I have a lot of friends and family members who are teachers. Since I've started school at Utah Valley University to become a teacher, I've enjoyed talking with these friends and family members about their jobs. It's been interesting to get all of their perspectives about teaching and what resources they use to help with their lessons. Last weekend I was speaking with two relatives that have been teaching for over 20 years. They teach in a very small town that has minimal resources available and there is only one teacher per grade. Because of this, there isn't much collaboration with other teachers and they tend to rely on the same lessons they have always taught.
I mentioned to one of them what a great resource the internet is to find new ideas and lesson plans. If I were a teacher in a rural town with limited supplies and no one else to collaborate with, I'd want to rely on the internet for a lot of assistance. I was shocked to hear that these teachers didn't really see a need for the internet and don't see anything wrong with teaching the same lessons as always. This doesn't even mention what message they are giving their students about the Internet and technology.
I asked this same person if they she adapts the lessons to meet the needs of the students in her class each year or just teach the same lesson as she always has. Her response was just as shocking. She said that every year she has "smart students" and "dumb students" and that her lessons aren't always going to reach all of her students, but since there will always be the "smart students" and the "dumb students", there isn't really a need to adapt the lessons each year. How sad is that???
My sister and good friend are also teachers. Both of them have been teaching for less than 12 years. They are younger and have been converted to computers. They both teach in a large city and a large school district. They have resources available for them and other teachers to collaborate with. In fact, they both teach at the same school and grade and spend a lot of time collaborating with each other. As I've learned new and exciting things in this class, they have been excited to have me show them what I've been learning about. While they haven't integreated all of the fun things I've shown them, they have been open to the ideas and want to experiment with them.
I've become converted to technology througout this course and with my own personal experiences. I'm excited to use the items that I've learned about. I hope that when I become a teacher that I'll stay open to new ideas and willing to use the excellent resources that are available through the computer and other forms of technology.
VIDEO REFLECTION:
"Do You Believe in Me?"
What a great video for educators to see. Dalton Sherman is a brave 10 year old boy to speak to over 20,000 people at this conference. In addition, he has had the opportunity to be on the Ellen Show. I saw him on this show and he is very inspirational. I loved the fact that he believes the fact that he knows that he can "do anything, be anything, create anything, dream anything, and become anything". The reason he believes this is because of teachers who also believe in him. I hope that I can be one of those same teachers who can instill belief in my own students. I'm excited to start the journey.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Week 15 - Listen to You Tube
This week I learned about a new technology tool called listen to YouTube. Like Zamzar, this website will convert your YouTube video's for other uses. This site will allow you to download the audio into MP3 format so that you can put it on your IPod or other music devises. This could be a very useful tool for teachers. I've found a lot of songs on TeacherTube and YouTube that are used in the kindergarten classroom to help reinforce the curriculum. While it would be nice to play the "music video's" for the students to watch, it would also be nice to put them on a CD so that you can sing along without setting up the TV and gathering all the students around the television to practice the song.
Like I mentioned in class today, I believe that education majors should be required to take more than one technology/computer class during their final 2 years. I have learned a lot of valuable information that I've been able to put into immediate use in other aspects of my life. I'm constantly amazed by all of the wonderful tools that are available for educators and would like to be able to continue learning about these tools and how they will help me in my classroom and my personal life.
VIDEO REFLECTION:
I love the "Schoolhouse Rock" video series. What a great resource for generations of students. I remember watching these when I was a child and it's nice that they are more widely available for educators to use now. They are fun to watch and very educational in the process. It would be nice to download the whole series and review them before taking the Praxis exam. :)
Like I mentioned in class today, I believe that education majors should be required to take more than one technology/computer class during their final 2 years. I have learned a lot of valuable information that I've been able to put into immediate use in other aspects of my life. I'm constantly amazed by all of the wonderful tools that are available for educators and would like to be able to continue learning about these tools and how they will help me in my classroom and my personal life.
VIDEO REFLECTION:
I love the "Schoolhouse Rock" video series. What a great resource for generations of students. I remember watching these when I was a child and it's nice that they are more widely available for educators to use now. They are fun to watch and very educational in the process. It would be nice to download the whole series and review them before taking the Praxis exam. :)
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Week 14 - PowerPoint Presentations
PowerPoint can be your best friend, or your worst enemy.
For my field experience, we taught a unit about Ancient Rome. It was a really fun unit to teach and there was a lot of fun information available for us to use in our lessons. The more that we studied about Ancient Rome, the more we learned that there are some great primary sources available to use in our lessons. We found that the best way to show the students all of the pictures and primary sources about Ancient Rome was to make a PowerPoint Presentation (which we used for several of our lessons).
This was very well received by the students and they just loved this medium of teaching. On my last lesson about Ancient Roman technologies, their people and forms of entertainment, I made a PowerPoint presentation for the lesson. I didn't practice the presentation during lunch because my last PowerPoint that was presented earlier in the week worked great and I had no problems. However, this time it didn't work out. It was a very frustrating few minutes while we tried to figure out what our plan B was going to be. We saved the presentation on a flashdrive and tried to present it from the teachers computer instead. However, it didn't work on that computer either. It turned out to be the projector that was having the problem.
Plan C here we come! Our final solution to the problem was to just huddle everyone together to watch the PowerPoint presentation on my computer screen. While this worked okay in the end, it took a few minutes to figure it all out and it was a little harder to maintain control of the class when they were sitting so close in the dark room. Had my lesson not had so many valuable pictures of the items we were presenting, I would have just abandonded the PowerPoint and just talked about the slides that I was going to present. However, my lesson relied heavily on the photo's that were included in the presentation.
The computer was a large part of presenting most of our lessons and the students really found it interesting and kept their focus on the lessons better. It was fun being able to use this valuable resource in our teaching.
Following is a slideshow of some of the pictures that were included in my PowerPoint presentation.
For my field experience, we taught a unit about Ancient Rome. It was a really fun unit to teach and there was a lot of fun information available for us to use in our lessons. The more that we studied about Ancient Rome, the more we learned that there are some great primary sources available to use in our lessons. We found that the best way to show the students all of the pictures and primary sources about Ancient Rome was to make a PowerPoint Presentation (which we used for several of our lessons).
This was very well received by the students and they just loved this medium of teaching. On my last lesson about Ancient Roman technologies, their people and forms of entertainment, I made a PowerPoint presentation for the lesson. I didn't practice the presentation during lunch because my last PowerPoint that was presented earlier in the week worked great and I had no problems. However, this time it didn't work out. It was a very frustrating few minutes while we tried to figure out what our plan B was going to be. We saved the presentation on a flashdrive and tried to present it from the teachers computer instead. However, it didn't work on that computer either. It turned out to be the projector that was having the problem.
Plan C here we come! Our final solution to the problem was to just huddle everyone together to watch the PowerPoint presentation on my computer screen. While this worked okay in the end, it took a few minutes to figure it all out and it was a little harder to maintain control of the class when they were sitting so close in the dark room. Had my lesson not had so many valuable pictures of the items we were presenting, I would have just abandonded the PowerPoint and just talked about the slides that I was going to present. However, my lesson relied heavily on the photo's that were included in the presentation.
The computer was a large part of presenting most of our lessons and the students really found it interesting and kept their focus on the lessons better. It was fun being able to use this valuable resource in our teaching.
Following is a slideshow of some of the pictures that were included in my PowerPoint presentation.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Week 13 - 6th Grade Computers
Since I've been working in my 6th grade field experience, I've not had too many chances to see technology being used in the classroom. There are no computers in the classroom and the students only go to computers once a week for less than an hour. When they go to computers, it seems that they spend most their time typing paragraphs that are written on the front board. It appears to be more of a keyboarding class than computers. I could be wrong in my assumptions seeing that I've only been able to witness one week at computers.
We have started teaching our lessons and today we used a PowerPoint presentation in our lesson. The students really loved it and were sad when we finished with the computer portion of the lesson. They paid really good attention and were able to follow along as they took notes and participated in the discussion.
The students have been very receptive to Tara and I and seem interested in our lessons on ancient Rome. It's been a good experience working with them and I'm excited to present the rest of the lessons and see how they respond to those lessons. We have planned to use the computer in most all of our lessons in one form or another. I'm sure this will help them learn what we are presenting and help them keep their interest.
I realize that as a teacher, it's almost impossible to use PowerPoint and the computer in all my lessons due to the amount of time it takes to prepare the lessons that way, but I know that as I find as many ways as possible to use the computer in my lessons, the students learning experience will be enhances because of it.
We have started teaching our lessons and today we used a PowerPoint presentation in our lesson. The students really loved it and were sad when we finished with the computer portion of the lesson. They paid really good attention and were able to follow along as they took notes and participated in the discussion.
The students have been very receptive to Tara and I and seem interested in our lessons on ancient Rome. It's been a good experience working with them and I'm excited to present the rest of the lessons and see how they respond to those lessons. We have planned to use the computer in most all of our lessons in one form or another. I'm sure this will help them learn what we are presenting and help them keep their interest.
I realize that as a teacher, it's almost impossible to use PowerPoint and the computer in all my lessons due to the amount of time it takes to prepare the lessons that way, but I know that as I find as many ways as possible to use the computer in my lessons, the students learning experience will be enhances because of it.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Week 12: Field Experience Overview
As mentioned in my last blog, I'm working with a 6th grade class for my field experience. I have to admit that 6th grade is not my preferred grade that I want to teach once I graduate. However, I'm finding this to be a good experience and I enjoy working with my cooperation teacher and helping her in her classroom. She's been very good to give my partner and I plenty of experience working with the students and small experiences teaching and helping in a variety of subjects.
Right now the students are in the final touches of preparing reports on a different county that they have each researched for their "World Fair" that will be on Tuesday of next week. For their report, they have been taught how to type papers that include a table of content, bibliography and cover page.
One challenge with this project is that the students don't have time to complete their whole assignment during computer lab time. Since the schools use "Apple Works" for their word processing program and most students don't have that program at home, Tara and I have had to help those students e-mail their saved work from the school computers to their home computers in a format that they will be able to use. We worked with the students who needed this assistance one-on-one and helped them either save it to a flash drive, create an e-mail account if they didn't have one or know their parent's e-mail address, or sent it to a parents e-mail address.
It was interesting to see the vast differences in these 6th graders with their experience and abilities to use the Internet and e-mail. It was also interesting to see each of their typing abilities and what they understood about formatting their reports. It's obvious which student have computer time at home by watching their abilities in the classroom.
Right now the students are in the final touches of preparing reports on a different county that they have each researched for their "World Fair" that will be on Tuesday of next week. For their report, they have been taught how to type papers that include a table of content, bibliography and cover page.
One challenge with this project is that the students don't have time to complete their whole assignment during computer lab time. Since the schools use "Apple Works" for their word processing program and most students don't have that program at home, Tara and I have had to help those students e-mail their saved work from the school computers to their home computers in a format that they will be able to use. We worked with the students who needed this assistance one-on-one and helped them either save it to a flash drive, create an e-mail account if they didn't have one or know their parent's e-mail address, or sent it to a parents e-mail address.
It was interesting to see the vast differences in these 6th graders with their experience and abilities to use the Internet and e-mail. It was also interesting to see each of their typing abilities and what they understood about formatting their reports. It's obvious which student have computer time at home by watching their abilities in the classroom.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Week 11 - "Voki" Interview
You sure sound excited! Well it's nice to meet you Shelly. Tell us, what topic will you be teaching while you are with the 6th graders for the next three weeks?
That's great that you'll be able to use technology to enrich your lessons. Good luck in your field experience and keep us posted on how it is going. Thank you for the interview.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Week 10 - How will WebQuests help me collaborate with my colleagues?
The WebQuest process continues. Brook is doing an excellent job at putting together all of the information that we have gathered for our WebQuest. Putting together a WebQuest is a big task and takes many minds on the same page to bring it all together. I'm still tossed about my opinion of doing these as a group assignment. On the one side, it's sure nice to have other people to work with and be able to complete the assignment with. On the other hand, no matter how you throw the dice, there just isn't a way to make it equal work for all the members of the Pod and only one person really learns the process - especially since we've never discussed the process of making a WebQuest in class.
I love the idea of a WebQuest - but don't know the first step of making my own. I've helped contribute to the group as much as possible by looking at other WebQuests and seeing how they work. I've also helped with the ideas of what we want our WebQuest to look like and by finding the information and links for our WebQuest. As with all group projects, there are some students who contribute more than others and some students who fly under the radars and do the bare minimum requirements. I suppose this is good practice for when we are actually teachers. I know that we will have many opportunities to work together with our peers as teachers and that this same thing will happen in the field. By having these experiences as students, we will be able to know how to work with our fellow teachers to achieve a common goal.
VIDEO REFLECTION:
I remember watching this video in class and for a previous assignment. Watching it again made me think about my feelings the first time I saw it. This is a very powerful movie. This time I had my mom watch the movie with me. She was alive for most all of the events listed in the movie. It was fun discussing it with her after watching this movie again and being reminded about all the events in history that helped make us what we are today.
I love the idea of a WebQuest - but don't know the first step of making my own. I've helped contribute to the group as much as possible by looking at other WebQuests and seeing how they work. I've also helped with the ideas of what we want our WebQuest to look like and by finding the information and links for our WebQuest. As with all group projects, there are some students who contribute more than others and some students who fly under the radars and do the bare minimum requirements. I suppose this is good practice for when we are actually teachers. I know that we will have many opportunities to work together with our peers as teachers and that this same thing will happen in the field. By having these experiences as students, we will be able to know how to work with our fellow teachers to achieve a common goal.
VIDEO REFLECTION:
I remember watching this video in class and for a previous assignment. Watching it again made me think about my feelings the first time I saw it. This is a very powerful movie. This time I had my mom watch the movie with me. She was alive for most all of the events listed in the movie. It was fun discussing it with her after watching this movie again and being reminded about all the events in history that helped make us what we are today.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Week 8 - WebQuest Impressions
This week we have been working in our Pod to create a WebQuest. I've never really experienced a WebQuest before so this is all new to me. I have no idea how to create a WebQuest on my own so I'm glad that I'm working with a group. However, I do wish that we had some class time instructions on the procedures to create a WebQuest so that I would feel comfortable to make one of my own as a teacher. I've made PowerPoint presentations on an beginning level before, but haven't had experiences linking the pages together and referencing them to websites.
I really like the concept of WebQuests as an educational tool for teachers and students. I believe that these would be great for students to do at home with their parents so that they can work together on the computer in an educational task. I realize that not every student has a computer in their home, but times are changing and hopefully by the time I'm a teacher, there will be more students with computers in their home than there currently are and that this will increase even more over time.
As parents and students work together to complete the WebQuests, the parent's can feel comfortable that they are going to reliable websites that are engaging and safe for their children. It's a great concept and I look forward to learning more about them.
VIDEO REFLECTION:
Did you Know 3.0 = I remember watching this video for a previous assignment. I found it very interesting to realize that America is not the leading country with industry, technology, education and the other areas that were listed in the video. Video's like these are good reminders of how much further we need to go to increase and be caught up with the rest of the world.
I really like the concept of WebQuests as an educational tool for teachers and students. I believe that these would be great for students to do at home with their parents so that they can work together on the computer in an educational task. I realize that not every student has a computer in their home, but times are changing and hopefully by the time I'm a teacher, there will be more students with computers in their home than there currently are and that this will increase even more over time.
As parents and students work together to complete the WebQuests, the parent's can feel comfortable that they are going to reliable websites that are engaging and safe for their children. It's a great concept and I look forward to learning more about them.
VIDEO REFLECTION:
Did you Know 3.0 = I remember watching this video for a previous assignment. I found it very interesting to realize that America is not the leading country with industry, technology, education and the other areas that were listed in the video. Video's like these are good reminders of how much further we need to go to increase and be caught up with the rest of the world.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Week 9 - How will WebQuest help me communicate with my students and their parents?
In class today we learned about WebQuests. In my understanding, a WebQuest is a safe site that students can go to learn about different topics assigned by the teacher. The creator of the WebQuest has already searched the web for reliable and safe sites and compiled it together into a WebQuest where parents can feel safe that their child is able to use as a tool to search the Web. In addition to the student links (which could include assignments, reviews, assessments, games, etc...), the WebQuest would also have a section for teachers, where they would be able to find lesson plans, other links and fun ideas to use to supplement the unit. Each page of the WebQuest all link back to its home page.
I believe that this will be a valuable resource for students and their parents because it will allow a safe environment for the students to research the Internet. It will also be a great place for teachers to outline the assignment in a format that will communicate to the parents what is expected of their child. The student will be able to know what is expected of them in order to complete the assignment. All they have to do is go to the WebQuest and they'll be able to find everything that is required and will also find a Rubric with how they will be graded for completing their assignment.
I look forward to learning how to create one of these WebQuests as I work together with my pod. I hope that I will be able to fully learn how to create one of these tools and will feel comfortable creating one of my own in the future.
VIDEO REFLECTION:
I wasn't able to link to this weeks video through the class website on week 9. However, I found a few different video's on YouTube that had this name on them that I watched. They talked about how Microsoft has invented a touch screen tabletop computer that is able to know when devices (such as a camera, telephone, video camera, credit cards, etc...) have been placed on it and will be able to detect the information that is on it without plugging anything into the tabletop computer. They mentioned that this computer is being introduced to large corporate businesses and casino's for now, but they anticipate a day when everyone will have one of these in their homes. I'm continually amazed at the technologies that are being invented and how they will change the world. I look forward to seeing this new idea as well as the many other new inventions coming our way.
I believe that this will be a valuable resource for students and their parents because it will allow a safe environment for the students to research the Internet. It will also be a great place for teachers to outline the assignment in a format that will communicate to the parents what is expected of their child. The student will be able to know what is expected of them in order to complete the assignment. All they have to do is go to the WebQuest and they'll be able to find everything that is required and will also find a Rubric with how they will be graded for completing their assignment.
I look forward to learning how to create one of these WebQuests as I work together with my pod. I hope that I will be able to fully learn how to create one of these tools and will feel comfortable creating one of my own in the future.
VIDEO REFLECTION:
I wasn't able to link to this weeks video through the class website on week 9. However, I found a few different video's on YouTube that had this name on them that I watched. They talked about how Microsoft has invented a touch screen tabletop computer that is able to know when devices (such as a camera, telephone, video camera, credit cards, etc...) have been placed on it and will be able to detect the information that is on it without plugging anything into the tabletop computer. They mentioned that this computer is being introduced to large corporate businesses and casino's for now, but they anticipate a day when everyone will have one of these in their homes. I'm continually amazed at the technologies that are being invented and how they will change the world. I look forward to seeing this new idea as well as the many other new inventions coming our way.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Week 7 - PDP - My Beliefs
After reading the Millennials article, completing the UNI and NETS*T questionnaire and re watching the "Shift Happens" video, I believe that technology will play a huge part of my students education. I also realize that I am only on the starting path of being able to understand technology enough to keep up with my students. I need to be continually seeking more experiences, training, and knowledge to help me be an effective teacher.
In the video "Shift Happens" it mentions that we are currently preparing students for jobs that don't even exist and that they will be using technologies that haven't even been invented yet. It also mentions that the amount of new technological information is doubled every 2 years. This means that by the time a college student is a junior, technology will be twice as much as it was when they started school as a freshman. Therefore, my kindergarten students need to start as early as possible on their path of technology so that they can not be "left behind". They need to understand why computers and technology will play an important part of their education. As their teacher, I need to know how to start my students on this journey and give them as many experiences as possible.
In the video "Shift Happens" it mentions that we are currently preparing students for jobs that don't even exist and that they will be using technologies that haven't even been invented yet. It also mentions that the amount of new technological information is doubled every 2 years. This means that by the time a college student is a junior, technology will be twice as much as it was when they started school as a freshman. Therefore, my kindergarten students need to start as early as possible on their path of technology so that they can not be "left behind". They need to understand why computers and technology will play an important part of their education. As their teacher, I need to know how to start my students on this journey and give them as many experiences as possible.
Week 7 - PDP - Lessons Learned
After completing the reading assignments and watching the digital stories listed on the assignment it made me realize even more that teachers we need to keep up on technology and find ways to bring technology into the classroom experience as much as possible. One concern that I have after my reading assignment is that I fear that too many students are becoming more and more lazy and want things to be handed to them. Many comments were made by students about how they wanted the school systems to provide them with laptops that have their textbooks already downloaded onto them so that they didn't have to carry any books. They also made comments about how they wanted computers that were voice activated and touch-screens because they didn't want to type.
Overall I feel that educators need to attend technology classes on a regular basis so that we can not only keep up with our students, but be one step ahead of them and be ready to help them receive the best education possible. We need to be open minded and willing to learn and try new things. We can't let our fear of computers keep us from being willing to learn more and integrate technology into our lessons as much as possible.
Overall I feel that educators need to attend technology classes on a regular basis so that we can not only keep up with our students, but be one step ahead of them and be ready to help them receive the best education possible. We need to be open minded and willing to learn and try new things. We can't let our fear of computers keep us from being willing to learn more and integrate technology into our lessons as much as possible.
Week 7 - PDP - Strengths & Weaknesses
After reviewing the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) and completing the UNI Preservice Teacher Technology Competencies questionnaire, I've discovered that I border between novice and apprenticeship in my technology understanding and practices. Some of my technology strengths include: I have had a lot of experience on computers and feel very comfortable with basic computer programs and operations. I am a quick learner and am not afraid to learn and try new things. I like to find ways to apply what I learn into my everyday life. Some of my weaknesses include: my technology skills are limited to the programs that I've worked with in the past and I have limited experience with the vast amounts of technology available for educational purposes. I am also intimidated by technology and often feel inadequate in my abilities because of the ever changing industry.
To help me gain more technology skills, I found several websites that are designed to help teachers know how to integrate technology in the classroom and provide hands-on training and experiences. One of the sites I enjoyed looking at was http://www.4teachers.org/. This site has a lot of information that I'd like to investigate further. Some of the things it includes are games, learning resources, training video's and basic technology information. The other site I really enjoyed was www.msaveryslinks.bravepages.com/tech.htm. This site has some great links to other important educational websites that would be helpful in the classroom. It also gives information for teachers to gain training in excel, power point, and other basic computer programs. In addition to these websites and many others, I'd like to attend community and district classes to help me keep my skills constantly improving in the technology industry.
Some of my goals as a teacher are to always be seeking out these training experiences so that I can find new ways to bring technology into my classroom. I also need to not underestimate my students abilities (or my own) and provide opportunities for all of us to be exposed to computers as much as possible. I know that as I become familiar with these websites and the many others that I looked at, attend training meetings, community classes, and workshops and always look for ways to improve my technology experiences and knowledge, that I'll be able to keep improving my knowledge of technology in the classroom and in turn, help my students be able to start on their path towards technology and computers.
To help me gain more technology skills, I found several websites that are designed to help teachers know how to integrate technology in the classroom and provide hands-on training and experiences. One of the sites I enjoyed looking at was http://www.4teachers.org/. This site has a lot of information that I'd like to investigate further. Some of the things it includes are games, learning resources, training video's and basic technology information. The other site I really enjoyed was www.msaveryslinks.bravepages.com/tech.htm. This site has some great links to other important educational websites that would be helpful in the classroom. It also gives information for teachers to gain training in excel, power point, and other basic computer programs. In addition to these websites and many others, I'd like to attend community and district classes to help me keep my skills constantly improving in the technology industry.
Some of my goals as a teacher are to always be seeking out these training experiences so that I can find new ways to bring technology into my classroom. I also need to not underestimate my students abilities (or my own) and provide opportunities for all of us to be exposed to computers as much as possible. I know that as I become familiar with these websites and the many others that I looked at, attend training meetings, community classes, and workshops and always look for ways to improve my technology experiences and knowledge, that I'll be able to keep improving my knowledge of technology in the classroom and in turn, help my students be able to start on their path towards technology and computers.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Week 6 - Pro's & Con's of Creating Digital Stories as a Group
Some of the Pro's from working on digital stories as a group:
1. There are more people to share the workload with for gathering information, pictures, music and writting the text.
2. The creativitiy is better when you can work with other people to formulate the story that you are trying to create.
3. There are other people to turn to when you don't understand how the program works to figure it out.
Some of the Con's from working on digital stories as a group:
1. It's hard to make the workload even since a good portion of the time in making a digital story is the actual computer work to edit it all together.
2. Only one person really gets to do the editing portion (which is a good portion of the work). In my group, I've done all of the computer work. I'm not upset by that because I'm learning how to operate the program and will feel much more comfortable with the steps involved and look forward to creating other digital stories in the future. However, the rest of my pod members only understand the pre-stage work in creating the digital stories and won't have the wonderful experience of actually creating the story. All the other members of my pod have done their "part" and helped as much as possible, but ultimately, the final product rests on the editing.
I'm very glad that I've been able to learn the steps to create a digital story and look forward to making other stories/movies for educational purposes and personal needs. This is a wonderful tool that has a place in the classroom. If I could make one recommendation for this assignment in the future, it would be great to have each member make their own digital story after the group project is complete so that each member can experience the whole process and have a desire to want to use this tool again in the future.
VIDEO REFLECTION:
I tried on multiple occasions and on different computers to view this video but couldn't ever get it to work. For some reason it wouldn't download. I did find a movie on YouTube titled "Millenial Generation" that was produced by Motorolla about Media Mobility. It showed different students giving their opinion about about why they think it's important to have their cell phones be their media source that they can have with them at all times. It was a good reminder to me on where we could be heading and why others feel this is something so important. To me, my cell phone is just used as a phone. I haven't really jumped on the I-Pod movement or felt a desire to carry my pictures with me on my phone. I guess that I'm behind the times when it comes to that.
1. There are more people to share the workload with for gathering information, pictures, music and writting the text.
2. The creativitiy is better when you can work with other people to formulate the story that you are trying to create.
3. There are other people to turn to when you don't understand how the program works to figure it out.
Some of the Con's from working on digital stories as a group:
1. It's hard to make the workload even since a good portion of the time in making a digital story is the actual computer work to edit it all together.
2. Only one person really gets to do the editing portion (which is a good portion of the work). In my group, I've done all of the computer work. I'm not upset by that because I'm learning how to operate the program and will feel much more comfortable with the steps involved and look forward to creating other digital stories in the future. However, the rest of my pod members only understand the pre-stage work in creating the digital stories and won't have the wonderful experience of actually creating the story. All the other members of my pod have done their "part" and helped as much as possible, but ultimately, the final product rests on the editing.
I'm very glad that I've been able to learn the steps to create a digital story and look forward to making other stories/movies for educational purposes and personal needs. This is a wonderful tool that has a place in the classroom. If I could make one recommendation for this assignment in the future, it would be great to have each member make their own digital story after the group project is complete so that each member can experience the whole process and have a desire to want to use this tool again in the future.
VIDEO REFLECTION:
I tried on multiple occasions and on different computers to view this video but couldn't ever get it to work. For some reason it wouldn't download. I did find a movie on YouTube titled "Millenial Generation" that was produced by Motorolla about Media Mobility. It showed different students giving their opinion about about why they think it's important to have their cell phones be their media source that they can have with them at all times. It was a good reminder to me on where we could be heading and why others feel this is something so important. To me, my cell phone is just used as a phone. I haven't really jumped on the I-Pod movement or felt a desire to carry my pictures with me on my phone. I guess that I'm behind the times when it comes to that.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Week 5 - What are the Pro's & Con's for Digital Stories?
Some of the Pro's of Digital Stories are:
1. By knowing how to make Digital Stories, I'll be able to make movies that match the curriculum and support the ideas that I'm trying to teach. I'll also be able to make age appropriate movies for the grade that I'm teaching.
2. Because children learn best from hands-on and visual learning experiences, digital stories are a great way to reinforce a subject that is being taught. The students are more likely to remember the material presented and find a connection to it when they can see it in a digital story format. They will enjoy their learning experience more when they can "see it" in action as well.
3. There are a wide variety of digital stories available for educators on the Internet that are easy for the teacher to download and include in their lesson plans.
Some of the Con's of Digital Stories are:
1. As I've been starting to learn more about digital stories, I've realized that it is a very time consuming process. Finding the right pictures to go along with the text and music takes a lot of time to complete. Because so much time goes into making a digital story, I would probably only spend the time to make a digital story for the larger more important units that I couldn't already find a digital story for.
2. Because digital stories are so widely available to download off the Internet, teachers could get caught up in using movies that don't really teach the curriculum or fit the subject being taught just because it was an entertaining video.
Video Reflection:
What I really enjoyed about both of these movies is that they were able to present a lot of information in a very short amount of time in a way that was very interesting. In the movie "Did You Know" they gave a lot of questions and facts. I found myself answering questions that they posed and being surprised when the answer I thought would be right wasn't right at all. It made me realize that America isn't as advanced as I thought we were in comparison to the rest of the world when it comes to technology. I liked how they were able to do all of this without any spoken words and just written text and background music.
1. By knowing how to make Digital Stories, I'll be able to make movies that match the curriculum and support the ideas that I'm trying to teach. I'll also be able to make age appropriate movies for the grade that I'm teaching.
2. Because children learn best from hands-on and visual learning experiences, digital stories are a great way to reinforce a subject that is being taught. The students are more likely to remember the material presented and find a connection to it when they can see it in a digital story format. They will enjoy their learning experience more when they can "see it" in action as well.
3. There are a wide variety of digital stories available for educators on the Internet that are easy for the teacher to download and include in their lesson plans.
Some of the Con's of Digital Stories are:
1. As I've been starting to learn more about digital stories, I've realized that it is a very time consuming process. Finding the right pictures to go along with the text and music takes a lot of time to complete. Because so much time goes into making a digital story, I would probably only spend the time to make a digital story for the larger more important units that I couldn't already find a digital story for.
2. Because digital stories are so widely available to download off the Internet, teachers could get caught up in using movies that don't really teach the curriculum or fit the subject being taught just because it was an entertaining video.
Video Reflection:
What I really enjoyed about both of these movies is that they were able to present a lot of information in a very short amount of time in a way that was very interesting. In the movie "Did You Know" they gave a lot of questions and facts. I found myself answering questions that they posed and being surprised when the answer I thought would be right wasn't right at all. It made me realize that America isn't as advanced as I thought we were in comparison to the rest of the world when it comes to technology. I liked how they were able to do all of this without any spoken words and just written text and background music.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Week 4 - Digital Stories
I'm excited that we will be learing how to create digital stories in this class. I love this medium of teaching students about different topics. I'm a very hand's-on visual learner. The more experience I have with the topic, the better I learn and remember it. I look forward to being able to create my own digital stories to enhance my lessons.
I was originally excited to learn about TeacherTube and be able to access these wonderful resources. However, I'm sure that there will be many topics that I don't find the perfect video to support my lessons. By knowing how to make my own digital stories, I'll be able to produce my own video's that are age appropriate and engaging.
I have to admit, that since I don't know the steps involved in making the video, I'm a little overwhelmed at knowing how to do it. I look forward to working with a group for my first experience and being able to learn together and help each other with our production. I would hope that as a teacher, I'll be able to work with the other teachers in my grade to produce these educational video's that will suppliment our lessons. This will be a good experience to help me be able to work with others to make a digital story.
Video Reflection:
I enjoyed watching the NASA video assignment this week. I especially liked how they were able to help produce emotion by the music, information presented and pictures that they selected. It was a good example to watch as a preliminary experience before getting into our own digital story that we will be creating in our class.
I was originally excited to learn about TeacherTube and be able to access these wonderful resources. However, I'm sure that there will be many topics that I don't find the perfect video to support my lessons. By knowing how to make my own digital stories, I'll be able to produce my own video's that are age appropriate and engaging.
I have to admit, that since I don't know the steps involved in making the video, I'm a little overwhelmed at knowing how to do it. I look forward to working with a group for my first experience and being able to learn together and help each other with our production. I would hope that as a teacher, I'll be able to work with the other teachers in my grade to produce these educational video's that will suppliment our lessons. This will be a good experience to help me be able to work with others to make a digital story.
Video Reflection:
I enjoyed watching the NASA video assignment this week. I especially liked how they were able to help produce emotion by the music, information presented and pictures that they selected. It was a good example to watch as a preliminary experience before getting into our own digital story that we will be creating in our class.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Week 3 - Converting Movies from TeacherTube to MP4 using Zamzar:
In which ways might I employ these tools to achieve classroom objectives?
I was excited this week to learn about TeacherTube and how to convert these movies to a MP4 and save them on my hard drive. I have only played around with YouTube a little bit but haven't really explored all that is there. I'm glad to see that there is a resource available for teachers where they can obtain free educational materials that will enhance their lessons and provide better learning experiences for their students. I think that every teacher needs to take a technology class every year or two to keep up on all the advances that have come out since they were last trained.
By knowing how to find these video's on TeacherTube and converting them to a MP4 through Zamzar, I am now able to save them on my computer for future use in my classroom. Once a teacher knows about this wonderful tool, they can do more than just just read from a textbook to teach their lesson. There are so many free resources available for teachers that we can use to improve our lessons and keep us on the edge. It's important to always be looking for new opportunities to improve our teaching.
Our students are growing up in the technology age. Too many teachers aren't able to keep up with their students. We as teachers need to be one step ahead of them and be able to teach these skills to them and not be left in the dark.
I've used the computer and feel very comfortable with the basics of e-mailing and creating documents. I'm glad that I am in this class so that I will have opportunities to learn more about the wonderful tools that a computer can provide in my classroom.
I was excited this week to learn about TeacherTube and how to convert these movies to a MP4 and save them on my hard drive. I have only played around with YouTube a little bit but haven't really explored all that is there. I'm glad to see that there is a resource available for teachers where they can obtain free educational materials that will enhance their lessons and provide better learning experiences for their students. I think that every teacher needs to take a technology class every year or two to keep up on all the advances that have come out since they were last trained.
By knowing how to find these video's on TeacherTube and converting them to a MP4 through Zamzar, I am now able to save them on my computer for future use in my classroom. Once a teacher knows about this wonderful tool, they can do more than just just read from a textbook to teach their lesson. There are so many free resources available for teachers that we can use to improve our lessons and keep us on the edge. It's important to always be looking for new opportunities to improve our teaching.
Our students are growing up in the technology age. Too many teachers aren't able to keep up with their students. We as teachers need to be one step ahead of them and be able to teach these skills to them and not be left in the dark.
Technology Tool #2 - www.seaworld.org
I just discovered http://www.seaworld.org/ and love what I found. What a wonderful resource to use in the classroom. I would like to teach Kindergarten. The core curriculum for kindergarten has sea animals in it. This would be a great resource to go to for animal facts and lesson plans that is both age appropriate and fun for the students to be able to explore.
One thing I thought was very useful is a complete profile for each of their animals. On the animal profile, they have a picture that can be printed for the students to color, an information book, a sound byte and an animal byte where students can listen to the sound of that animal and get all the information needed to conduct a study on that animal.
There is a fun section with games and activities where children can do puzzles, memory games about animal geography and flash games. I would feel very safe letting children navigate around this page and finding all kinds of things to keep their attention and build their knowledge of sea animals as well as other animals on this site.
One of the most useful locations on this site is the section for teachers. There you will find all kinds of useful information to help you plan age appropriate lessons, provide hands-on classroom activities and read publications.
This is a great site that I would like to refer my student’s parents to. It’s a wonderful place for them to be able to learn together and have fun in the process.
One thing I thought was very useful is a complete profile for each of their animals. On the animal profile, they have a picture that can be printed for the students to color, an information book, a sound byte and an animal byte where students can listen to the sound of that animal and get all the information needed to conduct a study on that animal.
There is a fun section with games and activities where children can do puzzles, memory games about animal geography and flash games. I would feel very safe letting children navigate around this page and finding all kinds of things to keep their attention and build their knowledge of sea animals as well as other animals on this site.
One of the most useful locations on this site is the section for teachers. There you will find all kinds of useful information to help you plan age appropriate lessons, provide hands-on classroom activities and read publications.
This is a great site that I would like to refer my student’s parents to. It’s a wonderful place for them to be able to learn together and have fun in the process.
Technology Tool #1 - http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/home
I’ve always been a fan of Scholastic books. I’ve ordered from their online book order system several times and have found that to be a very useful tool for teachers and parents so that the parents can order books and pay for them online.
I just recently discovered that the website is more than just an online resource for parents to order books from their child’s book order forms. At http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/home.jsp there are links for Teachers, Parents and Kids. In each link there are a vast amount of resources available that are both educational and fun.
On their home page, they have links about current events and holidays that teachers can get information and lesson plans for. My favorite section on the home page is the near the bottom. It is titled “Browse Online Activities by Grade & Subject”. The subjects featured here are: Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, Math & More. This is then subdivided into age levels for each of these subjects. There are literally hundreds of links under these age levels and subjects for teachers to use to enhance their lessons. There are also educational games and activities that are engaging and exciting. I found myself getting lost in this website and finding all kinds of great things that will be a great resource to turn to when I’m a teacher.
Under the top links for Teachers, Parents and Kids, you will find a lot more resources that are available. Under the Teacher link, you will find lesson plans, educational research, resources for teachers to set up their class homepage and a lot more useful resources.
The Parent section has some great articles on raising children. It also has information to help the parents become involved in their child’s education. There are video’s, games, articles and many other items that will enhance the child’s learning. What a great website to refer parents and kids to.
I just recently discovered that the website is more than just an online resource for parents to order books from their child’s book order forms. At http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/home.jsp there are links for Teachers, Parents and Kids. In each link there are a vast amount of resources available that are both educational and fun.
On their home page, they have links about current events and holidays that teachers can get information and lesson plans for. My favorite section on the home page is the near the bottom. It is titled “Browse Online Activities by Grade & Subject”. The subjects featured here are: Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, Math & More. This is then subdivided into age levels for each of these subjects. There are literally hundreds of links under these age levels and subjects for teachers to use to enhance their lessons. There are also educational games and activities that are engaging and exciting. I found myself getting lost in this website and finding all kinds of great things that will be a great resource to turn to when I’m a teacher.
Under the top links for Teachers, Parents and Kids, you will find a lot more resources that are available. Under the Teacher link, you will find lesson plans, educational research, resources for teachers to set up their class homepage and a lot more useful resources.
The Parent section has some great articles on raising children. It also has information to help the parents become involved in their child’s education. There are video’s, games, articles and many other items that will enhance the child’s learning. What a great website to refer parents and kids to.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Week 2 - How will I-Google help me communicate with my students' parents?
I'm so excited to learn about I-Google and be able to start experimenting with it. What a wonderful tool this is to have on the Internet. I'm especially glad to know that this is a free resource available for teachers to be able to communicate with their students and their parents.
Since I plan to teach Kindergarten, I don't know how much the students will be able to navigate through the class page without their parents being involved. As a teacher, I'd like to have a back to school parent/literacy meeting at the beginning of the year. At this meeting, I would introduce the parents to this class site and show them how simple it is to keep up on their child's educational journey and always be up to date on current class news and calendar events.
I know that parents these days are busier than ever before. Despite how busy they are, they still find time to go online for their e-mail and other purposes. With a class site, they will always be able to know what our class plans and needs are. It would also be a nice place to post additional resources and links that parents can go to supplement their child's education.
In order to encourage the parents to check the class website, it would be nice to periodically show this site to the students to remind them to encourage their parents to check the site. By adding links to educational games and things that would interest the students, it would also encourage the students to ask to go to this website and keep their parents involved with it.
I'm excited for the opportunity to learn about this wonderful tool and look forward to being able to use it in my personal life so that I can be ready to start my class site when I become a teacher.
VIDEO REFLECTION
From this weeks video's, I leaned that we are living in a high-tech world and there are so many wonderful tools available. As a teacher, I feel that it's so important to keep current on what's going on in this worldwide web that we live in. It also reminded me that there are so many resources that I still will be able to learn about. I'm excited for this class and the opportunities that it will provide for me to learn these new and important thing.
Since I plan to teach Kindergarten, I don't know how much the students will be able to navigate through the class page without their parents being involved. As a teacher, I'd like to have a back to school parent/literacy meeting at the beginning of the year. At this meeting, I would introduce the parents to this class site and show them how simple it is to keep up on their child's educational journey and always be up to date on current class news and calendar events.
I know that parents these days are busier than ever before. Despite how busy they are, they still find time to go online for their e-mail and other purposes. With a class site, they will always be able to know what our class plans and needs are. It would also be a nice place to post additional resources and links that parents can go to supplement their child's education.
In order to encourage the parents to check the class website, it would be nice to periodically show this site to the students to remind them to encourage their parents to check the site. By adding links to educational games and things that would interest the students, it would also encourage the students to ask to go to this website and keep their parents involved with it.
I'm excited for the opportunity to learn about this wonderful tool and look forward to being able to use it in my personal life so that I can be ready to start my class site when I become a teacher.
VIDEO REFLECTION
From this weeks video's, I leaned that we are living in a high-tech world and there are so many wonderful tools available. As a teacher, I feel that it's so important to keep current on what's going on in this worldwide web that we live in. It also reminded me that there are so many resources that I still will be able to learn about. I'm excited for this class and the opportunities that it will provide for me to learn these new and important thing.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Week 1 - My Ideal Classroom
It's just crazy to think that in November I was selling windows and working in the construction business and now here I sit on January 7th with my first day back to college under my belt and I'm on my way to becoming an elementary school teacher. WOW! What a fun journey I've just boarded.
I've had the wonderful chance to help my sister with her Kindergarten classroom for the last 11 years. I've spend so many hours there on late nights and weekends helping her set it up and making it a fun and loving environment. I've also been able to volunteer in her classroom a number of times and look forward to having a class of my own. The picture below is the last creation that I made for her class this fall. I also made a camping display in the reading center that is complete with child sized camping chairs and a fake campfire for the kids to sit around while they read their books. It's been a big hit.
For my own classroom, I want to have a fun, colorful and engaging environment where the children feel loved and are excited to come to school. I want the children to have a feeling of cooperation and teamwork where they can build friendships and all levels of academics are challenged. I believe that in order for this to happen, that parents need to be a big part of the classroom experience. I've been able to see what an impact parents can make as they volunteer in the classroom.
I've had the wonderful chance to help my sister with her Kindergarten classroom for the last 11 years. I've spend so many hours there on late nights and weekends helping her set it up and making it a fun and loving environment. I've also been able to volunteer in her classroom a number of times and look forward to having a class of my own. The picture below is the last creation that I made for her class this fall. I also made a camping display in the reading center that is complete with child sized camping chairs and a fake campfire for the kids to sit around while they read their books. It's been a big hit.
For my own classroom, I want to have a fun, colorful and engaging environment where the children feel loved and are excited to come to school. I want the children to have a feeling of cooperation and teamwork where they can build friendships and all levels of academics are challenged. I believe that in order for this to happen, that parents need to be a big part of the classroom experience. I've been able to see what an impact parents can make as they volunteer in the classroom.
To help involve the parents, I'd like to have a blog set up for our classroom where the parents could always check on upcoming lessons and events. I believe that as they are aware of what we are learning and doing in school, the more involved they will be with their children's education at home. This would especially be helpful for those parents who are unable to volunteer in the classroom. I'd also like to set up an e-mail group for the parents of my students so that I can send out weekly e-mails. This would especially be helpful for children who have parents that are divorced. This way, you could e-mail both parents and wouldn't have to worry about a note being sent home only making it to one parent.
I believe it is very important to collaborate with the other teachers in the same grade so that the students receive the best education possible. All teachers have their strengths and weaknesses. By collaborating, you are able to strengthen your weaknesses and are learning from your peers.
I like to switch things up and find ways to do things better than I did them previously. While routine is very important and has a place in the classroom, I believe that there are areas where it's important to try new things and keep the classroom and the learning experience up to date. I was especially enlightened to this today as I quickly realized that my college experience will be completely different than it was 15 years ago. I'm excited to see how technology will be a big part of my new educational experiences and look forward to finding ways for technology to be integrated in my own classroom when I become a teacher. Wouldn't it be nice for all classrooms to have their own computers where the children have opportunities to use them on a daily basis? There are so many educational opportunities on the Internet and children these days need to know computers more than ever.
As a teacher of young students, I believe that reading and a love for reading will play a huge part of the educational process. Once a child can feel comfortable with their reading, they will excel in all other areas of education. However, everything builds together and you can learn about so many different subjects at once if taught properly. I've had the chance to be a part of this type of education and have learned so much from it. I hope to teach the children that they can do anything they want to do. They shouldn't be limited by what other people think of them.
I've got a lot of big goals ahead of me. I look forward to applying everything I learn while back in school to help me become the type of teacher I want to be.
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