P.P and Articles Reflection

I learned a lot this week about computers, digital cameras and power points that i would like to share with you.

In the article, "100 ways to use a Digital Camera" i found a lot of interesting ideas to integrate the use of digital cameras into my classroom. There were so many of these tips about digital cameras i liked that it was hard to choose a few to share, but i found ten that were my absolute favorites.

1- I can tape a students photo on their desk as a name tag so other students and substitutes learn my students names better.
2- I can use photos for attendance and seating charts ( i do better with visuals)
3- I can take photos for my students to create a book about colors ( i could even make this an interactive on a power point)
4-I can take photos for my students to create a book about shapes
5-I can take photos or video of the students on their Birthdays
6-I can send an e-mail with a photo attachment of a student caught being good ( i could even post it on UEN for the parents to see)
7- I can use photos to create faces for puppets in a puppet show
8-I can create a game for matching students photos with students names
9-I can create a postcard with my picture to send to my students over the summer
10- I can use classroom photos as computer screen savers ( in my classroom and on my personal computer)

I had no idea i could use a digital camera for so many fun things to enhance learning in my classroom, but this article has opened my eyes.

In the article of "10 Tips about Digital Cameras" i found very little information about digital cameras that i did not already have knowledge about. One thing i did find interesting however was that, "There is a limit to how much a photo can be fixed....Bad "framing" can be corrected. But if you pay attention to details before taking a picture, you won't have to worry about it."
I never really thought there was a limit to editing a picture, but now that i think about it this article is very informative. I have to learn to take great pictures on my camera so i won't have to take a lot of time fixing the picture on the computer.

I also think it's a good idea, as the article states to, "Always always, always make copies of your original photos." Because you never know what could happen to your camera or your computer. This is something i need to start integrating into my picture taking and will be a good habit to be in when i become a teacher.

The third article, "A Digital Snapshot of a Early Childhood Classroom" i found interesting because my chose teaching focus is kindergarten. I have found in my internship experience with kindergarten students there are a lot of challenges with using computers. But i am relieved to learn from this article that children at any age can learn any subject as long as we as educators make it easy for our students to understand. Kids are a lot smarter than we as adults think they are. So why can't Kindergarten students learn how to use computers?

This article has given me a new perspective on teaching you children about computers. Computers, "1-Involved all the children.... Many students who were previously intimidated by computers became active, enthusiastic participants. 2-Children had a chance to highlight their interests, strengths, and talents....6-Students could express their artistic sensibilities through photographic experiences such as cropping and laying out the photographs and slide frames....They used the computers as multifaceted tools-not just as video games or typewriters.....8-Students received great satisfaction from their work and expressed enthusiasm in sharing their school lives with their families,who were similarly excited to see what occurred during the school year."

But as the article included in this classroom study their are cons to using computers in a kindergarten classroom that i as an educator am thankful to be aware of. Such as where i choose to place the computers, this can affect my students attention to other activities and lessons i am teaching in my classroom if the computers are not placed properly.

As for what i learned in the power point lessons in class; i learned that power point can be a very effective tool in my classroom if used appropriately, just like any other computer tool. I did find it applicable to my classroom for fun interactive lessons to teach my children about road signs for instance. I can connect all the different signs with pictures to other power points explaining what the sign means and even use my digital camera to take real pictures of those signs and attach games to them to make this a fun interactive. I had fun learning how to create power points even though i have used them for many years. I have never used them to create fun activities in my future classroom. I can even use a power point as a homework assignment for my students and post it on UEN as an interactive as well as allowing the parents to see what their children are learning in my classroom.

Overall, I am learning more and more that as i allow myself to have a "spirit of discovery" with computers that as a whole can be a great resource for me as a teacher in and outside of my classroom. As long as i have the right tools and the right understanding of them i can make learning in my classroom creative, fun, and enjoyable.