PDP: My Beliefs

As I begin my career as a professional teacher, I believe that it is necessary to use technology in the classroom, and in my lessons. However, it is important to keep in mind that in life you must keep a balance in all things. 


On a day to day bases students use technology more often than not, and it is important while teaching them to use technology to teach them the importance of human interaction as well as learning that you have to work for somethings. Not everything is instant gratification.


When I am a teacher, I hope to have the ability to use technology in a variety of ways. I would like my students to know how to really use the internet to their advantage in their education rather than as an escape from the reality of life. I want them to understand that it will help them to better their lives. 

PDP: Lessons Learned

I found all of the assigned articles and videos very interesting. The first video I watched was the Millenial Generation. This video was filmed only a few years ago, and in that short time, many of the questions the student brought up had already been answered and the technology has already been developed. I can't believe how quickly technology changes and progresses.


I agree with a lot of the concerns that the article "the new www" has. I have nieces and I have watched similar things happen to then. My niece claims that she cannot get to sleep at night if she does not have an i-pod in. I am very nervous about our future as a human race with the constant need for instant gratification. I believe that technology is one of the major causes of this.


Another video I found interesting was the Did you know video on youtube. The reality of the new technology coming our way and the effects it will have on our society is overwhelming at times. I could not believe that in a little over ten years their will be a computer that is capable of thinking the way the human brain does. It makes me wonder that if Disney & Pixar were accurate in their prediction of the future in the movie "WALL-E". That eventually technology will do everything for us,  and we will only live for pleasures and forget the satisfaction that comes from a days hard work.

PDP: Strengths and Weaknesses

According to the UNI survey and the NET Standards I discovered that my largest technological strength is my capability to develop and create technology enriched lessons that my students will enjoy. I also found that one of my technological strengths is creating graphic organizers for my students to use. Another strength I have is managing my class website. I have learned a lot in that area this semester and will feel very comfortable using that tool as a teacher. According the UNI survey and the NET Standards I realized that my largest technological weakness is my knowledge of computer terminology. I know how to do a lot of things on the computer; however, when someone tries to give me verbal instructions on how to do something on the computer I am not able to follow their direction very well. Another weakness that I have is my lack of knowledge of video conferencing. I have never used it nor do I understand its use in education.


As a teacher I would like to frequently use technology in my classroom. I feel that in the technological age we live in it is necessary to use technology in lessons to keep students engaged.I would really like to learn more computer verbage. I feel that it will improve my use of the computer as well as my ability to instruct my students while they are using the computers.
Over the course of the semester I have really learned the importance of chatting while working on an assignment on google docs. It has saved me so much time this semester!! I would like to increase my knowledge of the use of video conferencing because I believe that it will also be a time saver as I continue my education and as I become a professional teacher. 


I have an Apple computer, and at the Apple store they offer courses on learning how to use your mac. A way for me to learn more about video conferencing would be to attend one of these courses. As far as improving my knowledge of the computer language I feel that it will improve as I take more computer classes in school and as I use the computer more when i become a teacher. The best way to learn computer vocabulary is to use the computer. Another way to improve my computer vocabulary is to watch a video on youtube that reviews basic computer terminology.

Field 4 (we discussed that I could make this up for my missing November blog)

Doc,

We discussed in class Thursday December 2nd that I could make up this blog due to my confusion on the dates of fiield. It is for my missing blog in november.

Field was a really great experience. I went into it saying that whatever experience I had was what I needed to become a better teacher, reguardless of if it was a good or bad experience. The first week of field was a little rough. Our teacher did not introduce us to the class and did not make us feel very welcome; however, as time progressed things got better. The students loved having us in the class, and really enjoyed our lessons.

I feel that over field I improved most in the area of classroom management. The first couple of days was really rough, but as we reflected on our experiences and applied what we learned to later lessons I felt a lot more in control.

I really enjoyed integrating technology into my lessons, and the students really enjoyed it. When they saw that we were going to use the laptops they were so excited. Our field teacher only does a lot of direct instruction so they enjoyed the variety of instruction while we were teaching. I also feel like we reached a variety of learning types. Over all, field was a great experience.

What I am Learning: Digital Story Reflection

Digital Story Reflection

Westland Elementary School is a traditional calendar school located in the middle part of West Jordan, Utah at 2925 West 7180 South. Westland Elementary was opened in 1972 and was remodeled in 1996. Westland is one of 32 schools in Jordan District. The Jordan District serves more than 49,000 children living in the communities of Bluffdale, Copperton, Herriman, Riverton, South Jordan, and West Jordan. Utah. My cooperating teacher was Sara Weston, 4th grade. Ms. Weston’s class is made up of 28 fourth graders- 18 girls and 10 boys. The students range in age from 8 to 9 years old. Twenty-four students are Caucasian, 4 Hispanic, and one  Polynesian.

We developed a good relationship with Ms. Weston over the course of the field experience. She was willing to answer any questions that we had about her classroom and supported the completion of all of our required field assignments. She was impressed with our digital story and said it looked like we had put a lot of time and work into creating it; however, she said that as a teacher it is not a realistic use of her time. She could find a video created professionally that would be as applicable to the lesson without all of the extra time spent creating it.

Though Ms. Weston cooperated with the completion of the lesson we gave her on how to create a digital story, she felt it was a waste of time. She did not understand how it was applicable to our training to be better teachers, especially because she will never use the information she gained from the lesson. She felt that we knew how to make a digital story, and that we were comfortable during the instruction.

The training session with Miss Weston went well.  She was very cooperative and listened as we showed her our digital story and then continued to show her the program we used and how to use it.  Miss Weston thought we did a good job on our digital story and found it neat that we were able to make it.  However, she said it was not  a useful product for her and that she would not use it in her classroom. She said if she were to use a digital story she would find a more applicable one online. This way it would save her a bunch of time and unnecessary work to make one herself and it would be more professional.  

The service-learning experience went fine.  We did a good job in showing/teaching Miss Weston our digital story; however, she found it not applicable to her.  She told us that she would never use a program like this to make a digitial story and that it would take up too much of her time.  Based on our discussion with her, we found the service-learning experience to not be effective.  It also took up a lot of time to complete to simply show to the class for a few minutes.

Our cooperating teacher did not gain a lot from the experience.  As we have stated above, she found it unnecessary for her class and would find a different way to get the information across.  She stated that teachers are very busy already, and having to make her own digital story would simply take too much time. She did think the program was creative but would not use it in her teaching career.

From this experience I learned how to create a digital story and use a program I would otherwise never have learned.  I learned that college students can make a great tool engage students. However, I learned that making a digital story is far too time consuming and that the time making it and preparing it for the students is not worth the effort. There are more professional videos available to use.

The digital story in my opinion was not worth the time and effort.  We put a lot of work, time, and consideration into making this video for us to find out that it was not necessary.  I don’t believe the students learned more or benefited more because we made the video.  If I were to use a digital story when I am a teacher I would find an applicable one that was professionally made. This would save time.  Therefore, I did not find this assignment worth my time when there are already many great tools, resources, and videos to use.

What am I learning: Field Week 3

We used our digital story as part of our lesson. The students were impressed by the fact that we made a movie, and asked their teacher if they could learn how to make one themselves. Our class really enjoys technology. The only problem I found with using the Digital story was that our students were not engaged during the movie. It was hard to keep them focused, they spent a lot of the time visiting with their neighbors.

I have learned that using technology as a teacher is very important. It gives a variety to lesson plans, as well as provides examples of the technologies available to the students. Field has been a great experience and I feel like I have learned and improved a lot.

What I am learning: Field Week 2

This was our week to teach our lessons. For our technology rich lesson, we decided to have our class research Utah's Native American Tribes using the mobile computer labs. We brought in a lap top for each student and gave them different topics to research. The kids loved getting to find information using the laptops instead of a worksheet or a text book. The lesson didn't go exactly as planned but the students really enjoyed it. We also showed our Digital Story this week. The kids enjoyed it and were impressed that we made it ourselves.

What am I learning: Field 11/3-11/10

Our first week of field we have spent most of our time observing, as well as preparing our lesson plans. Our digital story is coming great. we decided we wanted to tell the story of the Utah of the Native Americans and tell how they have impacted us. We have our storyboard complete, and all of the pictures lined up. We are ready to put music to the lineup this week.
We have also finished preparing our technology rich lesson. We are going to show our Digital story to our students to introduce our Native American Unit, and then have the students work in Cooperative Learning Groups researching the different tribes. It is part of the 4th grade curriculum to learn to use search engines, and use the internet to do research. We hope it will go according to plan, keep you posted.
As far as the Technology our class is learning, they are developing their typing skills. Most students are working on the home row in their keyboarding rotation but a few are on other rows.
Until next week....

What am I learning: October 21, 2010

This week in class we worked on our Digital Stories in class and researched different acts and laws having to do with copyright. It was really interesting to learn about the different laws and acts.

What am I learning: Digital Story 1

What? 

This week we learned how to format a story board for our Digital Story. We watched a lot of great examples of how our digital story should evoke emotion, and tell a story.
So What? 
I think that learning each of the steps to making a digital story week by week will solidify my ability to create a digital story. As a future teacher, learning this will allow me to teach my students these skills as well my colleagues. We are learning this so we can have another tool to use to grasp and hook our students on what we are learning.

Now What? 

I would really like to teach this skill to my future students, I think it will be a great tool for them to use as they continue their education. I could even make this a collaborative assignment to help the students learn how to work in group. This skill can be used and integrated with any other core. it is a great skill to have.

Key Assignment: Vidcast Reflection

                                                               

Key Assignment: Vidcast Reflection

The name of our vidcast is The 3 R’s, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. This vidcast meets the Health Education curriculum for grades 4-6, Standard 3, The students will understand and respect self and others related to human development and relationships, objective 1, Practice ways of showing respect for self and others.

We chose to do our vidcast on recycling because we feel that while it is important for students to show respect to their family members and peers, it is also important for them to learn to respect their surrounding environment. We believe that part of respecting others is to understand that where we live, where we go to school, or where we play is home to everyone. We all deserve to have a nice place to live. Students will benefit from the vidcast. It will teach them to treat their surroundings with respect; they will learn to take care of what they have.

Our vidcast relates to the Health Education Standard 3, by allowing the students to develop knowledge about different ways to respect those around us. Recycling is a form of respect to others because it makes it so future generations will have everything that we have. It is also a form of respect because it keeps our earth clean for everyone.

The potential drawback of using this vidcast in the classroom, is that students’ may not receive support at home helping them to recycle. Though this is a drawback, recycling in the classroom will be enforced. This may help students want to continue to recycle in the future. We plan to show this to our future students to initiate recycling in the classroom at the beginning of the year. We will track how much we recycle each month, and see what we have preserved by doing so.

What am I learning: Vidcasts

What? This week we were introduced to vidcasts. Our assignment for the week is to create vidcast with our class partner. The vidcast can be something to do with the core or a "how to". My partner and I chose to do How to Recycle.

So What?

As a teacher, student, and colleague I can use vidcasts on many different occasions. Vidcasts can be used to teach a lesson when if I ever have a sub, or to excite the kids about a new unit we will be studying, use it as a sort of "trailer" to introduce the unit. As a student I could use a vidcast in a presentation. I feel we are learning this technology to provide us with another way of presenting our material as a teacher. As a colleague I can use vidcasts to share my material with fellow teachers.

Now What? 

As a future teacher, I don't know if I will use vidcasts. I feel like in some cases they can be kind of cheesy. However, I will teach this technology to my students so they can utilize it in their own lives. I will have them do research on what we are studying and have them create a vidcast and present it to the class. Though vidcasts are not the thing for me I still think they can be beneficial for others.

What am I learning: Podcasts

What? 


This week in class we learned how to create a podcast, convert it to MP3 format, and put it on our class websites.


So What?


As a teacher I will use this technology to post informational podcasts on what we are studying in class or use it to explain assignments to student who miss class. As a student I don't really see myself creating podcasts, but I listen to them all of the time. As a colleague, my coworkers can get on my website an use my podcasts in their own classrooms. I think that as time progresses I will find this technology more useful right now I don't think I will use it much.

Now What? 

Because I learned the procedure of creating and converting a podcast, I will be able to pass this information onto my future students. They will be able to do projects and presentations this way. I never knew how to create a podcast so this information added a lot to my schema. I was always kind of afraid of this type of technology but I now see that it can be beneficial. This technology will help me to provide information to my students using a variety of strategies. 

What am I learning: google part 2

What? This week in class we created a Class website linked to our Gmail account. The Website should have 6 pages. 

So What? 

As a teacher creating this site will help me to keep all of my teaching material, calendars, lesson plans, and announcements in one location. It will be a great help to keep myself, my students, and my parents up to date with what is going on in my classroom. This technology will be great to help me if I ever need to transfer my files to a colleague that would like to use my materials.

Now What? 

Because students are very aware of how to use technology, having this site will help them to keep to keep organized as well. If they have any questions on assignments or missed a day of class this site will allow them to email me and look up on the calendar what they miss if they are absent. I think this will help me to be a more organized and efficient teacher. This is a great tool to use in the classroom. My students can interact together on the site as they work on 

group projects.

What am I learning?

What? 
What am I learning? 


Well I will have you know that the best thing I have learned thus far, was google Documents! I love it! I was going crazy trying to figure out how I was going to meet with my groups for all of these group projects I have due like EVERY DAY!!! Because I learned about google docs, I am stress free. I love that you can just go in and have a nice little conversation in our document and make edits and changes to our project, best thing ever!! I will never go back to Hotmail.


What assignments are we performing? 
We are currently working on gathering research for our future Digital Story Assignment. I am working with Loren. We are doing research on the early exploration of america and the explorers.

So What?
So what does this all mean to me as a teacher, student, colleague today?
Why are we doing this? How can this apply to me today in my other classes and in my life in general? What does this technology mean to me? What does this technology mean to my colleagues? 


I have had the same hotmail account since I was eleven years old. I didn't have any idea that there was anything out there that really could help me as much as Gmail and google docs. I thought that all emails were exactly the same. 
Changing to gmail will greatly change my organizational skills as I continue my education the next two years. I already feel more in control of my schedule. It is great to have the ability to work on projects from home (on my own time!) rather than working around everyone else's busy schedules. I also love that everything you need is on one page.


Now What?
What does this technology mean to my future students? How does this new information change my current schema? How will this information change the type of teacher I will be in the future? What kinds of assignments can I give my students so that they are engaged and so that they can collaborate with other students both within and without the school? How will this help me to become a better future teacher? How will this information help me to become a better future colleague? How can this information change the type of collaboration we engage in ...in our department? This is where you discuss your passions, emotions, and beliefs for the future. 


As I become a teacher I will use googled docs to post a weekly/monthly calendar up for the students as well as the their parents. This will allow them to stay involved with their child's school work and help prepare them. 
Learning about google docs, greatly added to my schema of computer knowledge and group work. I knew how to work in a group, but I didn't know that it could be this easy. I will not go back to using another email account because gmail offers much more to me as a teacher. As I involve my students with this new technology I have learned I will ask them to do a similar type of assignment as we are working on now. I will ask them to create a google document and do research with a classmate over the computer. 


This technology will help me become a better teacher because I will have all of the information I need at my finger tips, Literally! I will be able to keep all of my lesson plans, calendars, art projects, reminders, etc on one simple website. Organization is a very important thing to have as a teacher, if you are not clear in your own mind, how do you expect to express yourself clearly to your students? As a colleague, I will be able to quickly respond to my other colleagues, and work on concerns we have with our students over the computer. It will also be great to be able to easily answer any questions they have or give them any of my material they want.
Google Documents and Gmail have really made adjusting to this CRAZY semester a lot easier. I am so glad that it is an available and free resource for me to use and a student and as a future teacher. 

My Educational Hero

Life is a classroom, and it is full of all types of educators. All educators are heroes because they made someone's life more enriched. I have had many educators influence me during my lifelong education; however, the one that stands out most of all is my Mom. She is my educational Hero.

The reason my Mom is my educational Hero is because she taught me the importance of learning everywhere you go. She taught me the philosophy "Life is a  classroom", and that I should learn all that I can. Because of her I love to learn. My mom also taught me the importance of being a friend to everyone, even those who may not be in your own circle of friends. She taught me this because she says you never know who or how you will impact someone when you are not friendly so you might as well put on a smile. My mom has taught me a lot of other things but these significantly stand out in my mind as to why she is my educational hero.