Cigar Boxes

This week in class, we had a presenter come in and talk about the cigar box project he did with his grade seven's. I thought the whole project was really amazing and was couldn't believe how well the student's outcomes were. Not only was their work amazing, but I think the whole project was something that probably really engaged the students, taught them so much in so many different subject areas and is a project that they will never forget. I think the outcome of the student's work is probably something that they would be very proud of too.
One idea that I REALLY loved was the idea of using podcasting for self-assessment. Last year, I did one on one interviews with each student as part of assessment in science, but if I had taught the students how to use podcasting, not only would they be using technology as a form of assessment, but it would have been a lot less time consuming for me. It also really made a difference in the assessment to hear the student explain why they did what they did. I also think for most students, especially younger students who struggle to write a couple sentences, this would be so much more effective.

Hi. This is my first blog. I decided to take this technology course because I think technology is so important for a teacher know and I think it is one think that future employers will be looking for on my resume. In my year on placement, my teacher had a smartboard in her classroom and we used it all the time. My teacher however, was not very technologically advanced, but luckily for her, her students were, so they would set up the smartboard and turn it off and help her with any problems. This semester, my teacher knew very little about smartboard, but attempted to use it since the principal was pushing that, but we never got very far with it and unfortunately I had forgotten a lot of what I had learned the year before about smartboard. So smartboard is definately something I would like to be a lot more comfortable with, because I think it is something that will help me stand out when looking for a job.
I also think it is important to have a good grasp on technology because I have noticed that the teachers who do know a lot about technology and integrate it into the curriculum get the new technology in their class. It's not the older teachers who are getting smartboards, it's the teachers who know the most about technology and the teachers who are most willing to use it in their classroom.
I would also be interested in learning ways to display students work and ways to let parents know what my students are doing in the classroom through technology. Something like a web page or a blog would also be a good way to let parents respond to me and what we have been learning.