A New School Year

School is fast approaching and my plans for a fabulous year are coming together. I have done a great amount of reading including books, blogs, websites and participated in Twitter chats this summer. The amount of knowledge I have gained is a bit overwhelming and exciting at the same time. The amount of resources I have gathered to use with my students throughout the year are phenomenal. The main purpose for creating this blog is to document the technology integration in my classroom and I can't wait to get started.

One of my biggest goals for this year is to integrate technology with Web 2.0 tools. Students will use the technologies available to create knowledge and personal and social change. The word cloud I created below showcases some of the many tools my students will become comfortable with over the course of this year.

So, here is an outline of some of the activities my students will take part in during the First Few Weeks of School.

1. Introduction to the Technology Equipment and Discuss Rules, Procedures and Expectations
2. After discussing our 4th grade goals for the year, students will post their goals using WallWisher which will then be embedded to our class e-board and my personal blog.
3. Students will complete a Reading Interest Survey I recreated using Google Forms.
4. Students will create an "All About Me" Wordle to post outside of the classroom after filling out a Student Questionnaire.
5. Using the Flipcamera, students will create a movie on the rules and expectations in all areas of the school.
6. The Tech star of the week will use the digital camera to take headshots of students to post on our Writing Bulletin Board.
7. Students will create class Wordles on their favorite things such as subjects, food, places to visit, color, sport, etc. These will decorate our class door.
8. Students will be introduced to Edmodo and Kidblog.
9. Students will begin publishing their first writing assignments, which will be a personal narrative using Microsoft Word. They will then copy and paste their writing to Kidblog for parent, teacher and students comments.
10. Students will learn about online safety viewing a video through Brainpop and use the Activotes to participate in a quiz.

These and many more activities to come will develop and implement creative ideas that will result in high student achievement. They will learn to work cooperatively to meet the requirements and exceed my expectations throughout the year. I am so ready to get started and can't wait to showcase student engagement in technology lessons.