Blog #6

Technology is incredible, there are infinite uses for daily life, but at least inside the classroom its uses might be different than normal. In my class I would rely on a shared classroom calendar that would update to a class webpage that students and parents could check. I also imagine researching new technologies to use in class that are easy for students to find, use, and afford, or ones that are already available at the school. Communication is key between students, and teachers, and during my schooling we had Edmodo where we shared study guides, notes, asked questions, and talked about school related topics, and it was amazing. I would like to find something like this to use again in my class, maybe Diigo since you can share annotated webpages. I imagine using technology as an add-on to my classroom, but not the core, I want communication and hands on activities to take precedence over technology because students shouldn't be stuck behind a screen all day. Personally, I would take advantage of organization and time management software to assist my ability to teach effectively.

In the Technology Sandbox we saw a 3-D printer, I had the idea to have a class create a creature/character/monster in a story, as a collaborative effort, then design it in the printer software, and the next day watch it print as the class develops the story that the character exists in, and then at the end of the day the students can hold the character they made, and later maybe expand beyond it, and create the setting of the story. Students use this technology, interact with it, while still learning and going beyond a screen. I also saw the clear board and thought that in a younger classroom students could use it as an activity table or station, since it can seat up to 8 students all doing the same or different activities. They had many apps for music, math, english, and games that develop motor skills but also encourage learning, rather than a table with a select amount of physical objects to manipulate, or interact with, the students have more of a choice, or are using more familiar tech skills to learn. 
For most of these classroom pages they included basic information and several tabs for different classes. They normally start with a home page that has a picture of the teacher, and a little "About Me" section, then links to the pages for their different class levels and subjects. On each of those class pages have the syllabus, and links to necessary websites or homework webpages, or downloads of homework and reference sheets. 

Linked below is a teacher from FSUS, grade 10 and 11 English.
FSUS TEACHER WEBPAGE