Final Reflection

What - We finished up our digital stories, or in the case of my group fixed my mistake! I really enjoyed working on our digital stories and think ours turned out great! This class has been so much fun and I have learned so much. I really wish we had another technology class.
Now what- Now I am going to use the tools we have learned in my lessons plans for the future. I think adding technology to your lessons is a great way to make lesson more interesting for my students. Digital stories were my favorite thing we learned in class and I want to be able to use them in my own class. I've talked about this in previous blogs. I would like to teach my students how to make digital stories in the future.
So what - Technology is a great way to increase the learning environment in the classroom. I plan to use technology as much as possible in the future. I love all of the tools we have learned and can think of several great ways to incorporate them in to my classroom. Thanks Doc. Waters
Video - the video was about the millennial generation. Its amazing the access students have to technology. Times are changing so fast, children are growing up in a different world and we need to incorporate that in to my classroom. Times have change and the way we teach needs to change also.

Digital Story Reflection

What - We worked on our digital stories today. It was nice to get class time, I learned how to add sound from garage band and how to put a picture on powerpoint and then add it to our story. This is a fun project. 

So What - We are doing ours on the civil war, I think this would be a great eye opener for students. Digital stories are a great way to introduce a new subject and get students excited to learn. Its a great learning tool as well. they are time consuming, it not something you would be able to do every day. I also think it could be effective to have my students make their own digital stories as a learning tool. Instead of writing a report they could make a digital story. 

Now What- I loved making our digital story. I will definitely make digital stories in my own classroom as a way to introduce topics. I will also have my students write their own video.

Video- I used my friends computer and it would not support this video. It asked me to down load a new media player which, I didn't want to download something on her computer that she wasn't going to use. sorry 

Field Experience

During field our class had 20 computers in the classroom. It was amazing how much we were able to use, it increased our ability to use discovery learning. Its hard to imagine teaching without the computers. The school also had a lot of access to technology through the school. The teacher is getting an endorsement in technology. We had our students record a song about the branches of the government on garage band. The students are great at using the computers, I had a student teaching me shortcuts I can use on my mac. I was truly impressed with their ability to use computers and other technologies.  The class loved this assignment and made some great songs. Field was so much fun!  

Field: week 1

What: we were introduced to our teacher, students, and class this week. Our teacher has 17 computers in his room, it is really awesome. 

So What: Our teacher has 17 computers in his room, it is really awesome, as a result he able to do some amazing hands on lessons. He was teaching about different forms of governments and had his students pair up and use the computer to find as many forms of government and write a definition about them as they could. The kids got really into this because it was a competition. It was great. 

Now What: We are planing our lesson integration technology, the plan is to have the students write a song about the branches of the government and record it on garage band. I am really excited to do this with our class.

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.

Week 5 Reflection

What - We learned about webquest this week in class. We learned how to make  a webquest and started working on one in class. We had the chance to brain storm ideas on the webquest that we will make.

So What - 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 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 Reflection - (Surface computers) The video on surface computers, was really neat. That would be so cool, if someday we could have these computers in my classroom. I loved how they just placed the camera on the computer and it took the picture off, I am curious if you would have to have a certain type of camera, or of any digital camera would work. It looks easy to use. They said that somedays they will be everywhere, it our virtual world. 

Week 4 Reflection

What- Today we learned how to make podcast and video cast. It was awesome! This is my favorite thing I've learned so far in any technology class. I found out about a tool I have on my computer called garage band, it was super cool. We had a lot of fun making our podcast and I look for to making our video demonstration this week.

So What- This will be a great, fun tool to use with our students. I could have my class make a  podcast or video cast in groups as a fun way to assess what they have learned on subjects, they could do the video as if they are teaching another grade the material or next years students. Students would love to make video cast and it would let me know exactly how much they have learned. I could use podcast as away to introduced a new topic. 

Now What- I loved making our podcast and I can't wait to use them in my own classroom or during field work. I would like to let my students break up into  groups and make their own  videos, I would have loved this as a students and I think most children would enjoy making podcast or video cast.

Video Reflection- I already thought it was a great Idea to have your students blog. The video just gave me more reasons to want to use them in my classroom. Blogs give our students an opportunity believe skills such as creativity and literacy to name a few. Blogs are great and more fun then writing in a paper journal.

Week 3 Reflection

This week we used google presentation. I really like the idea of google presentation but I HATED it. I found that powerpoint is easier to use and can do more. I also didn't like it because it wasn't working well, probably due to the entire class being on at once. I don't think I will use this again but it could be used as a student when a presentation is due or as a teacher you could have your class make a powerpoint together. It could also used as a teacher with your partner teacher to create lesson plans or to make presentations for faculty meetings. I personally would rather my class use powerpoint. I do realize that google presentation has its perks and could be beneficial in a classroom, I personally did not like this tool.

Week 2 Reflection

This week in class we covered everything google. My favorite tool we covered was the google document. This is an awesome tool to use as a college student. If fact my group for psychology decided to use it for our group project. Not only is it a site that is helpful as a student but it would be useful as a teacher. I want to use it as a Journal for my class. They could write weekly and I could go in and respond to their entries. I think that would make writing in their journal more enjoyable. We also went over google calendar, I think it is a great organizing tool. I would like to incorporate that into a google site for my class. that way students wouldn't have an excuse for not knowing what is due or announcements. I also think the google sites would be a great tool to use in my classroom. I think parents would enjoy having a way to know what is going on in their child's life at school. Today was a lot of fun.

The weekly video "pay attention" sort of hit home to me. First I can't believe only 50 percent of students graduate high school. I like the ideals it has about using cell phones in our classrooms. I've heard you say it but I could never figure out how that would work. I love the idea of having our students take out their cell phone and get the answers to a survey from someone outside of the classroom. I definitely want to do this is my classroom. I can just imagine a class having so much fun with that. This clip showed me  how important it is to be a good teacher and keep your students interested.

My Dream Classroom

       My school is located in Iowa. It is an old stone school with vines growing up the side. The neighborhood is pretty and clean. We have a giant playground with swings. There is a large grass field for the students to play sports. Inside my school the hallways are clean and well kept. Students art work is hanging outside all the class room for everyone to view. My class has a bulletin board with pictures and an "about me" for each of my students. My classroom has windows with bright curtains covering one wall. We have a class pet (fish, frog, or snake) that sits on the counter. All of my walls have bright bulletin boards and posters. My classroom has fish line tied to paper clips hanging from the ceiling which we hang different art project on. The tables are arranged in two lines down each side of  my class room. I have one computer for every two students. In the front of my classroom I have a smart board and a rug for circle time. 

       I will be teaching fifth grade. My students will be respectful, positive, hardworking, curious, and energetic. We will have fun while getting our work done. The parents will be involved and respectful. My colleges will be energetic, fun and hard working. We will be happy to help one another. Our school will be an inviting place for all students, parents, and teachers.

      We will do lots of hands on activities. We will utilizes many forms of technology. I will plan web quest. We will have a class blog and google site. We will use our computers often and I will teach using lessons on my smart board. We will all enjoy coming to school and learning from one another.