Reflection

I thought that this project was very beneficial. I think that a book blog would be a great and engaging way for the students to be creative and summarize a book. I know that for me personally I like to type a lot more than I like to write. So this is a great way for me to get my work done, but it is also helping me to better understand technology. I really enjoyed going to the library and picking out the books. It forced me to become more familiar with the library and the librarians. This will be very important when I have a classroom of my own to be able to navigate the local library. I am still not totally comfortable with technology, but I am definitely getting better. I think that incorporating technology is very important because in our world today technology is taking over. It will be crucial that the students are exposed to technology because it is their future. I really enjoyed using the blog. It is so easy to use, and I also enjoy using wordles. There are students that struggle with reading and also writing if you use a wordle or a blog I think they will enjoy their assignments. I have seen many times where some of the slower students have not finished their work and then have to take it home for homework. I think that if they are able to use the computer and use something like a blog or wordle then they will be able to be done faster. Though I really enjoyed blogging and using wordles, I did struggle a little with the windows movie maker. I did not have a microphone so it was difficult for me to figure out how to add text to the story. I did figure it out, but then I had trouble trying to figure out how to upload it. Overall, I think that this project has helped me realize how important children's literature is and technology. I think that incorporating technology will make reading fun for those students who may not love reading. I really am going to try and learn about new types of technology often so that I can become more familiar and so that when I have a classroom of my own I will have many options for the students to chose from.
When I went into the 5th grade classroom I am in I chose to use a book about the White House. They are in fifth grade so they have been studying U.S. History. After reading this book the student will be able to explain why history is important. We first started talking about the United States as a country and some of the historical events that have taken place here. She talked about one of her favorite times in history. Then, we read the book about the White House. After we were done reading it she told me what she liked and what she learned. The White House has so much history itself. The Presidents are just one of the many things that can be talked about using the White House. It is also in Washington D.C. where there are numerous other monuments that have historical significance. This book can open up the door to much of U.S. History which as a 5th grader you learn about. After we talked about various things in the United States history she chose to do a wordle. She loved doing this. She thought that it was so neat that she could do a summary without writing a paragraph. She loved how she could adjust the wordle to make it how she wanted. She knew how to do more things with it than I did, and it was her first time making one. I think that this was a great way for her to incorporate technology into a lesson.