Teacher connecting with others

Well this has been quite the learning journey for me! I have learned so much in our LIBE477 course and will continue to use my new knowledge and skills that I have obtained in my everyday teaching. When I started this course I was not the biggest advocate and user of technology in my primary classroom. I had concerns about the amount of screen time children these days are exposed to and also felt that I, as the educator, didn’t know much about educational apps nor felt confident in using them alone in my classroom. I had only ever used educational apps on the iPads when other supports were in the room. For example, I have used the iPads with our big buddy class to do coding or create research presentations but that was not very often at all. I am lucky to have a SmartBoard in my room but I knew I was not using it to its full potential. I use it as an interactive whiteboard, to play video clips, and use some of the manipulative and image features for math lessons. I knew ther...

Image retrieved from freetech4teachers.com           Image retrieved from pinterest.com For my final vision project I have been thinking about creating a classroom website. I have been teaching for the last five years and this has always been a goal for me but I have never seemed to find the time or put it on my priority list. However, after this class, I have realized the benefits of teacher blogs as a way to share with other teachers but also to connect with parents. Therefore, I think my audience for this Vision Project will be my current parents as well as the primary teachers on my staff. I am hoping the teachers may get some good ideas for lessons from my blog or website and the parents will get a better snapshot of their child’s learning and activities we do throughout the week. I currently send weekly email updates to my parents but I could transfer that communication to a class blog or website. My only concern is...