6: thoughts of a future educator

The teacher site that I decided to look at is a Kindergarten site from Astoria Park Elementary.  I actually work in this classroom a few times a week, so I thought it would be interesting to see what I can view as a "stranger" on this website.  There are tabs for info about the teacher, links that are helpful to students, announcements, assignments and a calendar.  Most of the information is either not filled in, or is unaccessible by me since I'm not logged in as a parent or student that's part of the class.  This is actually quite a comforting thought to me, because I think it would be a little strange if anybody could view what the class is up to, even if it's just talking about what they're doing/where they're going.

As you can see in the screenshot below, the calendar is not filled out.  However, you can also see that there's a place to sign in, which means it might require a login to be visible.

I definitely intend to use technology in the future in my classroom, especially some of the ones that Chapter 7 discussed.  It talked a lot about word processors, which can be used for things ranging from note taking to creating calendars and newsletters.  That's what I used to create my newsletter for the assignment - possibilities are nearly endless when using technology like that.  Also, we discussed applications that help us be efficient as educators, such as the 30/30 app, which can be found here: http://3030.binaryhammer.com.  I think it's a great idea, and I love routines, so turning my work day into a bunch of mini routines just makes sense to me.

Lastly, the Web Evaluation assignment - I had mixed feelings about this assignment.  On one hand, I think that it was kind of tedious, just because judging the credibility of a website has become second nature to so many of us.  Between all of the click bait on Facebook and having to write upper level papers with credible sources, I think we've learned how to differentiate between the two.  However, on the other hand, I also found this assignment kind of useful.  Because we're so adapted to judging sites, we forget that our future students don't have as much experience in judging credibility and may need assistance.  Being able to put it into words now is going to help us out a lot in the future, when we're trying to explain how to find credible sites to our students.  Overall, I found the assignment to be useful.

5: the virtual stage

Web 2.0 tools are very important, because they allow users to interact with each other, and consist of things such as YouTube, blogs, wikis, and social media.  I think these are especially important for students to use because they "allow students their own virtual stage with an audience for their work" as the podcast said.  Wikis help students work collaboratively, and social media allows students to follow people who post things relevant to what they're working on.

The Web 2.0 tool that I might use while teaching that stood out to me is Delicious, which can be found at www.delicious.com.  It's a way for students to bookmark websites for future use or categorize them by topics.  Now, this may seem unnecessary, because you can already bookmark websites on your computer.  However, this site allows you to bookmark them online, so that you can access them anywhere that has internet.  So, for example, if you wanted to bookmark something at school, while on a school computer, you normally wouldn't be able to access those bookmarked pages at home, on a different computer.  With Delicious, you can.

Another really cool feature about Delicious is that it's a social bookmarking site, meaning that you can add other users, and see the pages that they're bookmarking.  This could lead to a lot of new discovery among students, as well as be a helpful resource to students who are working collaboratively.  I really like the idea of using Delicious because it's easier than having to send yourself or write down all the sites that you use.  Since I'm kind of lazy as well as forgetful, this tool seems very useful to me.

I liked the Concept Mapping assignment primarily because I enjoy seeing information broken down and grouped like this.  I think it's much easier to hit the key points in this fashion, as well as a better way to retain it.  I think next time, however, I will try to break the information down even more, as well as add other elements such as graphics and questions.  I liked looking at everyone else's assignments and seeing the different colors and designs.

4: standards so high

http://www.cpalms.org/Public/PreviewStandard/Preview/1622

• Standard SC.2.L.14.1 "Distinguish human body parts (brain, heart, lungs, stomach, muscles, and skeleton) and their basic functions."
• http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/health_games/body_parts/body-parts-word-o-rama.html
• Educational games
• I would use educational games like the one from the site above because they are fun and relatable to children this age.  The subjects can be converted into really creative and fun ideas.

I think that using the internet during student research can be important, but I think that it should also be limited.  There are times when it's appropriate, such as in researching things that require multimedia images or videos or audio clips.  I think using the internet would not only be wise but also helpful in this situation.  However, if books can be used, I think they should be, because even in a world growing with technology, I think books are still important and that students shouldn't lose that skill. 

When I search internet based resources, I evaluate them based on their credibility.  If it's a big name that I've heard of before, or know of a good reputation of, like the Wall Street Journal, or something like that, then I would find it pretty credible.  However, if it's riddled with advertisements or has a bad reputation, such as Wikipedia, I would say that it's not the best resource.

I acquired some cool new skills during the Web Hunt assignment, most of which were learning how to search helpful strings on Google and get more direct results quicker.  The key that we created in class helped a lot with that.  See if you can find the challenges from below:

1. Find a get-to-know you sheet for a game with your classmates.
2. Find a video about the French Revolution.

3: the great debate - edmodo vs. moodle

Since we discussed it in class this week, I decided to critique www.edmodo.com in this blog post.  I enjoy the fact that you can access everything easily at your fingertips.  The site is very well organized, in the way that you can group your students into different communities based on classes you teach, if looking at it from a teacher's perspective.  I also think that the social media layout of the site encourages students to use it, since it looks so much like things that they use in their daily life.

There are a few more features that I wish Edmodo had, however.  There's another site, www.moodle.org, that allows you to do everything on one site.  In high school, I had one teacher that put everything on Moodle - announcements, documents for assignments and study guides, and discussion forums were all located on here.  We received our grades through these websites, and he even created and posted our tests and quizzes on Moodle, which could be locked until our exam period.  We would then take the exams on Moodle, and they would be automatically graded for us.  It was nice to have everything in one place, especially since it meant not having to memorize a bunch of different usernames and passwords for multiple forums.

I definitely intend to use internet technology with my students in the future.  I want them to be using things ranging from email to blogs to online discussion forums, as discussed in chapter 9 of the textbook, but I would also like them practicing digital citizenship rules.  Digital etiquette and safety are especially important to me with my students.  I don't want any cyberbullying happening, and I also don't want any of their personal information being leaked out.

Finally, the newsletter assignment - I really liked it.  I think this was the first time that we could truly throw in our own creative flair to one of our assignments, don't you?  Of course, there were still certain guidelines to adhere to, and components that had to be featured, but I think that overall, this was a very personal and creative assignment.  Here's a sneak peek at the header for mine.  What do you think?

2: of twitter and microsoft office

As a student, I have been incredibly dependent on Microsoft Word – once, when I got a new computer, I didn’t have Microsoft Office on it yet, and I was pretty much at a loss on how to do my assignments.  Every paper, story, and assignment I’ve written has been on Microsoft Word.  I’m even writing this post in a Word document before uploading it.  Similarly, many of my teachers use Word as ways for us to receive documents from them – like syllabi, assignments, and more.

I’m honestly not too familiar on copyright – I know that there are serious repercussions, but even I can admit to illegally using an image from Google before.  I took a class last year on information ethics, so I know a little bit about it, but overall I’m kind of at a loss.  I hope we learn more about it in this class!

Using Twitter in class definitely wasn’t new to me.  I’ve been on the social media site for years, and I’ve definitely been a pretty avid Tweeter since I first got my account.  However, it definitely has some useful skills – it’s a quick way to get news, and makes you get your thoughts across in short, concise messages, since there’s a character limit.

Overall, I’ve really enjoyed what we have learned in this class so far, and I can’t wait to continue developing skills and becoming slightly less inept when it comes to technology.

-Keri

1: computers in the classroom and living as a digital native

The prevalence of technology in this day in age, especially in the United States is astounding.  Even the youngest of children seem to be experts when it comes to the latest gadgets, which is why it's unsurprising that technology is used widely in classrooms.  Students work on computers, information is projected onto the walls for them, and they have resources such as audiobooks, video, and podcasts.  

Technology in the classrooms present opportunities and challenges for both teachers and students.  On one hand, technology helps teachers to present knowledge to students in new, innovative ways, that are easily accessible, which couldn’t be done before.  On the other hand, it takes time for teachers to learn the technology, and even more time to teach it to the students before it can actually be put to practice.  It requires funding and constantly upgrading to the next best thing in order to keep students ahead.


I have no doubt in my mind that my classroom will be full of electronics and technology, probably far more advanced than where we’re at currently.  While my time in a classroom is probably not that far away, there’s endless possibilities as to how much technology could advance between now and then.  Every student will probably have their own computer, surely taking advantage of the wide range of resources on it.  I think that even though there will be a curriculum to follow when it comes to technology, it’s still important to know how to research and use books or other resources, so I’m sure I’ll incorporate that into my classroom as well.

While I’m not the best when it comes to technology, I am classified as a “digital native”, since I’ve never known a world without technology.  Because of this, I don’t think I will fall too far behind as technology keeps progressing, even though I’m sure my students will be better with it than I am, in the same way that many students now are more able to work technology than older generations.  I definitely remember classmates in high school having to show teachers how to work the projector or how to do some nifty things on online programs.  I think that’s just how it goes.  As digital natives grow up with the progressing technology, they’ll be able to use it, since they don’t know anything else.  Ironically, they’ll always be the ones teaching it to the digital immigrants, their teachers.  Funny how it all works out.


-Keri

0: a tech blog from the least tech savvy girl you'll ever meet

Despite the title of this post, I'm not completely helpless when it comes to technology - but I'm pretty darn close. I took the mandatory computer classes in elementary and middle school, resulting in a quick typing speed and very general knowledge of keystrokes and Microsoft products. In high school, I was the editor of our school yearbook, so I'm slightly familiar with Adobe products such as InDesign and Photoshop, and that's pretty much the extent of my experience.

 Even though I use it almost daily, I still have to Google search the keystroke to screenshot anything on my desktop, every single time. I've never even glanced at half of the tools and applications on my computer, for fear of doing something wrong and causing my laptop to be wiped or spontaneously combust.

 I'm hoping that this class can prove that I'm actually not entirely incompetent, and reach into the depths of my being to pull out some technology skills. While I'm not hoping to switch my major to Computer Science anytime soon, (seriously, both of my parents majored in it, and I'm still lost,) I do think that being able to cover the basics of technology is an important skill to have, especially in the world of education.

 Today I found out a bit about my learning style, such as the fact that I learn better by doing something with it, like explaining it to others. I also like to focus on possibilities instead of hard facts, prefer learning visually, and learn in large jumps rather than detailed steps. I think I already knew all of that about myself, but it's still pretty neat to be told what it all means. Check out my nifty results below:

Hopefully this post isn't too rough. I've been on blogger since 2011 and have two other blogs with zero posts, (shocker, I know,) because as I said before, I'm pretty inept when it comes to technology. Both of the other times that I tried, I got half way through the initial design before giving up. However, I'm excited to keep up with this since I've been wanting to bring my writing to a public forum for quite a while now.

 -Keri