IPADS IN THE CLASSROOM

An Ipad is a portable device, designed as a tablet, that allows owners to access different applications that they find suitable for their personal use. 

The Ipad would be an extremely useful device for teachers to have in their classroom for several different reasons. 

 Ipads can be used as video cameras, audio recorders, and multimedia notebooks of individual students’ creations.They can be used for polls, virtual field trips, and make advanced presentations. Teachers can use these devices to capture the stories of the students within the school and share their creations. 

 

In 21st century learning classrooms, Ipads are great. Most kids these days know how to work an ipad or an iphone before they even enter school, so having these devices as learning tools, helps the students learning process from the get-go 

Learning with ipads allows learning to shift from teacher-centered, to student- centered, which most children thrive on. 

I think that Ipads are going to be the next big thing for schools every where and i hope to someday incorporate these smart devices into my classroom.

Smart Notebook

SMART NOTEBOOK

The Smart Notebook has many tools and features that help you create and teach lessons to your class at a  easier and quicker pace.

The tool that I found was most handy was the activity tool that helps you design activities and games that help you deliver your lesson at a fun way for kids to interact together and with the teacher. 

The one activity I liked was the design of a timeline that kids can come up and put events in chronological order.   

Another tool that I liked was the writing tools. I thought it was neat how you could use different ways of writing that makes your lessons look more lively and creative. 

I think The Smart Notebook is easy and natural to use after a few uses and every teacher should try to incorporate it into their everyday classroom.

Using Google Earth in the Classroom

GOOGLE EARTH

There are many awesome features associated with Google earth that could be helpful in teaching students about the wonders of the earth. 

First, when learning about the sky, clouds, airplanes, planets, astronomy, or the stars they could use the feature titled, Fly to the Sky. While using this feature students will feel like they are actually in the atmosphere using telegraphic images.

Another awesome feature that would be extremely useful while learning about the history of the earth is Historical Imagery. 

Students can look at the earth at almost any time they would like to by using the timeslider. They can see how communities and buildings have evolved over time!

A final cool feature available on Google Earth is the Create a Tour. Teachers could assign students to make a tour of how to get from place to place when learning about directions and communities. Creating a tour is easy and will help students understand better how to navigate the earth.

Telling Time Using Clocks!

Telling time can be fun!

The Ekit I chose to be an assets to the LRC are various types of clocks and books that have to do with clocks and telling time. This ekit would be aimed at teaching students from grade levels kindergarten through second grade. I chose the big analog clock as well as other small clocks that can be used with your hands to move the hands around the clock. I figured this would be fun for kids to be able to move the hands of the clock themselves, while learning how to tell time on an analog clock. 

The books I chose to go along with this ekit are fun as well. Two of them including Time To.. by Bruce McMillan and Time by Basher, are books that show pictures of analog clocks, a hand on each hour, and what goes on at that time during the day. The other book is called A Second is a Hiccup by Hazel Hutchins teaches kids about how long a second, minute, hour, day, week, month, and a year are. All three books are benefical to learning. 

While searching on Discovery Learning I found lots of different songs, powerpoints, and various videos that teach students about time. 

The powerpoint titled, "What Time is It?" seems to be a great idea to put into a lesson plan for children who are learning how to tell time.  Students are able to drag and drop the clock hands to the clock face to show the correct time. Very neat!

I also found a very benefical lesson plan on the web. The URL to this website is:  http://www.fi.edu/time/Journey/JustInTime/lesson1.html

This lesson plan is aimed at focusing on telling time to the hour and introducing the elements of the clock. It also has various activities that you can do with students. One fun example of this is to Play "Time Tic-Tac-Toe." Prepare blank tic-tac-toe grids and duplicate these for the students.  Have students write in times on the hour. Display a clock showing a time. If the student has that time written on his/her game board, he/she may cover it with a marker. The first person to complete a row horizontally, vertically or diagonally wins. This would be a fun game to get all the students involved.

The lesson plan also has vocabulary and worksheets that help to go along with all of this.