"Eight balloons" - Poem interpretation

I'm still working on getting my video to show up on TeacherTube, so I decided to post it to my blog in the meantime. Enjoy!

TPACK and why it's necessary for teachers

TPACK stands for Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge. It involves developing knowledge in how to use technology to effectively teach content. I think this is very crucial for teachers in this era of technology. Children relate with and are very functional with various media, and therefore will likely connect with and understand content that much better when it is taught using various media. Not to mention the fact that the advances in technology open up many more resources for learning and exploring the world. Students will likely learn content more in-depth by exploring subjects through such technology. It is a great disservice to students to not access such resources and utilize them in the classroom in an effective way.

"Eight Balloons" Storyboard - pages 1 and 2

Wow, technology is great...but kinda difficult

So, I'm discovering that I'm more technologically challenged than I thought. It took me a while to figure out all the different ways to add things to the website and find what I needed in google and such. However, it is seeming more doable now to create a website now that I've done it once. I'm excited to be able to use a class website for my class someday. It's a great way to keep parents and students updated, and it's fun!

Video chat with Tiffany

Technology background and experience...or lack thereof:)

My technology background and experience is pretty limited. I'm a musician, so I've mostly used music-writing software and Word to write reports. I'm familiar with making slide shows using powerpoint and am currently being forced to learn excel due to my new job. Basically, that's my history. I'm very excited to learn more about the technology available for my classroom...and hopefully that won't be too painful of a process:).