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 emaze.com Well, I have decided to create a classroom website instead of a blog for my final vision project. After some reflection on which platform is better, and with the help and advice of some of my teacher friends, I opted for a site that is private and only the members you add can view it. I decided to choose Shutterfly Share Sites as my website platform. I also like how websites have pages or tabs to organize different categories or content information. https://www.shutterfly.com/classroom-share/ It is interesting the way I came to this decision. I even set up an online survey that I posted last week to my blog. I also shared this survey on Facebook, and tagged teacher friends with the link, in order to get their opinion. Many of them use Weebly or Wordpress but those are all open sites. Then I remembered a previous blog post I had written about a teacher friend from last year who had shown me Shutterfly Class Share. It is...

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...

In the last few weeks we have researched and discussed some interesting topics about 21 st century learning, information literacy, and reading cultures. I have also grown in my knowledge and skill set as a blogger. I have learned how to imbed videos, hyperlink webpages, label key words, and comment on others’ pages. Some key takeaways I have learned after all this exploration and learning is to take risks and try something new every week; be it a reading initiative, technology app, or manageable on-going professional development. “If you never make mistakes, then you have never tried something new”.                                                             ...

  Image retrieved from cia.gov           Image retrieved from gotimorleste.com   The developing country I chose to focus on is Timor-Leste. It is an under-developed island off Indonesia and has both Portuguese and Indonesian influences before winning independence from these nations in 2002. A friend of mine, who is a librarian in New Zealand, spent a year in Timor-Leste supporting their library initiatives through VSA, a volunteer organization.     Picture of my friend, Aubrey From what I can gather, all libraries in Timor-Leste are non-government run. Here is a list of the libraries based on type: Public Libraries Biblioteka Ermera - opened in 2011 Biblioteca Centro Comunidade Maliana - established in 2002 Haburas Moris Atauro Island Library - Xanana Gusmao Reading Room - established in 2000 Balibo Community Learning Center - opened in 2003 (plans to...