I am attempting to upload my final podcast, but for some reason I cannot get it to save in the QuickTime format. I'm not quite sure what the problem might be-- I hope this works!!
Nope--It didn't work SO SAD! :(
Thursday, May 17, 2012
The Power of Skype
Today's class was very interesting. I really thought it was beneficial to talk with Kate about her experiences and tips she had for us. I thought it was interesting when she was talking about her District's Director of Technology Instruction and how he has made it his number one priority to prepare the teachers for this innovation. I think it's wonderful that her school can have this rewarding Professional Development. Another great thing her school has implemented is that every student has a school gmail account. The teacher has access to every student's password--this is a great way to manage and monitor the students use.
We used TodaysMeet.com to experiment with back-channeling. I think this is a great idea to use when you need to communicate with other people while you have a speaker. I think a good way to use this in the Elementary classroom is to incorporate back-channeling within literature circles. I'm not sure if I would personally use this in my classroom, but I think some teachers could do a great job when working with this.
One of the 2.0 Web Tools that we learned about today was Symbaloo. I am definitely going to set up an account and use next year!! That way, I have a place to keep all of my favorite websites and can access access them at any time! :)
We used TodaysMeet.com to experiment with back-channeling. I think this is a great idea to use when you need to communicate with other people while you have a speaker. I think a good way to use this in the Elementary classroom is to incorporate back-channeling within literature circles. I'm not sure if I would personally use this in my classroom, but I think some teachers could do a great job when working with this. One of the 2.0 Web Tools that we learned about today was Symbaloo. I am definitely going to set up an account and use next year!! That way, I have a place to keep all of my favorite websites and can access access them at any time! :)
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Social Networking
The topic of Social Networking is a very tough subject, especially when used in schools. Personally, I think that some social networking sites are acceptable but some are not. There are many different pros and cons to using them.
I have had experience with using Edmodo within my 5th grade student teaching. The teachers used this site as a resource for students to find assignments, expectations, materials and updates. The student's reaction to using this site was positive, for the most part. They said they really liked how they could, "...use something like Facebook at school." Almost every student had access at home or at the library and if they didn't they were allowed time before/after school or during a break they had in class. The only bad parts about using this was that some students were more amused with the fact they can talk to other friends or that they could upload and change their profile pictures. The teachers I worked with did implement a rule that they could only post, if it was educational, they were turning in a assignment or if they really did have a question because otherwise the students would have just wanted to post about random things.
I do not think Facebook is appropriate, at anytime, in the classroom. I have not seen any student use this social networking site in a positive and educational way. There are too many outside people who can access the student's account and information. Students use this site for too many personal things and I do not want this to be in my classroom. I have seen many different forms of bulling take place and I want my room to be a safe and welcoming environment. Plus, as the teacher, I do not have full control on what they are saying and cannot see the "messages" and "conversations" the students are having through Facebook. Don't get me wrong, I think Facebook has many great resources and is a positive way to stay connected, but it is not for school and not educational related. If students want to use this outside of the classroom--go for it--it's the parents choice. Here is an interesting article on The Pros and Cons of Facebook in the Classroom.
I also worked with Wiki Spaces. I think this is a great site where the students and their families could be allowed to look at what the kids were doing in the classroom. I liked how the site had a privacy block and you had to be accepted (by the creator/teacher) in order to access the information. We could add links to websites for extra practices and post pictures of what we were doing in the class.
**We created a Two Person Poem and created Podcast. This is a fun and interactive activity to use with students. This would be a great item to post on a class's Wiki. Here's how you can create your own: You need an iPad Touch, click on iTalk, Record your 2 person poem, plug iPod Touch into the computer, iTunes will pop up, select the Apps tab, scroll down to the "file sharing" tab, select iTalk and highlight your audio, save to the desktop, pull audio into Garage Band, edit the clip by adding pictures from the internet or camera, chick on share, scroll to export to disk, click on highest quality and save to desktop, drag the icon on the desktop to QuickTime player, Click on Save as, save to desktop. Then, you have finally created your Enhanced Podcast.**
I have had experience with using Edmodo within my 5th grade student teaching. The teachers used this site as a resource for students to find assignments, expectations, materials and updates. The student's reaction to using this site was positive, for the most part. They said they really liked how they could, "...use something like Facebook at school." Almost every student had access at home or at the library and if they didn't they were allowed time before/after school or during a break they had in class. The only bad parts about using this was that some students were more amused with the fact they can talk to other friends or that they could upload and change their profile pictures. The teachers I worked with did implement a rule that they could only post, if it was educational, they were turning in a assignment or if they really did have a question because otherwise the students would have just wanted to post about random things.
I do not think Facebook is appropriate, at anytime, in the classroom. I have not seen any student use this social networking site in a positive and educational way. There are too many outside people who can access the student's account and information. Students use this site for too many personal things and I do not want this to be in my classroom. I have seen many different forms of bulling take place and I want my room to be a safe and welcoming environment. Plus, as the teacher, I do not have full control on what they are saying and cannot see the "messages" and "conversations" the students are having through Facebook. Don't get me wrong, I think Facebook has many great resources and is a positive way to stay connected, but it is not for school and not educational related. If students want to use this outside of the classroom--go for it--it's the parents choice. Here is an interesting article on The Pros and Cons of Facebook in the Classroom.
**We created a Two Person Poem and created Podcast. This is a fun and interactive activity to use with students. This would be a great item to post on a class's Wiki. Here's how you can create your own: You need an iPad Touch, click on iTalk, Record your 2 person poem, plug iPod Touch into the computer, iTunes will pop up, select the Apps tab, scroll down to the "file sharing" tab, select iTalk and highlight your audio, save to the desktop, pull audio into Garage Band, edit the clip by adding pictures from the internet or camera, chick on share, scroll to export to disk, click on highest quality and save to desktop, drag the icon on the desktop to QuickTime player, Click on Save as, save to desktop. Then, you have finally created your Enhanced Podcast.**
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Great Resources!
Today, we got to explore some great websites. I have linked a few of them so I can use them for next year. This is a great study-guide activity for students to do in the classroom or at home. I would change the questions and answers to correlate with the unit we are discussing. Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
This is a great resource for some Project-Based Learning ideas. It is an easy resource to access and get great lesson plan ideas. As I was reading through some lessons, they reminded me of a Social Studies simulation we did for the American Revolution. I think this site would have given me some great extension activities--especially for my accelerated learners.
Here is another great site to use for Reader's Theatre . There are so many great stories I could use with fifth-grade and even some I could have used with Kindergarten. As long as we discussed the words first, I think they would have loved to do this reading strategy. Also, there were many helpful posters and worksheets you can download and use in the classroom. I think that is wonderful that the author of this site is so willing to help out and give her resources away, for FREE! :)
I added my resource into our wiki page. Here is my example Prezi. (Below)
I am so glad that we have time in class to research some ideas. When searching for idea, I usually run into the problem of not knowing what or where to search and by having these resources, I can now determine what sites are the most helpful. I am so glad our class Wiki Page will be left active. This is a great tool to use in planning!
Here's a great site to use The Daily Five!
CLASS NOTES:
Direct Instruction:
Ex.'s: Skill and Drill, Bottom-Up, Teacher-Centered, Behavioral Instruction
Just-In-Time Direct Instruction: Instruction at the point of need and usually under the control of the student
*Ex. Student was having trouble with iMovie. Teacher googled and followed solution step-by-step. Next time, student will be able to follow guide to fix her problem. *Ex. Spellchecker in Word
Cognitive Skills Direct Instruction: Improve and make automatic the cognitive skills needed for literacy
*Ex. Big-picture and structure strategies, Focus strategies, Word and sentence-level strategies, Cloze (modified close: Madlibs)
Accelerater Reader: Daily monitoring process for reading.
Interactive Games for the classroom.
This is a great resource for some Project-Based Learning ideas. It is an easy resource to access and get great lesson plan ideas. As I was reading through some lessons, they reminded me of a Social Studies simulation we did for the American Revolution. I think this site would have given me some great extension activities--especially for my accelerated learners.
Here is another great site to use for Reader's Theatre . There are so many great stories I could use with fifth-grade and even some I could have used with Kindergarten. As long as we discussed the words first, I think they would have loved to do this reading strategy. Also, there were many helpful posters and worksheets you can download and use in the classroom. I think that is wonderful that the author of this site is so willing to help out and give her resources away, for FREE! :)
I added my resource into our wiki page. Here is my example Prezi. (Below)
I am so glad that we have time in class to research some ideas. When searching for idea, I usually run into the problem of not knowing what or where to search and by having these resources, I can now determine what sites are the most helpful. I am so glad our class Wiki Page will be left active. This is a great tool to use in planning!Here's a great site to use The Daily Five!
CLASS NOTES:
Direct Instruction:
Ex.'s: Skill and Drill, Bottom-Up, Teacher-Centered, Behavioral Instruction
Just-In-Time Direct Instruction: Instruction at the point of need and usually under the control of the student
*Ex. Student was having trouble with iMovie. Teacher googled and followed solution step-by-step. Next time, student will be able to follow guide to fix her problem. *Ex. Spellchecker in Word
Cognitive Skills Direct Instruction: Improve and make automatic the cognitive skills needed for literacy
*Ex. Big-picture and structure strategies, Focus strategies, Word and sentence-level strategies, Cloze (modified close: Madlibs)
Accelerater Reader: Daily monitoring process for reading.
Interactive Games for the classroom.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Constructivism: Students Create Their Own Learning!
According to Wiki, Constructivism can be described as a theory that deals with the way people create meaning of the world through a series of individual constructs. Constructs are the different types of filters we choose to place over our realities to change our reality from chaos to order. Von Glasersfeld describes constructivism as, “a theory of knowledge with roots in philosophy, psychology, and cybernetics” (p 162). [1] Simply stated, it is a learning process which allows a student to experience an environment first-hand, thereby, giving the student reliable, trust-worthy knowledge. The student is required to act upon the environment to both acquire and test new knowledge.
As we discussed in class, students are in charge of their own pace of learning. There are two parts of Constructivism; Social and Cognitive. Social is the background and social experiences used to connect the student to the content, language use is a tool used to make sense of the world in order to guide the cognitive abilities and Zone of Proximal Development which is the guide that shows us where the student is sitting with needing help and working individually. The stages of the ZPD are Frustration, Instruction and Independent. The top of the chart, Frustration, is the point where the student does not understand and is developmentally not ready for this information. The Instruction level is where the teacher is is guiding the student and teaching them what needs to be learned. The independent stage is where we want students to be because then they can complete their own learning and on the own pace.
Some pedagogical approaches we discussed were lit circles, guided reading, class discussions, writer's workshop, readers workshop, and Anchored Instruction. During Anchored Instruction, students acquire knowledge through use in contextual problem solving situations rather than through presentation of isolated facts. This is comparable to Project-Based learning. I have had the opportunity to participate in this type of learning, during student teaching.
A great example of this type of learning is a student centered literature unit. We looked through student examples and I will definitely try to use this in my classroom. Also, the Wandering Willie project was a fun idea! :) We used a fun program called TitanPad where groups of students could create a story together, using different computers. The teacher and students could see who wrote what because everyone had a different color. I would do this activity in my classroom. I think the students would have fun!
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Research Article
This article discusses how digital and media literacy is integrated into an intermediate classroom. We learn about how a teacher and school brought these new literacy ideas through the use of technology and shares how you could do the same in your own classroom.
New literacies are evolving within our classrooms and it is crucial to prepare the students to understand the current and future expectations. Past models of literacy include paper and pencil but new conceptions now involve the changing or reading and writing by the of the internet and computers. These new resources now include more innovative texts, new reader expectations and new activities. They extend the traditional literacy experiences in the comprehension of information of Internet sources.
It is pointed out, that 95% of K-12 classrooms had access to the internet, in 2005, but most students did not have sufficient time in school with this technology to develop new literacies. The teacher holds the responsibility to bring this technology into her class but it is not an easy task. More than 2/3 of teachers feel underprepared to use technology and face challenges like lack of knowledge, lack of technology, lack of school planning, being fearful and pondering about important points before bringing this into their classrooms.
This article follows a particular teacher who has a 1-to-1 classroom, which means laptops for every student. This teacher established and enforced structured routines within his curriculum and instruction. Getting ready for the day, the teacher would pull up everything he needed for the day, including worksheets, graphic organizers, multimedia files, learning centers, writing prompts, and corrected work. The students can came into his room and be ready to use their technology for the day and enhance and enrich their learning. Students can use their computers to work in a whole group setting, small group setting and working independently. When the students are doing independent work, the teacher responds to the student's writing, lets students complete the digital practice sheets and offers a book study for the students.
An interesting part I found was under the "Breaks in Instruction" paragraph. During recess breaks, the students have the choice to stay inside and engage in non-instructional activities. The teacher encourages the students to send, IM (instand messages), email, going on to kid-friendly sites, etc. Students who do not have access at home particularly like this time. Personally, I do not agree with this activity during this time because this should be a time where children should be playing outdoors. I think children in this day-in-age needs to be outdoors and active. We have a serious problem with children being lazy and obese and I think this engagement on non-instructional activities should be at a different time in the day. I'm all for students learning more about computers and technology but not when they should be engaging in physical activities. **I'm very passionate about children being physically active- It's just my personal opinion **
Reading more into this article, it realt game me some great ideas to use in my classroom. I think computers and technology are a wonderful tool to use with the students. As long as the teacher is choosing the correct applications and devices to use to enhance the students learning, I think a 1-to-1 classroom would be wonderful. As Todd said in his interview,
"Every week when I am lesson planning, I consider how I can best integrate the technology. I don't use the technology just for the sake of using it. I want to use it in a way that enhances learning and best motivates students. I find myself borrowing ideas from colleagues, the Internet, and educational publications. I am a better teacher because I am making my students' learning relevant to them and their times."
I think this is a perfect statement for him to make because it corresponds exactly with what we are learning in our class. It directly relates to education and is very interesting for the classroom. I thought this was a great article to read because it has many different strategies you can use within your classroom and a neat resource to use, when planning for a 1-to-1 classroom.
Reference:
Barone, Diane and Wright, Todd E., WETA Washington, D.C. (2012, May). Reading Rockets: Literacy Instruction with Digital and Media Technologies, The Reading Teacher, 62(4), Available: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/29126/
New literacies are evolving within our classrooms and it is crucial to prepare the students to understand the current and future expectations. Past models of literacy include paper and pencil but new conceptions now involve the changing or reading and writing by the of the internet and computers. These new resources now include more innovative texts, new reader expectations and new activities. They extend the traditional literacy experiences in the comprehension of information of Internet sources.
It is pointed out, that 95% of K-12 classrooms had access to the internet, in 2005, but most students did not have sufficient time in school with this technology to develop new literacies. The teacher holds the responsibility to bring this technology into her class but it is not an easy task. More than 2/3 of teachers feel underprepared to use technology and face challenges like lack of knowledge, lack of technology, lack of school planning, being fearful and pondering about important points before bringing this into their classrooms.
This article follows a particular teacher who has a 1-to-1 classroom, which means laptops for every student. This teacher established and enforced structured routines within his curriculum and instruction. Getting ready for the day, the teacher would pull up everything he needed for the day, including worksheets, graphic organizers, multimedia files, learning centers, writing prompts, and corrected work. The students can came into his room and be ready to use their technology for the day and enhance and enrich their learning. Students can use their computers to work in a whole group setting, small group setting and working independently. When the students are doing independent work, the teacher responds to the student's writing, lets students complete the digital practice sheets and offers a book study for the students.
An interesting part I found was under the "Breaks in Instruction" paragraph. During recess breaks, the students have the choice to stay inside and engage in non-instructional activities. The teacher encourages the students to send, IM (instand messages), email, going on to kid-friendly sites, etc. Students who do not have access at home particularly like this time. Personally, I do not agree with this activity during this time because this should be a time where children should be playing outdoors. I think children in this day-in-age needs to be outdoors and active. We have a serious problem with children being lazy and obese and I think this engagement on non-instructional activities should be at a different time in the day. I'm all for students learning more about computers and technology but not when they should be engaging in physical activities. **I'm very passionate about children being physically active- It's just my personal opinion **
Reading more into this article, it realt game me some great ideas to use in my classroom. I think computers and technology are a wonderful tool to use with the students. As long as the teacher is choosing the correct applications and devices to use to enhance the students learning, I think a 1-to-1 classroom would be wonderful. As Todd said in his interview,
"Every week when I am lesson planning, I consider how I can best integrate the technology. I don't use the technology just for the sake of using it. I want to use it in a way that enhances learning and best motivates students. I find myself borrowing ideas from colleagues, the Internet, and educational publications. I am a better teacher because I am making my students' learning relevant to them and their times."
I think this is a perfect statement for him to make because it corresponds exactly with what we are learning in our class. It directly relates to education and is very interesting for the classroom. I thought this was a great article to read because it has many different strategies you can use within your classroom and a neat resource to use, when planning for a 1-to-1 classroom.
Reference:
Barone, Diane and Wright, Todd E., WETA Washington, D.C. (2012, May). Reading Rockets: Literacy Instruction with Digital and Media Technologies, The Reading Teacher, 62(4), Available: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/29126/
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Blogging in the Classroom
I think there many positive aspects to blogging in the classroom. Blogging is a great tool for communication. Teachers may use this to communicate with families and students. Blogging could even start to replace weekly newsletters. In both my student teaching placements, my cooperating teachers had a wiki or a class page. My teachers updated their blogs once a week and sometimes more. This was a great way for parents and students to stay informed with what was going on in the classroom. I think students who use blogs gain a lot of knowledge. They can use their networking skills to research different topics and how to use new programs. Another positive aspect with blogging is that students can use blogs to post their writings and other students can comment on their writing, leaving them great feedback. Students could be able to write whatever they were feeling and they wouldn't be afraid to ask questions. Teachers could use this as a tracking tool, to check students understanding. Just like we are doing in this class, I think students would really love to have an educational blog to voice their thoughts. Especially because students love to use computers and iPads. Overall, I think blogging is a great way to stay updated, in-touch and informed within the classroom.
There are a few negative aspects to blogging in the classroom. A negative example is limited access in the school. Some schools do not have the funds to have this kind of technology in their classrooms. Some schools may only have a few available resources and not enough for the whole class to use. Blogs might take a while to get set up for each of the students, but once they are set, I think it will work out fine. Sometimes, you can run into problems with dated technology, they may not work the way intended. Also, some students may not have access at home which makes blogging almost impossible. A big negative to blogging is that teachers must make sure that they follow the guidelines that the district assigns and some families may not approve of online blogging for their child. I think as long as you discuss with parents and your district, you could come up with a compromise and be able to use blogging as an educational tool in your classroom.
Blogs are such a great tool. They are a fun and easy way to keep all the students updated with technology. Students can learn from each other and it is a great source to use for writing and quick feedback. When using blogs, the teacher just make sure she knows exactly what she wants her students to learn from blogging in the classroom. She must keep it fun and make sure to not push the students into doing tedious work-she wouldn't want to push the students away from this wonderful learning tool.
I will definitely have a classroom blog, next year. It will be a great way for me to keep my students and their families updated with what we are doing in the classroom and keep the communication level high! I will help my students set up their on blogs and use them as a writing communication tool. I will have students use their blog as a daily journal to record their reading and writing. I might set up a Reader's Workshop though their blogs and they must complete their task, for that day, online on their blog. Then, the other members in their group must respond and comment on the blogs. This is a great way fro students to have fun while reading and writing and working collaboratively with their group. Also, it gives me instant feedback with what student has completed their assignment and gives students quick feedback from their groups.
There are a few negative aspects to blogging in the classroom. A negative example is limited access in the school. Some schools do not have the funds to have this kind of technology in their classrooms. Some schools may only have a few available resources and not enough for the whole class to use. Blogs might take a while to get set up for each of the students, but once they are set, I think it will work out fine. Sometimes, you can run into problems with dated technology, they may not work the way intended. Also, some students may not have access at home which makes blogging almost impossible. A big negative to blogging is that teachers must make sure that they follow the guidelines that the district assigns and some families may not approve of online blogging for their child. I think as long as you discuss with parents and your district, you could come up with a compromise and be able to use blogging as an educational tool in your classroom.
Blogs are such a great tool. They are a fun and easy way to keep all the students updated with technology. Students can learn from each other and it is a great source to use for writing and quick feedback. When using blogs, the teacher just make sure she knows exactly what she wants her students to learn from blogging in the classroom. She must keep it fun and make sure to not push the students into doing tedious work-she wouldn't want to push the students away from this wonderful learning tool. I will definitely have a classroom blog, next year. It will be a great way for me to keep my students and their families updated with what we are doing in the classroom and keep the communication level high! I will help my students set up their on blogs and use them as a writing communication tool. I will have students use their blog as a daily journal to record their reading and writing. I might set up a Reader's Workshop though their blogs and they must complete their task, for that day, online on their blog. Then, the other members in their group must respond and comment on the blogs. This is a great way fro students to have fun while reading and writing and working collaboratively with their group. Also, it gives me instant feedback with what student has completed their assignment and gives students quick feedback from their groups.
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