Chapter Three Blog Response!

Chapter three, while still a bit of an overview, contained some very helpful information. For instance, I had no idea that there was note taking software that could take handwritten notes (the book says these notes are usually written on a tablet computer, which allows the user to write on a touch sensitive screen) and once saved into the computer they can be transferred to text files, as well as searched for specific words or word combinations. So if a student needs to search all of their notes for one definition or example, the software allows him to do so, which is especially helpful for students with messy handwriting. No more searching through pages of scribbled notes -- the note taking software does all that for you! There are several cons to students having computers out during class time. When I was in high school you were not allowed to use your laptop or tablet computer to take notes. In college, however, most professors allow computers in class and as a student I can say that 90% of the time, students with laptops or computers in front of them are not paying attention, they are on myspace or playing a game or chatting through IM. Especially in larger lecture classes when they are less likely to be caught for such things. Perhaps in high school classes where the number of children is more manageable, the teacher can keep close watch to make sure her students are taking notes and nothing else on their computers.
I’ve been using a word processor since elementary school but I must say I was a bit surprised by all the uses they have. We already know you can use them to make test and quizzes as well as teacher newsletters because of our in class assignments, but you can also create lesson plans, permission slips (for field trips or to view an R rater movie in class, etc.) as well as outlines for lectures and handouts. Spreadsheets also surprised me a bit -- I thought that in order to keep a grade book on the computer you needed special software (which our book also discusses) but it turns out you can create a grade book in Excel. This is quite exciting to me because I am already vaguely familiar with Excel, so I hope it should not be too hard. One must assume that software made specifically for grading and attendance records would have more opinions and features, but it’s neat to see the different ways that you can use programs that you are already familiar with in new ways.
As a future teacher, I plan on using both word processors and spreadsheet and/or grading software. I also plan on using PowerPoint, because you can appeal to a broader variety of learning styles (sound and video clips can be inserted, pictures, etc) as well as make the information more visibly appealing to the students. If I have a class website I can post the PowerPoints online so that my students may access them from home if they feel they missed something or if they just want to review. If they do not have internet access at home I could also use a slide sorter to sort and print out the slides (several slides to a page) so that the student could have a hard copy. Transferring the slideshow to paper would loose some of the visuals (video or sound clips would not work, obviously) but pictures would print fine.
In my classroom, I will be using a spreadsheet program or grade book software to keep track of my students grades, progress and attendance. I will use a word processor to send out newsletters to parents (I really like this idea, good way to keep the parents in on what is happening in the classroom) as well as tests/quizzes, lesson plans, etc. I will most definitely use PowerPoint, I believe it makes taking notes and listening to lectures a bit more fun!