End of Semester Reflection

Before this semester I didn't really think about technology and its uses in the classroom at all. I just kind of figured that was for the "techie" people and I was going to be satisfied with my own simpler way of teaching. Gladly after this class that perspective has changed. I've learned that in order to prepare my students for the world they are being sent into I need to equip them with the tools and resources that is going to allow them to keep up with the other people of their generation. I've learned a number of different tools that I want to incorporate in my classroom- the Smart board, Active votes, blogging, and all kinds of internet resources. I am very excited to have the knowledge of these but I am the most excited to have a new perspective of technology in education. I am glad that now I am open to constantly needing to learn and grow and expand in the area of technology, I don't think I would have ever thought about it before. I want to be a relevant teacher that equips my students with what they need, and having an open mind to new technologies and a willingness to learn these new technologies is one of the best things I can do for my students. I am excited to learn how to incorporate these technologies in my future classroom.

The NETS that I chose to focus on was
1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments. Teachers:

a. promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness.
b. engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources.
c. promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students' conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes.
d. model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments.


By learning the new technologies and learning the correct way to approach technology in the classroom I hope to be able to enhance my lessons with technology promoting my student's thinking skills. I hope to always be prepared so that technology is not a hindrance to my class but that it is an effective tool that will help learning take place in the most efficient way possible!

Reflection #12

I was teaching children's church a couple weeks ago for elementary aged kids and as I was teaching I realized how useful technology would be even in children's church! We don't really have any technology for children's church and I think it would be really cool to start adding some. I was thinking it would be really helpful to show the kids where on a map Israel is and do creative projects to make the stories really stick. I found it interesting that I had never thought about incorporating technology into my children's church lessons, it is just as important and it would be really effective!

Comments on other people's blogs

Sara

Jordan

Jordan

Kirstie

Sara

Word Excel and Powerpoint

Word:
-Word processor
-table
-clip art
-word art
-stationary
-worksheet

Excel:
-table
-graph
-grid
-math functions

PowerPoint:
-presentation
-insert images
-insert text
-video
-audio
-special effects
-slide show

3 projects
1. Write three paragraphs using Microsoft Word about a topic of your choice.
2. Create a budget using Excel.
3. Using power point present to the class all that you learned about your assigned country.

Reflection #11

In one of my education classes there was a student who used the random person chooser on the smart board. It worked extremely well. Being a "student" and having that random chooser picking who got asked a question brings excitement and a little anxiety as it is passing through the names. While I was participating in the lesson I decided that would be something I want to use in my classroom. It was a very good example of how technology can enhance your lessons! It was both exciting and efficient! If I have a smart board in my classroom I will definitely use the random name chooser on the Smart board as opposed to drawing sticks or picking students.

Reflection #10

I wanted to reflect on the panel of teachers that came in last week. I thought that a lot of their perspectives were very helpful. One thing stood out that I really appreciated and that was that you can "learn" how to teach in college but you don't REALLY learn how to teach until you have your own classroom. One thing I was kind of surprised about though was that lots of the stories they shared were shared in a negative light. I think they liked their job, but there was quite a bit they didn't like about their job. I am thankful for the talk about all the certifications that we have to get but I had NO clue we even had to do that! So it was mildly stressful to hear about the road ahead, however it is better to know sooner rather than later. The biggest thing I took out of the panel was that you really have to have a PASSION and LOVE for teaching or you will NOT make it.

Comment on Jordan's toolbox (week 12)

Comment on Jordan's toolbox

Reflection #9

I went to a Mac store in the mall a couple weeks ago with a friend of mine, and it was extraordinary to see all of the new things that are coming out! One thing I found particularly awesome was this table and the who top was a touch screen with interactive games right on the table! It dawned on me that schools may not be too far away from getting tables that function as both tables and computers! I think that would be really cool. The table was really fun and I could just see how it would be so useful in the classroom! You could show virtual dissecting examples or many other things right on the table! This might be useful in saving time making sure everyone can see a single screen in the front of the classroom and then trying to get everyone to focus. If the screen is right on their table it might make focusing a little bit easy, it was really fun to play with these tables, maybe in a couple years they will start appearing in classrooms. I hope so!

Mrs. Yollis' class blog

This blog was SO cool! The students seemed to genuinely enjoy doing it! They seemed engaged and it was so cool to see all of the comments! I commented on Mrs. Yollis' post about the winter olympics and let her know that I really enjoyed her blog and that I hope to create something similar when I become a teacher.

Reflection #8

I gave a lesson in my Instructional Design class and before I started I didn't set up the document camera and so during the lesson I had some issues getting it working. This was the perfect example of how technology can be a hindrance if not used correctly. Being prepared and making sure to check all of the technology before class is so important, and I'm glad I experienced this minor technical difficulty in a mock setting, not a real classroom. They were just sitting there while I was trying to get it figured out, this would have been a terrible waste of time for students, it would have been distracting, and we would've lost the momentum of the lesson. I will remember this in the future.

Questions

1. How often do you use technology?
2. Was it extremely difficult to get your masters while teaching? Were you still able to have a life or did it take up ALL your time?
3. If you had it to do over again would you still go into teaching?

Reflection #7

In sitting through classes today, I found myself wondering why don't my professors here use technology? We've been learning how much technology adds to lessons and how standing up and lecturing is the worst kind of teaching. This makes me wonder why it switches to this in college? If it is true that these things help students learn in elementary school and middle school what about college? I would think using technology in this way would be engaging to any age!! I find myself wishing more and more that my professors would "show" us not just talk to us. It could be because all of this is pretty new, but I do think there are some teachers that could put a little more effort in engaging the students with technology.

Bob Sprangle- "Caught On Video"

This article was fascinating. I really liked his ideas for using the cameras to track the student's individual progress within the classroom. It would be really awesome to have the children explain what they learned on tape-this would probably cement it in their head even more! I also really liked the idea of showing specific examples on video during parent teacher conferences. I agree with him that using video could really shift the focus back to learning as opposed to standardized tests. If this ever actually caught on it would be such a great benefit to students and their learning.

Assignment 4

For my project I created a short smart board presentation introducing the book Fever 1793, it includes some facts and pictures that would be elaborated on if presented by the teacher. It also includes a prezi presention with more information and pictures that would peak the student's interest in the book. Originally I was going to make a movie so that I could add music to the presentation but I didn't end up having the software to accomplish this. It would be more effective as a presentation if I could add some dramatic music. However it still worked for me to do a prezi instead and it was useful figuring out how to use prezi.

NETS for teachers
2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessment incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS•S. Teachers:

a.
design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.

This presentation uses technology to get the students interested in the book they will be reading, that way they are excited to read it and will hopefully comprehend it better then if they were not excited to read the book.

Assignment #3

Toolbox

The first half of my toolbox is a list of websites that would be helpful for teachers to use, and the second half is a collection of websites that have free online educational games for students. I found many sites that teachers could use for preparing lessons, making puzzles and presentations that will aid the teachers in keeping the students engaged. Hopefully this toolbox will be a good resource for me if I need to add to lessons and am having a hard time being creative, many of these websites offer ideas and resources that will improve lessons.

One website included in my toolbox is puzzlemaker, I chose this because it is an awesome resource that allows teachers to print off fun puzzles for the students to use as homework or just activities for spare time.

Another website I included in my toolbox is national geographic. This is an awesome site that has great pictures and maps of all kinds of places and animals. When I'm a teacher I would use this resource to find things that apply to my lesson that are intriguing and capture the student's attention.

A third website I included in my toolbox is pbs kids, this website has all kinds of safe educational games, videos and fun activities that students would have fun playing if they finished work early.