Link to my Wiki

Link to Wiki

Week 13

Technology interview.
I was impressed with what I found out about the technologies students have at their fingertips. I noticed there is a Promethean Board in the Resource room so I hope I will have one in my classroom too. I will also have a computer and projector hopefully. There aren't any technologies that I can think of that aren't available. There will be a computer lab so students will be able to explore Stellarium, Google Earth and many other programs that might not be available in my classroom but will be available in the school. I think some ways to get technologies into classrooms is to give evidence that they can help students in their learning by making up lesson plans and showing them to other teachers, principal, school board, etc. Peer pressure can be good ;).

Week 12

The most important thing I noticed about how the teachers integrate the technology was how well it correlates with the standard they are trying to teach. Also, I noticed the teachers had faith in their students in using that technology. They didn't underestimate their students because of the use of technology they might not have had. I was amazed to see Kindergartners using computers to draw their vehicles, it really shows you that kids can do anything if they are taught, even if we think they aren't ready for it because of their age. Never underestimate your students.

Week 10

I explored Stellarium and Kidspiration. Both can be found on the internet. Stellarium helps students explore space like Google Earth helps explore the Earth. Kidspiration has different activities according to teaching standards that teachers can use as activities for further learning for their students.

Week 9

A teacher can tell when they have successfully integrated technology in their classroom when the students are learning through that technology and the knowledge they are gaining pertains to their studies.
This technology should only be used if it fulfills the learning requirements and if there is someway to keep building on that knowledge. If technology can enrich the learning content of the students then it has done it's job.
Trial and error is the true way to see if the technology you have integrated is an appropriate one for the students but that is not ideal. You (the teacher) can tell if the technology is the best one by doing the learning yourself. Try the lesson for yourself and if it leaves out any parts there might be another technology that can teach it better.

Week 11 Reflection on TPACK

TPACK is a way we can think about integrating technology into our classrooms. It is split up into different sections: PK, CK, TK, PCK, TCK, TPK and TPACK. PK is Pedagogical knowledge or the knowledge of teaching, basically knowing how to teach and the fundamentals therein. CK is the content knowledge or how much a person knows about a subject to be taught. TK is technological knowledge, or what a person knows about technologies to be used while teaching. PCK is Pedagogical content knowledge or describing what teachers know in a specific content area. It is more than just knowing about something, it is being able to apply it to different things and teach it. TCK is technological content knowledge or knowing different technologies that can teach different things and being able to use them to teach. TPK is technological pedagogical knowledge or knowing how technologies can be used in a general teaching context. TPACK is being able to use technology to teach content. Is it adding everything together, making it possible for someone with the knowledge of how to teach to be able to teach content using technology. Beautiful isn't it?
Let's see this in a real senario: I was teaching kids how to blend words by breaking apart the phonemes. I knew how to teach this content, and I knew about the content myself, so I added a Promethean Board with words that would said the phonemes of each word and the children blended them together.
There are many different technologies that help students learn with textual, visual,and audial representation. Smart Boards (or Promethean Boards) help students gain visual and audial representation. Slide shows help students textually, Stellarium helps students visually, and Google Earth helps students textually and visually. There are so many wonderful technologies out there to help teachers becomes TPACK champs! Which helps students become learning champs as well :)

Week 14 Internet Safety!!

I read Elder Bednar's article "Things as they really are" which went along really well with what we have talked about in class. It was good to hear not only the voices of statistics or stories about the dangers but to hear words from an Apostle was extra encouraging because I know God cares about the seriousness of these issues too. Watching the videos and reading the talk really made me realize how serious this is and made me want to be a careful mom when I have kids because I do not want them getting into trouble that I could have helped get out of.
When I shared this to a friend they already knew about this safety stuff but they also said it was good to hear again. I know my friend is already really good about her internet safety so I wasn't too surprised when she didn't elaborate on what I had said. I know this will be in her mind but like I said before, she has been doing a very good job with it already.
I enjoyed this assignment, it is good to know that there are evils out there and that innocent people are being taken advantage of because of them. This teaches me I need to be better to people I see who trust a computer more than a friend in front of them and tell people what I have learned.

science project

Link to Technology Planning Sheet

Virtual Field Trip

Link to Virtual Fieldtrip

Link to Lesson Plan

Link to Project Plan

Week 8

1. As we see in class technology isn't that easy to master. It would be difficult to teach teachers how to use it in their already limited time.
2. To be able to teach students using technology to better reach their level of understanding. To integrate technology into how teachers teach.
3. The article talked about how teachers can use technology to reach those students who are not in the majority of the learning so they all can learn in their level.
4. Technology is how we will be teaching. It is important for us to read this article because we are those that will be affected. We will need to know how to use technology to reach all of our students learning levels.

Week 7

Technology creates different ways to teach which helps students because they learn many different ways. Technology can enhance a point the teacher is trying to make or help the students better understand what the teacher is teaching.
Although technology is wonderful it can distract the students. For example, smartboards are really fun to play with so students might just play instead of learn. I also don't like that technology can take away time from doing ordinary student things like coloring, creating with tactile things, etc. I don't want technology to take over and students never learn how to cut and paste (not on a computer) ever.
I have used the smartboard to teach contractions in words. There were snowmen built and a bunch of words at the bottom of the page, the students were to take the two words that made the contraction and put them in the first two snowballs (head and middle) and put the contraction it made into the bottom snowball. I have also experienced power point to effectivly teach students using visuals. In school I use websites to keep in contact with teachers, do assignments, or check grades.

Week 6 part 2

I looked at the google earth projects for Volcanoes, WWII, and James and the Giant Peach. They were all very interesting. I didn't like how many questions were on the first two examples but I did like the stories, and pictures. The upside to a virtual tour is: no money cost, can be exciting for the students, teaches the students well without going and doing. Downsides: Time consuming. I love the idea though.

Week 4

I know this is a little late but I am catching up on my PLE assignments. I looked at the storyboards from Haley, Aubrey, Bridget, DeeAnn, and Jenna. I think the most difficult thing about implimenting this into the classroom would be the review of concepts learned during it. It would be difficult to stop and discuss with the students about what they know or have learned about it because there isn't a good stopping place in some of the stories. It would also be difficult to specify what you are trying to teach the students.

Week 6

Along with the Virtual Tour I can implement things to touch on different sensory learning. I can have the students imagine what the beaches of California smell like, show a picture of the Northern Lights, feel the sand from a beach in Hawaii that I collected myself, play a game of dodgeball when learning about a war, let them smell different scented candles of different fruits in the Tropical areas of the world. The possibilities are endless! We can bring outside life into our classroom from all around the world if we have some imagination.

Digital Storytelling

Week 5

Google earth has many different fun things you can do. There are photos to see how the world looks in different areas and there are 3D buildings when you see street views, there is so much! I could use this in my classroom to go on field trips, see the differences between buildings in other countries for a history lesson, view pictures to see how people live their life in other countries, etc. The possibilities are endless!

Digital Storytelling Project

PLE wiki

The modifications I mostly made were to invite the world into the classroom by chatting, webcams, and bloglines. These can all help students learn more about the world and about things they are interested in. It can help to do reports, science experiments, even with math projects. With this technology, and the easy access to my wiki, the learning opportunities are endless.

Week 3

We learned about copyright laws this week. I've noticed at my work there is a big sign on the copier for the teachers to make sure all is okay with copyright laws before they copy something. Knowing about copyright laws helps teachers (1) not break the law, (2) know how much their students can be exposed to (example if the class is learning about Shakespeare and the teacher only thinks he/she can copy one page of a play but the copyright says he/she can copy more then the students have a better opportunity to learn about him. Assuming Shakespeare is copyrighted), and (3) to not worry if it is okay to copy or not. Copyright laws, like all laws, don't necessarily restrict us but protect and empower us.

Week 2

Tokbox can be used for all sorts of teaching opportunities. If you have a friend in a different part of the world which your class is learning about you can have a Q&A right there in class to find out about other parts of the world. This could also be used with other Q&A opportunities, including finding out about a corperation, career, or even for a quick parent teacher conference. tokbox.com

technical terms

My life and technology do not mix very well. As Kip (Napolean Dynamite's brother) sings how he loves technology, I must disagree. I love what technology allows us to do in life but I do not know how to use it, especially when it is infinity changing day to day. Alas, I am in a technology class to become more technological savvy, and use that knowledge to help me in my teaching career.