The games were a great way to lead

The games were a great way to lead the students in learning. The students were able to add features to the games that helped to reinforce the concepts along the way. With the flashcard games, the young students are able to repeat, as often as needed, the facts until they can recite or recall the information. The teacher can, then, pay attention to each student while they are engaged.  The QR codes really seem to be beneficial for leading the students. The codes are very easy to follow to an expected end. The group project led by me in the third grade class did lead the students well. It was based on previous information that they were required to recall in the science and writing area then reinforced by the illustrations.  The Internet-linked booked served as a guide for individuals to find facts. There was a lot of collaboration and assessment even between groups.

 

The students are excited at the third grade level to create so Google docs is a simple method for them to not be overwhelmed and get amazing results. They are able to make simple decisions to create powerful presentations that are colorful. They, also, have fun with typing the sentences, paying more attention to spelling and the subject verb- agreement. The lesson is reinforced by making the illustration deciding the order of the information. Students focus on basic but necessary information required by the standards and have access to the teacher to assist. The teacher, during the course of the group project, has modeled decision making and selection skills as well to help children communicate more clearly. Their completed project can stand with actual published authors.

 

Exertion

Let’s see……The Podcast project really turned out to be easier than expected. I spent a lot of time working with it because a download caused me a tremendous amount of computer issues. I spent about a week trying to get everything in my computer to work correctly. In the meantime,The Wiki project was coming due and I was so distracted. Furthermore, I had not written lesson plans before and I could not, for the life of me, begin the project. I knew some of the elements for lesson planning but was not at all confident to create one.

I am so thankful for kindness. My class-mate sat with me for a few minutes as I came up with the idea for my project. She helped me to understand the picture of what needed to be accomplished. The funny thing is……I read the expectations……understood them…. just the picture was not created in my mind. Once I began to work on my Wiki project, the creation of the project was not so intuitive to me. I spent many hours trying to do something that was probably very easy for a digital native.

This has not been a bad experience though. I have truly learned a lot. There is great value in going through “the fire”. I have come through more computer savvy, if you will. If I come across something unfamiliar, I am willing to use a tutorial and “how to” websites more quickly. I realize none of the accomplishments were difficult, once I knew how to do the task. No task was too difficult to learn. I take this version of life’s lesson with me to my future classroom. I understand the frustration of wanting to know NOW……and the greater necessity of taking the time to learn how.

The products created are enjoyable and easy. I want to use QR codes, wiki-pages, digital stories, and podcasts now that my mind is relaxed enough to know how to use it. I am still formulating which project links best with which subject. I’ll let you know my answer to how I will use it in the classroom in my next post.

View of Technology

When I began this class, my perception of technology in the classroom was positive. My view of which technology to use was limited though. I have expanded my repertoire of resources as a direct result of this class for which I am excited. I have collected quite a number of Bookmarks to refer back to concerning technological resources. I volunteer with a Literacy group and have now incorporated the podcast into my sessions. The podcasting experience really increased my confidence to incorporate technology within instruction.

The greatest challenges that lie ahead for me are finding resources to utilize. For example, I was not a fan of video games and until the assigned reading on Gaming, I would not have searched games out. They have changed quite a lot since the days of old computers. 

Moreover, keeping an open mind to applications that allow one to express him/herself will be challenging. It is difficult to decide what to share or not when “the world” can be so subjective and biased. Considerations of which thoughts to share must be carefully weigh as someone important in your professional “realm” may disagree and quietly make decisions that can affect the author’s life. Some may say that exchanges will remain professionals however, the responses to bloggers or tweeters, for example, offer moments of doubt. 

I will overcome these challenges by keeping abreast of the technology. I have subscribed to the Washington Post technology feed “Tech News Daily”. Two days ago, they announced that Twitter will release a music service. One month ago, I would have never known.  So I am planning to increase the amount of information that comes to me about technology. 

In order to overcome my other concern about free expression and technology, I will have to critically and continually assess what is written. I will make an attempt to offer opinions and carefully monitor its reception.

 

Choosing to Blog

Until now, I have not blogged or used wikis. I did not have an interest to do so. I feel so bombarded by information received by  television that it seems overwhelming to gain another person’s opinion through their writings. I enjoy listening to political pundits which is enough at the end of the day. To consider, now, going to the computer to read another opinion on a topic is overkill as I certainly create my own opinion about a topic.

When considering using a blog as an educational tool, I have a change of heart. I can see the value of students creating sentences to express how they think or feel about something. Writing unlocks a quiet and pleasant place for me to enjoy and I imagine that the same could occur within any student.

Blogging is a great way to write across the curriculum. The Blog can be as factual or fictional as one would like. It can cover any subject because it is a blank slate. One personal drawback is wanting to share that created Blog. Sometimes one may need incentive to share their thoughts. It was scary to stand up in class and ask a question or assert your thoughts. It was scary because all eyes were on the speaker. A Blog can be a little intimidating because when another reads what you have written, their response can feel like an attack if the statement is misunderstood. One can not truly erase the experience as what is written is permanently available.

I would choose to blog with elementary students. As they learn, they can reinforce what they have learned by reacting to the information in the Blog. They can express whether they enjoy learning certain concepts or whether they did not enjoy learning the concepts and why. The teacher can use the feedback to help the child or children understand the importance of the child or children learning the information. An incentive could be previously planned alternate projects that a child or children could choose as a way to obtain the learning objective. For example, if a child did not enjoy reading Shakespeare, one could use the Shakespeare scavenger/treasure hunt to make the reading more purposeful for the student.

Dinkypage.com would also be an interesting tool to use to assist with writing across the curriculum. It seems to allows a student to create a webpage  and express themselves with pictures, links, and audio. Dinky page may allow them to pull related information together for the concept they are learning in class. The page can be changed to create a theme and link it to all relevant subjects. Verbal, written, or visual assessments can measure concepts learned and demonstrated on the web page. The student will need to understand that a webpage can be like a creative puzzle that fits together beautifully. And, one can communicate that all creativity is beautiful so as to encourage the child and assure the learning objective is obtained.

Technology Intergration in the classroom

Educational Technology in the classroom consists of Audio/visual equipment, computers, Smart Boards, iPads, manipulatives to assist with teaching concepts, smart phones, overhead projectors, film projectors and cassette players, just to name a few. I recall my teachers using the overhead projectors, cassette players, and film projectors mostly when I was growing up.

I have been in the classroom and used software programs to supplement teaching reading which affects all of the subjects taught in Elementary grades. A program called Accelerated Reader was most useful to help student’s become more interested in reading and to give them immediate feedback as to their comprehension and accomplishment. We also used manipulatives in teaching Math which helped children visualize the concepts taught.