Assignment Reflections:
1) Introduction Video
From this assignment, I learned the importance in introducing yourself and giving a little bit of background about yourself in the classroom. It's important to establish open lines of communication when you're starting with a new class, and introducing yourself to your students and their parents helps for them to relate to you on a basic level. It also helps to know how to speak in a public but not-so-professional setting, and it gave me a heads up about what sort of things I should share with my own class one day. I struggled a little bit with making the video. It made me feel awkward to talk about myself to a camera, and I wasn't really sure what I should say. But that was resolved by the help of the girls that I was working with, and by knowing the basics from the assignment of the teacher. Just getting through it and doing it was the basics of solving the problem. I think that this is going to be a great thing to take back to my classroom. Having the video helps to know how I should carry myself when it comes to being in a less casual environment, and it's a good starter to knowing how to speak up in public. It also gives me an idea of how to conduct introductions in my own classroom. What are some good 30-second points for students to touch on as an ice breaker.
NETS Standards:
1) Inspired students to be creative in talking about themselves and making videos of others.
2) Used technology to develop digital age learning.
3) Using a video to create digital age work by making this a project.
5) Learning from making the video about how to handle introductions in casual settings and comparing that to how you would handle introductions in a professional setting.
2) TED Videos
The TED talks have had an amazing impact on the way that I view education since i've been here at college. With all of the people out there who make education such a negative experience and knowing that there are so many children who are disheartened, unmotivated, or don't want to attend school, it's awesome to know that there are people who can be such positive role models, and it makes me want to be one of those people. I learned a lot from these videos, the most significant being that your attitude can make a world of difference to children. By simply putting in the time or encouraging them to set a higher bar for themselves, you can help children love learning again. I also learned that sometimes letting the kids take the reigns can be very beneficial to their education, and you can always come up with new ideas to inspire learning. The main problem that I encountered with the John Hunter video is not fully understanding how he conducted his project and made it work as elaborately as he did. I'm sure that this problem could be easily resolved by looking it up on the internet or contacting him directly. I plan to take this knowledge with me in to my classroom as use it as inspiration to keep a positive and open mind and always look for new opportunities to get students to interact with one another.
NETS Standards:
3) Modeled digital age learning by watching to the videos and learning from what each person had to say.
5) Using the TED videos to inspire to grow in our professional worlds as leaders.
3) Concept Map
The Concept map really helped me to organize thoughts and ideas in terms of creating a lesson plan. It forced me to think outside the box and come up with new ideas that could be both fun an educational for children. I had to do a lot of looking online to find what would work best with what I was trying to accomplish, but in that I found a lot of great websites that could be very useful in the classroom for various ages of students. I loved seeing the ideas that everyone else came up with and getting to share how we would conduct a lesson in our classroom. I struggled with trying to come up with ideas that would work for the project that I chose, or coming up with the project at all. I didn't realize how much time and effort had to be put in to coming up with a lesson plan for students, especially at the various age ranges and what they are expected to learn under the Common Core State Standards. I found that once I did a bit of research, got opinions from my peers, and changed my ideas or outlook, I was able to come up with something that I felt would satisfy my standard and be fun and engaging for the students. I plan on using this as a good brainstorming idea in my classroom when I finally get to come up with my own lesson plans. The concept map is a good idea for brainstorming and then based on student responses to the activity or material, you can continually brainstorm, adjust and come up with new ideas. Having the concept map is also very useful for sharing. If another teacher needs some help or ideas, it's all in one place for you.
NETS Standards:
1) Inspired creativity by having us create our own projects with our own personal twist on each map and choosing what we were going to "teach".
2) Designed our own projects using technology.
3) Modeled the ability to use technology to create projects.
5) Learned how this project can help us in the professional world.
4) Do Not Track Me
Do Not Track Me was a foreign concept to me before this class. I was completely unaware that different websites had the ability to look through your personal information and figure out what you're interested in as a consumer. It opened my eyes a little bit more to using the internet and its effects on different people. I learned to be careful of what I am googling, and to be aware of what other people or companies could be tracking my online footprints. I struggled with getting the program to work at first. I did not realize that the program does not work with Safari on a Mac and I am still struggling to use firefox as my primary safety program because I am so used to the layout of Safari. I finally got the program to work by downloading firefox as a browser on my computer, and I was shocked by the results of who was tracking me. I hope that I can take this in to the classroom and educate students about online safety and how important it is to be aware that the internet can be used as a great resource for communication, but it can also be used dangerously.
NETS Standards:
4) Promoted digital safety by being aware of where your sources end up.
5) Augmented Reality
When we learned about Augmented Reality, I originally struggled to get a grasp on what exactly the article was discussing. I discovered though that it is being used as a way to get students out of their seats and to bring learning to life. Students have been found to be more interactive with the lesson when they have to participate in placing the pieces of an event back together. Trying to get students motivated is more of a struggle than ever, and more important than ever. I want to do a little bit more research and learn about the use of Augmented Reality in the classroom. It has potential to be a wonderful learning tool that will change the way that teachers are teaching and how students are learning.
NETS Standards:
3) Shows the potential of where learning in the classroom can go and encouraging young teachers to develop these ideas.
5) Can learn from what is being used now and how to use it in the classroom.
6) Voki
I found that Voki can be a fun and entertaining way for students to get involved in the classroom and for parents to keep track of their students' progress. It could be used as an awesome ice breaker for students to create their own character as a way of introducing themselves without the intimidation of standing in front of a classroom of staring eyes. I struggled at first with trying to figure out how the program works and what the benefits and downfalls are to the program. But the more than you work with the program, the better you learn how to use it. I worry that parents may get frustrated or overwhelmed by trying to learn how to use the website, and that students may become distracted by it. However, these problems can be used by sending instructions home with the parents and by closely monitoring the students. I hope that this, among many other tools, will be very useful in my classroom. It's an easy way to relate to younger students and to break them out of their shell and understand them and what they're interested in.
NETS Standards:
1) Inspired student learning and creativity.
2) Using technology to design our own characters and learn how to use them in the classroom.
3) Modeling the ability to use this technology appropriately.
7) Web 2.0 Sites
I learned a lot from my research and from watching the presentations of other students about the Web 2.0 Sites. It's amazing to think about how many learning tools are out there for you to use if you can understand them. There were a lot of great sources for learning and educating, but there were also a lot of sources that may not work so well, or could be a pain in the butt to work with. When I first logged on to my websites, I struggled to gain an understanding of how they worked or what they were used for, and what they COULD be used for. After a while of tinkering and trying to play around with them, I finally felt like I was able to gain enough understanding to explain what my websites could do for my classmates. I feel like a lot of these websites are going to go unnoticed and may not be worth looking at again, but there are many of them that could be incredible useful tools in the classroom when you're struggling to get organized or you need new ideas.
NETS Standards:
1) Demonstrated the idea that there are many different tools for creativity out there to be used to your advantage.
3) Modeled the ability to use technology in the classroom.
5) Came up with our own ideas about how to use these websites professionally in the classroom.
8) Website
My website was a lot of fun to put together. I titled it "Stranger Danger" and wrote it about the effects of cyber bullying on our society and the teenagers that are being targeted. It was a lot of fun to get to put the website together and I learned about how many different sources are available and how to do in depth research on a specific topic. I also learned how serious the effects of cyber bullying are and what signs to look out for. The ability to recognize when a child is being bullied and knowing how to stop it is not only a very important thing to know in your classroom, but it's very important to know in your life for your own children or the children of your peers. I struggled with finding information about cyber bullying and specific events throughout the year that are made to raise awareness and help to put a stop to it. It took a lot of time to get organized and sort the useful information from all of the rest, especially when you're keeping a general audience in mind. I think that the idea of creating your own website can be a very cool and useful project to be able to turn to, but mainly I think it's going to be so important to take what I learned about bullying to my classroom and try to be a strong participant in making sure that it doesn't happen in my classroom.
NETS Standards:
1) Allowed students to be creative and make our own choices about our websites.
2) Engaged in designing the websites on our own and learning from bad choices.
3) Demonstrated the ability to use technology to develop our websites.
4) Taught us to model digital citizenship and safety not only through creating the websites, but from the research about cyber bullying.
5) Learned how to use websites in the classroom.
9) Movie
Our final project of the semester was participating in making our own movies. The movie was a really fun activity and a cool program to get to explore. It operates very similarly to powerpoint, but can be useful in the classroom for various reasons. I struggled with making decisions about what to make the movie about and how to put it together. I wasn't sure which story I wanted to tell without making it take so long. The software was easy enough to use once I made up my mind about what I was going to do. I think this program could be a lot of fun to use to put together video clips that students record for different projects. I remember making a movie after reading the book Macbeth in high school. This could be a great way to combine the clips and make a fun and interesting production to show at the end of a lesson.
NETS Standards:
1) Allowed students to be creative in making our own movies.
2) Designed our own layouts and developed the project on our own.
3) Demonstrated the ability to learn and work with new technology.
5) Learned how to use this in the classroom in order to help your students learn and grow.
Course Reflection:
This class has given me a great opportunity to learn more about new technology and how to use it in the classroom to my best advantage. We have learned not only how to teach students well and keep them engaged, but also how to be good teachers while we're doing that. I know that my weakest point is my time management skills. Trying to learn how to manage time and submit projects on time is something that I will have to work on. There were several times where I was cutting a project very close or almost not being able to turn it in on time because of procrastination or just forgetting. On the other hand, I feel like my ability to work in the classroom and with students in regards to circulating the classroom and having a strong speaking voice is something that I do very well. I have great ideas that I can bring to the table and develop to make great lesson plans, and I care about my students and want the best for them in my classroom. I want them to succeed. I hope that through the next couple of years I will be challenged to having to learn about how to have better time management skills. I know that when I am in the classroom, I still have deadlines to meet. I hope that I can set goals of getting projects started or finished a couple of days before the due date, rather than getting stressed out and doing them the night before or day of. I hope that I can use technology as a huge assistant in my classroom. I think that there are a lot of great websites and ideas out there than can help encourage students to be active and participate in learning. I love the idea of having students act out a movie or using math websites to help them learn to do math in their head. I think there are a lot of great resources for various subject areas that a teacher can use to help their students enjoy learning. I just think that there has to be a good balance between learning with technology and learning with a paper and pencil. I think that using the blog has been a great source for the classroom. It is something that can be used with a variety of ages. It makes submitting assignments, thoughts and feelings easy and convenient for both the students and the teachers. It is a good way to add a personal touch to education while still keeping things organized.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Inspiration Comments
Erika: I like the idea of going to a website and creating your own "wild-thing." This is a great activity for children because they have the opportunity to be creative while they're learning.
Jacqueline: The colors on her tree are vibrant and the illustrations are cute! I love the chalkboards as a note. She has great ideas for how to incorporate common games in to the classroom for learning. I really like the idea of reading in to a recording device so that they can hear themselves read and understand how they sound.
Mary Kathryn: I really like the idea of bringing their personal life to school and allowing them to be creative and expand their imagination, interacting with the bear will help to keep them focused. It's a great idea to have them bring their own "button" from home.
Jennifer: Really great idea to incorporate creativity into research by having them decide what animal they want to be. Great overall theme of "being an animal." Good balance of learning and creativity rather than just doing games.
Amanda: Creative pictures and colors on her tree, a little cluttered. Good idea to write a story incorporating the vocab words into the story.
Jordan: I like the different colors that she used on her concept map. Good way to incorporate history in to a lesson by teaching about previous hurricanes with a hurricane project. Great way to incorporate culinary arts in to your presentation also.
Jonathan: His concept map creativity is awesome! I love that all of the flags on his map are a part of the world war 2 lesson! I really like the matching quiz that he found on NeoK12. Great way to target children's emotions to allow them to emotionally connect to the lesson. Good idea to pretend you're a person in the war and write a paper from their perspective.
Jacqueline: The colors on her tree are vibrant and the illustrations are cute! I love the chalkboards as a note. She has great ideas for how to incorporate common games in to the classroom for learning. I really like the idea of reading in to a recording device so that they can hear themselves read and understand how they sound.
Mary Kathryn: I really like the idea of bringing their personal life to school and allowing them to be creative and expand their imagination, interacting with the bear will help to keep them focused. It's a great idea to have them bring their own "button" from home.
Jennifer: Really great idea to incorporate creativity into research by having them decide what animal they want to be. Great overall theme of "being an animal." Good balance of learning and creativity rather than just doing games.
Amanda: Creative pictures and colors on her tree, a little cluttered. Good idea to write a story incorporating the vocab words into the story.
Jordan: I like the different colors that she used on her concept map. Good way to incorporate history in to a lesson by teaching about previous hurricanes with a hurricane project. Great way to incorporate culinary arts in to your presentation also.
Jonathan: His concept map creativity is awesome! I love that all of the flags on his map are a part of the world war 2 lesson! I really like the matching quiz that he found on NeoK12. Great way to target children's emotions to allow them to emotionally connect to the lesson. Good idea to pretend you're a person in the war and write a paper from their perspective.
A Conversation With A Bad Teacher
Summary: The article discusses the background and an interview with a conversation with a man who worked as a teacher in a South Bronx school in the New York City school district. He describes that his experience with nothing short of disheartening. The principal refused to work with him or be on his side when he was trying to give his students an education experience rather than trying to get good test scores and get them to just graduate. The teacher explains that he wrote a book to try and get the word out that some schools are not treating students the way they should be treated, instead it is just a numbers scam. The idea is that having the book will help to reveal these schools and demand a change.
Opinion: It's so disheartening to read an article like this and know that there really are schools like that out there. Having an education should teach you more than how to do math or what you learn from a specific book, it should teach you how to lead a full and purposeful life, and how your education can take you to new places. Administration should encourage teachers to develop personal relationships with their students and know that the student can go to to them in confidence if there is a serious issue. Schools should provide a positive learning environment that encourages students to stand out rather than to be "just a number or statistic".
Opinion: It's so disheartening to read an article like this and know that there really are schools like that out there. Having an education should teach you more than how to do math or what you learn from a specific book, it should teach you how to lead a full and purposeful life, and how your education can take you to new places. Administration should encourage teachers to develop personal relationships with their students and know that the student can go to to them in confidence if there is a serious issue. Schools should provide a positive learning environment that encourages students to stand out rather than to be "just a number or statistic".
Kids Can't Compute -- And That's A Problem
Summary: This article discusses the restrictions that Post-PC Technology is placing on young adults in our modern day. The author describes that using a computer when they were first becoming popular was much harder and more demanding back then than it is now. Younger generations are considered "Digital Natives" who have no issues when using technology. The author, however, describes that with easy technology comes less of a drive and a desire to learn. Younger generations don't need to know the building blocks of a PC, and do not understand the effects that using certain applications will have on their future. The solution, as confronted by the author, is for managers to watch out for education gaps and train the employees who need it.
Opinion: I can certainly see where the author is coming from with his concern that younger generations do not posses the knowledge that older generations understand about technology. However, as our world and use of technology is evolving, so is the way that we use it. Younger generations are still being taught what we need to know in order to succeed with technology in the real world. The people who are creating this more "user-friendly" technology are doing us a favor. We can put more time in to making a project just right or adjusting it to fit the situation rather than focusing on switching from one application to another. There is still a basic need to understand the way that technology works, but that comes from education from teachers and family members.
Opinion: I can certainly see where the author is coming from with his concern that younger generations do not posses the knowledge that older generations understand about technology. However, as our world and use of technology is evolving, so is the way that we use it. Younger generations are still being taught what we need to know in order to succeed with technology in the real world. The people who are creating this more "user-friendly" technology are doing us a favor. We can put more time in to making a project just right or adjusting it to fit the situation rather than focusing on switching from one application to another. There is still a basic need to understand the way that technology works, but that comes from education from teachers and family members.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Web 2.0 Sites
Website: Mindmeister
Benefits: Can create a free account. Creates concept maps. Can create slideshows with the concept maps and moves from point to point.
Website: Spiderscribe
Benefits: Completely free account. Basically just a concept map. Can insert images, location, calendars and text. Used more for an older audience.
Website: Bubbl.us
Benefits: Concept mapping website.
Website: Lino
Benefits: Can be used as an App. Basically an online bulletin board. Useful for organization with agenda. Can use creatively to organize.
Website: Photobucket
Benefits: Combination of Pinterest and Instagram. Can see what's trending, share pictures and photos, explore common interests with others. Free to upload a certain amount of photos or files.
Website: Quinturiq for kids
Benefits: Search engine for kids. Not very useful, does not provide a lot of information.
Website: DuckDuckGo
Benefits: Helps students to search the internet by using reliable resources. Has privacy settings and don't track for kids. For kids and teens.
Website: GoGooligans
Benefits: search engine for kids and teens.
Website: Padlet
Benefit: Blank wall that the teacher can write a question on, the students can go to the website and answer the question.
Website: Stormboard
Benefit: Create different boards and invite students and other users to get on and answer your questions. Does cost to include photos and videos.
Website: Kidtopia
Benefit: An online database that connects you to different websites based on a subject area. Kid-safe.
*Website: Instagrock
Benefit: Mixture of concept map and a search engine. Sorts searches within a concept map. Provides key facts, websites, videos, photos. Can take quizzes, write in a journal, etc.
Website: Slimekids
Benefit: Search engine directory. Authors page that gives you information about a specific author.
Website: Wikisummarizer
Benefit: Summaries of a specific topic. Can change what an article says. Can do a tree view, concept map view, or keyword cloud. All information comes from wikipedia.
*Website: Glogster
Benefit: Creates online poster boards. Can create timelines, you can add images, video, audio, etc. Can create different assignments.
Website: Audacity
Benefit: Place to record music, speeches, songs. Free to use if you can download it. Could record a song about a specific subject.
Website: Wordpress
Benefit: Allows you to access a lot of blogs. Can pull out key words. Similar to twitter.
Website: Evernote
Benefit: Can make sticky notes and documents, search for key words in documents. Good for note taking.
Website: Compfight
Benefit: Free to download. Search-engine. Works a lot like google images. Better selection of images. Can select an image size that you want.
Website: Diigo
Benefit: Can create a library. Organize and share information.
Website: Blabberize
Benefit: Can cut out the mouth of an image and have it say what you want it to say.
Website: Easelly
Benefit: great for brainstorming, doing concept maps.
Website Animoto
Benefit: Can add videos and pictures. Can add backgrounds and themes to videos.
Website: Bookbuilder
Benefit: Can create books with students based on grade level, language, etc.
Website: Weebly
Benefit: Can create websites. Add picture and sound.
Website: Storyboard Generator
Benefit: Gives personal videos from people who are discussing a topic.
Website: Tagul Clouds
Benefit: Very similar to wordle. Easier and less limited than wordle. Can make the word cloud in to any shape that you want to. Choose different fonts and colors. Free to use.
Website: Edmodo
Benefit: Basically Facebook for teachers. Different categories to ask teachers specific questions. Can share information. Can create a "classroom" for your students and have discussions with them.
Website: Socrative
Benefit: Teachers can use to create quizzes,test, and projects for their students.
Website: Podbean
Benefit: Similar to iTunes podcasting. Can create and play a podcast.
Website: Pixton
Benefit: Make comic book/strips.
Website: iCloud
Benefit: Can connect to your iPhone. Keep files updated online and share documents between your phone, and computer. Different apps can be used and saved to iCloud. Apps are similar to Microsoft office (pages=word, numbers=excel, keynote=PowerPoint.)
Website: Infogr.am
Benefit: Creating charts to show comparisons. Free to use.
Benefits: Can create a free account. Creates concept maps. Can create slideshows with the concept maps and moves from point to point.
Website: Spiderscribe
Benefits: Completely free account. Basically just a concept map. Can insert images, location, calendars and text. Used more for an older audience.
Website: Bubbl.us
Benefits: Concept mapping website.
Website: Lino
Benefits: Can be used as an App. Basically an online bulletin board. Useful for organization with agenda. Can use creatively to organize.
Website: Photobucket
Benefits: Combination of Pinterest and Instagram. Can see what's trending, share pictures and photos, explore common interests with others. Free to upload a certain amount of photos or files.
Website: Quinturiq for kids
Benefits: Search engine for kids. Not very useful, does not provide a lot of information.
Website: DuckDuckGo
Benefits: Helps students to search the internet by using reliable resources. Has privacy settings and don't track for kids. For kids and teens.
Website: GoGooligans
Benefits: search engine for kids and teens.
Website: Padlet
Benefit: Blank wall that the teacher can write a question on, the students can go to the website and answer the question.
Website: Stormboard
Benefit: Create different boards and invite students and other users to get on and answer your questions. Does cost to include photos and videos.
Website: Kidtopia
Benefit: An online database that connects you to different websites based on a subject area. Kid-safe.
*Website: Instagrock
Benefit: Mixture of concept map and a search engine. Sorts searches within a concept map. Provides key facts, websites, videos, photos. Can take quizzes, write in a journal, etc.
Website: Slimekids
Benefit: Search engine directory. Authors page that gives you information about a specific author.
Website: Wikisummarizer
Benefit: Summaries of a specific topic. Can change what an article says. Can do a tree view, concept map view, or keyword cloud. All information comes from wikipedia.
*Website: Glogster
Benefit: Creates online poster boards. Can create timelines, you can add images, video, audio, etc. Can create different assignments.
Website: Audacity
Benefit: Place to record music, speeches, songs. Free to use if you can download it. Could record a song about a specific subject.
Website: Wordpress
Benefit: Allows you to access a lot of blogs. Can pull out key words. Similar to twitter.
Website: Evernote
Benefit: Can make sticky notes and documents, search for key words in documents. Good for note taking.
Website: Compfight
Benefit: Free to download. Search-engine. Works a lot like google images. Better selection of images. Can select an image size that you want.
Website: Diigo
Benefit: Can create a library. Organize and share information.
Website: Blabberize
Benefit: Can cut out the mouth of an image and have it say what you want it to say.
Website: Easelly
Benefit: great for brainstorming, doing concept maps.
Website Animoto
Benefit: Can add videos and pictures. Can add backgrounds and themes to videos.
Website: Bookbuilder
Benefit: Can create books with students based on grade level, language, etc.
Website: Weebly
Benefit: Can create websites. Add picture and sound.
Website: Storyboard Generator
Benefit: Gives personal videos from people who are discussing a topic.
Website: Tagul Clouds
Benefit: Very similar to wordle. Easier and less limited than wordle. Can make the word cloud in to any shape that you want to. Choose different fonts and colors. Free to use.
Website: Edmodo
Benefit: Basically Facebook for teachers. Different categories to ask teachers specific questions. Can share information. Can create a "classroom" for your students and have discussions with them.
Website: Socrative
Benefit: Teachers can use to create quizzes,test, and projects for their students.
Website: Podbean
Benefit: Similar to iTunes podcasting. Can create and play a podcast.
Website: Pixton
Benefit: Make comic book/strips.
Website: iCloud
Benefit: Can connect to your iPhone. Keep files updated online and share documents between your phone, and computer. Different apps can be used and saved to iCloud. Apps are similar to Microsoft office (pages=word, numbers=excel, keynote=PowerPoint.)
Website: Infogr.am
Benefit: Creating charts to show comparisons. Free to use.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Evolving Classroom Education
Summary:
This article describes three examples of a shift of technology that is coming around in classrooms. The first being "BYOD" or "Bring your own device." The author describes that this provides a great benefit to students and schools alike because the students already have the technology, and the schools do not have to spend the money on it. A downfall to this being that some students cannot afford the technology. The second shift is to use "Natural user interfaces." Examples of this is the nintendo wii, and Xbox kinect. The potential of these devices is not described by the author, but the author describes enthusiasm that the ideas will four in throughout the next five years. The last shift is towards "Personal Learning Environments." This idea is centered in that students will essentially create their own future learning success. There are not a lot of details to this idea.
Opinion:
Call me old-school, but the shift to technology in Elementary Schools is happening way too fast, and is not the best of all ideas. It is overwhelming. The use of technology with ideas such as BYOD limits students who are not able to bring/afford devices, and sets them apart from other students. This is a greater limitation to their success in life over the "limitation" of just using a pen and paper. In addition to this, the use of technology may be fun, and it may provide many new resources for students, but this is leading students down a road to limiting physical social interaction. There are so many 4 and 5 year olds who cry at the idea of having to run around on a playground with other students, they would much rather sit inside and play on their iPad. I think using technology is a great idea, but we need to pull in the reigns, take a step back, take a breath, and evaluate the positives and negatives to throwing down so much technology at once.
This article describes three examples of a shift of technology that is coming around in classrooms. The first being "BYOD" or "Bring your own device." The author describes that this provides a great benefit to students and schools alike because the students already have the technology, and the schools do not have to spend the money on it. A downfall to this being that some students cannot afford the technology. The second shift is to use "Natural user interfaces." Examples of this is the nintendo wii, and Xbox kinect. The potential of these devices is not described by the author, but the author describes enthusiasm that the ideas will four in throughout the next five years. The last shift is towards "Personal Learning Environments." This idea is centered in that students will essentially create their own future learning success. There are not a lot of details to this idea.
Opinion:
Call me old-school, but the shift to technology in Elementary Schools is happening way too fast, and is not the best of all ideas. It is overwhelming. The use of technology with ideas such as BYOD limits students who are not able to bring/afford devices, and sets them apart from other students. This is a greater limitation to their success in life over the "limitation" of just using a pen and paper. In addition to this, the use of technology may be fun, and it may provide many new resources for students, but this is leading students down a road to limiting physical social interaction. There are so many 4 and 5 year olds who cry at the idea of having to run around on a playground with other students, they would much rather sit inside and play on their iPad. I think using technology is a great idea, but we need to pull in the reigns, take a step back, take a breath, and evaluate the positives and negatives to throwing down so much technology at once.
Common Core in Action
Summary:
The article discusses the experiences of two science teachers, relating to them dealing with literacy in the Common Core for the first time. The first teacher describes that she had never had to implement literacy in her classes, and she was not used to it. It took her a lot of time, and working with others before she felt that she had a good grasp on what she would be doing in her classroom. The other teacher describes a similar experience. Both teachers discuss the activities and resources that they use in order to merge their teaching with Common Core and literacy in the classroom. The article ends with advice to both teachers to take things in small steps rather than leaps and bounds, and set goals for what you want to achieve in your classroom by the end of the year.
Opinion:
First, Science is already a had subject in my opinion. Not only to learn, but definitely to teach. Trying to throw the Common Core State Standards in to the mix seems a bit overwhelming. I was happy to read that these teachers were able to grasp the concepts with more ease (although it took time) rather than struggling through their teaching. I think that their parting advice at the end of the article is extremely helpful and will benefit many new, and current teachers who are struggling to incorporate the Common Core in to their classroom.
The article discusses the experiences of two science teachers, relating to them dealing with literacy in the Common Core for the first time. The first teacher describes that she had never had to implement literacy in her classes, and she was not used to it. It took her a lot of time, and working with others before she felt that she had a good grasp on what she would be doing in her classroom. The other teacher describes a similar experience. Both teachers discuss the activities and resources that they use in order to merge their teaching with Common Core and literacy in the classroom. The article ends with advice to both teachers to take things in small steps rather than leaps and bounds, and set goals for what you want to achieve in your classroom by the end of the year.
Opinion:
First, Science is already a had subject in my opinion. Not only to learn, but definitely to teach. Trying to throw the Common Core State Standards in to the mix seems a bit overwhelming. I was happy to read that these teachers were able to grasp the concepts with more ease (although it took time) rather than struggling through their teaching. I think that their parting advice at the end of the article is extremely helpful and will benefit many new, and current teachers who are struggling to incorporate the Common Core in to their classroom.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Cyber Bullying
Throughout the decades, everyone has heard of bullying. It has become a serious issue in our culture today, and a lot of people are working hard to make sure that upcoming generations are educated about the seriousness of bullying. This is wonderful, but a new kind of bullying has come to light in the last decade or so, cyber-bullying. In our culture today, technology has become more than just a convenience or something we CAN use, it's become something that we MUST use. Especially young adults who are growing up in a time where they don't know a world without a smartphone in their hand at every waking moment. In addition to the common use of cellular devices and laptops, social media is playing a huge and important role in the lives of children. They are beginning to sign up for Facebook accounts and use twitter much younger than website developers have anticipated. Due to this, they do not understand how to use social media properly, and they do not understand the impact that their cyber actions are having on others. Bullying is never a good thing, but in the past it had to be conducted face-to-face and it took a strong person to hurt another, now it has become so easy for anyone to hide behind the words on a computer screen, and torment others without having to recognize facial expressions or the full impact of their actions. Now is the time to rise up and educate even more the importance of treating others the way you want to be treated, and how your actions can affect others. It is important to teach students how to use social media and the cyber world in an appropriate way, and it is important to show students the impact that ANY kind of bullying has had on others. Parents, teachers, friends, and family need to speak up and talk to their kids.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Augmented reality snags a coveted spot in classrooms
Summary:
This article explores the world of technology as a new and exciting way for students to learn and be connected. Augmented reality is a program that can bring learning to life through the use of a phone or tablet device. Students can feel like they are living what they're learning, and it is quickly being moved in to classrooms. One teacher describes how he has used the new technology to teach students about different periods of war, by breaking parts up and having them piece them together in order. Students are getting out of their seats and becoming more interested in learning with this new technology.
Opinion:
I think that we need to be careful about how much emphasis on technology we put in to the hands of students. The idea of augmented reality is a wonderful one, I think that students will be more interested in learning with something like this, but it will only benefit them in moderation. When you use a kind of technology too much, it becomes mundane and students become uninterested. We as a cultured have learned to always look for new things in technology and explore possibilities. The important thing is that we do not forget the art of writing with a pen and pencil, and taking students on field trips.
This article explores the world of technology as a new and exciting way for students to learn and be connected. Augmented reality is a program that can bring learning to life through the use of a phone or tablet device. Students can feel like they are living what they're learning, and it is quickly being moved in to classrooms. One teacher describes how he has used the new technology to teach students about different periods of war, by breaking parts up and having them piece them together in order. Students are getting out of their seats and becoming more interested in learning with this new technology.
Opinion:
I think that we need to be careful about how much emphasis on technology we put in to the hands of students. The idea of augmented reality is a wonderful one, I think that students will be more interested in learning with something like this, but it will only benefit them in moderation. When you use a kind of technology too much, it becomes mundane and students become uninterested. We as a cultured have learned to always look for new things in technology and explore possibilities. The important thing is that we do not forget the art of writing with a pen and pencil, and taking students on field trips.
Five Essentials to Create Connected Students
Summary:
The article covers what most are thinking these days, students have a lot of technology at their hands. The article discusses the need for educators to take a step up and educate their students on how to use technology properly. The author says, "Otherwise, we're handing them the keys to the car without teaching them how to drive." The use of blogs, Facebook, twitter, and texting can be beneficial in classrooms and can help students feel connected, but it is worthless unless they are taught how to use it properly. The author discusses five essentials for well-connected students. 1) Being connected in appropriate ways. 2) Publishing their academic works. 3) Know how to converse on the web. 4) The ability to know when to put down their devices and focus on the real world. 5) Pursuing new things.
Opinion:
I like the point of view where this article came from. I think that most students have way too much technology in their hands today, and they should be further limited. A lot of people have their heads so far in to their phones and computers that they are forgetting how to interact with other people, and this is from a generation that did not grow up with iPhones. Can you imagine what will happen to this upcoming generation if they are not taught how to use the internet and phones properly, and the right time for them? Social interaction is going to become a serious problem. The idea for teachers to educate on proper tactics is a wonderful idea, and one that will definitely benefit this new generation of students.
The article covers what most are thinking these days, students have a lot of technology at their hands. The article discusses the need for educators to take a step up and educate their students on how to use technology properly. The author says, "Otherwise, we're handing them the keys to the car without teaching them how to drive." The use of blogs, Facebook, twitter, and texting can be beneficial in classrooms and can help students feel connected, but it is worthless unless they are taught how to use it properly. The author discusses five essentials for well-connected students. 1) Being connected in appropriate ways. 2) Publishing their academic works. 3) Know how to converse on the web. 4) The ability to know when to put down their devices and focus on the real world. 5) Pursuing new things.
Opinion:
I like the point of view where this article came from. I think that most students have way too much technology in their hands today, and they should be further limited. A lot of people have their heads so far in to their phones and computers that they are forgetting how to interact with other people, and this is from a generation that did not grow up with iPhones. Can you imagine what will happen to this upcoming generation if they are not taught how to use the internet and phones properly, and the right time for them? Social interaction is going to become a serious problem. The idea for teachers to educate on proper tactics is a wonderful idea, and one that will definitely benefit this new generation of students.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Why Tough Teachers Get Good Results
Summary:
The article, "Why Tough Teachers Get Good Results" by Joanne Lipman describes the idea of bringing back the "old school" way of teaching as a means to motivate students in schools today. She uses a teacher from her past, who has since passed away, whose biggest compliment to his students was "Not bad." She and her peers feel that his methods, while frowned upon in today's society, were extremely successful in the education of his students. Lipman believes that her teacher taught students how to work harder when you're not doing well enough, rather than coddling students and complimenting them to strengthen self esteem. In fact, the author describes different studies which have found that compliments are beginning to make students soft, and not as strong or able to handle difficult situations when they are confronted by them.
Opinion:
While reading this article, I could not help but think back to the TED talk which featured Rita Pierson, a teacher who used positive reinforcement and an optimist view on life to motivate her students to keep trying and do well. While I do not agree completely with the article, I agree with some points. I think there is a healthy balance between being tough on your students and being positive to let them know what they're doing right. When I was going through school, i've found that the teachers I most looked up to were the ones who motivated me in a positive way. Every other teacher who was "tough" on me, has set a negative memory of themselves for me. When teachers can relate to their students, students will succeed. There is no need to coddle students or compliment every single accomplishment, but sometimes that is mostly what a student needs. I like the difference that the author pointed out between telling a student that they are "smart" and telling them that they are a "hard worker." While the statements are similar, each makes a completely different impact on students and how they carry themselves in to their futures. There is a balance, it's just a means of finding it.
The article, "Why Tough Teachers Get Good Results" by Joanne Lipman describes the idea of bringing back the "old school" way of teaching as a means to motivate students in schools today. She uses a teacher from her past, who has since passed away, whose biggest compliment to his students was "Not bad." She and her peers feel that his methods, while frowned upon in today's society, were extremely successful in the education of his students. Lipman believes that her teacher taught students how to work harder when you're not doing well enough, rather than coddling students and complimenting them to strengthen self esteem. In fact, the author describes different studies which have found that compliments are beginning to make students soft, and not as strong or able to handle difficult situations when they are confronted by them.
Opinion:
While reading this article, I could not help but think back to the TED talk which featured Rita Pierson, a teacher who used positive reinforcement and an optimist view on life to motivate her students to keep trying and do well. While I do not agree completely with the article, I agree with some points. I think there is a healthy balance between being tough on your students and being positive to let them know what they're doing right. When I was going through school, i've found that the teachers I most looked up to were the ones who motivated me in a positive way. Every other teacher who was "tough" on me, has set a negative memory of themselves for me. When teachers can relate to their students, students will succeed. There is no need to coddle students or compliment every single accomplishment, but sometimes that is mostly what a student needs. I like the difference that the author pointed out between telling a student that they are "smart" and telling them that they are a "hard worker." While the statements are similar, each makes a completely different impact on students and how they carry themselves in to their futures. There is a balance, it's just a means of finding it.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Do Not Track Plus
Downloading the add-on, "Do Not Track Plus" is a bit of an eyeopener when it comes to seeing who can see what websites you visit while you're on the internet. I began by visiting several well-known websites such as Facebook and Pinterest, and then I moved on to visit smaller websites which I found in google such as wedding dress websites. I found that the more well-known websites got more hits in the tracker (though there were only 3 or 4 on each website) than the less popular websites did. The website where I got the most "hits" was when I clicked on a "best vines" link on Facebook. On this site, I was being tracked by 15 other websites instantaneously. I was surprised to find that google is one of the websites that is tracking what you're doing online, and a little scared that something I had never heard of was tracking me. I was also surprised to find that Facebook is one of the websites that tracks you wherever you go. This can be a little scary when you think about all of the information that these websites may have access to as soon as you click "go".
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Concept Map - Jumanji
Jumanji
Grade 4: Make connections between the text of a
story or drama and a
visual or oral presentation of the
text, identifying where each version reflects specific descriptions and directions in the text.
I. Read the Story
As a class, read Jumanji. When we are finished
reading, we will conduct a classroom discussion.
-What was your favorite part of the book?
-What did you like and dislike about the book and why?
-Who was your favorite character?
We will continue the discussion by asking why certain things happened to
certain characters, and discussing the setting and plot.
A. Read Jumanji as a class.
B. Conduct a classroom discussion about the book.
II. Watch the Movie
As a class, we will take a day or two to watch the movie. During the movie the students will be given a worksheet with specific questions about the movie to help them look for key points and stay focused.
A. Watch Jumanji as a class.
B. Complete a movie-guide worksheet.
III. Worksheet
Students will complete two worksheets to help them identify the similarities and differences between the book and the movie. The worksheet will also include questions about what seemed important to the author based on what he focused in on; and what seemed important to the movie-makers based on what they kept, changed, and emphasized on in the movie.
A. Complete a Venn Diagram to gather thoughts.
B. Complete a worksheet-questionnaire.
IV. Book Review
Students will create their own opinion of the book, and write a book review in a Google document to have it published online. We will view samples of student book reviews as a class and discuss which ones are good reviews, and which are bad reviews. In the book review, students need to discuss the hook, a summary, and whether they would recommend this book to a friend or not, and why. With the assistance of the teacher, students will then create their own blog online, and upload their book review to their blog.
A. Write your own book review.
B. As a class, upload your review to your blog.
V. Act It Out
In small groups, students will pick a number and based on that number, choose their favorite part of the book to act out. In groups, the students will pick a "director" to keep the group calm, not to boss around. As a group, the students will decide who will play which characters, write a script for their part, and pick costumes. When they are ready and have everything together, the students will record their part of the play on a video camera with the help of the teacher. When all of the groups have finished their part, we will have a movie day to watch our movie all together.
A. In small groups, pick your part of the book.
1. Pick characters and parts.
2. Write a script.
3. Pick Costumes.
B. In groups, act out your assigned part of the book.
Monday, September 23, 2013
Safe Practices for Life Online
1) Facebook, Twitter, Match.com
2) Students can face many different consequences by the misuse of social media and social networking. Consequences can range from something like being denied from acceptance to a university or new job, being fired from a job, or being arrested. There are so many stories about people these days who have put a picture on Facebook and have been "shunned" because of it. The things you put on the internet matter, and now more than ever, employers and other people have easy access to personal information.
3)
-Sexting: carrying on a conversation via social media, such as texting or messaging, that can include anything from flirting with another person, to talking about sexual desires and exchanging photographs.
-Cramming: trying to remember a large amount of information within a 48-hour time period before you will need to use the information.
-Cookies: a way for your computer or the internet to remember information that you have submitted to a website previously, such as a user name and/or password.
http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/2007/all_about_cookies.asp
-Trojan Horse: a type of virus that appears to be something useful or from a trusted source, but once it is downloaded can cause damage to your computer, or annoy you in various ways.
http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/2004/virus.asp
-Phishing: attempting or being successful at stealing money from another person using personal information gained from the internet.
-Spyware: commonly known as being the reason behind advertisements on the internet. Usually websites will offer to advertise for a company in exchange for a portion of their profits.
-Rootkit: can be used maliciously or for good. It hides itself or other things such as viruses from being detected by other programs.
http://www.avg.com/ww-en/faq.num-2353
-Zombie: a kind of virus that grants access to a computer hacker without the knowledge of the owner of the computer.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/Z/zombie.html
4) The user names listed are poor choices as user names because they say something about a person that can be looked at as inappropriate or negative. First impressions are key in our society, and people with a username like one on this list will be looked at negatively from the get-go.
5) Someone might harass a person with a username like the ones listed because they insinuate something about the person that can be taken in a wrong way. "FatMama" is an easy target because the person is calling themselves fat and is therefore giving "permission" for others to do the same. "Lookin4Luv" can be taken in a sexual manner by an inappropriate party.
6) All of these user names give personal information that can grant easy-access to personal information to anyone.
-Tom_Evans34: Gives both the first and last name of this person.
-Missy-13: Gives the first name and age of this person.
-AndyKarateKid: Gives the first name and a strong interest of this person.
-ViolinGurl: Gives a personal interest.
-restlinmatch: Gives personal interest.
7)
-i8sushi2: Good name. It doesn't describe any personal information about a person and cannot be taken in an inappropriate way.
-Soccerstar: Bad name. This could potentially give away too much information about this person by describing a love for soccer.
-Puppygirl1234: Good name. Does not describe any personal information.
-KeKe1995: Bad name. This describes both a personal nick name and year of birth.
-Bookworm: Bad name. Can be the basis for being made fun of and being called a "nerd" by fellow classmates.
-2BorNot2b: Good name. Does not give away any personal information.
-Choco-holic: Bad name. Can be taken the wrong way, and can be used as a source of embarrassment.
-CapitlOfens: Bad name. Implies that a person has a disregard for the law or has something against his/her country.
-AmrcanIdol2: Good name. Cannot be taken the wrong way, and does not give personal information.
-BellaIsabella: Bad name. Gives a name and potential nick name.
-DarkAngel666: Bad name. Can be taken the wrong way and give a bad impression of the person, and some people could use this as a source for embarrassment.
-Karla-Love-1996: Bad name. Gives personal information.
-SimpyMe: Good name. Does not give personal information.
-gUn4hiRe: Bad name. Can imply something inappropriate which may offend or scare other people.
-babyfaceLA: Bad name. Can be used as a source for embarrassment.
-Watup?: Bad name. Can offend some people or imply immaturity.
8)
-tmcrim
-kheus
-countrygirl
9) -2
10) Most-Common Reason: others who know personal things about the students guess their password.
Least-Common Reason: Other students see the password as the student enters it on a keyboard.
11)
The video, "Malware Analysis: Drive-By Download" confronts a problem that many people may not be aware of. Especially those who are young and uneducated about all of the issues that can arise from contacting an inappropriate or unapproved website. This video also brings up some concern in my mind about the internet. I was completely unaware that anything like this existed, and I am concerned by the fact that it is so easily undetectable.
How many websites contain this virus? Are the websites aware of the virus? What precautions do popular websites take against this kind of virus or any virus? These are all important questions to consider. Especially when you think about how technology-dependent people are becoming in today's society. Through watching this video, I feel like more people need to be aware of how to protect themselves against threats.
12)
1: Are you protecting your identity? Medium Risk
2: Are you an unwitting accomplice in a crime? Low Risk
3: Authentic or Counterfeit? Low Risk
13)"Ransom-ware purporting to be from the FBI is targeting OSX Mac users"
This article describes a new type of ransom-ware that is beginning to target OSX Mac users. The virus disguises itself as a javascript program and encourages users to run it. When the program is being run, the user will click to a drive-by website that will cause a message to pop up disguised as being from the FBI. It requires that you pay $300.00 in order to get rid of the virus and have access to your computer. Users who pay the money will receive no benefit, in reality, all a person has to do is cose out all of their windows and reset safari.
2) Students can face many different consequences by the misuse of social media and social networking. Consequences can range from something like being denied from acceptance to a university or new job, being fired from a job, or being arrested. There are so many stories about people these days who have put a picture on Facebook and have been "shunned" because of it. The things you put on the internet matter, and now more than ever, employers and other people have easy access to personal information.
3)
-Sexting: carrying on a conversation via social media, such as texting or messaging, that can include anything from flirting with another person, to talking about sexual desires and exchanging photographs.
-Cramming: trying to remember a large amount of information within a 48-hour time period before you will need to use the information.
-Cookies: a way for your computer or the internet to remember information that you have submitted to a website previously, such as a user name and/or password.
http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/2007/all_about_cookies.asp
-Trojan Horse: a type of virus that appears to be something useful or from a trusted source, but once it is downloaded can cause damage to your computer, or annoy you in various ways.
http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/2004/virus.asp
-Phishing: attempting or being successful at stealing money from another person using personal information gained from the internet.
-Spyware: commonly known as being the reason behind advertisements on the internet. Usually websites will offer to advertise for a company in exchange for a portion of their profits.
-Rootkit: can be used maliciously or for good. It hides itself or other things such as viruses from being detected by other programs.
http://www.avg.com/ww-en/faq.num-2353
-Zombie: a kind of virus that grants access to a computer hacker without the knowledge of the owner of the computer.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/Z/zombie.html
4) The user names listed are poor choices as user names because they say something about a person that can be looked at as inappropriate or negative. First impressions are key in our society, and people with a username like one on this list will be looked at negatively from the get-go.
5) Someone might harass a person with a username like the ones listed because they insinuate something about the person that can be taken in a wrong way. "FatMama" is an easy target because the person is calling themselves fat and is therefore giving "permission" for others to do the same. "Lookin4Luv" can be taken in a sexual manner by an inappropriate party.
6) All of these user names give personal information that can grant easy-access to personal information to anyone.
-Tom_Evans34: Gives both the first and last name of this person.
-Missy-13: Gives the first name and age of this person.
-AndyKarateKid: Gives the first name and a strong interest of this person.
-ViolinGurl: Gives a personal interest.
-restlinmatch: Gives personal interest.
7)
-i8sushi2: Good name. It doesn't describe any personal information about a person and cannot be taken in an inappropriate way.
-Soccerstar: Bad name. This could potentially give away too much information about this person by describing a love for soccer.
-Puppygirl1234: Good name. Does not describe any personal information.
-KeKe1995: Bad name. This describes both a personal nick name and year of birth.
-Bookworm: Bad name. Can be the basis for being made fun of and being called a "nerd" by fellow classmates.
-2BorNot2b: Good name. Does not give away any personal information.
-Choco-holic: Bad name. Can be taken the wrong way, and can be used as a source of embarrassment.
-CapitlOfens: Bad name. Implies that a person has a disregard for the law or has something against his/her country.
-AmrcanIdol2: Good name. Cannot be taken the wrong way, and does not give personal information.
-BellaIsabella: Bad name. Gives a name and potential nick name.
-DarkAngel666: Bad name. Can be taken the wrong way and give a bad impression of the person, and some people could use this as a source for embarrassment.
-Karla-Love-1996: Bad name. Gives personal information.
-SimpyMe: Good name. Does not give personal information.
-gUn4hiRe: Bad name. Can imply something inappropriate which may offend or scare other people.
-babyfaceLA: Bad name. Can be used as a source for embarrassment.
-Watup?: Bad name. Can offend some people or imply immaturity.
8)
-tmcrim
-kheus
-countrygirl
9) -2
10) Most-Common Reason: others who know personal things about the students guess their password.
Least-Common Reason: Other students see the password as the student enters it on a keyboard.
11)
The video, "Malware Analysis: Drive-By Download" confronts a problem that many people may not be aware of. Especially those who are young and uneducated about all of the issues that can arise from contacting an inappropriate or unapproved website. This video also brings up some concern in my mind about the internet. I was completely unaware that anything like this existed, and I am concerned by the fact that it is so easily undetectable.
How many websites contain this virus? Are the websites aware of the virus? What precautions do popular websites take against this kind of virus or any virus? These are all important questions to consider. Especially when you think about how technology-dependent people are becoming in today's society. Through watching this video, I feel like more people need to be aware of how to protect themselves against threats.
12)
1: Are you protecting your identity? Medium Risk
2: Are you an unwitting accomplice in a crime? Low Risk
3: Authentic or Counterfeit? Low Risk
13)"Ransom-ware purporting to be from the FBI is targeting OSX Mac users"
This article describes a new type of ransom-ware that is beginning to target OSX Mac users. The virus disguises itself as a javascript program and encourages users to run it. When the program is being run, the user will click to a drive-by website that will cause a message to pop up disguised as being from the FBI. It requires that you pay $300.00 in order to get rid of the virus and have access to your computer. Users who pay the money will receive no benefit, in reality, all a person has to do is cose out all of their windows and reset safari.
The Padagogy Wheel and Bloom's Digital Taxonomy
The Padagogy Wheel, created by Allan Carrington, and Bloom's Digital Taxonomy are going to be excellent resources for teachers who are beginning their careers in the world today. The two resources can be used together to help teachers incorporate the world of technology in to their classrooms and to benefit their students in the best way possible.
Bloom's Digital Taxonomy is a tree of "HOTS" or "Higher Order Thinking Skills" and "LOTS", which are "Lower Order Thinking Skills." This tree shows how teachers can best engage their students in the classroom to help them learn as best that they can. For example, at the top of the list is "creating," this means that students will learn the best when they have the opportunity to learn in a creative way. Teachers can use this in their classrooms by focusing on ways for students to be hands-on and make their own decisions about how they learn. A few examples that come to mind would be: Book Reports, acting out the scene in a book, or doing an art project related to a lesson.
The Pedagogy Wheel is a model of all of the different technological resources than can be used to learn in different ways. A teacher will begin by choosing an overall "goal" for their students, such as evaluate, analyze, apply, remember/understand, and create. The wheel is then sectioned off in five ways and includes activities that teachers can use, and the different applications that can be sources for learning with technology for students.
These are going to be excellent resources for me when I am a teacher because when I am struggling to come up with a lesson plan or in need of a project for my students, I can look for a way to teach that will best benefit my students and different sources of technology that I can use to teach them. There are so many applications today that it is hard to determine which ones will be useful and educational, and which ones are junk. Having this wheel is going to be a benefit to have at my fingertips.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Use Arts Integration to Enhance Common Core
Summary:
Edutopia published an article titled, "Use Arts Integration to Enhance Common Core."
This article discusses the benefits to individually incorporating arts in to the Common Core State Standards, rather than just using what the Common Core is providing to teachers. The author describes that integrating art in to other curriculums in the classroom is essential not only to keep the attention of students in a classroom, but also to help expand the thinking and learning of these students. Not only is it a positive aspect for students, but also for teachers. It makes teaching a lesson so much more fun when the teacher is doing something that he/she enjoys. The article also provides a few ideas on integration of arts in to a lesson, such as "mirroring" in to a math lesson, or using a "call and response" technique to help with memorization in reading or math.
Opinion
The author says, "Almost everyone has one art form (visual art, music, dance or drama) with which they connect and use to make sense of the world." This is essential for students to explore these different areas. For all we know, the next Van Gough or Michelangelo could be sitting in our classrooms, learning under the Common Core State Standards, and could be being deprived of their natural abilities by the absence of arts in a classroom. Some of my favorite lessons when I was a kid, were the ones where I got to do a project and work with my hands. The author uses a wonderful metaphor, "Arts integration allows us to build chefs who make choices - not cooks who merely follow the recipe." As an upcoming teacher, I am going to look for ideas like this which I can use to incorporate arts in to the Common Core, and if the Common Core State Standards allow teachers the freedom to teach HOW they want to (which is what they insist), this shouldn't be a problem at all.
Edutopia published an article titled, "Use Arts Integration to Enhance Common Core."
This article discusses the benefits to individually incorporating arts in to the Common Core State Standards, rather than just using what the Common Core is providing to teachers. The author describes that integrating art in to other curriculums in the classroom is essential not only to keep the attention of students in a classroom, but also to help expand the thinking and learning of these students. Not only is it a positive aspect for students, but also for teachers. It makes teaching a lesson so much more fun when the teacher is doing something that he/she enjoys. The article also provides a few ideas on integration of arts in to a lesson, such as "mirroring" in to a math lesson, or using a "call and response" technique to help with memorization in reading or math.
Opinion
The author says, "Almost everyone has one art form (visual art, music, dance or drama) with which they connect and use to make sense of the world." This is essential for students to explore these different areas. For all we know, the next Van Gough or Michelangelo could be sitting in our classrooms, learning under the Common Core State Standards, and could be being deprived of their natural abilities by the absence of arts in a classroom. Some of my favorite lessons when I was a kid, were the ones where I got to do a project and work with my hands. The author uses a wonderful metaphor, "Arts integration allows us to build chefs who make choices - not cooks who merely follow the recipe." As an upcoming teacher, I am going to look for ideas like this which I can use to incorporate arts in to the Common Core, and if the Common Core State Standards allow teachers the freedom to teach HOW they want to (which is what they insist), this shouldn't be a problem at all.
Friday, September 6, 2013
Common Core State Standards for ELA and literacy
What is the purpose of the college and career readiness standards?
To prepare students in one state for the challenges of schooling in another state with a separate curriculum.
What are the benefits and challenegs of the shift to reading and writing nonfiction texts?
80% of what we read are informational texts. Show that you can do something that is going to be used when you're working (reading and dmaking a response rather than writing about yourself).
Knowing the difference between reliable and unreliable sources.
What are the benefits and challenges of having standards for science, social studies and technical subjects?
One benefit of having standards for other courses is that it will further prepare students for writing and reading informational texts in all other parts of education in life.
To prepare students in one state for the challenges of schooling in another state with a separate curriculum.
What are the benefits and challenegs of the shift to reading and writing nonfiction texts?
80% of what we read are informational texts. Show that you can do something that is going to be used when you're working (reading and dmaking a response rather than writing about yourself).
Knowing the difference between reliable and unreliable sources.
What are the benefits and challenges of having standards for science, social studies and technical subjects?
One benefit of having standards for other courses is that it will further prepare students for writing and reading informational texts in all other parts of education in life.
John Hunter and the World Peace Game
John Hunter engages in a TED talk in 2011 that can change the way educators and other adults see the world when they hear what he has to say. He begins by giving his background story and describing how he ended up where he is today. One focal point being the day he got his first educational job. When he was awarded a job as a teacher for gifted students, he asked his superintendent, 'What do I do?" To which she responded, "What do you want to do?" Hunter describes that this shaped the rest of his career, and he learned to carry with him the things he has learned from his peers; in turn, this has shaped who he has become.
He continues in his discussion by describing that during a class one day, he decided that he no longer wanted to lecture at them, instead he wanted them to be engaged and interact with each other. He created a game called the World Peace Game with a class of his fourth grade students, which has since evolved to something much bigger than he ever anticipated.
What started out as just a clever idea to get his students to interact, has turned in to a way to get them to think. The game involves many elaborate, and politically correct rules. Students own their own country and have a cabinet that works under them. To win the game, the students must solve a set of fifty problems that are intertwined within each other, and come out better off economically than when they started. John Hunter turns the class over to his students once the game has begun. He points out multiple instances where his students have shocked him with compassion and understanding towards each other, their greater goal is to make everyone happy rather than to create more issues and fight. One student quotes something he read in The Art of War by Sun Tzu, "Those who win battles will want to go back in to battle, and those who lose battles will want to go back and win." The young boy goes on to describe that he was shocked to be living through an experience of something that he read. He says that he has won multiple battles, and he wants to go back and win more. War never ends under these circumstances.
John Hunter wraps up his presentation by describing his experience with a specific class. There was only a minute left on the timer for the whole game, and although the students had solved all of the problems, one country was more poor than it had been at the beginning of the game. Hunter felt that he had failed his students and was beating himself down for not finding a way for them to come out on top, the game was going to be lost. Suddenly, one student jumped up and began collaborating with all of the other students, with less than 10 seconds on the clock, he convinced all of the other "countries" to make a donation to the poor country in order for everyone to profit. Without a second thought, everyone agreed and the game was won. John Hunter says that this is not something that he could have planned or taught, it just happened and he could not have been more proud.
This TED talk was such an inspiration to me, and provoked so many thoughts in my mind. How can fourth grade students make sense of and solve the problems of the world, but the leaders of every country struggle with it every day. The mind's of children are so simple and pure, what happens to that purity as we grow up and develop? Where does it go? John Hunter is a prime example of the impact that teachers can have on their students, and how we can teach them to think for themselves, rather than being taught what is necessary to pass state testing. We can make a difference.
He continues in his discussion by describing that during a class one day, he decided that he no longer wanted to lecture at them, instead he wanted them to be engaged and interact with each other. He created a game called the World Peace Game with a class of his fourth grade students, which has since evolved to something much bigger than he ever anticipated.
What started out as just a clever idea to get his students to interact, has turned in to a way to get them to think. The game involves many elaborate, and politically correct rules. Students own their own country and have a cabinet that works under them. To win the game, the students must solve a set of fifty problems that are intertwined within each other, and come out better off economically than when they started. John Hunter turns the class over to his students once the game has begun. He points out multiple instances where his students have shocked him with compassion and understanding towards each other, their greater goal is to make everyone happy rather than to create more issues and fight. One student quotes something he read in The Art of War by Sun Tzu, "Those who win battles will want to go back in to battle, and those who lose battles will want to go back and win." The young boy goes on to describe that he was shocked to be living through an experience of something that he read. He says that he has won multiple battles, and he wants to go back and win more. War never ends under these circumstances.
John Hunter wraps up his presentation by describing his experience with a specific class. There was only a minute left on the timer for the whole game, and although the students had solved all of the problems, one country was more poor than it had been at the beginning of the game. Hunter felt that he had failed his students and was beating himself down for not finding a way for them to come out on top, the game was going to be lost. Suddenly, one student jumped up and began collaborating with all of the other students, with less than 10 seconds on the clock, he convinced all of the other "countries" to make a donation to the poor country in order for everyone to profit. Without a second thought, everyone agreed and the game was won. John Hunter says that this is not something that he could have planned or taught, it just happened and he could not have been more proud.
This TED talk was such an inspiration to me, and provoked so many thoughts in my mind. How can fourth grade students make sense of and solve the problems of the world, but the leaders of every country struggle with it every day. The mind's of children are so simple and pure, what happens to that purity as we grow up and develop? Where does it go? John Hunter is a prime example of the impact that teachers can have on their students, and how we can teach them to think for themselves, rather than being taught what is necessary to pass state testing. We can make a difference.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
"The Biggest Fallacy of the Common Core Standards" response
Summary:
Diane Ravitch, author of "The Biggest Fallacy of the Common Core Standards," discusses her opinion of the new standards in her article on huffingtonpost.com. She uses an easy and straightforward tone to describe all of the obvious, yet not recognized, down sides to the Common Core State Standards. Some of these include the fact that nobody has proven that the CCSS will in fact accomplish what it claims, and that the 45 states that have adopted the Common Core were tempted by federal funds for their schools. She goes on to describe the statistics of students who were able to pass testing under the CCSS, "Only 3.2 percent of English language learners were able to pass the new tests, along with only 5 percent of students with disabilities, and 17 percent of black students." She wraps up her article by pointing out how confused the priorities of the United States are if they think that the CCSS will accomplish anything that it claims to accomplish.
Opinion:
The first thing that came to mind while reading a sentence in this article, "If you listen to the promoters of the Common Core standards, you will hear them say that the Common Core is absolutely necessary to prepare students for careers and college" was that current students of College, and students who have graduated from college and are now successful in their careers, have succeeded without the help of the Common Core State Standards; in fact, the ones who will be teaching students these new standards, have already graduated without them. I have to say, I completely agree with the authors opinion. She is very blunt in what she has to say and describes the Common Core from a point of view that I had not seen until now. Our priorities for our students ARE completely out of line, and the CCSS needs to focus on making schooling more efficient rather than more challenging. Like the author said, these standards will drive students away rather than encourage them to face the challenge of the new testing standards.
Diane Ravitch, author of "The Biggest Fallacy of the Common Core Standards," discusses her opinion of the new standards in her article on huffingtonpost.com. She uses an easy and straightforward tone to describe all of the obvious, yet not recognized, down sides to the Common Core State Standards. Some of these include the fact that nobody has proven that the CCSS will in fact accomplish what it claims, and that the 45 states that have adopted the Common Core were tempted by federal funds for their schools. She goes on to describe the statistics of students who were able to pass testing under the CCSS, "Only 3.2 percent of English language learners were able to pass the new tests, along with only 5 percent of students with disabilities, and 17 percent of black students." She wraps up her article by pointing out how confused the priorities of the United States are if they think that the CCSS will accomplish anything that it claims to accomplish.
Opinion:
The first thing that came to mind while reading a sentence in this article, "If you listen to the promoters of the Common Core standards, you will hear them say that the Common Core is absolutely necessary to prepare students for careers and college" was that current students of College, and students who have graduated from college and are now successful in their careers, have succeeded without the help of the Common Core State Standards; in fact, the ones who will be teaching students these new standards, have already graduated without them. I have to say, I completely agree with the authors opinion. She is very blunt in what she has to say and describes the Common Core from a point of view that I had not seen until now. Our priorities for our students ARE completely out of line, and the CCSS needs to focus on making schooling more efficient rather than more challenging. Like the author said, these standards will drive students away rather than encourage them to face the challenge of the new testing standards.
"The Common Core's fundamental trouble" response
Summary:
The article, "The Common Core's fundamental trouble" by Valerie Strauss covers a lot of information shared by the editors of a magazine called "Rethinking Schools." The article discusses yet another side of the new Common Core State Standards, and a cry for honesty from those who are so quick to implement the new standards. The article compares the new Common Core State Standards to the previous, and at the time "failing," "No Child Left Behind" policy. According to the author, the decade-long NCLB program caused more harm than good, and had standards that were set too high for students to reach the goals set for them. Under these previous standards, many schools fell in to a failing category and any that hadn't reached that point, were well on their way. The author describes that under the new CCSS standards, we are going to push students over the edge. The new standards have expectations that are too high, unreasonable necessities as far as technology, and no consideration from parents, educators or students about the implementation of this program.
Opinion:
I find that with every new article I read about the Common Core State Standards, my opinion changes a little more. Sometimes I find that I am easily swayed by the opinion of others, but all of the new information that is coming to light about the CCSS, both positive and negative, is allowing me to create my own opinion. This article address the previous failing program "No Child Left Behind," which is the program that I was in school with. I never knew very much about the program or it's effects on students until this article. If the NCLB standards were truly causing students to fail, and the CCSS is harder than the previous program, I do not understand why on earth anyone would want to implement it in to our school systems. At the end of the article, the author discusses the problems that occurred while students were used as sample testers for the Common Core State Standards tests, "Students reported feeling overstressed and underprepared - meeting the tests with schlock, anger, tears, and anxiety. Administrators requested guidelines for handling tests students had vomited on." When you're getting feedback like this from students, and you truly want them to succeed, why would you put a program like this in to effect? I am going to have to agree with the author in saying that this is going to cause more children to drop out of school than to meet college and career readiness. The negatives certainly do outweigh the positives.
The article, "The Common Core's fundamental trouble" by Valerie Strauss covers a lot of information shared by the editors of a magazine called "Rethinking Schools." The article discusses yet another side of the new Common Core State Standards, and a cry for honesty from those who are so quick to implement the new standards. The article compares the new Common Core State Standards to the previous, and at the time "failing," "No Child Left Behind" policy. According to the author, the decade-long NCLB program caused more harm than good, and had standards that were set too high for students to reach the goals set for them. Under these previous standards, many schools fell in to a failing category and any that hadn't reached that point, were well on their way. The author describes that under the new CCSS standards, we are going to push students over the edge. The new standards have expectations that are too high, unreasonable necessities as far as technology, and no consideration from parents, educators or students about the implementation of this program.
Opinion:
I find that with every new article I read about the Common Core State Standards, my opinion changes a little more. Sometimes I find that I am easily swayed by the opinion of others, but all of the new information that is coming to light about the CCSS, both positive and negative, is allowing me to create my own opinion. This article address the previous failing program "No Child Left Behind," which is the program that I was in school with. I never knew very much about the program or it's effects on students until this article. If the NCLB standards were truly causing students to fail, and the CCSS is harder than the previous program, I do not understand why on earth anyone would want to implement it in to our school systems. At the end of the article, the author discusses the problems that occurred while students were used as sample testers for the Common Core State Standards tests, "Students reported feeling overstressed and underprepared - meeting the tests with schlock, anger, tears, and anxiety. Administrators requested guidelines for handling tests students had vomited on." When you're getting feedback like this from students, and you truly want them to succeed, why would you put a program like this in to effect? I am going to have to agree with the author in saying that this is going to cause more children to drop out of school than to meet college and career readiness. The negatives certainly do outweigh the positives.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Article Response
Summary:
The article, "How Teachers Are Integrating Tech Common Core" focuses mainly on the idea that the integration of technology in to schools is going to be a great assistant to the integration of the new Common Core State Standards. Technology is becoming increasingly more important as a means of both communication and learning in our world today. The author of this article takes a very positive approach to the use of technology in schools, especially as a way to assist students in learning the things that they are required to know in order to move on in their schooling. For example, the author describes that, "The [students] can define unfamiliar words as they read them or even have the pronunciation of those words spoken to them."
Opinion:
I have had varying opinions when it comes to the Common Core State Standards, but reading this article is swaying me back to the positive side of the CCSS. I agree entirely with the author that the use of technology will be a great advantage to students in the upcoming generations. However, I do think that for each positive thing involved with technology, there is an equally negative factor. It is going to be very important for teachers not only to integrate technology in to learning, but also to teach students how to use technology responsibly. I would worry about students being more involved with games and Facebook during their learning, rather than focusing on their lesson and coming to their full potential. On the other hand, the author's example is only one of many different positive aspects to using technology. Students will have instantaneous information at their fingertips, and they will learn to "survive" when it comes to their learning in the upcoming day in age.
The article, "How Teachers Are Integrating Tech Common Core" focuses mainly on the idea that the integration of technology in to schools is going to be a great assistant to the integration of the new Common Core State Standards. Technology is becoming increasingly more important as a means of both communication and learning in our world today. The author of this article takes a very positive approach to the use of technology in schools, especially as a way to assist students in learning the things that they are required to know in order to move on in their schooling. For example, the author describes that, "The [students] can define unfamiliar words as they read them or even have the pronunciation of those words spoken to them."
Opinion:
I have had varying opinions when it comes to the Common Core State Standards, but reading this article is swaying me back to the positive side of the CCSS. I agree entirely with the author that the use of technology will be a great advantage to students in the upcoming generations. However, I do think that for each positive thing involved with technology, there is an equally negative factor. It is going to be very important for teachers not only to integrate technology in to learning, but also to teach students how to use technology responsibly. I would worry about students being more involved with games and Facebook during their learning, rather than focusing on their lesson and coming to their full potential. On the other hand, the author's example is only one of many different positive aspects to using technology. Students will have instantaneous information at their fingertips, and they will learn to "survive" when it comes to their learning in the upcoming day in age.
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Introduction
Hey Everyone!
My name is Tommi Crimmins. I am from Kodiak, Alaska. I am a junior year Elementary Education major. I can't wait to graduate and begin my career as a teacher. I am not sure what grade I want to teach yet, or where I want to start teaching, but somewhere down the road I would love to go back home to Alaska and take over the beginning photography program at my high school.In my spare time I love to hang out with friends; basically just laugh and have a good time. I love basketball, photography, and a really good book when I have the time to read it.
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