Exit Slip for the LAST class.

How has my thinking about technology's role in teaching & learning changed over the semester?

My thinking about technology's role in teaching and learning has changed dramatically over the past semester.  The most important aspect that I have learned is technology will help lead to student-led lessons instead of teacher-led. Because of my experiences, I am well aware of the positive impact of "self-learning". I retain information am able to explain the concepts much more effectively at a later time if I  discover them through my own means. Technology gives students and teachers a variety of options that allows them to teach and learn in a way that works for them. One of my favorite aspects of technology is its ability to meet many different needs of my students. For example, I can include audio for those who learn best through listening, movement (using the SMART Board) for those who learn best through hands-on activities, and videos for those who are visual learning. I now know that using a variety of technology tools will allow my students to lead their teaching and that I will help them to do so by providing a variety of learning styles.

I can honestly say that I couldn't believe all of the different types of technology we learned about this semester. I was stunned to find out that many of the tools are somewhat dated. I couldn't figure out why my teachers, not one of them, did not use anything besides POWERPOINT. I plan to continue my own education in using technology for teaching and learning so that I can teach my students in a way that is beneficial and engaging for them.

Reflection on Chapter 10

• How does this reading impact your thinking about technology's role in teaching and learning?

One important factors that this chapter discusses is the need to motivate children and instill self-motivation. According to the book, "In order to produce a generation of people who seek out learning, learners need to be given more control over their own learning." I think this statement is really focusing on the ways in which technology gives control to the learner. First, since students are using technology of all sorts in their free time, it is obvious that they enjoy using it, and therefore, will be more apt to use it for school as well. Another reason technology gives learners more control is because of the ease of editing. Students using technology can quickly and easily make changes to their work and receive feedback from others, which is a wonderful motivator. If the project  a student creates is being used by others (such as a game on the Scratch website) then the student can clearly see that their project had purpose. The final way in which technology can give students control over their learning is by offering a wide variety of resources, tools, and classes that they might not otherwise have. Using Google is like having tons of encyclopedias, dictionaries, videos, etc. right at your fingertips. The internet and other technology tools is like creating an art project with all the supplies you could find in Hobby Lobby; with endless supplies, you are able to create virtually anything you want!

•  What will you do differently as a future teacher as a direct result of this new thinking?

One line in this chapter that really shocked me stated, "We grew up with the idea that learning means taking courses in school." I truly believe that oftentimes this is still the message we are getting from schools. There are a few ways in which I plan to change this perception. First, I will give students the freedom of choice and let them explore for themselves. This way, they will be able to understand that they can facilitate their own learning and that it can occur in many different ways, not just the way the teacher showed it. For instance, I will give students a math problems that they have never seen before and ask them to try to find an answer and share their method of solving the problem before I show them a couple of ways to complete the problem. Another way in which I hope to show students that learning can occur in many different forms and a variety of places is by allowing them time to do what they want to do. This is especially true for the younger students I will be teaching. They will be given ample time to play in the different areas of the classroom to learn through play. I believe children are being forced to sit at desks and learn one way to do things way too often; they need to be given the opportunity to discover for themselves, and for preschoolers and kindergartners, that means play time.

Exit Slip Cinco de Mayo

One of the most interesting things I took away from this class  was National Certifications. Students can choose what types of credentials they want to take instead of earning the high school diploma. I had not thought about this much before, and I believe it is still very important for many students to receive a standard high school diploma.  Many students are not ready to choose what they want to do for the rest of their lives. Furthermore, if they do know what 'path' they want to take, oftentimes there are ways in which they can take the specialized classes. Some of the alternative choices are CAPP or AP classes, and thanks to technology, online classes/distance learning are available for those who do not have specialized classes at their schools. I do feel like National Certification could be a wonderful choice for some students, however, for others the more traditional high school curriculum is probably more appropriate.

When speaking about teaching, ignorance is definitely not bliss. I want to be the teacher that is able to relate to my students so that they are able to connect and build strong relationships with them. One of the most prominent factors in almost every student's life is gaming. Since I want to be able to relate to my students, I will need to have some sort of understanding about the games my students are playing.  I love the idea of "forcing" myself to play the games that my students are using. I know this will be a frustrating yet fun learning experience for me, yet, let's face it, if I am expecting my students to always learn what I need/want to talk about, I should do the same for them.

One thing that I will always remember from ED 331 is summarized in this quote from Dr. Boyer: "I do not want my daughter to be prepared for a certain teacher's past; I want her to be prepared for HER future". I hope that the parents of my students will (for the most part) support my teaching methods because I am entering the profession with their children's needs and futures as my number one priority.

Reflection on IRLO

How much effort did you exert designing and creating the iRLO?

Designing and creating my iRLO took me less time than I had imagined it would. Since I worked on the project gradually, I was able to take breaks when I was getting frustrated and reflect on aspects that I liked/did not like in my project. Overall, I know that I must have spent a couple hours on this project. Usually, I have an idea of what I want to do, and then am able to find a standard that is related to my idea. For this project, however, I looked through the standards to brainstorm ideas for what kind of game I wanted to create. I made a list of the standards that I thought were interesting or could be made into a game and then decided on patterns. One day, I decided to explore Scratch to get the feel of it before creating my project. Before I knew it, an hour had gone by and I had the very basic components of my project started. Later, I worked to add in the details and begin adding the movement to my characters. Finally, I worked out the glitches and decided that my project was complete. I uploaded the iRLO to D2L and waited for feedback from my peers. The only feedback that I decided I wanted to work on was the fact that my game had no ending. I edited the game so that there was a definite ending and submitted it to the dropbox! Dr. Boyer was right when he said it would be hard but it would also be worth it. I am proud of my project and I can't help but think about the pride students/children feel when they create something that others can use and enjoy.

How does designing and sharing an iRLO impact your future
teaching?

One of the main ideas
that I took away from this project was the fact that I will always need to take into account that my students might not be able to read. Working with the younger students means that their skill levels are not nearly as high as they need to be, and so I need to create activities that will encourage the building of these skills. For example, having a lesson that has written and verbal instructions will promote reading along. I thought I was done with my project and then decided that I needed to add sound/verbal instructions since my activity was created for kindergartners. Another aspect that I thought about when sharing my iRLO is the sense of pride it gave me. Knowing that I worked hard to create a game and lesson that others could use is a powerful concept. If my students were to create some sort of game I would encourage them to share it with others (such as on the Scratch website) because it will be wonderful for them to experience praise and possibly constructive criticism. Finally, working with Scratch and knowing that people much younger than me are much more experienced was great motivation. Having the ability to go on the website and play/use the
Scratch creations of peers their age will be a great way to inspire and motivate my students. If I, as a teacher, were to tell my students that they have to do a project, it would seem like work. If, however, I introduced the students to all of the games and people that created enticing lessons/games on Scratch, the project would seem much more exciting. My plan as a teacher is to use Scratch.com as a place for my students to start brainstorming and building the confidence they need to create things using Scratch.

PSA Reflection

• How much effort did you exert planning and producing the PSA?
• I exerted a lot of effort in the planning and producing of our PSA. We all brainstormed ideas based on the 9 areas of digital citizenship that were provided and ended up choosing digital health and wellness. I emailed Dr. Boyer to get this idea approved. When my group met to write the script, I began by proposing the idea of creating a do's and don'ts video; my peers seemed to like it and so we wrote the script. While my group members came up with ideas, I typed the information into a script format. We then timed the script and realized it was too long so I suggested that we remove our last point of the video. This created a script that would better fit into the 60 second time frame. On the night of recording, the girls came to my room and we planned who would "act" in the scenes of our video. Using my camera, we all took turns taping, acting, and reading the script. After we were done recording, I volunteered to do the editing, since it would be impossible for all of us to be doing that at the same time. I uploaded the videos to moviemaker and edited the scenes to our liking and so that we would fall within the time limit. I added transitions and a title sequence. Finally, when our video was complete, I published it and emailed my group members. After receiving feedback, I edited once more and completed our PSA video. I am very happy with the results and I believe I contributed more than my fair share the completing the project.
• How does creating and sharing a digital storytelling PSA with your peers impact your future teaching?
• This project influenced my future teaching in a very large way. Since I will be teaching Early Childhood students, I have often wondered how useful these tools and projects we created would be to my young students. I have always thought about how I could use them to help my students, but having them create the projects by themselves would be almost impossible. Asking the students to make a video is a completely different story. Creating a video is as easy as pushing the button on to record and off to stop recording. Even if the students needed help with the editing portion, the majority of the project could be completed without teacher assistance. I like the idea of my students drawing the storyboard out so that even if they struggle with writing, they will still have a basis of what their movie would be about. Also, what better way to be creative than to act out? I enjoyed this project more than any of the other ones we have created this semester and I believe my students would too.
• One way in which I might actually use this in my future teaching is to have the students create a video based on their reaction or comprehension of a book read for class. It would be easy for the students to recreate what happened and then share how they felt about that scene or the book in general. This would be a wonderful way to end literature circles. The groups of students who read the same book would be able to share with the rest of the class an overview of the book. This project would allow the students to practice collaboration, show their creativity, and present information to a group.

Reflection on chapters 8 and 9

• How does this reading impact your thinking about technology's role in teaching and learning?
• Since taking this class, I have really started to believe that incorporating technology into classroom learning is necessary. However, there are still moments when I question this. The book states "Kids today spend over 6 hours interacting with television, video games, the Internet, instant messaging, and other forms of media...almost as much time as they spend sleeping". This quote was horrifying to me. I do not want my future students or children to be sitting in front of a computer or television screen for that many hours. I tend to relate the increasing number of hours spent in front of a screen to the growing obesity rate. Although I do agree with Dr. Boyer in the fact that it is a person's responsibility to control/monitor the amount of time spent on a computer, I also wonder if children will spend even more time than normal if homework is also a computer based project. This is not to say that I do not think we should be using technology. One possibility of assigning work that requires the use of a computer or the internet will steer children in the direction of "beneficial" computer use. If a student is introduced to Scratch for a project, they may continue to use the program to actively create video games on their own instead of just playing video games.
• What will you do differently as a future teacher as a direct result of this new thinking?
• I really liked the idea of credential certifications and the fact that the timeline for testing depends on the learner, not on the teacher. I think this is a powerful concept that could be applied throughout schools. I do understand that there is a set curriculum and teachers often feel pressured into plowing through the information on a set timeline in order to get through it all. However, I believe that if students were able to determine when they were ready to get tested on information, the self confidence of students would increase dramatically. Oftentimes, students are forced to take tests on lessons that they may not have fully grasped yet. Especially with math, understanding the concepts could take a long time for one student and a short time for another. If students were able to decide when they were ready, I believe that test scores would improve and the confidence of the students would increase as well. When a person is given control over his or her learning, I believe they will be more apt to dig deeper into the concepts and feel more comfortable with the subject matter. I believe there would be many benefits to having students choose when they are ready to be tested, and the use of technology could make this happen. Students could complete tests online when they are ready to do so and receive immediate feedback regarding their responses. Teachers could easily track a students progress by using programs that "grade" the students based on their answers or simply by checking over a blog about the research the student is doing. I think there are many ways to hand the control of the learning over to the student and that technology will be right along side of us the entire time.

Exit Slip for 4/28

oday we had discussions on chapters six and seven. Below are some of the key points from the chapters/discussion that I believe are important to note.

• Three Eras: Apprenticeship, universal learning, life-long learning
• The five core competencies for our generation to succeed in the workforce: interpersonal, information, resources, systems, technology. I believe that many of these are crucial and relevant in the real workforce. The first thing I realized was that many of these competencies were found on the evaluation form for the practicum we needed to complete for 351. Clearly, these concepts are important because they are being used now to assess how "successful" we are.
• Technology could be a wonderful way to decrease test anxiety and the pressure of competition in schools.
• Technology will help put students more in charge of their own learning.

One of the more interesting questions for me was "Where do you think learning occurs best, inside or outside of the classroom and why?" I liked this question because I had never really thought about it. I truly believe that we need to encourage learning both inside and outside of the classroom. Some of my peers suggested that the "best" learning environment depends on what is being learned.

It was a rude awakening to hear Dr. Boyer say that his daughter will be able to complete the projects we did this semester by the time she is in kindergarten. It really emphasizes the fact that we need to continually better our skills related to using technology. It will be difficult to determine how much I can delve into technology becuase of the digital divide. It will be my job to create enriching activities and give the students who do not have access to technology the chance to complete the assignments.

One question that I know I will reflect on was presented by Dr. Boyer. He asked, "How will you address the digital divide and how will you ensure that students are able to work with technology?" This is a question that will be critical for me now and in my future.

Reflection on chapters 6 and 7

• How does this reading impact your thinking about technology's role in teaching and learning?
• There are a few lines in this reading that shocked me or made me think about certain aspects of teaching that I had never considered before. First, the book stated that education changed because parents were not fit to educate. This line stood out to me because I can relate to its message. My mom still jokes that after I reached 5th grade, she was unable to help me with homework because it was "over her head". It is easy for me to see how parents were not "fit" to teach. I know that this is even true for me because oftentimes I forget concepts or information that I had once known. As the saying goes "If you don't use it, you lose it". Therefore, if there were any aspects of education that parents did not use, they were most likely not the best teachers. Although parents may not have been great teachers in the past, I do believe this could change because of technology. First, parents would be given the necessary tools (programs/activities/etc) to properly teach their children. Secondly, students could take classes online from certified teachers. Finally, parents would be able to better teach their children with the help of technology because they will be able to look up information quickly as needed, ask for help, or contact many people to find the information they are looking for. Clearly, this one statement from the book had a huge impact on way in which I think about technology in terms of teaching and learning.
• What will you do differently as a future teacher as a direct result of this new thinking?
• There was another line in this book that will influence my future in teaching. On page 96, the book states "The pedagogy of apprenticeship involves modeling, observation, coaching, and practice." Although the book views this idea in a negative light, I think that in a sense, this is part of my teaching philosophy. I believe that for young students, modeling and practicing is a core part of learning. The students in my classroom will be told and shown what to do, and then be asked to practice those skills to better them. Through my observations, I will be able to tract my students' progress, and then remodel if necessary. If I am able to "coach" my students, that means that I will be given some one on one time. A coach for a sport has the chance to talk to each team member individually about strengths and weaknesses. They also are able to talk to the team as a whole. I think that both of these strategies will be useful in my future classroom.  I do not think that modeling, practicing, or coaching are unsuccessful in teaching concepts. Practicing and modeling require interaction (which is what the books finds more beneficial), and therefore, I believe that applying these concepts in my classroom will be very useful.

exit slip for 4/21

Today, I realized that basing a discussion around questions from the reading is a dangerous plan. There are a few reasons why this form of discussion might fail:
1. People might not read the assigned pages
2. People might forget what they read
With either of these cases, forming a discussion based on specific facts taken from the reading will not work. Today, the discussion started with specific questions taken from the reading. I read these chapters a week ago, and it was difficult for me to try to remember what the answers were. The group did do a good job at guiding us to the answers (giving page numbers or hints). I realize that having others present and reflecting on what works/does not work is very helpful. I will be able to use the information/ideas that I get from my peers in the future.

The second group today discussed "The Seeds of a New System of Education". I really like how this group structured their discussion. By dividing up the work and allowing time to look for answers, the responses were much more informational and better prepared. I realized that it is very important to have some sort of idea of what you are going to say in front of a group so that you do not stumble over your words or repeat yourself. Another part of presenting that I find is important is a change of pace or activity often. When we are doing the same activity for 20 minutes, it is hard to stay focused. As an Early Childhood educator, I will have to keep the students on their feet in order to hold their attention.

After this discussion, it is clear to me that schooling has been and will continue to change. It is beneficial to at least know about the different options for schooling. It is also VERY important to realize that we could potentially be teaching via technology because the results of students who learn using technology are very positive.

Reflection on PLC presentation

1. How much effort did you exert on this task?
1.  Working on this task was a long process, especially since I needed to do my own research and look through the research of my group members. After collecting the information necessary, my group met and discussed what we should use and how we should use it for the presentation. We spent about an hour debating and creating our presentation. We used Google Docs so that we could access it whenever was convenient. This was very useful for our group. Since we wanted to split up the work and didn't have very much time to meet as a group, we were able to construct and practice what we were going to say on our own time. Overall, I was happy with the way the project came together. By combining everyones' ideas and making the presentation as interactive as possible (by actually having our audience test the tool we discussed) I feel as though we put enough effort into this project.
2. What is the value in completing this course task? & How does completing this course task impact your future teaching?
1. There are many components of this task that were valuable. First, research is always a valuable skill to practice, since I will be using it forever. This project promoted research of a certain topic as well as sharing the ideas with others. Collaboration is another valuable aspect of this project. By sharing, choosing from, and combining our research, we were able to grasp the most important concepts and share them in a shorter version. Completing this course task required me to stand up in front of an audience and present a topic. This allowed me to practice my public speaking skills and develop my professional language. Receiving constructive criticism from Dr. Boyer encouraged me to reflect on the aspects of my presentation that I should keep and the ones that I should change. There were many benefits to this project, but the most important aspect is to see how it correlates to being a teacher. As a result of this project, I was able to see, on a smaller scale, the steps necessary to successfully teach a lesson. First, you must know your subject inside and out. If we did not have sufficient knowledge about the subject, we would not have been able to answer the questions that people had at the end. Another skill that I know I will need to work on for the future is my professional language. When I am in front of a group, I tend to use uhms. Since taking the Fun Block classes, I realize that I am using them and am trying to stop. Now that I recognize that I am using the words, I stop whenever I do use uhm in a presentation, which then makes my next sentence less fluent.  I will work on finding a way to stop the vicious cycle that using uhms creates. The final way in which this project influenced my future teaching is my view on collaboration. While working on the project, I did not think it was a good idea to incorporate a video, however, since my peers wanted to, we did. Dr. Boyer and the audience seemed to like the video and I have to admit it was a nice touch. In the future, I will make myself open to new ideas so that the work of a group will reflect all of its members.

Reflection on Chapters 4 & 5

• How does this reading impact your thinking about technology's role in teaching and learning?
• After reading this chapter, it is clear to me that technology has always and always will influence schooling, or as the book says, "...diffusion of knowledge." It's funny to imagine the printing press as technology, but it was, and I wonder how long it will take before people think of computers as "old" technology. There are already groups of people who could not imagine life without a computer, myself included. All of this just goes to show that when new inventions are used in an appropriate way, they will produce huge benefits. If we again think about the printing press, it is easy to see how this is true. Although the printing press was used to create books and other forms of writing that were inappropriate for students, it also produced the books that were and still are used in schools. 
• There is one other areas of the book that I believe is important to mention. The home schooling part was shocking to me because I have only thought of home schooling in a negative light. Since I was never home schooled nor did I know anyone who was, I was unaware of the positive results that are seen with students who are home schooled. According to the book, those who home school do better on standardized tests and that "Home schooling also reduces differences in the scores caused by gender or race." I found these statements to be very encouraging since we are always looking for ways to better student's test scores and understanding of the material. Furthermore, we, as teachers, also search for ways to help the students whose characteristics or home life reflect the work they do in school. Home schooling could be a wonderful option for those who find race, gender, or other aspects of their life to influence their schooling.
• What will you do differently as a future teacher as a direct result of this new thinking?
• As a future teacher, I will embrace the fact that technology will continue to change and if I use it correctly, it will benefit my students and their families greatly. As I have said many times in my blog, I believe it is necessary to use technology and that it will eventually be found in my classroom whether I like it or not. It is my job then to embrace it and be enthusiastic so that I can inspire my students to do the same.
• I plan on looking into the various kinds of home schooling to see if any of the activities or tools that they use could be implemented in my teaching. Since the results of home schooling are positive, there has to be aspects of that system of education that can and should be used, even if it is not in the home setting. Also, if any of my students are struggling or interested in home schooling or extra help, I want to be informed about the choices. I will keep up-to-date on the tools available so that I can provide as much assistance to my students and their families as possible.

Reflection on Peer Led Discussion

• How much effort did you exert preparing for this discussion?
• I feel as though I applied a sufficient amount of time on this discussion because of the steps I used. First, I carefully read through the chapter and took notes on the parts that I found interesting or important. Then, I looked through my notes and choose a few topics that I thought would bring about the most discussion among my peers. My group and I met to discuss what parts of the chapter we thought should be covered, and then combined the notes we had on those topics to create our presentation. We decided to use Google Docs so that we could all visit and revise our project on our own time. We made our presentation and then created our poll on polleverywhere.com to complete our discussion. Although we checked our presentation and did a review right before class, I feel as though it should have been more thorough. If we had looked a bit closer at our links and settings on our presentation, we wouldn't have had issues during the actual discussion. I felt pretty well prepared for this assignment, especially since it is impossible to anticipate what kinds of answers we would receive and how to respond to them.
• What is the value in facilitating course content for your peers/How does it impact your future?
• Facilitating course content for my peers was extremely valuable for me because it made me realize aspects of teaching/discussing that I did not know before, and I now have a better understanding of what I will do in the future. Some of the aspects of facilitating discussions that I realized during this activity is that it is important to try to anticipate questions so that you can mentally prepare for how you would answer certain questions. By doing this, I will be able to provide articulate and meaningful responses. Furthermore, to provide valuable responses, it is crucial to understand the material you are teaching and present it in a clear way. As a facilitator, I will need to know how to clarify and expand on my ideas. The experience emphasized the value of viewing a topic for many perspectives. In the future, I will encourage the development of an array of ideas so that the students can widen their capacity for viewing things. Finally, by presenting and discussing the information, we all gained a better understanding of the content and the skills required to facilitate a meaningful discussion. Applying all of the ideas listed in this post will help me to become a better discussion facilitator in the future.

exit post 4/14

Today my group presented our peerled discussion. I was surprised at how quickly the time went by and I realized that the anxiety caused by waiting for students to respond is excruciating; I will respond to questions (especially from peers) more readily now to reduce their stress:)  After our discussion, we talked about using polleverywhere.com and the different ways in which you could present the results. It is important to consider these things when using any type of technology. After reflecting on what went well and what could have gone better during our presentation, I realized that it is extremely important to anticipate any issues or questions that could come up. When our presentation link did not work correctly, I should have been prepared to continue talking while one of my peers fixed the link. Another scary/exciting thought is that any questions could come up during discussion, and therefore, it is important to know the topics being discussed and be prepared to think on your feet.
At the end of class, we created  a chart containing plus and delta. This was a wonderful way to reflect on our presentations and figure out ways to improve issues and maintain the things that went well.
One of the topics that we talked about today was to think about ways to encourage more student to student interactions rather than student to teacher interactions. This is both interesting and important; I plan on consciously looking for how teachers encourage different kinds of interactions.

Reflection on Chapter 3

How does this reading impact your thinking about technology's role in teaching and learning?

I found it funny that the book discussed how videos, radio, and other forms of technology were supposed to change schooling in the past; but, according to the book, did not change schooling dramatically. Even if the new forms of technology did not change schools as drastically as expected, I believe that there were substantial changes made every time technology was introduced.  Teachers who implemented the various tools into the classroom still taught the same content of the teachers that did not use technology; however, the process was probably much more enjoyable and enticing for the students. Another area of the book that surprised me was when the book said, “The school system relies on common and well-tested technologies…paper, pens, pencils, and chalk.” and that the “well-tested technologies” are not used
solely because of their success rate. At times, it is difficult to find ways to access new technology, but that does not mean that the old tools are better. I always try to use some sort of analogy that is easier for us to understand and for this concept the analogy is simple. Just because a bike worked in the past, and still works now, doesn’t mean that a car is not as good if not better than the old technology. It is at time difficult for people to understand the consequences of change, whether they are good or bad. There are always going to be tools that work and those that do not. I believe it is my goal as a teacher to find what works best for my students as well as for me.

What will
you do differently as a future teacher as a direct result of this new thinking?

Although it will most likely be very time consuming and difficult to find, learn about, and use new technology in my classroom, I still believe it is well worth the work. Even though there were some valid points made in this chapter, it is my firm belief that even if people do not agree with everything I decide to do, that does not mean it is wrong or unimportant. One of the most prevalent arguments of those who argue against technology is the cost. Reflecting on this class and the numerous sites/tools we were introduced to, I know that it is fairly easy to find free, useful tools online. In my classroom, I will take the time to find and implement these kinds of technology; especially because I know that my students will be working with computers/technology throughout their life. It is my job as a teacher to teach the given content as well as life skills, and I consider working with technology a life skill now and in the future.  

Reflection on iRLO

How much effort did you exert designing and creating the iRLO?

Designing and creating my iRLO took me less time than I had imagined it would. Since I worked on the project gradually, I was able to take breaks when I was getting frustrated and reflect on aspects that I liked/did not like in my project. Overall, I know that I must have spent a couple hours on this project. Usually, I have an idea of what I want to do, and then am able to find a standard that is related to my idea. For this project, however, I looked through the standards to brainstorm ideas for what kind of game I wanted to create. I made a list of the standards that I thought were interesting or could be made into a game and then decided on patterns. One day, I decided to explore Scratch to get the feel of it before creating my project. Before I knew it, an hour had gone by and I had the very basic components of my project started. Later, I worked to add in the details and begin adding the movement to my characters. Finally, I worked out the glitches and decided that my project was complete. Dr. Boyer was right when he said it would be hard but it would also be worth it. I am proud of my project and I can't help but think about the pride students/children feel when they create something that others can use and enjoy.

How does designing and sharing an iRLO impact your future
teaching?

One of the main ideas
that I took away from this project was the fact that I will always need to take into account that my students might not be able to read. Working with the younger students means that their skill levels are not nearly as high as they need to be, and so I need to create activities that will encourage the building of these skills. For example, having a lesson that has written and verbal instructions will promote reading along. I thought I was done with my project and then decided that I needed to add sound/verbal instructions since my activity was created for kindergartners. Another aspect that I thought about when sharing my iRLO is the sense of pride it gave me. Knowing that I worked hard to create a game and lesson that others could use is a powerful concept. If my students were to create some sort of game I would encourage them to share it with others (such as on the Scratch website) because it will be wonderful for them to experience praise and possibly constructive criticism. Finally, working with Scratch and knowing that people much younger than me are much more experienced was great motivation. Having the ability to go on the website and play/use the
Scratch creations of peers their age will be a great way to inspire and motivate my students. If I, as a teacher, were to tell my students that they have to do a project, it would seem like work. If, however, I introduced the students to all of the games and people that created enticing lessons/games on Scratch, the project would seem much more exciting. My plan as a teacher is to use Scratch.com as a place for my students to start brainstorming and building the confidence they need to create things using Scratch.

exit slip 4/7

Looking at Dr. Boyer's discussion guide presentation was a great way to start brainstorming about how my group wants to present our information. It amazes me how much discussion can be generated from one sentence from our reading. After discussion about whether or not technology makes life more difficult for a teacher, I know that I still believe in both sides "of the fence". I think that in the beginning, using technology will be frustrating and time-consuming, however, once you are familiar with the tools, it will be much easier to create and share lessons using the engaging capabilities of technology.

It is a scary yet exciting thought to know that students will be in a classroom and a world that is very different from the one that I grew up in. My hope is that by keeping up-to-date with technology, I will be able to better cater to their needs.

I was very surprised at the fact that students are only in school for about 14% of the year. It is funny to me because it  seems like we are in school majority of the time. It is clear to me why teachers find it impossible to fit everything that they need to teach in one year.

IWB Reflection

• How much effort did you exert designing the lesson?
• Designing my IWB lesson took me a long time. It is hard to gauge how much time I spent on it because I did not complete it all at once. I know that I spent a few hours time on the entire project.  I did not look through lessons that were already created because I wanted to explore the possibilities of using this tool for myself. Although this took more time, I believe it was worth the effort because I now feel more confident when working with the program. 
• First, I looked through the standards-based content to find material that I could teach using the capabilities of the IWB. I found the content I wanted to use, thought of my idea, and began creating the lesson. I added the first page of the lesson when I was almost finished because I realized that I should have some sort of introduction. After adding and removing material from the lesson based on feedback and evaluation done by myself and my peers, I decided the lesson was complete. Overall, I am happy with the way my lesson turned out and would use it with students of my own.
• How does designing and sharing your IWB lesson impact your future teaching?
• Since Interactive White Boards are becoming more and more popular, I know that creating lessons using the SMARTBoard software is extremely beneficial to me. I realized that creating these lessons is time-consuming but overall pretty easy. In the future, I will look through the lessons that are already created to use with my students or to find ideas that I would like to use.
• One of the reasons I plan on using SMARTBoards in my future classroom is because of the numerous tools included in the software that make the lessons appealing to all types of learners. Furthermore, this is a tool that can be used for all subjects/areas that I want to cover. Although there are programs that focus specifically on math or reading for example, having one program that can be used for everything will be great for a few reasons. One, the cost will be covered when you buy the one whiteboard, instead of investing in many separate programs. Secondly, my students and I will become familiar with the tool, and so we will be able to focus on the content rather than on operating the technology.
• I know that when students are up and moving, especially the Early Childhood group, they will retain the information and focus more easily than if they were simply listening to me talk. Hands-on activities cannot be used enough with younger students, and so an IWB would be a wonderful addition to my classroom.

Reflection on Chapter One

At the beginning of the chapter, there were many stories used to demonstrate how education is changing, particularly, moving out of the classroom. This is a very exciting concept to consider. As future teachers,I do not think we should be alarmed because of this. There will be children attending schools for years to come in my opinion, it is simply the WAY in which the lessons are taught that are changing. In my future classroom, I plan to use more hands-on or interactive activities in the classroom and writing work (assignments that could be done on a blog, wiki, email, etc.) outside of class. This way, the students will be engaging in learning in the classroom while still completng the assessment type work. Another way in which this reading affected the way in which I will teach is by highlighting the fact that technology is everywhere and we need to embrace it. When I was in elementary, middle, and even high school, we would always be limited in the number of internet sources we could use for a research projects. We were forced to use a  certain number of books and a limited number of websites. This is something that always bothered me because I could always find so much more information online than I could in books. In my classroom, I will encourage the use of both books and the internet without putting a limit on either.
Although there are many valid points and areas that I considered for my future teaching from this reading, there was one area that made me somewhat upset. The book mentions that "work has changed from hands-on to inferential, or from concrete to abstract." It then continues by offering examples  such as farmers moving from plowing to operating machinery. I do not agree with this. I believe it is extremely important to be actively working with your hand;physical work is just as important as mental work.

Overall, I plan to embrace the use of technology in my classroom while maintaining the idea that physical work/action is equally important.

exit slip 3/31

We started today by discussing powerpoints and Dr. Boyer mentioned an article related to this topic.

We also talked about even more projects that we have to complete for this class including the peer led discussion and the online portfolio.
We then began to create the online portfolio and I realized that google sites is very easy to use and will hopefully benefit me in the future.

Scratch
Use directions
Make sure it is reusable
Make sure you leave the text on the screen long enough to read through it twice
Use more user controls than just pressing the green flag
Be sure you make objects draggable if that is necessary

One thing I took away from class today is prioritize based on when assignments are due. I need to finish some of my other work before I start new projects.

exit slip 3/17

Today we discussed what needs to be done for our iRLO. The idea for an iRLO is one that Boyer came up with which stands for interactive reusable learning object. I really liked how Dr. Boyer discussed how he used an iRLO in his own teaching. This made the possibilities of what we can create come to life. One phrase that really stuck with me is that the students were able to "experience something vicariously through this learning object". This idea is very valuable, especially for me as a teacher of young students, because they maybe haven't actually experienced some of the material we will be covering.
We were able to look at examples of other student's iRLOs. This was helpful because we could see many different options subject and grade-wise. I was able to start brainstorming about what I could create that would be appropriate for third graders or younger.

Using Scratch was broken down into three short categories:
1. Create different sprites
Folder=particular sprite
Star=random sprite
Letters=premade letters and numbers
Draw your own
2. Create different backgrounds
You can have more than one scene
3. Create different scripts (behaviors for the sprites)
Under the control tab
Start with a "trigger" and then add an action. Some of the actions are found under the looks tab.
Linking script1 with a stage script (go to control tab then broadcast and then i got lost:)

Some of the resources that will help me when using scratch are listed on the agenda for today as well as the scratch website and the learnscratch.org (watch the getting started video).

3/10 Exit Slip

What new thinking did I take away from class today?
Today we discussed the capabilities of Scratch. This tool has been around for a while but is not widely used.
-I was happily surprised when Dr. Boyer said that he used this site with kids that were in second grade. This is great news for me considering I am going for Early Childhood Education. Many of the sites and tools that we have discussed are somewhat advanced for younger students and so it was wonderful to be introduced to a website where 90% of the content was created by children between ages 7 and 14.
I love the idea that the Scratch community is able to remix previous work. Part of learning is finding out what your mistakes were and fixing them. The idea is to constantly better your work; that is how you learn and grow. I am amazed at the amount of work that the users of Scratch put in to these games/simulations/etc. I became very frustrated just from the little time that we spent on Scratch today. I hope that from the project we do with Scratch I will be able to learn how to use this tool. I really want to use this tool with my students because of the seemingly endless amounts of capabilities. Again, the fact that this tool is designed for younger students is reason enough to introduce them to it. I am very glad that we will be discussing this program more in depth next week because otherwise this assignment would seem almost impossible.

Screencast Reflection

How much effort did you exert preparing for the screencast?

The first step in creating my screencast was choosing a tool. In order to do this I went to the list and quickly looked through the tools that were still available for me to use. The next step was exploring the website and completing a SWOT analysis. This process probably took me about an hour to do; especially since I found out I needed to complete a 5 day subscription. The next part was creating a script. This was time-consuming as well because I needed to plan the moves I would make on the screen in conjunction with what I would be saying at the time. I would switch back and forth between the script and the website, trying to incorporate my analysis into the script. Finally, I was able to do the recording part of my screencast.  This took longer than expected because it was something I had never done before. I had to start over more than once because of the quality of the microphone was not very good. Also, my script was too long and so I had to start over because I went over the time. Overall, I probably spent at least an hour to an hour and a half on the recording portion of my screencast. In the future, I think I will try to condense my screencast down so that the objectives are concise and easy to articulate while navigating around the computer.

How does creating and sharing a screencast with your peers impact your future teaching?

Creating and sharing this screencast with my peers will be beneficial in a few ways. First, I will be able to get a quick overview of the many websites that could be useful (or not useful) for my future teaching. Their screencast is a tool that will help me to weed through the excessive amounts of materials. Secondly, watching their screencasts and having them watch mine will provide feedback as to what I could do to improve and what I did well. Furthermore, watching other people’s screencasts will give me ideas to use for the future when I am creating my own.

I really like the screencast assignment because I thought about the many ways in which I could use it with my future students. Working in a classroom with many young children means a lot of repetition. This is especially true with computers since many of them are new users. With the help of screencasts, I could show my students how to do even the simplest tasks on a computer, the ones that you and I take for granted, and replay them over and over until every student is doing what he or she is supposed to be doing.

Screencasts could also be useful tools in the future for assessment. If the objective of a lesson is for the student to complete some sort of task using the computer. They could capture exactly how they did it and describe the process. This would be an easy way to see whether or not they were able to learn the concepts of the lesson.

Screencast

Reflection on Podcast

How much effort did you exert preparing for and creating the podcast?

For the preparation of this podcast,
I took ample time to choose an article that discussed contemporary issues with
technology in the classroom. After discussing Google Advanced Search in class,
I was able to narrow my search considerably simply by using the option that
find pages based on how recent they are. This was extremely helpful considering
the article needed to be contemporary. After looking through a few articles and
videos, I found the one by Trip Gabriel entitled, “Lines on Plagiarism blur for
students in the Digital Age.” I thought that this article could not be that
recent, since plagiarism seems to be discussed in every classroom. I was
shocked to find that the studies conducted for the article are fairly recent.
Since this information was interesting to me, I read over the article many
times to summarize and find the key elements that I wanted to include in my
podcast. Then, over a period of a few days, I wrote the script for my podcast.
I wrote a rough draft and then continued to add, revise, and time it until it
was ready for recording. The recording stage of the podcast took me longer than
expected (about an hour).

Since I have never used Garageband
or created a podcast, I took a lot of time trying to figure out exactly how to
use the tools. Once I recorded my script, which did not take very long, I was
able to start editing and adding effects. I had a hard time remembering exactly
how to add effects or even where to find them, and so I spent time trying to
find and chose what effects I wanted to use. After trying to find appropriate
gaps to stick the sound effects into, I remembered that you could place the
sound effect below the track of your voice. This was extremely helpful and cut
the time I spent down considerably. I also was having trouble remembering how
to fade in/out with the music, but I figured it out thanks to the “Help” option
on Garageband and ehow.com. Overall, I probably spent about an hour and a half
on the recording portion of the podcast.

How does creating a podcast impact your future teaching?

This podcast impacted my future
teaching because of the capabilities of making lessons exciting. With all of
the sound effects and music available, I could not help but think about how
noises and music gain the students’ attention. For example, in the preschool
room I work in right now, all I need to do is turn on the cleanup song and
before the third note even plays they all say “Clean up time!” In the future I
could put sound effects in the middle of a lesson or recording to gain
attention and make a point.

Another way in which I think
podcasts could be beneficial in my future of teaching is for reading purposes.
Since recording a voice is so quick and simple, it would be great for the
students’ to hear their voices after they read. They will be able to reflect on
what areas they need to improve on and be encouraged by the elements that were
done well. Another way in which this could be helpful is for the children whose
first language is not English or for those who struggle with reading. Using any
type of software that could create a podcast, I could record books and
basically create my own books on tape for them to use. They would be able to
access these recordings at home (assuming they have a computer and the
internet) or I could record them to a cd. I feel as though books on tape
created by me or by the students would be a wonderful addition to my classroom.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/education/02cheat.html?_r=2

Ch 10 Reflection

• How does this reading impact your thinking about technology's role in teaching and learning?
• I was fascinated by the idea that the students in the near future will be asked to work with people from around the world in both school and work. The capabilities of the internet and certain programs are making connections with others easier than ever. Since I will be working with ESL student and have taken Spanish every semester since 7^th grade, the opportunity to talk to actual native speakers is riveting. Although I have taken Spanish for so long, I have always felt that the only way to truly become bilingual is to immerse yourself in the language. With the capabilities of technology like Skype, doing this is now fairly easy.
• I really like the idea that using technology, especially tools like blogs and wikis, creates a conversation and not just a lecture. I know from experience as a student that listening to a teacher lecture is not nearly as enticing as being engaged in a conversation with others. By creating conversations, students are able to gain insight into what others are thinking, expand their thinking about different subjects, and also practice “debate” skills necessary for future conversations.
• One aspect that I feel the needs to address is the fact that many books are already online and, according to the chapter, many more such as the 50 million books from five of the largest research libraries will be added soon. This poses the question as to whether or not reading off a computer screen effects one’s vision. If there is any correlation between poor eyesight and looking at a screen for an extended period of time, then we should be concerned. Furthermore, there is something about holding a book in your hands that makes the content feel official and real. This could possibly be because I grew up reading this way but who knows.
• What will you do differently as a future teacher as a direct result of this new thinking?
• As a result of this new thinking, one thing I will do as a teacher is create my own “textbook”. This will be a compilation of different topics and resources that I feel are relevant to my style of teaching and the needs of my class. I will be able to update this “textbook” as often as needed/wanted and I will be able to share it with the students at home. This way, leaving their book at school will never be an excuse!
• I have already stated in past blogs that I will be using some sort of blog in my classroom. This could be especially useful in a classroom of older students who should be practicing conversation skills. Since not all social skills involve physically talking, students could practice different aspects such as forming coherent ideas and expressing what they mean through ideas. Having the students blog would allow the shy students to speak up and could potentially benefit their writing skills. 
• The final way in which this impacted my future teaching is related to the section about portfolios. I have often thought that this 'area' did not pertain to me because I will be teaching Early Childhood learners.  However, it occurred to me that if not for the students’ use, these portfolios could be very helpful to me and to parents. Take for example the progression of writing for children. Most teachers document this progression by using weekly or daily journals. I could keep all of this information organized on a portfolio and share it with the parents of students throughout the year, not just during conferences.