Technology is Waiting!

I can't believe this is the last blog of the semester. Time flies when you are having fun. Technology has been a great class. I learned so much! I enjoyed working in groups! In fact I enjoyed working in groups so much that when I found out our final is on our own I was almost in a panic. After giving myself some serious self talk I decided I can do this.

I looked online to get my creative juices flowing and I think I have come up with some good ideas. One of the ideas is to do something with google earth. Maybe the students could go on a treasure hunt or something like that and find different land forms found in Utah (for fourth grade) on google earth. Another idea is to have the students make up their own chat bot for some kind of famous person in history. The students can make their own chat bot using a downloadable program called virsona.

I will keep the lesson plans I create and hopefully be able to use them in my future classroom. Technology is an amazing tool that will keep my students interest and help them enjoy their education. There is so much that can still be done to further our educational world. The technology that is available could change education as we know it. Our students could be working on technology that will help them make great contributions to their society. Reality is there isn't enough money put into education and funding so we as educators need to figure out how to get technology grants so we can make a difference in the world of education. The technology is ready and waiting!

Digital Story

Today in class we worked on our digital stories. As we were putting the pictures together we thought we had the theme of Civility but as we were searching for pictures the Civility theme got too big. There were so many things we could cover for instance, Trail of Tears, civil rights, slavery etc. We were trying to get the idea across that the world hasen't changed much since then because people still don't treat others with respect. We were going to show the Bionce, Taylor Swift incident, and the senator that yelled out Liar at Pres. Obama.

Now we are going to narrow our theme of civility down to civil rights and completely change the twist to how far we have come as a nation in accepting African American's. We decided there is a small percentage of people that make our nation look bad, overall people are good and decent. We have some great quotes to tie it all together. We will now transfer it from powerpoint to i-movie.

Knowing how to make a heart wrenching, emotional digital story is a plus for a teacher. Kids love to be entertained. When there is emotion with the subject I teach it will hook the students. My students will enjoy what they see and not even realize they are learning because they are into it and can't wait to see what happens next. Digital stories are a great tool for my future classroom.

This video brought up some good questions and statements. The idea of having everything you want to do accessable with no limitations sounds amazing and we aren't far from it. When I think about it, it seems that the world is more like Star Trek than ever. I remember the first time I saw someone with a blue tooth in a store. I thought the person was talking to himself. Imagine what the pioneers would think. Even my generation can get overwhelmed by new technology if they don't have an open mind. I laughed when the kid in the video told about how he has to help his mom with her cell phone because I can relate. I haven't got the texting thing down yet and my kids have been showing me how but I am S--L--O--W! I love the idea of not having a credit card too, as one of the kids in the video mentioned, since mine was hacked into over three weeks ago and the new one still hasn't arrived! I would also love to see voice activated computers, keyboarding would be obsolete. The millenial generation will be the ones to bring us these cutting edge technologies because they have open minds and are excited about technology.

Field Experiences

Three weeks ago I was a little nervous to step foot in Mount Mahogany Elementary. Now, I miss all those cute little fourth graders. The students quickly found a place in my heart. It was amazing how quickly I got to know each childs nature and temperament. George (not real name) from the beginning was very warm and friendly towards my partner and I. I could tell he had a soft heart. In fact he had such a tender heart his feelings got hurt easily many times. The teacher and George had an understanding that when George got upset he would be able to leave the room with no questions asked so George could pull himself together. There were students who were very sad to see us go and there were students who didn't seem to care either way.

Now I will be able to take what I have learned from my experience at Mount Mahogany along with the things I have learned from all my classes at UVU. These next few weeks of school I will be able to pull from real life experience and a sort of simulation from what I learned from UVU. It will all come together to help me be the best teacher I can be for my future students. I can see why UVU has the best education dept around with some book work but mostly assignments that I can take with me as I move on to the next phase of learning.

In my future I will take the things I learned that there isn't always the technology available to the teacher from the classroom but not to panic because the school often has other technology the teacher can check out and use in their classroom. I will know there are many different personalities and as a teacher I have to teach in a way to reach all learners. I will be workable and excited to share my new ideas but not so excited that the veterans on my team look at me as a know it all. I know being a teacher won't be easy but great things usually aren't achieved easily. I look forward to continue my quest for being a teacher.

Field Experience Week 3

This past week in field my partner and I taught our five social studies lessons. We spent many hours putting the lessons together using all the things we have learned so far this year in all of our classes. One day we used direct instruction and showed the students how to make a Navajo rug. We also used the cooperative learning insert using the jigsaw method. Finally we used the effect the pioneers had on the Utah Native Americans. We used technology a couple times. We got to use a cool tool called the Elmo. It is a high tech version of the overhead projector. We also used a video from youtube which showed the students how important the land is to Native Americans.

We were ready and excited to teach. We weren't sure how it was going to go because the teacher in the class gives the students seat work and worksheet packets. We wondered if the kids would be receptive to group work. The first day we taught a song. We put the students in groups of five. THe instructions were to make up actions to their part of the song. Just as we thought the students had a hard time working together. Some of them wouldn't participate because they were just too far out of their comfort zone. We had a hard time with class management because the students aren't used to group work. The next day the students made navajo rugs in their seats. The lesson went very well. The next day we were really expecting another crazy lesson because we were playing a trading game in groups. This time we were pleasantly surprised. We were expecting the worst but the kids really got into the game and it went a lot better than expected.

From this experience I learned that when kids aren't used to doing things a certain way it can make them unsettled. I think this is where I can use what I have learned from classroom management. In my future class at the beginning of the year I will go over the expectations with my students and remind them throughout the year. The first time we do group work we will do it over and over and over if we have to until the students can do it without all the noise. I think it is worth the effort to work in groups. Many students have expressed their sadness that we aren't teaching any more lessons. This reaction leads us to believe that the students enjoyed our activities. I am even more excited to have my own classroom!

Field Experience Week 2

This week I have been working like crazy to get my lesson plans complete. In order to do this you need a great partner, a good subject and a reliable computer. I am lucky because I have all three. One of our assignments for field is making 5 lesson plans preferably social studies. Incorporated in the lesson plans are a technology lesson and 3 different models of lesson plans. My partner and I chose to use the cause and effect model for one of our lessons. It is hard to write a lesson plan when you don't know the subject. I spent hours and hours looking up the effect of the pioneers on the Utah Native American's.

I went to the library after not finding all I wanted to on the internet about the pioneers and native americans. I found some information that was very controversial. One scenario made the pioneers look like friendly neighbors who worked along side their native brothers. Another scenario made the pioneers look like anything but innocent. I wondered how you know what information is correct. I hope as a teacher I have information maybe from a textbook. I am assuming if it is in a textbook it is gospel.

It will be important for me as a teacher to know fact from fiction. Rumors and opinions work in some areas but not history. Elementary students take what teachers say to heart. For example today in class I helped a few students with math thinking I knew what I was doing. The students had the right answer and I told them it was wrong. I wanted to climb under the desk and disappear because they trusted me and I led them astray. It's a good thing kids are forgiving. It is important when I have my own class that I know my subject area. I love learning. I can see it will continue throughout my teaching career.

Field Experience #1 /Patience and Flexiblility

It is so fun to go to Mount Mahagony Elementary school each day. After only three days I have already grown to care about every fourth grader in the class. I am amazed how quickly the students warmed up to me and my partner. In a few short days I can pick out most the personalities, the soft hearted, the tough, the independent, the ones that need extra help. Because of their individuality I was able to learn their names in a short time even though I struggle with names. It is exciting as the kids ask the teacher, "When do they get to teach?" and exclaim to my partner and I, "We want you to stay all day!" We asked our cooperative teacher if he enjoys teaching? He said that it is hard work but each day has a reward. We can see why he loves teaching.

Each day I learn something new about the day and life of a teacher. One day the students were doing math. One boy got out of his seat and abruptly told the student sitting next to him to move so he could get through. The teacher noticed and stopped right in the middle of math to teach a kindness lesson and how to be polite. I was impressed that he would take the time out of math to teach character education. It is hard for teachers to see everything. One day while the teacher was reading there was a whole drama going on in the back of the room unnoticed. It would be nice if teachers could have multiple eyes like spiders, two to read the story, and two to look around the room while reading.

There are many things I already want to take with me to my future classroom that I have learned from my field experience. I want to remember to be flexible. My cooperative teacher said that being flexible is very important. He was being flexible when he saw a problem in the classroom and stopped in the middle of math to take care of it. I want to take that attribute with me. I have seen him flexible with his scheduling. He even moved Social Studies to the morning so we could teach our lessons. Patience is also an attribute I want to take with me. One day one of the kids told the teacher that his hair was sticking up. I wondered what the teacher was going to say. He handled it very well asking the student if it was bothering him and maybe at recess he could fix it. Wow, what patience! I look forward to the coming weeks to see what other lessons I can take with me.

Lessons Learned

I am astounded at all the technology available to educators. I am amazed at the students in this generation and how quickly they catch on to the latest gadgets. When I watched the video about this generation I could relate with them. They said that their parents ask for their help with technology. I laughed because my 15 year old helps me sometimes. I also laughed because my parents, who are in their 80's never learned computers. They don't have e-mail or the internet. I thought they were old and funny but now I realize how hard it is to stay up to date on everything. You have to be learning continually to stay on the cutting edge. This generation does want instant gratification so the idea of whatever, wherever, and whenever is marketed right to them. I think students would like the class act portal.

Kathy Schrock's comparing of old way and new way of doing things was an eye opener. I liked her comparisons. The old way, the computer being used for drills and tutorials. The new way is listed as technology used for research, problem solving, and communication. The technology is used more effectively. I also like the comparison used for the student. The student becomes a searcher, active researcher, problem solver, stategist, and collaberator. The new way sounds so much better than being a passive learner who memorizes and works alone. It is also informative to listen to techwatch and see that apple is lowering its prices so the 3g is more affordable. I think cost is one of the reasons students would not utilize technology in learning. All of this technology is here to make our world a better place. If we use it properly we could create a whole new generation of exceptional learners.

My Beliefs

Wow!!!! I am astounded by what the future brings for me as a teacher and my students. The technology these articles and videos describe used to seem like Star Trek, way out there, but they are now a reality. The article on the new WWW was incredible. I think the possibility of every student having a personal device would be slim but lets pretend they do and step into the classroom to see what is happening. Johnny is getting an announcement on his pda telling him he is being checked out from school. Sally is on virtual reality with the author of Dr. Suess finding out how he illustrates his stories. Jane is paying for her lunch with funds on her pda. The class has library time. The library is on their pda's. All of the books are electronic and can be easily downloaded. Mark needs to use the bathroom. I take his biometric fingerprint for our electronic hall pass. Could this all be a reality? We know the students are ready for it. Are we ready for it?

I have mixed feeling about the extent of this technology. I think this technology could be used with some definate rules in place. I have seen students bring technology to school and use it when they shouldn't. Students text and use facebook when they should be paying attention. Yes, technology can be a distraction but educators should figure out a way to make it work because it will bring a whole new level of learning. As an educator my goal is to help my students learn in an engaging way. I know students coming out of a classroom where they can use these tools think learning is fun. When learning is fun students want to be a part of it. It brings out the creativity in them and it helps them become problem solvers. This world is full of problems so this is a vital topic for students to learn. In reality I am not sure if public school will ever use the full extent of technology. Someone may have to come out with a charter school or private school to integrate all technology that is possible. In a perfect world if I had access to and was allowed to use these technologies, you would find them in my classroom.

Strengths and Weaknesses

It has been said that "learning is a lifetime process". This thought sums up how I feel about technology, I have learned some but it will be a lifetime process. As I was taking the UNI survey and reading over the NETS I realized I have some knowledge , thanks to this class, but there is still this huge mountain to climb where technology is concerned. I am determined to reach the top.

I am not yet an expert on any part of technology because I think there is much to learn. I can always do better. The technology standards and UNI gave me a pretty good idea of where I stand. The only areas I really feel like I do sufficiently well are using the World Wide Web to access information, and using the internet and e-mail to communicate with others. I do remember when I had to go to the library to do my homework. I know what an inconvenience it was. I use the World Wide Web extensively because it is a dream to have the world at your fingertips in the comforts of your own home. I also use e-mail, facebook, and gmail to communicate with others. It amazes me that I can send an e-mail to someone in Chile and they get it in an instant. I think another area I would do sufficiently well is teaching, learning and curriculum from the NETS. My UVU teachers use technology to teach and they all stress using technology in the classrooms. I have a strong belief just as NETS points out that using technology develops students' higher order skills and creativity so this is important to me.

There are many technology aspects to work on and become more familiar with. One of the most important areas on the NETS is demonstrating continually growth. If I don't keep up with technology it will pass me up and I will not be an effective teacher. One of my goals is to keep up with the current and emerging technologies. In order to keep up with the the latest technology I will take the Tech Tutor Seminar by Jerry Liao of Infochat. This will teach me about the latests tools and gadgets I can use in education. Another area I would like to learn more about is from the UNI survey, the awareness of resources for adaptive assistive devices for students with special needs. I will need to know about these devices since more special needs students are being mainstreamed in the regular classroom. One of my goals is to learn about these devices. I will take Kathy Schrocks Training online Project that provides information on assistive technology applications to help students with disabilites in elementary classrooms. The website is found at http://atto.buffalo.edu. I better get my flag to mark my spot on top of the mountain because it is steep but I have the tools to help me climb.

Digital Story 1 / Digital Story Video

This week I learned what a digital story is. I never heard of a digital story before. The stories I saw in class were very moving. Although, some of them were extremely hard to watch. I loved the one about the explorers, the pictures and music were moving. I didn't know about all the great movie making technology that amateurs can use. I am excited to use it and learn more.

After class I was really motivated to come up with a great topic. I wondered if I can really put something together that is so emotionally charged. Another great reason to be in a team. We put our heads together and it always astounds me what we can come up with as we talk it out. I thought it would be great to do a digital story on Civility. There are so many instances lately that show the lack of it. We could bring in the clips of the uncivility going on now, and the uncivility from the past. We'll see how it goes.

I can think of great ways to use digital stories in my classroom. I hope there are many to choose from on the internet because I want to use them. When children learn using the tools they are familiar with it sticks with them longer and they have fun learning too. If I can evoke emotion the kids will want to learn and even know more. Social studies seems to evoke the emotion because there are many stories from the past. I would use the digital stories for social studies and other subjects that already have a digital story and that teaches to the objective.

I couldn't get the video to work so I looked up a digital story on youtube. I chose one that I could possibly use in my field experience. I am teaching on Native Americans in Utah. I found the digital story called "Native America-Land of Promise". This digital story got me hooked right into it. The music was moving even though it wasn't singing in English, it was still beautiful music. The pictures worked well. The text was really good. The video was about how important the earth is to the Indian people. It told about how they got it taken away from them. It made me feel bad for them. It made we wonder why we can't all share and live together on the land, there is plenty out there to go around. It made me feel emotional and I am not from Indian descent. Emotion is what will evoke my students also and that in turn will make them engaged learners.

My Journey This Far

This week I would like to reflect on my journey so far. This class has helped me tremendously with assignments in my other classes. I have used google docs several times. The educational experience at UVU is all about working in groups. Google docs allowed my group to work on projects together in the comfort of our own homes. I have enjoyed learning in a hands on way how to teach. I feel this style of teaching gives me the experience that book smarts can't. You can learn something but applying it is another story. UVU prepares students to apply their learning. I have had to prepare lesson plans and present presentations in front of the class. All of these experiences help me become the teacher I want to be.

Now I am going to get ready to go to my first field experience. I feel like a mom who is about to have a new baby. You are never quite ready but ready or not here it comes. I can take all the knowledge I have learned so far with me. I know how to encorporate the arts in teaching. I know how to use technology in my lesson plans. I know how to write different types of models for lesson plans. I know some behavoir management techniques. I know how to work in a group despite our differences and still get along. I still feel like there is much to learn but at the same time I feel I have many valuable tools to take with me.

In the future I can take the same knowledge and build on it to make my journey complete. I will use dance, music and art to engage my students. I will practice my stern face for those times when my students need a reminder to stay on task. I will use humor when my students need a laugh. I will earn my students trust so we can have a classroom who respects each other. I will hold class meetings so my students can discuss what is on their mind. I will take the things I have learned this far and continue to learn so I can take this knowledge to my classroom and hopefully make a difference in the lives of my students.

Video Quest #3/ School House Rock-Nouns

This week in technology we learned the final steps for our webquest. The webquest is coming together. The finishing touches are just about done. My fellow pod members all have their talents and we capitolized on them. One of them is good at organizing and she is a perfectionist, so she makes sure we are doing things right. The other is really good at the technical stuff. She can listen to Doc. Waters once and have it down, no problem. Finally, there is me and I am the cutsy one that wants to make everything look esthetically pleasing, adding borders here and pictures there.

Now that I know how webquests are done, I want to use them more often. They are a little time consuming, especially if you were doing them by yourself but they are fun to make. You get to explore and learn about a topic in a fun way. The person putting the webquest together learns too. I also want to use webquests just for fun exploring topics I am interested in. They can be so creative, it is interesting to see other peoples ideas. Even if you have the same idea for the topic, webquests are so different. I thought our idea was so original until I noticed the webquest examples. Our example wasn't original however it has my pods personality so I suppose you could say it is an original.

I look forward to using webquests in my future class room with my students. They are a fun, motivating way to learn. My students are in a generation that loves technology. Webquests allows them to use the tools they are comfortable with, the web, games, music, videos, etc. We could use webquests for may things. Kids also love solving mysteries. Webquests give students an opportunity to find answers to questions in an interesting way. We are taught to engage students in our classroom. Making learning fun is a big part of that process. Using webquests are a tool to use to help me accomplish that task.

This video brought me back to my childhood. Every Saturday morning my sisters and I got up early to watch cartoons. This video played inbetween cartoons sometimes. I loved it as a kid. I think the younger aged students K-2 would think it was cool but it might be a little old fashioned for the older kids. When the song talked about how the Beatles, Monkeys and Chubby Checkers were nouns, I wondered exactly what kids in this generation would think the song is talking about. Beatles and Monkeys would be passed off as a bug and animal, but Chubby Checkers, hum, maybe big,fat toy checkers!

Webquest #2 and We Can't Start the Fire Video

This week we learned how to actually make the power point slides for the webquest. It was really interesting because I thought a webquest should be on the web not on powerpoint. But Doc. Waters explained this week why we had to do the webquest on the powerpoint because eventually we have to put it on a cd. It is fun to work in a group because we use all our brains and come up with a better product. For example, I wanted to put little bullet points made of fruit. Bonnie liked the bullet point idea but thought it would be better to put little magnifying glasses instead. We all loved the idea. It is great to use everyone's ideas and expound on them. It was a fun class this week because we could use a lot of creativity. When class was over I didn't want to leave because we were on a role.

I am glad we are learning more about powerpoint. Last year in 2200 we learned a little. There are many fun things about powerpoint. There are so many background ideas. You could spend all day trying to decide which one to use. The hyperlink feature is very useful, it looks so professional. I know there are many more things I don't know about it, but as my pod works on our assignment we discover new things. One new thing I learned was how to insert a picture in the background.

There are so many ways I could utilize powerpoints and webquests in my classroom. I think I will leave webquests to talk about next time. So I will discuss using powerpoint in the class room. I could use power point to teach a new subject or concept. When students can see it visually on a screen it will help them understand it better. I could use powerpoint for a picture slide show of my students at the end of the year with music in the background. I could use power point to give my students instructions. Power point is a tool all teachers should know!

What a fun video. I like the song. I remember when I first heard this song in the late 80's, it has a catchy, fun beat. When this song came out I had no idea what it was talking about. I didn't know it was a history lesson. The song is so fast with so many words, I didn't catch all of them years ago. In fact when the song says "Trouble in the Suez", I thought it said , "Trouble in the sewers. " This video would be a blast to show to a upper elementary or secondary class for history or social studies. It is eye catching and nicely done. I wonder if Billy Joel knew his song would be used for educational purposes. I can't imagine writing the song. They did a fantastic job with it!

Webquest #1 reflection/Surface Computing Video

This week in class we learned about the beginning of a webquest. I thought a webquest was a scavenger hunt on the computer. I didn't realize you make the webquest on Powerpoint. The webquest examples we saw were fun to watch. At firt I really wondered if I could come up with my own idea. My mind was totally on nutrition because we just had a lesson on it in Social Studies. When I saw Nutrition was a topic for second grade core curriculum I got really excited because I know there is a lot of fun information including games,video's etc. to make our webquest interesting.

The task at hand is to make the first step of the webquest. I am glad we work in groups because when we start talking and brainstorming our ideas start flowing. I looked on the internet to see if anyone had a webquest on nutrition. I found one but it wasn't impressive. We want to make ours so well that people will find it intriguing and want to watch it and show it to their students. I look forward to week 2 and 3 to see how to put our webquest all together.

In my future classroom I will use webquests. I didn't really realize how many were already there for my student's viewing. Watching a webquest would help me teach any subject in a creative manner. It would make the subjects more exciting because the students are on a scavenger hunt to find information. Of course we know this generation of students are not afraid of computers. Computers are a part of their scheme. It brings a bit of mystery. Everyone loves a mystery. I can really picture boys in my class getting into this that otherwise wouldn't. My students will be excited to solve the mystery. Another great way to energize my students!

This video blew me away. I have seen this kind of technology in the movies. Recently I saw a video where this mega computer tries to take over the world called Eagle Eye. The movie used surface computing. These guys were bringing up all kinds of information on this big screen with their hands. I remember when I saw the movie wondering if there really is technology that exists like that. Now I know the answer to that question. The part of surface technology that really got me was the "Intelligent Surfaces". Anything can be intelligent, even the surface of your favorite furniture. I loved the part in the video when they put the camera on the table and the picture appeared on the surface! This technology would be fun to use in home decorating. Maybe I could have "intelligent walls" in my home. I could change the interior walls whenenver I get tired of them. Wow, this idea is cool, I can't wait to see what they come up with next.

Pod, Vid Cast Blog/ Blogging Video

Class was very interesting this week as I learned about vidcasts and podcasts. I was surprised at the little gadgets you can use to record on. I am excited to learn how to post on U-tube. I love the educational vidoes on U-tube and teacher tube. Last year I showed a video clip of Teacher Tube to a teacher and she wanted to use it for an inservice lesson. She didn't even know teacher tube existed. SAD!!

I went home after class and asked my son if he wanted to be in a video on U-tube for my vidcast. He was so excited he told me he wished I hadn't told him about it yet. I tell you this because he is 11 and kids love this stuff. Kids know about technology. They know what U-tube is and they want to be a part of it. Kids want blogger, U-tube, Educational computer games, etc in their classrooms. They can relate to technology. When we as teachers teach students in their scheme, they do better. Technology is in their scheme.

Podcasts and vidcasts will be fun to use in my future career. My class could use a podcast to sing, rap, or recite a poem about what they have learned. We could put the podcast on our class website or school website. My class could use the podcast to film a clip for U-Tube. Of course we would have to get parental permission. We could use the vidcast to film the rules of the class and the kids could act the wrong way. We could watch it as a class to review the rules once in awhile. There are so many wonderful things we can do in the classroom. The best thing about this is the kids have fun learning, which makes a happy classroom.

The video "Why let Students Blog" was great! The video mentioned so many different things. I want to use a blog in my classroom because it will help my students feel creative. It will bring them excitement. They may even be motivated to learn. Blogging will make them feel empowered which will bring them confidence. Those were just a few things blogging can do for my students. I agree with all of the statements made in the video. I even put blogger on my class technology tools page before I saw this video because I think there are many ways it could be utilized. When I put blogger on my website someone told me that I might want to know that many parents wouldn't like the idea. I told them that it would just be in the classroom. The person said that it doesn't matter because if kids learn how to use it in the classroom, they will use it at home and parents won't like it. I'm glad I saw this video so I will know how to respond to parents who don't agree. I feel they don't have the knowledge of all the positive things about blogging. In every thing in life there is the opposite. The internet can be bad if it is used for that purpose. Parents need to know blogging is a safe, fun way to learn.

Reflection #3 & Web 2.0

I really enjoyed working on google presentations. I really like how google presentations allowes me to work with the other students in my quad together at the same time. As I was looking for backgrounds to suit our personalities, Sandie was setting up the presentation and Bonnie was looking for cute pictures. Working on something together is a good thing. There were a few times when we may have disagreed on a picture but we soon were able to come to an agreement. I know we work with others a lot because that is what we will be doing when we are teachers. I am glad for this experience because I have learned you can have different opinions and still get along.

It will be important for me to be able to work with all personalities because I have seen an example of a team of teachers not get along first hand. I used to work at an Elementary School as an aide. One of the teachers confided in me about her team. This teacher was upset because she wanted to do a program for the parents. One of the the team members didn't want to but felt if she didn't she would look bad. The other teacher just wanted to stay out of it. This caused many feelings. It was hard to work together because of the feelings. One of my goals is to have a close team. Using google tools such as google docs will help with this goal. Teachers on the same team usually use the same information sheet for the beginning of the year. Google docs would be perfect for the teachers on the team to do the document together.

Google presentations would also be a great tool to use to unite my future team. My team could use Google Presentations to do a lesson plan together on any subject. For example my team could make a presentation on fractions. As a team we could create this presentation in the comfort of our own homes. I could be in my pajamas and slippers eating Bon Bons and who would ever know? Yes, thats right, nobody! Working together is one big piece of the pie when it comes to teaching. This technology allows my future team to accomplish this task with ease.

Web 2.0 had many ideas of how many different ways we can collaberate. I was amazed at all the technology that is available to us. As a teacher I can use blogger to keep in touch with my students, parents, faculty, and principal. Wiki, can help me or my students make websites easily just as I have on my site. There are great uses for podcasts in education. At the Elementary I worked at they had a podcast on their website. Each 6th grade class got to make up a song about one subject the class has learned. The students loved the opportunity. The podcast gave the parents a little glimps of what their children are learning. What amazing tools are available to us. Knowlege is power!

Video #2 Dewy Fractions

The Dewy Fractions video is a strange yet interesting tutorial on decimals. It was cheesy, yet intertaining. Parts of the song were hard to understand because of the quickness and lack of precise pronunciation of the words. The dance moves in the video were amateur. The floating fractions were eye catching. I think students would get a kick out of it. It would be a good way to introduce the topic just to get the kids excited about fractions but I don't think it teaches well enough alone. I would start the lesson with it and show it again later for a review.

Reflection #2

In my teaching career it will be important to stay up to date with current technology. There are many things available to me to use in my teaching career. The google pages will be great to use to keep in touch with my students and parents. It will help my class run more efficiently. My husband is a principal of a private school. He didn't know about google sites. He wants to use google sites to help his school run more efficiently. I know a teacher that was very old school. She used a big piece of paper with her lesson plans on them. When she makes changes she uses an eraser. She would be much more efficient if she used technology instead of paper and pencil for her lesson plans.

One great reason to use technology is because it is cost effective. Last year my sons elementary school changed the school newsletter from hard copy to online. The parents can read the entire newsletter online. Just think of how much paper and postage the school has saved. Teachers don't have a lot of money to work with so I am so grateful to google for letting us use their tools for free. Google calendar will help me be organized in my career.

Google Docs is someting I look forward to using with my future team. It is fun to see how my team in this class change or add to my document. Collaberation is one of the keys to a successful career so this tool will be a way to strengthen the unity of my fellow team of teachers. I love the part of google docs that translates English to Spanish. (My daughter was really excited when I told her about it because she has a missionary who speaks Spanish.) This tool is a great tool for me to use in the classroom because their are more and more students who speak Spanish. It would be neat to have my students learn some simple greetings to make those students feel like we care about their background. You know what they say, "Knowledge is power!" Well I would like to change it to "Technology is Power!"

Video Reflection #1

The New Tech Trendes Video was very informative. I don't like the idea of setting monthly limits on the internet unless it is cost friendly. Usually big companies are just looking for another way to make a big buck. I do like the online program that Sandra Day O'Conner helped put together. The program seems like it would be a fun way to learn about our court system. Students in this generation like to use the computer so I think they would be more intent in learning from an online program rather than a dry history teacher. I am also fascinated with the multi touch screens. They will make using computers even easier and faster. "Computer for Dummies" may just be obsolete. What a great idea! Technology is great! I am always excited to see what will be next in the technology world.

My Ideal Classroom (Reflection 1)

My ideal classroom will be a safe, fun, and learning environment. I want my students excited to come to school each day. In order to do this I will have to incorporate many things. The first thing is the environment. The classroom is eye catching and visually stimulating. I will use cheery, bright colors to set the mood. I want many things on the walls but not so many that the room looks to busy. A clean and organized room is a must. A clean and tidy room makes a happy room. There is a special place set up just for reading. This space is soothing with comfy bean bags. It is inviting and inticing students to read, read, read.

I want all my students to feel welcome in their classroom. I want them to feel like it is a type of home away from home, a safe haven. I know for some students my classroom will be the only place they feel safe and cared about. I will have a no tolerance policy for students being mean to each other in anyway. I would like to have a family feeling, where the students can share with each other. I will do this by encorporating family circle once a week. The students will move their desks to the sides of the room and sit in a big circle. We will share with each other anything the students would like to talk about.

I want to use the arts in my teaching as much as possible. My classroom will have music, dance and art with subjects such as math, language arts and social studies. It is important to me to reach all students. Incorporating the arts in my teaching will allow all learners to absorb the curriculum. The students are engaged and excited to learn all the subjects! My class will use all the technology tools available. Each student will have their own computer to use for online games and learning programs such as kidspiration. I am very excited for my future classroom. I want to make a difference in the lives of my students. After all, like they say, "It takes a village to raise a child". I am happy to be a big part the village.