Tyler+Walker




 * My name is Tyler Walker and I am a senior at Clemson University. I am an Elementary Education major and I am doing my practicum experience at Ravenel Elementary School with Mrs. Stegall's fifth grade class. I am from Hendersonville, NC and I am hoping to return there to teach after I graduate. In my spare time I like to watch and play sports, my favorite sports are football and basketball. I also enjoy hiking, fishing, and hunting. **


 *  I have been using technology for as long as I can remember. My brother had one of the first apples and I remember playing on it when I was little. Most of the technology I use now is my computer, whether it be working with word, power point, or using different tools on the internet. I would like to say that I am technologically savvy, but I know that there are a lot of things in the technology field that I don't know how to use well. I have access to use a SmartBoard in my classroom at Ravenel. They have SmartBoards in almost every classroom and the team that my cooperating teacher is on has access to two SmartBoards. There are computer labs available in my school, several interactive white boards, and there is a science lab with different things available in it. **


 *  I think a very valuable aspect of Edutopia is the plethora of videos. They have a lot of interesting stories on there, and they also have videos helping us as teachers. I think that I will be able to go back to this website when I am teaching and get valuable activities and ideas to help reach out to the students of this generation. **

==== In my fifth grade class at Ravenel Elementary School the students are learning different algorithms to solve multi-digit multiplication problems. One of the strategies that the students are taught is the Lattice Multiplication method. Most of the students in the class are familiar with this strategy and love it. But there were a few students who came from different schools and have never seen the strategy. I found a great page on Coolmath4kids.com that explains in detail the Lattice method and gives step by step instructions on how to use it. I think that this would be a great tool to use for the student who are not familiar with this strategy. My teacher has a strict schedule that she tries to follow and she couldn't spend much time on this strategy and I feel like some of the students might not be comfortable with it. Using this website the students could go on there on their free time and explore the method in detail and practice the strategy on their own. ====

====The name of the site that I chose to visit for science was Funology.com. The url to Funology.com is []. This site is a great resource for just about anything you want to do in science. It has great ideas for experiments, activities, and games that you might want to use in the classroom. I could use this site with my kids to support material that I am teaching in class and help scaffold their knowledge of the topic. I think my students would love to play some of the games that it talks about, or make some of the recipes for weird science. ====

====The other website that I chose to explore was a website for ELA called KS2 Bitesize. The url for KS2 Bitesize is []. This is a great website that includes lessons, games, and activities that relate directly to reading, writing, spelling, and grammar. This website gives students fun ways to practice their core ELA skills. The games are fun and exciting yet help students build the vocabulary and strengthen their grammar. The lessons on this website are very helpful and could be used in the ELA classroom. I can see myself using this resource when I am a teacher to help students who may need a little extra help in ELA. I could also use some of the lessons and ideas to support my les sons. ====