Topic 20 - EDU 6384

For my first online course, I really liked EDU 6384. It was hard for me to get organized in the beginning, but as the course went on, I feel like I got in a routine. Sometimes I really enjoy working by myself, so it was easy for me to reflect and work on my own time.

I found the content in the book to be very interesting and there are some things that I can definitely take back to my classroom. The ones I'm most excited about are blogging, webquests, and the Monster Exchange (which we started this week).

I am glad that I am taking these technology courses because I want to be equipped to teach my students. The more I read about current trends, the more I realize I have to learn! I thought I was ahead of times with my Promethean Board and laptops, but there is so much more out there. AND, there is so much more integration that I can be doing across the curriculum.

The biggest issues for me with taking an online course was the communication. When I was struggling with an assignment, it was hard for me to figure out the problems. The database, for example, was really hard for me and I spent A LOT of time trying to learn how to do it on my own. I guess you have to problem solve, as you do in any stressful situation, but I do miss having the weekly interaction with a professor to talk to with issues such as these.

On a different note, I have to share about my latest technology! I came back from specials yesterday and I had a wonderful present on my desk...a flip camera! In case you don't know what a flip camera is, it basically records video (very easily and user friendly) and it has a usb import/export which easily downloads to your computer. Kids can easily use them.

I have already started dreaming of the endless possibilities my students will have to use these cool cameras. They can interview each other, they can record scavenger hunts, they can perform, and so much more. I am not sure what I am going to have them do first.

We are currently studying VOICE in our writing as well as character point of view and I'm going to read different versions of the Three Little Pigs. We are going to discuss the story from the different character's point of view. I am thinking that I will have my kids create their own "Three Little ____ and the Big Bad ____" story and have them record their character's point of view using the flip camera. My kids love, LOVE, love drama, so I think this might be a fun little project for them.

As I've previously mentioned, my kids have created their own websites, and this video feed could easily be uploaded to their own websites.

I think these cameras would also be really cool for when we study biographies. My students could pretend to be various people and they could interview each other and answer questions about history.

I am very excited about my new flip camera! Every teacher at my school got one...Christmas came early at Bradfield!

Technology is AMAZING!!!

Topic 19 - You Tube

Six years ago when I first started teaching, I would never imagine there would be such a thing as you tube or that it would be such a hit. I love the whole idea of streaming videos because I think my students love various forms of media.

I was first introduced to streaming from unitedstreaming.com. This is a wonderful tool for teachers and I think it is really easy to find great clips to reinforce lesson ideas and make topics more interesting to students. In years past, my students have loved the Maths Mansion video clips for our math lessons. There are some really great videos for geometry that any elementary teacher should check out.

It seems like the big trend now is you tube. My students are always asking me if we can find things on you tube. As a teacher, you have to be careful and view things ahead of time as there are many things on you tube that are not appropriate for the eyes of children. However, there are so many wonderful videos on cultures, communities, and social issues that can really support various curriculum. I think you tube also makes it really easy to search for various topics as well as other videos that can relate.

I plan to use more and more you tube with my lessons. It's just hard to find the time to view everything before I show it to my class. Which is crucial. A teacher at my school accidentally showed 3rd graders a video with a bad word in it because she didn't view it ahead of time. I think that is a big lesson learned. That being said, I still think you tube is a wonderful teaching tool.

Topic 18 Great Websites

It's amazing how much a website can enhance my student's learning. I'm continuously amazed by the new websites I am constantly hearing about that my students just love. Some of the ones I have learned about from Roblyer have been great. I think websites are fun to my students and they often times view them as a game rather than work or drill & practice.

My student are studying multiplication right now as I've previously mentioned. Their current favorite website is multiplication.com. They ask me to go on it whenever they have completed all of their walk. It is very kid friendly and I can see a difference in their multiplication facts. Getting them to study their facts is often like pulling teeth, but this has been working very well.

Our CIT does a nice job of telling us about new websites she is learning about. My students also love funbrain.com, mathblaster.com, enchantedlearning.com, and many many more. Our CIT recently exposed me to brainpopjr.com. Now, this is something we subscribe to, but I have found it quite useful.

Recently, I showed a clip from brainpopjr.com about adjectives and nouns. It was amazing to see how much more engaged they were by watching this video and they truly seemed to understand the difference between the two.

I love the way teachers are always sharing websites and helpful hints with each other. One girl on my team is always finding wonderful things on scholastic.com. It is amazing how easy google makes it for teachers. If anyone has any favorite websites, please send them my way.

Topic 17 - Technology and the Classroom...Oh How It's Changed!

Next week we our having our Greatfriend's Day (this is basically Grandparent's Day). My school is very blessed to have Promethean boards in every classroom. The group that I have this year has had a Promethean board since kindergarden. They don't know what it would be like without one. Grandparent's are always fascinated with what classrooms look like now. I always share our technology with them and show them the cool things that my students can do.

This year my students put together a little presentation that we will play on the Promethean Board. My students were asked to write a paragraph on who they were thankful for, why they are thankful, when they are thankful, etc. I took pictures of them individually outside by the pretty fall trees. They then drew a picture of everything they are thankful for on Pixie. We put these pictures in Photo Story and I recorded each of them reading their writing. We have classical music in the background. It truly brings tears to your eyes.

I know that the grandparents will be so fascinated with the technology in our classroom and how different it is from when they were students. My kids have done so many cool things and have them linked to their websites. They will have an opportunity to show them these things as well.

I'm really excited about Greatfriend's Day...and Thanksgiving!

Topic 16 - Skype

I know the Skype has been around for a while, but I am new to it. I Skyped with another teacher yesterday who I am doing a collaboration project with. We met yesterday via Skype to work out all of the details for our project with our students. My class is going to be collaborating with their class on a writing assignment. We are going to introduce our classes to each other via Skype. I'm really looking forward to doing this and I know my students will love it.

I think there are so many ways that you could use Skype in your classroom. I was thinking about the chapters I read this week and how we could use Skype with Art, Music, and PE. Those teachers could find athletes, artists, and musicians and Skype with them during class. You could have an athlete talked to students about healthy choices and being physically fit. A local artist could do a painting demonstration or talk about various works of art. Musicians could perform for students using Skype as well. I think it would be neat to interview and have a Q&A with people who are experts in particular areas.

Several teachers at my school have used Skype to talk with an author. I know that students find this very intriguing.

I am excited about this web 2.0 tool and I'm looking forward to using it in the future.

Topic 15 - I LOVE DS

I never imagined that Nintendo's DS could be used in educational ways. This past summer our design team at school had the opportunity to listed to Alan November speak in Boston. He is truly an amazing speaker and if you ever have the opportunity to listen to him, take full advantage. At this conference there were a series of breakout sessions, and one topic was Nintendo's DS.

I remember Nintendo from being a kid and I think of Super Mario and Tetris. Never in my life did I think teachers could use these in the classroom. What you may not no (or at least I didn't) was that a DS makes a little network with the other DS's around them. Student's can set up chatroom's and discuss anything from a reading reflection, a writing sample, or answer a math problem.

We are using them in my classroom for the first time tomorrow and my students are FIRED UP! As I mentioned in an earlier blog, we have started our multiplication unit. Every teacher knows what a struggle it is to get kids to memorize their facts. We are going to set up chatrooms tomorrow and have a competition to see who knows their facts!

One of the great things about this, is the kids have screen names, so only I know who comes in first and last. I get to monitor it by traveling to the various chatrooms. I am also going to have my students reflect on it when we are done to see what they thought about it.

I can think of countless ways in which we can use these in the classroom. We can do anything from spelling words to journal entries. I am so excited to start this!

I did a survey of my students to see who has a DS. 17 out of 21 of my students own a DS. Our CIT purchased 6 DS's so now each of my students have one to use. If you are interested in doing this and only a few of your students have one, it makes an excellent group project. I would love to talk about this with anyone who is interested in trying something really cool in their classroom that your kids will be crazy about!

Topic 14 - Technology Is Much Better Than Paper!

This week we started multiplication in math. This is an exciting time for 3rd graders. :-) In the past, I have had my students draw their own multiplication problems and tell a story about them. I do this because it helps me see if they truly understand the meaning of multiplication. I decided to try something new this year and have them draw their stories in Pixie (which is our district's drawing software). THEY LOVED IT! This was a very basic technology tool, but I was amazed by how it truly helped my students understand the concept. Sometimes they don't understand "equal groups" and Pixie allowed them to choose the same picture of groups and it helped them visuals and articulate the meaning.

They created 4 of their own multiplication stories and today they used objects around the room and created multiplication stories. For example, I had a group of boys who put all of my large dice on the number 5 and showed me that 6 dice with 5 of them showed 30 dots. Once the students wrote down their multiplication story and showed it to me, I took a picture of it with my digital camera. Tomorrow we are going to make a "multiplication movie" using Photo Story. My kids are so eager to do this and I've never seen students so excited to learn and show multiplication.

My students are so lucky to have the technology available to them that they do. I truly think that technology can enhance the way we learn and this lesson proved that.

Topic 13 - Technology in My Classroom

I am like a little kid when it comes to teaching with technology...I just love it! I am always looking for new ideas to enhance my teaching and strengthen learning. We are working on several cool things right now.

I have mentioned this before, but my students have started creating their own websites. They are having so much fun and it's amazing how it is motivating them to write! On their site, they write about themselves, they have links to their class portfolio, and they will have a favorite websites page with links to all of their favorite websites. This will take a while to complete. It will actually be a work in progress since they will constantly add to their site.

Earlier in the semester, we learned about a website called www.monsterexchange.org. I loved the idea of this, so I decided to pursue it with my kids. In this exchange, classes come together and design their own monsters. The students have to write a descriptive paragraph describing their monsters and the other class has to guess who's monster it belongs to.

The first roadblock I ran into was the issue of setting up e-mail. In my district, there are security issues with setting up e-mail for our students. Our CIT at my school helped me and we are tweaking it a bit. We are going to use Moodle (which is just like Blackboard) and create a class for the exchange. Students are going to work in partners to create their monsters and then write about them. Discussions and pictures will be posted on Moodle...a little like we have our discussions in EDU 6384. We set up our Moodle class today and we are going to Skype with the other class next week to set all of our "rules", "norms", and "expectations". My kids are going to LOVE this.

Next week we are starting our multiplication unit. I am going to have my students illustrate multiplication stories on Pixie (this is a drawing software). We are then going to compile our math stories and my kids are going to make multiplication movies. In the past we have made multiplication books with paper, so I'm excited to try it with technology.

I am always looking for new ideas, so if you have any great lessons...send them my way!

Topic 12 - Technology Across the Senses

I am always fascinated by the different intelligences. It always makes me understand my own learning as well as the learning of my students. I think it is important to consider the various learning styles when you are planning your lessons. I found a great website about the multiple intelligences and if you have time, you should check it out http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic68.htm. It is consistent with the Mapping Technologies to Intelligence article. There are some awesome links to sites with activities you can do with your students. I think it is interesting that researchers are continually learning more and more about the brain. In Howard Gardner's 1983 book, there were 7 intelligences and current researchers have identified 9 different intelligences. According to Gardner, we all have all of the intelligences, but no two people are alike.

I am definitely a visual/spatial learner. I like to see things and a picture always helps me retain. I love it when teachers add graphics to lessons or tie in a picture book or some type of visual. Somehow, my brain can connect to that. I am also a logical/mathematical person. I have this weird thing with numbers and I somehow always remember them well. Math is my favorite subject to teach and I'm always fascinated by what numbers can do. I would also consider myself a kinesthetic learner. I like to manipulate things with my hands and I love to create. I love movement in the form of drawing, dancing, and exercising.

I would be lying if I said that I thought about all of the different intelligences all of the time. On a day to day bases, I definitely use visual, verbal, and logical/mathematical learning styles. I do like to have my kids move around, so often times I will have some kinesthetic activities. Every so often, I will play music when they write. I have some students who love this and some find it very distracting. From looking at the table in the Mapping Technologies to Intelligences article, I do think I cover many of the activities for different intelligences. I like for my kids to work with their hands, I like for them to make connections with pictures, I like for them to create and collaborate.

My lesson plan covers a variety of these intelligences. The purpose of this assignment is to help my students develop their ideas in writing by using details. My students will find an interesting landscape picture that they would like to write about on google images. This will be great for my visual learners. Students will then post their pictures on our class page using moodle. Students will write a description of their landscape on moodle and students will try and guess who's picture belongs to who's description. Writing on moodle will appeal to my verbal/linguistic learners. We are just now learning to use moodle, so this should be an interesting experiences. Pictures and descriptions will later be compiled in a class movie by using movie maker/audacity. When making the movie, we will use classical music in the background. This will certainly appeal to musical learners. Objectives:

• Develop details in writing
• Use moodle to collaborate with peers
• Create a movie to show descriptive writing.

Below are some technologies that could be used to teach various intelligences.

Intelligence	Technology
Verbal/Linguistic	word process, e-mail, speech recognition
Logical/Mathematical	spreadsheets, search engines, webquests
Visual/Spatial	television, video, digital camera, digital animation/movies
Bodily/Kinesthetic	simulations, assistive technologies, joystick, mouse
Musical/Rhythmic	digital sounds, online pattern games, multimedia presentations
Intrapersonal	online surveys, digital portfolios with self-assessments
Interpersonal	instant messenger, message boards, blogging
Naturalist	mapping tools, database
Existentialist	virtual field trips, simulations, virtual reality, virtual communities, MUDs

In my lesson plan using moodle to write will appeal to my verbal/linguistic learners. Find the images on google earth will appeal to my visual learners. Creating a movie on Movie Maker will also appeal to visual learners. The collaboration of the whole project will appeal to my Interpersonal learners.

Topic #11 Assistive Technology

This is my 2nd attempt to publish this post as my first one had an error and was deleted...ugh!

I had never heard of Assitive Technology until last week, so this whole idea is new to me and I don't know about many resources. I spent time on the internet looking at various recourses, and found a few that were pretty good.

My favorite site that I went to this week was the one we looked at for our homework (http://www.atto.buffalo.edu/). This is the site that offered the AT basics as well as the tutorials. I thought the tutorials were extremely helpful and offered some great ideas for implemenation in the classroom. I plan to use the Talking Books idea on power point. I think this site offers great explanations of the basics of AT and how to use them in your classroom.

I have also enjoyed reading the materials from Closing the Gap (http://www.closingthegap.com/). I think this provides great insight to AT for teachers as well as parents. I think the articles are very informative.

One site that I found is awesome. It's called Education World (www.educationworld.com/assistive/sp_ed/assistive/index.shtml ). This site has an ENORMOUS amount of resources for both parents as well as educaters and students. There are 3 sections. The first is "General Recourses" which includes articles/resources for technology in the classroom as well as basic information for parents. If you go to this site, make sure you check our the "Technology Center". This is a great section for teachers and tells you about many different resources you can use with your students. There is a great article by Larry Ferlazzo that offers 2.0 activities for students. I highly recommend checking it out. They also do an "On the Big Screen" spotlight and this month it features a software called Geographic Information Systems (GIS) which allows students to map different areas. It sounds a little like Google Earth. The two other sections inclue "Narrowing the Gap in Academics" and "Creating Independence". They showcase different sites such as PlaneMath to help children. They also discuss a program called Speak to Write which is a federally funded project and uses voice recognition to allow students with disabilities to write.

Washington University also has a great site called Access IT (www.washington.edu/accessit/articles?109 ). This site offers information on AT as well as a great knowledge base idex. This index has 162 articles about AT. These articles are anywhere from how to implement different things to identifying various AT needs.

I head Don Johnston's name when I was listening to the Dr. Nelson podcast. He also has a wonderful site (http://www.donjohnston.com/). There is an excellent tab called "Recourses" and there are many wonderful recourses that teachers can use with their students. All of the recourses are literacy recourses and they are amazing. You should check them out. His site also includes videos to see how some of his products are implemented.

Apple also has a site for their Mac (www.apple.com/education/special-education/?cp=WWA-EDUSEM-Q409 ). I had no idea that they had created an OS that focuses on AT. Their products help with Literacy & Learning, Vision, Hearing, and Physical & Motor Skills. I'm glad to see that Apple is focusing on the needs of people with different disabilities.

I am enjoying learning about Assistive Technology and look forward to finding more great recourses.

Topic 10 - Tech Skills

To be honest, when I started this class I thought I was somewhat "Tech Savvy". I am proficient in Word, Excel, and Power Point. I have a Promethean board. I use technology as part of my every day instruction. My specialization is going to be in technology, so I thought I would be right on track. I figured out pretty quickly that I have some learning to do! My first realization came when I took that MTT test...OH MY! All of those technical questions threw me for a loop! While I may be a more advanced technology teacher than some teachers in my building, I am far from being "Tech Savvy". I think I pretty much just know the basics.

Since the beginning of class, I have become more aware of what teaching tools are out there. One collaboration tool that I am excited about is blogging. I have never blogged before and I think my students would really love it. I think it is such a great way to interact with others and I think it allows you to get on a more personal level with people. I am also glad to have learned about Atomic Learning. I have not yet created my database, but I think the lessons provided on Atomic Learning are very helpful as tutorials. I am still not sure that I will use a database in my third grade classroom, but I can see how great it would be for high school aged students. I'm sure that webquests have been around for a while, but sadly enough, I had never heard of one! I think they sound awesome and I can't wait to try one with my students.

As I become more proficient with various instructional technologies, I plan to incorporate them more and more in my classroom. From reading the articles and learning more about distance learning, it sounds as if education is taking steps in that directions. While I still think F2F learning is very important, you can see the benefits of DL. I don't think DL should ever be the only choice for education, but I did like reading about the combined approach and incorporating both of them. I think that if children are going to be truly ready for college and the working world, they really need these technological skills. As a teacher, I think I need to look at some of the work I am giving my kids and see if it could be enhanced/improved with technology. I really want to have more collaboration via the Internet with my students and I want them to see what is available to them.

The Atomic Learning Self Assessment basically showed me that I have a lot to learn! The area where I struggled was the technological part. I wasn't quite sure about all of those technological terms. I think Atomic Learning is an excellent tool.

Topic 9 - Student Research/Publisher

Last week my students started their first research project (in third grade). Before we began, we reviewed what "kid-friendly" sites look like as well as the difference between a website and a search engine. We have been studying communities in Social Studies. I had them pick a different community in the U.S. and a different community in another country. I then gave them a research page that I typed on word. I thought this might be a good way to start them off so they could have a note taking page and their research would be structured. They had to research their own community and the two other communities that they picked.

We researched Dallas together. Normally, I don't allow my students to use Wikipedia, but I checked the facts about Dallas ahead of time and they were accurate, so I used this as a learning tool and explained to my students that anyone can go in and post on Wikipedia and is usually not the best place to find research. I then showed my kids NetTrekker, Enchanted Learning, and Google Kids. I gave them some time to research and find the specific information they were looking for.

The next step is creating a brochure on Publisher. My kids will tell about each of their communities in a brochure format. This part of the lesson is very guided by me since they have not used Publisher before. Last week we designed the covers. They got to explore with different layouts, fonts, colors, etc. They also were able to go to Google Images and find a picture for the front of their brochure. We are going to continue this lesson on Friday and my students will designate a portion of their brochure for each community. They will find picture of their community and describe the different cultures and interesting facts about their community.

I have enjoyed doing this sort of project over giving them the worksheets that come with the book. They are learning the same type of information, but this is hands-on and more "real" to them. I think they are learning more about different cultures by researching on their own and not just getting facts from the text book. I think this assignment has had more meaning to them because they were able to choose the communities they wanted research. I also think my students are highly motivated by technology. We started this project using our COW and my kids are always excited about using the laptops.

Topic 8 - Instruction Technologies Continued

When planning a lesson I think the most important thing to ask yourself is, "What are my objectives?" I think we often design a cool technology project and then try and fit your educational objectives into the project. You have to take a step back and figure out what exactly you are trying to teach and then decide what is the best type of technology you should use. Ask yourself this things: What media would help reinforce this?, What tools do we need?, How do I get from point A to point B and what are all the necessary steps?, What is my end result?

These are questions I have to ask myself when I am trying to plan instruction using technology. After I work through these things, I have to actually create a product myself. I think it is crucial for children to see the end result. They have to know what product they are either creating or using. I like to do things step by step. If I give a bunch of directions up front, I end up losing some of their attention and then they are lost by the time they get back to their computer.

I recently did a project on Google Earth. It was an extension of a writing assignment we had done about trips we had been on. After the writing portion was complete, I e-mailed parents to send me a digital picture of their child on a trip. I then printed a template for each child to write information on the trip. We then learned how to create a push pin on Google Earth where we had traveled. We are still working on this project, but we are doing it step by step. The end result will be a Virtual Vacation Tour and my kids are going to record themselves describing where they went. Many types of media are used here: digital photography, sound/voice/audio, web images, internet tools, different text styles.

This lesson has been so effective for my kids. It is not only a writing project, but a Social Studies project. They get very excited about learning and creating.

Topic 7 - Instructional Technologies

I feel as if I am being introduced to new types of technologies each and every day. While this is very exciting and I love technology, I think that teachers (myself included) can get overwhelmed by the vast amounts of technologies out there. If someone shows me 10 new things I can do and I try to learn all 10 of them, I get lost. I try to embrace one thing at a time.

The biggest change in my teaching career was when I was blessed with Promethean board. It has truly revolutionized the way I teach. As I learn new things I can do on my board, I get excited to use it. It's funny to think about what a big deal it is to my colleagues and me. I guess because we grew up with chalkboards, this is totally out of the ordinary. The kids in my current class have had Promethean boards since they were in kindergarten, so it's all they know. I think you have to take a step back and realize that a laptop to kids is almost like pencil and paper. They are like little sponges just waiting to learn something and they pick up new technology so easily!

I use different types of media almost every day. We love to find videos on United Streaming that reinforce what we are learning, particularly in Science & Social Studies. We have made PowerPoint presentations to teach people about ourselves and teach people about various things we are studying. In these presentations, my students explore different designs, texts, transitions, colors, and layouts. It is a great way to practice writing and even my struggling writers are engaged.

One of the greatest tools that my campus has been blessed with is a COW (computers on wheels). We have one for my grade level, so I'm able to use it whenever we want. You should see the expressions on my students' faces when they see the COW rolling in. I have everyone's attention and everyone is ready to explore, create, and learn.

The most fascinating project I have done with my students is to create their own web page. This was a lengthy process, but definitely worth it. My kids were able to find their own clipart, explore their favorite websites and upload them to their site, practice good design qualities and layouts, and much more. They were able to create a portfolio for their work and show it to their families online.

My district has a technology day every January and we get to choose 2 different things we would like to learn. I love this because you can find something that will interest you and you can pick something that you will most likely use in your classroom. I love the format of this day because it gives you time to totally learn something and learn how to apply it and practice using it. We have a wonderful TIS on our campus and she is always happy to work with us to give us lesson ideas on how we can integrate technology in our classrooms.

Topic 6 Spreadsheet

Spreadsheets
A spreadsheet is a program designed to organize and manipulate numerical data. The information is organized and stored in rows and columns where each position is called a cell. Formulas are used to calculate various data. It helps users manage numbers.

Benefits for teachers:

• Saves time
• Organizes displays of information
• Supports asking "what if" questions
• Increasing motivation to work with mathematics

As a teacher I have used spreadsheets quite a bit. I keep all of my students' grades in an Excel spreadsheet. I have it organized and formatted exactly the way I want it. I have it set up so that it automatically calculates averages for students as well as averages on how the class as a whole does on each assignment. This is helpful to see where my class is struggling and where we are mastering concepts. I also track our benchmark scores in Excel so that I can monitor the progress. My students also LOVE to use Excel. We use it when taking surveys and creating graphs.

Topic 5 Database

A database is a computer program which allows users to store, organize, and manipulate information. This information could be either numberical or text. The most beneficial attribute of a datebase is that they allow people to locate information through shared keyword searches. It is truly like a file cabinet or Rolodex card file. The purpose of a database is to store important information in a way that makes it easy to locate later. Teachers uses databases for the following reasons:

• Reducing data redundancy
• Saving time locating and/or updating information
• Allowing comparisons of information through searches across files
• Helping to reveal relationships among data

As a teacher, I have not personally created a database. That being said, I access our library database all of the time. It makes it EXTREMELY easy to locate books on certain subjects or by certain authors. I am very interested in learning how to use a database in my actual classroom, but I'm not yet sure how I would use one. If anyone has any good ideas for 3rd graders, I would love to hear them!

Google Earth Project

I am currently doing a really neat Google Earth project with my kids! Our TIS is helping me teach it and my kids love it. In the past, I have had my kids bring a picture from a vacation that they have gone on. They use the picture to help them recall their vacation/trips and then they write about it. This year we plotted all of those points with a push pin on Google Earth and their parents have e-mailed digital photos that I have dowloaded. They are going to put their pictures on their push pins and then write a brief description of their picture. We are then going to record a short script of them telling about thier trip. We are going to compile all of these and create a Virtual Vacation Tour. It's going to be really neat!

Topic 3: Model Lessons

Multiplication: Can You Show It?

This is multiplication lesson that helps reinforce the concept of multiplication by using pictoral models of multiplication problems. The students should be familiar with multiplication facts and should have some use with KidPix or Pixie. The teacher starts the lesson by reading a picture book about multiplication. The teacher then creates pictures of multiplication problems. For example, Craig had 3 friends over to play and gave each of them 3 trading cards. How many trading cards did Craig give away. The teacher would draw a model of what this would look like. The children then create their own multiplication pictures using Kidpix or some other drawing software. The students make at least 2 pictures each and the pictures are compiled together (by the teacher) to make a class multiplication movie.

This is something I plan on trying with my students. I have done a similar lesson with my students drawing their pictures on paper. I think they will enjoy doing in on the computer!

Little Read Writing Hood

In this lesson, students read and perfor the play, Red Writing Hood, to see how a character's attempts to solve problems creatively can lead to humorous and unexpected consequences. The lesson will take approximately 7 days. After discussing and reading folktales, fables, and nursery rhymes the students will talk about the problems and solutions in these stories. Students point out the difference in this book is that Little Red Writing Hood is a play. The teacher then assigns parts and students spend the next few days practicing the play. On day 7 the play is performed in front of an audience and video taped.

I think this lesson has some potential, but as it is written it is a little weak. I think lots of technology could be incorpated in this lesson. I would have my students create their own fairytale. They could make story webs using Kidspiration to design the plot. They could also draw scenes using animation. They could either perform their play or it could be displayed on movie maker.

Geometry in Our World

In this lesson, students find real life examples of different geometric shapes, angles, and lines. This lessons reinforces that we don't just see these things in our math book, but we see these things everywhere. Students will use digital camers and will work in groups to find different geometric things. After compiling pictures, groups will work in power point to create a slide show of the different things their group found.

I have done a digital scavenger hunt with my kids, but I like the idea of creating a power point presentation. I think the students will enjoy showing their work to the class. I plan to use this lesson.

Images from:

http://www.ehow.com/

http://www.encuentos.com/

www.cam.k12.is.us/ms/8th/jones

Topic 4 Word Processing

Word processing has perhaps had the greatest technological impact on education. It can be used to support any type of direct instruction or constructivist activity. The three biggest advantages are:

• Saves time - these documents make it very easy for teachers to modify existing materials instead of constantly creating new ones. It is also very east to make corrections.
• Enhances document appearance - the products produced by word processing look much more professional and polished than materials that are handwritten or typed.
• Allows sharing of documents - these documents make it very easy for teachers to share lesson plans. Students can also share ideas and products with each other.

Basic features include: storing for later use, storing in many formats, search and replace, move or copy text, and word wraparound.

Desktop publishing features include: alignment, changing appearance, insert headers/footers, insert colors, graphics, and text boxes.

Language features include: spell-check and grammar-check.

Web features include: inserting "live" URLs and Creating web pages.

Support features include: using templates, voice recognition, and merging text with data files.

As a teacher, I use existing word documents and create new documents every day. There are a plethora of uses for word documents in my classroom. I am in charge of planning math for my grade level. Each week, I type math plans on a word document and e-mail them to my coworkers. I am constantly typing handouts for parents and I print and e-mail them. Our spelling list is created on a word document and posted on my website. This has been especially helpful for my students in case they misplace their list. I have also created different research tools and fill-in-the-blank exercises for my kids to use when researching. I save these on the student public drive and they can access them on their own.

My students also love to create word documents. It makes their writing more novel to them. They think it is fun to publish their work and add pictures and colors. You would never think spelling sentences would be so fun, but my students love to create sentences and add pictures to them. Last year my students also created their own web pages. They had a portfolio of all the work they had created in class. They were able to link all of the documents they had created so they could look at their work anytime and anywhere using an Internet connection.

Word processing has so many benefits that it's hard to sum them all up. It is probably the most commonly used type of technology on our campus. Whether you are a young teacher or a veteran teacher....whether you are "tech savvy" or "tech illiterate" you have created and/or used a word document.

Technology Standards for Teachers

NETS

It is critical that all teachers abide by the NETS standards. As technology continues to change, teachers must take a leadership role to learn new technology and become more proficient in meeting the technology needs of students. Teachers must be designers and facilitators. In order to design effective technology lessons and follow the appropriate TEKS, a teacher must follow these standards on a day to day basis. Students look to the teacher and as teachers we must push our students to their full potential by creating digital-age lessons that utilize the newest forms of technology.

TEKS

The TEKS are the necessary guidelines of what students are supposed to be learning at any given grade level. When designing a lesson, the teacher should first look at the TEKS to know which objectives need to be met. The technology criteria for a specific grade level should be taught and applied within a school year. Teachers need to understand what specific objectives are required of their students in order to effectively plan lessons.

MTT

The Master Technology Teacher takes on a role that promotes technology not only in the classroom, but within the entire campus. The MTT should help peers utilize current technology and help teachers take the next step of embracing new technology. The MTT should model best practices for technology in the classroom. The MTT should use technology as part of the normal classroom routines as well as design lessons that will engage children while integrating technology. Teachers in the building should feel comfortable coming to the MTT for help and the MTT should actively help other teachers who are not as comfortable with technology.

Atomic Learning

My Atomic Learning score was only a 46, which seems rather low. I feel fairly confident in text, numbers and images. Video and sounds are somewhat unfamiliar to me and I think I have lots to learn in these areas.

Technology Goals

• To have a better understanding of blogging so that I can learn how to effectively blog with my students
• To have a better understanding of Web 2.0 and learn new ways to communicate with other classrooms, speakers, etc.
• To learn how to podcast and how to use it in my classroom
• To understand how to use a wiki and when its appropriate use would be
• To utilize all of the technology my district currently has and learn new ways to implement technology

In order to achieve these goals, I need to be proactive in my learning. I need to take an initiative for each one of these items and take the necessary steps for learning and implementation. I will read the materials, participate in discussions and collaborate with my peers.