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.