Technology in the Classroom

            Technology has become such a large part of the world today that it is necessary to incorporate it into the classroom.  Since kids of this generation are so wrapped up in their video games and other sources of technology that incorporating it in the classroom could only benefit their learning.  It can help to expand my students' knowledge not only on how to use technology, but also on many relevant topics that they may be studying.  It allows students to be interactive with what they are learning which helps them to learn the material as well as keeping them interested.  As a teacher, it opens a new door as to what I can use to help my students learn concepts.  Technology also can help me become a better teacher.  For example, I can create an electronic portfolio that allows me to reflect on my work, improve it, and watch my growth.  This can also be used for students to watch their growth from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.
           Some challenges might be getting the correct technology for the job.  Since technology is expensive, some school districts might not have the leisure of getting the newest up-to-date technology.  Therefore, it will be my responsibility to utilize what materials I do have.  Also, it is a lot of work to set up technology projects for the students to do.  It requires much setup, prior teaching of how to use the equipment, much planning and a lot of time.
           I will take from this class many important lessons.  I now know how to fully use a SMART board which many more schools today have in their classrooms.  This will allow me to incorporate the students in the activities more.  Similarly, I can successfully power my way through Microsoft Word, Photoshop, and even create my own blog and videos.  I know how to make a portfolio which will help me in the future when I begin searching for a job.  All of these ideas will only help me to become a better teacher, and allow me to incorporate these technologies into the classroom.  This was an extremely useful class, and I had so much fun doing and learning everything!

Copyright

I was surprised by just how much was copyrighted and all the procedures teachers (should) need to go through in order to use copyrighted materials in the classroom.  Many of my teachers in the past have showed movies in class without getting copyrights.  I have also had teachers who have shown movies that they copied off TV.  Outside of school, my coaches have done the same thing (watching movies on the bus on the way to a district meet, etc.).  Also people use materials from others to base ideas and works they have/produce.  I think I can teach my students basics of copyright such as not to plagiarize.  I can make my students cite their sources or where they received information from when they write a paper or do a project.  This will get them used to using sources for help but giving credit where credit is due.

Good and Bad portfolios

Locate 1 good and 1 bad example of electronic portfolios on the Internet.  Post as links in a blog entry.  Tell me your justification for choosing each.
http://durak.org/kathy/portfolio/ Good

I think this is a good portfolio because:

• it is easy to navigate,
• it had everything needed listed on the side,
• it included a Resumé,
• student work is portrayed, and
• it is colorful.

 http://www.geocities.com/Baja/8205/pcstudents.htm

I think this is a bad portfolio because:

• the color scheme makes it difficult to read,
• there is too much on the webpage which makes it overwhelming to look at,
• I do not like the format of it, and
• there are no pictures.  

Video project lesson plan

If I were to incorporate video into my classroom here is one possible option in doing so:

Age: 5th grade
Subject: History project
Title: History in Motion.

Prep work: In order to prep for this project, I would have to take time in class to teach the students how to use the video equipment as well as how to use editing equipment.  This will probably take about a week with at least 3 or 4 days spent in the lab experimenting and using the equipment.  Also, this project would be used at the end of the school year as a culminating activity of everything the students learned that year in United States History.  I would also need to be sure that the students had all materials available to them such as:
- Video cameras,
- Disks, class flash drive, etc. for the students to save work on,
- Microphones (if needed),
- Tripod (if needed),
- Movie Maker 2.6,
- Story board worksheets, and
- Ample computer lab time.

Procedure:  After students learn how to use the equipment in class, I will give them a description of the project.  I will assign roughly 3 to 4 students to a group (depending on class size possibly 4 or 5 in a group) and each group will pick an important historical event that we talked about in class.  The groups will then have to make a video recreating the event with the students acting as the historical figures of the time.  One requirement that I have for the students is that each student must take a speaking part in the video.  Students will need to have props and create a script as well (as an entire group!).  Groups will receive class sanctioned time during specific days and are also allowed to work on this project during their extra time in class as well as during lab time.  I really want the students to research the historical time period and really learn and understand the event as well as come up with creative ways to portray it to the classroom.  They will have about 2 weeks to create their short movies and the movies should range from 3-5 minutes in length.  Once the videos are done, we will have a class movie day where we will watch all the groups' videos and make comments on what we learned!

Challenges:  I really need to be sure that the software is available for the students.  That means it needs to be installed in the computer lab as well as in computers in the classroom so groups can work on it during free time.  I also need to approve the groups' topics and make sure they are grade and school appropriate.  I also need to be sure that the students are all working on task and not goofing around when they are making these videos.  Batteries and tapes on the video camera need to be charged and ready to go the day before filming as well.  I think this project could be extremely beneficial for the students, so it needs to be done right.

Video Project

I really enjoyed the video project in class!  It was a lot of fun to film and create and definitely interesting and useful.  Janet and I really worked well together and both contributed many good ideas to the creation of our PSA laundry announcement.  I think we found really good people to act in it whose reactions worked perfectly for what we were trying to portray.  I also think the scene where Paul (the roommate) was passed out on the floor from the stench was really effective in telling our story.  I also think the entire program really told a story and could easily be followed.  I think we should have redone the last part where they were actually in the laundry room.  We were trying to go for a corny, funny retro infomercial feel and it didn't quite work exactly the way we wanted it to.  If we were to do this again, I think we should slow down the original speech and do more exaggerated actions to get a funnier, more entertaining end.  I will definitely consider using videos at some point in my classroom and I can take much away from this project.  I now know how to upload videos to youtube as well as use editing software to edit a short movie.

Interactive Whiteboards

Interactive whiteboards are tools that are critical to a student's learning of a concept.  Not only are they "cool" and fun to use, but they add a level of interactive capability that a teacher could not use without the board.  It gets kids up and thinking as well as interacting and actually doing something.  It offers many great programs and software that are included with the interactive whiteboard.  For me, learning how to use the technology was not that complicated, I just get caught up with some of the little details (like clicking the arrow again after creating a text box).  I really enjoyed learning how to use the Smartboard and am so glad I did learn.

They are great tools to use in the classroom, especially with the toolkit that comes along with the software.  There are so many great interactive and flash files on it!  Unfortunately, the program is hard to use if the computers are slow or if the software doesn't get updated.  Also, when putting it in a classroom, it might be difficult depending on the age level.  Kindergarteners must be able to reach it so it cannot be too high, and also, it gets tricky when trying to keep it stabilized.  If it is a portable interactive whiteboard, you might have to orient it every time it gets bumped.

Last semester I taught a lesson on measuring to the nearest inch.  I could have used a setting in the software that would have allowed me to put a ruler on the whiteboard, and let the kids come up and actually measure an object on the screen with that ruler.  Also, I did a lesson on symbols on flags.  I can let the students in a class create a flag that represents our entire class on the whiteboard.

Software

We learned many great software skills this week in class.  I think it was extremely important to learn these skills because they are something we will using all the time when we are teaching.  I think Microsoft Publisher and Microsoft Word skills are the most important.  As an elementary school teacher, I will have to create tons of newsletters that will be going home to my parents.  It is important to know how to make newsletters and have them be visually appealing as well as informational.  I also liked learning how to create concept maps.  These will help me plan out my units as well as be great tools for the students to use to study or learn.  I think all of these skills are important to learn and eventually master if I would like to be a great teacher.  I also think using the Smart Board is an extremely good tool.  This gets the kids interacting in the lesson and also gives them a good way to stay focused.  I would use it for interactive lessons such as a science lesson where they could observe interactions such as learning how rocks are formed.  This is an essential tool for the classroom.