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.

exit slip 3/3

Today one of the big ideas was working on our PLC project. We discussed the different ways in which to search for information for our project. I have never heard of Google Scholar and am excited to try using this tool. Although I have researched a lot in the past, it is always helpful to have new ways to search for information. Another aspect of our PLC that we discussed is how we were going to compile our data.   One of the girls in my PLC already created a place to share our information on Google Sites. Now, so it is my job to explore the capabilities of the site and then begin adding to it. I enjoy working on any tools associated with Google because I feel like I am already somewhat familiar with them and they are easy to use. The final aspect that we discussed about our PLC were the different ways in which we could present our information to the class. I think one of the most important components of this lesson is to take the time to research all of the different kinds of technology we could use throughout the process of our PLC project.

The other half of the class was dedicated to creating out podcast. Since we already looked at using Garageband, today we discussed the capabilities of Audacity. This will be important to me because I have a Windows computer. It seems like the tool is pretty straightforward to use although I would rather not download another program on to my computer. 

* Save the podcast using your name NOT just my podcast

*Look at Boyer's delicious account for sound effects if using audacity. Sound tag->free site.

*I need to revisit my written part of my podcast to ensure that my reaction is evident. (Boyer said this is one of the the most important parts)


Overall, the new thinking that I took away from this class is that there are many options/different types of technology to use for any given part of our projects. It is crucial to explore all of the positives and negatives and choose what tool works best for you.