Interactive Crossword Puzzle

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Happy Birthday

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Voki For My Website

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My Scrapblog Photo

Here is the first photo I created using Scrapblog!

Photobucket & Flickr ICP Project

I thought this project was a great way to end the course. It enabled us to incorporate many the different elements we learned throughout the duration of the course in one culminating project. I feel that I gained a lot while creating this project. I really like to take photos as a hobby. I also try to incorporate photo and video use in the classroom with my students. Last year, I created a video yearbook for my classroom. All throughout the year, I captured photographs and videos of our class activities and special events our class participated in. At the end of the year, I created a video album and gave each student a copy. They absolutely loved it and so did the parents. This part of why I choose to research Photobucket and Flickr for my ICP. I really enjoyed learning about both. I will probably use Photobucket more than Flickr but I am glad to have learned about such great photo/video resources that are available online.

In addition to learning about these two sites, I was also immensely interested in the Jing software I used to create the tutorials in my PPT. I feel as though I really learned about 3 concepts. Jing was so easy to use. I definitely plan on using this tool in my classroom. I think it is a great tool to help facilitate instruction. Overall, I feel as though I learned quite a bit from completing this assignment.

Newsletter Assignment

I used Microsoft Publisher to create this newsletter. I didn't even realize this program was on my computer. It seems like a really nice feature to have at your disposal. It was very easy to simply pick out the template and edit the images and text. I also liked the fact that you can alter the layout and design of the templates to accommodate the structure of your writing. When I create future newsletters, I think I'm going to make them several pages long and have different sections for each subject area.

I think newsletters are a great way for teachers to communicate with parents. This is one of the supplemental tools teachers can utilize to keep parents up to date in regards to the latest happenings in the classroom. It is very important for teachers to maintain open communication with the parents of their students. Communication can provide teachers with useful information that can help provide more individualized instruction for students. Effective communication with parents can also set the tone for successful behavior management. As a teacher, I created a daily progress report template that I use to communicate on a daily basis with each of my student's parents. Thus, the parents of all my students know exactly how their child is doing (academically and behaviorally) every single day their child has been in my classroom. I am a huge proponent of communicating with parents. Most parents recognize the amount of time and effort it takes to complete those daily logs and they really appreciate the feedback. I have also found that because I have such good communication with the parents, students are less likely to misbehave. In addition to having communication logs with parents, I also have them with the school counselor. I also created a template where I can express my academic and behavior concerns with students who receive counseling services. Once the session is completed, the counselor provides me with feedback from the outcome of the session.

One tool that I really want to try to incorporate as a means of communication with parents is through Easy Grade Pro or Gradekeeper. I think this would be a great way to stay in communication with parents. Even though I already do this through the template I created, I think it would be easier for me if I could just post the information on line while subsequently having the information in my grade book. I also want to make a class website or wiki. I want students to be able to review videos, PPT's, and online games we've used in class at home as well in an efficient manner.