Continued Progress...

So this has been another week filled with progress both in this course and in my classroom. I received another response from a teacher in New Orleans from epals. I posted a thread asking for teachers to explain ways they are using technology in their classroom to get their students more involved. The response I received was from a 4th grade teacher who is getting ready to have her students read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. She is interested in using skype to have her students teach my class about the stories and the activities they are doing in the class. She also suggested that maybe my students could also participate in some of the activities as well! I am very excited to see where this goes!

I was also able to make connections at the ETTC workshop last weekend, with a company who works with SMARTproducts. I currently have a SMARTboard in my classroom but our school is interested in getting SMARTtables as well. I was able to give my administrators this information and it looks pretty good for us to purchase a few of these tables. This will be another exciting, interactive way for my students to learn!

Through both the interactions on epals and in my classroom, I have a few exciting ideas for my PLT paper! So far...so good! :)

Making New Connections..

In the past two weeks, I've been able to make two successful connections with teachers through epals.  The first teacher teaches Kindergarten in Kenya and would like to have our classes communicate through snail mail. The second teacher is also a Kindergarten teacher but in Canada. In addition to having our students communicate, the teacher in Canada is also interested in sharing ways that she uses technology in her classroom and I will do the same. It will be very interesting if both of these opportunities work out, so my students have the chance to see how they can communicate with others through real mail and also through virtual communication as well! 

In addition to making global connections, I am also very excited to have made connections with teachers right in my own school! I have been able to teach a few of the teachers in my school about different types of technology they can use in their classroom. It was a relief to receive the willingness and excitement they shared when I explained these tools. Some of the tools included using cameras and webcams to record fluency and other reading patterns, edmodo & epals to communicate with other teachers, and various websites that had different activities they could use on their SMARTboard or MIMIO boards. 

I am excited to see where all of these new connections take us.... :)  STAY TUNED!  

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