21 February - Podcast

I have never really listened to a Podcast, but I do know what one is. In my Ed Psych class last semester Dr. Cox use to record our class and upload the Podcast of our class for any students that missed the class, but I never listened to one that we did. It was fun learning how to make one; I do not have a phone or a recording device but if I did I would totally do this for my classes. I think that you could use the Podcast to put up announcements, or record anything important that I would want my classes to be able to re-listen to. I really felt like other then the e-mailing drama that we had the rest of the assignment I was able to do without any problems. When you said that you would be pulling off of us a little bit this week I was a little worried, but I was totally able to make a text box and create a link.

I feel that I am learning more in this class then I am in any of my other classes. I love this class. I still am blown away with the fact that I have the ability to link and make pretty links. I also have found that I love making a website. I am totally going to have a class website. There is so much you can do and put up for your students. I worried that it would not be a good idea because some students may not have access to the internet, but I have found that even if they do not have access at home they have it at school or at friends’ homes. It was also nice to have an easy assignment this week, the UEN assignment last week was a great assignment, but I feel like I was able to do this one without stressing. Thank you for teaching me so much.

14 January - UEN

The most obvious way that I would use the UEN website is by using it to know my core curriculum. I have already used this site for that reason for my methods and curriculum class. I have found that out of the three different websites that I use to find my core curriculum I like the layout of UEN’s the most. I like how they put right on the core curriculum page the links for lesson plans and other links to resources that you can use to go along with that section of the core. They have already mapped it out for you. Although, I have already used this website, I did not realize that there were lesson plans on here; I looked at a couple of the lesson plans and there are some good ones that I could modify and use. I found the Death Records lesson plan to be one that I will use in my classroom. The great part about that lesson plan is that you could also use the students’ family death records and connect the history to them personally. I think that it is important to connect history to the students as often as you can.

Pioneer Library is great. There are so many resources that you can link to from there. I did not know about Pioneer Library until we did this assignment and it is definitely something I will be using in the classroom. I love that you can link to EBSCO Host from there; I will be having my students use EBSCO Host. I believe that as a history teacher it is my responsibility to teach my students how to research and write papers. I will use the EBSCO Host link and help my students find sources that are not internet websites. SIRS is another resource that would be great for students because it allows you to let them browse without worrying about them getting onto bad websites; plus the sites on SIRS are research and curriculum based.

I found some great videos on the eMedia page. I am actually using one of the documentary videos I found for an assignment in another class. There were several videos in the Government section that I would most definitely use if I was teaching a Government class. There are several interactive that I would use in my classroom. There are several geography interactive that I would use if I taught geography and even a few that I would use if I did not teach geography but wanted my students to know the areas. Not only are there Geography Quiz interactive but they also have interactive that quiz the students on the country’s capitals, global trends and trade. I also like the Ancient Civilizations section. I would have my students to the one for Rome.

I really loved the Wordle. I have been back several times and have made different wordles’ for different things. If I have a classroom website I will definitely have a wordle on my site. I also like that I could put in different documents from history and see what words from the document stand out. I also really liked the culture grams. I have heard people talk about using them but I have never used them. I really like the culture grams and would have my students to and use culture grams. This is another feature that I will definitely use from the Pioneer library. There are some great website links from UEN that I would have my students use. Think-Read-Write is a website that I would have my students use; I feel that as a history teacher I need to teach my students the importance of writing and how to write good essays and papers. This is a resource that I could use to help me do that.

7 January - Google 2

Making the website has been amazing! I found that I have learned so much by doing this assignment. I still am floored by the fact that I can make links. I have not used any new abilities in making the website but I did not know you could even make the websites. I think Google Sites would be great for my class room. I have observed several classes in my UVU Education Program experience and all three of them had either a class website or a class blog. I know how to use blogger and have had a blog for a couple of years; I always assumed that I would do a class blog because I had no idea how to go about doing a class website. Now I have a few choices. I love that I can divide the website into pages. I love that I can have a page for announcements. I also love that I was able to upload the calendar on to the class website. I just feel like there is so much I could do with a class website; I could even upload any worksheets or reading guides that I hand out so if my students lose their worksheet they can print one off instead of me having to re-give them one.