PLE posting

Over the course of this semester I think the most valuable aspect of creating a personal learning environment was the ability to use it for so many different things. We were able to communicate with it, link other web pages with information to it and really just be connected to a large group of individuals through it. One of the things I liked the least about the personal learning environment was the fact that it was publicly on the internet. I understand that I was able to some what censor who could see my page but I still don't really like posting things on the internet where a lot of people could possibly access it. In the future I might create a class blog if my school does not have a webpage that I can post things to my students on. I think that it would be an easy way for me to communicate with the parents and update class information on it for them. I don't think I will use it for personal use but it is a resource that I now know how to use and if in the future I change my mind I will know how to use it. 

Technology Watching Report

I learned that there is a lot more information on the web about how to be safe than I thought. THere is a lot of scary stuff out there and it is important for me as a teacher to be aware of the different threats to my students and how to prevent and report some of these incidences. In the classroom it would be so easy to hook up my computer and show my students some information on computer safety. They would be more engaged and they might take it a little bit more serious actually seeing and hearing the information from different sources. 

Reading Response

Reading Responses

1. What article did you choose to read for your fourth article? Tangled in the Web. I thought this was a very interesting article and it really made me see how easy it is for some people to get addicted to silly things that don't seem harmful at first but can lead to problems in the future. One person in my group read Mixed Signals and it was about how the computer has an off switch and to remember that and I think that is great advice.
   
2. What were the most important things you learned from the readings? That we need to be mindful of what we are doing with the media. How we are using it and what affect it is having on us. I think I liked the advice from Elder Ballard's talk the most when he said we need to make good choices. I think that in all aspects of our lives if we are making good choices we will be safe and we can help others with our example. One member in the group said that we need to realize that some things on the internet aren't bad like games but we need to use the media sparingly.
   
3. How will what you have read influence your actions as a parent and/or teacher of children and youth? It has made me more aware of the risks and makes me want to do everything I can to spread the word and help others realize the dangers of the internet.There are a lot of wonderful things about the internet and media in general but there are also just as many bad things and I need to constantly be aware of the prevention strategies that can help me avoid problems.
   
4. How can you use what you have learned from the reading to have a positive influence on family and friends? I think being an example and standing up for what is right is the best way I can influence and have a positive effect on those around me. In Elder Ballard's article he said that we need to stand up for what we believe and I need to be willing to share what I know about the internet with those around me to help them be informed individuals that can make good choices. We all basically said in our group that we need to be willing to share what we know and just be good examples.
   

Internet Movie

I think it is important to talk to children about the dangers of cyber space. I think we need to make them aware of the danger of opening pop ups and talk to them about how there are different trackers that people use to lure young people into traps that take them to inappropriate sites. I also think we need to make young people aware of the cyber bulling and hate sites that are becoming more popular . It is not ok to bully people in person and it is not ok to do it online. Young people need to be made aware of how easy it is to bully people or be bullied online. I also think it is important to talk to studenst about blogs and other personal webpages. They easily spread rumors and gossips and it is hurtful to all involved. People can easily deceive you online and you have no idea. People open up and tell things to strangers and it can actually lead to problems outside of cyber space. I think it is important to help young people understand that they are not the exception. They need to understand that even though they think they are safe in what they are doing there are dangers and they need to be very cautious about what information they share online. It is also important to inform parents of the things predators look for. Predators look for children that do not feel like they have anyone to confide in and they turn into that perfect person. They need to know that people are out there looking at their childrens profiles and web pages and as a reslut they need to be more on top of what their children are doing.

The Third Week

We used a lot of technology this week. In almost every one of my guided reading lessons I found a clip to use and then made a power point to review different aspects of the books. The students loved it when I used the computer and I found that they were more engaged in the lesson. I also taught a lesson on a story organizer where we wrote a story about a snowman as a class and I used the computer projector to display a power point I crated. I found some picture of snowmen that I had the students describe and then we wrote the story. My partner also used the projector during her shared reading lesson and it went great. She actually projected the beginning of the story for a discussion and prediction moment and then she had the students get out their own copies of the book to read the story. I like how she used it at the beginning of the story because the students sometimes skip ahead in the book and ruin the story for the rest of the class but the projected story and pictures made it easier for her to keep students on task. My teacher also used the camera project in her math lessons this week. The project is so cool. She was working on addition and trying to get the students to use manipulative to assist their counting. The projector allowed her to show the students what to do with the cup and the cubes before she handed them out and then they were able to work through problems together. They project was so easy to use and it made it so easy for the whole class to see and follow along with. She also used the project to show how to use the calculator a couple days later. This was probably the coolest thing we saw with this projector. The students could actually see her calculator and what she was doing or punching in and then follow her and it made it so much easier for her to direct the class and actually have them leran what she was tring to teach them instead of haveing to go around to all the studenst and show them what to do on thier own calculators.

The Second Week

In the second week during the schools there was a lot more time and experience with technology. My teacher used her overhead projector to do a math lesson. She used the geometric boards and she would show examples on the board and then have the students create their own shapes. I thought this was a great way to use technology. She was able to demonstrate what she expected for the whole class to see using the tools they would be using and then she could leave up the examples and walk around to see what the students were doing. She could invite students up to put their shapes on the board for the whole class to see. I thought this was a great tool to use in a Math lesson. We didn't do much with the overhead in math but we did use it to project a song that we taught the students about rhyming words. It was really fun and it worked well. The students could all see and we could make highlights on the overhead as we went along. I really like using overhead projectors in the classroom. The only thing I didn't really like about using the overhead is that with the way her room was set up it was difficult for some students to see the screen. The students were allowed to move to another desk but that was hard because they had to go back to their desk to get materials they needed to do the activity. If this was my classroom I would try to arrange the desks in a way that would allow me to use the project without having to move the students.

The First Week

This was the first week in the schools and there was not a lot of technology used in the classroom. They students take a YPP test each week so we were able to see how that was administered but other than that there wasn't much technology use. Our teacher was focusing on getting us acquainted with the classroom and procedures and as a result she didn't use technology. In the future I would like to use technology in my guided reading lessons. Mrs. Hill said that the students really get into the books when you introduce them with technology so I think I will try and incorporate technology in most of my guided reading lessons.

This week our group talked about how we could incorporate technology with Interactive Writing activities we teach in the schools. We came up with a few ideas. You could use a smart board and write like you would on a big piece of parchment paper. Using Microsoft word you would highlight words in stories that emphasize what you are learning about. Example, highlight describing words, words with -ing endings, words that make the long a sound and so on. You could also make powerpoints that teach different aspects of writing. I liked hearing about the different ideas from other groups on how we could use technolog with Shared Reading, Read Alouds, Shared Writing, Guided Reading, and Readers Workshop. I think that using powerpoints, web images, smartboards, interactive reading activities and many more things will enhance our teaching and keeps students involved and engaged.

Virtual Tours

This week we created a virtual tour on a Utah State Curriculum Objective. We decided to do physical education and focus on how physical education provides opportunity for enjoyment. I talked with Emily and Ana and they had their virtual tour on Early American Explorers. They basically showed where the explores went and gave a basic overview of what the explorers did. I think this is a great way to make the study of American Explorers interactive and fun. They had some really fun ideas for assignments at each of their place marks. I also talked with Kamden, she is doing her virtual tour on wetlands, forests. She is having the student's learn that there are different types of lands all over the country. For one of her activity she is having the kids go to a link and look at postcards to learn about the type of land located in the state. I think as a student that would be such a fun activity. These virtual tours are a really great tool for teachers. It allows students to see exactly where they are learning about and I think it is a great way for them to interact with the material.

Google Earth!

This week we worked with Google Earth. I have used google earth before to look at my house and to see where my roommate when on her study abroad but I really liked learning about the different tools that are available with this program. I am excited about creating our virtual tour next week. I think this is a great program to us in school but also it is a great program for individual use. During a lesson on weather I would have my students go to Madrid Spain using google earth and compare the weather there to the local weather.  Here is a link to the kmz I would have my students use. 

 www.inovaprime.com/InovaPrime%20-%20Madrid%20Office.kmz

Today we finished our Animal ABC digital storytelling. I think it turned out great. I had fun learning how to use Teacher Tube and Photo Story. I think Photo Story is a fun idea to use for projects in my future class. Students can record book reports, create curriculum projects and just have fun. I liked that we worked in groups for the project. I feel like students learn better when the work in groups and are able to help each other figure problems out.

Animal ABC

This week we learned about digital story telling. We decided to do an ABC Animal story board where we will discuss some facts about animals starting with the letters A-I. I felt like this was a neat way to incorporate technology and create an interactive lesson for students. There are a lot of different ideas you could try some examples are story re-telling, book trailers, documentaries and more. I am looking forward to finishing this next week.

Animal ABC

Tech Savvy Teacher!

This week we created a Tech Savvy Teacher guide to inform teachers of some ways that you could incorporate technology. It was actually more fun then I thought it would be. I think that taking this class is definitely helping me know how to find ways to incorporate technology in my class.

Tech Savvy Teacher

Incorporating technology in the classroom is much easier than it sounds. In this lesson, we will demonstrate how to use the Logger Pro program in order to measure the temperature of things around you. We will be teaching 3rd grade science Standard 5 which states, “Students will understand that the sun is the main source of heat and light for things living on Earth. They will also understand that the motion of rubbing objects together may produce heat.” We will specifically be working with Objective 3 which says, “Demonstrate that heat may be produced when objects are rubbed against one another.”

Students will be able to experiment with heat by using the Logger Pro thermometers which will be given to them. First, have the students grab the end of the thermometer and hold it while looking at the graph to see how high the temperature rises. Then, have the students rub their hands quickly together and then grab the end of the thermometer again to measure the change in temperature. Let students experiment with the thermometers by testing different materials and measuring the heat. Have the students put the thermometer in their armpit to measure that temperature. The students can then look at the graph and compare temperatures with different materials, and under different circumstances.

The Logger Pro is a great way for teachers that don’t feel technically savvy to easily incorporate technology in their classroom. It is a fun tool that is easy to navigate, and the children will enjoy experimenting with it.

Oh Technology!

Class was a little stressful today because we went over so much and my computer was going so slow. You would be moving on to the next item as my computer would finally upload the page and it got old. One thing I did like was learning about the different technology tools I could use in my classroom. Kidspiration is such a cool tool and I really liked the animal classification activity. I think this would be a great resource for me to use when I am teaching my kids about animals and the concept of classification. I am excited to play around with the programs more next week.

Week 2 Knowledge

This week was really fun. We went to Goodreads and learned how to add books and then post it on our blog so you will have to go and check that out. What I like about this site most is that we can see others suggestions of good books and post our own opinions on books we have read. It gives us ideas a other fun books to read which is always helpful. 

We also learned about RSS's. I have seen these links on different sites before but I didn't know what they were so it was interesting to learn about them this week. I think this is a great tool for me to use no only on my blog for this class but for other blog's and websites I create. Overall this was a great class, I really enjoyed our tasks for the day and am looking forward to next week when we get to work more with goodreads. 

Our First Meet

Today was our first day of class and oh what a joy it was. I am so excited to learn more about technology and how to apply it in my classroom. Go Elementary Education!!!