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!