Cell Phones Use

The more research I have done on this topic the more I have become open-minded about it. I am still not fully persuaded for my own classroom but I will think about it. I have read lots of good things about using cell phones in a classroom but as always the bad equals it out. Many articles still call it a distraction in school. I will try to stay open-minded on this issue and maybe one day I will also use cell phones in a classroom. As of right now, I am still not completely sold.

Cell Phones

I'm still iffy on the cell phone use. In one article I found, a school tested it with 8th and 9th graders. It seemed to work well for them because they allowed the cell phones and stressed the importance of what is appropriate. For this school, it worked very well by using video recordings of group activities and then sending it to the teacher for her to review. This sounds like a cool idea but I don't think it would be so easy and work well with elementary school children. I'm slowly buying into the idea but not quite yet.

Cell Phones in the Classroom

The topic I chose to research is the use of cell phones in the classroom. I am not fully convinced this is a good idea. Some ideas seem to work, but I am scared on how you would be able to monitor cell phones to ensure your students were not doing anything inappropriate. The reason most schools do not allow them in the first place is because students have been caught cheating by sending pictures of tests to other students. While researching this topic, I am curious if people have found ways of monitoring cell phone use strictly for the classroom.

PBL Video

The Problem Based Learning video was a lot of fun for me. My group worked very well together and created a fun video. I believe this method of teaching would be great to use in the classroom. I really enjoyed the  demonstration Brandon had our class do at an introduction. We had to plan a trip as a class but in individual groups. Each group had a specific assignment to figure out for this trip. It was interesting to see how many standards were met just from asking a simple question. I believe students learn more by teaching themselves rather than having someone blab to them about something uninteresting. I will try to use the Problem Based Learning method in my own classroom.

Website Creation

I really enjoyed creating my own website using Google Sites. It showed me how to add different features for when I have to create one in my school. I will know how to create a fun and useful website for my students and their parents to use. Many current teachers do not know how to create a website for their classroom and another person updates it for them. I do not want to be one of these teachers and feel more confident that I can do it myself. It is very time consuming, but the final product is definitely worth it.

Google Features

Today's class, we continued talking about the features of Google. I had no idea Google had similar options of Microsoft Office available online. This is much easier if you are working with a group because everyone can change something, rather than getting lost in translation and trying to match everyone's preference. This is also better if the group is not able to meet in person, you can just meet through instant messaging online and the entire group can look at the project. I am a fan of these Google features as well.

Scavenger Hunt

Today, in class, I learned about some features Google has to offer. Google Maps scavenger hunt caught my attention. It seemed like a useful feature for a classroom. You could do so much with this feature. It could work for a Geography lesson, a fun activity for a holiday, really anything. I would recommend using the scavenger hunt, it is easy to use and would be fun for students.