Wow, what a semester. I have gained so much knowledge about technologies to use in the classroom, how to use those technologies, and the future of technology in eduction. I feel like I am on overload with the information I have taken in this semester. There are just so many resources available to teachers that can be used to enhance learning or to create lesson plans. One thing I learned this semester is that you don't have to use everything that is available to you. As an educator you should find a few sites and resources that you love and can easily use and become proficient at them. If you pick the right resources you will be set to incorporate active digital learning into your classroom no problem. I also learned that you shouldn't be afraid of new technologies. When you learn of a new technology you should check it out, play with it a bit, find out if it is for you or not, and don't feel bad if you choose not to use it. One other big thing I learned this semester is that teaching should always come first. Although, technologies enhance learning, engage students, and have endless possibilities teachers need to make sure they are not allowing the technology to do most of the educating. In the future all learning could be taking place digitally but I hope it doesn't. We just always must remember that technology comes and goes, work and does not work, but teachers have been here for ever and will be here for ever.
I have made great progress in incorporating the NETS for teachers that I focused on this semester. NET 1 states: faciliate and inspire student learning and creativity. I have made progess on this NET in this class but also in my Instructional Design class. In this class I learned resources and how to use those technologies to inspire learning and creativity. A few of the technologies that I learned and used this semester that faciliate student learning and creativity are: using the Smart Board with different activities, creating a website where students can comment on my blog and have discussions, and also making e-books where students can create their own books with their work from class. I also made strides at facilitating student learning and creativity in my Instructional Design class. In that class I actually taught a few lessons and each lesson had to be creative and active. I used the resources that I learned in this class as a starting point and created lesson plans around them. I then made use of said technologies to help students create as a process of their learning. In one of my lessons I found a printout for a word map from one of the teacher resources I learned in this class. Then I used the word map to have students define vocabulary words in their own ways, draw pictures of things that helped them remember the word, and write any other words they associate with the vocabulary word. In another lesson I used another printout from a online resource to have students create a persuasive essay in groups and that they debated at the end of class. Not only was I able to begin facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity through the technologies in this class I was also able to use those technologies to inspire students in teaching situations as well.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Assignment #4
I made a website using k12lessonplans.
Here is my website. You have to enter user name mrsangleton and password languageartsed to access it.
I used many of the features of the tool in creating my website. I customized my home page with pictures, a welcome message, and color scheme. I used the password protection feature so that only myself, parents, and students can view the site. I made a list of classes. I posted some announcements and assigned them to specific classes. I created some entries to my calender with some due dates assigned to specific classes. I used the download feature and uploaded a lesson plan to the site as well as a Smart Board presentation. I created a sample photo gallery, which also is password protected. I created an blog entry. I started a discussion assigned to a specific class, that has a pass code to access it. I also created an online quiz which also has a pass code. I also created another page which has links and descriptions to other sites including this blog, and a page which can be used to contact me. There is also a feature where people can join my mailing list.
One issue I encountered while making this website was that I cannot upload videos to the site directly. If I really wanted to have a video on the site I would just have to upload a video somewhere else on the web and have a link to it on my site. Also I could not put a contact me box on my homepage so I created a new page for it. There are a few other things that were slightly annoying like not being able to attach a link to an announcement or discussion. However, these issues weren't that important to me because I could add links to blogs, additional pages, and my homepage.
The other technology I used was notebook for the Smart Board. I created a lesson about structure of an essay. I uploaded this presentation to the website and it is under downloads. In this presentation I used the shade, timer, balloon pop, note reveals, and word match tools. I also customized my background.
Some issues I had with my Smart Board presentation were I couldn't apply a background to all slides so I had to do each one individually which took more time. I also couldn't get the presentation to save properly but it finally did.
Finding k12lessonplans and creating a website using this software was important to me because I thought creating websites was complicated. The software that we looked at in class for website creations were hard for me to understand and I couldn't use them. I was disappointed because I have always wanted to create a teacher website for my students, but then I found k12lessonplans and realized that I can create a website. This software is not for people who love creating website and messing with graphics because it is very basic and doesn't have cool features. However, this site allows people who are bad at creating websites and get frustrated easily the opportunity to have a teacher website as well. If the school I end up teaching at does not already have websites for teachers to use I will definitely use this site in the future. I will use it to communicate with students and parents. I can upload sylabi instead of printing them off. I can have students discuss literature. I can blog my own thoughts. I can post assignments and due dates, and with the click of one button I can e-mail all my students and all their parents.
It was also important to me to create a lesson on the Smart Board because I know I will probably be making lessons this way in the future. It took me a long time to create this lesson and I wanted to get faster at using the software and more proficient.
This project focuses on the Nets for teachers 1 and 2. Number 1 is "Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity." The site does this because it encourages students to learn through technology and other people's discussions and opinions. It encourages students to learn by creatively answering questions and responding to other people's opinion. Number 2 is "Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments." The site accomplishes this because I as the teacher designed it and it is a digital learning experience which can also be used for assessment because of the discussion and the quiz features of the site.
The project also focuses on the Nets for students 2 and 5. Number 2 is "communication and collaboration" which is accomplished because the students will use the site to communicate ideas with myself and one another and they will also use it to discuss topics and come up with conclusions based on the classes discussions. Number 5 is "digital citizenship" which is accomplished because the site teaches students to use the web to express ideas but to protect those ideas and themselves since it is password protected.
Here is my website. You have to enter user name mrsangleton and password languageartsed to access it.
I used many of the features of the tool in creating my website. I customized my home page with pictures, a welcome message, and color scheme. I used the password protection feature so that only myself, parents, and students can view the site. I made a list of classes. I posted some announcements and assigned them to specific classes. I created some entries to my calender with some due dates assigned to specific classes. I used the download feature and uploaded a lesson plan to the site as well as a Smart Board presentation. I created a sample photo gallery, which also is password protected. I created an blog entry. I started a discussion assigned to a specific class, that has a pass code to access it. I also created an online quiz which also has a pass code. I also created another page which has links and descriptions to other sites including this blog, and a page which can be used to contact me. There is also a feature where people can join my mailing list.
One issue I encountered while making this website was that I cannot upload videos to the site directly. If I really wanted to have a video on the site I would just have to upload a video somewhere else on the web and have a link to it on my site. Also I could not put a contact me box on my homepage so I created a new page for it. There are a few other things that were slightly annoying like not being able to attach a link to an announcement or discussion. However, these issues weren't that important to me because I could add links to blogs, additional pages, and my homepage.
The other technology I used was notebook for the Smart Board. I created a lesson about structure of an essay. I uploaded this presentation to the website and it is under downloads. In this presentation I used the shade, timer, balloon pop, note reveals, and word match tools. I also customized my background.
Some issues I had with my Smart Board presentation were I couldn't apply a background to all slides so I had to do each one individually which took more time. I also couldn't get the presentation to save properly but it finally did.
Finding k12lessonplans and creating a website using this software was important to me because I thought creating websites was complicated. The software that we looked at in class for website creations were hard for me to understand and I couldn't use them. I was disappointed because I have always wanted to create a teacher website for my students, but then I found k12lessonplans and realized that I can create a website. This software is not for people who love creating website and messing with graphics because it is very basic and doesn't have cool features. However, this site allows people who are bad at creating websites and get frustrated easily the opportunity to have a teacher website as well. If the school I end up teaching at does not already have websites for teachers to use I will definitely use this site in the future. I will use it to communicate with students and parents. I can upload sylabi instead of printing them off. I can have students discuss literature. I can blog my own thoughts. I can post assignments and due dates, and with the click of one button I can e-mail all my students and all their parents.
It was also important to me to create a lesson on the Smart Board because I know I will probably be making lessons this way in the future. It took me a long time to create this lesson and I wanted to get faster at using the software and more proficient.
This project focuses on the Nets for teachers 1 and 2. Number 1 is "Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity." The site does this because it encourages students to learn through technology and other people's discussions and opinions. It encourages students to learn by creatively answering questions and responding to other people's opinion. Number 2 is "Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments." The site accomplishes this because I as the teacher designed it and it is a digital learning experience which can also be used for assessment because of the discussion and the quiz features of the site.
The project also focuses on the Nets for students 2 and 5. Number 2 is "communication and collaboration" which is accomplished because the students will use the site to communicate ideas with myself and one another and they will also use it to discuss topics and come up with conclusions based on the classes discussions. Number 5 is "digital citizenship" which is accomplished because the site teaches students to use the web to express ideas but to protect those ideas and themselves since it is password protected.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Future of Education and Technology
One paper I read written by Patricia L. Hutinger entitled Technology and Education: What Will the Future Bring? addressed many of the issues that I found in a lot of places. Hutinger said that the future is of course unknown, and we really have no idea where technology is going to take the education world. However, if education is going to continue to be affective and relevant teachers need to be flexible and continually be ready and willing to adapt content and teaching styles. Hutinger said that technology should not merely be used as a tool in the classroom but that one day it will completely change the way school is done. She thinks that only do schools need to be teaching technology but they need to be using technology all the time with everything and beginning at an early age with children. Technology will soon not be a subject studied in school but will be used to learn all other subjects on every level. Some other articles suggested that some day the school building could become obsolete as school and classes could be completely attended on line.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Word/Excell/PowerPoint
These are the features that I use often.
Word: highlighter tool, spelling and grammar check, paragraph spacing, bullet points, page numbers, header/footers, bold/italic/underline, word art, insert table, insert picture, page break, text box, track changes, and full screen viewing.
PowerPoint: layouts, word art, text box, insert picture, format background, and slide transitions.
Excell: I never use Excell and the only times I ever have were required in a class a long time ago and I never knew how to use it.
To learn Word I could have students write a research paper using word. I can request a specific format which uses many of words features. I would take students to computer lab and walk through how to use these features and format their papers.
PowerPoint: have students do presentations on the topic they did research on for their paper. Could take them to computer lab and show them the different features they could use on PowerPoint and require that they use at least five features in their presentations.
Excell: have students survey each other then create tables, graphs, and other things using excell to show their results.
Word: highlighter tool, spelling and grammar check, paragraph spacing, bullet points, page numbers, header/footers, bold/italic/underline, word art, insert table, insert picture, page break, text box, track changes, and full screen viewing.
PowerPoint: layouts, word art, text box, insert picture, format background, and slide transitions.
Excell: I never use Excell and the only times I ever have were required in a class a long time ago and I never knew how to use it.
To learn Word I could have students write a research paper using word. I can request a specific format which uses many of words features. I would take students to computer lab and walk through how to use these features and format their papers.
PowerPoint: have students do presentations on the topic they did research on for their paper. Could take them to computer lab and show them the different features they could use on PowerPoint and require that they use at least five features in their presentations.
Excell: have students survey each other then create tables, graphs, and other things using excell to show their results.
Online Learning Experience
I went to k12 online conference and watched a few of the sessions.
The first one I attended was Using E-Books to Motivate Pupils Writing.
The teacher uses an free myebook account to have students create there own e-books. He also uses easy speak microphones so the students can read there works out loud, which helps them determine if it is legible and correct, and then, he uploads these narrations to the e-book. He first talks about how to use the website to view e-books. Then he went on to talk about how to create your own e-book. This was interesting to me because I didn't know that you could create books online like this to be seen by the world. I think it is a great idea to display children's work. Students are motivated to work harder on the work if it is going to be published, and parents get excited about their children's work, and can easily view what their children have been working on in school. Also for myself who wishes to write and get my work seen. The website is really easy to use; I already have started creating an e-book.
The second session I attended was Using Web 2.0 Tools to Teach "The Outsiders."
In this video an IT teacher at a school was asked to teach some girls who were struggling with English about some 2.0 tools but enhance. He had to teach them about the book "The Outsiders" that they were reading in an English class using 2.0 tools. He used Stupeflix to create a video presentation about the book and then had the students create presentations themselves. The website takes pictures and automatically puts them into a video with cool effects. He also used We Tell Stories which sort of allows you to create your own story directed form a classic story. He used google maps to determine where one of the characters from "The Outsiders" could have ran to and what they would have seen along the way, then the students wrote stories based on the google map images. Using the google map images motivated the students who didn't like to write to write lengthy stories. All this was great to show that students that might be struggling in a certain are can be motivated if the teacher gets creative and uses different technologies to interest students.
The last session I attended was Digital Writers Workshop. In this session a woman elementary teacher talked about the writing workshop she conducted with her students. The goals of this workshop was to teach students to develop their own writing in a personal way, be creative, create stories as a group, and learn and use technology to tell and create stories. First the students had to develop and create their characters. They answered questions about their characters, created masks of these characters, and drew pictures of the characters. The teacher took digital pictures of the mask which were used later for their digital stories as well as the pictures. Then the students created 3D settings for the characters. They built the settings with stone, wood, and other objects, then they made some part of the setting electronic. Then the students created the plot of their stories using the Young Novelists Workbook. She then had the students storyboard their stories using Story Top. Then they created online books with their visual and written elements of the story using tikatok. Then they wrote and recorded a theme song for their stories using Microsoft Song Smith. Then they put their stories into a script format and recorded them as podcast. The last thing the students did was create a shadow puppet show with the podcasts playing with the whole thing video recorded. I am amazed by how many technological resources and different subject areas this teacher incorporated into a simple create a story assignment. By doing something like this teachers can make simple assignments in depth learning experiences that are interactive, fun, and teach many subjects. I also liked some of the technologies she used, although she didn't give addresses so I do not know where to find a few of them.
The first one I attended was Using E-Books to Motivate Pupils Writing.
The teacher uses an free myebook account to have students create there own e-books. He also uses easy speak microphones so the students can read there works out loud, which helps them determine if it is legible and correct, and then, he uploads these narrations to the e-book. He first talks about how to use the website to view e-books. Then he went on to talk about how to create your own e-book. This was interesting to me because I didn't know that you could create books online like this to be seen by the world. I think it is a great idea to display children's work. Students are motivated to work harder on the work if it is going to be published, and parents get excited about their children's work, and can easily view what their children have been working on in school. Also for myself who wishes to write and get my work seen. The website is really easy to use; I already have started creating an e-book.
The second session I attended was Using Web 2.0 Tools to Teach "The Outsiders."
In this video an IT teacher at a school was asked to teach some girls who were struggling with English about some 2.0 tools but enhance. He had to teach them about the book "The Outsiders" that they were reading in an English class using 2.0 tools. He used Stupeflix to create a video presentation about the book and then had the students create presentations themselves. The website takes pictures and automatically puts them into a video with cool effects. He also used We Tell Stories which sort of allows you to create your own story directed form a classic story. He used google maps to determine where one of the characters from "The Outsiders" could have ran to and what they would have seen along the way, then the students wrote stories based on the google map images. Using the google map images motivated the students who didn't like to write to write lengthy stories. All this was great to show that students that might be struggling in a certain are can be motivated if the teacher gets creative and uses different technologies to interest students.
The last session I attended was Digital Writers Workshop. In this session a woman elementary teacher talked about the writing workshop she conducted with her students. The goals of this workshop was to teach students to develop their own writing in a personal way, be creative, create stories as a group, and learn and use technology to tell and create stories. First the students had to develop and create their characters. They answered questions about their characters, created masks of these characters, and drew pictures of the characters. The teacher took digital pictures of the mask which were used later for their digital stories as well as the pictures. Then the students created 3D settings for the characters. They built the settings with stone, wood, and other objects, then they made some part of the setting electronic. Then the students created the plot of their stories using the Young Novelists Workbook. She then had the students storyboard their stories using Story Top. Then they created online books with their visual and written elements of the story using tikatok. Then they wrote and recorded a theme song for their stories using Microsoft Song Smith. Then they put their stories into a script format and recorded them as podcast. The last thing the students did was create a shadow puppet show with the podcasts playing with the whole thing video recorded. I am amazed by how many technological resources and different subject areas this teacher incorporated into a simple create a story assignment. By doing something like this teachers can make simple assignments in depth learning experiences that are interactive, fun, and teach many subjects. I also liked some of the technologies she used, although she didn't give addresses so I do not know where to find a few of them.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Educational Blog
PBS Teachers has a blog called Media Infusion where a couple different educators post entries about incorporating different technologies and media resources in the classroom. The post that I commented on was called "From Pens to Pixels: Publishing Student Work". This post discussed why it is a good idea for teachers to publish students work and some resources and sites that can be used to do so. I commented about the benefits of publishing students work that I have observed from my own experience as a student. I commented on the blog because I had never really thought of the benefit of publishing work was until I read this post and then I realized the benefits it has had just in my own work. I already wanted to use websites and blogs in my classroom but I am even more encouraged to use these now to publish student work. Also, I wanted to give people some real examples from my own life showing that publishing work really does encourage students to be better.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Reflection #7-12
#7 I was watching the television show Friends. I watching season two which was from 1995. On the show one of the characters got a laptop with a printer. The laptop was big and bulky, it was loud and slow. I thought this was very interesting because this took place only 15 years ago and today Ipod is coming out with a complete laptop that you can hold and touch smaller then a piece of paper. I just can't believe how quickly the technology changes, gets smaller, and better. I can't believe how much it has changed already in my short life so far. It makes me interested in how far technology can go in the rest of my life time. If I teach for only fifteen years I will have to adapt my teaching to as much change in technology that their has been since Chandler got a laptop on friends.
#8 In Special Needs in Education our professor doesn't hardly ever use technology to teach. He has hand written notes and lectures from these. He is also one of my favorite and best teachers. I just thought this was interesting because it shows that if you are a great teacher you can still be extremely affective without the use of technology. However, if this teacher already has a great impact without technology I wonder how much influence he could have if he incorporate it. I just don't want our teachers and myself as a future teacher to become to reliant on technology that we cannot be affective without it. Maybe we should focus on our teaching skills first and incorporate technology second.
#9 I found this article on MSN entitled 16 Year-Old Accuses Mom of Facebook Slander. The article basically says that this mom got onto her sons Facebook acount posted a few things and changed the password so he couldn't use the account anymore. The mom said she did this because he was posting inappropriate things. They wouldn't say what exactly he posted because he was underage but the mom did say that he wrote on his facebook that he drove home at 96 MPH because he was mad at a girl. The mother said he had previously been warned about using his facebook inappropriately. After the son realized he could no longer get onto his facebook he went to the court house and pressed charges against his mother on the grounds of slander.
OK WOW. I just can't believe that we are having these issues today. Parents today have to be constantly aware of what their child is doing online and what they are posting. I understand the frustration of the child but also know the need to protect your child on the Internet. With kids using the Internet more and more at younger ages the need to watch and protect your child has increased. Although there are many resources available on the Internet for children parents need to constantly be wary of the junk on the Internet as well, and what their children are saying about themselves. I just hope that this son doesn't win this case else parents will have a harder time in the future controlling their kids' Internet use.
#10 I ran across this amazing video on YouTube: Math Teacher Shadow Trick During Lecture. This is a math teacher who is giving a lecture with use of a computer and projector. During his lecture his shadow on the screen behind him starts moving differently than he is. The teacher finally catches his shadow and then ends up having a little fight with it. The shadow messes with things on his computer and when the teacher tries to shut off the computer the shadow throws the shut down box off of the screen. I thought this was not only funny but also showed the great advancement of technology. How crazy is it that someone that Peter Pan did in fairy tales actually can happen now using technology. I wish I knew how the teacher did it, I am sure it must be some 3D software or something. It is just crazy to me that as a teacher I have technology like that available to me to enhance my teaching. Just think other ways that a 3D software like that could be used. I could create 3D lesson plans that students would actively be involved with who knows that might be able to interact on the board from their own seats and see themselves moving on the actual screen. It is just an amazing video and I am just baffled by the places that technology can take us today and in the future.
#11 I found this article called Study: College Students are Internet-Addicted which basically says that a bunch of students were asked to give up all Internet and technology for one day and many of them showed signs of withdrawal much like they would with alcohol abuse. The article went on to say that many students felt lonely and disconnected from their friends and family while not using technology. This article was interestingly on the web which is merely feeding the addiction (if there is an addiction). The article also told of some extreme cases where people neglected their lives and children for the Internet. Although, I agree that we as a people are becoming reliant on technology I would not necessarily call it an addiction. Many of the things the students were having a hard time with was not being connected to their friends and family and in this case I would say they aren't addicted to technology but rather they miss their friends and family. I just don't understand because we are told how great technology is and how it can change everyone's life for the better but we can also become dependent on it. I just don't know where the line is and where it is not. We just need to stay connected to our world in other ways as well. Maybe on top of texting friends we also call them sometimes, and maybe even go see them. We just need to be well balanced so we use technology for good but don't freak out if the power goes out.
#12 Oregon became the first state to switch all it's technology usage and networking to Google. The article Oregon Brings Google Apps to Public Schools says that the state decided to do this to help prepare student's for the digital world in the work place and to save money. Google is offering all of their apps for free to the schools, worked with the state to make security tighter, won't advertise on the school used apps, and will take care of all of the maintenance. Basically the state thought that it was a great deal. They save money because they don't have to pay for servers, e-mail, class sites, or IT guys any more. Also this move helps the state promote digital learning to the extreme. Oregon has done it. As all states are looking at incorporating more technology in classrooms Oregon not only found a great easy way to do this they also are saving a ton of money in the process. I just think it is genius. A public school official called it a no brainier in the article and I agree with him or her. It is so simple, so beneficial, so cheap, and Google does all the work for them. It will be interesting to see how this works out for them in the future. I wonder if they aren't allowed to use any other software but what Google provides. If they cannot use anything else that might be frustrating. I want to see if any other states follow in Oregon's footsteps and fully immerse learning into technology as they are.
#8 In Special Needs in Education our professor doesn't hardly ever use technology to teach. He has hand written notes and lectures from these. He is also one of my favorite and best teachers. I just thought this was interesting because it shows that if you are a great teacher you can still be extremely affective without the use of technology. However, if this teacher already has a great impact without technology I wonder how much influence he could have if he incorporate it. I just don't want our teachers and myself as a future teacher to become to reliant on technology that we cannot be affective without it. Maybe we should focus on our teaching skills first and incorporate technology second.
#9 I found this article on MSN entitled 16 Year-Old Accuses Mom of Facebook Slander. The article basically says that this mom got onto her sons Facebook acount posted a few things and changed the password so he couldn't use the account anymore. The mom said she did this because he was posting inappropriate things. They wouldn't say what exactly he posted because he was underage but the mom did say that he wrote on his facebook that he drove home at 96 MPH because he was mad at a girl. The mother said he had previously been warned about using his facebook inappropriately. After the son realized he could no longer get onto his facebook he went to the court house and pressed charges against his mother on the grounds of slander.
OK WOW. I just can't believe that we are having these issues today. Parents today have to be constantly aware of what their child is doing online and what they are posting. I understand the frustration of the child but also know the need to protect your child on the Internet. With kids using the Internet more and more at younger ages the need to watch and protect your child has increased. Although there are many resources available on the Internet for children parents need to constantly be wary of the junk on the Internet as well, and what their children are saying about themselves. I just hope that this son doesn't win this case else parents will have a harder time in the future controlling their kids' Internet use.
#10 I ran across this amazing video on YouTube: Math Teacher Shadow Trick During Lecture. This is a math teacher who is giving a lecture with use of a computer and projector. During his lecture his shadow on the screen behind him starts moving differently than he is. The teacher finally catches his shadow and then ends up having a little fight with it. The shadow messes with things on his computer and when the teacher tries to shut off the computer the shadow throws the shut down box off of the screen. I thought this was not only funny but also showed the great advancement of technology. How crazy is it that someone that Peter Pan did in fairy tales actually can happen now using technology. I wish I knew how the teacher did it, I am sure it must be some 3D software or something. It is just crazy to me that as a teacher I have technology like that available to me to enhance my teaching. Just think other ways that a 3D software like that could be used. I could create 3D lesson plans that students would actively be involved with who knows that might be able to interact on the board from their own seats and see themselves moving on the actual screen. It is just an amazing video and I am just baffled by the places that technology can take us today and in the future.
#11 I found this article called Study: College Students are Internet-Addicted which basically says that a bunch of students were asked to give up all Internet and technology for one day and many of them showed signs of withdrawal much like they would with alcohol abuse. The article went on to say that many students felt lonely and disconnected from their friends and family while not using technology. This article was interestingly on the web which is merely feeding the addiction (if there is an addiction). The article also told of some extreme cases where people neglected their lives and children for the Internet. Although, I agree that we as a people are becoming reliant on technology I would not necessarily call it an addiction. Many of the things the students were having a hard time with was not being connected to their friends and family and in this case I would say they aren't addicted to technology but rather they miss their friends and family. I just don't understand because we are told how great technology is and how it can change everyone's life for the better but we can also become dependent on it. I just don't know where the line is and where it is not. We just need to stay connected to our world in other ways as well. Maybe on top of texting friends we also call them sometimes, and maybe even go see them. We just need to be well balanced so we use technology for good but don't freak out if the power goes out.
#12 Oregon became the first state to switch all it's technology usage and networking to Google. The article Oregon Brings Google Apps to Public Schools says that the state decided to do this to help prepare student's for the digital world in the work place and to save money. Google is offering all of their apps for free to the schools, worked with the state to make security tighter, won't advertise on the school used apps, and will take care of all of the maintenance. Basically the state thought that it was a great deal. They save money because they don't have to pay for servers, e-mail, class sites, or IT guys any more. Also this move helps the state promote digital learning to the extreme. Oregon has done it. As all states are looking at incorporating more technology in classrooms Oregon not only found a great easy way to do this they also are saving a ton of money in the process. I just think it is genius. A public school official called it a no brainier in the article and I agree with him or her. It is so simple, so beneficial, so cheap, and Google does all the work for them. It will be interesting to see how this works out for them in the future. I wonder if they aren't allowed to use any other software but what Google provides. If they cannot use anything else that might be frustrating. I want to see if any other states follow in Oregon's footsteps and fully immerse learning into technology as they are.
Monday, March 22, 2010
NU Educators Panel
Here are three questions that I plan on asking the NU Educators Panel:
1. Is technology becoming a crutch for teachers to rely on, and how can teachers incorporate technology in a way that does not overpower their own teaching?
2. How long did it take to become comfortable with teaching when you first started?
3. How hard was it to continually adapt to the new curriculum and technologies in the classroom?
1. Is technology becoming a crutch for teachers to rely on, and how can teachers incorporate technology in a way that does not overpower their own teaching?
2. How long did it take to become comfortable with teaching when you first started?
3. How hard was it to continually adapt to the new curriculum and technologies in the classroom?
Technology Project Plan
For my final technology project I plan on using k12lessonplans.com to create a classroom website, and I also plan on using a Flip Video to create a welcome clip to put on the homepage of my the website.
Here is my podcast made at vocaroo.com that has the details of my project.
Here is my podcast made at vocaroo.com that has the details of my project.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
"Caught on Video"
Bob Spankle's blog "Caught on Video" explores many of the endless ways a teacher might use a small portable video camera with a USB port in the classroom. His suggestions range from video yearbooks/memories to video grades and homework. Spankle obviously loves the idea of using a video camera in the classroom. Of course many of his ideas seem possible, but many of them seem over the top. I don't know how much I would ever use a video recorder on a day to day basis recording all student's activities and learning as Spankle suggests. This seems time consuming and impractical. However, using a video camera occasionally to capture presentations, or fun projects, is a fun way to keep record and review. Also I could see myself using video recorders to record messages home to parents, which would be more personal and less time consuming than typing weekly of monthly newsletters. Video clips could also be added to class websites, so students can review, parents can visually see what is going on in the classroom, and students get excited about seeing themselves on line. Spankle showed me an excitement for using video recorders which makes me want to use them but also that sometimes it would be impractical to use them all of the time.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Assignment #3
I used delicious to create a toolbox of different websites that I thought I might use as an educator. I included many websites that had resources for teachers and pre-made lesson plans. I also included some resources specifically for language arts teachers, and a few sites that I use a lot now and will probably continue to use as a teacher.
My toolbox
My toolbox is organized into tags. Almost all of the sites I added had a education and resource tag then they are further organized into calenders, grammar, lessons, English, art, activities, blog, collaboration and design. Mostly I choose these tags because they were suggested by delicious which means they are the most common associations with these sites.
I choose these sites because I thought they would be useful to me. Either the site offered some resources I could use in lesson planning, I used them frequently already, or they helped with classroom management. I tried to find some sites that specifically had resources for teaching Language Arts as well as general education. I also included one website dedicated to Christian teachers both in public and private schools because being a teacher is a minister as well as a vocation.
If I ever need a lesson plan, cannot figure out how to start a lesson, or need some quick information I will go to my delicious site and use one of the sites I have bookmarked. Also I can give my delicious site to fellow teachers in the schools I will be teaching so they can use these resources as well. I will probably share the calender sites and the web making sites with fellow teachers in order to help them better organize themselves and their students and I will probably use these sites as well. I will also use some of the creative sites by having students go on them and explore fun creative ways to create poetry and papers.
Three Sites I know I will use:
Spark Notes is a great resource for teachers and students alike. Although it does allow students to get away with not reading books, since it summaries each chapter, it is still a great resource. I love how easily it is organized with all the resources for the book you searched for right on the left. It provides character lists and descriptions, themes, chapter summaries and analysis, important quotes, key facts, etc. I could definitely use this resource in my future classroom. For instance if I am teaching The Great Gatsby. I can get onto Spark Notes and search for it then read over the plot overview, themes, key facts, etc. to familiarize myself with this information. each year instead of rereading the book every year. Plus I can have students fill out their own study guides then check their understand of the book against Spark Notes'. Also each study guide Spark Notes had also has a quiz. I could have my students take this quiz after reading the book to check their understand and to see if they actually completed their reading.
Guide to Grammar and Writing is a quick way to get your questions answered about grammar and writing. The website is very easy to use. Once you get to the site you can easily find what your looking for. For instance if say I need a refresher as to how to define a preposition I would simply click on word and sentence level scroll to prepositions and the site will take me to a page that has everything I could possibly ever want to know about prepositions. Also students could use this site to look at later at home if they cannot remember the what was taught in class and they need a reminder. The pages also have quizzes on the bottom, like the preposition one does, that I could have students take at the end of a preposition lesson to check for understanding.
K12 Lesson Plans is a site which allows teachers to easily create class websites. Making websites can be complicated as I learned the other day when we tried to make websites in class. Even with a website making tool it still can be complicated. However, k12 lesson plans makes it simple to create a class site. I had already wanted to create a website for my future classes but was intimidated to do so after our class on creating websites. It was frustrating and time consuming. Now I am sure that I can use K12 Lesson Plans to create a class website that my students will be able to access to see upcoming activities, assignments, etc. Also I can make this site available to parents so they can constantly stay involved in their child's learning.
My toolbox
My toolbox is organized into tags. Almost all of the sites I added had a education and resource tag then they are further organized into calenders, grammar, lessons, English, art, activities, blog, collaboration and design. Mostly I choose these tags because they were suggested by delicious which means they are the most common associations with these sites.
I choose these sites because I thought they would be useful to me. Either the site offered some resources I could use in lesson planning, I used them frequently already, or they helped with classroom management. I tried to find some sites that specifically had resources for teaching Language Arts as well as general education. I also included one website dedicated to Christian teachers both in public and private schools because being a teacher is a minister as well as a vocation.
If I ever need a lesson plan, cannot figure out how to start a lesson, or need some quick information I will go to my delicious site and use one of the sites I have bookmarked. Also I can give my delicious site to fellow teachers in the schools I will be teaching so they can use these resources as well. I will probably share the calender sites and the web making sites with fellow teachers in order to help them better organize themselves and their students and I will probably use these sites as well. I will also use some of the creative sites by having students go on them and explore fun creative ways to create poetry and papers.
Three Sites I know I will use:
Spark Notes is a great resource for teachers and students alike. Although it does allow students to get away with not reading books, since it summaries each chapter, it is still a great resource. I love how easily it is organized with all the resources for the book you searched for right on the left. It provides character lists and descriptions, themes, chapter summaries and analysis, important quotes, key facts, etc. I could definitely use this resource in my future classroom. For instance if I am teaching The Great Gatsby. I can get onto Spark Notes and search for it then read over the plot overview, themes, key facts, etc. to familiarize myself with this information. each year instead of rereading the book every year. Plus I can have students fill out their own study guides then check their understand of the book against Spark Notes'. Also each study guide Spark Notes had also has a quiz. I could have my students take this quiz after reading the book to check their understand and to see if they actually completed their reading.
Guide to Grammar and Writing is a quick way to get your questions answered about grammar and writing. The website is very easy to use. Once you get to the site you can easily find what your looking for. For instance if say I need a refresher as to how to define a preposition I would simply click on word and sentence level scroll to prepositions and the site will take me to a page that has everything I could possibly ever want to know about prepositions. Also students could use this site to look at later at home if they cannot remember the what was taught in class and they need a reminder. The pages also have quizzes on the bottom, like the preposition one does, that I could have students take at the end of a preposition lesson to check for understanding.
K12 Lesson Plans is a site which allows teachers to easily create class websites. Making websites can be complicated as I learned the other day when we tried to make websites in class. Even with a website making tool it still can be complicated. However, k12 lesson plans makes it simple to create a class site. I had already wanted to create a website for my future classes but was intimidated to do so after our class on creating websites. It was frustrating and time consuming. Now I am sure that I can use K12 Lesson Plans to create a class website that my students will be able to access to see upcoming activities, assignments, etc. Also I can make this site available to parents so they can constantly stay involved in their child's learning.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Promethean ActivBoard
Promethean ActivBoard has Huge Impact at Ashford School
This case study is a quick overview of the impact that introducing the Promethean ActivBoard had on an all girls school. One of the teachers said she doesn't know how she ever taught before it, and another said that when she first saw the board she instantly thought of all the ways she could teach with it. One student said that the board was better than the teacher. The overview said that the ActivBoard could be used anyway a normal white board could be used, but also it can be used anyway a computer can be used, which makes incorporating multimedia sources into teaching a cinch. The article also said the board helps dyslexic children learn and helps all children to be more engaged in their learning. The article said a few features the board has includes handwriting recognition and adding notes or special affects to digital resources. The article ended by giving a description of the wireless response system which allows teachers to have instant feedback as to students understanding.
My biggest question about the Promethean ActivBoard is: Is the ActivBoard better or worse then the SmartBoard? How do they differ? How are they similar?
My second question is in regards to the student's statement about the board being better than teachers. Is the ActivBoard and or SmartBoard going to eventually make teaching obsolete? Will teachers do less teaching then the actual board?
This case study is a quick overview of the impact that introducing the Promethean ActivBoard had on an all girls school. One of the teachers said she doesn't know how she ever taught before it, and another said that when she first saw the board she instantly thought of all the ways she could teach with it. One student said that the board was better than the teacher. The overview said that the ActivBoard could be used anyway a normal white board could be used, but also it can be used anyway a computer can be used, which makes incorporating multimedia sources into teaching a cinch. The article also said the board helps dyslexic children learn and helps all children to be more engaged in their learning. The article said a few features the board has includes handwriting recognition and adding notes or special affects to digital resources. The article ended by giving a description of the wireless response system which allows teachers to have instant feedback as to students understanding.
My biggest question about the Promethean ActivBoard is: Is the ActivBoard better or worse then the SmartBoard? How do they differ? How are they similar?
My second question is in regards to the student's statement about the board being better than teachers. Is the ActivBoard and or SmartBoard going to eventually make teaching obsolete? Will teachers do less teaching then the actual board?
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
School Website
I attended Skyview High in Soldotna, Alaska. Also, my dream job would be teaching at Skyview.
While looking at Skyview's web page I noticed a few things. First of all the web page has taken great strides since I attended Skyview. Before the website merely had the contact information, calender, and a list of faculty members. Now the website has links to specific classes. These class links have the syllabus uploaded on them as well as class grades. Also the website now has links to sports, an alumni website, clubs, etc.. The second thing I noticed about the site is that it still needs a lot of work. Although, it has gotten better over the years it is definitely not keeping up with the technological times we live in. The links are unorganized. Many teachers are not taking full advantage of the site. Many links take you to pages that have nothing on them. Also the site looks boring right off the bat; it is plain and white with a little purple. I do like that the website now has a place for students to log in and see all of their classes, but it still needs a lot more work. I would like to see links across the top that have all the other links organized under, instead of them being in a random list on the side. There should be a calender tab right at the top of the page. All of the teachers should use the website more. The links need to be developed to mean something. There are just so many things missing from this website that I couldn't possibly list them all. The list goes on and on.
Hopefully if or when I teach I Skyview I can help inspire a better website, or if they school will not develop the website more I can at least have a website of my own for my own classes to look at and use.
While looking at Skyview's web page I noticed a few things. First of all the web page has taken great strides since I attended Skyview. Before the website merely had the contact information, calender, and a list of faculty members. Now the website has links to specific classes. These class links have the syllabus uploaded on them as well as class grades. Also the website now has links to sports, an alumni website, clubs, etc.. The second thing I noticed about the site is that it still needs a lot of work. Although, it has gotten better over the years it is definitely not keeping up with the technological times we live in. The links are unorganized. Many teachers are not taking full advantage of the site. Many links take you to pages that have nothing on them. Also the site looks boring right off the bat; it is plain and white with a little purple. I do like that the website now has a place for students to log in and see all of their classes, but it still needs a lot more work. I would like to see links across the top that have all the other links organized under, instead of them being in a random list on the side. There should be a calender tab right at the top of the page. All of the teachers should use the website more. The links need to be developed to mean something. There are just so many things missing from this website that I couldn't possibly list them all. The list goes on and on.
Hopefully if or when I teach I Skyview I can help inspire a better website, or if they school will not develop the website more I can at least have a website of my own for my own classes to look at and use.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
After the Smart Board Activities in Class
Today I learned a few things about the Smart Board. For one it can slow down the teaching processes when you are not proficient at it. However when all goes well it is a vital tool for learning in the classroom. Learning it is incredibly frustrating though. I found that students who used Smart Board features that were common and easy to use had an easier time presenting their lessons. The students that tried to use new and more difficult features had a hard time presenting their lesson since they got stuck on the technology. I do not know how I feel about the Smart Board anymore. I still think it is very fun to play with the board but I hope that the playing feature and figuring out how to use it doesn't overpower the learning. Hopefully we all become better at using the board and it enhances and not hinders our teaching. There are still many things that I do not understand about the interactive white board. There are many features I do not know how to use, and I still do not know all of the possibilities that it offers. One specific feature I would like to know how to use is having a list of students that I could click on and the board would randomly pick a student for me to call on. I really want this feature since it was difficult getting volunteers today and some students didn't participate at all.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Assignment #2
Forming Paragraphs
This lesson uses a few different Smart Board features however, in the slides I am going to use I will use the pen feature, the convert to text feature, and a drag-and-drop table.
The NETS for teachers this activity incorporates is 2.a: design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity. The forming paragraph activity covers this standard since it takes relevant knowledge for writing paragraphs and transfers it to a digital tool (the Smart Board). Using the Smart Board then encourages students to creatively get involve in the learning by bringing them to the board and having them write their own sentences and definitions.
Also it incorporates teacher NETS 3.b: collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation. The activity has this NETS since in this lesson the teacher has the students write their own definitions of paragraphs and then has them write their own paragraphs all on the Smart Board in front of the class. Thus, the student is collaborating with the teacher to learn the content together through the use of the digital tool or the Smart Board.
The NETS for students this activity covers is 1.a: apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes. The activity covers this NET since the students take knowledge they already have about paragraphs and apply that knowledge on the Smart Board to develop new ideas about connecting sentences within paragraphs.
The activity also covers NETS for students 2.d: contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems. The activity covers this NET since the students collaborate with the whole class and take turns to write sentences for a paragraph, add to definitions, and answer questions on the drag-and-drop table.
It is hard not to see how beneficial interactive white boards are in the classroom. In this activity I see how such a simple lesson about connection sentences within paragraphs can become a fun creative way for my students to interact in their own learning. I know that my students will be much more engaged in learning if they are apart of it. Any time a teacher takes students out of their seats to put in their own ideas into the learning the students will not get bored. For one thing, boys tend to have a harder time being interested in Language Arts, but if I can get them engaged in the lesson using an interactive white board I will have an easier time getting through to them. I only hope that I become proficient enough at using interactive white boards so that I will not have to spend hours creating activities, and will have an easier time engaging my students into learning about Literature and Writing.
This lesson uses a few different Smart Board features however, in the slides I am going to use I will use the pen feature, the convert to text feature, and a drag-and-drop table.
The NETS for teachers this activity incorporates is 2.a: design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity. The forming paragraph activity covers this standard since it takes relevant knowledge for writing paragraphs and transfers it to a digital tool (the Smart Board). Using the Smart Board then encourages students to creatively get involve in the learning by bringing them to the board and having them write their own sentences and definitions.
Also it incorporates teacher NETS 3.b: collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation. The activity has this NETS since in this lesson the teacher has the students write their own definitions of paragraphs and then has them write their own paragraphs all on the Smart Board in front of the class. Thus, the student is collaborating with the teacher to learn the content together through the use of the digital tool or the Smart Board.
The NETS for students this activity covers is 1.a: apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes. The activity covers this NET since the students take knowledge they already have about paragraphs and apply that knowledge on the Smart Board to develop new ideas about connecting sentences within paragraphs.
The activity also covers NETS for students 2.d: contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems. The activity covers this NET since the students collaborate with the whole class and take turns to write sentences for a paragraph, add to definitions, and answer questions on the drag-and-drop table.
It is hard not to see how beneficial interactive white boards are in the classroom. In this activity I see how such a simple lesson about connection sentences within paragraphs can become a fun creative way for my students to interact in their own learning. I know that my students will be much more engaged in learning if they are apart of it. Any time a teacher takes students out of their seats to put in their own ideas into the learning the students will not get bored. For one thing, boys tend to have a harder time being interested in Language Arts, but if I can get them engaged in the lesson using an interactive white board I will have an easier time getting through to them. I only hope that I become proficient enough at using interactive white boards so that I will not have to spend hours creating activities, and will have an easier time engaging my students into learning about Literature and Writing.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Blogs for Educators: In Teachers We Trust
On Edutopia Rebbecca Alber poster a blog "In Teachers We Trust: Can Kids Count on You?" where she describes different ways to earn and keep student's trust. She starts by saying that students don't learn from you if they do not trust you. A few of the ways she says to earn trust is to be true to who you are as a teacher, don't take the things students do and say personally, be honest with the students and apologize when you make a wrong, if you say you are going to do something do it, be fair with your students, don't confusing being liked with being trusted, and continue to learn your content and teaching skills.
I choose this particular blog because I always though it was vitally important for teachers to have the trust of their students. I always hated when teachers in high school would make a mistake and refuse to admit it even though it was so clear to the students, or when they would not follow through on a promise, or they would highly favor certain students. When I think about it, the teachers I disliked the most were the ones who did these things and never gained my trust regardless of how nice or competent they were.
I personally want to have the trust of my students. I plan on doing all the things Alber says to do to gain student's trust. There was one thing she said that I think needs a little more emphasis. While she spoke about being competent she mentioned shortly that teachers should stay sharp with the content they teach whether that be read a book or experiment on the computer. I think, however, that staying fresh should include staying up to date on technologies that students are using and fluent in. It is important to use technologies in the classroom to help teach and keep students interested, but part of gaining student's trust, is to show that you can use these technologies just as well as they can. Although it is not technically what you are trying to teach them, it still shows a level of care for the students and competency if you do not need student's help to use technologies in the classroom.
I choose this particular blog because I always though it was vitally important for teachers to have the trust of their students. I always hated when teachers in high school would make a mistake and refuse to admit it even though it was so clear to the students, or when they would not follow through on a promise, or they would highly favor certain students. When I think about it, the teachers I disliked the most were the ones who did these things and never gained my trust regardless of how nice or competent they were.
I personally want to have the trust of my students. I plan on doing all the things Alber says to do to gain student's trust. There was one thing she said that I think needs a little more emphasis. While she spoke about being competent she mentioned shortly that teachers should stay sharp with the content they teach whether that be read a book or experiment on the computer. I think, however, that staying fresh should include staying up to date on technologies that students are using and fluent in. It is important to use technologies in the classroom to help teach and keep students interested, but part of gaining student's trust, is to show that you can use these technologies just as well as they can. Although it is not technically what you are trying to teach them, it still shows a level of care for the students and competency if you do not need student's help to use technologies in the classroom.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Generation IM
The article from Scholastic.com first described the importance of adapting teaching to today's electronic generation. It stated that student's need to have interactive lessons to keep them interested. Also, it suggested that although it is difficult for teachers to learn and use new technologies that their are resources to make it easier.
The first part of this article told me nothing I hadn't heard before however the last part of the article had detailed creative examples of incorporating technology in the classroom. One of the examples that I will probably incorporate is to have students create their own blogs. They gave many different ways students would benefit from blogging but the one that caught my English Teaching attention was to journal. I have always wanted to have my students do a daily journal in a notebook. Some days I would allow them to write what they wanted and other days I would give them a prompt to respond to. However, now I am thinking that instead of spending five to ten minutes of class time everyday to have the students write in a physical notebook I can give them a journal prompt at the end of each class that they are to add to their blog for homework. This will be beneficial for many ways: it will allow students to write in a way that they already feel comfortable, it will make it easier on me to read and compare their work, and it will allow students to have discussions with each other on the same issues without having to take a lot of class time.
The first part of this article told me nothing I hadn't heard before however the last part of the article had detailed creative examples of incorporating technology in the classroom. One of the examples that I will probably incorporate is to have students create their own blogs. They gave many different ways students would benefit from blogging but the one that caught my English Teaching attention was to journal. I have always wanted to have my students do a daily journal in a notebook. Some days I would allow them to write what they wanted and other days I would give them a prompt to respond to. However, now I am thinking that instead of spending five to ten minutes of class time everyday to have the students write in a physical notebook I can give them a journal prompt at the end of each class that they are to add to their blog for homework. This will be beneficial for many ways: it will allow students to write in a way that they already feel comfortable, it will make it easier on me to read and compare their work, and it will allow students to have discussions with each other on the same issues without having to take a lot of class time.
Reflection #1-6
#1 In a Education class the Professor did not know how to switch from VHS to DVD on a VHS/DVD player. I was amazed that someone who works in the Education field didn't even know how to do this very basic technological function. I hope that I will never have to ask a student how to do a basic technological function in my classroom. I hope that I will at least know as much if not more than they do with any technology in the classroom.
#2 In a class today I was asked to get on the computer and use Google to search for some disorders we might encounter as educators. The Professor was making the point that if we are presented with a student with an unfamiliar disorder we should Google it or use Wikipedia to get quick information on how to handle the situation. I thought this was note worthy for a few reasons. Firstly, the Professor asked me to demonstrate this since he cannot use Google very quickly or efficiently. Secondly, I thought it was important to know that although the information on Wikipedia or Google might not be the most trust worthy it is extremely useful if you need to know basic information about something quickly. At the moment I feel like I am fairly efficient at using search engines quickly to find basic information. I hope that I will become more efficient so that I will not be able to just find information quickly but that I will be able to find the best information quickly.
#3 One of my teachers took notes during class using Discovery. I thought this was such a simple good idea. The Professor wrote what was being discussed by students and herself right into Discovery so not only could we visibly see what we should also be taking notes on but then it was instantly posted to the web so we could look at it later if we wanted. I love how simple this is and how much it benefited the students and saved the Professor a lot of time so she didn't have to post all the information later. Any teacher could do the same thing using a class blog. He/She can instantly record the discussion on a post as it is happening so they do not have to do it later and the students will be able to see it later for reference. Yet another reason why I think I will use a class blog when I am teaching.
#4 I used the Smart Board in a presentation for another education class. I figure if I have to do presentations/teach I might as well use the opportunity to continue to become efficient teaching with the Smart Board. I created slides on the Smart Board, used the shade tool, and used the pens to write on the presentation. I did notice that using the Smart Board made it difficult to keep good eye contact with my audience. I kept having to turn completely to the board to look at where to touch or to write. My instructor noted this on my presentation. She said watch turning back on class so much. She also suggested having a student volunteer to come up to the board to write for me so I could keep looking at audience. Tomorrow I have another presentation in that class, and I am using the Smart Board again. This time I am going to focus on keeping myself turned to the audience. I know that until I become efficient at using the board I will probably have to turn to look at the screen more than I want to, but I will continue to use it as much as possible for presentations in order to get better at using it while teaching.
#5 The New York Times did an article today called New Jersey Middle School, Charting Their Course to College and Beyond in which they discussed how 16 middle schools are incorporating personalized education plans that are similar to special needs student's IEPs. These education plans contain electronic portfolios for each sixth grade student that contains learning styles, interests, skills, carrer goals, and extracurricular activities. The students take an online quiz called matchmaker to determine possible careers, and the students fill out online learning plans once a month at school and can also log in at home as often as they want. These plans are intended to follow the students from sixth grade through graduation to help students decide and prepare for their careers and majors in college. This is very interesting. It is a great idea to personalize students learning to better suit them but it is great that they are using technology to do this. Here is another way technology is being used to enhance learning and in this case it is being used to keep track of students lives in order to adapt learning around their interests and goals. I think they could even lure more students into being excited about these online profiles if they made them accessible to the other students in the school turning it into a school wide myspace or facebook. If I ever become an administrator I would seriously try to incorporate student profiles into my school. For one thing it gives students a safe and school monitored way to communicate with classmates and teachers but it also allows the schools to better understand their student's needs and adapt learning accordingly.
#6 In a class, I just had, my Professor was teaching us how to write a Villanell which is a complicated poetry form. To demonstrate the pattern she had a Villanell projected on the screen so we could read the poem, at the same time she had a reading of the poem by the author playing through the computer, and she had the form labeled on the side of the poem on the screen. I thought this was a great use of technology to enhance teaching. Personally it helped greatly to see the poem with the form while I heard it read. It was also nice to hear it read by the author because then you get a complete idea of what the poem should sound like since he wrote it. It was such a simple thing to play this reading while showing a slide with the poem and form yet it struck me because it was a great way to incorporate technology in a way that enhances learning. I have already begun incorporating this sort of multimedia teaching into presentations in my classes but I want to make sure that I keep doing so when I become a teacher. When I teach poetry some day I am sure my students will better understand form and meaning if I can teach them by showing them the poem, using pictures, playing a reading of the poem, etc.
#2 In a class today I was asked to get on the computer and use Google to search for some disorders we might encounter as educators. The Professor was making the point that if we are presented with a student with an unfamiliar disorder we should Google it or use Wikipedia to get quick information on how to handle the situation. I thought this was note worthy for a few reasons. Firstly, the Professor asked me to demonstrate this since he cannot use Google very quickly or efficiently. Secondly, I thought it was important to know that although the information on Wikipedia or Google might not be the most trust worthy it is extremely useful if you need to know basic information about something quickly. At the moment I feel like I am fairly efficient at using search engines quickly to find basic information. I hope that I will become more efficient so that I will not be able to just find information quickly but that I will be able to find the best information quickly.
#3 One of my teachers took notes during class using Discovery. I thought this was such a simple good idea. The Professor wrote what was being discussed by students and herself right into Discovery so not only could we visibly see what we should also be taking notes on but then it was instantly posted to the web so we could look at it later if we wanted. I love how simple this is and how much it benefited the students and saved the Professor a lot of time so she didn't have to post all the information later. Any teacher could do the same thing using a class blog. He/She can instantly record the discussion on a post as it is happening so they do not have to do it later and the students will be able to see it later for reference. Yet another reason why I think I will use a class blog when I am teaching.
#4 I used the Smart Board in a presentation for another education class. I figure if I have to do presentations/teach I might as well use the opportunity to continue to become efficient teaching with the Smart Board. I created slides on the Smart Board, used the shade tool, and used the pens to write on the presentation. I did notice that using the Smart Board made it difficult to keep good eye contact with my audience. I kept having to turn completely to the board to look at where to touch or to write. My instructor noted this on my presentation. She said watch turning back on class so much. She also suggested having a student volunteer to come up to the board to write for me so I could keep looking at audience. Tomorrow I have another presentation in that class, and I am using the Smart Board again. This time I am going to focus on keeping myself turned to the audience. I know that until I become efficient at using the board I will probably have to turn to look at the screen more than I want to, but I will continue to use it as much as possible for presentations in order to get better at using it while teaching.
#5 The New York Times did an article today called New Jersey Middle School, Charting Their Course to College and Beyond in which they discussed how 16 middle schools are incorporating personalized education plans that are similar to special needs student's IEPs. These education plans contain electronic portfolios for each sixth grade student that contains learning styles, interests, skills, carrer goals, and extracurricular activities. The students take an online quiz called matchmaker to determine possible careers, and the students fill out online learning plans once a month at school and can also log in at home as often as they want. These plans are intended to follow the students from sixth grade through graduation to help students decide and prepare for their careers and majors in college. This is very interesting. It is a great idea to personalize students learning to better suit them but it is great that they are using technology to do this. Here is another way technology is being used to enhance learning and in this case it is being used to keep track of students lives in order to adapt learning around their interests and goals. I think they could even lure more students into being excited about these online profiles if they made them accessible to the other students in the school turning it into a school wide myspace or facebook. If I ever become an administrator I would seriously try to incorporate student profiles into my school. For one thing it gives students a safe and school monitored way to communicate with classmates and teachers but it also allows the schools to better understand their student's needs and adapt learning accordingly.
#6 In a class, I just had, my Professor was teaching us how to write a Villanell which is a complicated poetry form. To demonstrate the pattern she had a Villanell projected on the screen so we could read the poem, at the same time she had a reading of the poem by the author playing through the computer, and she had the form labeled on the side of the poem on the screen. I thought this was a great use of technology to enhance teaching. Personally it helped greatly to see the poem with the form while I heard it read. It was also nice to hear it read by the author because then you get a complete idea of what the poem should sound like since he wrote it. It was such a simple thing to play this reading while showing a slide with the poem and form yet it struck me because it was a great way to incorporate technology in a way that enhances learning. I have already begun incorporating this sort of multimedia teaching into presentations in my classes but I want to make sure that I keep doing so when I become a teacher. When I teach poetry some day I am sure my students will better understand form and meaning if I can teach them by showing them the poem, using pictures, playing a reading of the poem, etc.
Assignment #1
Cutting Keystrokes, Improving Communications: Response Technologies for Writing Instruction: By Scott Warnock is about how technologies can be used by teachers to grade and respond to student's written assignments. Warnock starts by discussing the frustration that accompanies learning new technologies but then says that in the long run it will save writing teachers many hours in grading papers. Then he focused on a few different resources available for computer based grading. Warnock explained how students can submit papers electronically then the teacher can grade them via Word with margin comments, Astrix, tracking, etc. He also gave many different Internet resources that allow teachers to add voice comments to papers and even video comments.
When I first started to read this article I did not know how this affected how I taught English/Language Arts. However, I quickly changed my mind. In the class Advanced Expository Writing at Northwest University I would submit ruff drafts of my papers electronically with a short message to Professor Young detailing my issues or concerns for that paper. She would then read and comment on that paper via tracking on Word and send it back to me. I also happened to develop my skills as a writer more in that class than in any other I have taken. Of course I have never thought about the connection before, but perhaps it was due to the use of technology that helped me. Warnock's article made me also realize that with today's electronic generation using e-mail to submit and grade writing assignments might be a more affective way of communicating than the classic paper/hand written comments method. Plus student's would then have an easier time of saving teacher comments to look at a later date.
In my classroom I probably will not require all students to submit papers electronically as some students wont like this method or will not have a computer. However, I will encourage students to do so since it will be easier on me to grade and will be more natural and more affective for them to learn from.
NETS for Teachers: #1 Facilitate and Inspire Learning and Creativity
This standard is most important to me, because I feel that it is the very basic requirement of teaching. If you as a teacher do not inspire learning and creativity (especially as an English teacher) you are failing 100% as a teacher. Students generally do not have any desire to learn that is why it is vital for the teacher to work to inspire learning as well as facilitate learning. If the student does not want to learn what you as a teacher are tyring to teach then they wont. They might be able to cram the information for the test but they will not really learn or remember it, but if you inspire them to want to learn then they will try to remember the content.
This semester I will
When I first started to read this article I did not know how this affected how I taught English/Language Arts. However, I quickly changed my mind. In the class Advanced Expository Writing at Northwest University I would submit ruff drafts of my papers electronically with a short message to Professor Young detailing my issues or concerns for that paper. She would then read and comment on that paper via tracking on Word and send it back to me. I also happened to develop my skills as a writer more in that class than in any other I have taken. Of course I have never thought about the connection before, but perhaps it was due to the use of technology that helped me. Warnock's article made me also realize that with today's electronic generation using e-mail to submit and grade writing assignments might be a more affective way of communicating than the classic paper/hand written comments method. Plus student's would then have an easier time of saving teacher comments to look at a later date.
In my classroom I probably will not require all students to submit papers electronically as some students wont like this method or will not have a computer. However, I will encourage students to do so since it will be easier on me to grade and will be more natural and more affective for them to learn from.
NETS for Teachers: #1 Facilitate and Inspire Learning and Creativity
This standard is most important to me, because I feel that it is the very basic requirement of teaching. If you as a teacher do not inspire learning and creativity (especially as an English teacher) you are failing 100% as a teacher. Students generally do not have any desire to learn that is why it is vital for the teacher to work to inspire learning as well as facilitate learning. If the student does not want to learn what you as a teacher are tyring to teach then they wont. They might be able to cram the information for the test but they will not really learn or remember it, but if you inspire them to want to learn then they will try to remember the content.
This semester I will
- learn technologies that will teach content in creative ways that are more inspiring to the 21st century generation
- use technologies in creative ways that I can encourage students to be creative with
- become efficient in using new technologies so that I can inspire learning by them instead of losing students interest by spending time trying to figure out how a piece of technology works.
NETS for Students: #4 Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
This skill is a vital skill not just in school but to function as an adult. It is usually a huge rite of passage for adolescents to learn how to critically think about an issue and make decisions for themselves without the aid of parents. I believe that if students can effectively learn to do this as adolescents they will make less bad decisions that affect the rest of their lives.
Two assignments that I could give to students to help them meet this goal:
- I can tell students to find a poem read that poem and interpret that poem by doing research on it and applying their past knowledge to it. Then they will use technology creatively to present the poem, their interpretation, and how it could apply to the student's lives.
- I can give students daily journal prompts that would help them develop their skills as a writer but give them prompts that would force them to think critically about issues: such as gay marriage or how would they respond if they saw a fellow student using technology inappropriately in the classroom.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Begginning of Semester Reflection
As a teacher in the 21st century technoledgy is a vital compnent to lesson planning and teaching. However, learning and acquiring new technolodgical skills is one of the longest and most fustrating processes I have ever gone through. I completly understand the need for technoledgy and I get exsited about new ways to teach and learn, but I get extremly frustrated trying to learn these new technoledgies. As a teacher I need to be able to get more proficiant at learning new technoledgies because they will be a big component to my life as a teacher. Technoledgy will keep my students interested, allow me to vary the way my students learn, and enhance the content of my lessons. Technoledgy is not an essential component in learning but it is one that makes learning better in almost every way. Math can be taught without calculators and smart boards but it becomes real and engaging with these technoledgies.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Interactive White Boards
In the article "Teaching Content with Interactive Whiteboards" Amy B. Mounce gives many examples from her personal observations in which interactive whiteboards were being used to enhance learning in many different subject areas. Mounce demonstrates the great impact that interactive whiteboards have on education through her examples.
Education changed drastically when interactive boards were introduced to the education world. The benefits of having and using an interactive whiteboard are endless as Mounce demonstrates. Not only does interactive whiteboards make teachers more accessible to students but they also make content more accessible to students. Never before has teaching been so effortlessly active and engaging to students. Student's will now have a hard time getting bored at school as their visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning are constantly engaged by the use of an interactive whiteboard. Mounce made it clear how Teachers can enhance and teach endless subject areas through the use of the white board. Of course interactive white boards also offer the ability for teachers to teach 21st century skills as well, such as using technology in research and for future jobs. Interactive whiteboards simply make the possibilities for teaching and learning endless and fun. Teacher will now spend less time preparing for lessons that are twice as engaging as before.
To read the article and see the examples of the interactive whiteboard in action click here:
Education changed drastically when interactive boards were introduced to the education world. The benefits of having and using an interactive whiteboard are endless as Mounce demonstrates. Not only does interactive whiteboards make teachers more accessible to students but they also make content more accessible to students. Never before has teaching been so effortlessly active and engaging to students. Student's will now have a hard time getting bored at school as their visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning are constantly engaged by the use of an interactive whiteboard. Mounce made it clear how Teachers can enhance and teach endless subject areas through the use of the white board. Of course interactive white boards also offer the ability for teachers to teach 21st century skills as well, such as using technology in research and for future jobs. Interactive whiteboards simply make the possibilities for teaching and learning endless and fun. Teacher will now spend less time preparing for lessons that are twice as engaging as before.
To read the article and see the examples of the interactive whiteboard in action click here:
Monday, January 18, 2010
"Turing on the Lights"
In the article "Turning on the Lights" Marc Prensky said that 21st century students are not learning as they should in schools. Prensky blames this lack of learning on the school systems refusal to adapt teaching to the digital age. He says students are bored at school and learn more from their connection to games and the Internet than in classrooms. Prensky suggests that students today want to learn about the future while schools are stuck teaching about the past.
Although Prensky does make some good points that need consideration, he takes his argument to far. To suggest that students learn more useful information from a video game than they do in schools is slightly far fetched. Yes, schools and educators today should adapt their classrooms and teaching to the technologies of the 21st century, but they cannot stop teaching history or writing or math. The subjects taught in schools have been taught for centuries, but they are important regardless. These subjects need to be updated to keep the interest of today's youth but they cannot be abandon all together. Still basic algebra skills are vital for any functioning adult that wishes to do their taxes or find the best loan rates. Still writing and reading skills are demanded by almost every job. Still we must learn about our history to learn from it in order to not make the same mistakes in our future. Teachers should not students roam the Internet during school or use their cell phones since both are distracting and should be regulated. However, teachers should incorporate technology in their classrooms, update their curriculum, and encourage students to creatively use technology for projects and other assignments.
Although Prensky does make some good points that need consideration, he takes his argument to far. To suggest that students learn more useful information from a video game than they do in schools is slightly far fetched. Yes, schools and educators today should adapt their classrooms and teaching to the technologies of the 21st century, but they cannot stop teaching history or writing or math. The subjects taught in schools have been taught for centuries, but they are important regardless. These subjects need to be updated to keep the interest of today's youth but they cannot be abandon all together. Still basic algebra skills are vital for any functioning adult that wishes to do their taxes or find the best loan rates. Still writing and reading skills are demanded by almost every job. Still we must learn about our history to learn from it in order to not make the same mistakes in our future. Teachers should not students roam the Internet during school or use their cell phones since both are distracting and should be regulated. However, teachers should incorporate technology in their classrooms, update their curriculum, and encourage students to creatively use technology for projects and other assignments.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Why I am Taking this Journey
The first day of Jr. High was a blur. I was transported to a new school with new people. There were things about Jr. High I did not understand: why I needed a locker, the A B C D grading scale, breaks in between classes, and popularity. However, there was one thing that I loved about my first day of Jr. High: my math teacher Mr. Carson. He was beautiful and tall and young, for a teacher. I had never had a male teacher before, and I certainly never had one that wasn't in their fifties gray and wore a cardigan. Mr. Carson was in his early thirties, he had light brown hair, and was in excellent physical condition. My thirteen year old self was in love, or infatuated a lot anyways. On that first day Mr. Carson gave an introduction to his class that was just like every other introduction I heard that day, and would hear for years to come, except for one thing. During that introduction he said, "I want to be the type of teacher that inspires students to become teachers." Since I was so in love with him I said to myself that I wanted to be a teacher just so he can be the type of teacher that inspires students.
That was when I first thought about being a teacher thanks to a silly childhood crush. However, that first spark to become a teacher did not stay in the crush level but turned into a passionate desire. Really I decided to be a teacher in high school after being sick of seeing the lack of good teachers at my school and the ample amounts of students falling through the cracks. Thus, in high school I decided to become a high school teacher and decided I wanted to teach English/Literature. English was one of the only classes I really enjoyed in high school thus I wanted to teach them. Up till high school English was boring because it was mostly grammar. Where as in high school I learned that English involved great novels and poetry and imagination.
So here I am nine years after that fateful day in Mr. Carson's class making my dream, and his, come true. This semester I hope that I develop skills that will be a daily help in my teaching experience and becoming Mrs. Angleton. In Technology in Education I wish to learn how to use technology in the classroom and learn how to teach around it and with it.
That was when I first thought about being a teacher thanks to a silly childhood crush. However, that first spark to become a teacher did not stay in the crush level but turned into a passionate desire. Really I decided to be a teacher in high school after being sick of seeing the lack of good teachers at my school and the ample amounts of students falling through the cracks. Thus, in high school I decided to become a high school teacher and decided I wanted to teach English/Literature. English was one of the only classes I really enjoyed in high school thus I wanted to teach them. Up till high school English was boring because it was mostly grammar. Where as in high school I learned that English involved great novels and poetry and imagination.
So here I am nine years after that fateful day in Mr. Carson's class making my dream, and his, come true. This semester I hope that I develop skills that will be a daily help in my teaching experience and becoming Mrs. Angleton. In Technology in Education I wish to learn how to use technology in the classroom and learn how to teach around it and with it.
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