Replacement+Ideas

=﻿Replacement Ideas=

Podcasts
A podcast can replace outdated elements and provide more engaging and motivating learning experience by allowing students to record their what they would like to say and upload it to the internet. This can be engaging because they will work with others to make sure the content is okay for others to hear and motivating because they will enjoy knowing others will be able to hear what they have to say. Their thoughts and ideas will be heard by many not just their peers and teachers.

A podcast can replace a book talk or a book report. Students have a hard time thinking of things to write for a book talk/book report. They are often shy and do not want to speak in front of their peers. This provides students an opportunity to complete the assignment without getting embarrassed in front of their peers. Students will also have the opportunity to have their thoughts heard by others in the world and commented on which gives them more feedback from people who do not know them. This is a good resource for helping students learn their voice and speak about things they are passionate about.

Web pages
Being that everyone is on the Internet browsing and searching Web pages, having the students create Web pages for a certain topic can be a great fit. When we were students, if a teacher wanted to show off our work, we would make posters or other forms of visual concepts and he/she would display it on a bulletin board outside their classroom. With Web pages, you can now post the students' work on the Internet for everyone to see. This also works well when other students all over the world are doing something similar to what you are teaching and they can incorporate the information your students placed on their Web page and use it, as long as they are credited for the work.

In addition, this will get the students more interested in creating their own Web sites. They will learn how to create Web pages using programs, like Adobe Dreamweaver or Microsoft FrontPage (or whatever they call it now). If you do have time, or want to create a separate Web design course, the best thing to do is to teach the students HyperText Markup Language (HTML) first. Students should learn how Web pages were designed in the beginning before all this new technology came into play.

**Promethean Boards**
Promethean boards can replace many activities done throughout the day in a classroom. Using chart paper daily to create a morning message uses a lot of paper throughout the year. The interactive promethean board allows the use of less paper. It also enables us to create a larger message so that it can be easily seen by all students. Students get excited to help interactively write the message. The promethean board is a great tool because depending on the grade level you teach it can be adjusted up and down. Being a pre-k teacher, I must ensure that the promethean board is low so that the students can easily view it as well as interact using it. The promethean board can also replace the calendar. While calendar is a very important part of the day for young children, it often becomes long and draw out. Using the promethean board engages students and allows them to figure out what day of the week it is and interactively write that day. Students can also create patterns during calendar time, and it can be a different pattern each day. Promethean boards engage students and allow them to become a part of their learning.