My Blog Comments II

Amber
Jenny
Heather
Emily
Angelyna
Teixeira

End of Semester Reflection

At the beginning of the semester I set a goal, to grow myself and learn more about teaching and technology in education. Throughout the semester I took steps to ensure that I continued to learn more as a student and as a teacher. I read a wide range of educator blogs and accumulated a fair amount of tools and resources, some of which I shared in my resource toolbox project. I also experimented with new technologies like Google Earth and brainstormed ideas on how I would integrate these technologies into class projects and lessons. During my teacher interviews and classroom observations I made it a point to ask many questions and learn as much as I could about their advice and experiences with teaching. It's been an exciting experience this semester because I've learned so much and I plan to continue to be proactive in my learning in the semesters to come! If you'd like to read more about my goal that I planned at the beginning of the semester, click here.

Presentation

Google Earth

Starfall

Lincoln Memorial

Assignment 4

It was a lot of fun creating the different parts of my project. I didn't run into any major issues during the creation process except for a minor program error here and there. I feel like I have a better base of knowledge for when I work with similar technologies in the future. I would love to use my website when I have a class of my own one day. I can easily add, remove, and organize information that is helpful to my students and their parents. This class website encourages students to organize and retrieve school information online responsibly (NETS 3, 5-6). Students might also have the opportunity to create and publish their own presentations or make their own educational games for themselves and their peers to play (NETS 1-2). As a teacher, I was able to think creatively when designing and adding content to my custom educational game and hopefully actively engage my students (NETS 1-2). I gained experience working with different technologies (NETS 3) and citing borrowed sources on my website (NETS 4).

Weebly

• Add text, links, pictures/clip art, and new pages (and subpages).
  
• Subdivide a page into two columns.
• Publish it online.
  

Zoho Show

• Add text, pictures/clip art, and shapes.
• Resize objects.
• Size selection of presentation window.
  
• Publish and embed it online in a website.
  

Classtools.net

• Create a game.
• Customize it with own text.
  
• Embed it in a website online.
  

Website: Class Website
Introductory presentation is on the main page. Custom educational game is on the "Health" page.

Reflection #14: P.E. Class Observation

Transitions are particularly important in the classroom, especially so in physical education classes when the students are being much more active and there is a lot more potential for being off-task in a physical way. The teacher began each class with the students sitting on their assigned colored shape. She shared with them the class schedule for that day. This is a great way to get the entire class on the same page as far as what to expect. Next they had a 10 minute warm-up where they could participate in jump rope, hula hoops, running, or going for a bathroom break. This is something they did every day in P.E. class so it was routine and prepared students for the subsequent activities. The teacher blew a whistle to signal the ending of warm-up and they returned to their spots on the floor. The main activity was explained, not only in how it was conducted but how it will help them build teamwork, cooperation, and specifically within physical fitness. This stood out to me because I think it is a great idea for students to be aware of what the learning targets are prior to the activity.

P.E. is a unique program area within the school because the teacher is responsible for teaching across all grade levels. The way that Lakeview’s physical education program works is that the teacher uses the same activity for all of her classes in the day, modifying the difficulty and how she conducts the activity to fit the grade level. In the 1st grade class, the teacher had to leave additional time for going over the very basics of safety precautions, questions and comments from her students, and assisting them in forming their teams. In contrast, the 5th grade class already had a larger background knowledge and needed to only be told briefly about safety measures. The 5th graders were also able to form teams quickly and without assistance.

I would like to ask the teacher about the challenges she faces with modifying an activity to fit different grade levels and how she begins the process of doing so in her lesson planning. It would also be useful to see how she assesses her students’ progress and helps those who are struggling with a particular knowledge area or activity. Lastly, I would ask the teacher if she had any suggestions for incorporating low-level kinesthetic activity into the regular classroom.

Reflection #13: Special Needs Observation

I recently observed a special education classroom in a local junior high. This classroom observation was similar in many ways to observing an elementary classroom only with greater emphasis on one-on-one tutoring. Though some of these students faced greater challenges academically and otherwise, the teacher still had appropriate expectations for them. She expected them to sit up and pay attention and she would wait for the class to refocus before continuing with the lesson. It is so important for teachers to have high expectations for their students and believe in their potential. I saw this same concept demonstrated in the interactions between the student aides and the students. The aides were encouraging and helpful, I think that peer tutoring contributed greatly towards the students’ overall attitude towards class work.This class is particularly unique because of all the support integrated into the classroom. There were four students in the class and each student had their own student aide. In addition to the lead teacher there were also two paraeducators actively working in the classroom. This support promoted a strong learning environment and allowed the teacher to focus on teaching and meeting the academic needs of the class as a whole. Though this is a junior high class, the students were working primarily at a 1^st and 2^nd grade level. I was able to take a look at the curriculum they were following and there was definitely a strong focus on mathematics and literacy. These two subjects must be deemed as particularly important for these students to be successful in and outside of the educational domain.

After observing the class in action and taking a look at the curriculum I would be interested in asking the teacher about the ways in which she formally assesses her students. I believe it might look a little different just because the structure of the class is different than the typical junior high classroom and the students are at varying degrees of capability. I would also like to know more about the biggest challenges she faces in teaching special education and how she addresses those challenges. Overall it was a very insightful observation and I learned a great deal about how this type of classroom functions.

Software Programs: Kidspiration and Chalksite

Kidspiration
Kidspiration is a creative, visual learning program that incorporates the use of pictures and icons to enhance students' learning in various subjects like reading, writing, science, social studies, and mathematics. This program would be excellent for various projects. I love how user-friendly it is and how educational the templates they provide are. I was able to easily create a few fun documents of my own and export it as a .jpg image in order to send it via email or publish it on the web. Kidspiration documents can also be saved as Word documents for easy saving or printing purposes.

-Prewriting or brainstorming
-Story Webs
-Timelines
-Venn Diagrams
-Graphs and Charts
-Grouping and Classifying





Chalksite
Chalksite is an online grade book program that provides its services free for the teacher and first 5 student accounts. I thought it was relatively easy to use and the way in which it was organized in different tabs was extremely efficient. We were able to practice adding students, assignments, and grades and it was all straightforward. Chalksite also provides a website through the grade book account which I think is a nice option to have and makes it so teachers don't have to create another account through another company to host their class website.

Reflection #12: Telescopes

I stumbled across World Wide Telescope the other day, it is a free Microsoft online program that makes your computer function as a telescope through imagery from real telescopes. There are guided tours from astronomers that can be stopped and started as you please, different views of the sky, and zooming and panning capabilities. The only downside is that it only fully works on PCs, if you have a Mac you can use the web-based version but it lacks some of the features. Nevertheless, I would love to use this application during an astronomy unit because it provides students with a relevant learning experience within the classroom that might otherwise not occur. It would be difficult to study the stars in-class simply because schools are in session during the day. Secondly, being able to take a look at things like nebulas, galaxies, and planets would be invaluable!

Reflection #11: World Mapper

I enjoy reading education blogs simply because it is exciting to learn new ideas and find inspiring resources. I was reading one the other day and came across a neat online resource called World Mapper. On the World Mapper website I found hundreds of maps showing different kinds of data. Some of the maps displayed population data, others showed the amount of pollution, another showed religious affiliations. Besides the 696 maps they have available, the website also provides high quality PDFs of some of the maps so that they can be printed out and displayed on classroom walls. This is a good opportunity for students to learn how to read a map using the key and looking at the data that is being shown. After taking a look at several maps together as a class they could work to create their own maps, including a title, key, and labels.

Word, Excel, Powerpoint OH MY!

Below is a list of the features I use most often in the following programs.

Word
-Draw Tools (create a line/shape, textbox)
-Word Count
-Formatting Palette (font, list, spacing)
-Zoom In/Out
-Borders

Excel
-Insert/delete row
-Formatting Palette

Powerpoint
-Slides
-Slide Design
-Transitions
-Insert Pictures/Clip Art


Students can learn how to use these programs through simple or complex assignments such as:

Word
Keyboarding exercises
Typing up an essay, poem, or story

Excel
Data entry from a class science experiment's information
Data entry from a class survey or other statistics

Powerpoint
An "About Me and My Family" presentation near the beginning of the school year
Group presentation on a particular topic
Yearbook Presentation-End of the year collaborative classroom Powerpoint that includes pictures and video of different classroom activities and projects that were done that year

Reflection #10: National Geographic

Today I was exploring the National Geographic website and found that they offer some great resources for teaching. There's interactive games, videos of wildlife, live streaming video of some of the most beautiful natural places in the world, and lesson plans for educators. The technology that they make available is so valuable. I would love to integrate some of their pictures and video into a science or geography unit. One fun idea would be to view a short clip as a class at the beginning of each day and answer a few questions in a science journal. This would encourage the students to start thinking and move into a learning mindset.

National Geographic Lesson Plans
National Geographic Mega Flyover Resources

Reflection #9: Google Earth

I did not truly realize until today how amazing a resource Google Earth really is. Not only is it fun to see the town or state you live in, but it's an excellent way to "travel" anywhere on Earth. This afternoon I "saw" whales off the coast of Australia, the ancient Mayan ruins of Becan, and the island of Santorini, Greece. Google Earth also offers animated 3D tours of places like the Roman Colosseum, cathedrals around the world, a trip through Asia, and a view of the solar system. This program offers unlimited learning opportunities and can be integrated into nearly every school subject. It is an amazing piece of technology and I'm excited to see how it will grow and advance over the next decade. Hopefully in the future they will have high quality imaging of the entire world (and space) and a real 3D look of major landmarks and historical sites.

Possible Projects
Take a Virtual Field Trip
Student Autobiography (Students can place placemarks at significant personal locations and add stories/pictures at the locations to create an autobiography tour.)
Where Are We Today? (Like the game "20 Questions")

How To Begin
After downloading Google Earth, go to www.google.com, click on ADVANCED SEARCH and under File Format choose KMZ before searching. KMZ, or Keyhole Markup Zipped, is the type of file that Google Earth saves in. After you find an interesting KMZ, double-click and it will open in GE. It will open under your temporary locations so you will need to save it in "My Places" if you want to return to it later.
-You can read tutorials on how to use Google Earth.
-Google Earth also offers many ideas for educators.

Additional Resources
Google Earth Lessons
Discovery Google Earth
Google Lit Trips
Google Earth Blog
Google Sightseeing
Google Earth How-To Videos
Rome

Education Blogs

I explored the Free Tech 4 Teachers blog today and found so many great resources and ideas it is difficult for me to pick just one post to share. You can click here to view a large list of some of the resources. I am probably most excited about the learning potential behind virtual tours. Through the World Wide Web teachers can take their class on numerous fieldtrips without ever leaving the classroom. You can click here to read the full post; it basically introduces two virtual tours, one to the Vatican Museums and one to China's Forbidden City. These tours are a fabulous way to bring history to life in the classroom and provide an authentic learning experience for them. It makes learning more dynamic and engaging. Students could also "visit" the Lincoln Memorial, or any number of other tours available online. I looked up "virtual tours" in Google and came up with a number of possibilities which I listed below and will likely add to as I discover more. Fieldtrips online are something I had never even considered before but it is a great idea. Students can begin by researching a famous or historical location and finish the project by actually viewing panoramas and videos of the site as a class. This is also the perfect opportunity to integrate cultural music and art.

Other Virtual Tours:
Israel, Israel map
Additional Virtual Tours
Even More Virtual Tours

K-12 Online Conference

I chose to listen to the "Kicking it up a Notch: Games in Education" K-12 conference. You can click here to listen to it.

Games have been an important element throughout history in virtually every society. Games are not a new idea, they have been around forever, but it is how we use games to teach and to learn that is key. Students who are given the opportunity to reflect upon their game experience in interpersonal communication are more likely to be more engaged with the learning. "Edutainment games" like Reader Rabbit or Math Blaster are most prevalent in schools but are not nearly as effective as other types of game play. These games do not provide authentic learning experiences but are more focused on being fun. Serious games are designed to go deeper and have greater intrinsic value. One example of a serious game is Ayiti: The Cost of Life. This game requires important decision-making and leads players to consider the real world issues of poverty and the right to education. The conference presented two important elements to game play in education. First, it requires time to learn and experience the activity to it's fullest extent, and second, the teacher must act as a guide in the learning process. A game must be engaging, factually accurate, and combined with critical thinking. Teachers should consider how they will let everyone in the class have a turn, possible reflective activities they might use, and how to integrate game play into the curriculum content. I learned a lot about what is crucial when integrating game play into the classroom and how to make it an authentic learning experience. A game that will lend itself to learning will most likely involve one of the following skills:

• Problem-solving
• Collaboration
• Curriculum connections
• Logic
• Strategy

Other games that the conference mentions:
Line Rider
Light Bot
Physics Phun Sandbox (video)
Quest Atlantis
River City Ransom
Squeakland

Credit: "Kicking it up a Notch Games in Education"

Technology Project Plan

I will be creating a class website on Weebly that will include a teacher bio, contact information, class news and events, homework, unit content for upcoming weeks, and helpful resources for students and parents. On my website I will also be incorporating a fun flash presentation from Zoho Show that introduces the school year and what can be expected in my class. In addition, I am working on an educational game I will create using Classtools.net and which can be featured on the class website. This project is practical yet I want it to be fun and engaging. I want to gain experience creating online presentations and games that I can easily share with students and parents. When I have a class of my own I will hopefully be able to create and share games that quiz students on curriculum content and help reinforce what they've learned. Online presentations have the potential to get students excited for an upcoming project or school event and it seems like it would not be a tedious task to create one. I'm really looking forward to working on this project!

My Podcast

Resources: Weebly.com, Show.zoho.com, Classtools.net

Reflection #8: Flip Video

We had the opportunity to use a Flip Video and the Flip Share program to create our very own movie. It was superlatively easy to rearrange and put our different clips together as well as add music from the preselected options. For greater editing capabilities we would definitely need to use Movie Maker or iMovie. I am now a big fan of Flip Video simply because it is very easy to use and students could use it for surveys, presentation projects or the like. One extensive project that would be interesting to do is a historical play. It could either be done as a whole class or several smaller groups, but would require research, simple costumes, and student participation. I think students would have fun with it and would be very willing to contribute.

"Caught on Video" by Bob Spankle

First of all, let me say that his is a really great article. Spankle's suggestions for how to use Flip Video in the classroom opened my eyes to the possibilities! I especially love these ideas...

-Filming a student on the first day of school asking her what her dreams/hopes/goals are for the school year. Playing that back towards the end of the year and asking her to reflect on it.
-Constantly capture the excitement of learning from each student.

-Capture all that great “Hands-on,” experiential learning that can never be captured by a traditional assessment.


Wouldn't these make for a wonderful video montage for parents to see at the end of the year? I am intrigued by Spankle's idea of video footage as concrete assessment and evidence of learning, particularly on a regular basis throughout the year. I think that if integrated seamlessly in a well-thought out plan it would be extremely useful! This article taught me a lot about the ways in which to use video recording in the classroom and how it might be used as an assessment tool or a way to update parents on their child's progress. I believe students would enjoy sharing parts of their learning experience with their families too!

Credit: Caught on Video by Bob Spankle

ActivBoard and Clickers

Last week we visited an elementary classroom and learned about the Activboard and clickers from the teacher. The Activboard appeared to be very similar to the Smartboard except that you could not write on it with anything but the special pen. The clickers (Smartboard) or voters (Activboard), which I believe are similar to the ones that they use at UW in some of the classrooms, are an excellent way to quickly quiz or get feedback from students. It's a great way to assess students' knowledge while at the same time protecting student privacy. I love the idea of having a diagram with empty a,b,c,d labels and multiple choice answers for students to answer.

Assignment #3

Amber and I designed our toolbox of resources to be organized by subject (or alphabetically) for user-friendly purposes. If a teacher is looking for some help in a particular area they only need to look at the links under the particular subject they are interested in. We chose to integrate our resources as a part of our class blogs because of the practicality of it and because it could be easily transferred to a class website in the future. Below are three websites that I chose and have reviewed.

Starfall is an excellent literacy resource for teachers to share with their students and integrate into the classroom. It has activities for every level of beginning reading with a specific focus on phonics. I would use it as a special privilege for students who demonstrated excellent focus on learning and made a positive contribution to the class community.

The Interactive Weather Forecast is an excellent resource for students to create their own 5-day forecast. Students can work in groups to create a forecast based on their own predictions or local news station forecasts. Students can act as "weather forecasters" and make a report at the beginning of class. This website is especially useful because you can save your forecast and the website will give you a code to be able to return to it at a later time. Your forecast can be very simple or extremely detailed depending on the age group you are working with.

These ready made Smartboard lessons are organized by grade level and target subject area. It's excellent for substitutes or teachers who don't have a ton of extra time to create their own Smartboard lessons from scratch. Some of the lessons are focused on a specific piece of literature but most are more general and could be easily integrated into a school's curriculum.

My Blog Comments

Emily

Angelyna

Heather

Teixeira

Jenny

Amber

Reflection #7: Phonetic Punctuation!

We watched a Victor Borge clip in one of my classes the other day because phonetic punctuation can be a fabulous idea to integrate into your classroom. It makes learning punctuation fun, and when you pair it with saying the name of the punctuation before the sound it reinforces the vocabulary. I've picked this video because it demonstrates the idea so well, and Dean Martin is a favourite of mine! Enjoy!

Reflection #6: Asking Questions

It appears to me that asking questions is a big element of teaching. This article emphasized the importance of asking questions in the classroom and the reasons why teachers do so. Teachers ask questions to check understanding. If the class is answering your questions correctly and with considerable thought this can be evidence of their knowledge of the content. The key, however, is to ask the right type of questions. The article mentioned something fascinating and something that I find to be true. Early on, students begin to grasp how they are viewed by those around them, whether it be "smart", "funny", or "indifferent" and they will act accordingly. When a teacher asks a question, some students may simply sit back, stop thinking, and let the "smart kids" answer. Similarly, some students stop thinking about the question as soon as a student is called on. One strategy that the article suggests is to ask a question and pause for 3 seconds to allow students to process the question and come up with an answer before calling on a specific student. This strategy can also be combined with a random popsicle stick system so that students are somewhat randomly selected to give an answer. Another article that talks about the "wait time" after teacher questions or student responses is Using "Think-Time" and "Wait-Time" Skillfully in the Classroom by Robert J. Stahl.



Credit: The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom by Ben Johnson

Reflection #5: Elementary School Observation

The other day I observed a first grade classroom in the afternoon. I observed many excellent methods that the teacher used in her classroom that I view as important to the structure and function of the class. These include the way she managed her class and made efficient use of their time. For instance, the teacher provided motivation for the students to model exemplary classroom behavior by reinforcing positive behavior with verbal encouragement and setting up a reward system for the class. She promoted an organized environment and orderly transitions in several ways, one of which was dismissing students by table whenever a task needed to be accomplished, including getting water after recess and getting their backpacks at the end of the day. When instructing the class she was very specific with what she was asking them to do. It is so important for a teacher’s expectations to be clear, and I could tell that she worked hard to make this happen by not only saying the instructions, but also having a visual model.

I would have to say that first grade is distinguished from other grade levels by the nature of the students. In my observations I noticed that they participated in a great deal of kinesthetic activity in their learning, as well as choral response. These two elements in particular are likely more necessary especially in the younger elementary grades because of their short attention span and level of distractibility. The teacher often brought the class back together by calling out a fun little rhyme, and the students had already learned the proper response. I look forward to asking the teacher more about how she integrates kinesthetic activity into her teaching, particularly in learning to read. I learned some valuable tips when observing her math lesson and it has inspired me to think more critically about different ways to integrate the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic styles into my own teaching. I’d also like to ask her how she initially teaches the class about how the classroom functions, including her different class rules and the general schedule of the day.

Reflection #4: High School Observation

I observed a freshman Honors English class and found it to be a great learning experience. What stuck out to me in particular about this class was the high level of organization and how attentive the teacher was to her students. First of all, the class was very orderly. There were whiteboards on almost every wall, some were used for upcoming school events and others were used to display the homework assignments for the upcoming week. The teacher had a slot of time specifically for students to write their assignments in their school planner. She also had the class period schedule posted on the wall next to the objective for the day. The teacher's organization and hard work conveys her desire for her students to have what they need to be successful. She was constantly moving around the classroom while they were working, assessing students and checking in with those who seemed disengaged. She integrated a journal prompt at the beginning of class, and after giving examples of a new concept would call on students for their examples. She would also put prompts on the SMART board for the class to easily refer to as they worked on their homework.

This class was different from the upper grade high school classes that I’ve observed. As it is their first year in high school they seem more industrious and focused on learning. They appeared to be very compliant and didn’t have as much attitude as some of the upperclassmen. The students were for the most part highly engaged in their work, working with one another when instructed to, and asking the teacher questions with great ease. I would be interested in asking the teacher more about her teaching strategies and how the multicultural nature of her classroom influences her lesson planning and the way she approaches the class. Overall it was a very informative classroom observation and I learned a lot from the way she organizes her class and the way in which she prompts the students to think critically.

Assignment #2

Students

Creativity and Innovation

The Sound Buttons game allows students to demonstrate their creativity by being able to create words through the computer and apply what they know to their work. Students can also work together in small groups to create words. For instance, the first student may select the beginning phoneme, the second student can select the medial phoneme, and the last student might choose the ending phoneme. It will require communication and cooperation between students to create a word that makes sense.

Communication and Collaboration

Students can work together to make words and change parts of words to make new words. Working together on this game will require students to communicate and interact with one another and students will have to contribute ideas in order for the group effort to truly be accomplished. This idea is strongly connected to the first standard because the students who work in groups will need to work creatively and cooperatively.

Technology Operations and Concepts

By interacting with this online computer game, students will be able to demonstrate their basic understanding of computers and can apply their previous knowledge of how computer games typically work. A working knowledge of how the SMART board functions and how the pen and shape tools work will also need to be learned if not already known.



Teachers

Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

Teachers can use this activity to engage students in their learning of phonemes and their location, and encourage students to actively think about elements such as isolation and substitution of the different phonemes that make up a word. By introducing this activity into their class lesson, teachers push students to learn through creating and changing words independently and collaboratively with their classmates.

Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

By using this activity on a SMART board or Activboard, teachers are not only incorporating the interactive board as a technological tool in the classroom, but also utilizing internet resources. This activity can also be customized to be challenging for all students depending on their level of need. Students who need more of a challenge could be asked to circle the medial vowel phoneme, whereas those who are having a more difficult time might be asked to only circle the beginning phoneme, which is more prominent and easier to recognize.

Model Digital-Age Work and Learning

During this activity, teachers will need to have a working knowledge of how to use the pen and shape tools on the SMART board. They will also have to be able to easily move objects around on the screen, and model and teach this skill to students unfamiliar with the SMART board. The way in which they communicate how the game functions and the content of the lesson will also need to be very clear and depends in part on the teacher's interaction with the SMART board and their presentation.

Activity: Sound Buttons Game Students are asked to create their own words independently and then collaboratively in groups of 3-4. Each student will take turns circling the beginning or ending phoneme and create a box around the medial vowel or consonant phoneme. The teacher can prompt students where they might need support and suggest words that would be more challenging for them.



The SMART board brings so many exciting possibilities to the classroom setting. It provides opportunities for students to be actively engaged in their learning. Students can physically interact with the board, solving problems or creating examples, all while demonstrating what they have learned. Teachers can easily model an activity for their class or bring up video or sound clips to integrate into their lessons. Teachers can create their own games or pull up any number of activities that are readily available on the World Wide Web. The SMART board also enhances students’ presentations making them more exciting for the rest of the class and more likely that the students will remain tuned in to the content that is being presented. The SMART board utilizes many tools and delves into the various visual, auditory, and kinesthetic areas making it the ideal teaching tool to make for an effective learning experience for students of all learning styles. I enthusiastically anticipate the opportunity to use the SMART board in my own classroom and explore the many ways that it can best enhance my students’ learning!

Progress on my Goal

This semester I decided I wanted to focus on my own growth as a student and as a future teacher. My desire is to discover engaging ways in which I can teach my students, and how I can incorporate technology into my classroom. My plan was to learn from others in the educational field and build a foundation of knowledge that will hopefully make my teaching both efficient and effective. Specifically, the National Educational Technology Standard that I chose to devote my time to was #5 Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership. You can read more about the details of my plan here.

This semester I have been reading many blogs by teachers and others in the educational field. They have a lot of helpful feedback! I've found many valuable resources through their websites; once you find a really good blog (one that goes in-depth and has a lot of "meat") you're likely to find even more great blogs that they follow. I've been keeping an organized document of all the helpful links and online tools that I'll likely refer to when I begin teaching. I cannot tell you how excited I get when I learn about a fabulous teaching idea! Additionally, at every classroom observation I've been conducting, I ask key questions of the teacher that I feel gives me a better idea of what to expect when I start teaching. I feel that I can learn so much from their experiences. Some of what I've learned I have shared here on this blog with my personal reflections on how I would use this information in my teaching. It will be interesting to see what else I learn this semester and what I can share with all of you!

HTML

I believe I first learned HTML while in junior high. I learned the basics online including how to change the background color of a page, manipulate font (bold, italic, size), create bullet points, include a link, make a table/chart and make a divider bar. I've forgotten a lot and could probably use a refresher course, but there are a few key basics I can still recall. I likely learned a little bit while I was in high school, but I honestly don't remember if I did or not!



We went over some basic HTML and practiced writing code in class on textedit (for Macs), I think a lot of it came back to me pretty quickly. There are definitely a lot faster ways to create a website, but I feel that sometimes HTML makes things a little less complicated. I know when we were using Weebly to create a sample class website some of the functions were just more trouble than than it was worth!

The School Website

I decided to take a look at Maywood Elementary's website, this elementary school is a part of the Northshore school district. Upon entering the site, I was instantly struck by the organized link bar on the left hand side of the page. It made navigating the website fast and efficient, I didn't have to search far to find what I was looking for. The homepage was clearly marked as Maywood's website and displayed important upcoming events. I especially liked that the website listed the staff directory complete with email contact information. I have found while trying to contact schools to set up observations that some schools do not even have the email address of the principal or office manager available. The only thing I found confusing is that when I went to the "About Maywood" page it would display a different sidebar of links on the lefthand side and so I had to go back to the main page in order to see the original (and more complete) sidebar of links. Overall, I found that Maywood's website was excellent!

Credit: Maywood Elementary

Reflection #3: Preparing for Standardized Testing

I found this article to be incredibly relevant and I hope some of you out there will find it as helpful as I did. Wolpert shares five tips on how to prepare yourself and your class for the scary standardized testing. This advice is applicable to teachers and students of all grade levels. I have to say that I can't see how trying these out could do anything but help!



-Practice "bubbling". Filling in those tiny bubbles is quite the task and if it simply isn't done right the assessment scores may not accurately reflect the knowledge of your class!

-Teach them to speak the language. It's a good idea to explain words that will likely appear in the exam's directions, such as the word "analyze".

-Look at your data. Looking at the assessments you've done will point out what your students know and what they don't quite understand yet.

-Set realistic goals for your students so that they can see what they need to improve on and how they will get there.

-Have confidence in them (and yourself)! Encourage, encourage, encourage!

Credit: Test Prep Doesn't Have to Be Overwhelming by Heather Wolpert

Reflection #2: Del.icio.us and Rollyo

Yesterday in class we researched different resources online that may be helpful to teachers or students. I had the opportunity to learn about Del.icio.us, a social bookmarking website, and Rollyo, a custom search engine creator. Below are some of the functions of each, and I hope this is helpful to someone!



Del.icio.us (social bookmarking)

-Save bookmarks and access them from anywhere online

-Share them by email address or to Twitter users and see what others are bookmarking

-See popular bookmarked websites

-Search bookmarks

-Tag your bookmark collection with descriptive tags



Rollyo (custom search engine)

-Choose sites you want to search and create custom search engine (searchrolls)

-Share your searchrolls

-Search latest news in your trusted websites

-Integrate your Rollyo search into your browser

Reflections on Generation IM

I was somewhat surprised and caught off-guard at the technology statistics that the article shared. I find that a lot of what the article saying is true, I see it in the lives of my younger siblings, in classrooms, and what I hear about on the news. I agree that it is perhaps more than just teaching them new information and how to use that information, it is about teaching them about what they already have learned and will learn from outside sources and how to evaluate it for credibility.

"Young people spend about 6.5 hours a day outside of school using media. That’s more than 44 hours a week reading, surfing the Internet, playing video games, listening to music, and watching TV."

There are three main barriers addressed in the article which are common reasons why technology is not used more in the educational setting. The first two have to do with educators' own knowledge and development of technological skills. This gives me hope that I can take my learning into my own hands and prevent my classroom from being the one that's "behind the times". It seems to me that the key is to constantly be an active learner and explorer so that I know what is out there and the new possibilities that I can integrate into my teaching. The most current and freshly developed ways to integrate technology into one's classroom is blogging, social networking, podcasts, wikis, social bookmarking, video technology, and google maps. This is a great place to start, but I know there currently are and will be more technological resources as the world continues to develop, and I intend to discover them!

Credit: Generation IM

Assignment #1

Article Reflection

I found an interesting article through the Education Research Complete database about the use of SMART boards in the classroom in the context of kindergarten science. The article talked about what a SMART Board is and the many practical ways in which it can be used in the classroom. The SMART Board can be used to interact with pre-recorded sounds, participate in educational activities, watch simulations, and write and save notes or drawings. Students' work can also be displayed or presented via a SMART Board for greater efficiency or effectiveness. The large screen and interactive nature of the SMART Board appeal to elementary students and allows them to be engaged with the lessons because of the opportunity to be involved and use their visual and kinesthetic learning skills. This article gave some examples of how a SMART Board can be used in a primary elementary classroom. The example class used the SMART Board to present step-by-step instructions on a Powerpoint, record results of classroom investigations, conduct mini experiments, and allow students to work with grouping or classifying objects on the SMART Board screen. I learned that there are a variety of ways in which one can use the SMART Board to enhance class learning and the key is to branch out into these new opportunities and learn how to use the SMART Board to one's advantage.

Credit: Use of SMART Boards for teaching, learning and assessment in kindergarten science by Chris Preston and Lee Mowbray

Teaching Science - the Journal of the Australian Science Teachers Association; Jun2008, Vol. 54 Issue 2, p50-53, 4p



NETS for Teachers

The NETS (National Educational Technology Standards) that I want to focus on as a teacher is #5: Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership. What this means to me is that I will continue my own learning, specifically about teaching and how I can integrate technology into my teaching. I plan to learn from others in the educational field, participate in the learning community, evaluate tools and resources that I might use in the classroom, and teach others by sharing the information and insight that I gain. I feel that this standard in particular is important for myself and my future class because it is the building of a foundation for my lesson plans and will in part reflect how engaging and effective my teaching will be.

My plan on how I will focus on this area is as follows...

Read educator blogs.

Research and evaluate valuable tools and resources that will be useful to me in teaching.

Create an organized, categorized list of available tools and resources.

Ask experienced teachers for tips and advice.

Share what I learn on this blog so that others might find it useful for their own teaching.



NETS for Students

The NETS for Students that I have chosen to focus on is #2 Communication and Collaboration. This standard involves using technology to learn both individually and in groups, using a variety of technological tools and resources in projects, communicating or presenting information using technology, interacting with students from other cultures, and participating in group projects and activities. This standard is particularly important for the students I will be working with because the skills they will be applying and practicing now will be used throughout their educational career, and onward into their professional career. I can incorporate this standard into my classroom in several ways:

Use wikis to allow students to sign up for group projects.

Provide the SMART Board for student presentations.

Let students research and briefly teach their classmates a new skill or information relevant to the curriculum through the use of audio clips, video clips, and the SMART Board.

Work with students to create an educational class podcast or video that other classrooms around the world can view.

Give students the opportunity to write a collaborative class letter to another class in a different part of the world.

Provide a way for my class to work collaboratively with a class from a different country on a long-term project.

Allow students to submit entries relevant to the unit theme to the class blog that students may be able to access at home or from the library.

Reflection #1: Junior High Observation

This morning I had my first classroom observation at a junior high and many aspects of the teaching stood out to me. I noticed that the teacher kept up a relatively steady pace as he moved through the attendance, review from the previous day, and basic new concepts that would continue to be touched on at a later time. He prompted his students with many questions to check understanding and to get them thinking actively. The teacher also had them write down key points that were presented with the Elmo document camera and ACTIVboard, and had students respond chorally to acknowledge that their attention was on him. He transitioned through about 3 different things within the first half hour and later shared with me that he has learned to “read” his class and can guage their interest and boredom level. He used relevant examples of the concept he was teaching, and then had students write their own examples. Lastly, I noticed that he wisely had the class pick up after themselves before they left class, keeping his classroom spotless and ready for the next period.



The class teacher was so aware of his class and where they were at that day. He was able to adjust his teaching to fit the needs of his students and in doing so, was successful in keeping them engaged much of the time. I feel that I learned a lot from observing his teaching method and I will hopefully reflect some of the key elements I learned into my own teaching.

Beginning of Semester Reflection

Technology's role in the grade school classroom is like a wide plain, it is full of possibilities. Students are learning more and more from the technology available to them outside of class, and at a younger and younger age. As educators, we have the opportunity to benefit from their strong interest in technology and use it to our advantage. If they are interested in learning about marine life, we can take the time and provide credible and age appropriate resources through websites and books that they can reserve through the public library online. Through the use of class blogs, video and audio clips, and wikis, teachers can enhance their lesson plans and make them come to life at a whole new level. Awareness of the technology available to us is the first step, and taking action and implementing these technologies into our classrooms is the next. Through technology, I feel that the classroom can become a much bigger and more interesting place, and both teaching and learning can reach astronomical heights.

Interactive White Boards

This study involved a class of sixteen 1st grade students. On some days they used the digital whiteboard in their literacy lessons and on other days they did not. Due to the fact that there are many additional variables involved, no conclusive evidence was reported.

"The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between use of the digital whiteboard as a delivery tool for literacy instruction in a first grade classroom and student attention to and participation in the literacy lessons. Student attention was identified as looking at the speaker, looking at the digital whiteboard, looking at reading material, manipulating props and materials used to present material during the literacy lessons, and not manipulating other materials that are not a part of the literacy lesson."

I learned from this article that the more actively engaged students are with their learning, especially when they get to interact with the materials, the more likely they will be motivated to learn. In addition to engaging students, teachers have to consider building upon prior knowledge, pacing their lessons so students are ready for the next concept, and a creating well-focused lesson plans. The article suggests using dark, large print and the use of text boxes to emphasize the essential concepts in the presentation of information. The article also states that "short meaningful chunks of information for short intense periods is more beneficial than lengthy lessons". I believe the idea of small chunks of information is key to the success of students' learning, and would like to read more about it. In the study, the students used the digital whiteboard to read text and write on the SMART board during their literacy lessons. I love how in the article they mentioned some of the students' responses to using the SMART Board, one child's response was: "My finger is magic". Based off of student response, they loved any opportunity to use the SMART board and in this way be actively involved. The SMART Board seems to me to be an excellent teaching tool because of the many levels that a class can get involved through the use of it. Also, the excitement that students have regarding the SMART Board is reason enough for teachers to at least consider integrating it into their classroom!

Credit: The Digital Whiteboard As a Tool in Increasing Student Attention During Early Literacy Instruction (found via SMART Board website)

Turning on the Lights: Students Today

I agree with the idea that school opens the doors to learning new things about the world we live in. For me, school has definitely taught me ways in which to think critically so that I don't merely swallow everything I see or am told. I have begun to see how today's youth come to school with an entirely different background of knowledge than the youth of yester year. This particular quote stood out to me, that, "Teachers would no longer be the providers of information but instead would be the explainers, the context providers, the meaning makers, and the evaluators of information that kids find on their own" (Prensky).



I think that learning about both the past and preparing for the future is crucial to a well-rounded education. I learned about Prensky's four practices, and think that the practices that Prensky introduced in his article are excellent suggestions for schools to consider. The idea that we take advantage of technology rather than ban it, getting feedback from students and parents, connecting students to the world, and considering the future are such relevant topics in any type of classroom.

Credit: Turning on the Lights by Marc Prensky

My Story

My decision to become a teacher stems from my love for children and my love for learning. My desire is to inspire the passion for learning in my students, whether it be a joy for learning the arts, science or mathematics! Though I am only a single individual, I’d like to be a positive influence in the educational domain. I’ve begun this process by being a leader in my own life through volunteer work and mission work to serve the community, both locally and globally. If you have not read Jeremiah 29:11, I encourage you to do so! This verse speaks to me so much as a student and as a future teacher. My desire is to help build a solid foundation for my students' future and inspire in them the desire to learn and be all they can! It may change in the future, but as of today I would ideally like to teach second grade. I have heard so many amazing things about this grade level and my experiences with second grade students has been remarkable. I will not limit myself though, and will happily work with children of all ages.