Last Day

Today on our last day of class we all got into groups and had a scenario we were supposed to role play. We were supposed to discuss it and come up with a solution that we thought fit best. Some groups used the science sim application on the computer to discuss the scenario and others got into groups and discussed it face to face. We had a video camera we used to record our conversation while talking and the other group recorded their screen conversation. I was in a group that got face to face. It was a lot better this way because science sim doesn't always work that well. I probably wouldn't use science sim in my classroom it a little more advanced for elementary. I did like getting in groups and using the video cameras to record what we were talking about. That is actually something I would use in my classroom. It was a great class and i've really learned a lot over the semester.

Website Evaluation

To start class off today we went into a classroom at Edith Bowen to see how he is using technology. It was way cool to go in there and see all the different things he is using technology for. Most classes won't have everything he did, but it was still cool to see. It was also neat to pair up with a student and have them explain and show us the things they do. They were all very smart with it and knew how to work it. When we returned to class we worked on website evaluations. We were given four different forms for website evaluations and we had four different websites we chose to evaluate using one of the forms. I liked all of the forms they were easy to fill out and were all to the point. It asked basic questions about the site which enabled me to see what the site really was about and if it were credible. I didn't find any hidden secrets, but the forms did ask about the author, so this would help to know if the site could be trusted and was really suitable for my parents, students, or myself to use. And it also helped me identify the real purpose of the site. There is a lot of value in using one of these forms it helped me to find out if the website I was on was really credible and useful for the purposes that I needed it to serve. It took a little time to fill the forms out, but it was useful. I would use the forms if I didn't have mush experience with the site and it would help me evaluate it. I could also use one of the forms as an assignment for my students so they could get experience finding out if it was a credible, useful website or not.

Web Quest

This week we learned about web quests and how to make our own. Brooke, a technology major, came in and talked to us about them and all the special features there are to use. It was through the program instructional architect where we looked at previously done web quests and we could aso search the data base for activities to add to our own. She was very knowledgeable and really helped us out a lot. I think it is a really good program and can offer some good resources for my students in my classroom. I can have a general place that is easy to find for my students to find activities and practice a certain subject. I am making mine on nutrition. I will have activities that will help them learn about serving size and other things and there will also be a few recipes for some healthy snacks they can make as a family. Once I get all my links on the page and all my work done there it will be a great resource to have for my students and their parents. It was kind of hard to find some resources while I was searching in the data base, but there was a way to add my own resources so I added some of my own which worked out. This was a great program to get acquainted with and learn how to do. I plan on using it in my classroom and for my future students.

Web Quest

Today in class we went over web quests. This is an online data base thing for teachers to go and get lesson plans. These lessons are inquiry-based lesson plan ideas which get the students more involved in the lessons and gives them more hands on work. They get involved in the lesson and work things out in order to learn. All of the lessons were very active and had the students involved in some activity that had a purpose behind it. My group looked at one about money for second graders. They had to choose a present to buy for their mom, decide on a way to earn the money for it, then write a story about the job and the present to buy their mom. I really enjoyed looking over this website and getting ideas. I feel it is very important for students to be involved in their learning. When they are actively participating in projects they can better understand the process of what they are learning and are more likely to understand. I got a lot of ideas from this website and plan on using to get ideas for my lessons for my kids. I totally agree that kids need to be involved in their learning and asking questions to learn.

Science Sim

Today's class was very interesting. I had never done work or activities using any kind of program like this. We used science sim, which is a virtual world type thing where we can explore and do different activities. Today we mainly just got ourselves logged in and made sure everything was correctly set up. It took us a while to get every one logged in and to the right place so there was some wasted time where we just sat around. This type of program really isn't my thing, but it was pretty interesting. I'm sure it took a lot of work to set something up like this and get it working correctly. I wasn't sure how we would use this in the classroom, but he told us a few ways. We could have the students gather around the computer and explore different cultures by setting them up on the program. He said its possible o create worlds and add their characteristics from previous knowledge. The students could also role play while logged on because they can chat with each other and just play different roles. Another use would be for a student interested in architecture and design. They can go in and create civilizations and different building and things. It is a very cool program, but I don't see myself using it in my classroom with grade school age students.

Google Survey

Today in class we learned how to create a survey on google. Here is the link for that feel freee to take it anytime so I can get some feedback.
https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dFYwMzFHUUdGMlFqZ2ZDT250UGE1cUE6MA

I enjoyed learning how to create these kind of surveys and it really wasn't too hard to do. I could definitely use this in my classroom. It would give the students a chance to learn more technology and can be an easy way to integrate it into any subject. The students could create a survey about any subject we are learning about. It also gives the students a chance to communicate with each other and learn to read stats once students have responded. It could also be an easy way for me to communicate with parents. I could email out a survey out to parents to get feedback on certain things or even to get ideas about their wants or needs. I could also get students opinions about a certain activity or assignment we had done in class. The students are more likely to be honest over a survey than if I am just asking them. There are many ways to use this in my class and i'm excited to integrate it in.

Spreadsheets and polls

Today in class we learned how to do spreadsheets on microsoft excell. I have done some work with this in the past, but it had been a while and I wasn't quite used to it. It was kind of confusing at first, but once I go the hang of it and understood what I was supposed to be doing it became useful. The main purpose I could see myself using this for would be a grade sheet in class. That is the process we learned today was making a grade sheet. We entered information on students, had to change the size of the cells and put in formulas. This will be very convenient to just enter a formula to calculate a percentage or total score just once instead of a ton of times for each student. This will save a lot of time and will make doing final grades a lot easier. I look forward to using this in my classroom to do my grades and any other thing it will be helpful for. We also learned about how to do polls. I thought that was pretty cool. You can go online type a question and people can text in their answer right then and you can see the progress of the poll. I think the students would enjoy doing this and I could use it in my classroom.

Word processing

This week in class we talked about word processing and how to use that in our classroom. I really liked the activity we did in class wher we started a story on our owm computer and then moved to the next computer and added onto their story and continuing the process. I think students would really enjoy this, because I know I did. It allows them to use their creativity to write the story and to also work off of someone else's ideas and think on the spot. It also helps with their spelling and grammar. A computer with spell check can give the students immediate feedback right as their typing and can see their mistakes right there and fix them on the paper and also mentally. Allowing the student to work on the computer builds their technology skills and also their writing ability. I can see myself implementing this into my classroom and allowing my students to use word processing on their papers.
Another day in class we talked about about copyriting. This was a very important thing to learn about. It is important for me to know the copyright laws so I don't get myself in trouble when i'm presenting things to my class. That way if I know the laws then I can teach them to my students and they'll also know the rules and keep themselves out of trouble.

I just chose a video that looked kind of funny so its just one on debt by school house rock.

YETC

This week in class we went to the YETC lab and the director talked to us about the different resources that are available to us in that lab and also online. It was really helpful to hear from him and to know there is someone that knows a lot about technology that is willing to help us out. He showed us different web sites and links that are available for us to use and there were a ton of different sites. It was nice that he showed us different sites for different subjects, there is a resource somewhere for every topic I'll possibly teach so that will be convenient. I really liked the spelling city one he showed us. It allows the students to get familiar with technology while also working on their spelling. That will save me a lot of time with grading and stuff. In my practicum I haven't seen much technology use in the classroom, so hopefully I'll have more available to me so in my future classroom so i can implement it into my lessons and use the resources out there for me and my students. One thing I have seen in my practicum class is the students can use the teachers computer to take AR reading quizzes on the books they are reading. I think that is really great because it tests the kids knowledge on the book and it helps to see if they are comprehending what they are reading. I definitely want to use that in my future classroom to aid in the kids reading skills. There are a ton of resources and different fun things I can do with technology and I'm way excited to be learning about it and getting ready to teach it in my future classroom! I'm not very good with technology right now, but it will be beneficial for me to learn and be able to implement it into my teaching.

Getting started

Here is my very first blog post. It was a pain to figure out for me, but I finally got it!