Semester's End

Wow, I cannot believe that this semester has flown by so quickly. I feel like I have gone from being completely illiterate when it comes to computers and what you can do with the internet, to feeling pretty confident in the systems. I have learned about some awesome programs that I cannot wait to use in my classroom. I will admit that I was a little intimidated coming into this TPTE 486 class and thought I would fall so far behind, but I really did not. I thing so many of the websites and programs will be forever useful in my classrooms. I think that all of these new ideas could only make a classroom more lively and interactive. Students are going to love being able to watch iMovies of their class activities or field trips and being able to make their own Animotos. I only wish that this was a part of my classroom when I was growing up in school.

My Very First Website

Believe it or not, I created my very own website! My website is called Ms. Lombardi's Classroom and you can come check it out at http://sites.google.com/site/mslombardisreadingcorner/.
It is intended for parents and students of my future k-2 classes so that they can get information about class activities, special events, and announcements. As complex and in depth as some websites may be, they are so easy to create. The process is a bit time consuming, but it is fun! I thoroughly enjoyed picking colors, fonts, pictures, etc. to make it fun for my visitors. I hope you will come visit.

Army Life iMovie

This is my very first iMovie and I had so much fun putting it together. It describes how my life in the military came full circle. I started in the ROTC battalion as a cadet in college, commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, and finished my military career teaching at the same battalion where I commissioned. iMovie is an easy and fun way to creatively share stories and history.
I definitely plan to create more of these to use, not only in my classroom, but to share with friends and family.

TeacherTube.com

Lady Liberty Tells Her Story

TeacherTube is an awesome website! It is very similar to YouTube, yet rather than playing music videos, it plays educational videos. I watched a few that were extremely interesting, but this one in particular called "Lady Liberty Tells Her Story" is one of my favorite. I have attached the link for you to be able to see it also. (Click the link above) I think this website is fantastic to use when you have a subject to teach your students that may need a little something extra to keep their interest. Once you login and become a member (for free) you can even create and post your own educational videos. I think creating a video with your class or having students create one as a project would be a blast!
I will definately be a frequent visitor of this website!

Spreadsheets

I have never seen someone create a spreadsheet, let alone created one myself.  I can officially say that I feel like a pro.  This is so easy to create and it is a great classroom tool.  This can be used to give quizzes or just extra practice to your students.  This is one of those projects that, once you have the template created, you can easily switch words around and use it for different subjects.  I am excited to create other assignments for my students using this template.  Woo Hoo!!! :)

Inspiration

I got to use this phenomenal program called Inspiration which allows you to create web diagrams and great visual additives for your classroom.  I will be able to use this for my classroom when teaching diagramming or brainstorming.  The fun thing about this site is that you can brainstorm and create a web and then allow this program to put it in an outline format.  I think this will help students greatly when they are learning the writing process.  I always had trouble with creating the outline format, so I know it will be helpful for at least some students!
This is also fun to use.  It has a plethora of colors, images, shapes and fonts to choose from.  I think most students would enjoy it.

Amsterdam Animoto

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Animoto is sooooo easy and so fun! I will definitely be using this in my classroom. I think this is something the kids will love. It would be great to take photos of all of our fun activities and then put them to music and show them to the class. Another good use for the video would be to post it on my classroom website for parents to see what we did in class. I think it will make the event unforgettable if they get to see it in video fashion. Also, it is easy enough to let the students make them with a little help from some extra supervision in the classroom. It could even be an activity that we do by allowing an older grade (around 4th) to come in and work on it together with the younger students.