Sunday, April 10, 2016

(1) ILP "Participation"- Lynda.com


The Lynda tutorial I watched was about teaching future ready students. The video was about 2 hours long but it had different sections you could skip around to. I watched it on my laptop on April 11th. I logged onto Lynda.com and read the different categories. There was a lot of technological ones but the education tab caught my eye. I clicked on that and when I saw one about “future ready students” I thought it related to this class a lot.

            In the lesson, it talked about how classrooms used to look like versus now. Before, classrooms and workplaces were lined with desks all in rows. But now desks are grouped together for collaboration. It mentioned different methods of engagement for students. It also talked about how students in classrooms now are getting more engaged as they have more autonomy in the classroom. It also mentioned student motivation beyond grades. Kids need to realize that failure leads to success. Even the leaders of today, failed at some point.

             I found the lesson to be very interesting and I enjoyed listening/watching it. I liked how the website provided the writing of what the video was saying underneath. It gave you the option to follow along with the video. It highlighted the words as it was playing and it was really helpful. I may use this site in the future because it not only has education videos but videos for everyday needs!

(2) ILP "Design"- Windows Movie Maker

I made a Windows movie to talk about the 3 different types of rock. I wanted to play around with other software and see if I could make a lesson out of it. I think making a movie would be beneficial in some ways but I do think it consumes a lot of time and the quality is not good. I would still prefer Powerpoint over a movie for a lesson.



Monday, April 4, 2016

Post #10

As an elementary education teacher in the science subject, I can use data collection tools to create lists of averages of the tests and quizzes given. I can also create graphs from the data I collect. If I was a math teacher, the data collection would be very useful to use because you could teach students how to use data to calculate averages, sums, and max/mins.

When reviewing my classmate's blogs, I liked reading their experiences and comparing to my own and what I wrote about. I really like to read about the ones involving the different projects we completed. I liked looking at everyone's photos of them too. It was neat seeing how different everyone's was from each other, that was probably my favorite.

I would like to learn how to use a Smartboard better. In high school we had them, but I only used them occasionally when I was called upon to write an answer on the board. They are a little confusing at times. Smartboards are something that are evolving and are used readily in the classroom. It would be beneficial to learn how to effectively use it and its components.

Through school and the College of Education here, I can use the resources and teachers to help me expand my knowledge on technology in the classroom. We have a tech sandbox, where I can better learn how to use a Smartboard. I also can use the internet, a very useful too, to watch tutorials and such on the topic of concern.


Monday, March 28, 2016

Post #9


The flipped classroom is when students view their lessons via online before they come to class the next day. This is so that class time will be devoted to asking questions and working problems or review on the subject matter instead of taking all class to teach it. A good website for this could be https://www.teachertube.com or https://www.khanacademy.org/. These websites have tons of videos and tutorials for students. I once had a teacher who made his own YouTube videos that he shared with our class on Edmodo the night before the lesson. 


The website Education World looks like it has a lot of good resources for teachers. It includes books and articles

in PDF form to help manage your classroom for both new and old teachers. The website URL is http://www.educationworld.com/.



With the PowerPoint interaction assignment, I learned how to make an interactive game/activity for students to use. I never knew how to link slides in a non- linear pathway! I liked that we could pick what to do our activity on and what style (quiz, adventure, etc.). I did not like how long it had to be. I got a little confused when doing it forgetting how many I had linked and to which slides. The non- linear gets a little confusing. I can improve on it next time by keeping track of my slides and how many I need. I could also make my presentation more complex and detailed. In my future career, I can teach my students lessons by making them participate in interactive activities such as a quiz. It is a good way to help them practice the material taught.



Monday, March 21, 2016

Post #8


I think cloud computing holds the biggest promise. I think it does because storage is a big thing. People have phones, iPads, etc. that run out of storage so it is very useful to have something to put their pictures/ data on along with teachers needing to store classroom PowerPoints and word documents. Dropbox and google apps have a lot of potential when it comes to that. This technology would be utilized in the classroom by storing all the needed material for the classroom on drop box or a google app.

  On the digital divide I am on the side of growing up and having access to technology. I am on this side of the divide because at home I had a computer and was able to use them in school. In my future classroom, there will be a lot of students who will have easy access to technology while some may not. I will have to be aware to help them. I would talk to the school about getting them the access they need to succeed.

Working on the PowerPoint I was able to better maneuver around the software. Before, I was not the best at making PowerPoints, but I think I’m getting better! I liked how we got to pick our topic/lesson. I did not have anything I did not like about it really. Next time, I can try and make my PowerPoint more elaborate when it comes to notes for myself. In my future career, I can use PowerPoint to teach my students their lessons. It is an easy way to show /display the lesson.


Monday, March 14, 2016

Post #7


You can use PowerPoint at each students level of Bloom’s Taxonomy. First, there is creating which is when you gather information to create a new PowerPoint. Then there is evaluate. You can use PowerPoint to evaluate if a student’s understands the material or the student could evaluate something. You can analyze on PowerPoint by organizing your thoughts and using graphs to compare and contrast. Applying includes adding graphs to your PowerPoint. Lastly, understanding includes including summaries while discussing and paraphrasing information on your PowerPoint.

Some adaptive technologies include hearing aids, screen readers, braille, desktop video magnifiers, memory aids, and screen magnifiers. They help a student learn better in the classroom who has a physical disability. I have not used or known anyone who has used these technologies. The challenges I see with using these technologies in the classroom is trying to balance helping a student with a specific device while having to attend to the other students. It may be hard. Also if a device goes wrong or messes up that student may have a hard time catching up.

While working on the Web Page Design I learned how to make a web page and pages within the main page. I was also able to hyperlink important websites for parents and students to go to. I liked that we could make it look anyone we wanted to. I really enjoyed making a web page! I felt all official. But the website did keep acting up just like any online program does, so I did not like that. Next time I could include more information about class procedures for the parents to be more informed. In my future career, I now know some important themes and items to include on my class website.

http://emevcrew.weebly.com/


Monday, February 29, 2016

Post #6



I decided to look up a class website from my Elementary school. This is a 5th grade class at Timberlin Creek Elementary.  On the site it includes homework expectations along with upcoming due dates and the student's vocabulary schedule. There are a lot of links available for students and parents to hit on the side bar. This includes the class calendar along with helpful sites for individual subjects such as language arts and math.


I think I will be able to use technology to accomplish my professional responsibilities because I can effectively create a website for my students that will be easy to navigate. I will have the chance to make my website mine since most things in the classroom are not always up to you. I will be able to create and use technology to implement a successful website that includes creativity, contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity.




While working on the web evaluation wiki, I was able to better understand how to evaluate a website to see if it is credible. Some websites should not be used in a classroom because they do not contain the right information or not enough. I liked that we got to work in groups but I thought using Wiki was a little complicated. Maybe if I got more time using it, it might not be as bad. But I thought it was too confusing and not the most accessible website to use. So in the future I can improve on my formatting and getting to know my website more before I just jump into an assignment. In the future I can use these skills from this assignment to be able to pick the best and most efficient website for my students to use in the classroom.


Monday, February 22, 2016

Blog #5


Web 2.0 includes social media, blogs twitter, and YouTube which are all helpful and useful for classroom use. These help you collaborate with others which supports professional teacher development. Like the podcast said, blogs for the classroom are more of a passive approach which may not be the most useful for the purpose of individual student involvement. Any computer/laptop includes web 2.0 features and tools.
A web 2.0 tool that I might use when teaching would be Edmodo. Edmodo allows classes to connect and collaborate. It is not as publicly available as twitter, so it is pretty secure. I think you have to be part of a school to even get a code to register.
With Edmodo, you can virtually have a class online. You can post your notes, discussions, PowerPoints all on there. It’s a really nice tool to be able to have and utilize in the classroom. https://www.edmodo.com/
With the concept mapping assignment, I learned how to create study guides and organize ideas by grouping them. I liked how you were able to customize it to your own liking but the website would mess up sometimes and it was a bit confusing at times. I had to redo my bubbles multiple times. Next time I will try to customize it more but this time around I was just trying to get use to the program. In my future career, I can use these tools to make concept maps for my students as study guides or just as a guiding tool. It will be a helpful tool for any subject in my classroom. A concept map can be applied to anything really.


Monday, February 15, 2016

Blog #4


The science standard for 2nd grade I chose is SC.2.P.8.2  which is to identify objects and materials as solid, liquid, or gas. It can be found at http://www.cpalms.org/Public/PreviewStandard/Preview/1611. The classification tool to remember this standard would be a properties concept map. I could put how to identify objects in the middle bubble and then have the branches of solid, liquid, and gas in smaller bubbles. Branching from those three would be their properties that make them identifiable as that.  

I have had some teachers in the past who were really strict on how credible our sources were such as not using Wikipedia. But I have also had teachers who would accept Wikipedia. I was told in the past that if the author could not be found or if the website ended in .com it probably was not reliable enough. According to the podcast, open content is anything available for modification, use and redistribution. This is not the most reliable way of receiving information because anyone can edit it. Wikipedia falls underneath this category and is not so reliable.

With the web hunt, I learned how to use google scholar and google advanced video search. I also learned how to only search key words to get results on the content you are looking for. I had a hard time figuring out which standards went with what I was finding though. I also had trouble picking the right website to take my information from since there were so many. I do not think I found the most reliable/credible sites that I could have.

Monday, February 8, 2016

Blog #3


I can teach how to evaluate and integrate multimedia. I also think I would be able to teach how to use sources and teach how adding videos and pictures can get your message across better. I would need to get more preparation on multimedia in social studies/history though. I also could work on the standard involving "text structure", RI.5.

With my class, I will want to use Microsoft Word. Word has so much to offer and it is convenient for multiple reasons. For the elementary level, I feel as if it is the easiest to understand under Microsoft Office programs. Kids these days are getting into social media younger and younger. So the digital citizenship topic I should address is how to be safe online. They need to learn at an early age to be careful about what they post because it could be there for a very long time, possibly their whole lives. These kids are most likely 6-10 and they need to know now so they do not make mistakes when they get to their teenage years.

From the newsletter design assignment, I was able to learn how to properly format a newsletter for a classroom. I used features I had never used in Word before. It showed me that Word has so many elements other than the features just for typing essays. I liked that we could make it however we liked, with whatever border and colors. But, I did struggle with the formatting when I first started the assignment. Next time I will plan it out before I jump right into it. In the future, I can use these skills to make my actual class newsletters to send out to parents.

Monday, February 1, 2016

Blog #2


 

   As a student, I have used Microsoft Word for classes to type essays along with using it for lab reports. My teacher would normally attach Word documents to emails where I could then read it. These Word documents were of newsletters or study guides usually.

Through school and in an educational environment, I have learned that you cannot just use anything you find on the internet for school. Some things are for online use only and may not be copied, such as textbooks. Teachers have to be careful and cite or give credit to the pictures and words they put into their lessons for copyright reasons.

Twitter is a way to connect with people. After following the different education pages through this personal learning networks, I can see that you can gain more knowledge on a subject that you were not so clear on before. There is new information coming your way every day. This has helped me communicate my thoughts and communicate with others who share common interests. I can use these skills for future use by applying them to my future class. Creating a class blog for students may help them communicate effectively between each other.

Monday, January 25, 2016

Blog #1


Computers are becoming an essential tool for the 2lst century. It is important for teachers to learn how to use computers and technology for their classroom because they will most likely use them in their classrooms. Teachers can do a lot of activities including interactive group work or assignments such as a class blog. Teachers can also use computers for class newsletters and announcements. Although computers bring a lot of creativity and interactive learning, it takes away some things such as actually writing things versus typing. Kids get more distracted with technology and it can interfere with their people skills.

The student standard about communication and collaboration is interesting to me because kids in the classrooms today are expanding their knowledge through different forms of media. It is not just the standard pencil and paper. This standard also mentioned that students will be able to learn about other cultures and gain a global perspective. The teacher standard that seems out of my skill set would be the one about designing and developing digital age learning experiences. I am good at technology but not great so I have to learn more about the newer technology before I can really teach and engage my students in technology based learning activities. I do not know how to design learning activates for certain student’s needs technology wise.

Digital native is a term used to describe a person who has grown up with technology around them. Yes, a lot of the older teachers I have had in the past did struggle with using technology especially when it came to projectors (which I do not think I even know how to work to be honest). But I have had a lot of teachers that have been good at technology. The teachers that had trouble with computers, we would help them which would just give us a better assessment of what we knew. Like my mom for example is not so tech savvy, but helping her has helped me. My future students will most likely know more and be way more tech savvy. They will have grown up in the era when the average elementary student has an iPhone. They probably will know more than me which then I will have to learn to adapt.

Twitter

Twitter username - @eme_vcrews

Monday, January 11, 2016

Blog #0

   I think I was in Elementary school when I first learned how to use Microsoft Word. Since then, I have used Microsoft word the most out of all the windows office programs available. Other than that, I taught myself most of what I know and can do. We had computers available to us in high school and I did a lot of communication with teachers via technology such as Edmodo and online classes.
   In this class, I hope to learn valuable information to be able to navigate and use my resources in technology better. I hope to not only be able to understand more but be able to teach it too. I hope to be able to apply what I learn from this class for future use. Especially if I do decide to become an Elementary Education teacher, it will become very useful and practical.
    From the results, I learned that I am a reflective learner which I totally agree with. I would rather work alone and during class I always need to think things through before I can really comprehend the concept being taught. I am also a sensing learner which also makes a lot of sense because I am very particular when it comes to my work and I like having things laid out for me step by step. I like using and learning a well established method to solve a problem. I also got that I am a visual leaner which seems to be me because I always like lessons or books that incorporate pictures/graphs. I remember things in details by capturing an image in my mind whether it is learning something or visiting a new place. I agree that I am a sequential learner because when I have had teachers that always would jump around, especially in history class with time periods, I would have a hard time following. I like learning things in sequential order because that is how I comprehend things the best, especially when it comes to math. I think this quiz accurately described my learning style. When I read about each category I received, it verified what I have previously thought about how I learn.