Tech Article - Podcasts

I wanted to do my 2 technology articles on the tutorial that I talked about in my Professional Development Profile so in this blog I will share what I have learned about podcast. I knew absolutely nothing about podcasts before this assignment and I have learned a ton. There are so many different ways to use podcasts and you don’t even need an iPod, which is probably why I haven’t looked into them before because I don’t have an iPod. I have learned that there are different podcasts that you can subscribe and listen to, but something that I really liked was having the students create their own podcasts. There was a ton of resources out there for creating podcasts and all you really need is a microphone. This reminds me a lot of making the digital stories in our class. Because we knew that we would be showing them to our classes we did extra good work instead of treating it as we would any other assignment. The same thing will happen for our students. They may have listened to other classes or students podcasts and they know that others are going to listed to their podcast so they will do much better work to create a quality podcast that others will enjoy listening to. You can use podcasting in any subject, there are so many podcasts out there that are interesting and full of quality information. I think that using podcasts in my future classes will shake things up and make learning a little bit more enjoyable for my students.

Tech Article - Smartboards

I’ve heard a lot of educators talking about SmartBoards and it is something that I was really interested in, but didn’t really know that much about. In my high school, all of the computer classes had SmartBoards, but the teacher I had just used it to control the computer on the board. This really did help in our learning because we were able to see exactly what the teacher wanted, but I thought that there had to be something more that these SmartBoards did, so I watched a few tutorials. I learned about the options offered within the Smart software, some of them were really cool. There was a spotlight and screenshade. These made it possible to how students focus only one part of the screen; there was also a pointer and a magnifier that would be useful for so many different things. What I liked most thought was the ink aware. It makes it so that anything you write on the screen can actually be saved into the document. I thought that this was really cool and could help with review because the students could see the document or Powerpoint and the extra notes they had written on it. I also watched a little blip about creating assessments on the SmartBoard. This was so cool. There is a program where you can design tests and then the students’ scores are recorded in the class list. There are so many lessons and great teaching opportunities that are made possible if you have a SmartBoard. I how that in my classroom I will be able to have a SmartBoard and if not you can bet that I will apply for grants because I think that they can help the students to be more engaged if they are used correctly.

Strengths & Weaknesses

What are my strengths and weaknesses? I found the survey a little hard to do because it was geared more towards teachers and how they have implemented, evaluated, and reflected on technologies that they use. So when I took the survey I thought about what I have been able to create in my classes and what I have used in the teaching experiences we have already had. I also tried to put myself into the shoes of a teacher and reflect on what I might do if I had my own class. One thing that I identified as a major strength was my ability to use various technologies. I am a digital native, I can’t remember a day in the last 5 years of my life that I haven’t used the Internet; technology is a constant influence in my life. This is a strength because within the NETS I know the technology and how it works and how I would implement it in my classroom. I understand the process of using technology for assessment, evaluation, reflection, increase in productivity, etc… I also know that if I ever need to know more on any type of technology or need help with an activity, there is a place to find that information and there are networks and places to collaborate where I can continue to learn and to grow.

2 tutorials that I might want to participate in would include: Learning how to use a SmartBoard. In my high school we had SmartBoards in all of our computer classes, but the teachers didn’t use them to their full capabilities, I would like to learn more about them and be able to have one in my classroom when I start teacher. There are also so many tutorials and videos out there it would be so quick and easy to learn more about SmartBoards. I would also like to learn more about podcasts. I don’t have and iPod, so I feel a little behind on that type of technology, but I know there are so many things you can access through podcasts. I would like to learn how to use podcast because then I could expand and use the podcast to learn more about other technologies that I could use. (I found a really great website that I think I will use. It’s called Who’s Using Podcasting in Education and How? http://www.podcastforteachers.org/Who%27sUsingPodcastingInEducationAndHow.htm)

So some of the goals that I want to set are to become an expert in the fields explained in the UNI survey. I know a lot of that information, but as a teacher I need to remember to use it and reflect and evaluate the effectiveness of what’s working and what I could do better on. My goals are also addressed through the tutorials that I want to do. I want to learn how to use a SmartBoard and learn how to use podcasting as a tool to facilitate my own learning and the learning of my future students.

Lessons Learned

I learned so much from all of the articles and videos and so much from our discussions and assignments this semester. When I looked at the stack of articles that I had printed out I thought that it was going to take forever and be so boring, but I really enjoyed the articles. They were very informative and very interesting. I like the Visions 2020 article because of the input of children and the technologies that they thought that we would have in 2020. I think that a lot of the ideas that the students came up with will become a reality because it is those students who are going to be going into the working field and creating these new technologies that will be used for education.

I also really liked that the articles were showing a lot of the realities that we will have to deal with as teachers. Integrating technology into our classrooms is something that we will have to do and throughout the semester I have learned so many ways to integrate technology and I have learned about a lot of resources that I can use.

My Beliefs

In the Shift Happens video there was a really interesting quote that I think that teachers should always try to remember. "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." There are obviously some problems in our education system, but we can't solve them the same way that we have in the past. As teachers we need to educate our students in technology and with technology because we are the people who are going to solve the problems in our society. The students that we are teaching are going to be the people who are going to solve these problems. Students need to be educated with technology. The Millennials article that we read was very informative because the students want to learn with technology and they know what they need to be able to learn most effectively. I think that most students really do enjoy learning, they are just bored or aren't able to learn in the way that they want to. If we use technology our students will be more engaged and will want to learn, and those are the types of students that will be more successful in their lives and be a benefit to society.

To be able to be a teacher who uses technology I know that I will have to continually reflect on how the technology is working in my class, that is where the NETS come in. I can always refer to the standards to keep in mind what I need to be doing with my class. I also think that the UNI surveys are very useful because they get you thinking about better ways to use the technologies that we have access to. The UNI survey also got me thinking about how important reflection really is, and about the importance of the technology decisions that we will make.

Weekly Reflection

This week we were able to work on our webquests during class with our groups. It has been really nice to do this project in a group because everybody is able to come up with ideas and there are people watching everything you're doing to make sure that we are keeping with the objectives or noticing that maybe we should adjust something a little bit. Working in groups can be really great and for this project it is because i have a really good group and everybody is following through. I guess it also makes it really nice for the teacher during finals week to only have to correct 5 webquests instead of 33, that seems like it would be a little overwhelming :).

So when we were working in powerpoint i got a little frustrated because at home i use a mac and at school they have PC's so i kept getting confused and was having struggles finding things because the programs are just a little bit different. Other than that i have really liked creating the webquest and its definitely one that i'll want to use when i teach becuase it is such a fun and engaging activity.

This next week i'll have to work a little more on the webquest and of course finish up on my Proffesional Development Profile, i'm trying not to procrastinate to the very, very end, so we'll see how that goes this week.

Weekly Reflection - Technology Interview

* I had written this blog, but i didn't finish it so i just saved it instead of posting, so here is my technology interview blog.

Doing the technology interview was so enlightening to me. The teacher we were with wasn't really into technology and he didn't know the resources that his school had. When we talked with the media center specialist we found out that the school didn't really have very much access to technology. This made me so sad because i really want to integrate technology and some schools just don't have access. I know that i can apply for grants, but the decision of where i want to work will definitely be affected by the technology that i have access to.

Week 3 Reflection

Field has been such and awesome experience and i have definitely learned a ton!! This week we taught only 1 lesson and it went fairly well, but we had a little too much content for the amount of time we actually had, so that is something i have to keep in mind, always making sure that the amount of content is appropriate for the time and for the students. I have had so much fun that i don't even want to come back to classes, i would just love to stay and help out in 4th grade for the rest of the semester. One problem that i had this week was when i was correcting the math homework, none of the studetns were focusing and they were asking all of the questions. They were frustrated and i was a little bit frustrated that it had taken us so long to do something so simple. 2 of the boys came up to me trying to figure out their score and i just told them to go back to their seat and i would look at their papers while i was recording the scores. On the way back to their desks though one of the boys socked the other in the stoumach because he thought he had graded his paper wrong. I felt really bad because i probably could have taken care of the problem before i sent them back to their desks, maybe if i had had more of an idea of the relationship of these boys i would have helped them work it our instead of sending them straight back to their desk. Maybe they would have still gotten in a fight no matter what i did. It was just helpful for me to deal with this situation and to help these boys work out their problem - at least for now.

Well all in all i really, really enjoyed my time in 4th grade. I probably wouldn't ever choose to teach 4th grade if i were given the choice, but i did love working with the students and i had a really great time. :)

Week 2 Reflection

I had a really great time this week. I had so much fun getting to know all of the students a little better and we also taught 2 lessons that went really well. In our second lesson I was really worried because the students seemed so loud and chaotic, but when our field supervisor talked to us she said it was great because the students were so engaged. This is something i will always remember, that sometimes it is good to have a loud classroom. I'm really kind of sad though because this is going to be our last week. :(

Week 1 Reflection

What a week! I have learned so much and have had so much fun with all of the students. Going and doing this really reminds me about why I want to be a teacher. Working with the students has really opened my eyes up to the dynamics of a classroom. We sit and learn all of these strategies in our classes, but they don't mean a thing if we don't try them out in the classroom. So some of the things we tried: Teaching a concept development lesson, We have only done this type of lesson in our class with all adults and it went wonderfully, but with the 4th graders who had never done a lesson like that before, they really weren't able to do it correctly and it took them a lot longer than we had planned. I noticed that time thing a couple of other times. Everything takes so much longer than you are counting on, so i guess we just need to plan for things taking a lot longer than expected and also not be too disappointed when lessons don't work out or when things don't go the way we planned-- there will always be another opportunity to try again.

We were also able to teach another lesson about the pioneers during math time, so we had the students walk 1/4 mile and then figure out how many steps in a mile and how many steps in the journey & then graph it. This was our first lesson and gave me a little insight into keeping the class engaged. They would get excited and begin talking and getting their attention was very difficult for me because i'm just such a quiet person. Discipline and Attention are definitely things that i am working on and will probably be working on for a long, long time. All in all it was a really great week and i'm excited to go back for another week. :)

Reflection

This week i finished up my website with the 6 pages that we had to do for class. They were really easy to do and it was fun to learn all the types of pages so that we know all that we can do with the google sites. I'm excited for when i have my own class and i can have a class website. I also think that it would be so great for students to be able to create their own websites and now that i know how to do google sites i could teach it to my students (though they probably wouldn't need much help if they were in the sixth grade).

Right now i'm just really nervous for feild so hopefully after going my nerves will all calm down and we will have a lot of fun. One thing that i'm excited for is in one of our lessons we will be showing our digital story so all of the work we did definitely paid off.

Weekly Reflection

So this week i worked on my digital story and pretty much finished it up, all i have left is to put it into iDVD and then burn it. I had some major problems because it didn't save when i went to save it and everything i was working on was put into the trash, but because i had just been working on it i was able to redo it a lot quicker than it took for me to originally create. Eventhough i had a few problems working with iMovie i really like the experience because it was my first time using my computer with the built in mic and it was so easy, that was at least one thing i didn't need to stress over. So now i have my movie done, almost, and looking back it was really fun to put together and i would definitely do it again to create digital stories when i have my own class.

This week we also started working on our google sites again. I didn't do as much as i should have, but what i did do was so easy. I wish that all programs were like these google apps. and saved automatically every 2 minutes or so, that would save me a lot of greif. I also got a little more into google calendars when we had to post all of those events for our site and i don't know why i haven't been using it more. We learned how to make multiple calendars, which i couldn't figure out earlier, so now i'm going to get on and create all of the calendars i need. I really like the idea of email and text remiders for things because i forget a lot of the things that i need to do. So all in all it was a good week and i was reminded of a good tool that i'm going to use more often.

More on the Digital Story

This week we just had time to work on our digital stories. In class i was working in iMovie and everything was going bad. I could get anything to go the way i wanted to. I usually love iMovie because it is so easy to edit the panning, music, titles, and transitions, but obviously i was doing something wrong. I just hate that when you really want to get something done everything seems to stop working or you forget how to do this really important thing. But i guess i won't get discouraged, since the digital story is due next tuesday i'll keep working on it and get it finished.

Storyboarding

In class this week we learned a lot about actually making the digital story and what the content should be. We also talked a lot about storyboarding. Storyboarding has always been really hard for me becuase it is difficult for me to align the words and the pictures so i really liked the idea of filling the front and the back of a 4x6 card and that would make just about enough content for a 3 minute story. Last week after class i was pretty stressed about making the story, but after actually sitting down and doing the storyboard/brainstorm, it wasn't as bad as i thought it would be and i think it is going to be really fun to make the story. I also got on some of the websites we looked at in class and did a lot of exploring and found some really great resources with a lot of digital stories that i might want to use in the classroom. It's great to make our own story because we need to learn how to use the software, but i really like the one's that are already made that i can incorporate into my lessons becuase as a teacher i know that i am going to have so much going on. As a student i have all of these things that i have to do and i can't even imagine all that a teacher would have on their plate. Another great adjustment was that we were able to work with partners. A project like this isn't always easy to do with a partner, but i enjoy working with a partner because there are twice as many ideas and there is always somebody to bounce your ideas off of. So all in all this was a pretty good week and i'm pretty excited to actually start putting the story together.

Scripting & Digital Stories

Wow. The scripting was a lot harder than i thought it was going to be. It seems like 3 minutes is an eternity. I guess that i will just keep on tying to come up with more things to say. Even though coming up with something to say can be hard, I think that making this little story is going to be pretty fun. Something that would be great is that if we could share all of our movies with the class and then we would have 30 different stories that we could use.

To make my story i am going to use iMovie becuase i just got a brand new Mac and i haven't made a movie on it yet. I really like using iMovie becuase working with the audio is so easy. It is also a great skill to have because i could teach it to my students i know that at some schools, students learn how to do iMovie in their lab time. That would be really fun for the student to do a report or to make their own digital stories. Learning iMovie is so easy, it only took me a couple of hours before i was showing my dad how it works, so i definitely think that it is something that my students would be able to master very quickly.

Google Sites

Can i just say that I Love all the the Google tools. Every week we have been learning new things that we can do and they are all so easy and fun to do. I really liked the Sites because it was really easy to format and i didn't have any problems like i might have when im trying to do a blog.

This would be great in the classroom in a variety of ways. One way that i would use it is to create a class website where students & parents could see assignments and announcements and i could also use it as a portfolio for the students work or photography. One way that the students could use it is to create a site for themselves just like we did, where they could tell a little about themselves and then they would be able to put up their reports or various assignments and it would save on a lot of wasted paper. Learning how to use google sites was actually really simple and is definetly something that students would have down in no time. I will definitely use this with my students because it's so so easy.

Google Docs & Chat

In class we explored a little more into what goole docs is all about and it was so much fun. I am glad that i could learn how to use it because i'm a big fan of wikis and having students put up their ideas in a community of their peers and just saying what they think. The google docs was a little different format than most wikis i have heard about, but i loved the way that the collaboration worked. It was so great to work together and be able to put a paper together. I really think that this is something that students would really like, being able to work together and I could, as the teacher, watch their progress and help them focus their project so they get things right the first time around. Google docs is defineitly something i will use right now. I work on my papers at home and then maybe i want to work on a paper in the computer lab so i would have to email it to myself or bring it on a jump drive. It is so much easier just to do work on google docs and then to be able to access it from anywhere.

Google

I am so excited that we started off the class by getting blogs. I love blogging and i think it is a great way to put out there what you're feeling and then have people let you know what they think. I liked Doc Waters idea about using a blog as a journal for my day to show how things went with lessons and my students. I also really liked using the google pages in class today. In my 2200 class we used the My UEN, but i found that i couldn't always get it to do exactly what i wanted. I have been using blogger and picasa for a while now and they are so easy to use and i always can find new things that i can do with them. That is why i want to use google pages to create a site for me and my students to use. I think that it would be great for students to have a class blog or website that they could use to post their work or use as their journal. Another amazing google application i learned about was google docs. I am so interested in learning more about it. It is so great for students to be able to work on projects with each other as collaborators and then being able to work from home or school. I just wish that i had had this type of technology when i was in school, and i will definitely use it with my students because it allows them to have a little more freedom with their work and allows the students to critique each other in a way that they can continually fix and work on. I am a big fan of students doing wikis and i really would like to learn a lot more about that. I'm really excited for this class and being able to continue learning more about all of these fun tools that i can use in my classes.