04/27/09 (blog questions)

What is the greatest advantage to having a blog in this course?

I think that the greatest advantage of having a blog in this course is it allows you the chance to reflect on what we did from the week before. You can share your thoughts and ideas with everyone in the class as well as comment on what other people said. It also allows you to view different opinions and options on things that you may not have thought of before you viewed others blogs. This was a good tool for me because it allowed me to re think about what we talked about or did in the class and remember it. Another advantage of it is we could communicate with one another with questions or answers etc. I think that the blog was a useful tool for this class also because it taught us another useful tool in technology by having us create it right from the beginning. Very big advantage in this course as well as a great tool for other uses in courses and classrooms.

What is the greatest barrier to your successful use of a blog in this course?

I think that the greatest barrier that I had in the blog use is that it sometimes was hard to leave comments on some pages because I couldn't figure out how to leave the comment because it asked you to sign in. But after that obstacle I learned to copy and paste what I was going to say so that in case I lost it I had it saved somehow. Another barrier I found was who was leaving comments. Some people didn't post to the very end of the week which made it very difficult to leave the two comments that I needed to leave. Another barrier that I found was that some people didn't comment on others and I really think that everyone should have their work commented on. Maybe a way to avoid this is assign people to people so every one's work is getting commented on . Other than that I don't have any other barriers I found with using the blog. I enjoyed it!

04/20/09

I thought that the lessons taught in class were really good. I felt that we had a variety of things that were shown to use which gave me many ideas. Its sometimes hard to get up in front of other adults and teach especially when your used to teaching young ones, but I think that everyone did a great job :) It was also interesting to write my technology journal paper 2 because I felt like I learned a lot of neat and different things. I also look back on our readings and discussions and think that we had some really great ones. I am enjoying creating my website but also think that it would be really neat to have like a one credit class or something or training to see all the different things you could do. They can be useful in the classroom, as of many of the other things we have done. Have a nice weekend everyone!

04/13/09

I am glad that we had a chance to learn about twitter, and about rss. I think that they are very useful however I also think people who are on the computers all the time use it a little more than someone that is just on a couple times throughout the day. I try to distance myself from it at times because I find myself on the computer way to much!!! I have been playing around with my website at home and I am gaining confidence in myself the more I play with it. I am finding it useful in designing the website and I hope that I have a chance to show it someday. Well I hope that everyone is enjoying their spring break the weather has been pretty decent for us, a little chilly at times with the wind but just the same at least the sun is shining. I hope everyone has a great week, and see you Monday :)

04/06/09

Overall I thought that the class discussions were very interesting and that we all have differ net views and perspectives on technology and it is interesting to hear all our opinions. The website is going to be very interesting, but I have to say I am a little frustrated at this point because what I did in class is not right, and I can't figure out how to re-do it at home alone. Aggghhh lol Anyways for anyone that knows what they are doing feel free to offer your advice :) I do think it will be great when it's done and I hope that I can know enough about it to keep it going. There is a lot of potential with the websites.

Lesson Plan W. Tech.

Lesson Plan
Title: On a Treasure Hunt
Subject: Social Studies
Time: 45 minutes/1hour
Grade: 2

Objective: Students will be able to demonstrate how maps can be used to locate objects.
Students will also be able to label a map with the cardinal directions.

Standards:
SS3: Geography

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the geography of the interdependent world in which we live—local, national, and global—including the distribution of people, places, and environments over the Earth’s surface.
Performance Indicator SS3.E.1B:
Students draw maps and diagrams that serve as representations of places, physical features, and objects.

Anticipatory Set: I will make a “detailed” map of the school, and together the students and I will follow the map to find the object at the end. I will point out details such as colors, objects, and directions.

Materials:
Crayons/markers/art materials
Computer/s
Screen/Smart board

Procedure:
After we go on our treasure map the kids and I will do a KWL on what they know about maps, and what they would like to know.
Then we will watch the video from curious George.
http://pbskids.org/curiousgeorge/video/video_pop.html?clip=interstitials/210B&title=Treasure%20Maps&ar=16:9&filetype=wmv&bandwidth=_hi
Then we will talk about landmarks. What landmarks did we use on our map of the school?
Why do we have maps?
What might we find on maps? Come up with ideas from the kids, and then take out a basic map and see what they can notice.
Then we will watch…

http://www.asset.asu.edu/new/mathactive/lessons/10/interface.swf
(this site is a great way to help students remember the cardinal directions, but can also be interactive)
I will direct this to help show the students what the cardinal directions are.
I will use a smart board to complete some of the activities together. I will also set this site up on the back computers for students to practice during their choice time/free time or center time. (this will depend on how well the students understand the cardinal directions)
Then the students are going to create a map of their own, including the cardinal directions, and landmarks. They may create a map of their choice, but after the make the map, they must write down the directions for someone to follow if they were to use their map.

Closure: I will bring the group together and we will stand up on the carpet facing north. I will give the student directions in which they will turn.

Assessment: I will be collecting their maps and their directions to see if they gave accurate directions, as well as included cardinal directions and landmarks.


This lesson will be used to get children familiar with mapping. I want them to see how important it is when giving directions that they include many descriptive things such as landmarks, cardinal directions etc. I included the first video because it is a great way to get the children interested and excited. The second site I enjoyed because I can have it be interactive as we do the activities together, and I can also set it up on the other computers for students to practice and explore after we look at it as whole group.

03/23/09

I found that Mondays class was very beneficial. I like how we used the smart board and websites as a combination. I am really enjoying the smart board in the school that I am in right now, and think there are so many things that we can learn to do. In the class that I am in during the morning we use it to do all of our calendar activities. They kids love it. Who would have known that counting, and doing the weather would be so engaging and exciting. I am also excited to start learning about how to create a website. I have never done this so it will be a challenge but I think a useful thing to have for the future.

Smart board

Hey guys just wanted to let you know that there are some really neat things to do under the gallery section in the notebook page. If you go under Essentials for educators you can access things like dissecting a frog, you can put together a human heart and make the guy start breathing, and all sorts of neat stuff. One of the tutorials does touch on this, but if you play around with it even more you will find all sorts of neat stuff. Just a little update :)