http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8MlEtSdJx0

End of Tools Reflections...

I am definitely excited about all the things I have learned as I created my blog and researched the different tools. There were some things that I was familiar with,but, so many new things I learned and that I can't wait to begin using. I would like to use google docs when planning with my team. I think it'll make it much easier to share ideas. Tool# 5 is definitely great. I feel so much more organized now, and all my websites are much more accesible and easier to find. I am looking forward to create a digital story with my students. I would like to create one at the end of each unit or lesson, at least monthly. My teaching techniques have been transformed. Now I have so many different ways to integrate technology in my classrooms. I will be able to provide my students with more activities that will accomodate their different ways of learning. Each child is it's own little world and learn in a different way.

Tool # 11 Digital Citizenship

When discussing digital citizenship in prek I would explain to them that there are safety rules when we using tehcnology the same as we have safety rules in the classroom,home, playground etc.... One thing I would like to make sure my prek children know is that they need to have a balance. I would suggest to them to set up a timer for 30 minutes so that they control how much time they spend on the internet. It's important that they know that they need to participate in a variety of activities, even when at home, and that spending too much time in the computer is not good for them. Another rule I would like to remind my students about is that when they are at home sometimes other windows open (popups) and these sometimes ask for personal info, such as adress etc... They should know not to share their info with anyone in the internet. Also, don't believe everything you see online, sometimes is best to ask your parents if unsure about something you found. If for any reason there's something you feel may not be ok for you to watch, look for an adult and ask for help.
Usually,in school, digital citizenship is well supervised by teachers/aides, specially in pre k. Eventhough we will have digital citizenship rules in the classroom, I will also like to teach them the above rules for when they are away from school.

I also found some good tips for digital citizenship in this website :
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/Internet-Safety-Elementary-School-Kids-Tips

Tool # 10 Exploring movil technology and apps

WOW!! Apps for kids too. Technology is definitely moving forward. It amazes me all the things we can teach to our students using technology. I do not have in ipad, iphone or itouch, but, I am definitely going to do my homework and go to the apple store to explore the apps I can use with my students. Through our tools blog, I have been revewing the free apps we have for our school district, fling free, can be used with our pk students, it helps them practice their eye -hand coordination. Also, revewing the free apps, I learned that some may be downloaded onto itunes, that will allow us to also use these in our ipods at school. Being new to this technology and to SBISD, I will be exploring how can I help my students learn to use the different educational apps available to them.I will be updating this tool on my blog soon as I learn more about this devices at my apple store field trip.:-)

Tool # 9 Assignment

Since our school have the ipods, Jing would be great to use with it. I would love to give my students the experience of talking to pre k students in other countries through Skype. Share ideas, maybe have them ask questions such as: what do they do for fun, games that they play, etc... Also, students could be asked to make questions about an assigned topic, then create a book together about the things they learned and also turn it into a writing activity for them. Another way in which I would like to use Skype with my students is having a virtual field trip to a place in another contry related to our theme or unit(Ex. zoo). Exchanging ideas about how others live in other countries it's great to develop language (Ex.talk and ask questions in complete sentences). It's amazing all the websites available to us. Nowadays, we can integrate technology in our classroom in so many different ways. I used skype before to communicate with my family in Puerto Rico. It's great now having the opportunity to bring that into my classroom.

Tool # 8 Video Resources

I like using the video resources available to us as teachers when introducing a lesson and also when reviewing a lesson. Some videos such as: alphabet and numbers can be used in our daily routines at the beginning of the year.Our students love technology and videos present another opportunity for us as teachers to be able to visually enhance our lessons.
Here's a link to 2 of my favorite youtube videos:

ALPHABET IN SPANISH:



NUMBERS IN SPANISH:






I also used the Eric Carle video (hungry caterpillar) when reviewing lifecycles in science.

Tool # 7 Digital Storytelling

As a new teacher to SBISD,digital storytelling it's new to me. I'm already brainstorming ideas of digital stories I would like to create with my students. It can be used in every subject. I am definitely excited to have the opportunity to create this stories and share them with our students and parents.