For my Lab Workout #12: the Professional Learning Network, I used two of the bookmarks I had found and saved onto my delicious account and subscribed to their newsfeeds. I then added them to my iGoogle page so I can stay updated on new things going on on the sites. This is a screen shot of what my new "professional" looking iGoogle page looks like now. I deleted the things I thought were unprofessional or uneccessary, and now have only things that are important for me.

Assisted Technology

We learned about assisted technology in w200 this week. In lab I researched the different ways to accommodate people with disabilities by using the built-in control panel of preferences on the computer. I practiced using the magnifier and it was really cool! I have a slight vision problem myself so I may be using it in the future!

All you need to do to use it, is go to start, control panel, ease of access, ease of access again, and then finally click on start magnifier. Once the magnifier is in use, just scan the mouse point over whatever you need magnified--it's THAT easy!

Station 4: Words, Word Counts, and Vocabulary (Languages Required)

Communication Tools

For this activity, we paired up in groups to work on our communication tools. My partner Matt and I used Google groups to create a page about Google itself. We worked on separate computers and communicated via Facebook chat.

This screenshot shows the page we created. This communication tool could be used in my content area of english/language arts, and be a very useful tool. Students can use it to make peer revisions of their papers, easily and efficiently. Also, Google groups was extremely easy to use!

Fly Pens

FLY Pens are one of the newest most innovative writing utensils on the market today. It is a bit bigger than a normal sized ink pen, but can do so much more!

FLY Pens are pentop computers that work on FLY Paper. It comes with its own LeapFrog software that can allow you to write anything you want, and it will be digitally transformed into a computer document. This is a great tool for English/Language Arts because it can be used when writing, and it is an efficient way of working.

Other than English classes, it can be great for mathematics classes too! Students can write out a problem and use their pen as a calculator. These pens have greatly enhanced the abilities of handheld classroom tools.

Example
http://edtech.wetpaint.com/page/Flypen

Tutorial
http://www.leapfrog.com/etc/medialib/leapfrog/fly/ffls_37735.Par.40053.File.tmp//Users/na/Desktop/Parent%20Guides/FFLS_37735_PG.pdf

LAST POST-REVISED

Efficiency

http://docs.subjectivemetrics.com/home/aboutus/press/Effective%20Peer%20Review.pdf

The Waypoint Outcomes website offers useful and effective tools for teachers to use in their classrooms. Among other things, this site offered a pdf file that gives a great description of how to use peer revision with their students. Teachers can use this to learn how to effectively use the peer revision process in their classes. Not only is the peer revision process good for the teacher to help cut back on time spent grading rough draft papers, but it is also beneficial to the students. The students doing the revision can learn from their peers, and it will help to improve their writing abilities.

This is a great example of an efficiencyin teaching. When the whole class is actively participating in the process, it helps the students stay on task. The teacher, in turn, will have an easier job grading the final drafts because common errors will have already been corrected.

Effectiveness

http://www.caslt.org/resources/general/program-support-omb_en.php

The casl.org website allows teachers to view different types of puzzles for their students. Crossword puzzles are a great way for students to learn how to spell new words. Also, these types of puzzles can be given to students as an assignment because the definitions can be given as clues, then they would have to find which blank the words best fit according to definition.

I personally enjoy doing crossword puzzles and believe that they are a useful way to learn words. They are extremely challenging and make students think about the spelling and the meaning of words. These crossword puzzles are an effective way for students to learn in the area of english/language arts.

Enhancement

http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/games/mad_libs/

Teach-nology is a website that offers useful educational tools. Some of these tools are in the form of fun and creative games that students can play online. One of my favorite games was called Mad-Lib, which is a great way for english/ language arts students to learn the different types of words. In this game there is a list of word types: noun, adverb, and verb. These words are then made into a story so the student can visually see the words they chose put into a sentence.

Computer games like these can enhance the learning abilities of english/ language arts students. I will definitely use these types of word games in my future classroom because I had a teacher in high school that used Mad-Libs in her class. I thought that it was a great way to learn how to use adverbs in my writing.

w200 goals

Tiffany's W200 Goals 2009

-I want to understand what a "blog" is and know how to use it.
-I want to get an A in this class [w200].
-I want to be able to use technology in my everyday teaching.