Week 10

VIDEO: We didn't start the fire

I really liked the video selection this week about a brief history of the United States.  As a teacher I plan on showing movies like this with my class because I think it is a really good change for them and gives a change of learning atmosphere.  I think that when kids are given mnemonic devices like this to remember information they can retain it a lot longer than just cramming right before the test.  Events and time periods tend to be really hard to remember and if the students listened to it everyday for a week they would probably have it memorized.  I remember in high school I learned a stupid little rhyme to remember how to spell onomatopoeia and I can still remember it.  I liked this movie because it was put to modern music that most people know the tune to.  Another reason that I liked this movie is because it gave not only events that happened in the government, but also music trends, fashion, books, and more.  I think that when kids learn about history they should learn more than just Harry Truman was president in 1949 but South Pacific was released, Joe Dimaggio became famous etc.  It is helpful to correlate all of this information together because I think it is much easier to remember.  

Reflection: I am not sure if I am supposed to blog for week 8 or week 10, but I guess I will just talk about the internet how it is useful/distracting/dangerous/safe for teachers, parents and most of all the students because that has been what I thought about this week.  I think that the internet is one of the greatest creations of all time.  It is amazing that we can keep in contact with people around the world daily.  It is one of the most convenient and efficient ways of sharing, spreading, and discussing information.  Even though it is very beneficial it is also very dangerous.  I think that teenagers and kids are being targeted to get into situations on the internet that are not safe.  Identity theft is a huge crime that is continuing to rise across the world made possible because of the internet.  Whenever students use the internet it is so important to be cautious of the information that they share including pictures and other personal information such as name, age, telephone number, home town, credit card, social security numbers and more.  I use the internet daily for school projects, home work, research, and pleasure.  It can be a very addictive thing so I think it is important to notify our students that only so much time should be spent on the internet per day.  The internet is useful for students to share and exchange information through blogs, instant messaging, facebook, email and more.  It is also very useful for obtaining information and doing research it is much easier to find information than going to the library and searching through shelves and shelves then pages and pages of books.  The only problem with obtaining information from the internet is making sure that it is valid and reliable, although sources like wikipedia are really easy and quick to find information with sometimes the information is written by John Doe a 30 year old high school drop out.  Resources that are very reliable for students are database sites like pioneer.org which includes a variety of databases from ebsco and sirs to the worldbook encyclopedia.  As a teacher I will utilize the internet to keep in contact with the parents, students, and my colleagues.  I will also use it to help me plan lessons and obtain information I need for those lessons.  The internet is a very crucial tool that can be used by parents, students and us teacher but must be used with caution.  

Week 7

VIDEO

All I have to say is, "Wow." That movie is really crazy.  I have an ipod touch and it utilizes the same technology and I know that there are touch screen computers like that now, but some of the things they said in that clip made me think that a lot more is to come in the future.  It was interesting to hear him say that one day our kitchen tables might be made from surface computers like that, or even our coffee tables and we will control our televisions with them, and at the end he even went as far as saying our walls will be made out of these surface computing devices.  The most interesting part of the movie was when he took the photo placed the camera on the surface and it took the picture off the camera and put it on the screen then took the photo from the screen and put it on a wireless device like a cell phone.  I think that in the future kids' desks might be made out of these devices and they will laugh when we tell them that our desks were just made out of wood.  This technology could definitely have an effect on the way that I teach in the future and the interactions I have with my students and the interactions they have with each other.  

UEN REFLECTION

The Utah Education Network is very useful for students and teachers. I want to use it to enrich my classroom. As a new teacher I will use it often so that my lessons are focused on the core curriculum for the grade I teach. I like how they break it down into subjects and grades so the information is easily accessible, organized and user friendly. I think it is really helpful that they give lesson plans because as a new teacher it will be really useful to have all the resources I can get. The lessons are nicely outlined. I like how it lists all the materials that are needed and if you need pictures it provides those as well. These lesson plans will save a lot of time and relieve stress for me as a new teacher. There are a lot of resources that UEN provides for students, teachers, and parents. One of the really useful tools for students is the Pioneer Library. This website is full of reliable databases that are really useful for students in doing research projects, studying, reading, exploring, and it even has games for younger grades. On the UEN website it has a feature called interactives. There are many different interactive websites and games to help students of all levels with different subjects such as math (see left, help George estimate the height of things), reading, writing, listening, health and more. A couple other things that I found interesting were that through UEN students have access to TIME Magazine for Kids, CNN Students News, and Who’s Who and What’s What Weekly Quiz. These all help kids to keep current with the world and news on their own level and understanding. The second thing that I found was the Bill Nye The Science Guy, I think that these are really helpful in the classroom, when I was a student I loved these movies because they were entertaining but helped me understand the information.

Week 6

There are many tools that we have learned about so far that will enhance communication with my students, parents and colleagues: blogger, facebook, google sites, google docs, microsoft word, and more.  When I went to school there was no way of communicating with teachers after school except through email and even then you could only hope they would respond.  Having a blog could help with this problem, if a student was struggling on a math problem they could post their question and any student who looked at the blog could answer the question for them.  If each student had a facebook account they would be able to chat with each other about questions and get instant answers.  I also believe that this would deepen the relationships and bonds among students because it would give them opportunities to talk to each other out of the classroom/school setting.  Having a classroom website would help me to communicate with parents.  I know that when I was in elementary school and my mom would ask me about upcoming events, homework, announcements etc.  I usually could not tell her exact details or dates.  By having a classroom website I would be able to communicate all this information easily to the parents so they would be much more informed about what was going on in the classroom as well as the school.  I plan on using an online grading system like engrade or powerschool to post grades on the internet, this will enable both parents and students to access their grades at any time.  I think that the easiest way to communicate with my colleagues is through a blog, everyone would be able to collaborate easy and the information given to one teacher can be seen and used by other teachers.  The suggestions or ideas are easily read or accessed weeks or even months later.  Some of the tools that I will use to achieve classroom objectives are sites like youtube, teachertube, zamzar, totlol, national geographic, discovery kids, and many other educational sites. Kids love to learn through computer games, videos and other means versus the traditional ways of learning.  I want to make learning fun for my students, there are fun videos, songs, games, and other programs that are educational and teach similar information to a book but in a very interactive way.  

VIDEO:  This video was just like a lot of the other videos we have seen, it seemed like it contained a lot of the same statistics, quotes, and corny music.  But this time it was kids holding the signs rather than words on the screen which did make it a little more powerful.  I think that if the producers who made this movie were trying to promote the use of technology the kids should at least smile! They all seemed stoned with glazed over eyes like technology has ruined them. One girl wrote she watched over 16 hours of tv/week, that's like a part-time job! 5 1/2 hours of computer... that's completely absurd.  Children are becoming so obsessed with technology, I think that it can be extremely beneficial in a variety of ways but they are wasting away more and more of their time everyday text messaging, facebooking, nintendo, ipods, surfing the internet, watching tv etc.  They don't read books, play outside, run, skip, jump, build, and create the way used to.  I know that some technologies can be used to benefit the classroom (some kids listen to books like Harry Potter on their ipods, but those are few and far between). but I think it is really important to just keep it in perspective and make sure that communication face to face is still taught and used.  I know that technology is a huge part of our society and should absolutely be part of education in public schools but it has it's place just like everything else.  

Week 5

Technology articles:

Our class has a blog! New technology makes communication very easy.  I am using blogger because I believe that our class will be able to communicate better.  For those who don't understand blogging, it is an online journal where people can post diary entries and others can read and comment on each post or entry.  Our class blog will be kept private so that only members of our class will be able to read, comment and contribute to our blog.  Each student will be required to post on our blog at least once per moth.  Our blog will be a place where students can share anything educational they want with each other.  If a student finds a cool educational website they can post it, if they learn a new word, read a good book, learn a mnemonic device, or even just have a question. Blogs are a great place for students to collaborate with each other, ask question, and receive feedback although they are not in the classroom.  Another benefit of having a blog is that it can be kept private so other people can not access the content like in facebook, myspace, or even instant messaging.  There are a couple of drawbacks with using blogs first of all I will have to teach the students how to use it (which will take a little bit of time out of our day).  I also have to assume they will remember how to do it.  To ensure that the students remember how to post or comment on a blog.  I have provided a step-by-step set of instructions with pictures that are easy to understand.  I am really excited to use tool.  I think that this blog has a lot of potential for students to communicate with each other and develop strong bonds of friendship with the entire class.  

The second technology tool we will use in our class is starfall.com.  This website is designed for young students and is focused on reading and phonics.  As part of my teaching philosophy I believe that students who have a strong foundation in reading will succeed in other areas of school much easier than those who struggle with reading.  I like this website a lot because it has a variety of interactive books, it teaches about riddles, tongue twisters, poetry, music, art, and even plays.  There are also activities that correspond with all the different holidays.  We will use this website in computer class to help build a strong reading foundation.  This site is helpful for young students at a variety of levels from barely recognizing the ABC's to reading fluently so all students will benefit.  These interactive stories are really useful because if a student is having problems reading a word they can click on it and it will sound the word out for them.  This website is helpful because every student can get online and get the help they need rather than waiting for a teacher to come over and help them to pronounce a word.  One drawback from promoting this website is that there is not the teacher/student or parent/student interaction that can sometimes be so crucial when young kids are learning to read.  I require 20 minutes of reading 6 days/week, students can get on this website to complete their reading assignment but I suggest that it only be used 3 times/week and the other 3 days should be completed with a parent or sibling.  

VIDEO: In the video it was interesting to see what people want for the future.  I think that before we know it everything will be mobile just like they said.  Soon we will be able to watch tv wherever we want, talk to people on the airplane etc.  Right now our parents might not really know how to use the latest technologies that well, but before we know it we will be the parents and there will be all these technologies we don't know how to use and will have to ask our children for help.  Modern technology is progressing so fast, and will continue to.  I think that the kids in elementary school right now are the most technologically smart kids there have been of all time.  

Week 4

Videos

In the "Did You Know" video I liked how they presented a lot of statistics.  I like that they actually showed the numbers so that I could visualize the concreteness of the numbers and information.  I didn't realize how many jobs people go through before they reach 40! It was very shocking to me.  I was also shocked that soon China will have the most people speaking English.  I think that one day because of technology and because we can communicate so easily with people in other countries that English will be the universal language, more and more people are learning it which makes it easier to communicate with people in various parts of the world.  I think that it is important we utilize various technologies in the classroom such as computers but I also think that it is important that students learn the basics without technology such as math, good penmanship, reading, writing etc.  In the second video "A Vision of Students Today"  it was focused solely on college students.  It wasn't really eye opening for me because I knew that that's how it is.  I think that college students have so much to do and a lot on their plate but they waste a lot of time on things like facebook and myspace.   This time should be better used doing homework, actually studying, and interacting with people face to face instead of through the internet.  I know that technology has improved communication in a lot of ways but I also believe that it is destroying personal relationships that we have.  

Reflection: 

This week in class we learned about Microsoft Word.  I think that Microsoft Word is the most important tool in the classroom.  I know that I use it more than any other program (except the internet), it is definitely user friendly and essential to every student at one point or another.  I will use Microsoft Word to create handouts, documents, assignments, flyers, calendars, instructions etc for my students.  Anything that I have to create by hand for my students will be done in Word.  I will use it to write letters to parents, create permission slips, announcements, and volunteer lists.  I can use Microsoft Word to type reports to give to colleagues, any assignments they would like to use I can simply print for them or even attach it in an email.  I think that Microsoft Word is a very useful tool in creating simple documents.  It has a decent thesaurus, dictionary, and spell check to help people use correct grammar.  It doesn't really  a lot of draw backs other than it is so simple that you can't do anything fancy on it, you can't collaborate with others as easily (like google docs), and sometimes the spell check and automatic formating don't work as nicely as you would hope.  Microsoft Word is a critical program that is utilized by parents, students and teachers.   

Week 3

VIDEO: 

I had seen this video before but I really enjoyed it.  I agree that technology should be used in the classroom to teach certain subjects.  I think that as I teacher I will make assignments that can be done on fun internet sites that are still educational so that the students actually enjoy doing their homework.  I know that students bring cell phones and ipods to school. I don't agree that they should be openly used and be encouraged to be used by the teachers because what if just one of the students in your class doesn't have an ipod, or doesn't have a cell phone because their family can't afford it.  I think that students will bring these devices whether you ban them or encourage them.  In the video it suggested you assign students to text people to find out certain information, bonus points for someone who gets it out of the United States, in a different language etc..  This is really a fun idea but in actuality if all the students but one had a cell phone it would almost be social humiliation for that student.  On the other hand I think that these assignments could all be done on the computers using email because a larger population of students have access to a computer at home or in a library.  I think that technology is essential to the learning atmosphere in the classroom but at the same time should be used carefully and cautiously.  If students are openly allowed to bring cellphones and ipods then how soon will they become a bigger distraction than a benefit? 

Class Discussion:

 This week in class I learned about a lot of tools that will help me communicate with my students, parents, and colleagues.  The first tool is google sites: when I become a teacher I plan on using this site to help me communicate with both my students and the parents.  The calendar feature on the site will help me to communicate to them upcoming events because I know that when I was a student I oftentimes forgot to tell my mom about things coming up or I would forget to give her the note we were supposed to take home, the permission slip to sign etc.  On the site there is also a homework page this will let parents know what we did in class and what is homework, this is also useful for students who miss class because of illness or vacation.  The class website will also give a list of fun educational websites that the students can play around on.  It will also be fun to post student work so that the parents can see the progress their kids are making.  I plan on communicating with my colleagues through a blog because it is really easy to comment on each others posts and give suggestions and ideas.  Some of the drawbacks of these really useful tools is that it doesn't promote face to face communication with parents or colleagues because it is much easier to just post on your own time instead of finding time when both can meet and discuss problems, solutions, ideas etc.  I think the way to maximize the benefits is by balancing the amount of time using it vs. face to face communication.  By realizing that in some situations other communication methods can be more effective will also help in maintaining this balance.  

Week 2

Mr. Deuy Fractions:  This movie clip about fractions was very entertaining.  When I teach I want to  try and find movies like this so that my students have a fun way to remember the rules about mathematics and other subjects.  When I was in elementary school we watched a couple episodes of school house rock to teach us about grammar.  I find myself still reciting the songs in my head when I need to recall certain rules.  I liked how the producer of this movie wrote it like a rap because raps have a rhythm that is really easy to remember and the words generally stick in your head.  I think that this movie would be very beneficial because it would involve everyone in the class whether boy or girl and whether they excel in math or not.  The visual information is just as important as the audio portion.  While the students hear the information they can also see what is being done so they know how to do it on paper and apply the things they have learned.  This movie is a fresh new way to present information.  It provides students with valuable information and encourages a positive experience with math.  

Technology is booming around the world so inevitably it is being incorporated into the school systems.  Kids love technology, they love playing computer games, nintendo, surfing the internet etc.  By using computers in the classroom students can learn while doing something they love.  I think that social networking is a great way for teachers and parents to keep in contact.  When I teach a class of my own I want to have a class website that parents can go online everyday see what we did, what homework is due, tests and field trips coming up, if we need volunteers etc.  I believe that the best way for a busy parent to get in contact with a teacher is simply through email because it is a fast easy way to get in contact and is very convenient.  I think that blogging is a great idea for me to keep in contact with my colleagues.  I think that every school should have a blog then all the teachers could post about successful lesson ideas, questions, problems, then they would be able to comment, collaborate and help each other.   It would then be really easy to tag and give information that would be helpful in preparing different lessons or solving different problems.  Some of the cons about using different social networking tools is it discourages face to face interaction.  Instead of actually calling a parent up to tell them that their child isn't doing well it is super easy to just send them an email. This might not be the most effective form of communication in this circumstance.  I think that social networking tools can be very beneficial to the classroom and the education system as a whole when used in the right place and in the right circumstances.