Presentation Tools in MY classroom

In my high school science classroom, Biology OR Chemistry, I will use presentation tools to give my students the overview of the day's plans as well as present information to them. I believe that students can get a lot out of a well put-together presentation of the information. My classroom will not be full of note-taking and lecture, but there will be information with every new section of learning that the students will need to know and a presentation would be a great way to get that information to them.

What do MY students need to know before I introduce computers into the classroom?

Since I am going to be a high school science teacher, biology or chemistry, I think that computers can be integrated into my classroom immediately. There will be some areas that require work or instruction before we are able to use the computers., such as dissections or any sort of chemical activity. Other areas, such as research and video demonstrations of the topic we are on, can be used the moment my students walk into my class.

Twitter in MY Classroom

When I am a teacher, I plan to have a Mr. Garey account. With that account I can tweet out my plans for the week as well as any homework assignment changes. Any specific questions my students have, they can Direct Message me and if it something I think every student may need to know, I can put out a tweet to update them. And as a bonus, I can use this as a coach and update my athletes about practice and workout times.

How can I use social media, both as a teacher and as a student?

Social media can be used to connect and share information with others. As a teacher I can use that to share information with my students such as tweeting my lesson plans every week so that my students can see them. As a student, I can use social media to find out more information on a topic by searching. I also can keep up to date with the newest technology by following an account that gives such information.

Smartboard in MY classroom

I think that having a smart board in my classroom would be great. My favorite use of it is going through notes and activities being able to show how to work out problems. My chemistry teacher in high school used it and showed us how to calculate reactions and how to draw molecule structures and I always thought that would be something I would love to have in my classroom because of how much it helped me.

What is the role of the teacher in the classroom?

How young is TOO young for my students to start blogging?

I believe it is a student by student matter whether they're too young to blog or not. Some students could begin as soon as they learn how to read and write because they just have that want to express themselves. For others, it may take a couple years because they may not have that feeling of wanting to express themselves. As long as a student wants to make a blog and express themselves in that way, I believe it is ok for them to do so. On the other side of that coin, I believe that as long as you still want to express yourself, you can never be too old to blog.

polleverywhere.com

In my high school, the teachers in some classes would pass out "clickers" and they were all synced up  to the same receiver and we had to always get the same one and replace batteries when they're dead.  We would take "Clicker Tests" which were just multiple choice quizzes that the teacher would project onto the board and we would type in the letter corresponding to the answer on our clickers and at the end the teachers would show us how we all did. Instead, I could use the poll everywhere to do the same thing without the hassle of purchasing, passing out, and maintaining the clickers.

Eureka!!

In my High School Chemistry, I used to have trouble with figuring out how atoms fit together in molecules and what types of bonds and shapes they created. But then one day my teacher brought out the Molecular Model Sets and when I could actually put the molecules together in my hand, I was getting every molecule right no problem. Being able to actually put them together in my hands made it so much easier and helped me visualize it. Building molecules is now one of my stronger skills in my chemistry classes, even in college. This was one of my best "AHA!" moments that has helped me big time in all my classes and it was all because I had to be able to see and create to learn.

QR Codes in MY Classroom

I feel like I can easily use QR Codes in a high school science classroom. One way would be to add QR Codes onto homework assignments that could direct my students to the section of the notes on the slideshow that applies to that section of homework. Another way would be to add a QR Code to the syllabus on the first day of class to make Syllabus Day more interesting than it normally is. There are tons of other uses for QR Codes that I will be able to discover!

20% Project

For my 20% project, I would like to do something with GarageBand because I like music a lot and I enjoy using that app. I don't think projects are something that we HAVE to do, I believe that is an assignment. Therefore, I want this project to be something I really enjoy doing and I know creating a song on GarageBand would be something I would spend free time on, not just my 20% of my class time.