Saturday, December 11, 2010
Wiki
For this assignment, I created a wiki that would be used in conjunction with a high school lesson on writing. I absolutely loved using this as a form of communication and an outlet for creativity in the classroom. This is definitely something that I would use in the classroom!
I think that wikis are great places for students to collaborate on assignments and it allows them space outside of the classroom to work. Students can be as creative and verbose as they like or as short as they like and a wiki allows them complete freedom to do so. I love that this is as much a student's space as it is the teachers, where they can modify and edit their own page. It will take some explicit teaching as to how to use a wiki, but I feel that students will pick it up quickly and use it well.
I think that wikis are great places for students to collaborate on assignments and it allows them space outside of the classroom to work. Students can be as creative and verbose as they like or as short as they like and a wiki allows them complete freedom to do so. I love that this is as much a student's space as it is the teachers, where they can modify and edit their own page. It will take some explicit teaching as to how to use a wiki, but I feel that students will pick it up quickly and use it well.
Most Important thing I learned
Throughout this semester I have learned about myriad technologies and ways to use them. From website creation to Google Documents and digital presentations, I feel confident using technology in the classroom.
No single one of these, however, is the most important piece that I have learned. The most important thing that I have learned through this class is how to find these things out on my own. Although it was not a subject in this course, I have learned how to use Google Earth. I am now able to manipulate the map into what I need for a lesson, record a lesson with voice-over, and upload it to the internet so that I can link it to my website. This is something that I never would have been able to accomplish before this course, however the course did not explicitly teach me how to do it.
As a direct result of this class, I feel much more confident using technology and seeing how I can manipulate it to work for me and my classroom! I know that I can and will use these tools to help me make lessons interesting and meaningful for my students.
No single one of these, however, is the most important piece that I have learned. The most important thing that I have learned through this class is how to find these things out on my own. Although it was not a subject in this course, I have learned how to use Google Earth. I am now able to manipulate the map into what I need for a lesson, record a lesson with voice-over, and upload it to the internet so that I can link it to my website. This is something that I never would have been able to accomplish before this course, however the course did not explicitly teach me how to do it.
As a direct result of this class, I feel much more confident using technology and seeing how I can manipulate it to work for me and my classroom! I know that I can and will use these tools to help me make lessons interesting and meaningful for my students.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
The R.O.W.
One of my favorite comedians frequently refers to Americans' lack of interest or understanding in the R.O.W., or the Rest Of the World. As I was reading through the GLCEs for social studies tonight, I think I have figured out a possible explanation.
We don't teach it.
I searched through the document several times searching for something...anything, that discussed the culture or geography of another place independent of the U.S.A. I found plenty of topics about how resources abroad affect our economy and similar geopolitics, but very little about even where other countries are located.
Given the amount of technology that we have available to us in modern times, I think it is absolutely obvious that we should be using this to connect students to the "R.O.W".
We live in a global world that children should be learning about. With skype, blogs, youtube, google earth, email, facebook, and myriad other tools at our disposal, why are we still not focusing on global understanding?
We don't teach it.
I searched through the document several times searching for something...anything, that discussed the culture or geography of another place independent of the U.S.A. I found plenty of topics about how resources abroad affect our economy and similar geopolitics, but very little about even where other countries are located.
Given the amount of technology that we have available to us in modern times, I think it is absolutely obvious that we should be using this to connect students to the "R.O.W".
We live in a global world that children should be learning about. With skype, blogs, youtube, google earth, email, facebook, and myriad other tools at our disposal, why are we still not focusing on global understanding?
IEPs
Being a special education major, I hear a lot about IEPs, and in theory, they're great! In practice, however, I fear they are not quite so magical.
IEPs work when they fulfill their title, "individualized". It seems, however, that many IEP planning sessions try to fit the student to the IEP as opposed to fitting the IEP to the student. Through the grapevine, I have heard of a student with a physical impairment given more time on tests because... well? I don't know why. It seems that IEPs tend to have a general script that people follow when writing them, and the students are expected to fit into this script.
What happened to the individualized bit? The IEP should be designed to meet the needs of the student, not the "special ed." needs or the "autistic student" needs, because every student is different whether he/she has special needs or not.
IEPs work when they fulfill their title, "individualized". It seems, however, that many IEP planning sessions try to fit the student to the IEP as opposed to fitting the IEP to the student. Through the grapevine, I have heard of a student with a physical impairment given more time on tests because... well? I don't know why. It seems that IEPs tend to have a general script that people follow when writing them, and the students are expected to fit into this script.
What happened to the individualized bit? The IEP should be designed to meet the needs of the student, not the "special ed." needs or the "autistic student" needs, because every student is different whether he/she has special needs or not.
Homework vs. Busywork
When I think back on the homework I was required to complete during elementary and secondary school, there are very few that stand out to me as being very beneficial. I remember a lot of textbook reading and worksheets, and simple regurgitation.
If homework is not helping students to learn... what's the point? I am not saying that I don't think there is a point to homework, because I most certainly do. I am simply saying that we need to be more judicial about the homework we give out. Assignments that get children thinking and interacting in the community are great ways to help them learn! For instance, an assignment requiring students to learn about the economic system by interviewing their family about what why they buy the things they do at the grocery store may be much more beneficial than reading about cost-benefit ratios in a textbook.
Homework should be something that pushes children's thinking further, not finishing up whatever you ran out of time for in class or filling the formula for the amount of time a student should spend on homework every night.
It should also play upon the 'home' part of homework. Children's families can be a great resource for information on cultures, businesses, families, etc. Use these resources to your advantage through homework!
If homework is not helping students to learn... what's the point? I am not saying that I don't think there is a point to homework, because I most certainly do. I am simply saying that we need to be more judicial about the homework we give out. Assignments that get children thinking and interacting in the community are great ways to help them learn! For instance, an assignment requiring students to learn about the economic system by interviewing their family about what why they buy the things they do at the grocery store may be much more beneficial than reading about cost-benefit ratios in a textbook.
Homework should be something that pushes children's thinking further, not finishing up whatever you ran out of time for in class or filling the formula for the amount of time a student should spend on homework every night.
It should also play upon the 'home' part of homework. Children's families can be a great resource for information on cultures, businesses, families, etc. Use these resources to your advantage through homework!
Technology based lesson
For my technology based lesson, I plan to teach geography aided by social conferencing software and google earth. Since geography has generally been something that is hard for students to relate to because they historically have not been able to experience the other areas in the content, I wanted to bring geography to life for my students.
I plan to use Google Earth to show the students where another region is on the earth in relation to our region. This will allow the students a three dimensional view of the geography that they can move and manipulate to explore. Instead of simply looking at a flat map, this gives students a better visual perspective to relate the two areas together.
I then plan to use Skype to make another region real to the students. I am in touch with classrooms in England that may be willing to Skype with a class here in the United States to have structured discussion about physical and human characteristics of the region. This will give the students faces to relate to the places they are learning about, a visual representation of the clothing, an aural representation of the language and dialects, and other children to talk to.
This would, of course, have to be flanked in discussion so as to guide the students' thinking toward similarities and differences between regions and what this means for us socially.
I plan to use Google Earth to show the students where another region is on the earth in relation to our region. This will allow the students a three dimensional view of the geography that they can move and manipulate to explore. Instead of simply looking at a flat map, this gives students a better visual perspective to relate the two areas together.
I then plan to use Skype to make another region real to the students. I am in touch with classrooms in England that may be willing to Skype with a class here in the United States to have structured discussion about physical and human characteristics of the region. This will give the students faces to relate to the places they are learning about, a visual representation of the clothing, an aural representation of the language and dialects, and other children to talk to.
This would, of course, have to be flanked in discussion so as to guide the students' thinking toward similarities and differences between regions and what this means for us socially.
Digital Stories
While I find that digital stories can be extremely useful in classrooms when used correctly, I fear that they run the risk of boring students because they have no human to human interaction.
A great way to use this technology may be to introduce a lesson, perhaps by exploring a museum that the students wouldn't otherwise be able to see. It can get the students interest with stimulating visuals and informational voice-overs and lead in to a lesson well! I don't think, however, that it should be used as a means to teach a lesson. Digital stories are unidirectional, the information travels from the screen to the students, who then have no way to interact with the material. In my experience, many children internalize content when they are provided the opportunity to ask questions and interact with the lesson
Another way to use a digital story may be as a review or back up to a lesson so that students can reference the digital story while reviewing. The story in this case could encompass the main points from the lesson or unit and provide a quick, fun way to review.
A great way to use this technology may be to introduce a lesson, perhaps by exploring a museum that the students wouldn't otherwise be able to see. It can get the students interest with stimulating visuals and informational voice-overs and lead in to a lesson well! I don't think, however, that it should be used as a means to teach a lesson. Digital stories are unidirectional, the information travels from the screen to the students, who then have no way to interact with the material. In my experience, many children internalize content when they are provided the opportunity to ask questions and interact with the lesson
Another way to use a digital story may be as a review or back up to a lesson so that students can reference the digital story while reviewing. The story in this case could encompass the main points from the lesson or unit and provide a quick, fun way to review.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Thanksgiving
Non-fiction and Thanksgiving
How should we handle the holiday then? The students, their families, and our school will expect us to address Thanksgiving in some manner or another. Do we teach the youngest kids the traditional story and change their misconceptions as they get older?
For young students, I have decided that instead of teaching the students a false story or scarring children at a young age, I will focus on the giving thanks part of Thanksgiving in my classroom and leave the story up to the parents. I will, however, make literature available for both "sides of the story." Older students, however, I believe should be taught the story as accurately as we know how.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
CEP 452 Final Project
Google Calendar.
For this project, I was searching for technology that would allow students and teachers to communicate about assignments and projects in an organized manner. When I was in high school, busy with school, sports, and friends, I had a difficult time keeping track of due dates and assignments. Through this project, I found something that would have helped me greatly throughout my own high school years; Google Calendar.
Google calendar is an online tool that allows its users to fill in a digital calendar with personal events. The general format of calendar can be changed to view events by day, week, month, 4 days, or agenda. This calendar has several benefits over a paper planner. Google Calendar can be viewed anywhere internet is available, and it can be edited endlessly. It is possible to set reminders and alarms so that you do not forget important information or events. Just about everything you can do on a portable planner, you can also do with this online calendar.
The most intriguing and useful aspect to this calendar is the fact that you can share it! A teacher could set up a calendar for the semester or school year with assignments, due dates, lessons, activities, subjects, etc. included so that the students can organize their time effectively and when the plans change (as they inevitably will) this calendar can be immediately updated. It is also possible for students to make changes to the calendar (depending on the settings that the teacher has used). This means that students can share interesting events with the class, in addition to organizing their own time with a personal calendar.
To view more about this calendar click here.
For this project, I was searching for technology that would allow students and teachers to communicate about assignments and projects in an organized manner. When I was in high school, busy with school, sports, and friends, I had a difficult time keeping track of due dates and assignments. Through this project, I found something that would have helped me greatly throughout my own high school years; Google Calendar.
Google calendar is an online tool that allows its users to fill in a digital calendar with personal events. The general format of calendar can be changed to view events by day, week, month, 4 days, or agenda. This calendar has several benefits over a paper planner. Google Calendar can be viewed anywhere internet is available, and it can be edited endlessly. It is possible to set reminders and alarms so that you do not forget important information or events. Just about everything you can do on a portable planner, you can also do with this online calendar.
The most intriguing and useful aspect to this calendar is the fact that you can share it! A teacher could set up a calendar for the semester or school year with assignments, due dates, lessons, activities, subjects, etc. included so that the students can organize their time effectively and when the plans change (as they inevitably will) this calendar can be immediately updated. It is also possible for students to make changes to the calendar (depending on the settings that the teacher has used). This means that students can share interesting events with the class, in addition to organizing their own time with a personal calendar.
To view more about this calendar click here.
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