Computer labs......

This past week of subbing has been crazy!! Every time I have been teaching in the middle school I have either been in the lab or had portable lab in the classroom.  I thought it would be more difficult subbing and having to use all these computers but it's so easy.  There were some bumps a long the way like plugging it into the wrong internet hookup or students having trouble not being able to load the website, but those were all easy to take care of.  It was a fun learning experiences.

One activity that the seventh graders did was a website online about sushi.  They had to go to this website and find where all the different parts of sushi came from.  The seventh graders thought that was boring but then when they were done with all of the information part they were able to make their own sushi but it had to be made with stuff from the midwest.  I thought it was interesting and they had a great time with it.  You should have seen the things they were creating.  bacon, corn, apples, and all different things.  I probably would never have eaten anything they created but it was interesting to see what they would come up with.  Overall it was a great week.

Blogging in the classroom

So as I have been thinking of ways to use blogging in the classroom.  I have thought of many different ones.
1. You could use it as an update for parents, kind of like an on going news letter but at the same time they could have something for the whole year.
2. They could have pen pals and write to them about different things using a blog.
3. You could use it as a reading book tracker.  Students could write what they thought about a book they read then the teacher cold respond.  It is kind of like they write letter to a teacher but they are on blog and you don't have to carry around a hundred notebooks.
4. Blogs could be used for a science project to describe something they saw.  Then other students could respond to that blog asking questions, describing what they say, and making predictions.

There are so many different things you could use blogs for.  I think they could be used in all different grades.  I also think it would help with typing.  It is something that is a good thing that should be used in the classroom.  I just can't wait to use it!!!

My week.....

So this week has been interesting.  I have been in the math intervention room for the past two days.  It was interesting to see how different teachers taught math and how they used technology.  I was in one class this week that teacher really did a good job of using TPACK.  She used a smart board but it wasn't the center of the lesson like some do.  All she did was open a word document and let students come up and write how they solved a problem on the board.  Students loved this and it seemed really easy to do. As I was standing there watching this I was trying to think of what I would do.  I think that document that they made with all the ways to solve problems would be a good use as a study guide or a hint sheet for students who have a hard time remembering the different ways to solve the problems.

Overall it has been a good week and I can't wait till I can put all my knowledge to work.  I'm getting so many ideas for reading and math I just can't wait to use them.