Sunday, April 10, 2011

Blog Post # 11

First Graders Using Technology In Mrs Cassidy's Class
Time has surely changed since I was a first grader and that is great! We have children as small as first grade that already hate school. I think if more classes were more like Mrs. Cassidy's classroom more students would be excited about the school day. I love how the student said they still like to write in their books but they like the blogs better. They seem to like the encouragement form family and friends on their blog. I also love the fact that this is already teaching them about internet safety. We have teenagers that only get on facebook, youtube, and other social networks and not on the internet to learn. By giving children access to the internet at an early age they will learn more about what it has to offer and they can balance learning and social. I have to say to hear about first graders blogging really shocked me. Our children are getting smarter through the years and this is outstanding. I do believe that we owe a lot of the credit to the internet. Watching the children make videos was great! This will make the children want to learn so the video will be just right. Skype in the classroom is like a  free field trip to explore new things. I am thankful to the video because I haven't thought about this. Mrs. Cassidy has made me want to go back to first grade and be in her class. I guess instead maybe I will teach first grade and make my class this interesting and more.Way to go Mrs. Cassidy and Dr. Strange for proving just how rewarding technology in the classroom can be.
I loved how Mrs. Cassidy used so many different safety features in her classroom such as not using the students last name and not using the right pictures on the names of the students. This is one of the reasons that I was worried about blogs. I wish she would have been asked about the use of the  nintendo ds in the classroom. I would like to know how she incorporates this into learning other than what the one student said. This is something that I would love to use in the classroom. A child learns better when they are having fun and not realizing that they are studying. I will be looking for more posts from Mrs. Cassidy as well as follow her on you tube.




Computers are powerful tools that provide students with a place to practice what they are learning!





2 comments:

  1. Lara,
    You did a good job explaining what you learned from Mrs. Cassidy's students. I agree with you that it would be fun to go back and be a student in a classroom like that! She seems like an incredible teacher that knows how to excite her students with technology and give them a love of learning. I was also curious to know what the Nintendo DS handhelds were used for. They could possibly be math games or word puzzles. After getting to know Mrs. Cassidy, I'm sure she's come up with something clever for her students. Thanks for sharing your insight into her classroom! Good post!

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  2. Lara,

    I am so happy to hear how much you enjoyed this video. Ms. Cassidy is an excellent teacher, and I think she does a great job integrating technology into her classroom. After seeing the students and hearing from them, it is evident how much they enjoy the use of technology and also how much they are able to learn. I love that Ms. Cassidy does not underestimate her students' abilities, but instead, she encourages them to achieve things that are not common among first graders. While there are some concerns about the use of technology, I think all students greatly benefit from the opportunities that come along with using it. I definitely think you should start following her on youtube and twitter because you can learn so much from observing other teachers.

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