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!