The Finale!!

I have finally finished all my assignments. It has been a long and hard semester. I definitely feel I had trouble keeping up with the all the assignments! However, after everything was finally done I was excited!! I look forward to going back and really looking into the tools we used in the class and start to use them in my own classroom! I really liked learning how to make a digital story with Voice Thread and Photo Story3. I am also going to start blogging with my class and now that I know how to use gtalk I will be taking advantage of it. I was very excited to learn how to take a snapshot (or copy) of my work and put it on my blog. Technology is so important and I am always looking for ways to integrate it into my everyday teaching. I am walking away from this class with so many resources and I am so motivated to use all of them. Listening to everyone's final projects was really great as well. I was able to take a lot away from thier lessons. The resources and websites provided were great. I feel a class is successful when you are able to walk away with useful information for the classroom and it is safe to say this class was very successful. Thanks for all the great and informative resources!! I hope everyone has an excellent summer:-)

The Final Project.....Almost there!

I did my internet curriculum project on using technology as a remedial resource to improve student literacy skills. I was happy with this topic because I am a big believer in using technology!! I think it is a great remedial resource. It is an excellent resource because it is so motivating and offers a variety of tools to reach all the different learning styles! It presents information in multiple formats and multiple medias. Technology offers an enormous amount of possibilities and is a great tool to use for learning.
For example, this is my first year with a Smartboard and I have been able to offer so much more to my students. I am able to use technology to enhance my lessons and even use it as a reinforcement to what I am doing. I often play a game as a follow up to a lesson and the kids love it. They are so motivated and eager to play, they don't even realize they are learning!! I have found many websites with activites to reinforce skills that we are working on and I will put individual students who are having touble on the computer. I also use it with my advanced students. When they finish their work early I will try to challenge them with an activity on the computer.
I also feel it is an awesome way to communicate with parents and students. Parents can email and go on our websites to see what is going on. I have not blogged with my class yet but that is something I would like to start next year.
The possibilites are endless with technology and it is a great resource to incorporate into your everyday teaching!! It can really enhance students literacy skills and engage them in learning.

Here is the link to my PowerPoint Presentation:
http://www.slideshare.net/LindsayM/final-project-1380689

NETS Chart

This is a snapshot of my groups NETS chart. Our group worked very well together to make the project go smoothly. We looked at each standard and matched our class assignments to the standard it correlated with. We found that with all of our assignments we have met every standard in the class. It was interesting to see how the assignments match the standards. It is a great thing to do even in our own classrooms. It makes you aware of what you may be missing and what needs to be done. I know some schools have the teacher write the standard on the board for each lesson they are teaching. It is not a bad idea because it allows the teacher and the student to be aware of the objectives of the lesson. An administrator once said write an objective and standard for each lesson to know you are not teaching a lesson that is unnecessary!! I always follow that advice when I teach.

Trying to keep up!!

We are in the last couple weeks of class and I am trying to keep up!! I can't believe how fast this semester has gone. I have not blogged as much as I would have liked to but I felt very overwhelmed. Aside from this class I have had a challenging year at work!! With all the assignments in this class I feel like I am missing something. I hope I can get it all done!

Authentic Assessment

Reading the authentic assessment toolkit and watching the video of authentic assessment in action provided me with great information and a better understanding of how to implement authentic assessment. Authentic assessment is having students perform real world tasks. The work they do should be related to thier real life. It is a shift from the traditional paper and pencil task to performance based assessments. The shift is so important because handing out a test to a student only tests thier academic ability and we need to start testing thier ability to apply the knowledge they learn. It is essential for them to be able to use the knowledge they have learned in the real world. I love the example they use in the article. If you were to teach someone how to play golf you woudn't test thier skill by giving them a paper and pencil test, instead you would have them play golf. I also enjoyed the video where the students actually built the object from history that they were learning about. Some examples of authentic assessment are portfolios, blogs, rubrics, e-folios, etc. Authentic Assessment is grading several real world tasks performed by students and not just one product.
The articles and videos on authentic assessmemt have provided me with examples and information to help me use this in my classroom. I need to start using authentic assessment in my classroom. Sometimes I find this hard to do with all subjects but I am going to do my best to make it work.

Digital Storytelling!

This was my first digital story and it went better then I thought. I used Photo Story to make the story. It was user friendly and easy to navigate through. The only problem I had was recording my voice. It sounded low and I tried it several times but it didn't come out as well as I would have liked.
I did my digital story on parts of speech. I choose that topic so I could use it in my classroom. It is a different way to get the information across and it really captures the studens attention. I plan on making several more digital stories for my classroom!!

Engrade

I created my first online gradebook using engrade software. This online website is free. I actually was unsure of using an online gradebook because I am so used to my gradebook I write in and my method of grading. Also, I teach third grade so I do not have to be as concered with a number grade as middle school and high school teachers are. We don't have to put number grades on the report card. We have a scale that has to do with how the students are completing their work. For example, they get a 1 if they need constant assistance to complete their work and they receive a 4 if they exceed expectations. However, I found the online gradebook to be a useful tool. I liked how you were able to put in the grade scale and the computer figures out the scores for you. Honestly I liked all the features on the website. There was nothing that I didn't like or would change. I thought it was a great idea to include a place to post a comment. It is always nice for students and parents to see how they are doing.
I found this to a useful tool that I would use in the classroom. I think parents would love this. They would be able to check their childrens grades, attendance and even what is going on in the classroom! Most parents in my district love to be involved so this would be great for them. This is also a great way to communicate with the parents throughout the semester about the studens grades. When the time comes for the report card to go home the parents will not be shocked if the students aren't doing well because they would have been able to check on the website.
One more thing I liked about the website was that it had a calender where teachers could list events or tests coming up! This is great for communicating and keeping parents in touch with what is going on in the classroom.

Another way to use Excel!

I found yet another use for excel. What a great idea to create a crossword puzzle. It ended up being easier then I thought. The directions were very explicit and following them I was able to create a crossword puzzle. It is a great tool! I plan to use this in my classroom as a review. I plan on using this tool again and I may have the students give me the questions to include in the puzzle and I will make it for them.

Inspiration is an aweosme tool!

For the mind mapping activity I chose to use Inspiration. It is a program that has to be purchased but it allows you to download a 30 day trial. It was easy to navigatge through and I loved the features it offered. It even had mind maps already created that I could use in my classroom. The topic I choose for my mind map was making a family tree. I choose this because in our Social Studies curriculum we have the students create family trees and I think this is a great tool to use. In our school we have kidspiration, which is also a great resource.
After using Inspiration in this class I saw it advertised in the Scholastic Book Order. I have not ordered it yet but I am going to buy it with my scholastic bonus points now that I have used it in this class!
The most important thing I learned from this assignment was how easy it was to create a visually friendly mind map. This is a great tool to have when teaching a new concept.This is a great resource!

Implementing the Standards

2007 National Educational Technology Standards for Students :

1. Creativity and Innovation
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.

2. Communication and Collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.

3. Research and Information Fluency
Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.

4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources.

5. Digital Citizenship
Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior.

6. Technology Operations and Concepts
Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations.

All of the standards are being met in this online class, however I do not think that all the standards are implemented a lot of classrooms. I would say Standards 2, 3, 5 and 6 are mostly implemented in the classroom setting. Students are definitely familiar with different technology resources and systems. From what I have seen computers in schools are mostly used for researching information and gaming. I feel I am ready to implement most of these standards into my classroom. The only standards I need to become more comfortable with are standards 1 and 4. I do have a Smartboard in my room but that is more for whole class or small group instruction. I would like to allow students to be able to use creative and critical thinking skills to create and manage projects. We do have a computer lab that I am going to start taking advantage of so students can use programs such as Voice Thread to do thier projects. I hope to learn more and slowly implement what I learn into the classroom!!

An Ever Changing World!

After watching all of the videos and researching the difference between Web 1.0 and 2.0 I see just how far technology has come and it is continuing to change! I was not really familiar with what Web 1.0 was so I did some research. From what I found Web 2.0 is more technology intergreation rather than just using the computer for research or typing. Web 2.0 offers so much more, which we need in this ever changing world. It can be overwhelming looking at all of the new technologies. I am trying to do a little at a time so I can learn it better and then introduce it into my classroom!

I was amazed by the video Shift Happens! I was telling my family all about the statistics. I can't believe that Nintendo spent more on research then we did on education!! I also found it fascinating that China will soon be the #1 English speaking country. It was all shocking information but when you step back and think about it the world is changing so much. We are teaching and preparing kids for jobs that don't even exist! I just hope I can keep up with all the new technology.

Schools Killing Creativity!

I really enjoyed watching the video from TED: Ken Robinson- Do Schools Kill Creativity? I was so interested because I felt everything he was saying was absolutely correct. First of all schools are so hung up on academics that they don't pay attention to the students creativity.In his presentation Ken said that we are experiencing academic inflation and degrees aren't worth anything anymore. I completely agree with this statement and have seen it happening to many of my friends. They come out with a business degree and have no idea where to even start looking and when they do they can't find anything! It is sad to think that a bachelors degree is not enought now. We are so centered on academics that we are missing the whole person.I have seen this in my own family. My brother is so great with cars and loves to work on them, yet everyone gave him a hard time and told him he couldn't just go to a 2 year college for that. He had to at least get a 4 year degree because you will not get anywhere without it. Well he did what he wanted to do and got his 2 year degree in mechanics and is happy and awesome at what he does!! Everyone is so hung up on education and a piece of paper or now 2 pieces of paper. The schools are squashing creativity and telling the students to worry about thier academics. As Ken said, "creativity is as important as literacy," and we need to rethink our principles of teaching. As a side note I did also fully agree with the statement that women are better at multi-tasking!! This is very true in my household! Well I hope we can begin to support all of our students differences, whether they excel academically or excel creatively.

Week 1

This week we had our first class meeting. At first it was a little confusing because our group wasn't put in the same room so it took a little while to figure it out and we got started late. Once we got started it went well. Our group works nicely together and I am looking forward to working with them this semester!

Keeping up with the Changing Times!

Well it is true what they say...change is inevitable. We are done with our first week of class and we had our first class meeting. I actually tried something new already. I signed up for a gmail account and got to chat in gmail for the first time. It is similar to instant messanger, which I have used, but it was cool to try something different!! I have previously blogged, created a website and made a wiki so that is not new to me. I am excited to learn different ways to use technology!!
After reading through the assignments and watching the video I see just how much technology has changed everything and schools need to keep up with this change. We need to prepare students for the everchanging world of technology. I am very enthusiastic in teaching with these technologies.
I found the video Learning to Change very interesting. It is true that technology is no longer a choice but a necessity! The kids are growing up with technology all around them and we need to bring it into the school. School should be student centered where the students are learning and applying what they learn to real life situations. As quoted from the video,the new 21st century learner needs to know how to find, validaite, comminucate, collaborate and problem solve.
I especially liked the part where it was said that standardized testing is doing nothing for the students and I feel that is all we are doing!!!! (That's a whole other topic!!)

Endless Possibilites!!

Over the past few weeks I have been exploring the course website and assignemnts. It is amazing to see all the different ways to use technology! There is a lot to look at. Luckily I took Teaching with Technology two semesters ago so I am a little more aware of the technologies out there. I am also familiar with the way the class goes. When I first took an online course I was a little overwhelmed with all the work, but now I feel a little more comfortable with technology and this course! I look forward to learning different ways to integrate technology and literacy.