Activity 6: Quizlet

Quizlet was really easy to use.  I liked that I could use images for one side of the card.  When I finished my set.  I noticed that there was a speaker so the card could be read to the student which will be perfect for first graders!

Activity 6: Tagzedo

Tagzedo was really easy to make.  The first graders could have a lot of fun doing this during the second half of the year.  I could see using this for holidays (Mother's Day and Father's Day) and for end of unit assessments.

Activity 3: Digital Story Telling

I had fun making this pop up book.  I did not like the available clip art, but it was really easy to upload clip art from Google images.  This is a fun way to introduce a topic.  I feel first graders would think the pop up book was fun to look at and read.

Activity 2 Presentation

I felt that Prezi was fairly simple to use, but I am sure that I did not even start to use the many options that must be available.  I feet that this is not a tool I would use much as a first grade teacher.  I really like using Smart Notebook and know the tools really well.  I feel Prezi would be too difficult for first graders to navigate to make a presentation themselves.

Blog Reflection

I feel that a blog may be a good way to communicate with parents.  I especially like the translate option for parents.  This could really help make sure all parents feel included.  I do worry about trying to keep up to many forms of communication: communication sheet, web page and a blog.

I think students would find it fun, and it would be a good review, to be able to go to my blog to watch a video from class. 

Addition Focus

During the 2012-2013 school year, the first grade team at BelAir focused on basic addition fact knowledge.  This video was a favorite of my first graders!

• I am interested in learning about new (to me) tools that I can use in my classroom and to communicate with my students' families next year. I feel pretty comfortable with technology, but I am always looking for something new I can use in my classroom.  Currently I have a classroom webpage and I create Smart Slides to use in my classroom that incorporate links, video clips, and audio files.