Blog Journal 6

The school website I chose was Sabal Palm Elementary School. It is kindergarten through out fifth grade. One of the first things I noticed on the website page was the School Hours printed in bold on the side of the page. This is very helpful to parents to view in case they forgot or if they are sending another family member to pick up the student. On the top of the page, I can find links that re direct me to specific section. Some of the labels on the top of the page are Parents/Students, Resources, Programs, Faculty/Staff, and Title I. These are also important because people can easily find out information for specific things such as faculty and staff in case a parent wants to contact or meet someone from the school. Programs is another important link that is on top of the page because some students have different need basis or would like to join or be involved with after care programs or joining a club or group. Another thing I noticed on the page was its purpose, vision and mission followed by a welcome statement by the school's principal. This shows what the school aims to do, help, provide, and offers.

In the future, I envision myself using more technology to accomplish my professional responsibilities more efficiently and effectively. One of the ways I will do so is by using Google Calendar. I would plan and write down my events or things I have to do in the calendar. I will check this daily and update with future events. This will help keep me organize and to not forget to do my work by a specific date. Another way is taking advantage and buying an Apple watch which connects to my phone. I can quickly check any messages without having to be on my phone which would in my opinion make me more distracted. 

Last week, I visited the Technology Sandbox with my classmates. I experienced a lot of technology that I was familiar and unfamiliar with. In my elementary school, I used Smart boards to learn and interact with my classmates and teacher. One of the things I was a bit unfamiliar with was 3-d printers. I believe that the 3-d printers would help a lot in the classroom. I learned that there was a kids - friendly version of a 3-d printer. This would help them by printing things such as physical maps and equations etc. This would enhance STEM and design teachings. You can even learn how to find the volume with the 3-d shapes.

Blog Journal 5

This was my very first time hearing and using Diigo. I like that you have to download it where it's inside your google chrome. The highlighting and chat boxes are helpful if there is research being done on the site but other than that I don't see myself using the site in the future especially with annotating and submitting to groups.

Blogging has been a very interesting experience due to my limited exposure to the community before this course. I find myself enjoying to write about my opinions and the way I feel about certain things. Surely, I much rather blog about things I want to but this course does provide good topics that I can elaborate on. I learn about other people's views about the topics provided and interact with them too.

A Web 2.0 tool that may be used when teaching is Skype. This tool allows for students to directly communicate with their teachers and peers. Individuals may use this to work on a group project together without the need of meeting in person. A student may contact their teacher with specific and unique questions that require more one on one time. The video call feature also creates a more cohesive environment as body language, hand gestures, and other nonverbal forms of communication can be expressed.

Blog Journal 4

I was never really interested in Twitter. I only made Twitter accounts if my classes were using it for educational purposes. Thus far, I've been interacting with fellow students from my classes, a lot of educational programs, institutions, and some popular figures such as Nancy Pelosi. It's a learning experience to see and hear different opinions of different people from all over. I find that very fascinating. Twitter might be helpful in my future career of helping people know what events or what is going on in my life or even at work.

The world as we know is evolving into a technical world. Many schools and classrooms in cooperate the use of technology. Digital divide affects student's success in school depending on their situations. The students who has access to technology has an advantage over students who doesn't have the access. Even at school it can create an advantage or disadvantage depending on the school use and resources. As a classroom teacher most likely I would get student's with different backgrounds and levels of knowledge on how to use technology so I would in cooperate ways where everyone would have a chance to learn and know and be equally on the same level.

One academic software tool I would use for my students is called Kahoot. I personally used this being a student and I found myself having fun while learning, enjoying, and bonding with other groups of students in the class. In Kahoot I can create my own questions or use another teacher's creation and base the game off those questions which can either be individual or in groups. I'd also go over it based off knowing if my students understand the material or not. Another program I would tell my students to use is Grammarly. It is best known for writing which corrects spellings, fixes grammar mistakes and even word phrasing. This is very helpful when writing essays or even shorter works like a paragraph. The best things about these two programs is that they are free and easy to use!