Assignment #5

1) When I started doing this project I didn't think I was going to be able to do it, because I don't consider myself to be all that technologically savvy. At first I just sat there and stared at the screen because I didn't even know where to start. I begin with the basics I added all of the writing that i wanted on each page, and the colors that I wanted. After that I was stuck again, so I downloaded the lesson activity toolkit and read through the Notebook software activity guide. Once I had done this I begin to play around with all of the different tools i could use. Some of the features that I used out of the notebook software and the tool kit were the reveal tool, where you write something down on the page and then you put a box filled with color over it to cover the writing. Erase and reveal was another tool i used, with this tool i can write on the board then color over it with the same color as the background so that when it is erased the writing shows up. Screen shade reveal was the next tool, with this tool i can hide the entire screen and only show the parts of the page i would like to show. The last two tools I used were Infinite cloner and Drag and drop. With infinite cloner i can make an item appear as many times as i would like, and with drag and drop I can write questions and have the students match the answers to the questions.

2)My knowledge of this product has multiplied immensely! I could not believe I made the presentation that I was looking at!I feel like I have gotten a pretty good handle on what this technology is all about. I know so much more about this product now that I have played with it from the ground up. I feel like this is something i would definitely would like to use in my future classroom . I would definitely add this to my expert list! obviously I still don't know everything,and maybe there are some shortcuts could take, but i feel like i really know how to use this technology.

Observation

I just got back from observing a sixth grade classroom at BCS and i absolutely loved it! They have smartboards there which totally made the learning environment more exciting. The kids love the board, and as soon as Ms. O was off of it, they were on it. It's was really great to see how the kids get to interact with the smartboard in their classroom. She also has a scanner which makes it really easy for her to upload lessons or pictures that she would like to add to the Board. Going from a classroom in Carnation to a classroom at BCS was a huge change in not only the age group, but also in the technology that was available to them. The kids at BCS have the worksheets in front of them and on the Board so they have the option of looking at either one. This was a really great experience and i hope that i can go back soon!

The classroom of the future

I think the classroom of the future will not have note takers, but the kids who are absent for any reason will be able to podcast into the class session. I also think that students will have all of their books on their iPods and they will be able to listen to everything instead of reading it. Smartboard will be standard in every classroom and teachers will utilize them to their full extent. students will be able to carry a small library in something the size of a stick of gun (iPods). I think homework will be turned in electronically and returned the same way. Grades will be posted online and for students and parents to see. I think that we will move away from using paper so that every student will have a laptop, and teaching will be more interactive to make up for so much computer time.

What I'm working with

The kids in my classroom are working with minimal technology. there is only one computer in my classroom so there students don't really get to play with technology on a daily basis. On Thursday's they always go to the computer lab where thy get to play games, read stories online, and practice their typing. That is the only day the students really get to interact with technology. Some of the students that I'm working with in my class are ELL so those are the students that i have been working with a lot lately. The class that i am in is a low achieving class, so i have gotten to work with almost the entire class.

Parents Information

I was talking with the lady I nanny for today. While i was talking to her she started to tell me about this thing that the school has for parents. It is a website where parents can go in and check every single assignment that the student has, what the score the student got on the assignment, and what assignments are coming up. They can also sign up for e-mails to be sent to them every time the child drops below an 80% in any class. I thought this was really crazy because when I was in high school we didn't have anything like for parents. Our parents just had to trust and believe us when we said that we didn't have any homework. I think this could be really good for parents so that they can stay informed, but it could also cause a lot of drama with parents and teachers because now the parents will be aware of when their child isn't doing well.

Questions for the panel

1)how do you deal with technology in a low SES school?
2)What's your favorite thing about teaching with technology? has it made things more simple or difficult?
3)How do you feel about parents having so much information avaliable to them about their children?has it made dealing with parents more difficult?

What every teacher should know about technology

1)PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS
Every teacher should be proficient in the use of productivity tools.

2)TROUBLESHOOTING
Every teacher should be able to troubleshoot technology-related problems that commonly crop up in the classroom.

3)TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Every teacher should know where to go for technical assistance.

4)WEB RESOURCES
Every teacher should be familiar with what's available on the Web in his or her subject area.

5)SEARCH SKILLS
Every teacher should have well-honed Web searching skills.

6)INTEREST AND FLEXIBILITY
Every teacher should be open to new ways of doing things.

Future Technology

I just read an article about how today we are educating students for jobs and technologies that haven't even been invented yet! and that today on average technology is advancing every 2-3 years which means that for a student s in a technology school what they learned in their first or second year of college will be outdated by the time they graduate. These things absolutely blow my mind!!! How is it that we as educators are supposed to prepare students for careers that haven't been invented? I don't have the answer to this question, but i think that the more technology that we use in the classroom the more students will benefit in the future.

COW

In this article I read about a new product called the COW (computer on Wheels). This product has been designed for junior high teachers and has every single thing that is required for the entire year in NCLB and other sources. Each COW contains a different subject and they run at about $7,ooo dollars. There are two types of COW's, the first type is very simple to use, it is controlled by the teacher and it looks the same at every single school (students may not use it). The second type of COW is more complex, it can be used by both the teachers and the students, and it will look different at every single school depending on how it is used. I thought this was really cool because they ones that the teachers use keep the students attention well, and the ones that the students can use really seem to add another dimension to the classroom.

History of Education

I found this video while I was looking for articles on Education. I thought it was cool, interesting and completely accurate!!!!
Education Today and Tomorrow

Miniaturization

This was the craziest article ever! It talked about how IBM is developing a new computer chip that will be able to contain as much information as a college library. It also talked about all of the things that will be possible with portable devices like iPods and iPhones. With these devices we could possibly have students study the expansion West in America, voting, or the slow progression of the Sahara. We could also have students download books into their iPods so that they came listen to them while they are in the car or they can read the book from their iPod when they're just hanging out. The weird thing about this article is that it gave so many ideas about what we might be able to do with these devices, it almost makes it hard to believe.

Ten ways to take charge of the web

I found this article online and it told the story of a teacher who decided to let his students search the web. this situation quickly turned bad when he realized that his students knew what they were doing better than he did, and one student even accidentally logged on to a inappropriate website. rather than trying to shorten the 10 steps i will just paste them on here for you guys because i think they are very important.


1) Explore your own interests on-line. What holds for your students holds for you: Use your hobbies and passions as points of entry to the World Wide Web. There is no better way to familiarize yourself with it. Do you love auctions? Check out eBay (www.ebay.com), the on-line auction house, and bid on that old Brownie Hawkeye camera you've been longing for. Have you been meaning to join a book-discussion group but haven't gotten around to it? Join other literary-minded folks at Salon (www.salon.com) to discuss the classics or the latest best sellers on-line.

2) Develop an acceptable use policy (AUP). The best way to keep Internet access safe and appropriate for children is to teach and monitor responsible use. Make your terms the children's "ticket" for going on-line. Begin by teaching basic Internet safety rules and discuss the importance of observing them. Rules to include in your policy:
Students may access only those Web sites that you, the teacher, have approved;
Never give out your address or phone number;
Never upload your photograph without adult consent. Put your AUP in writing and print it out in the form of a contract. Have students, parents, and your principal commit to these rules by signing the contract. Be sure to post a copy of your AUP near each computer.

3) Narrow the playing field. Just as you wouldn't turn your students loose with a set of encyclopedias or a stack of Ranger Rick magazines, you shouldn't expect them to find information on-line without a framework. This was Mr. Harris's biggest mistake. If he had taken the time to identify appropriate sites about Washington, D.C., in advance and then either bookmarked the sites or posted their URLs, he wouldn't have lost control of his class's on-line research exercise.

4) Know your search engines. Search engines are indispensable tools for Web-based research. Most, however, are too indiscriminate to be useful to young users. For example, searching for "White House" on the search engine Alta Vista returns over a half-million hits, most of which will be irrelevant or inappropriate for elementary-school students. To prevent frustration and inefficiency, experiment beforehand with search engines designed specifically for children. Bookmark the ones you like best and organize them into a "search engine folder" on your Web browser. Limit your students to these as they explore specific topics you have researched in advance.

5) Consider using a filter. Although I am convinced there is no substitute for having a hawkeyed teacher or parent on hand any time children are on-line, filtering devices function as a useful safety net. Filtering software (see Filtering Options) typically accomplishes three things: It blocks access to undesirable content; it keeps a log that tracks where children have been on the Web; and it puts the skids on what kids can do on-line (such as chatting with strangers).

6) Use the World Wide Web to lighten your load. Yes, it's true. Although many teachers see technology as a pesky addition to their overflowing schedules, smart users know that they can actually save time by drawing on Web resources (see Outstanding Teacher Resources). If you know where to look, you can find ready-to-use lesson plans, reproducibles, and activities to support curriculum and standards.

7) Teach kids to navigate a Web site effectively. Model for students how they can get the most out of a site. If you have access to an LCD panel or other projection device, conduct a class lesson on a popular site. Discuss how you would be selective about clicking on the site's links, opting for ones that are most relevant to your interests. A fun site for this purpose is one created by an early-childhood-education student in Australia: www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/Tower/4295

8) Use the Web as a professional development tool. Go on-line for wonderful opportunities to network with other teachers, exchange ideas, and learn about the latest research findings in your field. For example, Reading Online (www.readingonline.org), an electronic journal developed by the International Reading Association, offers the latest research findings in literacy as well as news about professional conferences and literacy-related events. Instructor's Teacher Forum at Scholastic.com invites teacher input on a different professional development issue each month. And www.EdsOasis.org offers teacher-generated lesson plans and discussion groups with a special focus on ESL students.

9) Teach children how to avoid plagiarism. The availability of digital texts and graphics makes it all too easy for youngsters to cut and paste information and photographs into their reports and projects without considering ownership. Just as you teach students appropriate use and citation of printed reference materials, do the same with respect to on-line resources. Post examples of correct citations in your computer area.

10) For advanced users: create on-line writers' portfolios for your students. If you already have a class Web site, consider using it to extend your portfolio management system. By hyperlinking individual Web pages for each of your students to your class's site, you can offer a far-reaching forum in which to discuss their progress as writers and to display their final products. By using this electronic medium, you'll add a new dimension to traditional student portfolios, one that can have a profound impact on students' motivation to develop their writing skills and become published authors.

Smart board and teaching

I think the smartboard will be a great addition to the classroom and it will help the students learn at the level that they use in everyday life while they are playing on the computer or video games. Integrating technology into teaching will hopefully allow students to really engage in the lesson that is being taught. I also think this will make lessons go by faster, yet they will take more prep time outside of the classroom.

Productivity Software

The way that I would like to use productivity software int he classroom is by having students type their papers. I would also have the students use the calender in Word to keep track of their homework. I would also like the students to use PowerPoint to create presentations in the classroom.

Smart Board Activity

Math lesson




NETS:
Use technology resources (e.g., calculators, data collection probes, videos, educational software) for problem solving, self-directed learning, and extended learning activities.



EALRS & GLE's:



1.3 Understand and apply concepts and procedures from geometric sense:
Use a compass and straightedge, and/or computer software to perform geometric constructions.



Activity Plan:



1)The activity that I am planing to do in the classroom is a Math activity on Angles. This activity is highly interactive and really helps students understand the concept of angles.



2)I will prepare for this activity by doing the activity on the smartboard ahead of time so that I know that all of the links on the activity work. I also want to make sure that the activity is age appropriate for the students.



3)The class will be highly active in this activity because this lesson requires the students to measure angles and place angles into their different categories. The students will be assessed according to whether or not they can identify the different angles that are part of the lesson and also based on students participation.



4)I think students would really benefit from this technology because it is highly interactive and students can learn in an open environment where they can learn from each other. I also think that students would enjoy doing this activity on the smartboard rather than on paper because by introducing technology students they are able to use a language that they truly understand. I could use this activity with diverse students because for every category there is a title, and under the title you can insert the right angles. This way students who do not speak English can learn the term while seeing the visual examples. I also think this will help students with ADD because it is introducing new forms of learning in forms that they are used to working with.

Web Issues

Some of the internet issues for students are that there are many predators on the internet today that are now using the internet to prey on children. There are also many children who are on Myspace now and there are many people on there who are talking to strangers. There is also a lot of bullying on the net. both of these issues have moved from taking place in the classroom to taking place on the web.

Cell phones in class!!!!!

The conference that I attended was the cell phone conference. I learned a lot of information in this conference about the way that students can use their cells phones outside of the classroom to collect information that they can use for inside the classroom and for homework. there are many features online that can be used along with cell phones. There are websites where students can create slide shows from the pictures in their cell phones, make conference calls with many people at one time, and text each other test review questions. A lot of the things that were mentioned about the cell phones, most kids are already doing outside of the classroom. although, the things she mentioned that they will be doing with cell phones in the future are really exciting.

Technology in the classroom

1) Some of the tools that I would need to add this technology to my lesson would be either be a computer for every student in my classroom or access too computers for every student in a computer lab. I would need to download google earth,PowerPoint, Word and Write:outloud into every one of the computers that the students would be using for this lesson. The last item that I would need in the class is a smartboard.

2)I think that adding Technology to this lesson would make the students more excited about what they are doing. The use of the technology would make learning fun, because students would get the experience of working with knew tools that stimulate different learning styles in the students. Adding technology would also give students more of an understanding of where places are on the map in comparison to where the classroom is. By adding these new tool the students will also be learning skills that will help them in their future schooling. The lesson also takes the control from the teacher and puts it in the students hands, which gets the students more involved in the learning process.

3)Some of the challenges that we could have with this technology is that the students won't know how to use PowerPoint. The way that I would overcome this is by taking the students to the computer lab and walking through every step they would need to know in order to put together their presentation. the other issues we might have in the class is not having a smart board, so I would just have the students present on the projector. Lastly, students might have trouble getting their presentations on the smart board, so I would do a training session with the smart board so that all the students know how to use it.

4)This activity covers three NETS which are:

1. Creativity and Innovation b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression.
2. Communication and Collaboration b. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats.

3. Research and Information Fluency b. locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media.

tech lesson 10-16-07.doc

Kidspiration

My first Kidspiration creation. I love the Fourth of July! I really like this software and I could see myself using this in the classroom in many different subjects. I also thought this was very easy for elementary students to navigate. I also really like chalksite I think it would be really easy to use in the classroom so that the students and the parents are always up to date with what is happening in the classroom.

Holiday-kidspiration.rtf

Kidspiration/Inspiration

I really love this article and the things it had to say about this new technology. I can't wait to ply with this in class!!!!When I first started reading the article I was a little concerned because the author made it sound like the program did all of the organizing of ideas at the click of a button. So I was really glad to read towards the end that students still have to organize their own ideas.I really like all of the possibilities that this program has opened for students and for educators as well. I would love to you it aid children with learning disabilities, so that those students can choose which homework outline works better for them. This would be really great for students who (like me) have a really hard time getting started on papers, this is a great way for them to get started and get their ideas down.

Assignment #2

For Teachers:
I chose these websites for teachers because they were a good variety of websites that I would like to use in the future. One of the websites that I'm really looking forward to use is Teacher Vision. This website is set up so that you can search by grade, subject or you can just look up lesson plans. I really like that this website has so many ideas that I could potentially use in the classroom. The other website that I would like to use for fun activities is ABC Teach. This website has different activities that you can print out to do in the classroom like cross-word puzzles and word searches and you can also create your own spelling lists. I could use those items for reviews or as a way of introducing new material.

For Parents:
The sites that I chose for parents were the pretty basic PTA or PTO websites which have a lot of useful information for parents that have a lot of time to get involved in their child's' school. My Favorite websites were Figure This!, and the NEA website. These two sites were my favorites because they don't require full time participation on the parents side. The Figure This! site is a website had contains numerous math challenges that parents can do with their kids together so that the parents who have full time jobs can still get involved with their child's education. I also liked the NEA website because it gives simply, practical ways that parents can get involved in their child's learning.

For Students:
All of the websites that I chose for kids are sites where kids can log in and get help with their homework or play fun games. One of my favorite sites is Yahooligans. This is the site that the Elementary school that I am student teaching at this year used last year for all the children, and the kids loved it. In this site kids can play games, listen to music, and get help with their homework. The other site that I really like which I have used in the past is Eduplace. This is a great website where students can go in and get information about the different topics that they are learning about in school.

Mathematics:
The sites that I chose for this all have to do with math for kids and for teachers. I chose math because it is something that all districts are struggling with, so I wanted to find some fun ways for kids to do math. My two favorite websites that I found are Kid Numbers and Cool Math. Cool Math has one of the greatest math sites for kids that I found. The site is very colorful and easy to navigate, so I think it would really grab kids attention. This site has a lot of math games that kids can play, using addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and others. I also really like the website Kid Numbers because not only does it have games for all of the math basics, but it also walks children through the process of learning how to perform these operations.

Reading and Language Arts:
This is also another area where many schools are struggling. Here I chose sites that are both for teacher's and for students. Many of the websites that I found are fun sites that the kids can crate their own stories or poems at. The two websites that I would probably use the most are The Teacher's Desk and the Writing Den. I really like The Teacher's Desk because it gives a lot ideas about different writing activities that a teacher can use in the classroom to get the students ready for writing a story. The Writing Den is a great resource for students because you can look up all of the different parts of speech, and it also walks students through the process of writing a sentence, paragraph, and essay.

Web 2.0

one of the ways that i would use web 2.0 in the classroom is by having the students create their own names so that they can use them as their name tags for their desks. I would also like to use google earth to show students where it is that they are now and where it is that the countries that they are learning about are at, and what some of the major cities look like that are in those countries. I would also use it to have the students sing up for presentations just like we do in our classroom.

Kickin' Name

Using Smartboard in the classroom

I think the smartboard is one of the greatest inventions I have ever seen in my life. I really like all of the information that you can put on it, and all of the decorations and tricks that you can do with it. I would love to use this tool in the classroom. I would want to use it to team up with another classroom either in a different state or a different country. It would use it to watch history videos or videos of different cultures. It would be really fun to get to a point where I am so confortable with the board that I could teach all of my lessons with the smartboard.

Making strides in Miramichi

I read the article about the city in Canada that was using smartboards to teach children in a completely different way than ever before. During the social studies lesson where the children were studuing China, every student got to come up to the front and write their name on the board so that it could be translated to Chinese. They also teamed up with students in Texas to grow plants so that they could compare how diffident plants grow in different climates. This is a great teaching tool that is going to open up a great amount of possibilities for learning.

Assignment 1 part #5
exel novice, basic....xls

Technology Literacy

1) Technology should be used in education because technology, in our world, is only going to continue to grow. By not having technology or teaching technology in our classrooms we are handicapping our students. Technology can be a very useful tool in our classrooms, and can help the students want to learn due to the fact that they are getting the information while working with a tool they understand. I also think that the same technology can get in the way of learning, because students could just sit there and check their e-mails instead of following along with the class.
2) Some of the technology that today's students use are iPods, DS, cell phones, digital cameras, laptops, Wii, xBox and many more. I think that laptops would be the most useful out of all the things on the list. You could use laptops in the classroom to quiz the kids, or to have them play a review game online.
3) There isn't that much technology in the third grade classroom that I am teaching in. The most high tech item in the classroom is an Elmo, but the schools computer lab did just get new computers. The classroom that I am a part of is at the required conditions amount of technology, according to Technology Use in Classroom Rubric. There isn't much technology in the classroom and there aren't that many ways for the students to make connections to technology. Some of the things that could be added to the classroom in order to make the classroom more technologically friendly are a smartboard, and computers. A smartboard would be a great addition to the classroom, because them the teacher could lead an entire lesson from his computer. They could also get a couple of computers in the classroom so that the students can have more access to the Internet, and they could also take their reading level tests in the classroom during individual reading time.
4) One of the lessons or activities that I would do in my classroom is to pair each child up with a e-mailing buddy so that they could have their own pen pal. Which would help meet the standards of the NETS in b1 and 4 where it says that students need to learn how to e-mail attachments and communicate with other students via e-mail. In this project the students would be required to send at least one attachment to their pen pal, whether it be a letter or a picture of their dog. Another project that I would love to do is have the students make time lines of individuals who have impacted history, but instead of having then do it on a poster I would have them make a slide show; which would meet NETS standard 5c. The last project that I would like to do to meet NETS standard 3b is to assign each student a different math problem that they have to do on paper, bring in a manipulative, and make a chart or picture for on a Word document.

Webpages!!!!!

Today I had a lot of fun creating my website because it was really easy and it reminded me of the day that I first made my Myspace. I thought it was a lot more simple to do on the Google website, than it was when we were doing it on Smartboard.
http://davelover2.googlepages.com/home

Carnation Elementary Website

I think that the school website has a great layout, although visually it's kind of plain and boring. One thing I did noticed that I think could be improved is that there is no link or button to take you back to the schools Homepage from many of the links that are on the Homepage. I did like that the website had a lot of information for parents about the PTSA. Another thing that I really liked about the site is that they had a connection to the Riverview Distric. They also had a lot of pictures of the kids, which I'm sure the kids love to see themselves on it. I noticed that some of the information on the site was outdated as far back as 2002, so i would like to see a "last updated" sign so that I know I'm getting accurate information. Overall, I think the site is clear and pretty self-explanatory.
http://www.ce.riverview.wednet.edu/new/index.htm

Engage me or Enrage me

The article that I chose to read for class is "Engage me or Enrage me." I really liked this article because it addresses some of the issues that I have been dealing with in children's ministry. Lately we have been dealing with the fact that we just can't get the kids to sit still, but pop in a movie and they sit for two hours. One thing I learned in this article is that the amount of kids that are bored in school is increasing, I guess I just never really thought about it. This article taught me that teachers don't necessarily have to be more high tech or flashy, but they do need to be more creative about the way that they teach the curriculum. Kids are not interested in what has more flashing lights or colors, but they are interested in what challenges their abilities. The most difficult part about this transition (in my opinion) will be that kids are alredy expecting to be bored in class, so initially it may be difficult to engage them.

Teaching Thoughts

I would like to be a teacher because I want to influence young children's lives the same way that previous teacher's influenced mine. I want to excite children about learning, so that in the future learning will not be a chore but an adventure. I want to give young people the opportunity to better their lives through education. In such an unpredictable world I want to empower young people with the ability to take control over at least one area of their lives, their education. Technology plays a great role in education now a day, you can't walk down the street without running into it. It has become a part of the way that students learn. They see it on the smart board, in computer labs, and now they even have Elmo's to replace overheads. Technology can make things in the classroom go a lot more quickly and smoothly (when it works).It would be arrogant of us to think that technology is not going to be a great part of what we will be doing in our classrooms.