Teacher Uses for Computers

Ways in Which I Use Computers to Help Me as a Teacher

I create worksheets, graphs, exams, and experiment explanations.
For research projects, I check students' sources (Encarta, web sites, etc.) to be sure they are not plagiarizing them.
I retouch images by adding arrows and numbers to photos for clarity.
I use astronomy software to show how an eclipse works, how seasons work in 3D (see image below).
I synchronize data from my Palm Pilot (see below) to keep a backup in case it gets lost or broken.
I have created a CD of 10 years of lesson materials which I can keep in my bag in order to print out just about any document I have ever made.
I check the latest data on Internet to keep my lessons up-to-date (latest volcanic eruptions, most recent medical discoveries, etc.)

An online cahier des textes - students (and their parents) can check what they have for homework from week to week.
To post photos of student project work so they can incorporate them into their reports

Experiment concerning inertia and acceleration:

To prepare for an experiment, students read about the experiment with full color photos so when they walk into class they know what to do.
Give links to valuable, appropriate online resources which I have chosen.
Demonstrate skills used in the lab (how to use a scientific calculator or a microscope).
Post the rules and regulations of what I expect from my students in and out of class.
Student-centered learning activities where the student advances at his or her own pace with exercises and corrections online.
Demos of things impossible to show in class such as molecule models which can be manipulated in 3D by moving the mouse.
I post photos which students have brought in from their travels - Death Valley, Martinique, etc.

Homework assignments can be passed in by e-mail
Communication with parents, which has been a very pleasant experience so far - even with parents who started off complaining because they were upset about something!
Communication with colleagues - exchanging ideas, setting up meetings, sending documents, etc.
Communication with students - for those who give me their e-mail address, I sometimes send little reminders not to forget to bring their books or lab coats...At the end of 2nde, I give my students one last homework assignment which is to contact me by e-mail in 10 years time to tell me what they have done with their lives.
I send work to school when I am absent - when my kids unexpectedly got the chicken pox, I was able to send documents to be printed and photocopied for my classes.

Using the calendar, I plan lessons on the go during my commute to or from school.
Using Quicksheet, a simple spreadsheet with all the students names, I take attendance straight from the Palm
I keep track of grades and calculate averages - each time I add a new grade, the average, max, and min are automatically recalculated.

Making my web site more dynamic: students will be able to log in and do interactive exercises which are self-correcting. With their password, they will be able to see their grades and my comments - a sort of online carnet de corréspondence.
Have students do work without using any paper. For example, a research project would be presented to the class via a video monitor or projector hooked up to a computer on which the student made a Star Impress Presentation. (See photo to the right.)
I would like to make my web site more entertaining with things such as "Fact of the Week", "Most Disgusting Thing That Ever Happened to Me in the Lab" or an editorial page where I can express my opinions to more than just the people around me at the cafeteria!
I would also like to have a page with my funniest jokes. It would be a very short page, I know.

P.S. My computer is working on a web page now entitled "Ways I Use My Teacher to Help Me as a Computer".