Thursday, January 28, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Blog Resources
There is a plethora of web resources for teachers, including many blogs created by teachers to collaborate and share with other teachers.
This blog gives teachers art projects to do with 1st grade students (though some of them could be improved upon to make more advanced for older students). A new art project is added every 3-5 days.
This is a website managed by a K-4 computer teacher and technology facilitator who has posted many articles about web resources such as GoogleDocs and Flickr along with explaining classroom use of new technologies.
These two blogs are good examples of blogs teachers can set up for interaction with parents. In one, the teacher posted that week's spelling words and the schedule for the week. I think this would be a great way to get parents more involved with their students education. The other blog has a lot of pictures posted of class activities and classroom expectations. If parents checked this website everyday or every week, they would understand more about what is going on during the day and could help extend classroom learning time by helping their students with work at home or simply talking to them about the activities they have been involved in and studying.
Slide Shows
Another free web resource is slide.com where teachers or students can make slideshows of pictures that they have either taken themselves or compiled from the internet. A teacher could make a slideshow including all of their students at the beginning of the year with their names underneath their picture so that not only the teacher becomes quickly familiar but the students get to know each other as well. The slideshow could be played as students come in from class. They would like seeing themselves and their friends on the projector. Educators could also create a slideshow that is related to the material they are teaching. Various pieces of art can be put up to expose students to different styles and artists. Pictures of our country's politicians could be used in one to help students become familiar with the structure of our government. Pictures from science projects and field trips could also be used. Students could create their own slideshows to share the knowledge they have learned of a subject, examples being the Civil Rights Movement or pictures (and names) of the states and their capitals. The website is very easy to use and it took me less than 5 minutes to put together a slide with music, a border and pictures with captions. I think this could be an easy tool for students and teachers to take advantage of in the classroom.
GoogleDocs as a Writing Tool
Being unfamiliar with GoogleDocs, I was impressed that the application had 'readability' score that can tell students where their writing level is at. It can also help teachers to 'dumb down' their writing so that younger students will be able to read and understand the documents given to them. Useful and best of all: FREE! GoogleDocs can also be used for peer reviews by students and also for revisions by the teacher for individual or classroom collaborations of group projects. Parents could even get more involved with their child's learning. If the parent has unlimited access to their child's work, they may become more involved and be more likely to encourage the student to further their learning at home. If students are working on making a presentation, classroom newsletter or creative story, they can easily share their revisions with one another via the internet so that they do not have to fight over the computer and spend precious time converting paper ideas onto the computer. Students can also have 24/7 access to other student's projects and papers for inspiration and extra learning material. I'm excited to explore GoogleDocs more and see what other classroom applications it holds.
Interview with Donna Grossarth
Donna Grossarth is an elementary school teacher in the Salem-Keizer school district. She was my 4th grade teacher and is the mom of one of my close friends from high school. I admire her passion for teaching and the enthusiasm with which she talks about her students. This interview was done soon after finding out we would be interviewing someone for this course and before interview topics were introduced. I will speak to her more about her use of technology in the classroom within the next week.
Donna Grossarth – 5th grade elementary school teacher
} Have you had any children in your classes in which you had to change or develop a special education program specifically for them? How did this affect the rest of your students? Every kid learns at a different rate and they are all at different levels. I have different expectations for all my students because of their ability to perform. Across the board in my classroom, they’re all at a different level and learning rate. We’re working on building and improving the areas they’re weak in. However, I’ve had to develop programs for children with a vast array of educational disabilities and autism. For example, the children with autism hate to write. I have some students who are on a behavior IEP or 504 plan which is another health impaired condition that gives these students different parameters than the other students. Dealing with the behavioral issues is more difficult than dealing with the children who have learning disabilities.
} What kinds of responsibilities are expected of you as a teacher outside the classroom? This can be in reference to parent-teacher meetings, staff meetings, cross-walk duty, etc. We’re all expected to be on some sort of committee in our school. For example, I’m the talented and gifted coordinator. I’m also on site council and on CARE team where we bring students of concern to the table and provide interventions which requires paperwork. In addition we always have two 12-hour days for conferencing. This year we have an afterschool duty (5-10 min) such as bus duty, front door duty or sidewalk duty. PLC (professional learning community) is another requirement where all the same grade teachers (such as all the 5th grade teachers) establish goals for each other so they are all on the same page.
} Are there any divisions in the ways that boys and girls learn? Does one gender learn quicker? I’m not sure if I can generalize that. It seems like more girls at 5th grade are enjoying reading and 5th grade boys haven’t developed that love of reading yet. Boys love anything hands on (science and math manipulative). A lot of girls are intimidated by math and don’t think they can do it. I think boys learn best if there’s a physical component and girls with emotional component.
} How constricting is your budget? For field trips, usually the parent club makes the money at their fundraiser which helps and then you divide the difference of the cost per child. I think it’s usually $5-$6 per child for a field trip which is remarkable considering the bus eats up most of that. Usually our principal gives us each a $50-$75 start-up allowance which enables us to buy whatever we need for our classroom. We also have a print budget but I’ve never run out of that. Sometimes they can give more money for different programs like right now we just started up a new literacy program which requires books and tubs for the books. Middle/high school spells out how much money you have and they’re very strict about it. But in elementary it’s a little bit kept in the dark. I like it that way because then I never run out of anything I need like paper or art supplies.
} Which subject do you find easiest to teach your students? My kids love geometry (right now they are graphing coordinate pairs). I can barely get them to stop! I love teaching history because we act it out or live it and find a way to get beyond the text. Which create the most challenges? Writing seems to be the most difficult. I can’t seem to find the perfect teaching combination because everyone writes at a different level. With math I can show them that 2+2=4 but in writing it’s more ambiguous.
} Do you have a supportive school administration? Yes, this year I do. We had a new principal last year and we had some challenges but we’ve worked through that. I think administrations are most supportive to those who respect their teachers as professionals.
} Have you discussed gay/lesbianism in your classroom? No, I don’t discuss that at all. However I’ve had situations where someone comes to school where they have two moms. We talk about different family constructions and how every family looks different. We talk about how there may be a man and a woman, a step-dad and a mom, a mom and grandparents, a step-mom and a dad with half-siblings… I emphasize that it is important to respect each other. If someone says “you’re so gay” I jump on that right away and tell them that’s considered sexual harassment. I also give them a real-life scenario like if they were working, they could potentially lose their job for saying that. But I don’t feel it is appropriate to talk to my 5th graders about gay/lesbianism.
} Have you ever not wanted to go to work? Oh yes. I’ve had years where the class was not cooperating with me at all. The year my house burned down, I had a particularly difficult class. I had 7 students who could not sit next to anyone else in the class. That along with my personal life at home made teaching really difficult for me to do. That being said, I love what I do. I wouldn’t change it for the world. The job can just be challenging and frustrating sometimes but it’s worth the reward.
} How do you feel about blended classes? Having a blended class depends on how the numbers play out and it’s very difficult to manage. Normally we have 3 of each grade. With math, you can ability group within your own classroom to help with the learning difference. A lot of times you’re just teaching more in depth the next year. Sometimes the light bulb is just not going to come on for some kids because they are not developmentally there.
} What are the demographics of your school? By which I am asking do you serve children who live in different income classes (aka poor, working class, middle class, etc)? We are about 44% free and reduced (poverty level) but mostly my school is middle class with very few middle-upper. Does this affect they interact with each other? I think in the classroom not so much but socially after school, yes.
} How do these economic difference impact students performance in the school? I don’t think there is a huge difference in potential ability. The kids at the poverty level come to school less prepared (for instance without breakfast). Also, the low-income parents usually don’t place an importance on continued education since they themselves have not continued their education past high school. The lack of parental motivation or drive can definitely have a large impact on a child’s learning.
} How do you as a teacher learn about the different home lives of your students? Initially I have kids do writings that introduce me to themselves and write about themselves so that they share personal information through writings. Then I ask questions from that. I try to ask general and nonjudgmental questions like “did you have something for breakfast?”
} Do you think the home life a student is relevant to their learning and school performance? There are a lot of students who if they don’t have their basic needs (food , safety and shelter) they cannot learn. Some families are JUST surviving and getting by while others encounter substance abuse, mental and/or physical abuse. If a child doesn’t feel safe at home, then it makes it nearly impossible for them to learn.
} Does a particular religion dominate student culture (for example Christian)? Does this affect the way students interact with each other? There is a very high prevalence of Christian religion and kids talking about Christianity. I read the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe every year. My students are beginning to make the connection with Christianity. I don’t expand on it but I notice they’re starting to talk about that and get that world perspective. It’s not an issue but I’m starting to see that especially with my Jehovah’s witness kids. If we have a birthday and the Jehovah’s witness children go in the hall, I just explain generally that they don’t believe in this celebration and that it’s okay. Then I try to tie in how we are free in this country to believe what we want and that we’re very lucky for that.
} Are you aware of students with Native heritage? Yes, I’m usually aware of it usually because of how students look. When we study the ancient America’s and Native Americans, most of the kids usually have a little bit of Native in them and always want to share. The children that are full or half are very culturally aware. Most times their names are very different. One student didn’t look me in the eye because it’s a sign of disrespect in his culture.
} How do you include racial / ethnic diversity in your work? We study ancient America’s and the Civil War. I have the most diverse classroom I’ve ever had. I have 3 African Americans, 2 Native Americans, 5 Hispanic, and 18 Caucasian children. The cool thing is that they don’t make an issue of it if you don’t. I make a point of celebrating our differences rather than pointing them out in a negative way. I use books and movies, and we talk about slaves and MLK. A lot of my students use racial slang and most of the time they don’t even know what it means. I’ve had African American students tell other African American kids they can call them ‘nigger’ but that the white kids can’t. I just have to explain to them that we are in a positive environment and that that language is insulting to many people.
} Is it important, in your opinion to address racial / ethnic diversity even if 'nearly all' or 'all' of your students are white? I would still do the same things. The only thing I don’t like is that one of my students is bi-racial and he feels singled out. I hate that he feels like an outcast.
21st Century Schools & the Teachers They Need
With all of the research that has been happening regarding learning, teachers are more equipped than ever to help their students achieve maximum potential. What has been learned is that there is not one single way of teaching. Teachers more than ever need to present material in many different ways to ensure that students grasp concepts and ideas. Teachers must also be comfortable with technology and the continual creation of new technologies. They must aware of the advancements being made in these fields and adapt them for classroom use. By doing this, teachers reduce the gap between technology immigrants and natives. I personally feel like a blend of immigrant and native. I grew up without a computer in the house, no cell phone until late high school and no texting or instant messaging until my senior year. Although I am more familiar with the internet and computers more than my parents and certainly more than my grandparents, my 5-year-old sister is able to work my iPhone almost at the same level as me. In general, teachers should be anticipating the changes within their pedagogy from year to year (even within the school year) to help keep up with the students' needs in the classroom.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Comic in the Classroom
I created the comic above on toondoo.com. This is a great and easy to use website that could be a fabulous teaching tool in the classroom. Students can create their own comics centering around whatever material they are studying. Creating political cartoons could be a great way to help them understand political and social science. When I was in middle school, we had an assignment in our English class to create a newspaper. Each student made their own newspaper with articles, advertisements and cartoons. I am terrible at drawing and if I had known about this free internet tool I would have had so much more fun creating the project. I was very limited as to what I could draw and it held me back from a couple ideas. I'm not saying this should replace drawing but it could be an extra option for students. Also, teachers could create cartoons about the class and their students. Students would love seeing a funny comic about themselves. This comic took me only about 15 minutes to create and though I could have spent more time on it decorating the background, I found the essential parts and created something that conveyed a message. This comic is illustrating the difference between technological natives and immigrants. The comic is a humorous twist on our typical perception of technology natives since we usually think of younger people being technologically savvy and the elderly being technologically ignorant. Will adding technology to the classroom eliminate common classroom items such as white board markers, pens & pencils, crayons and paper? It seems like a stupid question but new classroom technology such as interactive white boards and laptops make the objects that you and I grew up using all day everyday not as functional and as used. What will the classroom be like in 5, 10 or 20 years? Will we be solely using technology? Just something to ponder and be aware of.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
iGoogle in the Classroom
Can iGoogle be used as an educational tool? iGoogle is yet another website with thousands of applications which can be added to one home page where they are easy to access and utilize. Games such as Scrabble can help students with spelling and stretch their thinking. News applications like NPR or CNN give students top news stories at the click of a button. It's worth exploring and is easy to use. I would never think to use iGoogle in the classroom and I'm still wondering about whether it is more work than it's worth. However, just being aware of its educational potential is an important observation to make.
Technology Wordle
Although the names of all the objects are not put together in this collage, there are some words that jump out a few times such as 'interactive'. Is this is future of education? Will the interaction between teachers and students become less and less as access and use of technology grows? Where does an educator draw the line in the classroom? However, if you had access to a set of iReaders where you had thousands of books available, would it be such a bad thing? If students are able to respond to questions with iClickers will they learn more because the teacher is able to see immediately if the class understands a concept? It's hard to know exactly how integrating all these different technologies will effect a classroom's learning progress.
Dream Technology in the Classroom
In a perfect world, teachers would have unlimited funding and would be able to supply their class with all the latest technology. Although these tools are not necessary, it would be helpful in some situations to have these available. For example, a digital camera isn't a required object but if a teacher had a classroom camera they could take pictures and video of the class and make slideshows for events such as parent/teacher conferencing. By having a document projector, a teacher could show the whole class a book they are reading so that the class can read along with the teacher. They can also use iTouches to give students internet access as well as extra practice with math problems and social science trivia through applications. There are unlimited possibilities when your resources are unlimited!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Digital Storytelling
a. What is digital story telling?
Digital story telling is a combination of modern media technologies including digital images, video and audio in order to convey a story and message.
b. How would you use it in the classroom?
I think digital story telling could be a very useful way to get to know your students at the beginning of the school year. Teachers should have a general understanding of a student’s home life including family structure, support and by having a student convey that themselves, the teacher would have a good concept of what the child needs academically and socially. Students would enjoy putting together their own digital story and sharing it with the class. Teachers could also put together a digital story when teaching about a topic such as the Oregon Trail or the Civil Rights Movement in order to get students excited about the material. The students could either make their own digital story for the topic or the teacher could make it and present it to the class. Either way, making a digital story helps students to become familiar with technology and break up the monotony of the school day.
c. How would you need to scaffold this activity for the classroom?
Access to a large number of computers would be necessary so access to a computer lab or a classroom set of computers would be essential. If a teacher was to use digital storytelling multiple times throughout the year, it may be helpful to have students make a couple simple stories first so that they do not become overwhelmed with options. Then later in the year they will be able to make more complex stories and really get the most out of making them. Getting peer reviews would be a good way for students to learn what they could do to improve their stories and also teach the entire class how to give and receive constructive criticism. If a student was struggling academically in an area such as math or writing, a teacher could have them make a digital story to help them get more involved. Digital stories could be presented by a few different students every week covering the material they are studying so that the student gets more exposure to the material and the class gets a presentation.
d. What are the challenges of using this technology in a classroom setting with different age groups?
I think there are many pros and cons associated with every age group. However, I think if a teacher is aware of the potential problems that digital story telling can be successful at any age. With young students, providing pictures and a limited set of text and audio for them to use with help limit confusion and frustration. With older students, keeping on task and avoiding negative peer feedback would be important to be aware of. For any age group, having access to digital cameras, voice recorders/microphones and computers is a problem. Schools do not have unlimited funding to provide all of these so teachers may have to be creative with the resources they have.
e. What tools do you need to make available to students so that they can successfully complete a photostory?
Digital cameras, computers, internet access, photo story 3, microphones/voice recorders and a creative imagination are all useful tools.
f. Find five different websites to support your comments.
- A PowerPoint presentation explaining digital story telling:
digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/powerpoint/Educational-uses-of-DS.ppt
-Using Photo Story 3 in the PreK – 2 Classroom:
http://cnx.org/content/m32299/latest/
-Post about using Digital Storytelling in the classroom:
http://www.edutopia.org/power-digital-storytelling-classroom
-A website offering many links to websites and the tools they offer for the classroom (incl Photo Story 3 and examples of digital stories)
http://its.leesummit.k12.mo.us/digitalmedia.htm
-Examples of Photo Story 3 stories created by students
http://udl4all.pbworks.com/Examples+of+Classroom+Uses+of+Photo+Story+3
-Book Reports made using Photo Story 3
http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/34929.aspx
Response to '5 Reasons Why Educators Need To Embrace Internet Technologies'
As educators, it is our job to give our students the tools to succeed in the job market as well as in daily life. Teachers are able to open the door to many new experiences and opportunities for their students. Because of the growing amount of jobs related to the internet and other internet related technology, teachers cannot ignore the fact that this is an area in which their students must be familiar with. I think many teachers are wary of the internet because they immediately think of social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter and Myspace as well as recreational websites such as YouTube and Blogger. However, what is not advertised is the educational value that these websites hold when used in various ways. There are many videos on YouTube that offer supplemental information for lessons and there are thousands of blogs that offer a lot of educational material as well. There are also many websites to help students become more involved with their learning. Some websites offer games that reward the player for answering math or science question, others have verb conjugation timers that help with learning languages and others help students set goals for themselves. One of my favorite websites is 43things.com where you can post 43 things you want to achieve. The website keeps track of your progress and allows others to see your goals and give you encouragement. I think this could be used in the classroom to help students further their academic careers and think of the future. What educators also need to understand is that by adding technology into the classroom, old methods of teaching are not being eliminated. Using the internet in the classroom is just adding another resource and tool into your bag of tricks.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Build your Wild Self!
buildyourwildself.com
I really liked this website. I think students would love creating their own character and thinking up various stories and adventures about their 'enhanced' selves. There were enough choices so that each student could have a completely unique looking character but not enough where they would be overwhelmed and take a long time going through them all. I volunteer at a local elementary school and I know that the 1st grade class I volunteer in would love this. There are some students who struggle with writing but if they were to write about themselves in the body of this creature they would actually enjoy the task. I remember when I was in school that I loved doing interactive activities on the computer such as this one. Anything to get the student excited about writing is a great tool. Also, the website gives some information about the animals used in your creation so it would also be a great way to teach about different animals from all over the world.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
First Class Impressions
I admit, the first day of Tech 221 was a little overwhelming. Since our class only meets once a week, we need to move quickly through the material but geeze... I felt like I could barely keep up! I'm very methodical and obsessed with lists so when I realized this course is going to be all about finding the information for yourself, well, I freaked a little bit. I understand the thought behind that though. It's better for students to learn if they are forced to find the answers themselves. I agree with that. I just wasn't prepared for it. Unfortunately I'm not very familiar with HTML or websites other than Google, Blackboard, Facebook and YouTube. I don't blog and I don't surf the internet much in my spare time. I'm hoping that by being forced out of my internet shell I'll be able to learn a lot of tools in which to help my future students grow and learn. There's so much out there in the way of educational material online... You just have to know where to look and how to apply it! Bring it on, Tech 221!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
1.1 How did you use technology K-12?
My first memory of using a computer in school was in first grade. We were allowed to go to the library where there was one Macintosh computer for every 2 or 3 students. We would have to share and take turns playing with applications and games such as Paint and the Oregon Trail. Mostly we were just allowed to play games and using computers was used as a reward rather than a tool to learn (although many of the games were educational). I remember having an overhead projector as early as 3rd grade. We also used many movies and programs to supplement our studies. As I transitioned into middle school, computers became a staple when creating class projects and writing papers. I became familiar with Word and PowerPoint very quickly. We did not have any computers in the classroom and still had to go to the computer lab in the library to access them at school. Overhead projectors were used daily in class and every morning we had to watch a news program called 'Channel 1'. Through high school the internet, Word, PowerPoint and other various computer technologies were used in classes. We still did not have computers in the classroom but by then almost every student had access to a computer at home and there were computers with internet access in the library.
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