BLOG #9 <3

I look forward to doing this project. I feel like it will be very helpful in allowing me to put my newly attained computer skills to practical use. Working in a group will help me to learn further by bouncing ideas off of my classmates and seeing what gives me even more incentive to do a great job because I know that my project will serve a purpose, and I do not want to let Mrs. Kirkendoll down. I feel that I will be better prepared to use technology in my own classroom after having completed this project.

During the previous week, I contributed to my team in various ways. I came up with the idea to make a jeopardy game to accompany our PowerPoint, and I suggested using the PowerPoint program to sync our narration with our slides. I posted some pictures on our group's wiki page that we could possibly use in our PowerPoint. Finally, I went to meet with Mrs. Kirkendoll to make sure that our ideas are appropriate for her classroom.

We did not have class during the previous week, so I did not learn any new material. However, I did gain some experience by going to Fairview Middle School to meet with Mrs. Kirkendoll. Because I hope to be a teacher myself, any experience I can have around current teachers in a school setting is beneficial in preparing me for my future career; meeting with Mrs. Kirkendoll was one such experience.

BLOG #8!

I believe that a WebQuest could be useful in our project. WebQuests allow students to interact with information on a deeper level than simply reading information from a textbook. The videoconferencing aspect of WebQuest could be especially helpful in our project because it would allow students to interact with each other while learning new information, which means that they can share and compare ideas. This leads to a better overall understanding of the information. The 8th grade English class for which we are making our project is the perfect group to use a WebQuest. If my group were to incorporate WebQuest into our project, we could create one that explores the many literary devices used in O. Henry’s story “The Gift of the Magi” and encourages students to explore the many different themes of the piece.
The WebQuest listed in the book called “A WebQuest about WebQuests” is a very good example of a WebQuest. It is very clear in its purpose, which is to help the user explore and gain an understanding of WebQuests. Its layout is very organized, and it is easy to navigate. Its directions are succinct and clearly stated. It provides a list of five sites which the user will explore and has a well-stated conclusion. It is found at this site: http://webquest.sdsu.edu/webquestwebquest.html .
In the past week, I have become more proficient in the use of Excel. I know that Excel will be incredibly useful to me in my career as a teacher. Its most useful purpose will be to expedite the task of configuring grades. Trying to do this without the help of a program such as Excel would be a very daunting and time-consuming task, but Excel makes it instantly so much simpler. Also, I will be able to use Excel as a teaching tool. It will be particularly helpful in helping me teach math and science subjects, and it could also help my students practice their computer skills.

Blog #7!!!

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/cgi-shl/quiz.pl/pronouns_add2.htm
This website would be a great tool to use in a lesson about the use of pronouns. It has 20 questions that give students practice with pronouns. Once students have finished the questions and click "Submit Application," they receive immediate feedback that lets them know which questions they answered correctly and which they did not. This feedback includes graphics which make the site a little more interesting, and the smiling suns are encouraging. :)

As an elementary teacher, I know that I will use Excel very much. I think that the purpose I will use it for the most is figuring out my student's grades. This process can get very complicated and time-consuming if students each have a lot of different graded assignments, so Excel is a perfect tool to make this process simpler. In addition, I know that I will be able to use Excel to teach my students different subjects. For example, if my students were learning about area and perimeter, Excel would be very useful in teaching them these calculations. Excel can also be applied to science lessons; for example, it could be used to explain how batteries work.

Mrs. Hull used Excel spreadsheets creatively and effectively in her fifth-grade class. Because her students used spreadsheets in their bean plant experiments, Mrs. Hull was able to stress to them the importance of accuracy in experimentation. She was also able to avoid the problems that Ms. Clayton, who didn't use spreadsheets in her classroom, ran into. Finally, using spreadsheets lead her to initiate a discussion about ethics in experimentation with her students.

Blog #6 :)

Overall, I think that I did a good job on my PowerPoint 1 assignment. First of all, my grammar and spelling are correct, and I used punctuation appropriate for a bulleted presentation. The content of my Powerpoint is comprehensive; it provides main ideas with important details, and my speaker's notes complement the slides well. The presentation is organized and orderly, and it has a menu right after the title page. The Powerpoint has all of the pictures, animations, and other details listed in the directions. It is visually pleasing and has an organized yet interesting color scheme. The pictures included allow students to picture in their minds the topics that are being discussed.

There are lots of ways to use peripherals and non-computer audio-visual technologies in the classroom. For example, I once had a teacher play a recording of the song "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel in my history class because the song gives an overview of American history that we were studying. Tangible examples are helpful as well; for instance, if I were teaching a lesson on different types of rocks, I could pass around an example of each type of rock so that the students would be able to observe the rocks themselves and remember them.

In the past week, I've become a lot better at PowerPoint. I know that this will help me a lot in my future teaching career. I believe that PowerPoints can be much more effective than an old-fashioned chalk board or overhead. PowerPoints, first of all, can be more interactive; the animation, hyperlinks, and other assets are examples of this. In addition, the fonts, colors, and layouts that you can choose from make a Powerpoint more interesting than a chalkboard. On the flip side, PowerPoints can also be used as an assignment for students. For instance, I could give students a group assignment in which they much create and present a PowerPoint on a certain topic. This would be useful because it would force the students to think deeply about the topic, become familiar with the PowerPoint program, and practice their speaking skills.

http://www.seventeen.com/

This website definitely orients users; the homepage has the title in big and bright font, and there are lots of tabs. The text is justified correctly. Other than the advertisements which don't count, all of the text is left justified. The web page does not limit the type styles very well because there are more than three styles. However, it is not so distracting as to make the page very difficult to read. This site overuses color a little bit, but an intended color scheme of pink and silver is evident. The text is certainly enhanced with graphics- there are lots of pictures! The site's design indicates its knowledge of its audience; the page's girly and colorful look would attract teen and pre-teen girls.

I feel that presentation software has huge advantages in the K-12 classroom. It is much more affective at gaining and holding students' interest than an old-fashioned blackboard is, and it provides teachers with many more options. For example, in presentation software, teachers can include pictures and sound effects to make their lessons more interesting. There are also disadvantages, though, to presentation software. For example, if for some reason the equipment is not working properly when a teacher is trying to present a lesson, he or she must quickly be able to come up with a plan B. Also, there are difficulties when introducing students to presentation software, i.e. teaching them how to use it. For instance, not all students will be familiar with computers. Also, the teacher must be sure to censor what students are doing while on the computers.

I would assign a project in which the students would have to create their own PowerPoint about a famous psychologist. In order to help students remember what they learned, each student would have to include a flowchart detailing the events in the psychologist's life and/or his work. This would also be helpful in getting students to understand the information as they would have to be able to grasp the relationships between the pieces of information that they collect. This flowchart would certainly also help students apply the information they learn because it would help them organize the information prior to building the PowerPoint. The students would eventually have to evaluate the work of their fellow classmates; this would expand their knowledge of psychologists by reading about the different psychologists other students chose. It would also let them see the different ideas that other students put in their PowerPoint's, like different flowchart styles or different factual organization. In addition, having students evaluate each other's work would ensure that each student receive constructive criticism from his peers. Finally, the main point of the project would be to create an organized, working PowerPoint about their psychologist. Doing this would allow the students to express their own creativity.

Concept Map :)

Blog # 4 :)

The concepts of idea maps and storyboards sound like very efficient ways to help students grasp a topic. I particularly like the fact that these tool require students to read and organize the information themselves rather than just copy and past. I also like the fact that students can use their own graphics, colors and fonts to make the learning process more personal. Since I want to teach elementary school, I would probably use Kidspiration in order to teach idea mapping to my students. I also like the concept of Hot Words because it would let students give their presentations more detail without making them look messy or overcrowded.

I would definitely encourage my students to develop these skills. If students are able to use outlines, idea maps, and storyboards, they will be able not only to better understand the information in question themselves, but they will also be able to organize the information in a way that others could comprehend it, too. If a student is able to present information in a way that other can easily understand, it is a sure sign that the student has a full grasp on the topic.

In the past week, I learned some new ways to more efficiently use search engines. This will be beneficial to me in my teaching career for a number of reasons. First of all, the more efficiently I can use search engines to find information online, the better quality and relevancy of the information I access. This will no doubt improve my lessons. In addition, I will be able to teach these web-navigating skills to my students so that they too will learn to find the best information possible via the internet.