Take Away 4/14

Todays class was very interesting and informative. I love using powerpoint and have used it for years but never knew about all these hyperlink options. I knew a power point presentation could be interactive but the examples that we saw today really blow me away and I was really impressed. I also learned about voicethread which was something completly new to me. There are so many possble lessons that you could use to incoporate this. This would be a great tool to use for literacy, for example when students are on spring break.Many teachers give students reading assignments and ask for a write up. Instread students could give a oral explantion about the part of the book they read and have a whole class discussion without actually being in the classroom. For powerpoint one could do a math lesson for example when doing a lesson on adding two fractions. The students would solve each part and if they got it right then they could move on to the next slide with the next step on how to solve the fraction. These were just ideas I came up with in less then 5 minutes but the ideas are endless.

Blog 6

     While reading chapter 8, the question I kept asking myself was why can’t teachers in a K-12 setting provide the same communication and networking resources that college students get from their professors? Unlike college in high school and middle school teachers don’t give out their emails to their students. I think that this is a form of communication that needs to be reinforced. When students are home and they forget an assignment or have a question, it would be nice to have a way to communicate with their teacher.  I also think creating a classroom website should be mandated for every teacher. This is a great way for students to have access to their assignments and notes as well as for parents to be able to be more involved with their children’s school work. This way students  have no excuse, not to get their work done. One idea mentioned in the reading that stood out to me was teachers who use electronic forms of communication have the ability to share information 24/7. Every teacher has said at one time or another that they wish there was more time in the day to get to everything they wanted to. Using electronic forms of communication like having a class blog or website would provide the teacher the opportunity to provide more information about a subject. This is a great way to provide resources to students who need extra help or for more advanced students who need to be challenged more.

    I really enjoyed reading chapter 9 especially because I love using power point presentations! For my student teaching experience every time I was observed for a lesson or had to teach I incorporated a power point presentation. Like the chapter mentioned, schools have tended to focus on a single-media that is non- interactive such as showing a video clip. I feel that even with a power point presentation, teachers need to make sure to make the presentation interactive.  Using power point presentations in elementary school is especially important because using colorful backgrounds, having diagrams, and sounds really keep the students engaged and excited to learn. Using power point presentations are especially convenient now due to the fact that most schools now have smart boards. This gives students the opportunity to be able to write directly on the power point making it much more interactive.

 

Focus Question

1.       Do you think that it is appropriate for every teacher to be mandated to have a class web page? Why or Why not?

2.       Do you agree that using power point presentations in elementary school is beneficial? Why or why not? Or is it better to use in a high school setting?

4/7 Take Away Message

In my junior year in college we were all mandated to create a eprofolio on digications. When I created my profolio i never throught of it as a tool i could use for my future, it was just seen as a requirment. I had to revist my profolio when creating the webquest and after this class i relize the importance of it. Keeping this profolio is like documenting someones growth as a developing teacher. I really wish I kept many unit plans and lesson plans I create for other courses so I could of uploaded it to the site. I decided to make a goal for myself and work a little everyday to improving it.

Take Away Message

When working on my webquest project and with the class discussion on the group video presentation I was refelecting on my own experiences in school and I wish my teachers would of provided me with this experience. Also with watching the videos of other students, I learned various things that I wish I edited when I made my individual project. It was very useful to see the videos and I hope my group video will be just as great!

Chapter 7

    Chapter 7 discusses a lot about how educational software supports and promotes problem solving and inquiry learning. The whole time when I was reading the chapter, I was thinking about the class discussion we had on Mine craft. Last week was the scholastic book fair at the school where I student teach, and all the boys in my class were buying this book called "Minecraft The Official Beginners Handbook" and I just though it was so ironic. The chapter mentioned that a computer  software that allows students to use high order thinking skills is a indication of it being a good software to use, which had me thinking if playing "Mine craft" had an educational value. I can see how some would argue that it promotes problem solving. I personally love the idea of using computer games in the classroom. Students, like the little girl Rosie mentioned in the beginning of the chapter are fascinated by computer games. Using computer games can be seen as a motivation in any lesson, which will capture their attention. Like the chapter mentioned there isn't a profession that doesn't use computers or some type of informational technology. Using educational software will prepare students for when they get into the real world. I think it is very important for teachers to make sure that the video games or computer games they choose to use has educational value. I think it is also important for them to let parents know as well about which educational software's are beneficial or not.




Focus Question

Teachers usually are not allowed to add their own software to the school system network. Do you agree or disagree with this practice?

Do any of you use educational software in your classroom like kidpix? Is it beneficial?

3/24 Take Away Message

One thing that I found interesting about todays class was the use of minecraft in the classroom. I personally believe that the school featured in the class had good intentions of incorporating technology but they choose the wrong type of software. Sites like lexipedia, and visual theasures are great sites that can be incorporated into the classroom. Also from playing around with google maps i have learned that when wanting to incorporate technology teachers have to get creative because sometimes the best tools to use in a classroom maynot even be educational resources.