Grants, Grants, and More Grants!

I choose to look at the GrantWrangler website. This website it seemed like it would be easy to follow and understand. In a way it was easy to understand but it was also kind of confusing as well. There were some grants listed on the home page that you could choose from. These seemed to be basic grants that were from large corporations. There very very many that you could choose from. Although there were none that interested me since I was looking for technology for my classroom.

This is where things got tricky and complicated for me. I tried to search for grants in the search box and nothing came up that I could use. Everything that was found from the search was for outside websites that were related to grants. Yes, these might be helpful because they were about how to write grants but they were not grants themselves. This is when I found the link on the left hand side of the page for different categories. I of course choose technology. This is where I found many options for the technology grants that I could apply for. Many of these grants are on going which is helpful because you can always apply.

Overall, I think that this website is helpful for finding grants. I think that there are lots of grants and once you understand the layout of the website it is easy to navigate. I would definitely use this website when I am a future classroom teacher and even next semester when I am looking for grants for my Teacher as a Leader Essay. 

Brooke 

One World Youth Project

I explored the One World Youth Project website. This was a very interesting website that I really enjoyed learning about. The website connects universities with middle school students to help teach them how to become discerning, empathetic and empowered global citizens.  To do this the students at the university are trained in the curriculum from the One World Youth Project. The curriculum is a yearlong and it guides the middle school students through service learning projects to help develop their global education.  In the first semester the students are exploring their own cultures and ways of communication with in it and other cultures. In the second semester the students are   analyzing the communication and participating in service learning projects. 

 A way that I could use this resource in my classroom would be to have the students explore the website and watch the videos that are on the website. From these videos that we watch we would be able to start a discussion about the different citizens around the world.

This could help the students connect to people globally because they would be able to see the things that they are doing. They would also be able to connect with these things because they are doing service projects that relate to these items. This is important because students today should know about the lives of other people and cultures that are in the world.

 

Visit the website below, oneworldyouthproject.org

Brooke

Using Movies in Your Classroom!

The world of technology is something that is ever changing. Depending on how you look at it, it might be good or bad, but for the elementary classroom technology changing is a positive thing. Over the last several years many things have developed and made creating videos in an elementary school classroom very accessible and affordable. By using Windows Movie Maker 2.6, students in second grade could create videos with help. This program makes it very easy to understand and create videos.

Using videos in your classroom is something that I think all students could learn from and there are lots of different activities that you could have the students with the movie maker. One way that I would use this in my classroom would be to have the children write a short play about a historical event that we are studying (such as Lewis and Clark) and then they would film the video of the play. After filming they would edit and finalize their movie for the whole class to watch. Also you could make a copy of each movie for the students in your classroom or it could be posted on Vimeo for the parents to see.

Overall I think that using videos in the classroom is a very good things and something that I will definitely be using. I hope that you will try using videos in your classroom too!

Check out some video below that I have made using Windows Media Maker 2.6.

Cow from Brooke Cannon on Vimeo.




Teaching Philosohpy from Brooke Cannon on Vimeo.



Brooke

Commonsensemedia.org

On the website above there are very many interesting features. One of the cool features that I found was the book reviews. I think that this is cool because the books are reviewed by actual kids. This can be something that teachers, parents, and children can use. It’s good for parents and teachers because they can see what children thought about a book and if they think that their child might like the book.  It’s also helpful for students because they can see what other children their age are saying about a book that they are considering reading.  They can see if they might like this book and if it’s worth reading.

This would also be interesting to have the students do a book review on this website in class, similar to a book report like I might have done when I was in elementary school. This would be something that the children might enjoy more because its technology related and something that they are very much familiar with.

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews

Another feature that I like about this website is the find review search. In this section you can enter the age of your child as well the type of review you are looking for (app, books, movies, etc.) and the subject. This give you all the different types of reviews that you are looking for and can be very helpful for you. By using this feature you might find something that you wouldn’t have by just looking through the reviews.

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/reviews?media_type=30061

Just stop by this website and take a look around when you have a change its very interesting and I am sure you will be able to find another cool feature that I might have overlooked.

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/ 

This video gets me thinking about technology and education...








This video was very eye opening to me about how fast technology is growing in our society. There are many things that have changed over the last several years that have changed the way we do many things. These things have not only changed the way that we do things now but as mentioned in the video it is going to change the way we do things in the future, because people are creating solutions that do not exist at this point in time.