DIGITAL BLOG POST #D - CHAPTERS 6 & 10

Budget, Budget, Budget. That is one word that will be thrown around a lot in the school system. You do not have enough for this or that or your PTO may not be as involved or able to raise money like you would hope. This is especially true for schools that are Title I or low-income schools. So how can we expand the children's knowledge beyond a textbook and the four classroom walls?.... The technology of course!

I think it is amazing how far technology can take you literally! Our students can explore and travel places that economically may never be available at home or at school. It is almost like our own 21st-century magic school bus. I think is it truly amazing where virtual field trips have taken students and what they are able to see. I would love to use these virtual field trips in my own classroom hopefully exciting the students about the world or what might be available locally.

WebQuests are also another amazing tool to help students explore the internet for education and teach them how to explore responsibly. I would like to teach a second or third grade which the WebQuests would be perfect for. It takes an ordinary lesson and turns it into research, independent thinking and conclusions.

The internet is also great for language translation and having so many resources with more that one language option. I can find stories online with multiple languages that would help my ELL students. Communication between parents perhaps could be easier and more convenient if you do not have to find a translator every time.

Finally, Differentiated Learning is something every teacher needs to know about. This is great for small group work. You can split the students in small groups according to their skill level and moderate the workload accordingly. Students with learning disabilities can benefit from differentiated learning. During the small groups, I teach currently in Pre-K and I either expand the lesson or minimize them to the appropriate goals set for the students. This technique gives each child a chance to succeed in the skill you trying  to teach without going beyond them and making the time unproductive.

All of these tools are great to use in the classroom and while some Ip already use I plan to use all these online tools when I become an educator myself. The internet and technology sources expand beyond the classroom which is great!

Resources: 

Lyon, N. (2015, June 5). Let's get ready for school! by nmlyon22 on Storybird. Retrieved June 5, 2015, from http://storybird.com/books/lets-get-ready-for-school/?token=z4hh45wsue

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin, Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.