Reflection #2

What?

This week we used how to use Google Sites. We put a site together for our futures classroom.

So What?

As a student today I have many professors that use Google Sites. It has really helped me to stay organized in those classes. It also is great because my professors include other useful tools and resources that can not be put on a syllabus. It also can be updated whenever with announcements and other important information that helps everyone in the class stay better connected.

This technology means that as teachers we can have more than just a syllabus. We can include a lot more information on the website versus a syllabus. It also helps us because it gives us another way to remind out students of what is going on. We can tell our students in class what is going on, we can give them handouts, but by also having a website where they can find the information allows for less excuses from our students.

Now What?

After seeing all the different types of things you can include on your Google Site I think that it is a great idea and I plan on using it in my future classroom. I like the idea of my students and I being connected outside of the classroom but in a way that is not too personal. Having a class website keeps everyone organized and on the same page with regards to what is going on in the class. It is another source for my students to see what kinds of things are coming up in class. It is also great when kids miss class. They can look on the class website and see what they missed. I also think that a class website is really helpful to parents as well. It allows them to see what the class has going on as well and gets them involved.

Google Sites will also be a great tool for my colleagues and I. It will allow us to collaborate more on what we are doing in our classrooms. It would be neat to see what types of things my colleagues have going on in their classrooms by looking at their class website and seeing if there was anything I'd like to implement into my classroom. If we ran our classes the same we could even collaborate on the site.

Video:

This video made a lot of good points. I never really thought about using cell phones and ipods in class and though I am still not sold on the idea I do think that teachers need to have a more open mind about technology and how to incorporate it in their classes. One problem that I feel exists is that teachers do not know how to use these things in their classes. All they think of are the negatives of cell phones, like how texting leads kids to shorten everything they spell and to make up all these acronyms and then use them in formal writing. If we as teachers could learn how to use these things as tools in our classrooms then are students would also learn how to use technology for more things as well, instead of just for talking and texting and listening to music. There is a lot of useful and practical tools that these things have, we just have to learn how to use them the right way and teach our students the same.

I also felt while watching the video that if we are able to incorporate more technology into our students will be more engaged. Technology is a thing a lot of kids now days feel very comfortable with and if we could use it more in our classes I think they would be more excited about the material. It is something they are good at so why not play to their strengths?