Creating Spreadsheets & Surveys!

Hallelujah! I finally got a little brush-up on on how to create and use spreadsheets. The functions available, such as finding a sum or average, will definitely be extremely useful in my future classroom. I think it could provide a fun way for students to learn about averages and charts, as we could take surveys in the class and talk about the results. Also, spreadsheets will be very helpful in recording, organizing, and evaluating test scores, etc. I was also very excited to learn about creating surveys in google docs. I think that would be a wonderful way to involve parents in the classroom and have their input help me in educating their children. So...about those surveys...you should look at mine posted below here! :)

Let me know what your favorite vacation spot is!

Collaborative Writing

Today in class we learned about collaborative writing and how we can utilize this motivating way of writing in our classrooms. In the 2nd grade core curriculum under standard 7 in language arts, objective 6, indicator b says that students will produce traditional and imaginative stories, narrative and formula poetry as an individual/shared writing activity. Word processing can help me meet this standard. I especially love the idea of having children collaboratively write a story together as a class, either in Word or on a Google Doc. Since 2nd graders are still so young and not experienced on the keyboard, I think I could increase their excitement and motivation for writing by having them dictate a story to me as I type it on the computer in front of the class. We could use bubbl.us to brainstorm together of what we'd like to include in the story. And then each student could have a turn "writing" (dictating out loud) a sentence for the story. Doing this would also help with concepts of print, spelling, grammar, etc. I think using collaborative writing in these younger years would be very helpful in creating enthusiasm for writing amongst the students.

Learning about Copyright

Today in class we individually read articles and watched short video clips on copyright laws, issues, and ways to negotiate this issue appropriately. This information was very helpful to me. Copyright laws have seemed so confusing and ambiguous to me and although it IS a gray area, it helps to research it. After going through the links on blackboard, I started going through the case studies with a few students, comparing opinions and insights. I quickly found out that even though I'd just listened and read a lot of information regarding copyright laws, it was still difficult because of how many different scenarios there can be. But, it's very important that we're aware of these issues and are careful as we use others' material because there are punishments for copyright infringement, such as being sued.

YETC Resources

Today in INST 4010 we visited the YETC lab and were introduced to various resources we can use in our future classrooms. Someday I would love to teach 2nd grade. Therefore, some of the resources that really impressed me because I could envision myself using them in my classroom were the many websites, such as spellingcity.com, that almost acts as a second teacher by providing spelling tests, reviews, and practice games. I also loved receiving the information about Nathan's newsletter each month on the YETC website that reveals many of these sites that are helpful to teachers. Additionally, I was extremely excited to learn about the site polleverywhere.com, which acts as an "i-clicker" device in the classroom. How wonderful! It's amazing the amount of resources that are available to teachers. It's just a question of whether or not you know how to find it!