674+Discussion+Questions

**__Discussion Question 1 - completed during Weekend One __**
What do you know about using technology with students? I know that using technology is really effective when it's used well. It requires planning on the front-end in order to produce strong results. It is also necessary for kids to have enough "play" time with technology to become comfortable with it before tackling projects and other required work. Kids like the novelty of producing work with technology and are excited to use new programs and sites. 

What do you want to know about using technology with students? I'd like to know what are some strategies/tips/tricks to have class run more smoothly while using technology. I would like to have a better balance between me talking and the kids working.

**__Discussion Question 2 - completed during Weekend One__ **
Look at the Essential 21st Century Skills List - Select one skill and discuss how you already meet this skill via your current instruction. I think I've implemented a lot of information and media literacy skills through the projects the kids are allowed to make. They can choose their method of delivery and be creative with the content. I give them sets of goals that I want to see and they choose how they want to convey what they learned. 

Select another Essential 21st Century Skill that you may NOT already touch upon and project how you might be able to meet that need in future instruction. I need to put more effort into problem identification, formulation, and solution. I need to find better ways to have kids dig deeper for problems and solutions and just be more rigorous with what they need to know and do.

==** __Discussion Question 3 - to be completed one week after the Weekend One__ ** ==

Find a TeacherTube/YouTube video that you could use for instructional purposes and copy and paste the address of the video for others to view. Explain how you would use this with your students.

Spanish Alphabet Song This video is the alphabet song in Spanish as a march/call and response. I've used a similar song when I taught French and the kids loved it. I'm excited to be able to use this version for my first year class. (They are 5th graders and they love marching around and singing at the top of their lungs.) I plan to link it to my Smart Board lesson so I can retrieve it easily.

NOTE: Since there are so many videos to choose from, please avoid any repeats.

View two other students’ videos.

==**__Discussion Question 4 - to be completed Saturday/Weekend Two__ ** ==

To complete the KWHL- what have you learned from the readings, activities and discussions from this course about using technology with your students?

I feel that I do a good job including technology into my classes but after a while I get stuck in a rut with the same activities. This class helped me to freshen up what I normally do and give activities some new twists. I really learned a lot from my assigned reading in the book. My assignment was to read about note taking and summarizing skills and how kids can do these things via Microsoft Word (or Pages on the Mac). I'd never paid attention to the "Track Changes" nor the "Auto Summarize" tools, so I was really excited when I was able to play with them and see how they worked. This lead to the wheels turning in my head about how I can use this in my classes. I've always wanted to do something more with the cultural side of Spanish (which is more easily conveyed in English) and I think giving the kids more challenging writing work than a question and answer format would be beneficial for them. I'd start with paragraphs and lead up to larger papers. The Auto Summarize would be great for kids to see what the computer thinks is the main theme of their writing, especially when learning about thesis statements. I can use the Track Changes tool to help them edit their drafts as well. I think the visual process of what editing looks like would be helpful. Editing is really hard for kids because they think everything's perfect the first time. Discussing the different parts of the book as well as discussions after activities we did in class are always beneficial to me as well. Our cohort always has great things to add to expand what we are talking about. I've added lots of sites and ideas to my arsenal. I have my text Post-it noted all over the place and now just need to remember to include them all!