but I would like to learn more details about it. I feel like a website would be a great way to keep in contact with my students and their parents. I could list upcoming events and assignments. I could even have something like a discussion board so I could send notices out or even conduct assignments that required students' feedback.
I plan on incorporating several forms of technology in my classroom. I hope to have one of those smart boards to use. My lectures would consist of some PowerPoint presentations. I could even make jeopardy games with it to quiz my students' knowledge. I could use Inspiration to create graphs as a way to make connections between people and events. Excel would give me a way to create a grade book and keep track of who's turned what in. Like I said earlier, I plan on creating a class website and maybe even a blog, too, that tells students what their homework is in case they didn't get it the first time. My students will become very familiar with different technologies so that they can become computer literate in a technology dominated society.

Post #9

An interesting site I've found that might be useful to my students and I would be the http://www.archives.gov/. It gives the general public access to the national archives. The site has military records and photos. It would be a great place for students to go check out when conducting research on past historical events. There's even a section on the sidebar specifically for educators and students. As a history teacher, I think it would be fun to check out what are government has to offer!
For educators, the site gives lesson plans on how to teach certain lessons with historical documents. Some of these lesson plans provide pictures, letter and telegrams from soldiers, and even some actual court documents. This is yet another tool to help instructors diversify their teaching methods and give students visual representations.
My major is Social Studies Education so I will be certified to teach 6th-12th grade. At that level, students tend to have more assignments and projects to turn in. Excel is a great way to keep track of all those assignments. I could create a spreadsheet documenting who has turned what in and who still needs to turn it in. I could even document the grades they received on the spreadsheet. It condenses the information all one one page giving me quick access to any information I might need. It's basically another form of a grade book.