Technology+Resources

One of the basic pieces of technology that I use for my classes is an online website that all of my classes can access to find and print off missing assignments, see due dates and see any upcoming events. I started this last year after I got tired of having students loose their work and wanting another copy. So I felt that if I made it available to them, they could take some responsibility on their own and print it off themselves. It has been a great help so far for myself and my students. It is just really difficult and time consuming to set it up and put every single assignment on there. But eventually it will be all done and students will be able to take full advantage of it. You can check it out at: www.mrhockaday.webs.com. Webs.com is a free online website creator. It is pretty simple to set up but like I said before is a little time consuming to get all your documents on there. Once you sign up with webs there are a few tutorials that you can go through and you set it up the way you want with backgrounds, fonts, headings, and much more.

-Tyler Hockaday

I used the technology available in my school, online resources such as videos, web sites subscriptions hard ware resources such as digital cameras, and movie makers, madia player and video clips. All these sources help me to keep my class interesting, fun and yet in task. When I present a video to the students they are able to make connections easier. They enjoy the music from around the word. Also, they have the oportunity to download the song in their IPods. Only half of my students have computers at home; therefore, I provide time in my class to work with technology and be able to learn more about it. One of my major interest is to be able to type, and how to type in other language. I make them to create a story in pictures, where they have to take pictures and then they write the story in the target language (French/Spanish).

-Sandra Acevedo

One of the essential pieces of technology that I use in my class is the White Smart Board. I must admit, I was more excited to use the board than I think my students were. I know that all of my students do not have access to a computer in their homes and most of the computers in my school's computer lab have viruses on them and that prevents my students from completing online assignments. My students and I use this board to it full advantages such as: using the internet to complete assignments, watch instructional vidoes, and to complete class assignment. When I am teaching whole groups this board helps me out greatly because it provides a more ethusiatic way of the students completing the in class assignments and provides for the other students to help out and give feedback when possible.

-Evita Burkhead

I teach technology based courses, so using technology as a resource is like second nature to me. One of the most beneficial tools that I have incorporated into my program has been the use of Moodle. I use Moodle to do practically everything. It is more of a classroom management tool with a variety of abilities. Like Tyler, I use it to post assignment due dates, any worksheets that I use in class I upload to it. I also allow students the ability to access it from home, thus when students are out sick they can still complete their assignments. Any upcoming test dates are posted to it along with sample questions of what to expect. Their vocabulary words are also available on the site. This site has proven to give my students more flexibility with their knowledge, build their self esteem, and more importantly the parents love it as well.

-Debra Sanders