Integrating social networking into the classroom - Part 3

PROJECTS...

Another one of the great ideas in using Facebook in the classroom is the possibility of projects. Because students love logging into that site and setting up profiles and editing information about themselves, projects like this can be a very successful way for students to learn a subject from a totally relevant and different point of view than standard teaching methods.

The possibilities are truly endless! We MUST incorporate students' social lives into education. The days of everyone going to the football game because it's the cool social thing to do are coming to an end. ADAPT TO, RELATE TO, and REACH your students!!!!

Integrating social networking into the classroom - Part 2

According to Nielsen, about half of all U.S. teenagers and 73% of online teens use Facebook. Half of them sign in at least once a day. CBS news reported that most of these teens say it's the first and last thing they do everyday. Students (mostly 7-12 graders) use Facebook for chatting with friends, making plans, sharing photos, and having their own sense of online niche suited to their complete personality. Why not use this in the classroom???

The following website offers ways you can use social networks, such as facebook, to enhance your classroom. Some benefits to this idea that really drew me in include: following news feeds, polling your classmates, sharing book reviews, reminders about upcoming events in the class, posting class notes and homework, and asking for extra online help.

100 WAYS TO USE FACEBOOK IN THE CLASSROOM

Integrating social networking into the classroom - Part 1

I would like to see how social network (such as facebook, twitter, and myspace) could play a part into the everyday classroom. School districts work so hard to keep students out of these sites while at school. What if we allowed them access? What benefits could stem from that?

FACEBOOK
TWITTER
MYSPACE

Classroom Website

Having a classroom website is a wonderful tool for students in your future class. Having documents online to download instead of paper copies that are sometimes lost, reminder of assignments due, and a feedback forum will all enhance the learning and organization process for students. One of the greatest areas that my current students struggle with is keeping assignments, their work, and their time organized and turned in when it's supposed to be.

Also, a classroom website helps parents feel connected to you - the teacher who spends the better part of 7 or 8 hours a day with their student. A parent/teacher meeting every once in awhile coupled with an interactive website that communicates your desires and methodology to the students and parents will give parents the comfort they need in knowing that their child is being taken care of and instructed properly everyday.

This was a wonderful project that has an unlimited amount of benefits for in and out of class participation and accountability.

MR. HOLLAND'S ONLINE CLASSROOM

Teaching with Technology - Part 2

Do you remember the tedious task of looking up definitions in the back of a textbook for a vocabulary assignment? Or reading a word in a story and having to look it up in a bulky dictionary? Students I work with today have the luxury/ability to type out vocabulary words with dictionary.com and a spell check! Imagine having a language disability or dyslexia and as you type, Microsoft Word tells you that the word you just attempted to spell is spelled wrong. Even better, it gives you the proper spelling for the word!

It's exciting to see students work on computers and use simple tools like spell check and online dictionaries to accomplish simple tasks to make their lives easier. Some would argue that it takes away from the important labor of reference, when on the other side of the coin, it saves time and effort that can be used for other important resourceful means.

Technology shows us again that learners can be equals and that students who struggle can be given an extra chance to succeed when before they would have had an unfair advantage.

Portaportal

I think the portaportal is a great tool to use in the classroom! Instead of having students look up resources and sites for research, they could easily go to a portaportal and have all the links they need in one place. My portaportal that I created has links for math games, an online dictionary, citation information, and google earth; in addition to many other things. This is more effective than a traditional method of digging through a dictionary for a definition or searching through the library for an article on a specific topic because using the portaportal to access links will save loads of time and frustration for students of any caliber.

www.portaportal.com

Teaching with Technology - Part 1

Today I worked with a 9-year-old child with a language impairment on typing. I told him that not knowing how to type already has him at a disadvantage to others and that it is as important as reading and writing these days. (Of course I did this a little more tactfully than saying "disadvantage"!) We played games on the computer relating to math after we worked on typing, and I was amazed at how well he got around on a computer! He was using google to find other games and activities that would help him.

Between my job as a paraprofessional at a middle school and my other job tutoring after school, I see how students use technology, computers, and the internet as much and as importantly as a library full of books or a backpack full of paper and pencil. I'm amazed at what students know and how they're already ahead of the curve in technology. We must continue to steer them in the direction of using technology for their education.