Jobs – you never know what the future will hold! I’m very excited to see all the work that I have done in the last 8 years build up into a potential job lead in the next few weeks.
This summer in Galway is coming to an end. It’s quite the bittersweet experience. Part of me wants to continue on with the program and keep coming back and back every summer and part of me wants to be home and finished with the program. Michigan State has done such a wonderful job preparing me in my journey for my Master’s of Arts in Educational Technology that it is quite hard to leave. I have been able to get a good taste of the program because I did some of it on campus, some of it online, and some of it overseas. I do have to say that the overseas program was my best experience, but all my professors challenged me throughout the journey. Every year, I am mentally challenged more and more every year. This year the projects weren’t quite as large, but the professors made you really think about every little detail. This something I loved and hated. However, I’m quite pleased with what I got out of the program. The one thing that I dearly love is that the program always reignites my passion and love for teaching. Every summer I get more and more excited for the upcoming year. I would highly suggest this program to anyone who is interested in educational and technology.
Now, should I carry on my love for this program with the doctoral program?
Choices.
Using Google Docs with iPads:
Introduction
After working with a friend of mine, I have decided that using Google Drive on the iPad as an app works better than using Google Drive as a web-based program. There were many less clicks and movements that we had to do with the app than with the web-based version. I had decided to use Google Drive instead of Evernote because of the collaboration piece that is available. However, the Google Drive App isn’t that smooth yet with iPad. There are some little things that could be changed that would help it out tremendously. I wanted students to be able to create a homework folder, share that folder with me, and then put all their homework into that folder so that I could edit it, give them a score, and allow them to see feedback. This type of collaboration system isn’t available with Evernote and other programs. Besides sharing homework, I wanted to be able to have the students create a portfolio over a three-year period. In that three-year period, they will accumulate their information from US History, World History, and Government/Economics. With this information, they might be able to use it in their life outside of high school.
Day One:
Today, I want my students to create a Gmail account, write down the username and password, and place it into their binders so they don’t forget it. I have considered keeping a file of their usernames and passwords, but I decided not to because of privacy and security issues. I have set up a Google Form to collect email addresses. The Google Form was given to the students using www.tinyurl.com. The only information that I have on the Google Form is text box for their first and last name and then I have another text box for their email address. Google Forms will then save the responses into a Excel-like spreadsheet, which can be exported as a CSV file and then imported into Gmail Contacts. You will have to do this manually because it doesn’t do it automatically for you. In the meantime, I have set up email groups (“US History,” “World History,” “Government/Economics”) in my Gmail where I will place the student email addresses. Gmail will recognize the CSV file if it only has Name and Email at the top of the columns. So, then you export the CSV file, and you can delete all the columns that aren’t Name or Email.
After this, have the students create a homework folder that is only shared with you. This will be the folder where they place all their work where the teacher can view it and edit it. For example, a student could name their document “5-Fisher-Homework.” I had the students put the hour in front of their name because Google Drive sorts file numerically and then alphabetically.
There was a major drawback with creating Gmail accounts. In order to verify that you are a human, you need to put in a cellphone number in. We have BYOD in our district, but not every student has a cellphone with texting. This took us for a loop and set us behind quite a bit. I ask a few students who had texting to go around and help the other students out. Also, there were some issues with the students inputting their email addresses into the Google Form. Usually, they mistyped the email address, which would then not allow me to send them an email to the proper address.
I have realized that this process is going to take some time. I should not have anticipated that all my students will come to the classroom with working email addresses, that they know anything about iPads, and that their understanding of Google Docs would be sufficient enough for them to share documents back and forth. I’m questioning whether or not this is a good idea because of how much time it is taking me to collect student emails.
Day Two:
Some students are having a difficult time with Google Drive. Other students are flying right through it. I would feel the same way if I were in their shoes. With Google Drive, if I share a document to the entire class through email groups, then everyone will be able to edit it. Therefore, you MUST make every document that you want them to edit “View Only.” I made this mistake with one student and they started to type their answers onto the document that everyone else was viewing. Therefore, you must teach the students how to access their shared folder, how to copy a document, how to create a document INSIDE their homework folder, and then to paste the questions that you want them to answer.
I need to create a visual in my class of a step-by-step process that they can use while using Google Docs. I have come up with the following directions for the students that I plan on hanging in the classroom:
Smart phones have obviously hit it off. It doesn’t seem like there is anything left to do to improve the phone. It has everything you already need. Some people have suggested that phone will begin to bend around your wrist or become transparent, but I don’t see that happening. However, wearable technologies are a new emerging markets. We have seen plenty of wearable technologies like Nike’s Fuelband, Jawbone, and other fitness accessories that are geared at tell the user how many calories they have burned or how far they have ran. I am excited to see that some phone companies are taking their smart phone ideas and applying it to watches now. I believe that this will be the newest emerging wearable technology market. It only makes sense. I want to be able to use my phone without having to take it out of my pocket. Apple has recently patented the iWatch. Other companies likes Samsung and Google are in the process of producing their own watch.
With all this talk about the use of stem cell research, I can’t help to be amazed at the ability to now create a functional liver. This is amazing. Scientists can now make organs out of cells. This is like taking mother nature right into your hands. I couldn’t imagine walking through the grocery store and picking up a functional human liver.
“The Japanese team, based at the Okohama City University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan, used iPS cells to make three different cell types that would normally combine in the natural formation of a human liver in a developing embryo – hepatic endoderm cells, mesenchymal stem cells and endothelial cells – and mixed them together to see if they would grow.
They found the cells did grow and began to form three-dimensional structures called “liver buds” – a collection of liver cells with the potential to develop into a full organ.”
Click picture for article.
By the way, I love Huffington Post.
It’s amazing how the words of one person can change your day forever. It’s those little surprises in life that make all your hard work and dedication pay off. You never know what tomorrow will bring. It’s sappy, I know. However, it excites me for what I’ll be experiencing in the next few months.
Please leave your Twitter handles for all of us to follow each other.
Thanks,
Jeff
Educational Technology Reflection Rap
First of all, signing up for this class was a great debate.
Because I couldn’t see myself learning at Michigan State.
Tweet, blog, comment and post it’s on my mind,
So, I decide to reflect with this rhythm and rhyme.
Educational Tech wasn’t a thing of the past.
Our journey is now complete through this six week class.
I think about where I have gone, where I’ve been.
So many tools, ideas, and thoughts my head spin.
T is for tech, P for pedagogy.
C is for content, do you get that homie?
When you plan, you should always ‘member TPACK.
If you do, if will help your kids keep on track.
There is another idea that’s on my mind.
It’s called making lesson that are universally designed.
A concept that makes you like, “Duh, I do that.”
But are you remembering that student in the back?
What do I do if I don’t know an answer now and then?
Hmm, I know. Maybe I should ask my PLN.
Your personal learning networking can help with confusion.
With any problems with tools that you might be usin’.
Waking up so early, always made my eyes tire.
But what really got me pumped were those awesome Quickfires.
I always try to do my best with as much creativity.
Because it’s what the students want with every activity.
The Wicked Problem Project was a real life situation.
Where we could apply technology to our district frustration.
Doesn’t it seem there is a discontent among teachers and students.
Using social networking will really help get them movin.
This has been a really fun class, I must stress.
But nothing as fun as watching Craig during recess.
From day one of my teaching career at Camden-Frontier High School, I have seen myself as an technology leader. Some individuals did not enjoy seeing some new punk coming into their school and showing them new things and telling them to use technology in their classroom. I remember the looks on their faces when I gave my first technology presentation to the entire teaching staff half way through my first year of teaching. As I reflected on my presentation, I thought to myself, “Why are they so upset with me? Why am I getting these “Who cares?” looks?” As I look back on that presentation today, I realized my set of expectations for that group of teachers wasn’t practical. I was asking them to do things that they had never heard of and I was throwing things at them 2039482048 miles an hour. I understood their frustration, but I felt like it was my job to give them as much information possible so they could see a variety of cases where technology does and can work.
However, what once was their frustration has now turned into teachers who are slowly, but surely, using technology in almost every lesson. Teachers now come to me for questions, suggestions, and comments and I absolutely love it. Now, I am even learning from them and stealing their ideas. One teacher in particular, a kindergarden teacher, I believe, made it her goal to never use technology. She was non responsive to any of the technology that I or the other teachers were using. In the last year, she has taken a complete 180 and now has a SMART Board in her classroom (Yes, it might have happened to show up in her room one day without her knowing). Though you will never hear her say, “I love this thing,” the idea that she is using a piece of sophisticated technology is powerful.
So, what must I or any of us do to be technology leaders in our school district?
I think one of the basic ideas is that you must work slowly. I realized that pushing technology onto teachers won’t cut it. They need time. It’s hard for people to break their habits. We need to realize that a habit of 2, 3, 4, or 5-plus years is hard to cut.
Technology leaders must also be able to show cases of success. I can talk all day long about how using Facebook has engaged my students in and outside of the classroom, but if I don’t show any success stories, then it has no value, weight, or pull with the other teachers. Tech. leaders can indirectly show successes of their technology tools through word of mouth. If kids like the technology that you are using in your classroom, they will talk and they will tell other teachers about the fun they are having in your class.
Technology leaders must attempt to keep up with the latest technology. We all know the Web is package full of tools and is constantly being updated. If tech. leaders want to stay up with the rest of the world, they must be able to some how keep up with all those tools, new and old. Tech. leaders can do this by continuing their education and by consistently going to new professional development sessions.
Finally, tech. leaders need to be available. If teachers or students come to you for assistance, then you need to give them your full attention. It’s your job and your role. Regardless if you’re getting paid for it or the issue they have, you need to show each person the same amount of respect as the others.
The social networking powerhouses have went from MySpace to Facebook and now to Twitter. Twitter and Facebook share the same basic principle of letting people connect to others around the world. In terms of the classroom, Twitter offers the education field a lot of different choices. First of all, Twitter allows a teacher to post discussion questions, homework assignments, and to connect better with parents/guardians. A very important aspect of Twitter is the ability to get up-to-date news on the spot. A user can follow NY Times, CNN, Fox News, TIME, and many other news feeds. The new feeds allows students and teachers to keep up with the news that they prefer to read. This also benefits social studies teacher who may teach current events. The only drawback of using Twitter is that you are limited to 140 characters. Some may see this as beneficial, but some may see it as a continual failure of people to write complete sentences. Twitter, like many social networking sites, allows the user to make their profile private, which might be beneficial to most parents. Twitter also offers a Help Center which is useful and beneficial for the newest Twitter user to veteran Twitter users. There is an abundance of self-help resources if users have problems with their Twitter accounts. The categories range from new announcements, profile and account settings, finding and following people, to privacy settings.
This post was used from my SIG Project and was aided with the help of Luke Swanson and Jenny Gough.
A Web 1.0 tool only allows the user to read information off of a screen. A Web 2.0 tool allows the user to actually become interactive with the website. Classroom 2.0 is an amazing resource for Web 2.0 tools. In a sense, it provides a forum and database of Web tools that all teachers could use in the classroom. They break it down into content areas so that all teachers can find information better. At first glance, you will notice that the site provides a blog for teachers or onlookers to view to ask questions or find the hottest Web 2.0 tool. The blog provides a way for people to ask and answer questions that others have. Beside the extensive library for Web 2.0 tools, it itself is a social network. It connects thousands of people throughout the world to discuss which gadgets suit them best in the classroom. Accompanying the forum for teachers and the list of extensive resource gadgets, Classroom 2.0 provides interviews of people specialized in technology. If a teacher wants to continue to learn and become knowledgeable about Web 2.0, Classroom 2.0 provides different meetings and organization who are hosting conferences around the United States. One cannot possibly keep up with the amount of Web 2.0 tools, so this website plus their conferences will help teachers be the lifelong learner that they need and should be.
When looking for resources, I found a lot of resources that didn’t seem put together all to well, that did see too professional. One of the resources that really popped out to me, and one that I have used previous, is PBS for Teachers. PBS is a known educational channel on TV, but there website aims to do a lot for teachers as well. When viewing the site, they have broken down their teacher page into specific content areas so finding information is really easy. When click on the social studies link, I have found plenty of different lesson plans for teachers. The lesson plans are professional and are submitted by users, school districts, and PBS themselves. PBS for Teachers also does a good job of keeping teachers up with new technology tools that they could refer to or download to use in their classroom.
Before any teacher starts to role out their curriculum, it is important to make sure they are hitting the standards set by the State of Michigan. The High School Content Expectations are the high school standards that are set by the State of Michigan. They are the things that the students should know when exiting certain classes. The HSCEs are highly debatable because some people feel it is narrowing the topics that teachers can teach. However, the HSCEs are attempting to make more schools and teacher accountable. The idea is that teachers can just teach what they want that there are certain things that the State is looking for them to teach. Available at the State website, a website that is very poorly put together and not user-friendly, are the content expectations for each general education class. You can find them at this address.
I realize that some teacher aren’t really up on the technology part of education and that they would rather stay right where they are at in their teaching. I have had plenty of arguments with teachers who have refused to embrace technology in their classroom. If that is their philosophy, then that’s fine. However, I would insist that each and every teacher have some sort of webpage for their classes. A class website allows parents and students to have a better understanding of who you are as a teacher. A tool that teachers could use to create their classroom page is Weebly. The best thing about Weebly is that it is oh, so simple. You simply add pages, title the pages, and then add any other type of multimedia tool to those pages. Teachers can post assignments, calendars, a short bio., or create blog posts for students to respond to. Here is a sample Weebly site I create for an online inquiry project.
Of all the products that Google offers, Google Maps is one of Google’s hottest products. It allows the user to see streets, physical features, states, capitals, countries, and many other things. Google Maps is a wonderful tool for ALL teachers to use. One of the biggest areas that our students face on standardized teachers is the ability to read maps and graphs. It seems that students continually struggle in this area. Using Google Maps will not only approach that problem, but will allow them to become familiar with the world in which they live. Google Maps is also available on all smart phones so users can take it with them wherever they want. Google Maps also allows the user to see incoming traffic, map directions, and a first person perspective view of particular areas. Click here to see one of my favorite first person Google Maps places.
Coming in second to Google in the amount of searches on the web is YouTube. What this show teachers is that students crave that visual connection to the content that they are learning about. I am sure everyone is familiar with YouTube and the funny videos that you can find by searching their site, but YouTube is much more than that. What I have found is that students tend to tone out of a video after about 4-5 minutes. We can no longer play extra long videos discussing one simple concept. YouTube offers the perfect solution to that. Housed inside of YouTube are a bunch of short clips that can help teachers connect to the content they are discussing. By using YouTube, teachers can also help approach the various learning styles in their classroom. This is an example that I use in my classroom – Causes of WWI.
Wordle – so many benefits of using this program. First of all, you don’t have to have an account to use this program. You can simply go to their website and create one of these sweet picture of words. Wordle works by allowing the user to input words into a dialog box. The more of the same word that you have in the box, the bigger that word will show in the picture. In the example above, words like teaching, learning, students were enter multiple times. This is the reason that they look so big. Teacher could use Wordle as an introduction exercise activity or an end of the unit exercise where the students tell the teacher which words they would associate with a certain theme. Students could also take their research papers, input them into Wordle, and see which words they use the most. There are many possibilities with this program and the end result looks really good.
There are too many times throughout the week where I have spent time making random groups for small little projects. I get the kids in front of the class by age, height, hair color… etc., and it seems I spend a lot of time doing it. Well, the solution to this problem is Team Maker. Team Maker allows a teacher to input names of students in their classes and it will randomly generate teams based on how many students you want in each team. It is very quick and very easy.
The only problem that I had with this is trying to save all the students for future us. Is there a way to save class names so you don’t have to continually enter the names of your students every time you want to use the program? I suppose that a teacher could keep a word document of the names of students and then copy and paste.
Ahh, I can remember signing up for this class. I was thinking to myself, “Is this really what I want to do? Don’t I know a lot about technology already?” Boy was I wrong, but I am so happy that I have continue my passion for Ed. Tech. at MSU. After coming through on the home stretch, I have realized what little I did know about educational technology. Yes, I have heard a lot about the tools we have used in class, but now how to properly use them in class while always keeping TPACK and UDL in the back of my mind.
One of the biggest growths in this class has my PLN. This is something that I had never heard of before. I suppose that I knew of the concept indirectly, but didn’t really put an educational term with it. Since being in the class, the classmates themselves have really helped me learn and develop my skills as a teacher. There were a lot of times where I need a simple question answered and the students in the class were able to help. The teachers did an amazing job of not giving me one specific answer, rather giving me options that would best suit me. Finally, my PLN has expanded through the Web. Primarily through the use of Twitter, I have developed communication with people around the United States who have a lot of answer to common ed. tech. questions. It’s amazing to post a tweet and receive almost instant feedback from a couple different people. Most importantly, it doesn’t have to be education related. Your PLN could consist of any type of hobby that you have.
Without the help of the students, teachers, and my online family, this class would have been that much more difficult.
I am using the MAET East Lansing Year One as a resource because there are so many different things that a teacher can use. On the right hand side of the site, you’ll see a “Cool Tools” tab. This tab is packed full of Web 2.0 tools that all teachers could use in their routine. The list is only of a few of resources that were covered in the class. Of the tools listed, I would personally suggest Animoto, Prezi, and Wordle. The site might seem very awkward to use, but if someone took the time to go through the site, they could find some really good information. I will always go back to this site as a reference when I head back to my school year.
Also, this site contains student created works. A teacher could use these pieces of work to show students demonstrations of what they are looking for in a project. Another good feature on this site is the main page and the videos the instructors have placed there. There are some good motivational videos that teachers could use to boast the morale of their students. The others are basic educational videos.
According to http://www.edtech.com, MACUL, “helps educators identify sound educational practices related to technology as well as understand the implications of rapid changes in technology.” Another benefit of MACUL is that it annually hosts a conference in either Detroit of Grand Rapids in Michigan. At the conference, there is just about everything that educators interested in technology need to know. The conferences offered are for the basic of users to the more experienced of users. Besides the major MACUL conference, there website also offers smaller conferences for people around the state of Michigan. In short, there purpose is to encourage teachers to user as much technology as possible, but doing it in a meaningful and efficient way.
Usually known for opposing CNN, is FOX News. CNN would be known as the liberal media and FOX would be known as more of the conservative media. I will restate what I said in my CNN post. When I have a class, like my Current Events class, I like to have my kids look at opposing view points. I recommend the students look at a piece of information from a liberal and conservative stand point to see what the major differences are.
FOX News offers similar attractions such as up to date news, Twitter and Facebook feeds, and blogs at the bottom of articles to allow users to interact and comment.
In the morning, before school officially starts, we have a breakfast period that lasts 10 minutes. During this time, I have decided to play Channel One News for the students. If you haven’t watched it before, you need to check it out. The broadcasters are really down to earth and the students can connect with them. Channel One News is a CBS News affiliate.
It is a ten minute program that first introduces a basic overview of the news from the previous day. It usually takes the Nightly News and condenses it down for students to understand. The episodes do a great job of providing visuals such as, pictures and graphs, for the students so they can understand better. The remainder of the time is usually spent on news related media that is relavent to the student’s lives (job searching, job outlooks, recycling, teenager student’s personal testimonies…etc.). The students complain that they do not like it, but if you watch them when the news is on, they are hooked! They can’t take their eyes off of the SMART Board.
What I really enjoy the most is how much they actually remember from the episodes. Also, I enjoy how I can use Channel One as a way to enhance my lectures. If something is on Channel One that I’m covering in a unit, I can always show a 2-3 minute clip to make the lesson more personable and real-life.
I have been blessed to have been given a SMART board. At first, I told the principal, “Look, I don’t need a SMART board. All I need is a projector with Internet access. You might as well give another teacher this because they will need it more than I will.” Well, I am glad that he gave it to me. The options and the ideas that I have have developed by having a SMART board are amazing. It is so interactive that I think it puts everything else to shame. They say the iPad with iTV is the “new” SMART board, but have you tried to write on an iPad? It’s terrible.
Anyway, SMART Exchange is a resource that teachers can use to get SMART Notebook ideas, lesson, and games. I have personally used this site to download review games in my class. For example, the games I use for review are Jeopardy, Family Feud, and a baseball game. The students love it. They can get up and interact with the board while learning and reviewing for tests/quizzes. It also increases competition in the classroom because students battle back and forth to see who can get more points right. In all, having the SMART Board combined with the ideas provided by SMART Exchange creates a positive working environment.
SMART Exchange also offers content specific lessons. However, I do not prefer their lessons because they seem very unorganized and unprofessional. I am obviously biased because PowerPoint runs my classroom.
For teaching Current Events, I always try to have my students look at events from a liberal perspective and a conservative perspective. This opens their eyes to how authors have different takes on different events. It makes them view the article in terms of context. CNN has the tendency to be labeled as “liberal media.” So, reader beware and always consider your source. CNN gives me the opportunity to keep my students with up-to-date information. They always have the most current events and their homepage changes regularly throughout the day. CNN also has a Facebook page and a Twitter handle so users can receive even more quicker updates.
Although the History Channel seems to be getting away from history, this “Day in History,” website provides some really solid information. I started to use this website during my first year of teaching. This website provides important information about what happened on that day in history. Everyday they have some important information that you can relay to your students. It was really fun to see some of the events that happened on that day relate to the information that we were covering in class. The kids would look up at the board and ask questions relative to the event. This could be used in any class because events in history are related to any content area.
Kathy Shrock is someone I came across during my undergrad at Siena Heights University. I believe she has about anything that you need. She is a well-known for her educational tools, lessons, and ideas. I’m going to look particularly at her social studies page. In short, what Kathy and Discovery Education have did is compile a list of websites that teacher can use for any area of study. Her social studies page is broken down into American History, General History and Social Studies, and World History. I suppose that if you were clueless and couldn’t find the information you were looking for that this website could provide you some basic sites to use.
Kathy’s site isn’t only for teachers, but can be used to support staff, administration, parents, and students. A good, basic resource for anyone to use.
I remember the first time that my brother and I received a computer. It was amazing, although I was very confused as to what I was doing, exactly. The operating system on the computer was Windows something – the kind that had straight up windows. From this moment on, I have grown up online. I have fallen in love with the quick-paced digital society that we now live in. I am amazed at the things that I can do today that people could not do 10 years ago. However, are there some negative consequences of living in this digital world? Do the benefits outweigh the negatives? Sometimes I feel like technology is taking us aware from who we are. Wow, do I have some socially conservative tendencies?
Negatives:
1.) Distractions:
Scenario: You’re at the table with your friend. You’re pouring your heart out about an important topic. Their text message notification goes off. The conversation comes to a one-on-zero. You are now left talking to yourself while your friends nods and says, “Yah, man.”
I do not believe there is anything more irritating than trying to have a conversation with someone on their phone. It is practically impossible. Now, parents have to institute “no phone time” at the dinner table? This seems ridiculous, but I am guilty of this myself.
Teachers are even feeling the pressure. As one video pointed out, “students should have received a 100% if they paid attention for half of the class, but they didn’t because they were so distracted with other things around them.”
As I type this, I have moved from this screen at least 15 times. Distracted by all the tabs open on top of my browser, no?
2.) Socialization Factors:
I’m finding that more and more students are having a hard time communicating verbally with their peers. However, they will type, type, and type some more online. I understand this is a type of socialization, but the ability for some people to have a random conversation with others, I think, is slowly diminishing.
I suppose, as teachers, we can encourage interactions among students to talk with one another about any given topic inside the classroom.
3.) Grammar:
The group who recently did their lesson online might have hinted at this. Students now believe that since the digital world writes in the new “digital language,” then it is okay from them to write like it in class. To rid the classroom of this problem, teachers need to instruct students from the beginning to write with complete sentences and write correctly. If they don’t, there needs to be some type of consequence.
Positives:
1.) World Connectedness
The thing I like the most, something that we saw emerge out of the 1980s, is how much technology can help us connect to the world. To my generation, this seems like a “duh” comment, but sending and receiving information in previous generations took days, week, and months. I enjoy logging on to Twitter, Facebook, or any news site to find the latest information. Most importantly, I can use this information from these sites in my class to make content relavent to current events. The benefit of world connectedness can also help us connect to different people around the world. This is very beneficial for teachers who want to explore new avenues for information.
2.) Speed:
Being able to find a piece of information is very quick. I no longer have to look in an encyclopedia or search through an index to find an answer. I can simply Google the information to find exactly what I’m looking for. I think this point is pretty understood, but searchers need to consider the message of the author. It is not uncommon for people to be content with the first source that they find. Teachers need to make sure that they teach students at a very young age on how to search creditable sources.
3.) Amount of information.
Google, “The United States of America.” Tell me what you see for search results. Do I need to say anymore?
Wrap up:
I have said this many times and I will say it again. We all need to embrace the change. As soon as children come out of the womb, they are being flooded by a world of technology. A major source of their early education as children’s minds are developing is through technology. I do not seeing any laws being passed that will limit technology “consumption.” So, you can early be a part of the revolution or not. You decide.
As a student, I have always been worried about the future of education in terms of online learning. This stems from my own personal preferences toward learning. Personally, I do not enjoy online learning or online classes. I’m an individual who enjoys being in the classroom, having personal contact with one another, and the option to have my questions answered quickly, instead of having to wait for a message or email reply. Although I am huge fan of technology integration in the classroom, I’m not sure how far my love for online learning really goes. I suppose if I want to keep up with everyone else, I will need to become more willing to accept online learning.
Listed here are some strengths and weaknesses of moving to an online program.
Positives:
1.) Pace of Work:
It seems to me that online learning allows a user to work at their own pace. I ask myself, what am I doing with the kids who legitimately finish the assignment in half of the time that it takes the other students? If I were to switch to an online method, those kids could finish the first assignment and move on to the next without having much dead time. If a student needs to go back and reread or rewatch a video, they can do that on their time and not have to hold everyone else up.
However, this could also be a draw back for students who see themselves falling behind to the students who are flying ahead of everyone. Personally, I like being able to work at my own pace so that I don’t have to wait for the entire class to catch up before we move on.
2.) Differentiated Instruction:
When giving speeches about technology integration, this is always one of the concepts that I like to hit hard. When giving students online work to complete, the teacher, if the online lessons are structured correctly, can make lesson plans that hit the different learning styles in the classroom. For example, the students could be listening to a video and reading text while interacting with the keyboard and mouse. In this scenario, the teacher is addressing and meeting all of the various learning styles.
3.) Change of Pace:
Too many times the students do the exact same thing in every classroom. They sit. They listen. They write. Blah. Blah. Blah. By using online learning, you can be the breath of fresh air that these students need. The change of pace will not only make you a more welcomed teacher, but it will give the students a “working break” that they need in the course of their day. Also, online learning does not have to be the entire class period. It could be having the students simply go down to the computer lab for a one-day web inquiry based project where they are answer a question on a worksheet.
Negatives:
1.) Effective Communication:
If I have a question, I need an answer pronto. Through using online learning, it seems that communication is difficult for individuals who want a response ASAP. The ability for a teacher to provide quick feedback to students is crucial. If not, there are many bad scenarios that students will run into (e.g. frustration, doing the assignment incorrectly… etc.). When most of the communication for online learning is through text, students could possibly read the assignment incorrectly and end up having to redo it.
2.) Personal Contact:
There are certain individuals, like myself, who enjoy that one-on-one personal contact with other people and who want to socialize during the learning process. This is important in my class because I encourage individuals to help each other out. I want them to ask questions and learn from other another. Online learning can hinder the ability for students to collaborate effectively. As a student in this class had pointed out, “Let’s chat because this is getting all lost in Twitter.” This means that the students did not enjoy talking about assignments online because communication simply was difficult through a social networking source.
3.) Skill Level:
What I’m finding, even with some of the students in this classroom, is that if you don’t have the computer skills needed to complete the task, then you’re going to have a difficult time with the class/assignment. These basic skills are usually mastered immediately, not a short period of time. Simply teaching someone how to use the basics of the internet is not enough. Students need continual practice.
Application of Universal Design for Learning Principles
Flexibility of Use:
Throughout this lesson, the principle of flexibility of use is apparent. The reason why is because of the different ways in which students can learn and the open-endedness of some of the tasks. First, students are able to learn through a YouTube video which includes the definitions of the three branches of government. If this video isn’t enough, the internet is readily available in front of them to attempt to aid them to find the information through other sources. Finally, if this is not enough, the teacher will then follow up with PowerPoint notes.
Students also are able to create a product how they want it to be created. First, the students are asked to illustrate their definitions. The teacher does not direct them to include this, this, and this, in their drawing, but it is up to the student. Finally, the students are asked to create a video of how they are directly impacted by the three branches of government. Again, this is open-ended and the results of each video will be dramatically different from the rest.
Equitable Use:
Though I believe that equitable use for all students is practically impossible to do, this lesson does offer a few things that will help all students to learn equally. First, there is a Google Doc which allows the students to check off tasks as they go. This will be helpful for all variety of students, not only to the students who struggle with organization. However, the directions in the Google Doc could be a little more specific and the checklists could be broken down into more specific categories.
I would change the lesson after learning after applying UDL by providing the students more links and resources to use. I would also attempt to include a screenshot so that students could go back and remember what I had said when introducing the lesson.
Perceptible Information:
The information in this lesson is being transmitted through various means. First of all, the teacher is the individual who is setting the lesson tone and directing the students through their inquiry-based lesson. They are also there to help out each individual through the process from step one to step three.
The video is also another place for students to gather and learn information. The video, being played in a music type of style, will be beneficial to some and a hindrance to others. Some will catch on to the beat and flow of the song and others will be caught up trying to keep up with the words, while being distracted by the actors at the same time.
The students also have various sources on the internet and in the book to use for references (I would probably include this next time if I had to reformat the lesson). I would probably list various resources for the students to use in case the video was not enough.
They will also be including illustrations. I have a feeling that some of the students, though not prompted to, will be using an image search to find pictures for their definition. As they are finding pictures, they are also indirectly learning more and more about the three branches of government.
Tolerance for Error:
I don’t think this is as apparent in my lesson, but would be apparent in my philosophy toward projects, quizzes, and tests. Throughout my career, I have made it clear to students that my goal is to make them learn, pass, and achieve greatness. My goal is not to let them fail. If they fail, then I fail. For this reason, I always allow students to retake/redo and type of projects, quiz, or test to help their grade. I will also provide feedback to them as to why they received the score that they did. This would be the best example in UDL’s, “Tolerance for Error.”
Simple and Intuitive:
This lesson is simple and to the point. The students have a step by step process to complete the task. It also caters to the learning level of the targeted audience (11th grade students). The KWL chart provided in the beginning is a great way to assess student background knowledge. It is also a great time for the teacher to look over their background knowledge and provide any information that could clear up misconceptions.
The only difficult portion of this assignment would be the video creation and navigation of the Internet. I would be worried that some students would not be able to complete this assignment in a timely fashion because of the technical knowledge needed to complete it. Therefore, next time I do this assignment, I would provide an alternative assignment for students (e.g. a written paragraph).
Low Physical Effort:
I’m not sure this lesson has “low physical effort.” All of this is done on the computer and there aren’t many other avenues, besides a textbook, where students could find the same amount of information as the others will on the internet. I do have a feeling that most students are becoming better at finding information on the internet.
Also, as stated previously, it would be hard for a student with poor motor skills to do this assignment. They would have trouble using the mouse, keyboard, navigating and clicking on links and creating a video would prove difficult.
Size and Space for Approach and Use:
This was not approached in the lesson, but it was approached in earlier lessons. I always give my students a lesson on basic Internet researching. In this, I would show them how to make the screen larger so that they can see the tiny font better. The follow-up PowerPoint is projected on a 6’ screen. Therefore, the students would be able to see the size much better.
Finally, the Google Doc and the KWL chart provide ample space for students to write.
Universal Design for Learning is an approach to teaching that forces teachers to look closely into their lessons to make sure that they are attempting to hit every diverse learning styles in the classroom. As we have progressed through history, we have realized how complex the design of the brain is. Throughout the reading, there were many situations that showed how people do not receive the same amount of stimulation from doing the exact task (e.g. tapping a pencil does not stimulate the same part of everyone’s brain).
So, how does this relate to education? With the progress that has been made, teachers need to realize that they must create multiple ways of showing the exact same concept. I feel like this is something that I’m continually trying to work on. I try to show the notes in text format, followed up with a movie, and then followed up with independent practice where they show me what they have learned (adding skits or plays also helps increase retention). When using UDL, I believe that the retention rate of the students will only increase. It will take more time to plan a lesson, but the outcome will be great. Even if you don’t go through the checklist with every lesson, the least you can do is think about different modes of showing various concepts. Please click picture to take you to the actual educators checklist.
The purpose of the lesson plan recreation was to make us look deeper into our teaching. Instead of being content with simply making some notes, lecturing, and then giving a review sheet, I need to step back and ask myself why am I teacher what I am teaching. I believe that I do this on the regular and encourage the students to question why should they know what I am teaching them. I believe it is important for a social studies teacher to make connections to todays world. The question, “How does this event, whether a US/World history event, impact us today?” This makes the student take it a step further. Also, by continually asking them “Why? Why? Why?” makes them look even further into the question instead of simply recalling facts.
TPACK:
Technology:
There a wide variety of technological uses in this lesson plans. First, the teacher will be demonstrating how to properly go about this lesson by using a SMART board projector. Showing students how to do the lesson will only increase the efficiency of the lesson and lead to less confusion in the future. The lesson is a web-based inquiry project that forces the student to use internet-based tools to find their answers, although they could also be found through a textbook. The students are also asked to find their information through various sources on the internet (e.g. YouTube video, pictures, KWL Chart, and a personalize video). Finally, using of technology is heavily apparent as the Web and its tools are used as a mode of research and creation.
Pedagogy:
There are many different approaches to teaching in this lesson. At first, it starts off as a teacher-centered activity where the teacher acts as a guide to the assignment by simply introducing the topic. The teacher then acts as a guide through the lesson by providing resources and avenues to complete the assignment. After the teacher introduces the lesson, they then act as a helper for the activity. From here, it transforms into a student-centered activity. The student is in charge of opening links, watching videos, finding other resources if needed, and finalizing the rest of the project. The student also is in charge of making sure that they are completing the checklist.
Finally, there is some indirect cooperative learning involved in this lesson as well. It is not uncommon to hear me say, “Help each other find the answer, but do not give them the answer.” Therefore, students during this lesson will be engaged with the research part of the lesson and also engaged with what the other students are doing. As they talk to other students, they might receive better ideas of how to find resources or to compile a better video at the end.
In the end, the lesson continues its student-centered model as the students begin to talk about what they learn and show their videos to the classroom. As the students finish up their videos, is becomes teacher-centered as the teacher again acts as a guide of knowledge giving the students a PowerPoint with notes, pictures, and videos to wrap up the learning throughout the project/lesson.
Content:
The content of this lesson is a United States Government class that would be taught at the beginning of the year as the teacher is introducing basic concepts to the students. This lesson also helps approach the High School Content Expectations sat by the State of Michigan. They are: Analyze the purposes, organization, functions, and processes of the legislative branch as enumerated in Article I of the Constitution. Analyze the purposes, organization, functions, and processes of the executive branch as enumerated in Article II of the Constitution. Analyze the purposes, organization, functions, and processes of the judicial branch as enumerated in Article III of the Constitution.
This lesson does not have to only apply to high school government. It could apply to any class discussion basic civic/government topics.
SAMR:
Modification: When looking at modifcation, a teacher needs to ask the question, “Does the modification enhance the lesson?” (See Citation) In this class, there are a couple of technological devices that enhance the learning for the student. First, the YouTube video, for some and most students, is a wonderful representation for learning. It’s different. It’s a change. Instead of reading a boring textbook, the student is learning through a song. How wonderful! Having the students create their own video is another modification of this lesson. The teacher could have simply had them write a couple paragraphs describing how they are directly impacted by the branches of government, but the video allows them to be creative and allows them to explore new means of learning.
Redefinition: When I think of this, I think what was possible now that wasn’t possible before the 90s. Wow, there is so much that has redefined what once wasn’t previously possible. For example, this assignment could have had the students read text, draw pictures of their definitions, read the paper and find out how their lives have been directly impacted, but that is boring. Most of this lesson has redefined teaching. Students would not have been able to get on YouTube, watch a rap video, and find the definitions for the branches of government. Students would not have been able to fill out a KWL chart online, but would have had to do one on a piece of paper. Finally, I do not believe there would have been any digital video creation class that allowed you to make the assignment on the internet. These changes have only made this lesson that much better.
We explored several websites to determine their hotness. While hotness is in the eye of the beholder, some of the websites were plain unattractive and uninviting. The things that I look for in a website are easily navigability, not too much color, a easy to find search engine, and the ability to find the product quickly. I suppose that I have a lot to put into my website because I have the tendency of things being straight and narrow, black and white, and everything pretty square. I might need to jump outside of the box a little when thinking about others wants. See my “hot or not photos” on the picture below.
There are many different things that come to mind when reading Bender and Gray. The biggest idea/concept that comes to mind is that a teacher must be dynamic. They must be willing to change from day-to-day, hour-to-hour, minute-by-minute. If you refuse to change, you will be left behind.
A teacher must also be willing to hear feed back from students. After a lesson in my classroom, you will occasionally hear me ask, “Well, how do you think that lesson went?” And I encourage their comments whether they are negative or positive. This, in the end, makes me a better teacher. If I consistently think that my teaching is awesome and wonderful, I’m not really going to get anywhere and I won’t be able to grow into a great teacher. In a sense, I’m forming my teaching to cater to the needs of the student, not my needs as a teacher.
A teacher must also be able to admit mistakes. We are human. We make mistakes. And it’s ok. We plan an awesome, kick butt lesson, and then it flops. Oh well, admit your mistakes and move on. There have been many times where I have simply failed at a lesson. I can remember last year I had planned a good lesson discussing the stages of production. I tried to make it as interesting as possible and when I went to present it, the lesson was terrible. I felt like I wasn’t getting the message through to them, but the kids didn’t care. I told them it was terrible. I apologized and we moved on. I highly doubt they will remember their year with me as, “The Day of the Terrible Lesson.”
Teachers must also be thirsty for information. I want to know what other teachers are doing. I want to know what fun, interactive lessons they are planning. I want to know who the students think is the best teacher. When the kids tell me about a great lesson or idea another teacher had, I will look them up personally and ask if I can borrow their idea. I also encourage teachers to steal my ideas. I have come to realize that a few of the younger teachers in the school are a breath of fresh air because of the new innovative, technological type of lessons that we bring.
Finally, and simply stated, we must keep up with current research and information provided to our field. We are and should be life long learners. Look how much the world has progressed since the ’60s. We need to keep up with current research and technology to enhance the learning and effectiveness of our teaching.
This is my WIBP that I have created so far. It is only a rough draft, but it is coming along. There was a lot more work involved in this web-inquiry project than I expected. When I do web-inquiry based project, I don’t usually think of all these different ideas to put into mine. Although it was a lot of work, the directions, goals, and final product are all labeled and specifically stated. I can’t wait to put this to use next year. Please click picture to go to site.
Inquiry based learning is active learning where the teacher provides open-ended questions. The student then researches the questions and comes up with the final product. The teacher simply acts as a guide, whereas the students are in charge of their own product destination.
This was a short assignment that forced students to think about where they are. It was an open-ended assignment and the results were varied greatly. I believe that I have a great imagination and that I can create lessons and ideas that challenge and engage my students. I also believe that I am a visionary in that I’m looking into the future to try to stay ahead of the pack. Also, I do see myself as a role model to my students because I am an individual that is available for personal and academic needs. Finally, I am still growing. I feel like I have accomplished a lot in my life by overcoming many mental obstacles, but there is still a lot that I need to do in my life before I am completely satisfied.
This popplet describes the different ways in which people learn. I have discussed things such as cognition, meta cognition, previous learning, and active learning. However, these are not the only ways in which people learn. Personally, I prefer active learning. Some of the best lessons I remember in high school were the ones where I was up and active in the learning process. Click the picture to see my popplet.
This diagram attempts to list the constraints of using a UDL version of text-to-speech while also listing their affordances. UDL is the universal design for learning. The purpose of it is trying to make sure that all students, regardless of learning ability, are able to equally learn the information. The teacher must then differentiate instruct for those students. The teacher must also acomodate those students who struggle with the particular parts of the assignment (i.e. text-to-speech, providing pictures, shortening reading, larger font… etc).
Text-to-speech:
For me, it was difficult to focus on the monotone type of voice. If it were a human voice, I don’t know if it would have been any better for me. I often found myself wandering to other websites. When I had the actual text, I was able to concentrate on the task better.
I did see some benefits such as the ability for the program to pronounce certain difficult words for the students. You could also change the volume of the program to make sure that you could hear exactly what needed to be said. Some people might also enjoy the multitasking aspect involved with text-to-speech.
The use of a mobile news application is incredibly valuable for the Social Studies classroom. Students will apply this site to various activities throughout the day including; current events, history, geography, social/cultural issues, politics, etc. These sites may be used for research and analyzing sources, or for finding basic information for classroom content. This site will also lead to students becoming positive, globally aware citizens.
Another program that I would like to include into your student’s tool bag of apps is YouTube. I am sure that your student has used YouTube for comedy purpose, but it is more than that. YouTube is the second largest search engine next to Google. What educators have come to understand is that students do not receive the amount of stimulation from reading as they do from videos.
In terms of social studies, YouTube will benefit your student’s education in a couple different ways. First, they are able to watch quick short videos. I believe that there is nothing worse than sitting down in class to watch a 30 minute movie when you can get the point by watching a 3 minute movie. Secondly, watching video will only help retention levels. There have been numerous times in class where students have been able to recall information that they had saw. If I asked them to recall text, it might not be so apparent. Lastly, YouTube offers a lot of current events information. For example, if we wanted to watch the Barack Obama’s Presidential Inauguration, we can easily pull it up and dissect what his plan of action for the country is.
An additional app we suggest is the program Dropbox. This is cloud storage software, that allows you to upload documents or images to a file that can be accessible to people you give permission to. This is a great tool for turning in assignments and saving on paper. Your student could upload his or her assignments or projects to our class’ Dropbox folder, and I can access them to read, grade, and provide feedback, all without using paper! In addition, it works great for group projects and collaboration, because all students in a class can access documents as needed. It is free to download, and has the potential to be a great learning tool.
Another app great app is for the Smithsonian Channel. It is also free, and is a great resource for checking out social studies-related information that is fun and interesting. You can rest easy knowing the material is appropriate for your student but will also allow your child to connect with history in ways that are meaningful for them. These include TV shows, videos, and history facts.
Everyone knows about Facebook and Twitter and how they can reach masses of people throughout the world for simple social pleasure. Yammer does relatively the same thing, but is geared more toward “company collaboration, file sharing, knowledge exchange and team efficiency.” It allows companies to post information and have members see the information easily. So, top executives, bosses, or managers can share information with people working under them to make information sharing easy. Yammer can help executives, sales, IT, human resources and beyond.
The benefits of this tool is that it is accessible through multiple platforms (cellphone, iPad, computer… etc). With Yammer, you don’t need to email information back and forth anymore. The information is all accessible through a website. From the looks of it, if I was running my own business, large or small, I would want to make sure everyone is receiving the information needed.
The only downfall of this tool is that I don’t know how well known it is. The state of the economy needs more organization and tools like this could possibly help out the largest companies to the smallest companies.
After posting, I see that Microsoft bought Yammer. So, I suppose that it is pretty well known.
WikiSpaces is a way for anyone to create a webpage for whatever reasons that they want. In MAET, we have used it to create our Special Interest Groups. It seems to be mostly used for education; however, I have seen it used for other resources as well.
The benefits of this site are that you can house a lot of different information. WikiSpaces enables the user to embed pretty much every file from any type of website. For example, I embedded our YouTube video onto our homepage. Another benefit of this site is that it looks very professional when it is completed.
The biggest downfall of this site is that editing is a pain! There were numerous times when my “saved” information was deleted. I had a lot of trouble trying to make images smaller while maintaining aspect ratio. I also ran into a lot of problems when trying to get things to center, bold, and font changed.
Example:
socialnetworkingmsu.wikispaces.com
Absolutely love Twitter? Good. So do I. However, I find it cumbersome when moving from page-to-page, link-to-link, person-to-person. With Tweetdeck, all of your pains will quickly be taken away. Tweetdeck allows the user to not only follow their own Tweets, their own channels, but any other channel that they want.
The benefits are being able to create columns that allow you to track hashtags or people without leaving your main page. The formatting is in nice neat columns and information is displayed white on black; perfect for the eye to read.
I have not found any downfalls with the program, but sometimes I find it difficult to simply view someone’s page as a full screen mode.
Technology. Education. Design.
TED is an amazing resource for anyone; similar to YouTube, but more sophisticated. There are various categories that people can choose from. The channels range from politics to comedy. So, whatever you’re feeling at the moment, TED has.
TED does a great job of having a variety of videos for people who simply do not want to read text. Another good aspect of TED is that the presenters are professionals. They are not just regular Joe Blows who might not have any idea of what they are talking about. I simply love the highly intellectual individuals and the awesome topics.
The only pitfall I have run into is that sometimes the videos can be very long. You’re very interested in the topic, but you don’t want to spend 20 minutes watching the videos. Another thing is that sometimes the videos are spoken in a very intellectual language. This might make it difficult for some students to understand.
Need that one little thing on the corner of your screen? Yes? Then Snagit!
Snagit is a way for you to crop little portions of your screen and post it to whatever you need to post it to. The benefit is that you can crop a specific portion and do not have to copy an entire screenshot, paste it to Paint, crop it, cut it, and paste it. You can also please all your “snagged” information into some type of word document to make it look really professional.
I have not been able to find any issues with Snagit, but if I used it most, I am sure I could find something. 
There are times as teachers when you wish you could simply record what you’re doing on the screen with your voice a narrative and show it to the students. This way you don’t have to continually repeat yourself and can then direct your students to the video of you giving directions. Jing, a screen capturing program, allows user to do this. After you are done recording, you can save your video right to your computer or save it to an online storage site (www.screencast.com).
Overall, I know that Jing is one of the most popular screen capturing devices. It allows the user to simply capture a particular part of the screen, rather than the entire screen itself. Finally, the clarity
The only downfall of this program is that it sometimes saves files the in a .swf (?). This is an odd file extension and some people, like students in the class, had a difficult viewing the file.
Is the Internet Changing the Way You Think?
(pgs. 1-3, 405-408)
The Bookless Library By Nicholas Carr
“The times they are a changing…” or at least that is what Bob Dylan said. But, are these times really different from any other? Is the technology revolution we are experiencing in schools really that different from any other? Author Nicholas Carr of The Bookless Library believes it is. In his paper he addresses the problems created by the new “digital age.” He explains the issues he has with a school in Massachusetts that has pledged to make its library “bookless”. A school that has changed with the times and believes, as one Boston Globe journalist put it, “when I look at books I see an outdated technology.”(pg. 1) This school has decided to place itself ahead of the curve and move towards changing the medium with which students learn and grow. Carr takes a real issue with this stance on education. He firmly believes that “The medium does matter. It matters greatly. The experience of reading words on a networked computer, whether it’s a PC, an iphone, or a Kindle, is very different from the experience of reading those same words in a book.” (pg. 2) While I agree with Carr, that the medium does matter, I do not take as much issue with a “bookless” library as he does.
I believe that the argument Carr outlines is a fundamental one that has occurred throughout history. There are people that are “fundamentalists,” who believe that change is always negative and causes us to “…lose as much as we gain.” (pg. 3) There are also “progressives,” those who believe in change at all costs. These individuals within society are constantly working to stay ahead of the curve. These people often move too fast and do not foresee the consequences of their actions. I find my identity to be somewhere in between Carr and the Massachusetts school. I firmly believe that we should change and adapt our mediums with the times. However, I recognize moving too fast may cause us to not foresee problems that occur with rapid change.
Bleat for Yourself By Larry Sanger
What problems do new mediums of technology create within society? How has the “digital age” changed the way we process information or behave? Larry Sanger, author of “Bleat for Yourself”, a paper on how technology is changing our minds, believes that we are being changed by “the availability of an ocean of information”(pg. 405). Sanger believes much like Nicholas Carr, that we are being altered by the internet which has us “getting to many messages of information.” (pg. 405) Sanger writes about the issue as a choice, that we as individuals have free will to believe and act as we want. As people we can choose to fall into the trap of being changed into beings that are controlled by the “hive mind” (pg. 406). The hive mind, as Sanger describes, is the internet which allows us not to memorize and rely on this medium for information. This hive mind also causes us to have a lack of focus by the flood of information which is constantly overwhelming us.
While I agree that technology does change the way we think, I disagree that it is a negative. I feel it is important to understand and accept that change happens and is inevitable. We must as free individuals within this society, understand that it is occurring and be aware of its consequences both good and bad.
Technology is changing the way that we process information, think, and behave. But is this age any different than any other? No, change is inevitable. We must embrace it slowly and work to understand that if we focus we do no have to lose anything. We should only have to gain.
Literacy is a concept that encompasses many complex aspects of thinking, reading, and writing. The literacy media comes in many forms and is different for all groups and ages of people as it is put into context of the reader.
I do not know if I am doing enough as a teacher to make sure that my students are becoming as “literate” as they need to. However, this is one of the areas that I feel like I need to improve in. I hope that this class shows me more tools that will help my students become more literate.
I am thinking of literacy from the perspective of a first grade teacher.
I think literacy is very important at this grade level. It will be important to use visual representations for my students to understand. Visuals will help them find meaning and understand of words. In order to help students become more literate, I would have to encourage them to read more and more in and out of school, but mostly in a fun way. I will also have to model how to read properly and demonstrate good techniques of a reader.
A question I have from this viewpoint is: how do I manage to possibly create lesson plans that help out each individual learning style and intelligence level in my classroom focusing primarily on literacy?
E – That literacy is a HUGE concept that is tremendously important.
W – Am I doing enough as a teacher to make sure all my students are literate or furthering their literacy? Do I know enough literary tools?
N – Explore new ways and avenues to make sure my students become literate.
S – Literacy is a concept that encompasses many complex aspects of thinking, reading, and writing. The media comes in many forms and is different for all groups and ages of people as it is put into context of the reader.
Stickies, stickies, stickies…
We had the two technologies Pirate Pad and side walk chalk. We had to use the two technologies to convey a message described in “I Am Realizing How Nice People Can Be.”
We used Pirate Pad to tell the students what their tasks was: to create the TPACK symbol. They were to work together, to help each other, to create the TPACK symbol and then to post pictures on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.195611420567920&type=1
My ideas on the video:
“…students are creating their identity through their Facebook pages…”
Double standard for the word addiction
Producing video games while still maintaining state standards? Sign me up!
What would happen if the president got a tattoo of the weather?
People would…
doubt him
want him fired
ask to see it
be scrutinized by the media
want to know how Florida is looking for the day
ask who the artist was
deem him crazy
want him to become a meterologist
ask to take pictures
know where it was
be hated more by Republicans
copy him
Lesson plan for Technology for Learning
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EIznuF_qiIqTjUu-x4ZArT_8jxGOrNBVB95HJbu1AyQ/edit
This website is to serve as a social community where people can share and come to understand social networking in education. The purpose of SIGSN is to educate administrators, educators, and support staff about the relevancy of using social media inside and outside the classroom to improve education. This site will promote best teacher practices related to social networking. SIGSN will also show teachers how social networking sites can improve student engagement.
Click image below to view site.
I believe that the output of this assignment was great because it convinced me and my group members to finally use social networking in the classroom. We, as a group, have thought about using social networking in the classroom, but our young inexperienced groups member have decided to worry about content knowledge and becoming familiar with the district before we open the social networking doors.
I believe that the project went very smoothly. Each group member was assigned certain tasks and they tackled those tasks with precision and accuracy. My task was mostly to create the webpage, to find a few sources, help annotate sources, and then to put all citations into APA format.
I don’t really have any complaints as far as the assignment went. I had great group members who were determined to do well. I did not particularly like how our group presented in the classroom and there wasn’t much feedback afterward on things to consider or work on.
What was most memorable about the assignment was having the second year students come and ask us questions about our project. I feel that our research really help and guided us in answering the questions that they had proposed to us.
Purpose: To stimulate creativity and re-purposing of a tool. In the end, we want students to be able to re-purpose a web 2.0 tool.
Directions:
Click here to see our video example.
Click link for PowerPoint presentation on Sanger and Carr.
This was our PowerPoint for our reading assignment. In the PowerPoint you will see a brief introduction of the reading, our old vs. new technologies and cultural ideas, and finally the consequences of using technologies and the change from old to new.
Reflection: http://lansingwebquest.weebly.com/
I decided to do a WebQuest because I believe that a WebQuest is a good way for the students to learn information, but in a different setting. They can work at their pace. In a sense, they won’t be feeling pressured to answer questions or to keep up with notes during class. The assignment brings in a lot of different technologies. For the most part, the technologies used in this assignment are pretty basic. If I believed that the technology was a little difficult, I included a video that each student can watch to help them through.
I think this is a great assignment for my content area. First, the biggest part where we see students struggle on the MEAP/MME is on reading graphs and maps. The first part of the project helps address that issue by having the students identify roads, lakes, rivers… etc. Secondly, this is something that can easily be related to them. Most of the students have heard about MSU, the Breslin Center, Spartan Stadium, or the Sparty Statue, but have never had a personal experience with it. This lesson allows them to come to a better personal understanding of this things. I could definitely see my kids, after doing this assignment, going home and saying, “Guess what I learned about MSU today.”
As said early, there are plenty basic technologies in this classroom. I believe that all students enjoy looking at Google Maps. It’s fun. It’s easy. It’s interactive. It lets them see things that they may never see ever in their life. The YouTube videos that I created myself also help make this assignment more personalized. Some students will probably be amazed that I was actually there at those sites. This will only help increase the interest in the assignment. Finally, using the Weebly website was a great way to organize the lesson. Students can easily transition from one part to the next without having to go through a bunch of loop holes.
Bringing in Animoto at the end is a great way to make sure they actually learned something through this process. It tells me that they put a lot of thought into their research or that they simply blew right through it. This is a great way to spur creativity. I left the directions for the Animoto video open because I don’t want to hinder their creativity. It is also a piece of technology that they could use in other classes as a means of presentation.
Finally, by putting all of this together, the students are learning through different, diverse ways. They are learning through maps, videos, and text. This variety of input will only help the retention rate. The lesson is something that I believe most students would be interested in because it’s different. It isn’t me up in front of the class room rambling about some nonsense. The lesson allows the students to be creative and also feed them information through multiple sources. Hopefully, I can have someone use this lesson in their class.
http://classtools.net/widgets/venn_2circle_2/FyDWa.htm
This is my Venn Diagram comparing Common Core Reading Social Studies with 9th grade US History High School Content Expectations. I’m not sure if I did the assignment correctly, but this is my end result.
This is the sticky note board that was created during our lesson on, “How does technology change the way we think?”
It lists both the positive of book libraries and of digital libraries.
http://linoit.com/users/swans133/canvases/Technology%20changes%20thinking%3F%20
Here are some QR codes. Your job is to find out what picture is a lie and which two are truths.
Voki is an online resource that has quite the credential list. It has made the “Top Tool List” for several consecutive years. Voki allows students to create an avatar (an online character) and have that certain avatar speak certain sentences that is inputted by the user. Once they have picked their avatar, the user can change options on the avatar such as voice dialect, wardrobe, hair, and background.
There are many affordances that this site has to offer to the user. First of all, there is a bit of comedy that can be thrown into making your avatar. This stems from the options that are listed for each avatar. If you wanted a male character with a female voice, you can do it. If you want your character on Mars, you can do it. In all, the variety of options makes this website engaging and entertaining.
The site also allows you to input voice to the character in a few different manners. The options that are given to inputting audio are to call in, to type out text, using a microphone and also by uploading a file on your computer. If one option does not work, another one will work for you. I believe one of the funniest voice option is the UK option. Again, the variety of options makes it a great tool to use.
Finally, Voki allows the user different ways of getting the material to wherever they want. The options of embedding and sharing are easily accessible. As I can see, there are about 15 different websites on which you can share your avatar.
There are only a few constraints that I noticed when using the website. First of all, if you have to type your text, then the voice is read in a very computerized fashion. Also, sometimes it doesn’t pronounce the words are you would like.
Here is a sample of my voki:
http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=6347743&height=267&width=200
This assignment focuses on the different ways in which people learning. Certain concepts such as previous learning, cognition, and meta cognition were discussed in the assignment. My group decided to take on the the following statement, “To develop competence in an area of inquiry, students must: (a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge, (b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and (c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application.”
Here is my picture for the Character Project.
My ideas on the video:
“…students are creating their identity through their Facebook pages…”
Double standard for the word addiction
Producing video games while still maintaining state standards? Sign me up!
You might ask yourself, “What is a special interest group?” Click the Google Presentation to find out!
Literacy is a concept that encompasses many complex aspects of thinking, reading, and writing. The media comes in many forms and is different for all groups and ages of people as it is put into context of the reader.
I do not know if I am doing enough as a teacher to make sure that my students are becoming as “literate” as they need to. However, this is one of the areas that I feel like I need to improve in. I hope that this class shows me more tools needed in order to make my students more literate.
I am thinking of literacy from the perspective of a first grade teacher
I think literacy is very important topic at this grade level. It will be important to use visual representations for my students to understand in order from them to figure out what words actually mean. In order to help students become more literate, I would have to encourage them to read more and more in and out of school, but mostly in a fun way. I will also have to model how to read properly and demonstrate good techniques of a reader.
A question I have from this viewpoint is: how do I manage to possibly create lesson plans that help out each individual learning style and intelligence level in my classroom focusing primarily on literacy?
E – That literacy is a HUGE concept that is tremendously important.
W – Am I doing enough as a teacher to make sure all my students are literate or furthering their literacy? Do I know enough literary tools?
N – Explore new ways and avenues to make sure my students become literate.
S – Literacy is a concept that encompasses many complex aspects of thinking, reading, and writing. The media comes in many forms and is different for all groups and ages of people as it is put into context of the reader.
These are some basic ides as to what I think technology is and what the benefits are.
This is my first Prezi presentation that I have ever created. I have heard of Prezi before, but seemed too scattered for me. There are some aspects that I enjoy and are some that I particularly do not enjoy.
This presentation briefly describes my PLN.
This is a part of my PLN that describes a brief overview of who I am as a person. It includes, hobbies and interests, where I teach, what I teach, inspirations and goals for the summer semester.
I believe that one should keep their professional and personal social presences separate on the web. For example, I do not want my students viewing my camping pictures from the summer of 2012 or know that I am “following” President Obama. There is absolutely no need for it; therefore, I create separate pages for my professional life, this includes information that I only want students and possible employers to see, and another social media site for my personal information.
There are a few things that I would like to share with the rest of the world wide web. I have been doing a lot of speaking at universities, high schools, and ISDs about the importance of technology integration. I would like to be able to advertise or market my ability to make great and engaging presentations to them to further help educate others on the information that I know. To do this, I should probably create different social media sites geared for this type of job.
Educator & Life Long Learner::Connect, Collaborate, Create
One of the best teaching blogs that I have ever read! - My Mother
“I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think” - Socrates
Jeffrey Fisher 