Exit Slip 10/29

Yes the template for the A contract clears up stuff about the project.  My only concerns are the amount of work that I still have to do for this class, but I have been taking it week by week and so far it is going good.

Podcast Reflection

 

I put a lot of effort into creating this podcast.  A lot of that effort was used in learning how to use audacity.  I had to google many things about how to use audacity, but I was able to find some helpful sites that guided me through the process.

By Creating a podcast I realized that it is really easy to do once you understand how to use the software.  I'm not entirely sure how I would use this in my future teacher.  Some ideas that I have are to use podcasts for students who can't see easily, I could record directions for an assignment into a podcast for them.  Podcasts could also be used for students to turn in as part of a project they were assigned to do.  I could also put weekly announcements into a podcast and upload onto the class website.  There are probably many more things that I can do with podcasts, I just have to take the time to research it.

Here is the article that I used for my podcast http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/40065842.html

Chapter 1 Reflection-Rethinking Education

"People around the world are taking their education out of school into homes, libraries, Internet cafes, and workplaces, where they can decide what they want to learn, when they want lean, and how they want to learn." (page 3)

The quote above summarizes how far our technology has come and how it has impacted learning.  Teachers are no longer the only ones doing the teaching.  People of all races and ages are teaching each other through the internet in one way or another.  I think that it is important for teachers to realize this, especially when students are allowed to use internet sources on a project.  Teachers need to be aware that students could be finding false information that they get from others over the internet.  So it is very important for teachers to teach their students how to find reliable sources on the internet.  Teachers also need to do their best to keep the students interested in class as students can easily just decide that they aren't going to pay attention and will just look up the answers to their homework on the internet.

"Home computers are almost as popular as microwaves and televisions, and in many homes children lead the way, showing their parents how to use computers for gaming, research, and networking." (page 5-6)

While the quote points out that home computers are very popular in student's homes today, as a teacher you have to remember that not all students will have a computer and they all might not have an internet connection either.  Perhaps it would be a good idea to find out at the beginning of the year who has a computer and an internet connection.  That way the teacher would know ahead of time when it comes to assigning projects who has what resources.  Since children are teaching their parents how to use the computer, there may be some parents who are not comfortable communicating via email with the teacher.  In order to communicate the teacher may have to send a note home or call the parents instead of sending an email.  Just another thing for teachers to remember.

"Teachers who embrace new technologies in their practice are regarded as as mavericks, and are often left to seek out professional and curricular support on their own." (page 6)

I want to be a teacher that uses a couple forms of technology in some way in my classroom.  I also want to grow my knowledge of the different technologies out there.  No teacher should have to find the support on their own, especially one that has never any kind of technology at all.  That is why I want to be a support person in my future school for teachers who need help with using technology in their classrooms.  I want to provide them with the knowledge that I have so that way they can help their students learn in a new way by using this new technology in the classroom.  The quote also means though that I will probably need to do a lot of digging on my own learning how to use a new technology.  I am okay with that and I am usually able to play around with different programs and figure it out on my own.

Credibility of Websites Reflection

Save the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus

The first thing that told me this site was not reliable was the fact that it was talking about an octopus that apparently does not need water to survive and was living in a tree.  When I clicked on other research links from the octopus tree website, the link did not take me to a new website, but instead took me to another part of the website that I was already on.  Also if it was a real website, the octopus would the first part of the web address not the second part.  I also goggled the tree octopus and found out that it was a hoax, so that also explains why the site isn't reliable.

Martin Luther King Jr. - A True Historical Examination

As I started to read what was on the site, I found negative and misleading information about Martin Luther King.  So I then proceeded to look up the domain of the website and found that Stormfront was in charge of the site.  Next I goggled Stormfornt and found that they are a white pride organization who basically created this site as a hate site.  That is how I know the site is not reliable.

All About Explorers

This is also not a reliable site.  One reason is that I read so on the teachers page saying this is used to teach students how to find good sources on the web.  If you take the time to read the biographies about the explorers some of the stuff they say isn't true and wasn't even possible back in the explorers time.  The following quote from the website is an example of this.

“Columbus knew he had to make this idea of sailing, using a western route, more popular. So, he produced and appeared on infomercials which aired four times daily. Finally, the King and Queen of Spain called his toll-free number and agreed to help Columbus.”

First of all there was no TV back in Columbus’s time so there is no way to for there to be infomercials.  Also there were no telephones back then either.

Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division

One thing that told me that this was an unreliable site was that none of the external links took me to a site that talked about Dihydrogen Monoxide; they were just general sites about cancer or acid rain.  I also found out that this was another hoax by goggling it.

Exit Slip 10/22

What items, projects, procedures, and other issues are causing you concern?

The PLC is the only thing causing me concern.  It seems like there is a lot of work involved in it.  It also means that a time needs to be set up on the weekend to complete it.

Screencast Reflection

 

Here is the link to my screen cast: http://screencast.com/t/PtSyU1jvUV

I put a lot of effort into preparing for my screen cast.  I started out by listing things for each part of the SWOT analysis.  I then preceded to type out what I would say.  It took me an hour before I successfully had a screen cast that was ready to be turned in.

Screen casts allow us to see how different websites are used when all of the screen casts are shared.  The pros and cons are also listed in that screen cast so it is very easy to know how to incorporate it into your classroom then.  The screen casts are short which is great for us future teachers to sample each website with a screen cast instead of having to do this research on our own.

Chapter 10 & Epilogue Reflection

After reading the epilogue I think that a lot of classrooms will be mostly digital in the next couple of years. One nice thing about being digital is that it will help the teacher to stay more organized and the teacher will no longer have to take all of those papers home to grade at night. I also think that it will give the teacher more time to do things since he will be able to quickly do things on the computer. I also think that it is great for parents to be more involved with their students school life with technology. Not only can parents get emails about what their child has for homework that night but they can also go online to see examples of student work. Going digital also means that there will no longer be the excuse of the dog ate my homework, but instead the excuse that my Internet didn't work last night.

As a future teacher I would definitely like to create a page for parents to see student work showcased. I think this will cause the students to do better work knowing that theirs could possibly be put up on this page and it also might help parents connect to their child's school life. I look forward to the digital shift as a future teacher and the knew ways of learning that it brings with it. I am going to do my best to bring in as much technology as possible since my students will be able to relate much more than if I used the traditional textbook approach.

Exit Slip 10/15

The thing that I took away from todays class is that it is very important to spend a good amount of time in the pre-production part of the PSA.  In order for the PSA to be successful, all of the pre-production stuff like a script and story board is very important.

"Digital Nation" video Response

This video makes me think that almost everything will be apart of a digital life in the future. Technology is moving very fast and soon students will no longer be printing out assignments, everything will be digital. I also think that it will be very hard for students to connect to something that isn't digital. For example math is easier to write down than if you were to try to type your answers out to a problem. So its possible that students will take less interest in math, as it isn't as digital as other subjects can be and requires you to think more and problem solve with pencil and paper, not a controller or keyboard.

As a future teacher I will have to make sure that I am able to keep the students interest for the whole day of school which can seem extremely long at times. This may mean doing the harder thinking stuff in the morning and planing to do the lessons that involve technology later in the day to help keep the students attention. I will also try to keep my students focused on only one task at a time, since its proven that multitasking doesn't work as it actually slows you down. So perhaps I only give students instruction as we progress through the lesson, instead of giving the directions and the homework at the beginning of the lesson, this should help to keep them on task.

Reading Reflection on Chapters 7 & 9

After reading chapters 7 and 9 I have once again been enlightened about even more programs that you can use in the classroom that are online and free.  Before this reading I was under the influence that Facebook should not be used in the schools in any way.  I like the idea of having a private classroom page, like the one that Jim Meredith created that was mentioned in the book.  I realize that children are going on the internet at young ages these days but I think that a Facebook page would be appropriate for grades 4^th and up.  If the Facebook page is going to be used to discuss different things then you want to make sure that the students are ready for in depth discussions and that is why it would probably be best in 4^th grade and up.  As for being a future teacher I would like to use a Facebook page or some other type of technology as a homework page where students can find out what’s due for the next day and at the same time post questions about homework on the page where I could then answer those questions then.

        Flicker was also part of the reading that I did.  Before reading this I had only heard of flicker, but never really understood what it truly was.  There are so many different things that you can have students do with flicker, the possibilities are endless.  Having students take photos is just another way to get them engaged in their school work, and it’s exciting at the same time.  One thing that I would like to do as a future teacher would be to have a flicker page to document what goes on in the classroom throughout the week and then at the end of the week post photos and call it “Week 2 Review”.  This would allow the parents to see what their son or daughter has done or learned this week.  Some weeks there may be lots of pictures if the class had taken a field trip or done an experiment in science class, while other weeks there may just be highlights of student work that was done.  This would allow parents who are busy a lot to still be involved with their child’s school life.  Taking photos over the weekend and then having students upload them before they come to school on Monday would be a great way to start a discussion of a new topic.  For instance if you were going to start a botany unit in biology, students would be assigned to take photos of different plants and flowers around their house.

        Ning was the last piece of technology that I read about.  I had never heard about Ning before reading this.  The best thing about Ning is that it’s a site that allows you to connect with others who have the same passion that you do.  This allows me as a future educator to capitalize on the subject that my students are really interested in.  Ning will also connect my class page then with professionals in that subject area who are also on Ning.  I think that would be the best thing for students to interact with a professional who is just a passionate as they are about the subject, it may even inspire some of them to choose that profession for their career some day.  I think this would be a great group activity where there would groups of three to five students who all share the same passion.   Each group could have their own Ning page and engage in discussions about their topic and complete different assignments with the use of Ning.