For this assignment I had to pick 4 sites I posted to my delicious account and would like to share. Here we go:
1) Language/Literature: http://childrensbooks.about.com/od/middleschool/Ages_912_Grades_4_Middle_School.htm
I chose this site because it had a list of recommended reading for students ages 9-12, which is the age range I am most interested in teaching. I love helping kids find books that they love and become passionate about. If kids don't love reading (or worse, if they come to hate it), they won't become the proficient readers they need to be.
2) Math & Science: http://vectorkids.com/
Following the reform mathematics trend, this website has a lot to offer students in math exercises and teachers in activity ideas. This website could be useful in an interactive classroom activity on a SMARTBoard.
3) Social Studies: http://www.cia.gov
The CIA has some great resources for research, including the online World Factbook. This link is updated every two weeks with the latest statistics and information on every country in the world. This is a great resource for students doing research projects, or for teachers who need to get up to date on the current world situation.
4) Special Needs: http://www.iser.com/
This site offers information on a wide-variety of disabilities a teacher might encounter. This site includes information on special testing, schools, rights, treatments, technology, and programs. If you are a teacher or a parent or a student doing research, this site has a lot to offer.
Delicious could be quite a handy tool. One way this tool can be used is in networking with other teachers, educators, and specialists to pool resources together.
Delicious might also be used in the classroom by offering a list of recommended websites for students' research, including citation styles.
http://delicious.com/ is a handy resource. I'm glad to have a head start on it with my soon-to-be fellow teachers.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Generation IM Article
Here's the article: http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3749836
Kids are immersed in technology and increasingly so. Up and coming is a generation so plugged-in. Recently my children's pastor started using a video to introduce the lesson and remarked on how focused the kids get when that video comes on. There are far less interruptions during the video and the highest percentage of kids are dialed in at that time.
I think this was an interesting quote:
“It’s a shift from how to memorize and retrieve data in one’s mind to how to search for and evaluate information out in the world,” says Barry Joseph, director of the online leadership program at Global Kids, a nonprofit organization in New York City. “At the core, this means that to be a good student, one needs to be less a rote learner and more a critical thinker.”
To some degree we need to teach children what to think, but more importantly we need to teach them how to think. As teachers we need to employ these tools to our benefit, not being afraid of them or frustrated by them but rather working with them. We need to teach students how to think and use the equipment they have to further learning rather than becoming dependent on it for their learning.
I like the idea of posting assignments on a blog. It's a kind of instant publication, something that students would be driven to put effort into because it's a public display. I think that social networking sites could be a useful classroom tool. The more the classroom knowledge can connect to the world of the students, the better it can be applied.
Kids are immersed in technology and increasingly so. Up and coming is a generation so plugged-in. Recently my children's pastor started using a video to introduce the lesson and remarked on how focused the kids get when that video comes on. There are far less interruptions during the video and the highest percentage of kids are dialed in at that time.
I think this was an interesting quote:
“It’s a shift from how to memorize and retrieve data in one’s mind to how to search for and evaluate information out in the world,” says Barry Joseph, director of the online leadership program at Global Kids, a nonprofit organization in New York City. “At the core, this means that to be a good student, one needs to be less a rote learner and more a critical thinker.”
To some degree we need to teach children what to think, but more importantly we need to teach them how to think. As teachers we need to employ these tools to our benefit, not being afraid of them or frustrated by them but rather working with them. We need to teach students how to think and use the equipment they have to further learning rather than becoming dependent on it for their learning.
I like the idea of posting assignments on a blog. It's a kind of instant publication, something that students would be driven to put effort into because it's a public display. I think that social networking sites could be a useful classroom tool. The more the classroom knowledge can connect to the world of the students, the better it can be applied.
Playing with the SMARTBoard
I had a lot of fun exploring the applications on the SMARTBoard. As I went I thought of all kinds of lesson plans I could do. I liked how they have historical video clips saved on there, like on Martin Luther King Jr's famous speech or revolving around the Apollo Missions. Aside from the video applications (which are easy to use and ready to go) there are other animated tools, backgrounds, and maps. I liked the geography applications, where the user has to change the size of the piece to place it in the correct region, then subsequently name each region. I think that the quizzes and interactive activities will be the most fun and quite useful in the classroom. The SMARTBoard leaves a lot open to classroom interaction and activity.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
The Website of a School I Observed
Last week I had the opportunity to observe a kindergarten class at Lakeview Elementary school in Kirkland. For this class, I was assigned to explore their website (http://www.lwsd.org/school/lakeview/Pages/default.aspx) and write up what I liked and didn't like. I was very impressed with the website. The homepage has a nice layout with a picture but also pertinent information like announcements, upcoming events, and office contact information. There was a link for parents that included every concern I could think of as a parent of students in the school or just a perspective parent checking it out. They had a link describing their curriculum and specialty programs, a link to the PTSA and one for the library. Everything I could think of to look for was present and upfront, I didn't really have to go digging for anything. Overall, this school has a great website. I can't think of a thing I would change.
Assignment #1
About a year ago, I was doing childcare at my church looking after kids who were 3rd grade and older. A nine year old boy asked me casually if I had an I Pod. When I told him I didn't, he was shocked. He couldn't believe that at nineteen I didn't have an I Pod. To him it was simply unnatural. Technology is a pivotal part of our lives, especially for the young teens and preteens.
I am interested in teaching the middle school age group (Grades 6-8) and have had the opportunity to assist in a middle school office where I could stay in touch with what characterized this group of people. So many times I had to play the part of detective to try and figure out whose phone, I Pod, or whatever electronics had been turned in to the lost and found. These kids use technology everyday, from having a TV and DVD player in their room, perhaps a CD player (although it seems the CD might be on its way to being outdated), to knowing how to handle computers, I Pods, cell phones, and MP3 players. No one asks, "Do you have a cell phone" as often as they ask, "What apps [applications] do you have on your phone?"
This part of culture shouldn't be discarded as unusable in the classroom. In fact, incorporating the technology that students use everyday might have the profound effect of connecting classroom theory to everyday life.
I can think of several ways to incorporate everyday technologies into the classroom. Students could download cultural videos and music onto their I Pods for projects in Social Studies or Language Arts. Students might explore programs on the wii that relate to Sciences and Mathematics or any number of subjects. In Spanish or some other foreign language course, students could be challenged to switch the language on their cell phones to help them apply their language skills. Students could blog a class discussion, maybe have an online private journal accessible by the teacher to see how students incorporate material. Students might be assigned to choose a popular movie or watch one in class based on historical material to bring to life the reality of the situation or to try to discern fact and creative fiction. Specialty video programs, PowerPoint, other multi-media presentations that could be created on computer programs, these are all within the capabilities of middle school students.
For this assignment, I found an article on Education Research Complete entitled "Teaching Math with Video Streaming" by Jean Whitaker. Though published in 2005, the ideas inspiring the article are still relevant. The idea in the article was that video streaming could be used to communicate with students who would otherwise have difficulty paying attention in class or would have difficulty grasping the concepts because of a language barrier. Whitaker said, "Math teachers...know their students enjoy watching video clips and comment on how their students seem to be paying more attention during class time. Students seem much more engaged with their lessons."
Besides just speaking to students through a familiar medium, the kinds of presentations Whitaker describes encourages me to help students draw parallels from classroom theory to outside reality. Perhaps showing a video where a construction worker is applying Algebra and Geometry, or other professionals applying currency, symmetry, history, ..., would help students integrate their knowledge.
The NETS are important in keeping learning alive and relevant. Teachers are required to be both knowledgeable--encouraging teachers to stay up to date and continue learning--and to employ creativity--keeping things fresh and relevant. Teachers are required to help students to develop skills that will produce professionalism and responsibility and will help them expand their world beyond the in-class community. Students are also held to a standard to train up creativity, communication and collaborative work, professional research, critical thinking skills, responsibility, and technological savvy.
These standards also encourage the development of thinking on technology instead of letting technology think for you. In other words, teachers are encouraged to think outside the box and students are taught to employ their brains, their own creativity, and to effectively use technology to produce their ideas as realities.
I am interested in teaching the middle school age group (Grades 6-8) and have had the opportunity to assist in a middle school office where I could stay in touch with what characterized this group of people. So many times I had to play the part of detective to try and figure out whose phone, I Pod, or whatever electronics had been turned in to the lost and found. These kids use technology everyday, from having a TV and DVD player in their room, perhaps a CD player (although it seems the CD might be on its way to being outdated), to knowing how to handle computers, I Pods, cell phones, and MP3 players. No one asks, "Do you have a cell phone" as often as they ask, "What apps [applications] do you have on your phone?"
This part of culture shouldn't be discarded as unusable in the classroom. In fact, incorporating the technology that students use everyday might have the profound effect of connecting classroom theory to everyday life.
I can think of several ways to incorporate everyday technologies into the classroom. Students could download cultural videos and music onto their I Pods for projects in Social Studies or Language Arts. Students might explore programs on the wii that relate to Sciences and Mathematics or any number of subjects. In Spanish or some other foreign language course, students could be challenged to switch the language on their cell phones to help them apply their language skills. Students could blog a class discussion, maybe have an online private journal accessible by the teacher to see how students incorporate material. Students might be assigned to choose a popular movie or watch one in class based on historical material to bring to life the reality of the situation or to try to discern fact and creative fiction. Specialty video programs, PowerPoint, other multi-media presentations that could be created on computer programs, these are all within the capabilities of middle school students.
For this assignment, I found an article on Education Research Complete entitled "Teaching Math with Video Streaming" by Jean Whitaker. Though published in 2005, the ideas inspiring the article are still relevant. The idea in the article was that video streaming could be used to communicate with students who would otherwise have difficulty paying attention in class or would have difficulty grasping the concepts because of a language barrier. Whitaker said, "Math teachers...know their students enjoy watching video clips and comment on how their students seem to be paying more attention during class time. Students seem much more engaged with their lessons."
Besides just speaking to students through a familiar medium, the kinds of presentations Whitaker describes encourages me to help students draw parallels from classroom theory to outside reality. Perhaps showing a video where a construction worker is applying Algebra and Geometry, or other professionals applying currency, symmetry, history, ..., would help students integrate their knowledge.
The NETS are important in keeping learning alive and relevant. Teachers are required to be both knowledgeable--encouraging teachers to stay up to date and continue learning--and to employ creativity--keeping things fresh and relevant. Teachers are required to help students to develop skills that will produce professionalism and responsibility and will help them expand their world beyond the in-class community. Students are also held to a standard to train up creativity, communication and collaborative work, professional research, critical thinking skills, responsibility, and technological savvy.
These standards also encourage the development of thinking on technology instead of letting technology think for you. In other words, teachers are encouraged to think outside the box and students are taught to employ their brains, their own creativity, and to effectively use technology to produce their ideas as realities.
The Potential for the SMARTBoard
The first time I saw a SMARTBoard was here at the University. I thought it was the coolest thing I'd seen! I was so excited to think that, as a teacher, I will be able to have one of those in my classroom.
Other than being a really neat toy, I agree with the Lory Stewart that the SMARTBoard could be an effective tool in improving learning in the classroom. I read the article "Improving Instruction with Interactive Whiteboards" by Dian Schaffhauser (http://www.thejournal.com/articles/22082/). Lory Stewart works in a school distract that has the common problem of students with low test scores. Here in Washington State, that is especially a problem because low test scores mean lower state funding.
The SMARTBoard is another means by which teachers can communicate to students. Students respond well to technology, and having an interactive board would mean more options for demonstration, communication, and class interaction. However, just having a SMARTBoard isn't the answer. I think the SMARTBoard is just another tool that, if used well, could have a great impact on students' learning and expanding levels of communication.
Other than being a really neat toy, I agree with the Lory Stewart that the SMARTBoard could be an effective tool in improving learning in the classroom. I read the article "Improving Instruction with Interactive Whiteboards" by Dian Schaffhauser (http://www.thejournal.com/articles/22082/). Lory Stewart works in a school distract that has the common problem of students with low test scores. Here in Washington State, that is especially a problem because low test scores mean lower state funding.
The SMARTBoard is another means by which teachers can communicate to students. Students respond well to technology, and having an interactive board would mean more options for demonstration, communication, and class interaction. However, just having a SMARTBoard isn't the answer. I think the SMARTBoard is just another tool that, if used well, could have a great impact on students' learning and expanding levels of communication.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)