I haven't blogged in 4 months!!

So, I haven't blogged in 4 months because school is over. I've finally convocated and I'm starting my new life without school. It's a weird concept. I don't remember my life without school, so it's something i really have to get used to.

On another note, I'm getting a puppy today!! That's her... her name is Sophie. I just thought I should share!

Tapped In

This Saturday I went to the Religious Educators forum on the Tapped In website. I thought that the whole experience was fantastic. Not only was it informative, but it was really neat to be able to talk to other people about religious education and share resources. I intend on teaching in the Catholic school system and so this was a great way to talk to and learn about other people teaching religious education around the world. There weren't too many of us present at the session, but just enough to have a good conversation.

Blue's Clues Preschool Learning System

This game came with 2 CDs and one DVD. In the beginning, we were unsuccessful at getting the actual software to load on our computer, but we DID get the Reader Rabbit DVD to play. This DVD had an educational game attached to it that Megan and I found to be very interactive with fantastic instructions and 2 levels of difficulty. The video was about an alphabet race. The animals in the movie were all making different vehicles, all of which represented different letters of the alphabet. This game directly related to the movie, and has the kids driving the capital letter cars into their correct parking spot (putting the alphabet in order). Before the game starts, they review the letters. They also have the alphabet on the top for quick reference. The game has great graphics, and as we stated above, easy to follow, thorough instructions. Another thing we liked about the game was that when the letters were driving to their spot, they make the sound of the letter. This is great for phonemic awareness.

Some downfalls we found with the video were that it was definitely American (saying 'Zee' instead of 'Zed'). Also, the DVD didn't have any trace of Blue or Steve from Blue's Clues. It was all unknown animal characters. If the software showcases Blue's Clues we thought that perhaps the DVD should as well.

After trying it out on the PC, we got the software to load. We played Blue's Clues ABC Time. The software showcased Blue and Steve. We thought this was good, because the DVD did not. This software focused on rhyming words.

One of the words was "aardvark." We felt this was a little advanced, considering they are 3-5 year olds. In all honesty, Megan and I didn't even know what an aardvark was. Thank goodness for the pictures that accompanied the word! (In case you live in a box like Megan and I, an aardvark is a rat-like, ant-eater animal).

The game also focused on the alphabet. There was lots of repetition, which we felt was a great for pre-school children.

Those were our findings! Enjoy!

Children's Technology Review

It's been a really long time since I've actually blogged. I was searching on the internet and I found a fantastic website called Children's Technology Review. They claim that they have "Unbiased reviews, by educators, of commercial interactive media products for ages birth to 15." While looking at the website, I realized that they have a lot of good resources for teachers and students. They even break everything down into age groups.

In order to view the whole magazine (online) you must be a subscriber. It's $96 to subscribe to it electronically (sent as a PDF file) and $144 to subscribe to it paper AND electronically.

Here's a quote from the website to give you an idea of what types of things the magazine includes : "The April issue was sent last night to subscribers as a PDF, with 67 new reviews, 167 links (in the PDF version), a first look at Disney's new MMOG (Pirates of the Caribbean) and a LittleClickers column called Amazing Flowers, to help celebrate spring."

As a teacher, I think this is a great resource to keep yourself up to date on the latest up and coming technology for your students. It also gives you great web resources. This month, for example, they gave a list of resources and online handouts about trees (probably because Earth Day is on the 22nd).

I have posted the link above! Take a look and enjoy!

SLOTHS! haha

too cute...

St. Patrick's Day rules!

Yay, St. Patrick's Day!

Tech Task #7 - podcasts

Today we learned about podcasts. I listened to a podcast by some children in East Vincent, Pennsylvania. These kids were doing a newscast about their home town. They gave me information about their location, climate, and many other things. I think this would be a great project to do for social studies in grade 2 (communities). I think this would give students an opportunity to feel like they're doing something important - especially if it will be shared on the internet for the whole world. They could have their parents, grandparents and family listen at home. I just think it would give them a sense of importance. I think it's fantastic! Click here to listen to the students from East Vincent, Pennsylvania.

Tech Task #6

Today I learned all about Hot Potatoes... it was actually really neat. You have the option of
making crossword puzzles, matching games... etc etc. I believe the hardware is free, and it's a great tool for teachers to make online activities for students to use. Click here to view my Hot Potatoes site all about cells. I would use this in a grade 5 classroom as a review or activity.

Crazy stuffed animals causing children to online gamble?

I was reading the paper on Saturday morning, and I came across an article called "Cute, stuffed animals draw young children onto the Web." This automatically drew my attention, and I was surprised to find out that there is a new toy on the market. This toy is called a WebKinz, and what they are are stuffed animals that come with a secret code that you register on the WebKinz site. From there, you receive $2000 in KinzCash to spend on your pet's room. They can also spend this money on food, etc. Kids are told to go on the site every day to keep their pet happy.

To be honest, I think it's kind of ridiculous, but I can see how kids would be drawn to it. It's the same idea as a Tamagotchi, which I had when I was a kid, only on a larger scale. WebKinz can interact with each other. Take a look and tell me what you think. I have the link for the LeaderPost article and the WebKinz website. If you click on "Take A Tour," it gives you a virtual tour of this new phenomenon.

LeaderPost Article
WebKinz Website

How I feel about technology sometimes...

telecollaborative projects

This telecollaborative project is all about math from grades k-12. The intent of the project was to provide motivation for students to use computer technology while increasing problem-solving strategies and communications skills.

The project has links to MS word documents for different grades and age groups (k-3, 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12).

I think that the project would be fantastic for kids to use in the classroom in regards to problem solving. You could give the students the link and specific problems to work on in partners, or on their own.

http://mathforum.org/mathmagic/

Bonjour!

First of all, let me just say it's disgusting outside... I'm not overly impressed with the weather - but I guess it can only get better!

Secondly, I've been thinking about technology and how I use it in my everyday life without even really thinking about it. My digital clock blares the radio at me every morning, I turn on my iRythm and I hop in the shower. Technology consumes me. I can't say that I could live without it at this point, because I know I probably couldn't. What would I do? I know I've probably posed this issue before but the more I think about it, the more it amazes me.

It's been a while...

So, reading week is over... I'm kinda sad about it, but at the same time, it was a good time to relax and I'm now ready to finish the rest of the semester.

This week, Megan, Ryan and I went to the science centre. It was tons o' fun! It's been a long time since I've been there with time to just have fun. To top it off, they opened the spinny thing. I'm really not sure what it's called... but you go inside and then your centre of gravity spins you. It was great. I have pictures which I will share with you! :)

Look what I did!

It's pretty... I'm not really sure what effect I used, but I thought it was pretty. Yay, technology!

By the way...

I forgot to say it... but happy belated valentine's day everyone!

I feel awful...

I feel terrible because I've had nothing to blog about for the past little while... I don't feel inspired. that reminds me of the Gwen Stefani video for "What You Waiting For." If you listen carefully at the beginning, she's talking about being inspired for her album... I just think it's funny. I have provided it for you... enjoy! :)

Darn... double darn!

So it turns out that the "Massive Hair Wig Out" that Alec showed us last week is, indeed, fake. The ladies were doing publicity all over the place in the States last week. They were doing the video for one of those Sunsilk: Get Hairapy commercials to show how awful it really is to have bad hair. I don't know about any of you, but I was kind of disappointed. Yes, it sucks that she could have potentially cut all of her hair off on her wedding day, but it was entertaining, and now finding out that it wasn't actually real makes it not-so-entertaining. Does that make me a bad person? lol

Tyra Banks on body image...

this is in response to heather's blog about body image. As i was watching entertainment tonight last night (i know... it's crap tv, but i love it!), Tyra Banks was on a rant about body image and how the tabloids were exploiting her as fat. I can't find a video of it, but here's the link to the entertainment tonight website featuring the story. i thought it was very interesting.

http://www.etonline.com/tv/spotlight/38597/index.html

*ambiance*

So, I had mentioned that I was at a concert this weekend, and I thought this was kind of cool. I know a lot of you might know this, but now instead of lighters during a slower song, a lot of people use cell phones. This is the whole crowd with their cell phones in the air (and a couple of lighters for those in the dark ages) - neat, eh?

long time...

So I haven't blogged in a long time... and I feel bad about it. The thing is, I haven't really had any inspiration... until this weekend. I was at a concert in Saskatoon, and as I was standing in the crowd, I had an eye-0pening experience. First of all, as people were walking around (myself included) they were text messaging, looking for people in the crowd. It was the most convenient way to get a hold of someone. Then, the concert starts and the lights are flashing, graphics going across the screen - all thanks to technology. Where would my life be without it? Where would society be?

Yesterday, I went to visit my uncle in the hospital. He's very sick with cancer, and isn't expected to make it through the week. But... he's been living with cancer for the past 3 years. He's gone on trips to Europe and Aruba, and enjoyed time with his family. Without the modern technology, he wouldn't have been able to do all of those things that he cherished so much. What would happen if technology was gone tomorrow? Do you think that we, as a society, could survive? I honestly don't think we could. Most of us couldn't grow the food we needed or function without a stove or a microwave.

Just some thoughts I had over the weekend...

My bro the whiz kid...

I've realized today just how often I talk about my brother, but oh well! I honestly think he's a technology whiz-kid!

Anyway, when I got home from school today he yelled, "Hey Lindz! Come check this out!" It was a flash he had made for his CPT class at Miller High School. He's been asked to enter it into a film animation competition within the Catholic school system. I would love to be able to do something like this... and I'm sure I could teach myself but he just has such a knack for it. I'm going to post the link to it. Tell me what you think, and if you would ever dream of doing something like this. Let me add that he created the whole flash by hand, including making the lips move. I thought it was pretty dang cool! Then again, I'm kinda biased because he's my little brother...

http://www.freewebs.com/masonrules01/myflashpolkarama.htm

Technology! :)

Not only has technology become imperative for us as classroom teachers, but I've been noticing it more and more in my own university classes this semester! It's like all of a sudden all of the profs in the faculty of education have jumped on the technology bandwagon. In 3 out of my 5 classes, we are blogging for marks (not that I mind, but still). This is giving me much-needed experience in something I've never done before.

For me, this poses a question. I realize that technology is the way of the future, but how long do you think it will be before almost all students are coming with a lap top to school instead of pen and paper? Do you think that soon it'll be more important for students to have 100 words per minute than neat and legible printing and handwriting? I'm not sure. If that's the case though, what does this mean for us as teachers? For all you early-elementary teachers, will we stop teaching it? Just a thought...

So... as I'm writing this, my brother walks into the room and asks, "Whatcha doin'?" I told him what I was writing about, and he told me about an article he just read from the Toronto Star (why my 15-year-old brother is reading the Toronto Star from Regina is beyond me, but whatever). Here's the link... it's quite interesting and kind of answers my questions that I posed above. Read it, nonetheless and tell me what you think!

http://www.buffalo.edu/news/pdf/December06/TorontoStarSrihariHandwriting.pdf

Later Gators,
Lindsey

Booooo-urns

This weekend sucks... just thought I'd let everyone know. Then again, it's only Saturday, so things could look up from here. Here's hoping!

Do you know what I forgot about? Homework... it just keeps piling up. After not being at the university for almost a year (April to January) you kind of forget, you know?! I know you all know what I'm talking about!

Neat!

During my pre-internship, my co-op teacher used podcasts in his classroom - I had no idea what they were, and I still don't. I said in my "Tech Task 1 - About Me" that I feel technologically literate, but as we continue to work in this class (even though there's only been 2 days of class) I've come to realize that there's so much that I still have to learn. It's kind of a relief actually - this will be one of those classes that I will actually find beneficial - YAY!

I would also like to respond to Megan Schlechter's blog. Some of you may not have read it, but basically what she said is that technology is super-fantastic, but it can be very expensive and not-so-practical for the average Joe. For example, having ring tones and games on your cell is lots of fun, but I'm far too cheap to purchase them. My brother asks me every time he borrows my phone why I haven't downloaded any games and the simple answer is that if I started, I wouldn't stop and my phone bill would be through the roof. As a student, that's just not practical - just saying. Tell me what you think!

There's a first time for everything!

So... this is my very first blog ever! I'm Lindsey, a 21-year-old Education student at the University of Regina. I intend for this to be fun... interesting... humourous. It should be all of the above. If you have any interesting/funny websites, please let me know and I'll add them ASAP. Thanks, y'all!