Reflection #6

Evolution of Music Devices

Music devices such as Record player,tape player, Walkman, CD player, MP3 player, IPod, ITouch have evolved so much over the years. I wonder what they will come out with next. I though a Walkman was a great thing. I did not even think anything better could come out. Then came the IPod and its many different versions. I also wonder if CD's will ever be obsolete. Records and tapes are rarely used, since we have CD's and then IPods, but now that we do not need CD's, I wonder why they have not yet disappeared. They are not as popular, but they are still used. I try to imagine what will come next, but I cannot begin to imagine what tech people will When will what we have be good enough? What is not convenient enough about an IPod that would need it to be replaced by something better? Is there anywhere to go after this or is IPod the best it gets? Music isn't even the limit on the ITouch, you can surf the Internet, play games, and even talk on the IPhone version. I love the new technology, but I just wonder when what we have will be good enough.

Promethean Activboard

The Promethean Activboard is used much the same as the SmartBoard. Teachers can use it just the same and it is used interactively with students and for many different subjects. This board uses magnetic pulls when using a marker or cursor, which results in a more accurate use of these devices. Also, you do not have to calibrate the board and it is great for any heigth of students. Like the SmartBoard, it has a large collection of teacher lessons that are pre-made and accessible. Some disadvantages of this board, is that you always have to use a marker or object to do anything on the board. It is not touch sensitive. I think in this way, the SmartBoard is more convenient. I am not really sure, besides that difference what the big deal or differences between the many different Activboards. They basically all serve the same purpose and are great in improving student learning. This particular board, like other Activboards, encourage student involvement and create different ways to teach using different methods and approaches. This helps to better engage the students and thus leads to better learning in the classroom.

Promethean Activboard

Reflection #5

A little while ago I was faithfully watching the Australian Open. I never used to a huge tennis fan, but I really got into it this year. One thing that I found amazing was the replay option. They only really used this when the players would challenge an "in/out" call made by the line judges. I watch a lot of sports so the idea of a replay was not what interested me. It was the actual way the play was replayed. I am not sure if there are sensors in the ground, or how it works, but when it is played back again, it shows the exact path of the ball and shadows where the ball hit the ground. Sometimes there was literally centimeters or less between the line and where the ball hit, but some kind of technology was able to detect this. This kind of technology has really changed sports today. Without replays you had to deal with the call that was made, often time's this calls were game deciders. New technology has improved many sports and helped the games to be called more accurately. This also takes away the chance of an unfair judge. Another thing that the sports center would broadcast was all the different places the ball was hit or where the player ran to during the rally. I am not sure how it works, but it is a great addition and not only helps when reffing a game, but also will help a player perform more accurately.

Reflection #4

Skype. This is probably one of the coolest inventions of technology. Two years ago my parents went to Madagascar for missions work. My mother was teaching in a school there for three months. While they were gone there was no way to communicate over the phone (its far too expensive). So we used Skype to talk to each other. If you have a good connection (which often we did not since it was Madagascar and a very poor area) you not only get to talk to the person, but you get to see them. You can also type chat back and forth, if one person does not have sound working. Anyway, Skype was great for me my freshman year when my parents were so far away. It provided a free form of communication and it never seemed like they were that far away from me. Basically, I just think Skype is great and also crazy at the same time. Technology is so advanced you can really do anything with it and through it. I guess the only disadvantage to Skype is you have to be on the internet and also on your computer which could be inconvenient, but how can we complain about the inconvenience of such an amazing invention?

Clancy Elementary School

Clancy School

This is the school I attended in my home town from Kindergarten to 8th grade. This website is nice because it has updates about students at the school and their achievements. It has a link to the monthly news that they give to the students. There is a picture of the school on the front page as well as their four main rules. It is colorful which is great for younger students. They have links to their lunch schedule for two months, but it would not work on my computer (this does not mean it wasn't working, sometimes my computer is weird). One thing I think they need to add is a copy of their handbook. When this is given to students at school, it often times does not make it home to the parents and having it on the website will make it accessible for the parents. This site is very simple and a little bit on the plain side. I think they could add more to it and make it a little more up-to-date. I did not think there was anything about this page that was confusing to me. It was pretty direct and simple.

After Presentation

After this class and all the presentations that the class did, I learned many new things about the SMART Board. I learned how to record and save your lesson in case someone does not really understand and need some extra help. I also learned how to make the SMART board recognize what I wrote with a pen and turn it into text written by the SMART board. The SMART Board can integrate many/all the different subjects even health and fitness. It was really cool seeing all the different lessons and activities everyone did with lessons. I learned many new techniques on how to use a SMART Board.

I want to be able to create my own SMART Board presentation and make it as neat as the ones that are already made on the computer. I think it would be fun to create my own. It is nice to download them, but I think it would be more beneficial for me if I created my own just so I knew how.

Reflection #3

I have observed a few different classrooms over the past few years and they have all been very interesting to me. They were all similar in many ways and still so very different in other ways. One classroom that really stuck out to me was a math class that I observed. It was a first grade classroom and the children were so cute and ready to learn. I am from Montana were diversity is lacking, especially in the classroom. When there is any diversity there is only one language. There are/were no students who did not fluently speak English. There was never an issue of a child not understanding because of a language barrier. In the classroom I observed there were at least 5 if not more students that spoke a language other than English. I do not know if that means they were not fluent in English, I did not ask the students, but the teacher was taking that opportunity to teach the students a few words in a different language. This makes the student who is of a different ethnicity not feel left out or out of place. They and their ethnicity is very welcomed in the classroom. I just really found this interesting and the father I have gone in the Education Program the more I hear about the possibility and the likeliness of having a student who does not speak English fluently. Especially if I stay in Washington and teach. Growing up in Montana this was NEVER an issue and honestly never even crossed my mind as an issue.

That being said I think it is very important the as a teacher I am prepared to have students like that in my classroom and be flexible and ready to adjust to anything that comes at me. It was very interesting to observe and I really enjoyed it. I think the teacher was doing a great job with her students. This was a new issue brought to my attention and now I need to make sure I am prepared in my classroom for this type of a situation.

Assignment #2

Smart Board Presentation

During this presentation I will use:
1. The clickers so the students can respond to answers
2. A times table that gives you the multiples of any number you enter

NET Standards for Teacher
Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessment incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS•S. Teachers:

a. design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.
b. develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress.
c. customize and personalize learning activities to address students' diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources.
d. provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching.

This meets the standards because since I could not download a previously made activity I made my own, based off of one. I designed it for the students to help them learn the concepts of multiplication and to use the technology to better engage them in the learning and make sure all the students are listening. I can also use it as an assessment to see how the students are doing and make sure I have not confused or lost any of them in the process.

NET Standards for Students
Technology Operations and Concepts
Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations. Students:

a. understand and use technology systems.
b. select and use applications effectively and productively.
c. troubleshoot systems and applications.
d. transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies.

This meets the standards in my presentation because the students have to know how to use the clickers to answer the questions I have posted in my presentation. Also, the interactive table I have inserted in my presentation the students will need to know how to use the Smart Board technology to get the program to work and compute the multiples for them.

An interactive white board would very much improve learning in the classroom. It is very engaging and if I love to play with it as a college student I am sure the students will enjoy using it even more than I do. They may not even realize they are learning as they are using the white board, but every activity done will teach them something. Also, this is a good way to help student remember what they learned. If they can connect what they learned to an activity it is easier to remember and solidify it in their heads. They will have a connection for later when they need to recall the skill they learned. Also, the Smart Board offers so many new ways to teach to students and I can do assessments all the time to make sure I do not lose any of the students while I am teaching which will make sure they are all learning and understanding.

"Blogs for Educators"

I have never used twitter in my life. The first time I heard about it I thought it was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard. However, after reading this article my opinion has changed a little. Although I will most likely never use it in my personal life, ever, I realize that it can be beneficial in the classroom, if you use it correctly. Of course, you would need to set up a separate and private twitter blog for your class (you may choose to do different pages for different subjects as well). This provides many perks for a teacher. Twitter, when used this way, can provide instant feedback for the teacher, you can add notes after class, you can add assignments. Also, you can collaborate with other instructors, if you run into a problem all you do is post it and wait for tons of feedback from fellow teachers. For students, it creates community, they can also post questions they have and get immediate feedback from other students or the teacher. Lastly, twitter in the classroom also helps with brainstorming, group work and much, much more. I think that if it is used correctly and efficiently it can be a great benefit to the classroom. I never thought twitter would be useful for anything other than the latest gossip, I guess I was wrong.

Emerging Ed Tech
100 Twitter Tips- Classroom

Reflection #2

Technology today is absolutely amazing. One piece of technology that always just stuns me is the cell phone and all the different kinds. I never upgrade or get a nicer phone until my 2 year commitment is up and I get one for free, and even then it is never the latest development of phones I get to choose from. So that being said it is probably clear that I have a phone that is close to two years old. It is not new and does not have any of the newest features on it such as: internet, games, email, projection, music, etc. I see commercials for tons of different kinds of new and advanced phones and they are always 'toping' a previous invention. I always wonder to myself, "what are they going to make that tops this?" But one way or another there is always something better: a touch screen, a touch screen AND a regular key pad, a projector built in. So now my question is, "what's next?" I do not know where they are going to go next with cell phones, to me it seems like there is nothing left to add to make a cell phone any better, but then again I would have never thought of adding a projector to a cell phone, so I am sure they will come up with something to top that.

Reflection #1

Something that I have noticed from being around children is that (for the families I nanny for) they are so attached to their games and technology that I think it is somewhat ridiculous. I think the new technology is great students and kids, but I think there needs to be a limit on it. I feel like kids are more and more detached from family and friends. One of the kids I babysit all he does is play video games or watch T.V. I think it encourages children to be lazy instead of getting out. Yes, Wii-fit is great (or so I have heard). It makes working out fun for kids, but why can't mom and dad go out and play tennis or basketball or whatever activity they child wants to do instead of having them do it with the T.V. screen? Anyway, what I am saying is there needs to be a limit on the number of devices in a home and the amount of time spent in front of them.

Assignment #1

Science Technology Society vs Textbook-Based Instruction

Yager, Robert E. Journal of Elementary Science Education, Vol. 21, No.2 pp. 15-24 Spring 2009. Document and Public Services, Western Illinois University.

This article is based on a type of experiment that took place amongst teachers in Iowa. It has spread to many other areas sense. Basically what happened was a group of about 30 teachers took a seminar on how to make their classroom more technology based. They had different sessions of learning and experimenting one is 2-4 weeks in the summer and two are 3 days in the spring and fall. At these sessions or conventions the teaches are being taught new technology and later becoming very successful in the classroom. Since the first trial of this there have been over 225 teachers enrolled each year over the past decade. This has proven to be very successful. Every year the most successful teachers then go on to teach the newer beginning learners how to be successful with technology in the classroom.

This program then did a test to see if STS was really much more beneficial in the classroom. They had 15 different teachers teach science with STS and 15 teach without STS. All variables inside the lesson and all lessons were the same. All that differed was the use of technology. They then got results from classroom behavior and tests to compare if STS was really a big deal or worth all the fuss. From the results of 4th-6th grade classes they discovered that concept mastery was reached as required in both settings. However, student attitude, creativity, progress toward reaching the 4 goals for NSES, and deeper learning all had a better score, if you will, at the end of the lesson.

I enjoyed reading this article, it was somewhat long and got a little repetitive, but the results that came up were shocking to me. As I was reading I was expecting the students who were in the non STS classrooms to not master the concepts as quickly or as well as students with STS classrooms. Especially since there is so much talk about how great technology in the classroom is for students. However, as I read on and discovered that deeper learning, better attitudes and so on were all higher scores it all made sense to me. Students who want good grades will still work hard whether they are taught with technology or not, however, all students will better enjoy and in a sense learn more with technology in the classroom. When students have bad attitudes about a subject, they are more likely to tune it out and not listen or learn, but if we, as teachers, make it more engaging and use technology we will keep the students' attention longer and they will learn more than the just the concept that is required in the lesson.

After reading this article I know that if I do not use technology in the classroom, I will still be able to get my students to master the concept given, however, they will not enjoy it as much. I learned more deeply what effect technology really has on students. It helps with creativity, attitude, and much more. I will definitely use technology in my classroom and I think this article is great for persuading teachers to use technology. Teaching is about the students, and although it may be more time consuming making learning fun for the students is better than using a textbook and teaching them to dislike school.


NETS FOR TEACHERS
Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
-The teacher uses their knowledge on the subject to teach in a way that students will advance in learning, creativity and innovation in real and virtual environments. I think this is important because teachers need to be creative and come up with new ways to teach to their students. They also need to encourage their students to be creative. This is important to me because I remember loving classes that were not straight out of the textbook and that actually had activities. I want the students in my class to learn and to enjoy being there. So I think it is important to facilitate and inspire learning and creativity.

1. This semester I will learn new technologies such as the SMART Board so I can use it in the classroom with my students. I want to learn not just the basics but how to include my students so they have fun with the SMART Board also.
2. I will learn creative ways to use technology to teach and make it fun for the students. I will come up with new ways and ideas to teach through learning new technologies.
3. Lastly, this semester I will think about ways that I can include technology in areas that are not necessarily thought of as needing technology. I can also talk to my students and see what they like and if they have ideas on how I can use technology to engage them.


NETS FOR STUDENTS
Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
I think critical thinking, problem solving and decision making is very important. In many settings today students and even adults find it difficult to make decisions. They are wishy washy and go back and forth on decisions all the time. I think that critical thinking and problem solving help in decision making. They are all three related and work together. I have always enjoyed problem solving and critical thinking and think they are very important. They are not only practical in future decisions such as schools to attend or careers to strive for, but also in decisions made daily, good and bad.
1. One assignment I can give my students is a type of scavenger hunt with clues. The clues can be ones that require critical thinking or problem solving in order to get to the next clue. Also, I can include options of obstacles students choose to take, one can be a short-cut but more complicated, and one can be the longer way but easier and make students decide which road to take. This would take some time and not be a one day event, but rather an activity we spend a little time on each day for a period of time.
2. Another assignment I can have my students do is a science project. One that you use the science steps of hypothesis, experiment etc. This is great to get the students thinking about what the outcome of the experiment is going to be and to follow directions and make decisions throughout the experiment.

Comments on other's Blogs

Daley Landon

McKenzie McKean

Natalie Dooley

Devon Carroll

Bethany Pitroff

"Generation IM" Reflection

This article was very interesting. The beginning of it I have heard/read about in many other articles. It talked about how children are so "techy" in today's time and that teachers need to adjust to this for their students. It was interesting how one teacher was awarded for her great incorporation of technology and although she was happy to receive this award, she did express how exhausting and demanding it really was for her. There is so much to learn and you cannot expect teachers to be able to just automatically learn everything in a day. Especially when they did not grow up with this kind of technology.

At the end of the article I really like the 7 steps/ways to include technology in the classroom. A few of this ways I had already thought of, however, they were all very helpful and great ideas for a teacher to use in his/her classroom.

Beginning of Semester Reflection

Technology plays a very vital role in the world today. There are few things, if any, that cannot or are not currently done using technology. Just about everything uses technology in some way. Also, technology is becoming more and more advanced as the years go by and technology is becoming more of a necessity and it is harder for people to function without technology at hand.

I think as a teacher I need to be educated in the newest technology. I need to be aware of what my students are using and be able to relate to my students. The more educated I am in the current technology and any new technology coming out the better I can teach and make it relate to my students. Also, using new technology and not using the old school ways of little technology will help my students from getting bored and tuning out. As a teacher it may be necessary that I post items such as assignments and grades online and this would be much easier and less time consuming if I was well educated in technology.

As for the classroom and how technology should be used I am all for technology in the classroom! I think technology is becoming more and more advanced and if I have the opportunity to use it and get my students using it I would take advantage and do so. The younger the students are when they learn the technology that easier it is later in years and the better they learn it. If you know technology now, it is easier to learn as it gets more complicated and advanced. I think technology is very beneficial to students today and I believe it should be brought and incorporated in the classroom today.