In the Classroom

I am nervous to teach my lesson to my fourth graders Friday. The lesson involves the students doing a lot of their own discussing and taking charge on their own without my direct instruction. I hope the students are actively participating, I know how hard it is at times for my professors to get myself and fellow students to participate and discuss topics. I am just hoping because the book is fun and interesting for their grade level it will fall into place. I almost wanted to bring in candy as an incentive for students to participate and answer/pose questions to the group but I feel that would be the easy way out and I want my students to be intrinsically motivated to participate in my lesson not simply because I am bribing them with candy. We will see how it goes Friday!

Google Earth-Astronomy Lesson Plan

I would like to use the technology Google Earth that I learned about last week. I think it would be great to use in a lesson plan. I would like to use it in some sort of a science lesson plan focusing on astronomy. Students often times have misconceptions of the size of our Earth, moon, stars, planets etc and how far away they truly are from Earth. Young students have troubles grasping how enormous our universe is and how far away different things in the Solar system are from one another. Using Google Earth I could go to different places and explore the universe with the students through using this tool. Students could see 3D images of the moon and explore all different planets that exist. This technology goes perfectly with the content I want to teach because what the students are learning about they have to simply imagine and assume what is being told to them is the truth without seeing any proof. Through Google Earth students would have the ability to physically see the universe and the planets that are within it allowing them to make deeper connections to the material because they are able to see these images and take a sort of virtual tour through outerspace.

Digital StoryBoard.

I chose to tell a story about the best Memorial Day I have ever had. In this story I explain who I was with on this day and what we did. This would be a more personal reflection students could do, a way they could relate to a specific text we are reading in class or simply reflecting on their experiences in life. I would use a topic such as this for a younger grade where the objective would be focused more on simply getting a point across and expressing ideas and feelings. This would be very useful for teaching because students at younger ages have troubles writing at times or for students it can simply be boring and time consuming to continually write stories in their journals over and over. Through storytelling in this way, students have the ability to get their points across and feelings through mostly images and pulling out a few important phrases to focus on. It is useful because students can experience a new mode of technology and it can be a very fun experience for the students along with an educational one. It is a new way for students to express themselves and it helps them focus on the key parts of their story, the specific words they find most important to include on their storyboard. I liked how easily I was able to download pictures through my Facebook on Photoshow. I simply used an album I had already created and picked photos out from it. I had troubles in the beginning on figuring out how to adjust, flip and organize photos, but after spending time getting to know Photoshow it became very easy to figure out. I thought it was very creative and fun because you were able to add extra images to your photos, music, text, conversation bubbles, and other animations. This is a new and exciting way for students to portray their thoughts and feelings and I thoroughly enjoyed creating my storyboard. 

Below is a link to my digital storyboard on my favorite Memorial Weekend Memory ever!

DigitalStoryBoard 

In the Classroom

I am starting to feel concerned about certain students in my placement classroom falling behind in math. My CT seems to simply want to push every child along whether or not they are ready to go on. Multiple students are failing the math tests, she will have them take the same test over and over until they get enough correct. There has got to be a better way of going about this. I feel helpless in the situation though because it is not my place to say anything. I hate to watch these children fall behind, they are simply not getting the material and their frustration is continuing to add up. I hope things get better..

We are on the right track!

http://mrssmoke.onsugar.com/Top-20-Websites-Teacher-Should-Start-2010-2011-Year-Without-9213932

So, above is a link to a website I found looking around on Delicious. The website describes the "Top 20 Websites No Teacher Should Start the 2010-2011 Year Without." Good news everyone reading this who is in my current CEP416 class, MANY of the twenty things listed are websites and tools we are learning all about through this class. I found it to be pretty interesting and exciting because I feel like what I am learning about in CEP416 is truly going to benefit me as a future teacher. Other people agree obviously! Check it out, it is pretty cool, it will make you feel special and very smart already in the technology world as a future teacher :)  Examples of what they listed that we are learning about : Delicious, Picnik, Twitter, Google Docs/Reader and many more...

GOOGLE EARTH

GOOGLE EARTH

The technology I chose to explore this week is Google Earth. I chose this technology for many reasons. First off I believe it could be used in the classroom for learning in many different ways and different subjects. I also have seen it used in my classes before but had never experienced it myself and wanted to learn more. Lastly I love Google and there is nothing better than exploring new things and getting actual pictures and images of things. It is incredibly fascinating.

This site allows the user to see pretty much anything you could ever imagine in the world. You are able to look at 3D buildings, terrain, cities, local businesses and so much more.  Through this technology, almost any place a user can imagine, Google Earth can take them there. Not only is the user able to see anything they want through this site, they are also able to see things from points of view they would never otherwise be able to. That is a really exciting part about this site, the user is able to look down on the Earth from up in outer space and look down on world from a point of view they normally never see. This site allows the user to see the world in a totally new and exciting way. This sight is ready for all users, whether they are beginners or advanced. It is very easy to maneuver through this sight and has many tutorials and help available on the site. I believe this sight could be used by children as well as adults and would be effective, beneficial and interesting for all ages. At the typing of a word (specific location) and the click of a button this sight can take you to that place and allow you to see from a 3Dview. You can even create a tour if you want to get more advanced on the sight. You do this by selecting numerous locations and create a sort of trip for yourself to these different spots. You can add sound and other things to the tour again to be more advanced.

This technology goes along with TPAK.

This is because students would have the ability to use their own skills- intelligence and prior knowledge coupled with the information that is available to them through Google Earth when they are on the website and taking part in the task/lesson going on that is teaching them.

Pedagogical  Knowledge+Content Knowledge+ technological knowledge = TPAK

 Specifically a way in which you could use this in the classroom could be in science unit- astronomy. Through Google Earth the user has the ability to explore the moon, different planets, starts and all that exists in the sky. This could be a great tool to use when studying the location of the planets in the sky and in studying the different planets. Allowing the students to get a real 3D visual of the planets allows them to get a physical representation of what they are learning and is incredibly interesting and exciting for the students. Google Earth could as well be used in a Math unit-measurement. With Google Earth students have the ability to measure almost anywhere in the world they like. When going through a tutorial I was able to find that through Google Earth students can use rulers, shapes, measurements and all sorts of tools to figure out locations, and distances of certain places while practicing using important tools such as rulers.

Snipping Tool

I used the “Snipping Tool” to get my “screen shot” for week 4’s assignment, to create the slide show. At first when I read about this a few weeks ago I was completely confused, and again reading about how I had to take a picture I was totally confused and it took me FOREVER to finally figure it out. After further reading I found out that because I am a PC and have Windows Vista I had a different/more complicated in my opinion way of going about getting the shot of my screen. It is called a snipping tool, I found it on my computer, and instead of pushing print screen or whatever combination of buttons other computers needed I used my snipping tool. The mouse turned into a cross and I was able to drag the cross, across the part of the screen I wanted “snipped out.” I used the tool and it gave me an image of what was inside of the box I made. It does the same thing as pushing print screen but you have to know where this tool is located to be able to use it. I am happy this week’s lesson forced me to try this out because now in the future I will be able to do this without hesitation. I am happy to say I learned about a new tool on my computer I had no idea about and I have had this computer for almost four and a half years now!!

Photo Attribution: Original Image “ Herb Scissors”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wirebless/5345981347/in/gallery-59243646@N07-72157626056619246/

By: WireBlessed

Images

Images<---  My slide show through Flickr

Tweet Tweet

I know I have already commented on twitter but I feel like I have more to say at this point. I still am having some negative feelings toward it. I don’t like putting information out into the world to see, I understand it is necessary and if no one ever did this, I wouldn’t have even a quarter of the materials I do have to use as a future teacher and for many other things. But, I don’t like tweeting; I have never been a fan of updating my “status” on Facebook either. It just isn’t something I feel totally comfortable with. I like the sight because it allows me to gain information and ideas from fellow individuals studying what I am, and in the field I will be going into someday but I don’t believe that means I have to share as well. I enjoy reading others information and tweets sometimes but I do not like tweeting myself; I think it is silly and pointless. A drawback could obviously be inappropriate material on the sight, getting incorrect or unclear information and confusion through this technology outlet. Overall I am still standing by my opinion on this site being something I do not think I will be using much in the future. I chose to add this picture to my blog I found on Flickr because I think Twitter is a fad, and everyone obsessed with Twitter is living inside of the Twitter Tweeting bubble. I would like to stay on the outside of the bubble looking in.

Photo Attribution: Original Image “ Big Bubble”

http://www.flickr.com/photos/h-k-d/2595755975/in/gallery-59243646@N07-72157626056619246/

By: h.koppdelaney

Licensed with Creative Commons

After reading the articles for this week I understand more about Copyrights. It doesn’t take much effort; it is quite an easy thing to do as long as you know what buttons to push and how to make it happen. This is a VERY important tool for me to be aware of as becoming a teacher. I will be using many things from other teachers, websites, books, online articles, etc. and knowing how to give ownership to things is VERY important whether it be your own ownership or showing that what you are using is in fact not yours and you are making it known.  No one wants to be in a situation where people think they are using something authentic and it actually is copied. Clear ownership of materials needs to be present at ALL times. That is why I am very happy to know more about this through Creative Commons. It is an easy website to remember and in a few clicks you are able to share your work if you want to while still keeping ownership. This website is www.creativecommons.org.

The image below is an image of my boyfriend and I in Cancun, Mexico this past Christmas. I have released this picture and licensed it with Creative Commons. You can see this picture also on my flickr page.

 Released under an Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/