Final BLOG!!

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Week 14

This past week in class we have been finishing up our web quests. I have learned that web quests are very time consuming and require a lot of preparation. However, i do believe that they are an effective form of teaching. Even though they are a lot of work, web quests allow the students to explore and learn on their own. It also incorporates technology and allows them to become familiar with a subject in an effective and fun way. I am very glad i have learned how to create web quests and will use them all the time as a future teacher. I feel that it is a very effective way to teach and students enjoy them a lot. My pod created a web quest on a google site and although it required a lot of work, it has turned out very well!
The video this week was on school house rock. Even though these films were created years and years ago, they still are very effective and students enjoy them a lot. They are accurate and fun videos to teach your students basic topics that are important to learn about.

Week 13

From this experience, I have learned a lot about how technology influences a school. I learned that the school is limited to what the district allows them. The teachers have opportunities to expand on the technology they use in their classroom but many are scared of changing their classroom routine. I learned that their is a lot of resources available and many teachers take advantage of this. I learned that students today are very computer friendly and are very comfortable using the internet and other applications that are available. This experience will affect me as a teacher because I know the importance of allowing technology into my classroom and how it will benefit each of my students i the future. I also am very aware of the resources that I can use to implement technology in my lessons to help better understand the students on particular subjects. This experience changed the way i think about the use of technology because I got a first hand experience on how it is used in a classroom and how the students react to it From my observation, students are eager to use technology and they find it fascinating and fun. As a future teacher I will use technology in such a way that it will benefit me and my students in a positive and effective way.

Week 12

This past week was our second week in field I have grown and have learned so much. I have learned the aspects and importance of classroom management. Also, I have grown to see the importance of teaching students about technology and how to adapt it in their own lives. The students I am observing go to computer classes two times per week. In these classes the students learn keyboarding skills and programs that they will use in the future, I was impressed to see that these sixth grade students were using movie maker! Technology has grown so much from when I was in elementary school. As a future teacher I am glad to be learning about how to integrate technology so that I can do so in my own classroom.

Week 11

So I survived my first week doing my field work! Being in a classroom full of sixth graders has really been an eye opener to me because I get to experience first hand some of the concepts i have been learning about through the semester. Our teacher incorporates technology by projecting math problems with an overhead to introduce that days topic. Other than that, he has not adapted any technology tools besides using the computer lab. The students meet once a week in the computer lab to improve computer skills, i was very impressed to see how well the 6th graders could type. This showed me how much technology has grown since i have been in elementary school, it amazed me! Me and my partner are teaching our class about the Renaissance. Our first day we created a web quest for the students to explore what the Renaissance was all about. I feel that incorporating technology is fun for the students because it adds variety and most of the students enjoyed learning this way. Also, this teaches the students the importance of finding correct information on the computer and it keeps them on task while doing it. I am looking forward to my next two weeks here at Brockbank Elementary and am looking for ways i can improve myself and my classroom in the future.

Week 9 Reflection

** the voki would not let me type very much**
I think learning how to create web quest will be really useful in our future classrooms. This allows the students to explore computer technology in a safe and productive way. As a pod, we are creating a web quest on weather and the different types of clouds. I have realized that creating a web quest is very time consuming and takes a lot of preparation. In my classroom someday i will for sure use web quests on occasion to help my students explore what technology has to offer and the information that is available to help them succeed in life!

Week 8 Reflection

This past week in class we have been working on our PDP's. This assignment was an eye opener for me because i realized that although i thought i knew a lot about computers and technology, I still have so much to learn in order to become a great teacher. I feel that i need to learn how to integrate technology into the curriculum by creating activities to engage students. I thought this week in class was not very productive becase we didnt have much instruction as to what to work on. I enjoyed learning about the different concepts that are nesessary to become a great teacher and i really learned a lot from that.
The video this week was very informational, however i feel that it was sort of repitory to previous videos. I enjoy learning about how technology has increased and how it is involved in our lives. It is so important for us as future teachers to inform our students about current technology and how they can prepare and benifit from it. The video discusses how large is myspace and other networks have become throught time and that amazed me!

My Beliefs

As a future teacher, I have a different perspective on integrating the use of technology in the classroom. I have been able to see both advantages and disadvantages of this subject. I feel that incorporating technology into the classroom is a great way to engage students in the curriculum and it also reaches different types of learners. I also feel that as our students are growing up in a world of very advanced technology and also at such a rapid rate, it is important to prepare our students for the future by integrating the curriculum by the use of technology. I think we as teachers benefit from technology as well, it is a great way of communicating with our students and parents. Also, the possibilities are endless to what and how we teach our students and keeping them engaged and on task is also easier.

However, There also are some disadvantages of integrating the use of technology. Such as, many students do not have access to computers and it is hard for them to stay at the same pace as other students because of computer skills and time. I also feel that because not every child will have access to computers, it will be difficult to assign assignments, and communicate with each other if not everyone has access. Also, students may take advantage of the use of computers in the classroom. Many students enjoy spending their free time playing games and surfing the web, this may become a distraction in your classroom when you are trying to teach a new subject with the use of technology. Although there are some disadvantages of the use of technology in the classroom, I feel that it is a great way of engaging your students to enjoy what they are learning. Also it creates a pathway for your students to become aware of their technological world!

Lessons Learned

After completing all of the readings, videos and websites I concluded that there are so many great things that come from teaching with technology and why it is so important. I feel that it is vital to teach our students about the technology today and how to use and understand it. From the video “millennial generation” I learned about taking technology on the go. The kids referred it to media mobility. The video also talked about technology today is still changing so much and that parents are getting advice from their kids about technology because it is increasing at such a rapid rate. IIts amazing to me that our children someday will have a completely different view on technology in the world and how much more it will be integrated into our every day lives. I liked the video we watched in class called the Shift Happens, it really explained how rapid our technology is growing and why it can be such an important part of our students lives. I also really enjoyed the article about why we should integrate technology in the curriculum. Technology is involved in almost every part of our lives, communities and homes. There are many advantages that are offered for teaching and learning with technology. It will help students acquire the skills they need to survive in a complex, highly technological knowledge based economy. I felt that all of the articles and videos had good information telling why technology is so important and should be a part of our students future.

Strengths and Weaknesses

According to t he UNI survey and the NET standards, I was an apprentice in most concepts. I understand the basic technology equipment and tools, but have never designed activities for classroom lessons. My goals for accomplishing these concepts would be to reflect on the material and to actively engage my students to participate in my technology activities. Also, I would like to develop my weaknesses into strengths. For example, one weakness I have is that I am a novice using spreadsheets to create formulas and cell references. By using on-line tutorials, I would like to become more familiar with this concept so that I am able to create activities for my class.
Because I have weaknesses that I would like to make strengths, I have found a few resources that I have found helpful. One site I found is called skillheaven.com, this site has many related tutorials that help elaborate such concepts. One I found helpful is a trouble-shooting tutorial and I now am more familiar with it and it helped me a lot. Another resource I found was a podcast to help teach with technology. I found this helpful because it gave ideas to replace traditional assignments with pod casts or technology involved assignments.
From identifying my strengths and weaknesses, I have a greater understanding of what is expected and what I need to prepare for as a future teacher. I have found the NET standards very informative because it states what is necessary to meet the standards of becoming a teacher. I plan on completing my goals so that I can be aware of the technology that I need to pass on to my students and make my weaknesses strengths so I can have an impact on my students future.

Chapter 6 reflection cont..

Over the past few weeks we have been working on our digital stories in our pod. As we have been finishing up, i have made a lot of connections with the story and how i will teach my class someday. As i have stated before, digital stories are a great way to teach a topic in your classroom. With older students, you may have them create a slide show or something similar to what you are demonstrating with your digital story. Also you can really impact students lives through digital stories, such as a story on WWII or the great depression. Its a powerful way of getting information across to your students. I thing its a great tool and i am so happy i now am able to create one of my own to someday share with my students. The video did not work.. but i am sure it was about how the technology is growing and increasing at such an incredible rate. I am blessed to live in this time to where our technology is so great and we have so many resources to help us in our every day lives and as teachers someday!!

Reflection #5/6

This past week in class we were able to work a lot on our digital stories, in our pod the digital story we have been working on has been coming along really well. We have all our pictures and layout ready and are about to start transforming in onto movie maker. This assignment has been really fun and will most likely benefit us all in the future. As teachers we can create digital stories to help explain a topic we will be teaching. Also, like the videos we have been watching, they are great for trivia and facts you want to get across to your students. It worked for me! I am really glad we get to work as pods in class, not only do we get to know other students but we get to collaborate and help each other. Its good to get others opinions and ideas so we can learn and grow together!
The videos were awesome this week, it really made me realize how much our technology is growing and spreading thoughout the world. It really affects students and the age it is affecting is getting younger and younger. I think, as teachers we need to incorporate such technologies so our students will be familiar with it and prepare them for the future. Also, i feel that it is important to teach students as much as possible so that technology continues to grow because it is a great tool and ability we must use and appreciate.

Reflection #4

This week in class we were able to learn about digital stories. We learned the basics of what a digital story is and saw a few examples. We were then assigned to work with our pod on creating a digital story of our own! As a pod, we came up with a topic relating to the grade we will be teaching. We were able to discuss the possible images, music, transitions and scripting to make our digital story come to life! The benefit of learning how to create digital stories will help us as teachers to bring a certain topic we want our students to understand and relate to. This tool will also be helpful when introducing a new unit to our students. It can be something serious and emotional, or light and funny.. ether way it sparks an interest to the students. The only bad thing i see about digital stories is that i will not be teaching my students how to create digital stories because of the age group. therefore, i might go to teacher tube or somewhere else to show a video to my students instead of creating my own because of lack of time. Other than that small con, i think digital stories are a fun and creative opportunity i can use in my classroom.
The video this week was very interesting, it helped me get an even better understanding of a digital story. I payed attention to the details of the story, such as the pictures, transitions, music and script. I noticed the flow of the video, it really went a long great with the music and pictures. if i hadn't learned about digital stories in class i wouldn't have noticed the small details and surely wouldn't have appreciated it as much!!

Reflection #3

This past week we learned about youtube, teachertube and each of us learned about different technology tools that we can someday use in our classroom. I personally really enjoyed finding interactive tools. I had a lot of fun playing the activity's and deciding which ones will benefit me the most. These tools will help me introduce new units in my classroom as well as give the students hands on activities to relate and learn from. I really have learned to LOVE uen and pbs.org because they have so many resources and help just a fingertip away! As a teacher, i will try to incorporate different technologies in my classroom so they can explore on their own and gain new information of what technology resources are around them. I am learning a lot in this class and have been able to save some websites that will help me in the future as a teacher. This way, i will always have those tools at hand to help me along the way!

Technology Article #2

President for a day
I was really excited that I found this tool about United States Government. On pbs.org there is an activity telling what it is like if you were to be president for a day. I had so much fun with this activity, it made me realize that although the present has an extremely large role, they really are normal people like you and me. As a teacher, you can use this tool during your U.S. Government unit. This activity will help the students understand the role of the United States President. Also, there are so many options you can do with this activity that they can do it again and again learning new facts each time. I really feel that this activity is important because it gets your students interested about history and current events because they can each relate somehow. Also, the students can do this activity at home and show it off to their family and friends because everyone chooses different tasks so its fun for everyone! Also on this site, there is a link you can click on explaining why the government is important to everyone and why you should learn and respect it. Check it out its awesome!

Click on the picture below to become president for a day!

Technology Article #1

Story Maker: As I was searching for technology articles, I wanted to find something fun for the students but also I wanted the tool to make them think and learn something new. On UEN I searched for interactives dealing with language arts. I found an activity called Story Maker. This activity allows a lot of creativity and encourages the students to think critically for new ideas. The best methods for teaching this activity would be to introduce Story Maker to the class, give them examples of stories and get them thinking about creating their own story. This activity can be used while teaching language arts. It helps the students discover new ways of expressing themselves and new ideas. Also, as teachers, you can mix up this activity by giving more detailed instructions and have them create a story in a different time period. There are good and bad aspects to this tool, it is a great way for children to express themselves and get their thoughts and ideas out and share them with fellow classmates. It can be a difficult activity for those who have a hard time expressing their thoughts or has a hard time following instructions. Overall, this activity is a great way to teach language arts and storytelling.

Click on picture to create a story of your own!!

Reflection # 2

This week in class we learned all about google!!! I think google is a fascinating site. There are ENDLESS things you can do and use. From previously having Doc. Waters computer tech class i had already created a google site with a google calender. However, I still learned a lot about the basics and really it refreshed my memory. Something new i learned about was called iGoogle, this was a really cool addition to my knowledge of google! I think i will use this application a lot in the future. Another thing i learned was about the google calendar, i learned that you can send your recently added information to your cell phone or email to remind yourself of upcoming events. I think as a teacher, these tools will be very helpful to keep me on track and organized. Also, from having a google site, my students can access it at any time with any questions or homework help. It will also be a great way for the parents of the students to stay updated on what is going on in their child's classroom and puts me, as a teacher at a more personal level. I feel that having a google site will be easy for the children to communicate with me at any time by emailing me or chatting with me by the tools available. These tools will also help me achieve classroom objectives just like doc waters has on her site. It really is an organized way of letting students know a head of time what to be prepared for.
The video this week was describing different tools that are available on the web, they are used for communication. It talked a lot about google and the different applications it had. One thing i did int like about the video was that it was really fast so for some, it would be hard to process the information before the next slide was shown. Overall, i like the videos that are shown, they talk a lot about how technology on the web is rapidly increasing every day and there are so many forms of communication available now.

My Ideal Classroom

When I think about what i want my classroom to be when I start teaching, my mind goes wild! My ideal classroom obviously wont be comparable to the classroom I will have but its fun to think about... I want my students to love coming to school everyday, some children wont have the best home or family life so i want my classroom to be a safe and enjoyable environment. The physical aspects of my classroom will include bright colors, I would like to have my students create decorations for the room instead of myself decorating it. That way, my students can feel like they contributed to the room. If possible i would like all the parents to be involved, i feel that it is really important to have them contribute to the activities their children will be a part of. I want the latest and greatest technologies in my classroom because the children i will teach will need to be prepared to handle such technologies! It would be great to get every child a computer to use and do their projects in, that way they will be more familiar with computers in the future. My goals will be fairly high because i want my students to push themselves and exceed what they imagined. However, the most important goal is that they will enjoy coming to school an learning new things. I hope to teach my students that they are important and can all become spectacular people if they are determined and try!
The video for the week was awesome! It fascinates me how technology is growing so rapidly, it was cool how they focused on children, and the technologies they will be introduced to. In two years when i am a teacher i am sure technologies will be even greater than i can imagine!