Should a teacher use technology in the classroom? I believe that the answer to that question is YES! Why would a teacher want to deprive their students of one of the greatest parts of our world?! Technology is something that helps us as human beings to be connected to not only our community around us but also the entire world!
Technology in the classroom also gives a much larger spectrum as to what and how the teacher can teach the class. I have heard of classes being able to talk to classes from China, now when has anyone been able to talk to other students from around the world?! I think this is one of the greatest things that we can give our students, the ability to experience things that we, as adults were unable to have. Smart boards are also really great piece of technology, they allow teachers to show things on the board in color that overheads can't, smart boards are also great because they are interactive and give the teacher and the students the ability to not only see what they are being taught, but also be able to touch and do what they are learning.
I know in my classroom I will readily welcome technology in my classroom, but I will also teach my students the importance of grammar and spelling. The technology world has different expectations when it comes to spelling and grammar it is important for not just my students but also adults to know that correct spelling and grammar is still a very important part of our world today.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Lessons Learned
Something that I have learned from the readings is that this new world wide web, people are calling it whatever, whenever and wherever. Offering us whatever we want, whenever and wherever we want it. Such a wireless stream of media gratification is actually a radical departure from typical human experience. And as tantalizing as this ready access to our hearts desires may be, it creates great challenges for our children.
This access of technology can be such a great thing for teachers, giving their students the ability to take tests easier, letting students be able to use computers in the classroom instead of the teacher having to schedule the computer room, and giving the teachers the ability to teach in a easier, more fun approach to learning.
Yet having all of this technology so readily available is something that has almost ruined our students, they are so used to shortening words, using acronyms instead of full sentences that students aren't learning correct grammar, or when they do they just forget it, knowing that they can just shorten words to write to their friends or when writing emails. Teachers need to be teaching students the importance of keeping correct grammar as well as the importance of technology.
This access of technology can be such a great thing for teachers, giving their students the ability to take tests easier, letting students be able to use computers in the classroom instead of the teacher having to schedule the computer room, and giving the teachers the ability to teach in a easier, more fun approach to learning.
Yet having all of this technology so readily available is something that has almost ruined our students, they are so used to shortening words, using acronyms instead of full sentences that students aren't learning correct grammar, or when they do they just forget it, knowing that they can just shorten words to write to their friends or when writing emails. Teachers need to be teaching students the importance of keeping correct grammar as well as the importance of technology.
Strengths & Weaknesses
I believe that when it comes to computers I am pretty expert at most things. I have been around computers my whole life so I should know how to use a computer. I'm able to use tools for information, such as using the internet and using email to communicate with others. Using software applications, using word processing and print layout design applications as well as using databases, spreadsheets and graphic organizer software. Using tools to access information like using web sources to access information and analyzing the authority, accuracy, and relevance, and operate a basic computer system which entales operating a multimedia computer system, installing software, accessing programs or files in other drives, saving and deleting files, and organizing folders.
Somethings that I am not an expert at is some computer terminology such as using terminology related to computers and technology appropriately in written and oral communications. The ability to demonstrate awareness of resources for adaptive devices for students with special needs, and describing and implementing basic trouble-shooting techniques for multimedia computer systems with related peripheral devices.
A way that I can work on these things are by taking online classes about the language and terminology of computers and multimedia, as well as completing a short tutorial on trouble shooting that either comes with the software or that is offered online. As far as the students with disabilities that are adaptable that is something that hopefully the district I am working in will provide an educational class that I will be able to take.
Somethings that I am not an expert at is some computer terminology such as using terminology related to computers and technology appropriately in written and oral communications. The ability to demonstrate awareness of resources for adaptive devices for students with special needs, and describing and implementing basic trouble-shooting techniques for multimedia computer systems with related peripheral devices.
A way that I can work on these things are by taking online classes about the language and terminology of computers and multimedia, as well as completing a short tutorial on trouble shooting that either comes with the software or that is offered online. As far as the students with disabilities that are adaptable that is something that hopefully the district I am working in will provide an educational class that I will be able to take.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
7 April - Field Experience
Wow! I can't believe field experience is already over! It feels like I was just starting it. What can I say about field experience?? Well tons of course!! First off I wasn't exactly sure how it was going to pan out, I mean I have observed in classrooms before, but I have never actually taught, except in our classes at UV, and that has never been full out or with students who aren't on my same level academically. I was kind of nervous, just because I didn't know exactly what to expect, but once we met our cooperating teacher I knew we would all get along! Our cooperating teacher was really great, she really helped us out on figuring out our lesson plans, like what could go where and such, and she supported what we were doing and gave great feed back.
When planning and teaching our lessons during field experience we tried to incorporated as much technology into our lesson as we could. For a few of our lessons we used a digital story as well as a couple of movie clips. After watching the clips we asked the students questions so that we could tell if the students had actually been paying attention to the clip. Surprisingly after asking the questions we learned that the students had actually paid attention to the clips and had really enjoyed watching them! Which was great, because it just justified that bringing in media and technology into your classroom helps to bring a new excitement into the class as well as showing that the students really do pay attention to things that are being taught in your class. I think that in my future classroom I will definitely bring technology and media into my classroom to make it more fun and exciting!
I really love the kids in our class and am definitely going to miss them as well as our cooperating teacher that we worked with. It was a really great experience and opportunity this experience has helped me to really know that I do want to teach the lower grades and that I do really want to be a teacher. Its funny because going through school and with all of these classes that we are taking it kind of scares me, makes me second guess myself and wonder if I can really be a teacher. But with this field experience I know now know that I can be a teacher, and that one day I will be a great teacher!
When planning and teaching our lessons during field experience we tried to incorporated as much technology into our lesson as we could. For a few of our lessons we used a digital story as well as a couple of movie clips. After watching the clips we asked the students questions so that we could tell if the students had actually been paying attention to the clip. Surprisingly after asking the questions we learned that the students had actually paid attention to the clips and had really enjoyed watching them! Which was great, because it just justified that bringing in media and technology into your classroom helps to bring a new excitement into the class as well as showing that the students really do pay attention to things that are being taught in your class. I think that in my future classroom I will definitely bring technology and media into my classroom to make it more fun and exciting!
I really love the kids in our class and am definitely going to miss them as well as our cooperating teacher that we worked with. It was a really great experience and opportunity this experience has helped me to really know that I do want to teach the lower grades and that I do really want to be a teacher. Its funny because going through school and with all of these classes that we are taking it kind of scares me, makes me second guess myself and wonder if I can really be a teacher. But with this field experience I know now know that I can be a teacher, and that one day I will be a great teacher!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
8 March - Digital Story 1
Today in class we learned about digital stories. It was very interesting to learn about, because I just thought that it was pretty much the same as the photostory. Well it is a lot like the photo story but it is more in depth, more pictures, music, more narration. It has a bigger purpose, a moral to it.
I think that this could be a really great thing to use in the classroom because it gives you the ability to use something different and interesting in your classroom. It can give a twist to your lessons and give the students something to look forward to. Its a little different then using power points, but also very similar. I don't know if I would exactly use this in my classroom very often, but if I were to use a power point then I would definitely use the digital stories over power points.
I think that this could be a really great thing to use in the classroom because it gives you the ability to use something different and interesting in your classroom. It can give a twist to your lessons and give the students something to look forward to. Its a little different then using power points, but also very similar. I don't know if I would exactly use this in my classroom very often, but if I were to use a power point then I would definitely use the digital stories over power points.
Monday, February 21, 2011
22 February - VidCast
Color Scheme VidCast
By: Marley Nelson & Kelsey Itri
3rd Grade Visual Arts
Standard 1: The student will explore and refine the application of media, techniques, and artistic processes.
Objective 1: Explore a variety of art materials while learning new techniques and processes.
Indicator: Students will know what the colors are and where they fall on the color wheel and which colors complement each other.
We chose this topic because we thought that it would be a fun topic to introduce to
our classroom. It is very important for children to know their colors and what colors are complementary to each other. The VidCast is a great way for us to introduce the topic not only to the students but to their parents as well by putting our VidCast online on our classroom website. Something that could be a drawback of using this VidCast is that you can only have each slide stay up for a certain amount of time. Thus you may have to give the information quickly or the picture may not stay up long enough for students to gather or see the information. This is a great subject to continue the unit, with just one section at a time.
By: Marley Nelson & Kelsey Itri
3rd Grade Visual Arts
Standard 1: The student will explore and refine the application of media, techniques, and artistic processes.
Objective 1: Explore a variety of art materials while learning new techniques and processes.
Indicator: Students will know what the colors are and where they fall on the color wheel and which colors complement each other.
We chose this topic because we thought that it would be a fun topic to introduce to
our classroom. It is very important for children to know their colors and what colors are complementary to each other. The VidCast is a great way for us to introduce the topic not only to the students but to their parents as well by putting our VidCast online on our classroom website. Something that could be a drawback of using this VidCast is that you can only have each slide stay up for a certain amount of time. Thus you may have to give the information quickly or the picture may not stay up long enough for students to gather or see the information. This is a great subject to continue the unit, with just one section at a time.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
15 February - Photostory
Today in class we learned about making a VidCast. There are many options that you can use like using a video camera or flip video, using photostory or using jing.
I think that Photostory is a really great tool for teachers to use. You have the ability to upload any pictures that you might want to use in your VidCast that has to do with your lesson. You can add music or make your own music, you can add effects so that when the picture changes it has a cool effect that goes from one picture to the other. You can also change the effect of the actual picture, so if you have a regular colored picture you can change it to black and white or sepia. You can rearrange the pictures after you watch the video and a few other things. Its a really great tool and very easy to use!
I don't know if I will always use this option in my classroom, but I think its a great, fun and different idea to introduce new units. I don't think that I will use this one my classroom website, but I think that I will use it in the classroom. I think its a lot like power point, and I think that I'd probably use power point in my classroom more then photostory. But I do think that it is a fun thing to have as an option.
I think that Photostory is a really great tool for teachers to use. You have the ability to upload any pictures that you might want to use in your VidCast that has to do with your lesson. You can add music or make your own music, you can add effects so that when the picture changes it has a cool effect that goes from one picture to the other. You can also change the effect of the actual picture, so if you have a regular colored picture you can change it to black and white or sepia. You can rearrange the pictures after you watch the video and a few other things. Its a really great tool and very easy to use!
I don't know if I will always use this option in my classroom, but I think its a great, fun and different idea to introduce new units. I don't think that I will use this one my classroom website, but I think that I will use it in the classroom. I think its a lot like power point, and I think that I'd probably use power point in my classroom more then photostory. But I do think that it is a fun thing to have as an option.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
8 February - PodCast
Today in class we learned how to do a podcast and what podcasts can be used for and how to use them in the classroom.
You can do podcasts by using a speaker to talk into your Ipod. You can also record a podcast on your phone by recording on your phone and then emailing it to yourself and then uploading it to your computer. It really is the easiest thing. I never really thought that it would be that easy but it was super super easy. I think that I could use this in the classroom to either put up announcements for parents to hear, or put up information that the students need to know. I think that using the podcast gives your web page and announcements or whatever you decide to use it for will give a different feel and something new to give students a variety.
I really liked learning about this because not only can I put up announcements or whatever but I can also use this to record things I do in class, like record the students and put the recording on my website so that the parents can see what their students are doing in class! I think this will be a really great tool to use in my classroom in the future.
You can do podcasts by using a speaker to talk into your Ipod. You can also record a podcast on your phone by recording on your phone and then emailing it to yourself and then uploading it to your computer. It really is the easiest thing. I never really thought that it would be that easy but it was super super easy. I think that I could use this in the classroom to either put up announcements for parents to hear, or put up information that the students need to know. I think that using the podcast gives your web page and announcements or whatever you decide to use it for will give a different feel and something new to give students a variety.
I really liked learning about this because not only can I put up announcements or whatever but I can also use this to record things I do in class, like record the students and put the recording on my website so that the parents can see what their students are doing in class! I think this will be a really great tool to use in my classroom in the future.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
1 February - Google Part 2
This last week we learned about Google sites and what you can do with it. Well I thought that it was awesome! We had to create our own classroom website through Google sites. We learned all the different options that are available to you through Google to share with your classroom.
As a teacher this means that I will be able to have a website for my class that is easily accessible for my students and their parents and that I will have a place not only to save some trees (instead of sending home weekly or monthly newsletters), but to have an easy place for me to upload things such as homework assignments, announcements, upcoming events and other things that my students and their parents might want to know about me, what is going on in the classroom and what their student should be doing.
I think that having a Google site not only allows easy access to information for your students and their parents, but also to other teachers. You can put anything from lesson plans to other awesome links and information that other teachers may not have. Which I think is a really great option to have as a teacher, because sometimes its hard to come up with fun and interesting lessons or ideas for class.
As a teacher this means that I will be able to have a website for my class that is easily accessible for my students and their parents and that I will have a place not only to save some trees (instead of sending home weekly or monthly newsletters), but to have an easy place for me to upload things such as homework assignments, announcements, upcoming events and other things that my students and their parents might want to know about me, what is going on in the classroom and what their student should be doing.
I think that having a Google site not only allows easy access to information for your students and their parents, but also to other teachers. You can put anything from lesson plans to other awesome links and information that other teachers may not have. Which I think is a really great option to have as a teacher, because sometimes its hard to come up with fun and interesting lessons or ideas for class.
Friday, January 21, 2011
25 January - Google Part 1
What did I learn in our Google Part 1 class? Well I learned that there is a whole lot more that you can do with Gmail. You can make spread sheets, you can make documents that others can edit or add on to. You can add pictures onto documents by searching Google.
So what does this mean to me? Well as a teacher it gives me the ability to have access to all sorts of office tools without actually having Microsoft. As a student it gives me the ability to share projects online with my team members who may not be able to work on a project at the same time as me, it also gives me the ability to be able to work on a project with a team member on my own time and not have to worry about getting together with them. It also keeps all of my documents in a file so I can access it anywhere.
I think now that I know all about the cool things that I can do on Gmail, besides just emailing I gives me the opportunity to expand my ability to do assignments and projects anywhere I am. I think it is such an awesome tool to be able to use because sometimes I don't have my computer with me or my thumb drive, so usually I will email the document to myself and then finish it on a different computer, but that doesn't always work when my laptop has Word2007 and my computer at my house is Word2000. So it poses a problem when my original document doesn't pull up exactly how I had it before. So with Googledocs I will be able to access my project from anywhere and not have to worry about the programs that specific computer has and everything will still be the same and exactly how I had it in the first place.
So what does this mean to me? Well as a teacher it gives me the ability to have access to all sorts of office tools without actually having Microsoft. As a student it gives me the ability to share projects online with my team members who may not be able to work on a project at the same time as me, it also gives me the ability to be able to work on a project with a team member on my own time and not have to worry about getting together with them. It also keeps all of my documents in a file so I can access it anywhere.
I think now that I know all about the cool things that I can do on Gmail, besides just emailing I gives me the opportunity to expand my ability to do assignments and projects anywhere I am. I think it is such an awesome tool to be able to use because sometimes I don't have my computer with me or my thumb drive, so usually I will email the document to myself and then finish it on a different computer, but that doesn't always work when my laptop has Word2007 and my computer at my house is Word2000. So it poses a problem when my original document doesn't pull up exactly how I had it before. So with Googledocs I will be able to access my project from anywhere and not have to worry about the programs that specific computer has and everything will still be the same and exactly how I had it in the first place.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
17 January - Special Topic
Why did I decide to become a teacher?
I think I decided to become a teacher when I was in Jr. High or High School. I know that I have always wanted to be a teacher so that has made things a bit easier for me, as far as not needing to take a bunch of classes to figure out what I wanted to do. But what is the reason that I want to be a teacher you might ask. Well I want to be a teacher for many reasons. Well.... I know why I want to be a teacher, but actually putting it into words is a little more difficult then you'd think. But here goes, I want to be a teacher to create a safe place for my students to go. You never know exactly what kind of home environment your students are coming from so making school somewhere they feel safe is a major thing. Another reason I want to be a teacher is because I want to make a difference in at least one of my students lives as well as make school fun for my students. I think that making a difference in anyone's life is a great achievement, but when you are a teacher and make a difference in one if not more of your students lives almost sort of makes you a hero. Like I said before you never really know everything about your students environment or backgrounds, but when you make them feel like they are an important person in your classroom as well as in their own life it not only makes them feel better about themselves but also I think it makes them a better person and lets them know that they can do anything they want to do, and they will remember you and how you changed and impacted their life forever. I just think that it would be the most amazing feeling knowing that you have helped and contributed in the making of someone great! Everyone has a favorite teacher and I want to be that teacher. I never really enjoyed going to school after the 4th grade, I don't know if it was because I would really just rather be at home with my mom or if school was really just no fun for me. But I want to be able to make school for my students, somewhere where they are excited to come everyday. Somewhere they can learn and have fun learning!
So that's why I want to be a teacher!
I think I decided to become a teacher when I was in Jr. High or High School. I know that I have always wanted to be a teacher so that has made things a bit easier for me, as far as not needing to take a bunch of classes to figure out what I wanted to do. But what is the reason that I want to be a teacher you might ask. Well I want to be a teacher for many reasons. Well.... I know why I want to be a teacher, but actually putting it into words is a little more difficult then you'd think. But here goes, I want to be a teacher to create a safe place for my students to go. You never know exactly what kind of home environment your students are coming from so making school somewhere they feel safe is a major thing. Another reason I want to be a teacher is because I want to make a difference in at least one of my students lives as well as make school fun for my students. I think that making a difference in anyone's life is a great achievement, but when you are a teacher and make a difference in one if not more of your students lives almost sort of makes you a hero. Like I said before you never really know everything about your students environment or backgrounds, but when you make them feel like they are an important person in your classroom as well as in their own life it not only makes them feel better about themselves but also I think it makes them a better person and lets them know that they can do anything they want to do, and they will remember you and how you changed and impacted their life forever. I just think that it would be the most amazing feeling knowing that you have helped and contributed in the making of someone great! Everyone has a favorite teacher and I want to be that teacher. I never really enjoyed going to school after the 4th grade, I don't know if it was because I would really just rather be at home with my mom or if school was really just no fun for me. But I want to be able to make school for my students, somewhere where they are excited to come everyday. Somewhere they can learn and have fun learning!
So that's why I want to be a teacher!
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