Final Post

This course has really helped me in numerous ways to open up using technology in the classroom.  I have learned a lot about different programs and organizational tools to use when planning activities for my students.  I think that using concept maps as a way of brain storming is a great way to tie the kids into using technology in the classroom, I would use it as a group project on a research paper of some sort where each child would have to complete one part to make one whole project.  I also really like using Movie Maker, I think it would be great to use to create slideshows for open house or holiday classroom parties.  Google docs is also something that I was unfamiliar with coming into this classroom, now me and my peers use them religiously!   They are such great ways to communicate with each other via the web.  I do plan to utilize each and every program that I have been introduced to in my future teaching career.

My strong point coming into this class would have to be that I am familiar with computers, my weak being I had no idea about any of these software programs so direct instruction was a must!  I did learn a lot though, a lot more that I thought I had already knew.  Another strong point I think that I had was that even though I was unfamiliar with the programs being introduced I caught on quite quickly.  Another weak area, as I think it is for most students, is procrastination.  I do plan on working on my procrastination skills by setting personal due dates versus the original due dates.  By doing this I hope to not be doing five hundred assignments at one time, if you know what I mean.

Integrating technology in the classroom is a must today, everything revolves around technology.  I plan to utilize this by introducing to the students some of the organizational note taking skills that I have learned throughout this course.  I think it would be great “bonus points” for students to turn in a concept map of the topic of test, kind of like a personal study guide.  I also plan to have the children use google docs in research projects, with the monitor of a parent of course.  I look forward to becoming a future educator and being the best that I can be!

Assistive Technology

Our next assignment that we completed in class was on assistive technology devices that we can use in the classroom.  There are a variety of things like magnification and on screen keyboard that is great for students to use.  We actually created a Powerpoint of screen shots of us using these assistive devices.  Having a hands-on experience using these can give us a better one on one experience to better serve our children when they have questions. 

Learning disabilities do not go away with time. However, assistive technology can help children with learning disabilities leverage their strengths and work around or compensate for specific learning problems. These supports can be key to helping users become more independent in school and throughout life and on the job and in activities for daily living.

To tie this in with common core and the NETS-S is easy with objectives by using technology.  Technology in the classroom is very important for children to learn and applying objectives like writing a story and comprehending it, instead we can type it with the onscreen keyboard that Microsoft offers.

Web Page

This week assignments we made a webpage! How exciting! Making this webpage really has prepared us for using them for our own school that we will be teaching at in the future.  Every school, or school district, should have a web page with teacher web pages within that educators update weekly.  These pages include things like information about the teacher, weekly schedules, and even homework procedures.  This is a quick way for you to get to know your child's teacher on more of a personal level.  It is also a quick and easy way to access from anywhere to check for upcoming events and lessons in the near future, or for that week.  A teacher may also have additional worksheets posted if you feel your child needs more help on that particular subject.  I have created my own personal "test" webpage for you guys to visit!

In my own future classroom I do plan on updating my webpage weekly.  I will post things like what we will be doing that week and extra websites that will help the child if they are having trouble.  Another thing that you can find on my website will be a short biography about myself.  Also, I think  it would be a great idea to post pictures, with permission, of students in action so that their parents can get a more personal experience in the classroom from home!

This is a great way to tie into the NETS-S standards by using technology in the classroom.

Click here to go to my web page!

Google Functions

Google is a powerful tool for students, teachers, as well as any one else.  It has so much to offer, for free!  For this particular assignment we were required to create a document inside of google docs and share it with our assigned group members.  When we "share" this via web with our other group members through google docs they are able to view and edit the word document.  We were required to each write a paragraph about one topic.  So we all took turns editing and adding on to the story.  Google docs can also be used for other resources.  It is very helpful and useful for group projects, this is something that you can use in the classroom to enhance technology in the general education classroom.

We were also required to create a presentation inside of Google.  This is similar to powerpoint in Microsoft office, but free!  It is compatible with programs so it can open anywhere.  Another great feature that I really like about using Google is that you have access to your documents anywhere on any computer that connects to wifi.  How convenient is this, not having to worry about holding onto a flash drive or hauling your lap top around.

Using Google in the classroom is something as a future educator I will be using.  I think that using the Google Docs feature and having them share in a group as maybe a research project would be beneficial.  It allows for all group members to do their portion of the activity and easy for each group member to monitor.  Using technology in the classroom is important in today's society because everything revolves around it and I think that it is important for student's to be familiar with all sources and features available to use.

 

Movie Maker

Our most recent assignment in class was to create a movie using Movie Maker.  I thought this was very exciting to create!  We each got to pick out our own topic of interest.  I chose my dog; I love my dog like a child, for he is my child.  I used pictures from when he was younger to present day.  In my movie I incorporated music and used a voice over feature for narration.

I feel like these would be useful in the classroom for when parents came to visit, like open house.  You could take pictures of the students, of course with parents’ consent, throughout the first weeks of school and display them as a movie to replay while parents are present.  Or you could create a themed movie for classroom parties.  Another educational way you could use Movie Maker would be you could video yourself reading a book and acting it out with lots of props.  This would be very exciting for the younger children during story time.  Also, like us students in this class, you could have your students create a movie on a given topic as a PBL assignment.  I look forward to using this program and feature in my own classroom.

To tie this in with NETS-S you would be designing and developing learning experiences through technology.

Web Tools

Our most recent assignment on web tools was very informational on becoming a future educator.  I learned about a lot of resources I can use when teaching different lessons.  As a student now, I already use quizlet to help me study for test and different lessons and what not.  Being able to pass that onto my students is something I will do.  It is very informational and useful to have to create a “set” into quizlet.  We also experienced with different websites that are available for teachers to use for different lessons.  There were many different activity sheets on literally every topic you can think of.  I found it very informational and something that I do see myself using as a future teacher.  We also created a crossword puzzle which I think are so fun!  I really think my students will enjoy doing these weekly maybe even using them as a vocabulary test, making it more fun and less stressful as the thought of it being a test.  I also think it would be great to have the students create these themselves to maybe go along with a book we are reading in the class.

Tying this in with the NETS-T would be very easy.  Exposing the children to quizlet and the crossword puzzle creation on the computer would definitely be educational to the student.

Turn It In

Our latest assignment in IT365 was a “turn-it-in” assignment.  Turn-it-in is a website that allows the checking of plagiarism, it also gives you the percentage of your paper they believed to be plagiarized.  The program does this by scanning the internet for any similarities in your paper and similar posts throughout the web.  Turn-it-in will highlight those parts of the paper that they believed to be plagiarized allowing time for the students to go back and “reword” the plagiarized portions of their paper.

Turn-it-in ties into the NETS-T by forcing students to do their own work and not copy someone else information on an opinion off of the internet.  By doing so, this encourages creativity and self-inflicted learning upon the student by writing their own ideas about the topic.

As a future educator I do see myself using the turn-it-in program.  Like mentioned above I believe that this creates creativity for the student and I feel like they learn more about the topic.  Personally reflecting on the turn-it-in program as a student it helps for me to research the topic a little more than just “changing the words”.  It forces you to learn more about the topic to form your own opinion.

 Check it out!

 

 

Concept Maps

Every child acquires differently, every child has their own brand of personality that is what makes us who we are today.  Teachers know this best, and that is why there are several different ways of teaching.   Concept maps being a web based strategy for learning enhances creativity, collaboration, and communication.

Concept maps are something that I do see myself using my very own classroom one day.  It is more like a “bubble map” focused around one topic.  It is such an organized way of keeping notes and displaying them as well.  You can get as creative as you want with concept mapping, which is a plus because imagination is key! Using concept mapping in the educational classroom is used to understand concepts better and gives a visual on the lesson you are teaching.  You can have students to create their own concept map to maybe go along with a research topic they have been assigned.

 There are several different types’ software’s you can use to create concept maps, Inspiration being one of them.  Inspiration is common software used for creating concept maps.  It is very user friendly; it gives step by step instructions on guiding you to creating y our very own concept map!  We currently do no use Inspiration in the classroom; we use Kidspiration, which is virtually just a simplified version of Inspiration.  Kidspiration is typically used in grades 6-12 and allows for the students to group their ideas onto a concept map.  This is software that has to be installed on the hard drive and often a small monthly fee is involved.  Since this is a web-based program students can create, edit, and share information as they create the project.

According to the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers, teachers are required to be able to apply technology in their educational setting.  Using Inspiration is an example of meeting those standards for the NETS-T.  Common core also implements the use of technology in the classroom, which is why it is extremely important to take full advantage of computer programs, like Inspiration.

 

 ISTE Standars Include:

1. Facilitate and inspire student learning

and creativity

Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter,

teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate

experiences that advance student learning,

creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face

and virtual environments.

a. Promote, support, and model creative

and innovative thinking and inventiveness

b. Engage students in exploring real-world issues

and solving authentic problems using digital

tools and resources

c. Promote student reflection using collaborative

tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual

understanding and thinking, planning, and

creative processes

d. Model collaborative knowledge construction by

engaging in learning with students, colleagues,

and others in face-to-face and virtual environments

 

2. Design and develop digital age

learning experiences and assessments

Teachers design, develop, and evaluate

authentic learning experiences and assessments

incorporating contemporary tools and resources

to maximize content learning in context and

to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes

identified in the Standards•S.

a. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences

that incorporate digital tools and resources to

promote student learning and creativity

b. Develop technology-enriched learning

environments that enable all students to pursue

their individual curiosities and become active

participants in setting their own educational

goals, managing their own learning, and

assessing their own progress

c. Customize and personalize learning activities

to address students’ diverse learning styles,

working strategies, and abilities using digital

tools and resources

d. Provide students with multiple and varied

formative and summative assessments aligned

with content and technology standards, and use

resulting data to inform learning and teaching

 

3. Model digital age work and learning

Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work

processes representative of an innovative

professional in a global and digital society.

a. Demonstrate fluency in technology systems

and the transfer of current knowledge to new

technologies and situations

b. Collaborate with students, peers, parents,

and community members using digital tools

and resources to support student success and

innovation

c. Communicate relevant information and ideas

effectively to students, parents, and peers using

a variety of digital age media and formats

d. Model and facilitate effective use of current

and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze,

evaluate, and use information resources to

support research and learning

 

4. Promote and model digital citizenship

and responsibility

Teachers understand local and global societal

issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital

culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in

their professional practices.

a. Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal,

and ethical use of digital information and

technology, including respect for copyright,

intellectual property, and the appropriate

documentation of sources

b. Address the diverse needs of all learners by

using learner-centered strategies providing

equitable access to appropriate digital tools

and resources

c. Promote and model digital etiquette and

responsible social interactions related to the

use of technology and information

d. Develop and model cultural understanding and

global awareness by engaging with colleagues

and students of other cultures using digital age

communication and collaboration tools

 

5. Engage in professional growth

and leadership

Teachers continuously improve their professional

practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit

leadership in their school and professional

community by promoting and demonstrating

the effective use of digital tools and resources.

a. Participate in local and global learning

communities to explore creative applications

of technology to improve student learning

b. Exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision

of technology infusion, participating in shared

decision making and community building, and

developing the leadership and technology skills

of others

c. Evaluate and reflect on current research and

professional practice on a regular basis to

make effective use of existing and emerging

digital tools and resources in support of student

learning

d. Contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and selfrenewal

of the teaching profession and of their

school and community

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introuduction

My name is Kaleigh Ivy.  I am an Elementary Education major, and I am endorsing in science.  Science is always a subject that I have really enjoyed and I am very excited about getting into my very own classroom where I can make a real difference in students life just like my teachers did when I was younger.  I am a transfer from the campus in Hattiesburg, and it is definitely a major change in culture, I guess you would say it is a lot more relaxed here on the coast, which is a plus!  I have always wanted to become a teacher all throughout my high school career, I knew exactly what I wanted to go to college for.  With the help of a few mishaps and obstacles I am now here today and enthusiastic about learning how to become a professional educator.  It would be an absolute dream of mine to complete my masters and work in administration.  However, that is up to how well these next two years treat myself.  I really feel like I would make a great teacher because I enjoy the creativity and opportunities that you can use an educator.  I really feel that a good teacher comes from someone who is enthusiastic about their job, because if you are enthusiastic about it then the students will be too.  A teacher who absolutely hates math, and hates teaching math, will most definitely pass that trait onto the students.  I am very confident in using technology in the classroom, I have used it in my classroom as a student growing up throughout high school.  However, technology is constantly changing so I am sure to learn something new in this class to pass on in my professional teaching career.