Monday, April 27, 2009
04/27/09 (blog questions)
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!
Friday, April 24, 2009
04/20/09
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
04/13/09
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
04/06/09
Thursday, April 2, 2009
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…
(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.
Friday, March 27, 2009
03/23/09
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Smart board
Thursday, March 12, 2009
03/09/09
I also think that the E-field trips was a great idea, and that we may have to start doing things along this line. It seems with budget cuts being made that field trips is unfortunately one of them that is being cut as well. Just something we need to keep in mind with the schools.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Adaptive Technology
If i had a visual impaired student in my class, I would definitely consider getting this software. I think that having both options for that student is very beneficial and will help them in a classroom. I would have to make sure that my materials were accessible on the computer for that student to access, and I would also need to make sure that this person is comfortable with this software. I do think that as a teacher you need to be aware of how you would use this in a classroom, and I would definitely have this set up for my student to use at anytime they felt it was necessary. I would also have to update this each day for the following day. This would be a lot of work but feel that once you got a handle on the program it would be easy. I also think maybe you could scan things into the computer that you might be using to make it quicker. I would probably use this on a laptop that I would have available to this student, because I would want this student to be able to use this, but also be part of the group. Therefore, having a laptop they could bring it with them where ever they needed. I also think that this might be easier for the other students because you would have the class as a whole group and would not have to divide your attention between the two, which may cause some disruption. My strategies would also change in that if I had a hands on activity, I would have to make sure that student could join along with us. I also think that things in my room would change as well, such as making sure that things were labeled differently so that this person could read/or see these as well. For example I may have to create things in braille or I just may have to adjust the colors for this person. If I was doing a reading lesson I would have to make sure that this was available in text for the program, and the student. The arrangement of my class would have to be set up differently as well. So not only do you have to change your strategies in the classroom, but the entire dynamics of it as well. I will do my best to accommodate any student with any difficulty in my classroom. I found this software program fun to learn about, and also very beneficial for the classroom.
Here is a website that I visited that I learned a lot from and found it interesting to actually see a clip of it being used.
http://www.aisquared.com/
Saturday, February 28, 2009
02/23/09
I do feel that student's who copy word for word should be corrected, but I do that we need to make sure that we address this issue before, and do things to prevent this from happening. For example make sure we show them the difference between good websites and the ones that are not so good for research. If we take these precautions and do everything we can to prevent this and then it happens I think they should be punished but they should also be asked to redo the paper. They do need to learn from their mistakes as well.
I thought that the topics we talked about Monday night will help us have different views in these subject matters in the classroom.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
02/16/09
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Article 2
This next article examined math and reading through a study. In March of this year, the Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences issued its report of a study conducted by Mathematical Policy Research, Inc., on the efficacy of computer software on the teaching
of math and reading. It specifically focused on whether students had higher reading or math test scores when teachers had access to selected software products designed to support learning in reading and math. It was not looking at how it effected students in the whole spectrum, therefore it is important to consider that it is not looking at the other subjects. The study involved 439 teachers in 132 schools and 33 school districts.
They were grouped into four areas: first grade reading, fourth grade reading, sixth grade
math, and algebra (typically in ninth grade).In all of the four studies it showed that the results were "products did not affect test scores by amounts that were statistically different from zero."
They looked at how this was both bad and good news to schools. Bad news because many schools have contributed large amounts of money towards technology, but the good news is they are saying that less expensive, conventional teaching methods seem to be as successful as high-tech methods.
I think that this article backs up how I feel about math and technology. I think that it is a great tool, and should be used in schools. However, I feel that math is a hard subject that can be taught completely on technology. Yes, I feel that it can be implemented and used successfully, but teachers have to know how to do this. I think the results may vary also depending on what type of class you are studying. For example this study was done on a "low poverty" school. You have to think about what kinds of technology they used, and what did they do with it.
Barlow, D. (2007). The Teachers Lounge: Closing in on 2014. The Education Digest, 73(4), 66-69
Article
I think that it is interesting to see that technology is not something that we have here but that it is used all over in classrooms. I think this would be a great way to present lessons and also have them working hands on. I did take note that this was a secondary school, therefore I do think that it is a little easier to incorporate. Again you have to address the students that you are working with in a way that is most useful to them.
Zuger, S. (2008). Interactive Math Classrooms Adds Up To Success. Technology and Learning, 29(3), 14
Article 1
where they evaluated the features of various pre K-12 mathematics instructional software and websites, and designed technology-based mathematics lessons. The training sessions promoted the pre-service teachers’ awareness of, appreciation for, and confidence in their ability to analyze, select, and craft technology-based mathematics lessons. The teachers were asked to design a lesson plan that incorporated technology into their lessons using the criteria that was suggested.
Findings show that when computers are properly used the can improve student mathematics achievement as well as enhance learning throughout the school. They also state that using technology in the classroom has higher student achievement, self concept,attitude, and teacher-student interaction. Even though studies have shown this improvement and positiveness of using technology, many are finding little teacher use technology because of their lack of training. Throughout the training sessions they also investigated using websites and software that could be incorporated into their math lessons. Some things that the teachers thought were useful were: if they contained manipulative's, visual displays and multiple representations would help with conceptual development, while those that engaged students in real life situations were best used for problem solving and practical applications. So again depending on what the site or software was used for would depend on what they wanted to cover.
After the training sessions they asked for the teachers response's of what they thought was positive or negative about incorporating technology into their math lessons. 94% thought of it as a positive, and the only negative was when they couldn't get it to work successfully. 86% said the viewed software and websites as great tools that can promote best practices and provide great content information. Many were very motivational as well. “Instructional technology can enhance the mathematics learning environment by providing visual demonstrations,interdisciplinary connections, and practical applications,” “Teachers don’t have to hunt for information about math topics,” “Software and websites can readily give teachers the information they need to understand the topics they teach,” and“Instructional technology helps the teacher bring mathematics to life with real-world connections.” 57% of them said that they were now more aware of the use of technology and how it can conceptualize and apply mathematics.
Overall this study was done to help people see that technology is a great tool used to help teach math, but that it does require teachers to have efficient and in depth training of how to do this. It will have a positive result, and has potential to open doors that have not been opened before.
Mistretta, R.M. (2005).Integrating Technology Into The Mathematics Classroom:The Role of Teacher Preparation Programs. The Mathematics Teacher, 15(1), 18-24
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Interesting website
http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/math/time/
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
02/02/09
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
First Time
This is my sister and I. We were in North Carolina on a boat tour.