Can't believe this class is halfway finished! It's funny because when I started I really felt that I had an average to above average handle on educational technology, and I've found that I was only touching the surface. Many of the applications and tools I've come across in the last 4 weeks will not only make my life easier (big plus!) but will definitely (when added appropriately) enhance the experience and understanding of my students.
In regards to this week, I enjoyed revisiting simulations I've used in the past and re-evaluating their effectiveness as well as finding new ones with the assistance of my classmates. Since we have access to Smartboards in our rooms, simulations are a really great way to add to a lesson. What I've struggled with in the past though is that students sometimes have trouble with the directions or just click through buttons without trying to understand what they are doing. This led me to do many of the simulations in class as a group which took away from the individual investigative approach to the simulations. Therefore, I need better structure for them in the future.
While I find Google Earth fun to play around on, I'm not sure if I would actually incorporate it into my lessons. I'm having trouble coming up with useful ways to incorporate it into Biology particularly because we remove the Ecology sections because we have an Environmental Science class that students take in 9th grade. If I end up teaching a section of Environmental again next year (small chance), I think it would be something that I could utilize. We are currently incorporating GIS software into our Environmental curriculum and Google Earth could be a good supplement to that. Biology teachers, what ways are you thinking about incorporating Google Earth??
My continually developing PLN has provided me with many new and interesting resources this week. I spent a few days this week trying to organize all the new information that I'm taking in and after making headway on that I feel a little less scatterbrained. My big fear is that I'll learn about all these new, interesting resources over the summer when I have time and then either forget about them when school gets busy or not remember where to find them. How are others organizing all this information?
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I created a folder for this class in my bookmarks list. It has all the website, simulations, and blogs that I have been using the past few weeks. Once this class is over and I have more time, I will go through each one and figure out where exactly in my lesson plans I will include them. Right now though, it is just a mass amount of websites that aren't really organized yet. Soon though!!
ReplyDeleteI spent the weekend working on a new website/wiki for the fall. I made one page called Teacher Resources and added all my sites on it. Now I have access to them as well as my colleagues.
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