This semester is finally coming to a close! I cannot believe that the months have already gone by. It is surreal to think that I came into this semester not knowing a thing about technology and what kinds of technology I was going to use in my classroom! I am leaving more confident that I will have some skills to bring as a teacher in the classroom as far as technology goes. I have always been frightened that my lack of knowledge for technology would show when I needed to provide more examples and more interactive ways for my students to learn. The good news is that this semester I have learned how I could do both!
Even thought I felt like the flip chart was probably the most challenging and frustrating activity for us to do, I know for a fact that all the frustration and pulling out my hair was for a reason. I was placed for the past three weeks at Dogwood Elementary where I heard teachers rant and rave about their flip charts and how awesome they are! The teachers would come in and talk about all the interactive flip charts that they have either made or bought offline. I think that it is so neat to have the resources to be interactive with the students and make learning fun in a whole new way that I never knew in elementary school!
I also really enjoyed the digital storyboard and could see how that would be a fun way for the students to engage with their work more and make one for themselves! It would be cool to see them make a digital storyboard for a group project that I have them do. It would really engage the creative ones and help them work well in groups.
There are many more projects that I found interesting and I cannot wait to explore them some more in the years to come!
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Instruction for the flipchart
The newest project that the class is doing is the flipchart. The flipchart is an interactive way for students to get engaged in the class and learn the ins and outs of the flipchart. The class has been introduced to the concept of the SMARTBoard in general from the beginning of the semester. We have been able to see how the board works and recently we have been able to see examples of how to use the board in new and innovative ways so that the students will be able to interact, too.
One helpful thing that I found from the instruction of the flipchart is how we were interacting with it before the assignment of making our own was even close to happening. We were able to get a taste of what the flipchart was like when we had to open part of the study guide for the midterm that was used with the flipchat. By doing this, I was able to see different methods to interact with the students to have them see the answers or have them write their own answers in the flipchart. I thought this aspect was extremely useful.
If I could change something about the lessons, I would say that I would like to have more experience with the flipcharts prior to making our own. I did like how we have other examples of other student's flipcharts. It is helpful to see the different ways that they created theirs. I also think we should have more days to work on ours in class because it is so complicated to figure out some of the methods of the technology. Besides that I really enjoy it and would recommend it to a lot of upcoming teachers!
One helpful thing that I found from the instruction of the flipchart is how we were interacting with it before the assignment of making our own was even close to happening. We were able to get a taste of what the flipchart was like when we had to open part of the study guide for the midterm that was used with the flipchat. By doing this, I was able to see different methods to interact with the students to have them see the answers or have them write their own answers in the flipchart. I thought this aspect was extremely useful.
If I could change something about the lessons, I would say that I would like to have more experience with the flipcharts prior to making our own. I did like how we have other examples of other student's flipcharts. It is helpful to see the different ways that they created theirs. I also think we should have more days to work on ours in class because it is so complicated to figure out some of the methods of the technology. Besides that I really enjoy it and would recommend it to a lot of upcoming teachers!
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Flip Charts
For the past week, the class has been introduced to a new concept of modern teaching: flip charts. When I think of teaching students, I think of having them do worksheets at their desk, group projects at centers, or a teacher directly instructing the students. What I do not see a lot of is student interactions at the front of the class. With the new introduction of this nifty technology of flip charts, I can see my students being able to mold their learning styles in new ways. How can a flip chart add to the students' learning styles? Flip charts are on interactive smart boards that are positioned at the front of the class. Students are able to write and do many other cool things on the smart board. With the ability for students to engage with the rest of the class with these smart boards, the students are able to show others their work and explain how they came to their conclusion. If the students are able to teach others their ways of figuring out the answer, the other students are able to see various perspectives instead of their own and the teacher's.
Another thing that I found interesting and helpful about the smart board is that the students are able to take informal quizzes on the board by placing their answers in the right spots on charts. By doing this, they are able to talk about how they came up with the answers and help challenge the other students to come up with the answers, too.
One thing that I am nervous about to learning how to make these and finding out different ways to engage the class. I think this project coming up where we have to make our own flip charts will be really helpful for me to find out new ways to do this.
Another thing that I found interesting and helpful about the smart board is that the students are able to take informal quizzes on the board by placing their answers in the right spots on charts. By doing this, they are able to talk about how they came up with the answers and help challenge the other students to come up with the answers, too.
One thing that I am nervous about to learning how to make these and finding out different ways to engage the class. I think this project coming up where we have to make our own flip charts will be really helpful for me to find out new ways to do this.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Digital Image Project
This week, we were asked to make a digital image project. For this project, we were asked to take pictures of various objects either inside the building or outside the building. My group's topic was "opposites".
When we were finished taking pictures, we uploaded them from our iPhones to dropbox on the computer. We had to resize them. This aspect of the project was extremely useful to me. I had always wondered how to resize images to make them more computer-friendly. The images that we took were fine for the website because they were already 72 megapixels and around 6x8. Because of this, we didn't have to resize. It was still useful to learn this tool because of future pictures that are taken on a camera instead of on an iPhone.
We also learned how to make a Google presentation for our images. This was helpful because it is always on the computer and we never have to worry about saving it to our computer and either emailing it to ourselves or having a flash drive. Instead, the PowerPoint is always on the internet and we can access it from anywhere.
This project was useful for many reasons and I am excited to learn more about how to edit and use digital images.
When we were finished taking pictures, we uploaded them from our iPhones to dropbox on the computer. We had to resize them. This aspect of the project was extremely useful to me. I had always wondered how to resize images to make them more computer-friendly. The images that we took were fine for the website because they were already 72 megapixels and around 6x8. Because of this, we didn't have to resize. It was still useful to learn this tool because of future pictures that are taken on a camera instead of on an iPhone.
We also learned how to make a Google presentation for our images. This was helpful because it is always on the computer and we never have to worry about saving it to our computer and either emailing it to ourselves or having a flash drive. Instead, the PowerPoint is always on the internet and we can access it from anywhere.
This project was useful for many reasons and I am excited to learn more about how to edit and use digital images.
Wet
Dry
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Resource Wiki
The past few weeks my TPTE Elementary team and I have been working on Resource Wikis. We have seen how effective team activties are using wikis for projects for the children but it was really neat to see how effective the wikis can be when using it for projects for different teaching teams.
One thing that I liked about the resource wiki that we put up was that it was a collaborated effort. We all made sure that we had five sources, but at the same time we could all check each other to make sure we had contributed something to the project. Along with accountability for the project, I also like that we could also edit the font for each other in the different pages. We all wanted to make sure that the wiki looked uniform, so when we went on the page, one person could change the font to make sure that it fit with what we wanted it to look like. It was really helpful for everyone to be on the same page and to want to have a uniformed wiki.
Another thing that was my favorite about this particular wiki is that I can actually see myself using this when I become a teacher. I could possibly see myself using the projects for the students but I could really see how collaborated effort to post interesting sites and activities that teachers could use in the classroom could really help a lot of different activities without having to make a ton of emails and send them to each other about different websites and resources. I think it would be extremely effective to make a combined wiki site for all the teachers that are in the school to really make sure we are connected as a team and sharing useful resources.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Wiki Website about German
I found a blog about teaching students German. This particular website was for students who will speak primary German which means the beginning level. I took German in fifth grade and I found this website very helpful and interactive for upper elementary to high schoolers who are learning primary German to look at.
The blog was really interesting with a lot of interactive activities for the students such as videos for them to watch or different links to pages with vocabulary for them to look at. The objective that the teacher set out was helpful for the students to know what they are looking for.
I reviewed a lot of different wikis and this is the one that I found to be the nicest laid out and easier to navigate. There was not a lot of information on the page which was really helpful for me. I also liked that the teacher had different activities and assignments for the students to do. It was easily laid out and helpful for me and others to see what that particular teacher wanted.
What I did not like was that on the sidebar of the wiki the words were all in German. This is fine for the students who are working on their homework but if the parents are trying to navigate through the website they would not know where to go. Besides that I thought the website was very interactive and useful!
The blog was really interesting with a lot of interactive activities for the students such as videos for them to watch or different links to pages with vocabulary for them to look at. The objective that the teacher set out was helpful for the students to know what they are looking for.
I reviewed a lot of different wikis and this is the one that I found to be the nicest laid out and easier to navigate. There was not a lot of information on the page which was really helpful for me. I also liked that the teacher had different activities and assignments for the students to do. It was easily laid out and helpful for me and others to see what that particular teacher wanted.
What I did not like was that on the sidebar of the wiki the words were all in German. This is fine for the students who are working on their homework but if the parents are trying to navigate through the website they would not know where to go. Besides that I thought the website was very interactive and useful!
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Inquiry Based Activity
For this week's objective, we were asked to make an inquiry based activity using wiki. I am beginning to form a better understanding on what a wiki is and how effective it can be in teacher. I was really excited to start on this project.
For this particular project, I decided to chose a first grade lesson of helping students identify and categorize shapes. This seems very rudimentary but that is the point. The first graders need to form a basis of understanding these shapes. Therefore I made sure to implement different methods through online resources.
One thing that I really liked about the wiki page being available for the students is that I was able to easily put up information for the students to go through. For instance, in my wiki I wanted to provide a variety of sources for students to check out so they could get a better grasp on material. Because of this, I was able to paste information on my wiki page such as interactive games for them to classify the shapes, a video for them to learn more about the shapes and hear their names and see pictures of them, and I was also to have a brief multiple choice section so that the students could test their knowledge after going through the games and video.
I had a massive "ah-ha" moment when I was able to put together how I could implement the material that I was learning about and doing in the actual classroom. By developing a wiki board for the students in my class, I was able to see that it could be really useful for how I want to teach particular material. I think it is an amazing idea to bring in technology for students who are already using technology in their everyday life to teach them more about subjects that might be easier to have hands-on methods such as shapes. It will be helpful to use a resource like this because in order for me to make sure they are comprehending how to sort and categorize shapes in the class, I need to assess them somehow and by pulling in different methods such as games and multiple choice questions I am able to do this more effectively.
For this particular project, I decided to chose a first grade lesson of helping students identify and categorize shapes. This seems very rudimentary but that is the point. The first graders need to form a basis of understanding these shapes. Therefore I made sure to implement different methods through online resources.
One thing that I really liked about the wiki page being available for the students is that I was able to easily put up information for the students to go through. For instance, in my wiki I wanted to provide a variety of sources for students to check out so they could get a better grasp on material. Because of this, I was able to paste information on my wiki page such as interactive games for them to classify the shapes, a video for them to learn more about the shapes and hear their names and see pictures of them, and I was also to have a brief multiple choice section so that the students could test their knowledge after going through the games and video.
I had a massive "ah-ha" moment when I was able to put together how I could implement the material that I was learning about and doing in the actual classroom. By developing a wiki board for the students in my class, I was able to see that it could be really useful for how I want to teach particular material. I think it is an amazing idea to bring in technology for students who are already using technology in their everyday life to teach them more about subjects that might be easier to have hands-on methods such as shapes. It will be helpful to use a resource like this because in order for me to make sure they are comprehending how to sort and categorize shapes in the class, I need to assess them somehow and by pulling in different methods such as games and multiple choice questions I am able to do this more effectively.
Friday, February 8, 2013
WebQuest
This past week we were asked to explore a variety of WebQuests. WebQuest is a resource for teachers to explore a variety of projects that the students in the classroom can do. While I was exploring, I noticed WebQuests that were helpful and some that did not make much sense. As a teacher, I would like to find a site that my students can easily access from home so that their parents will also understand what the objectives are in a simple way.
One thing that I found very useful about these websites is that they are an easy way for teachers to find well-developed tasks (if the site is good) about a variety of things that the students may be learning about. It has everything from activities that the students can use to the grading scale of what the teachers will use to evaluate their work.
One of the useful websites that I found was the Underground Railroad WebQuest. This WebQuest was organized and useful. It also had a variety of sources that the students could explore while also keeping it relevant to the topic.
However, the WebQuest about ice cream was not useful. It was not well-organized and did not do a good job of explaining the task to myself and to the students. I also did not find it very relevant to not only the age group that it was targeting but also in general.
Overall I find WebQuests to be an interesting source for teachers to use but not one that I will find myself using a lot.
One thing that I found very useful about these websites is that they are an easy way for teachers to find well-developed tasks (if the site is good) about a variety of things that the students may be learning about. It has everything from activities that the students can use to the grading scale of what the teachers will use to evaluate their work.
One of the useful websites that I found was the Underground Railroad WebQuest. This WebQuest was organized and useful. It also had a variety of sources that the students could explore while also keeping it relevant to the topic.
However, the WebQuest about ice cream was not useful. It was not well-organized and did not do a good job of explaining the task to myself and to the students. I also did not find it very relevant to not only the age group that it was targeting but also in general.
Overall I find WebQuests to be an interesting source for teachers to use but not one that I will find myself using a lot.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Website Evaluation
For our last assignment, we were asked to evaluate a website. I chose PBS Teachers to evaluate. This website was full of interesting information. They had various resources for teachers to use in their different subject areas that they may be teaching about such as science, math, health and exercise, reading, and other subjects. I also appreciated the fact that it was clearly divided into grade levels so that the teachers could effectively look through the different information without having to also find age-appropriate materials.
When evaluating the site, I found it difficult to find who the publisher was. I have never had to navigate through a site while looking for a variety of information such as publishers or other copyright materials. I did notice, after searching for quite a while, that at the bottom of the screen there was a link titled "Private Policy" and under this link was all the information that I was having trouble looking for. After finding this, I was able to more fully understand a variety of policies that a website has.
Lastly, this evaluation tool really helped me see why it is important to know a website fully before allowing students to access it or for me to look to it for other types of information. If it was a random website that was not run by such an reputable company such as PBS, I would not know if I could trust the information that it was putting out. Also, it was extremely helpful that they had a page full of their credentials. As an educator, I feel so much more comfortable pulling information out for my class to review. Because of this activity, I now know what to look for in websites.
When evaluating the site, I found it difficult to find who the publisher was. I have never had to navigate through a site while looking for a variety of information such as publishers or other copyright materials. I did notice, after searching for quite a while, that at the bottom of the screen there was a link titled "Private Policy" and under this link was all the information that I was having trouble looking for. After finding this, I was able to more fully understand a variety of policies that a website has.
Lastly, this evaluation tool really helped me see why it is important to know a website fully before allowing students to access it or for me to look to it for other types of information. If it was a random website that was not run by such an reputable company such as PBS, I would not know if I could trust the information that it was putting out. Also, it was extremely helpful that they had a page full of their credentials. As an educator, I feel so much more comfortable pulling information out for my class to review. Because of this activity, I now know what to look for in websites.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Wikis!
My newest endeavors of attempting to understand the world of technology has started to show its advantages. I have never been keen on technology and haven't really tried to understand the complexities of it. Most recently, we, as a technology class, have been asked to make a wiki page and learn the ins and outs of it. I didn't think it would be that challenging, but I came to find out that wikis were slightly more challenging for me to understand at first than blogs and websites.
I have always heard of blogs. My mom is a fan of the Pioneer Woman's blog about different types of fun recipes or my aunt loves to look at various teaching blogs to get fun and creative ideas but the concept of a wiki was new to me. I heard of wikipedia but how would something like wikipedia apply to teaching?
A wiki was far more than I could have imagined. Why are wikis so different from blogs? Why should I chose a wiki in my classroom over some other forms of technology? In a wiki website, you create a page with your students. For instance, the page might be titled "Rome". As a class, students may be asked to be put in pairs to do different aspects of Rome. It could be things such as "agriculture", "culture", "gods", etc. In these various pages, students can go in an add information, pictures, etc to their page for other students to access. Not only do the pairs all have access to the different pages, but all of the students do. So if one of the team members wanted to add information to the wiki page, all they would have to do is go in and edit it. They are able to access it at any time and do whatever they want to the page. As a teacher, I would also have access to this page to monitor the students' responses and make sure they are appropriate. This is different from a blog because of the ability to edit others' post and because all the students can access the same page.
Wikis provide a lot of interesting teaching styles that I cannot wait to implement into my classroom.
I have always heard of blogs. My mom is a fan of the Pioneer Woman's blog about different types of fun recipes or my aunt loves to look at various teaching blogs to get fun and creative ideas but the concept of a wiki was new to me. I heard of wikipedia but how would something like wikipedia apply to teaching?
A wiki was far more than I could have imagined. Why are wikis so different from blogs? Why should I chose a wiki in my classroom over some other forms of technology? In a wiki website, you create a page with your students. For instance, the page might be titled "Rome". As a class, students may be asked to be put in pairs to do different aspects of Rome. It could be things such as "agriculture", "culture", "gods", etc. In these various pages, students can go in an add information, pictures, etc to their page for other students to access. Not only do the pairs all have access to the different pages, but all of the students do. So if one of the team members wanted to add information to the wiki page, all they would have to do is go in and edit it. They are able to access it at any time and do whatever they want to the page. As a teacher, I would also have access to this page to monitor the students' responses and make sure they are appropriate. This is different from a blog because of the ability to edit others' post and because all the students can access the same page.
Wikis provide a lot of interesting teaching styles that I cannot wait to implement into my classroom.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Hello fellow TPTE classmates!
My name is Jenna Watson and I am from Murfreesboro, TN. I have a small family of my mom, dad, and brother. We also have an adopted dog-brother that my parents insist on saying he is their third child. I love my parents so much! Both my mom and dad are goofy and know how to have fun.
I love to work! I make sure that I am booked with activities for myself whether that is working at the after-school program at Cedar Springs, babysitting, bible studies, or hanging out with friends. I love to be intentional with all of the people I encounter and I hope that they are able to feel like they are loved and appreciated by me.
With that being said, I am thrilled to say that I am in the Urban/Multicultural Cohort and I cannot wait to learn more and grow in my ability to teach. Whether it is a paid job or a volunteer position, investing in others is something that I will always enjoy doing. I am excited to invest in the sweet students and staff that I will encounter for the next years teaching. Hopefully they will feel encouraged and know that they are loved and can do anything they set their minds to.
With all of this being said, I am excited to learn how to become an effective teacher. I believe that communication is key in relationships with both my students, peers, and parents that I will be interacting with every day. With the TPTE class that I am enrolled in, I hope it will teach me more about communication in various ways to help parents feel comfortable with my teaching styles by displaying it on a website or having students be involved in various ways with different forms of interactive technology. I want to learn more about what that kind of technology is to get the kids more engaged. I would like to find out more about hands-on technology that the kids can work on in the classroom or any apps that would be good to suggest to parents to allow their kids to use at home. I am excited to see all the ways to implement technology in classrooms so that I may be able to reach a generation that is enthralled with it.
My name is Jenna Watson and I am from Murfreesboro, TN. I have a small family of my mom, dad, and brother. We also have an adopted dog-brother that my parents insist on saying he is their third child. I love my parents so much! Both my mom and dad are goofy and know how to have fun.
I love to work! I make sure that I am booked with activities for myself whether that is working at the after-school program at Cedar Springs, babysitting, bible studies, or hanging out with friends. I love to be intentional with all of the people I encounter and I hope that they are able to feel like they are loved and appreciated by me.
With that being said, I am thrilled to say that I am in the Urban/Multicultural Cohort and I cannot wait to learn more and grow in my ability to teach. Whether it is a paid job or a volunteer position, investing in others is something that I will always enjoy doing. I am excited to invest in the sweet students and staff that I will encounter for the next years teaching. Hopefully they will feel encouraged and know that they are loved and can do anything they set their minds to.
With all of this being said, I am excited to learn how to become an effective teacher. I believe that communication is key in relationships with both my students, peers, and parents that I will be interacting with every day. With the TPTE class that I am enrolled in, I hope it will teach me more about communication in various ways to help parents feel comfortable with my teaching styles by displaying it on a website or having students be involved in various ways with different forms of interactive technology. I want to learn more about what that kind of technology is to get the kids more engaged. I would like to find out more about hands-on technology that the kids can work on in the classroom or any apps that would be good to suggest to parents to allow their kids to use at home. I am excited to see all the ways to implement technology in classrooms so that I may be able to reach a generation that is enthralled with it.
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