Week Nine

Making a classroom news letter was pretty simple to do. The templates made an easy starting point and still allowed you to change it to make the newsletter your own. This assignment allowed me to be very creative and at the same time gave me a head start on something I can actually use in a future classroom! I really liked this assignment and think that it was one of the most beneficial things for us to learn. Another thing we did this week was make a concept map using the website provided. This website was very simple to use. I don't really like the idea of doing a concept map online because I feeling like this is something the students should actively create in class with a class discussion. This is a good way for students to brainstorm ideas. These assignments were both good ways to facilitate and inspire student learning. Making a news letter requires you to be artistically creative and the concept map requires creative thinking. The news letter also followed the standard: engage in professional development and leadership. You could also make these news letters for coworkers or groups that you may be a part of.

Week Eight

This week we learned how to make a podcast. I found it much easier to make the podcast on our own versus with our groups. Doing it on my own seemed to run much smoother since the majority of the podcast I was able to do with one recording session. This made it easier because not much editing was required. I feel that using a podcast in my area of concentration would be a little hard since both subjects, math and science, are very visual. I could however incorporate podcasts into the classroom if I wanted to make daily announcements or reminders for the students to be able to refer back to. This weeks assignment followed a few standards. I was able to design and develop a digital age learning experience. Using a podcast is a good way to incorporate digital learning however I feel that it is not the most effective way to teach young kids. This assignment could also facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity. If the student were to make their own podcast they would be able to learn a new tool and at the same time be creative with choosing a topic for their podcasts.