Favorite Web Resources

I have enjoyed exploring many of the web resources available to teachers for use in their classroom. Of the many web resources we have covered in class, I would have to say my favorites are eThemes and the Library curriculum. The web resource, eThemes, provides an endless amount of resources for teachers. The website includes thousands of resources for units, sorted by grade-level. eThemes is very easy to navigate and provides a gateway to an endless amount of information that is interesting for both the teacher and the students. eThemes would be a great classroom resource because it allows teachers to find great ideas for the classroom easily, and at no cost. The other web resource that I really liked was the Library curriculum. The Library curriculum was easy to navigate and provided information that was succinct and covered all areas of curriculum. The curriculum was child-friendly, and provided information in a way students would understand easily. Out of these two resources, I would say that eThemes is my favorite. eThemes covers information across an entire spectrum of ideas. The website provides resources that students would greatly enjoy and would help students learn in an easier and interesting way. This web resource is also great for the teacher because it is easy to navigate around and provides ideas for all topics under each curriculum area. I would use this web resource the most because it covers an array of subjects that would more than likely appear in my curriculum.

INSPIRATION

Inspiration is a software that would be a worthwhile investment for my classroom. I believe that it is very important for students to be able to organize their thoughts and to visually display ideas. Students that are able to demonstrate this skill demonstrate to the teacher that they understand concepts/ideas. Inspiration allows students to make organizers, outlines, etc. for every subject area. There are hundreds of templates to choose from. In addition, Inspiration is a great resource for teachers. It also allows teachers to organize information into a way that is precise and easy for the students to follow. Inspiration is very beneficial for the students and the teacher because it caters to the needs to visual learners, organizes information, and displays information in a way that is precise and easy for everyone to understand and to follow. Inspiration can be used in the following content areas in the following ways:

Science

• Teachers can produce concept maps for various units and/or concepts they want their class to learn.
• Students can graphically organize various scientific lessons (photosynthesis, forms of energy, skeletal system, etc.).
• Students can create Venn Diagrams to compare and contrast various scientific processes.

Math

• Students can create tree diagrams for concepts such as probability.
• Students can create process maps to display the steps in various math problems.

Social Studies

• Students can create Venn Diagrams to compare and contrast various events in history (i.e. Wars, etc.).
• Students can create concept maps to display all information relevant to the lesson they are learning.
• Students can create family trees.

Language Arts

• Students can create outlines before the actual writing process of papers.
• Students can create a "Character Analysis" of main characters in the literature they are reading.
• Students can create concept maps to outline main ideas of the literature they are reading.

Social Bookmarking

Social bookmarking is often seen as something adults would use. In reality, this tool can be great for use in the classroom, even in the elementary classroom. One way to use social bookmarking is for the teacher to create a list of bookmarks for students to use to have reliable resources for research. The teacher could evaluate websites, and bookmark them on a social bookmarking site. This way, students have access to reliable resources. Another way to use social bookmarking in the classroom is through group projects. Students, as a part of a group project, could complete research separately and then bookmark the reliable sites they find on their group's social bookmarking site. This way, all research and bookmarks are in one set place, and the students are not scrambling to find their research. Finally, social bookmarking can be used in the classroom for a classroom page. Teachers could have their bookmarks on one page that could be useful bookmarks for parents and students. For instance, bookmarks on incorporating what children learn into home life, or educational games that the students would enjoy. Social bookmarking has many benefits for the teacher and students. Social bookmarking allows teachers and students to have concise information that gets rid of all the hassle and misinterpretations of research. It allows students to save the things they have learned about, so that later on they can go back to them, if needed. In addition, social bookmarking provides a tool to connect parents, teachers and students with great information and resources, in a hassle-free way. Social bookmarking is a great resource for the classroom, even the elementary classroom.

As a student at Albright College, social bookmarking is a great help to me. Social bookmarking allows me to save favorite pages under different tags, which in turn, organizes all of the information by class. Therefore, I do not have to click on one hundred URL's in order to find the link I need for my Social Science class or my Research Methods class. Social bookmarking provides me with a way to organize all of the information I am overwhelmed with each and every day, which is something I wish I would have been introduced to a long time ago.

Evaluating Websites

The Internet provides a plethora of information, some information that is necessary, and other that is not so much. When allowing elementary students, or any students for that matter, access to websites, it is important to evaluate websites beforehand. If websites are not evaluated before students gain access, the students can be exposed to both appropriate and inappropriate information, which could bring about trouble for the teacher. In addition, it is necessary to evaluate websites because not all websites provide true information. Students can access false information, which can impact their personal views on topics, as well as influence false information on projects for the classroom. Finally, it is important to evaluate websites before allowing students to access to make sure websites are updated and can be the most useful resources for students to use for research. I think that most people can understand and apply website evaluation techniques. School districts take great responsibility in filtering Internet access at schools so students do not have access to the entire Internet. Most teachers, as well, seem to know what is a good or bad website. For instance, most teachers would understand that if a website does not have an author, it is not the most reliable source or if the website was from ten years ago it does not provide the most current information. Most people understand evaluation techniques and can distinguish reliable and unreliable websites. Evaluation techniques can be taught to students and incorporated into the classroom. One way to incorporate evaluation techniques in the classroom is to have students fill out evaluation sheets when they are completing research. Evaluation sheets could be checklists (where websites have to meet all criteria) or could ask students questions about who the author is, when the website was published and whether or not they think it is a good source. Another way to incorporate evaluation techniques in the classroom is to have the teacher show students a series of websites to determine together whether they think it is a reliable or unreliable source. Websites are a great resource for the classroom. However, it is necessity for teachers to evaluate websites to determine whether they are appropriate for the students.

Blogging in the Elementary Classroom

Blogs in the Elementary Classroom can be a great resource for teachers, students and parents. A great way to use blogs in the classroom is for students to help each other with homework through a homework blog. Students can utilize blogs to post questions, concerns or useful tips about their homework. This is a great tool for students because it is allowing students to interact and help each other, instead of always resorting to the teacher for the answers. Blogs can also be a great tool when used as a classroom page. Using blogs as a classroom page allows students and parents to communicate with teachers in a number of ways. Teachers can post upcoming events for the school or the classroom, as well as homework assignments for each night. Parents can communicate concerns or praises with the teacher, and students can ask questions or look at assignments they may have forgotten. This is a great resource for everyone because it provides a new form of communication for everyone, which is both fast and hassle-free. Finally, blogs can be used as a mentoring tool for all students in school. An older student could be paired with a younger student as part of a mentoring program. The students could blog to each other about themselves, school, homework, etc. This blogging could be a great help for both students because they are learning about technology, getting answers to their problems and fostering a new relationship in a different way. There are many advantages to blogging in the Elementary Classroom. Blogging allows students to utilize a new kind of technology to solve every day problems, access information and build new relationships. Blogging has its advantage because elementary students are born into a technology-driven world, so it is only natural that students have access to technology in the classroom, such as blogging. This generation of students is equipped to handle this kind of technology in the classroom setting. Although there are many advantages to blogging, there are some disadvantages. One disadvantage to blogging in the elementary classroom is even though this world is technology-driven, not all students have access to computers. Blogging, although a great tool and assignment for the classroom, is not always fair for all students due to the lack of computer access. Finally, another disadvantage of blogging in the classroom is the lack of security for students. Information provided over the Internet is easily accessible by all. Blogs made in the classroom could be viewed by outsiders and students in the classroom could potentially gain access to information they should not have access to. This can be prevented by security settings and filters on computers, but information can sometimes slip through the security. It is important that students always be monitored on the computer constantly, which can be hard on teachers. Overall, I feel blogs are a great resource for today's elementary classroom and can be utilized in many useful ways.

There's always a first...

This is my first blog post ever...so here it is...take one.