Useful Tidbits I've Learned From Class

I find that all of the projects that we have done in class are highly useful for our future classrooms. I think that the KWL chart is a great thing to have no matter what grade level. It's great for the beginning of each section in a class because it allows the students to monitor their progress. Before you start a section you can fill in the K portion by asking students what information they know prior to beginning the work. In order to ensure their continued interest/involvement in the work the W (what you want to know/learn) can be filled with things that they are interested in learning. The L sector can be filled after they are done with the lesson section and is useful for preparing for tests. Another project that we did in class was the portaportal. This is a fantastic instrument for parents, teachers, and students! A teacher can easily create different sections that go with each of the classes or subjects. You can include different activities that will build strength and confidence in the students. It also allows the teacher to include different ways for students and their parents to learn to work through the different areas that they are working in at school. The class website is a valuable asset for many many different reasons. The main reason is it allows for the parents to have an insight on the classroom. The teacher can post weekly updates and include links to homework and extra credit.
All of these things help to improve a students learning. The KWL chart will help to build confidence in the student and begin to harbor an interest in the subject. The portaportal will help them to explore the topics either by themselves or with a parent. They also will benefit greatly from the website. No more excuses about lacking information on homework or wanting to know if they can get extra credit. These problems and more can be solved by keeping an up to date website. I feel that using technological strategies such as these far improve the classroom experience when compared to the old school methods of a paper syllabus and agenda. Not only do they constantly have all the needed information at hand no matter the time of day.  They also have access to this information on a medium that they are familiar and comfortable with using and is constantly updated. Technology appears to allow for a better classroom experience all around.