Final Tech. Post

1. What was the most valuable aspect to you of creating a Personal Learning Environment?
The greatest thing about my PLE was having a way to track my assignments. I like having it all in one place to access.

2. What did you like least about the PLE?
Sometimes I didn't feel like writing about an assignment and so I kept it short and meaningless.

3. Comment on the likelihood of your using a blog for personal or educational purposes in the future.
I will definitely use one both in the school as well as personal setting. I think a blog would be a fun way to post assignments of my students (with parental consent). I will also create a blog for my family because it's a good way to keep track of family and friends.

Promoting Internet Safety-Videos

To research more on internet safety, I watched the PBS video called "Growing Up Online." The video highlighted the point that kids are literally living different lives online. The most important thing that I learned is that I need to integrate the use of internet and technology into my classroom to teach my students safe ways of using technology. The time to be naive is over; all adults need to be aware that the internet isn't going anywhere. We need to focus our strength to meet the technological demand of our children and teach them its appropriate uses.

Internet Safety

I chose to read Elder Holland's article entitled, "Sanctify Yourselves" (January 2001 Liahona). This article was amazing! The greatest message is that we need to always be worthy. He specifically talked about keeping clean as far as the internet and media was concerned. Elder Holland reminds us that it is never too late for us to repent. He encourages all who may be struggling with these things to seek out help from family and/or bishops.

The words of Elder Holland have impacted me greatly. I know that as a teacher and a future mother, I can play a great role in promoting righteous and moral living. I will always try to live my life in a way depicting loving, Christ-like living. My example will hopefully influence those in my life for the better.

We need to only invite influences into our lives that will help us to be clean, righteous sons and daughters of God.

A Rocky Experience...

I finally taught a lesson using technology and it went great! On Friday, I taught a lesson on igneous rock and made a smashing PowerPoint to show my students examples of different igneous rocks. I hyperlinked certain text to different websites and teachertube videos, however, the internet was down district wide so I was unable to show those links. I will definitely hold onto the PowerPoint to use for my future teaching.

Ode to Technology

I will be using technology in the classroom this week for the Igneous Rock portion of the Rocks and Mineral unit I am doing with my students. National Geographic has a really awesome interactive volcano website. I want to show my kids some fun things from this site and then show them a PowerPoint of different types of igneous rocks. Along with the PowerPoint slides, I have tangible rocks they can touch and feel. I am confident that they will love this lesson just for the technology incorporation alone.

As for a lesson that was taught this past week that could have used technology, I think that a shared reading could have been fun if put into a PowerPoint. More pictures could have been used, slides with questions could come up in between the actual text, just fun stuff like that.

Tech. Survey

Incorporating technology into classroom teaching seems like a good idea, if you can find the time. I have realized over the past two weeks that every second of a teacher's day is crucial. There isn't a lot of time for set up and unless the technology used is captivating enough to hold 21 little bodies attentive, it may not be worth it. My mentor teacher has been teaching for 32 years. She doesn't use technology very much to teach, but does know how to get her kids working on the computers. I have not used technology yet in my teaching, but this week it is my plan to use it for my science lesson. I will be teaching about rocks and minerals and I know there are a few sites on the Internet that are way awesome. My students will think I'm pretty cool. If my teacher had used some of the things I will be using when she opened the rock and mineral unit, I think the kids would be more motivated to learn. It'll be great when I use technology to teach and maybe I'll teach my mentor teacher something new.

Technology in the Classroom

I've embarked on a new journey this week that involves 21 little people. I've begun my first practicum of teaching and it is a blast. I'm teaching the 2nd grade at Barnett Elementary in Payson. My mentor teacher has been teaching for 32 years and has a lot of great ideas; however, technology isn't her strong point. She has four computers in her classroom for her students to use, but they are rather outdated. When they complete their regular work, they are allowed to play interactive learning games. The kids really enjoy the time they have to play on the computers. Other than observing the student on the computers, that has been the only technology integration.

I have not used technology so far in the practicum. I think it is something I can bring to the classroom. My mentor teaching has not integrated it in her teaching as much as I would, so maybe I can mentor her in this aspect? I think a really cool way to do that would be to use the internet and show the kids some really cool websites. For example, my mentor teacher has given me full charge of the science rock and mineral unit. There are so many fun interactive websites highlighting rocks and minerals. There are many many options to involve technology in my classroom.

My Tour

My tour explores the wonders of the Renaissance. This Google tour can be used while exploring 6th grade Social Studies: Standard 2, Objective 4b curriculum. It can be used to supplement any thoughts or ideas about the art and architecture of the Renaissance.

Google Earth! An Awesome Tool!

I learned a great deal about Google Earth this week. Who knew that you could set up a whole guided tour complete with links to videos and pictures. I enjoyed the Google tours I explored. I looked at Anna Pugliano and Ali Rogers' tours. They both included 5 plus locations of exploration. I liked Anna's because she had a clear activity and task for each location. It really made it interesting to have those types of links. Her Google tour would take days to fully complete, but I'm sure a lot of interesting learning would occur. Ali's tour was also great and included many locations around the world. She was witty in explanations which made it enjoyable. When I make another tour for my class, I will be sure to have more activity links like Anna and make it more fun like Ali's tour.

Google Reflection

The whole concept of Google Earth has always fascinated me. To think that satellites can pin point any location on the earth is crazy. I have enjoyed zooming in on my house as well as places I would like to visit one day.
This week, I learned that virtual tours can be saved on Google. I'm excited to learn more about this for next week's assignment. Here is a link I found to a KMZ file on Egypt. In the 6th grade, they do a unit on Egypt so showing what the pyramids look like from space would be awesome! Check it out!:

KMZ on Egypt

Video

This is a movie I created about an American party play game/song. I illustrated all pictures and am pretty dang proud of it. Enjoy!

Other's Videos

I watched Rachael Heatons, Hayley Singley and Ali Roger's videos and they were cute and creative. I really liked how simple, yet entertaining they are. Brava to you girls!

Reflection

I really enjoyed this week's assignment! I used a songbook that I illustrated myself. To put that in digital format that my students can enjoy is a great tool. I can adapt any sort of story to meet the needs of my students by adding pictures, sounds, words, etc. They will have fun viewing videos I create and will have even more fun creating their own videos using the PhotoStory program. It would be awesome to scan in our projects and at the end of the year watch the movie of all we have done.

Reflection

This week was rushed for me but I had a great idea for my story/film. I am going to do the chilren's play song "I've been to Haarlem". It is a fun song that I have previously illustrated. I am excited to create it this next week!

I've Been to Haarlem

I have never really been to Haarlem, but I have been to New York. The title of my short film is "I've been to Haarlem" which is the name of the song I am highlighting. It is a children's play song and the film will be clips of my original artwork.

Attached is a copy of my storyboard:

Reflection

This week was great because it was a time to explore different technology tools that will help us in all aspects of teaching. This week we specifically researched scientific technological tools. I looked at several other classmates news articles about their experience exploring with these tools and we all think that they are very helpful. I am excited to use these tools in my teaching because I know my students will enjoy the learning process more with these technological capabilities.

All Things Volcano- A Science Lesson Plan for a Tech Savvy Teacher

All Things Volcano

Being a Tech Savvy Teacher is a necessity these days. In order to give your students top of the line education to keep up with the rest of the world, technology must be included. But don’t be fearful because there are numerous wonderful technological tools to help you with your endeavors. To prove how technology can be used, I will demonstrate it through a 5th grade science lesson about volcanoes.

The lesson plan for this is an original created by me and it is called “All Things Volcano.” It explores deep into how volcanoes are created, where they form and the different types of volcanoes there are. To aid me in my lesson, I will use a couple different technology tools. The main tool will be a National Geographic website that is interactive. Using this tool, we will be able to study all aspects previously stated. We will even get to build our own online volcano and watch it erupt! This is a fascinating aspect of science that is sure to get every kid interested in science.

The second technological tool I will use to aid me in my lesson is Kidsperation. Kidsperation is a software (not free-but allows for a 30 day trial run) that allows teachers and students to build concept maps of information found. After viewing the content from the National Geographic website, we can map out the concepts we have learned.

This project can be done two ways: 1) Information from the National Geographic website can be explored as a class and kids can create the Kidsperation concept maps on their own/in groups; 2) Information from the National Geographic website can be explored independently/in groups and the Kidsperation concept maps can be created as a class. Either way, this project will increase your students’ knowledge of volcanoes in ways no one could imagine without the use of technology. Make sure you have a list of things you would like your students to accomplish (what information they should focus on when visiting the website). By using the interactive website and online software, you will enrich your students’ lives and will begin your career as a

Tech Savvy Teacher.

Information to aide you in your lesson:
Grade: 5th
Subject: Science
Objective 2 Explain how volcanoes, earthquakes, and uplift affect Earth’s surface
Identify specific geological features created by volcanoes, earthquakes, and uplift.
Give examples of different landforms that are formed by volcanoes, earthquakes, and uplift (e.g., mountains, valleys, new lakes, canyons).
Describe how volcanoes, earthquakes, and uplift change landforms.
Cite examples of how technology is used to predict volcanoes and earthquakes.

Resources: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/forcesofnature/interactive/index.html?section=v
http://www.inspiration.com/freetrial/index.cfm

Fair Use Policy

This week in IPT287 I learned about the Fair Use policy for copyrights. Apparently teachers have been given the right by the U.S. Supreme Court to use any copyrighted material for face to face teaching without permission from the source (guidelines and limitations apply). I think this is a wonderful thing because there are so many fundamental tools out there that can aide educators in teaching. Bravo to the Nation's reps that understand the power of teaching and the necessity for fundamental tools for teaching.
If you are interested in learning more about copyrighted material use for educators check out this website: www.copyrightforeducators.org.

And just one more tid-bits of information I learned this week: TPCK doesn't stand for tri-pack like a six-pack of abs. TPCK really stands for Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge which means the integration of technology into education and teaching.

Reflection

This was a more challenging week in the Blended Learning Tech. class. All of this RSS feed stuff seemed intimidating and difficult, but once I got a handle on it I realized that it can be a useful tool. Once my group members also add the delicious function we'll be able to continue on with the assignment. It's hard assignement because we don't all do it at the same time. Oh well, I'll get the hang of this eventually :)

New to the Blog

Little Orphan Annie is a comic strip created by Harold Gray (thanks Wikipedia!) that follows a young orphan who is always happy even though she comes from a dire situation. Even though I am not orphaned, I like to believe that I have similar qualities to the orphaned Annie.
I come from a wonderful family. My parents go to great expense to make sure that all my needs and wants are taken care of. I also have two gorgeous sisters who are the bomb-diggity. We always have a ton of fun together so it is hard when summer is through and we all depart in different directions for school. I also have a wonderful and handsome boyfriend who is currently serving an LDS mission in Rome, Italy. Miles is great and I can't wait until he gets home in seven months!

So as you can see, I am far from being orphaned. I have a loving family and lots of friends that care about me and for that I am thankful to God.

That's it for my first post! See you weekly!!!