My Beliefs

I believe that technology can and does change education for students, technology is a great way to enhance the learning environment. It is important that teacher stay updated with the latest technology. Technology can make classes fun for students and help them to feel successful, when they may have self esteem issues. I have really enjoyed some of the things we have learned in our class, my favorite is the digital story and I think it is important that teacher keep educating themselves. Technology should be integrated into the classroom when ever possible, it encourages group participation and challenges students.  

Lesson Learned

     I really liked how the tools for change slides gave the old ways for teachers and students and the new ways using technology. It really put things in perspective for me, technology really has change the way we learn and I think it is wonderful and that teachers need to embrace technology. I thought the video about social networking was really cool, how they told all of the benefits of using social networks in classrooms. I never thought of the benefits in class, we have talked about it in class yet I never heard any reasons why.  I enjoyed the list of online acronyms, I thought it was funny that people know them, I didn’t even know the ones he said everyone knows, like IMHO and AFK. I’ve never been a fan of acronyms but it might be nice to know them as a teacher. The other memorable article for me was the study about students that do some writing outside of school of some sort. I found it interesting to see the percentages of students that did writing after school and the small percentage that felt those writing effected their writing for school.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths and Weaknesses:

            After completing the survey I have found that some of my strengths are I am able to use word processing to compose documents and print materials. I use the internet often to communicate with others. I am able to use the web to access information. I’ve never done a, video conference but I think that I am good at and am comfortable playing around with technology until I can get it to work as I needed. I feel that a big weakness of mine is, terminology I don’t know the proper terms for computers and software. I also feel like I have a weakness when it comes to computer software and I have never used a spread sheet. Their is always something to learn on the web.

As a teacher I would like to get a technology endorsement. These classes teach a variety of information on tool you can use in an educational setting. Also along with getting this endorsement, you get extra computers for your classroom. This would be a great advantage for teachers. Youtube has lots of video that teach about spreadsheets. If I ever needed to learn how to make one I would just find a few videos on youtube. 

Week 9 reflection

What - This week we learned about digital stories. What they should look like, and to use them in the classroom, ect. We saw some really cool digital stories and discussed what we liked about them and what we didn't. My favorite video was the one on the Holocaust.

So What - Digital stories will be a great tool to use in the classroom. Many of the digital stories we watched as an example left me wanting to learn more about the subject. Its such a great way to start a unit. If we can get students wanting to learn about a subject it will make your job as a teacher much easier.

Now what - I thought digital stories were so cool. I'm very excited to learn how to make one. This would be great to use as a preview to a lot of units. Literature, social studies, science, ect. It would also be really awesome to have your students make their own digital story. They would love it and learn so much researching their topic. Digital stories are so far my favorite thing we have learned about in class.

Video- I'm and not sure if it is just me but the video brought me to a page that wasn't available. I was excited about watching a NASA digital story.

Week 8 reflection

What- Some things we have covered in class have been, google everything , I really liked goggle documents and have used it for several of my assignments since, We made are google sites, podcast, video cast, and web quest. I think my favorite thing we have learned has been the google document, it definitely comes in handy.

So What - These are all great tools that would be extremely handy in our classroom and I plan on using them. I love the video cast and think they could have a place in all of the grades. Google sites are great and would make a great classroom site to keep everyone informed on class activities. We have learned so many great tools!

Now What - Right now I am actually planing a lesson for my field experience and I am working on incorporating technology into a lesson about the branches of the government. I am toying with the idea of making a web quest and having my students go to youtube and watch the school house rock video then make their own. This is just on idea I have had but my cooperating teacher has 15 computers in his classroom, so we should be able to come up with some great lessons using tools we have learned in class.

Video- I don't think we have a video this week at least I hope not because I couldn't find anything. Fall break was great, I was able to catch up on lots of home work.

Week 7 reflection

What -Again this week, we worked on our webquest, this week we put the final touches on our webquest. It was nice having the class time to work on them. I was feeling very stressed about the assignment but everything was better after class.

So What - I really like making the webquest, again I don't like that we have to make it on a power point. It seems pointless to make a webquest on a powerpoint but I like power point so it is a good way to learn more about power points. Web quest are a great tool that we can use in our classrooms. Webquest are a great way for children to safely surf the web and explore certain topics. They can be used in any subject and allow for a great deal of creativity for the teacher and students.

Now What-  I found out that the class I will be doing field in has computers for every two students, which makes webquest a possibility. We also are probably teaching on the branches of the government. I could have my class pair up and look up the different branches of the government on a webquest. Also My group is working on a plan for a literature lesson. I think it will be very helpful for students learning to write a paper.I would like to use this or something like that in my class. The students will explore a website that teaches them about writing styles and then they will chose one and write a short story.  These are a couple example of the many ways you can use webquest.

Video - I could figure out which video you wanted us to watch (school house rock nouns are person, place and thing) The link just took me to teacher tube, I typed "school house rock nouns are person place and things" it gave over 4,000 possibilities. The one I watched was of children singing in another language. I didn't really get anything out of this video.

Refection week 6

What - This week we learned how to put our webquest on powerpoints and more about how to make  a webquest and contiuned working on ours in class. I like that you have an example for us to check out.

So What - Web quest are great, I don't like that we have to make it on a power point but I do like power points.Web quest are a great tool that we can use in our classrooms. They are a great way for children to safely surf the web and explore certain topics. They can be used in any subject and allow for a great deal of creativity for the teacher and students.

Now What-   My group is working on a plan for a literature lesson. I think it will be very helpful for students learning to write a paper.I would like to use this or something like that in my class. The students will explore a website that teaches them about writing styles and then they will chose one and write a short story.  This is one example of the many ways you can use webquest. 

Video - I could figure out which video you wanted us to watch (we didn't start the fire) The link just took me to teacher tube, I watched a video called we didn't start the fire that did a time line with the song. It was cute, but I don't think this is what you wanted us to watch.