Week 3 and Classroom Websites

Week 3 has been my favorite week so far! Currently, we are working on classroom websites. By setting up a website using Weebly, I have been able to start creating a website that reflects my personality and who I want to be as a teacher. It is getting me very excited for the future and has been very easy to navigate. Weebly is by far the best and easiest to try because of the left-hand side navigation bar.With this tool, I can pick numerous set ups, themes, and even include my contact information by just clicking and dragging the icon that I need. I never knew that it was this simple to create a website and am happy to say I am really enjoying the process.Normally for my type A personality, this would be a nightmare because I want everything just so. (Teaching has definitely taught me to relax a little more) and I also like that in the future, I can adjust and recreate or edit the website without losing anything. With that being said, it does take a bit of time to find out what you would like your website to look like, and takes more time than just class periods to finish. We were shown how to add a calendar onto the site and this was fairly difficult, especially if you have never done anything like this before. I still have not added one but would like to do so. What I was able to do was add links to websites such as the curriculums that I have worked with in the past and will be when it is time to do our second placement. I am hoping to be able to use the website for my next placement. It will let parents be able to get to know me a little better and parents can access what we are doing in the class. I will be in a Grade 4 class so I think I will be keeping things simple and base my audience towards parents. Later on, if I teach an older grade, I will include students more and split my website for both parents and students. This has been a learning process and it does take time. If you are just as curious and eager as I am, I think you would really enjoy it! I am hoping to have my website up and running soon. Luckily, I will always be able to change it and add new things so I am not as worried about making it exactly the way I would like. I could spend hours moving and adjusting things. It was a little strange to create a website for a pretend class, but once I started to play around with it and was able to see what it can do I was more at ease and comfortable with the idea.

A Pep Talk from Kid President to You

"You were made to be awesome" - Just a little inspiration from Kid President and I to you!

Another one bites the dust...

             Week two has already come and gone! This week has flown by and there are still so many URL's and new ways to organize life online that are just swimming in my mind. It has been a little difficult keeping up with everything but i've learned that it just takes time. Sitting down and playing around on your computer is a must in order to keep up! Recently, we were shown how to navigate Google Drive. I have used this website before to work on a previous project with multiple people. How it works- anybody with a gmail account can be added to a current word document or project you share! This is fantastic because people within your group or teachers don't have to meet up with one another. You can edit, add, share, and distribute information towards the piece of work you are constructing without getting out of your fuzzy bunny PJ's. (If your lucky to own such a pair). You can see what your co-workers and partners are currently changing and creating. At first it's a little erie to see someone else working on a document from your own computer but, if you are like me, you will quickly enjoy its convenience. Google Drive also includes an online chat with the people you have added to edit your document. This came in handy when a quick question needs to be asked while cramming to finish that project at 1 am..which has never happened to me..ever.
            We were also shown a few eportfolios from previous students. These are websites that students have created to show their personalities and best work in order to get that teaching job. Some were very simple, appealing and you could see individual details that really made their page stand out. I hope to be successful and create a page that stands out! I will probably start working on this right away and will make sure to add it to my blog. Most students used Weebly which is a free site and very easy to navigate in order to create what you are looking for. I also saw a website called Yola which is free with a free website builder similar to Weebly. The only problem is that if your like me, who wants to be different and stand out, a cost of 4.77 to 16.66 per month goes towards cool colours and fancy backgrounds.. I'm sorry, but that's a lot of delicious coffee in my eyes!
           Next week is yet another busy one- hopefully I can bring some new ideas to you!

           -C

Ready...Set...Go!

         This is my first blogging experience and I am really excited about it! I am a first year Education student and I created this blog for a course that I am currently taking at Brandon University called "Using ICT in Education". During this time, I will be posting videos, photos and talking about new ways to enhance learning in the classroom using technology. This week was the first week and introduction to the course. We were given different websites that as teachers, can use to integrate technology into the classroom and into our own lives. Sites that can help keep our ideas organized, such as videos (Youtube Channel), photos (Pinterest) and much more!
          I have always been intrigued by technology and how fast it is advancing. Looking back, having a phone that sends a picture or a computer that doesn't take forever to load was exciting! Now, I am looking forward to be able to learn new ideas and bring some information from this ICT course into my future classroom.
          I am a big fan of keeping things organized and recently, our professors suggested we sign up for Symbaloo. This is a great way to keep different websites stored in one area. The first thing that popped into my mind was that kids can easily find a website or game that is school friendly without having to search the internet consecutively to get a cool game. This site allows me to be able to keep track of websites I need for lesson plans as well as games or sites kids might enjoy. I can just see myself keeping it open on my desktop and going through it when I need to!
         Something that I would like to look into more is a 'cloud' storage so that I don't have to bring my computer wherever I may be. Dropbox is a sight you can use to store and find any document you have saved. It is easily accessed through a device or computer  online. There were a lot of great ideas rather than using bookmarks on a computer. Pinterest is a great way to share and find new ideas for lesson plans but it won't keep all types of videos and documents like Diigo can. Diigo is also a storage website where you can share and save ideas and information on a certain topic. Something similar to Pinterest was Pearltree- which is a very cool site visually. Same idea as Pinterest, but I like the fact that you can see a web of your ideas and share among those who follow you and vice versa.
         So far it has been a great start to class. I have only shared a few ideas that we have learned so far and which ones make it easier to communicate between teachers and students.  I'm looking forward to what is in store and getting new ideas for future reference!
         - C