Wiki in the classroom

http://socialstudiesfamily.wikispaces.com/

Wiki used within the classroom can be very beneficial to students and teachers alike. It has endless possibilities with which students and teachers can use. Most dominant however, is the group work which students can work on using wiki. Also very important is that the teacher can monitor students using the wiki if she is the administrator of the page.

The piece produced was on the Social Studies subject on the Family.
Challenges faced were minimal. However, they were gotten over with "tampering".

Video Reflection

A video was produced using the Social Studies topic littering.
The challenges when producing this video were few. However it was very difficult to save the video in order to upload it to the blog. With further instruction from fellow classmates, that problem was resolved.
This piece could have been improved by the use of a professional video being attached. However, my personal views are that students would respond to videos made locally, within the group or made by the teacher.

Using Videos within the classroom

The video created was based on littering and tourism in the Social Studies lesson. My group members and I realized that littering is becoming a major problem within Antigua and Barbuda especially with the young people of the nation. With tourism being the state's main industry, it is essential that persons are aware of the negative impacts which littering may impose on the state's aesthetics as well as tourism. Thus, in the video, littering is highlighted.

Students are inspired by the use of technology when used in the classroom context. Lessons containing videos may inspire them as it would be a new approach to the content. These videos can be used to reinforce a previous lesson taught or it may be used as an introduction to the lesson as it would grasp the attention of the students. Also, students may use movie maker to present group work. This would actually excite and motivate the students into working together on the project.

Blog Reflection- Podcast

The podcast produced was one of the use of drugs within the schools.

The piece will be utilized within the Social Studies classroom to inform the students on the effects of illegal drugs on the individual student and the type of drugs that are used within the student body.

Challenges faced were few, however it was difficult to reach all of the participants at the same time. It was resolved by actually going to the students' houses to receive the information needed.

The piece could be improved by eliminating some of the scratches that are evident in the raw data. By using the microphone built in the computer itself, there would be less of a scratch since the interruption would not have been present.

Using Podcast as a teaching tool- Blog post

Podcast is an essential teaching- learning tool because for one, it captures and holds the attention of students. In a world that is rapidly becoming technological, it is important for the teacher to hold their students' attention. Gone are the days of books and simple chalk and talk teaching. Now teachers must be aware of the interests of their students and should incorporate them within the classroom. It would also aid greatly in developing the intellect of the interpersonal learner, because podcast allows for interaction with peers. 

The podcast created by my group members and I dealt with the use of illegal drugs within the schools. It is no rocket science to know that students utilize illegal drugs. However, some students and teachers may not be aware of the possible side effects. The podcast created included two teachers and two students who dealt with the issues at hand. 

Two ways in which a podcast can be utilized within the classroom setting are:

• the teacher may introduce podcast to his/ her students to interact with their peers and to keep their attention span at an all time high. For example with a subject that deals with society such as Social Studies, the teacher may ask the students to create a podcast that deals with a particular issue. This in essence would excite and motivate the students to learn
• when preparing at a presentation for a lesson, the teacher, instead of using the basic powerpoint, the teacher could then carry out interviews and create a podcast. this would be interesting and entertaining to the students and they would be left to wonder "what next can my teacher do? I really look forward to class" and this is the kind of interest we as teachers would like to see within our students.

    

Social Studies Visual Learning Tool

This handout on Social Studies: family genealogy will benefit the students as it is a guide to them fully understanding what exactly a family tree should look like and what a family tree entails. Indeed, a classroom has different types of learners. In this instance, the teacher would be able to incorporate the visual and tactile learners' needs within the lesson. The handout will be a follow up on the content that will be given at the end of the lesson. Following will be a blank sheet of the same handout that the students would take home to create their own personalized family tree. This would include for them to do research on their own family thus they would have an even greater understanding of the family genealogy.
Challenges were very few when it came to this topic and visual learning tool. This steamed from prior knowledge and the group members' assistance of the topic and how to use Microsoft word processing.

Why is it important for teachers to adequately prepare for each lesson?

1. 1.      Why is it important for teachers to adequately prepare for each lesson?
   It is important for teachers to adequately plan for each lesson so that he/ she will always know what comes next thus, they would not be easily side-tracked. You cannot get anywhere unless you know exactly where you’re going. In light of this, your expectations of what you intend the students to learn and the objectives at the end of the lesson are clear. You have a clear cut idea of what the student is capable of learning and as the teacher he/ she should plan for each intended lesson.
   2.      Why do you think every educator should write lesson plans even though you may have taught the lesson many times over?
   Every educator should write lesson plans even though you may have taught the lesson many times over because the teacher could use many approaches to the same material and it needs to be recorded for future reference. Also, it is crucial for the teacher to know what was taught and how it was taught at a later date. 

Welcome to blogging in English!

Let me formally welcome you to the new technological method of learning English. I assure you that using this method will intrigue your minds and will enable us to bring English alive!
Our first topic this semester will be reading comprehension. It is a crucial skill to entail not only for English but also for all other subject areas.
Please follow the link which will further give you a very structural overview of reading comprehension. Come prepared for a small in class activity that will further prepare you for the following lesson.
I look forward to working witrh you all as we seek to bring English alive!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMIQv7yPlkI

Using Technology when teaching English

A pleasant good day to all,
Welcome to Erica Francis' blog where the main focus is on Technology in Education within the subject area of English.Within this blog, techniques on how to utilize technology in the classroom will be highlighted. Gone are the days of "Chalk and Talk". The students are becoming techno savvy and teachers should be readily prepared to deal with such a techno savvy generation.

Using blogspot in English , the instructor can then electronically post to the students' advantage as some aspect of the lesson may not have been clear enough for some students or the instructor may not have had the time to fully explain a lesson during class. Blogspot then gives the students as well as the instructor time to catch up on lost time or the opportunity to review what needs to be fully explained.
Thus, through this medium, the instructor may:

• Post overviews of lessons in forms of powerpoint presentations
• with the overviews of the lessons posted there is also a forum where students may review especially for exam periods
• listening comprehensions may be done through the posting of videos from youtube
• remembering that the teaching of language is a second language, video conferencing may be done with other language classes in other schools so that the students may get exposure to the different creole and standard English